Newsworthy

God help me, I clicked on a bit of leftist gossip not knowing it was mostly gossip (I not only would not condone gossip, I actively avoid it, it is toxic for a decent society). It was the guys at The Vanguard. But ok, it was not all bad. (My excuse: I needed a lunch break that did not require watching or reading subtitles, just clicked on Neutrality Studies (good quality) but The Vanguard boys came up too.)

Note the difference: Neutrality Studies focus on issues, not celebrity and cult of personality. Talking about the views of people and speculating on their motives is not cool unless you invite them to share and be open. Pascal is able to mostly focus on people only in the context for their job in an organization, and that is righteous journalism.

Increasing Returns to Irony

It was not all bad because among the gossip there were a couple of serious issues. One is the distortion of mainstream media, but equally now the distortion of so-called “independent” media. Yeah… who being funded by billionaire right-wing think tanks or oligarchs is actually “independent”? Not Matt Taibbi for sure. You get that sort of funding and you should realized you’ve been self-selected. (Useful Idiots — Matt’s former co-hosted show — no longer ironic, or… what is it now? … doubly ironic?) Two ironies make a better irony. Increasing returns to irony.

Chomsky always applies!

Correction: Chomsky will apply if we continue to have a profit motive in journalism. Gotta remove the profit motive! Replaced with what?

If you had to ask hat question maybe you are too far gone? It’s obvious from all my perspectives (sport, science, MMT): the motive is search for truth and desire for justice. Not only is that the only motive for true journalism, it is the honest motive for… what?… 99% of all human endeavours.

For sure, sex, drugs, dopamine, &c., are the more prevalent proximate motives for human behaviour, but they are short-run and do not last the long span of time. The trouble is, you and I right now today find it hard to see this! It is half the reason I get so depressed.

No one pays me to write about MMT or topological 4-geon theory, but I write anyway, living off coffee fumes, because I think it is worth writing about. Even if I am wrong. I will write what I think is important, but refrain from topics where I have no expertise or passion. This is one way to avoid enshittification, but perhaps to guarantee relative obscurity. Well, what can I say?… I would rather be dirt poor and obscure than compromise my principles.

Sure, you might say I could swap out principles of search for truth and justice by search for profit and clout. But profit and clout are always anti-principles for me. I take the dictionary definition of “principles” to be a particular usage that connotes sobriety, honesty, virtue, and the profit motive is the opposite of these qualities.

Dr Bill Mitchell

I cannot confirm, but I have heard Bill was snubbed by the producers of the “MMT” documentary, Finding the Money . Do not quote me on this, I haven’t seen the film yet. Whatever the case, this lunchtime dip into leftist gossip led to Briahna Joy Gray, whom I’ve not followed for about 6 months (not deliberately, just lacking the time). So I was pleasantly surprised to see Bill featured as the marquee episode currently on BadFaith .

I have not listened to the episode yet , since every Warren, Randy or Bill appearance is something I savour like a fine dessert. Meaning I like to give my full attention.

Crisis in the Congo

What else good came from a peek at The Vanguard? Another was learning about Briahna Joy Gray’s episode on the Congo . This was informative and totally newsworthy. In a highly interconnected world we cannot honestly be so parochial that we care only for domestic politics.

I dropped a comment for The Vanguard commentariat:

Bri’s episode on the Congo crisis got very few views? But a session worrying about Taibbi gets about ten times as many? The distortion of all media is the problem, not just “independent” versus mainstream corporate. Points to a common cause of enshittification: the need to make sales and run at a profit. Even for Bri. She should be applauded for covering incredibly important humanitarian topics that get few views.
      As for the Taibbi topic: I’d suggest to her not to make it about a person, since Matt Taibbi is not news worthy (in my subjective opinion, ok). If you think he is then you are buying into celebrity & notoriety as news worthy. The proper topic (for a world citizen) is the whole phenomenon of social trust and honesty, sincerity, journalism that truly reflects the world that we all need to know, desire for wisdom not just knowledge — the spiritual political economy in other words, and in particular how it is practically nonexistent.

Who knows what truly motivates that guy, but if he has anything news worthy that comes to attention I might read. But there are thousands of superior journalists. And that’s all I ever want to say about Matt Taibbi for now.