[NEW YORK TIMES] Should Biden appoint a "reality czar"?

Great idea. In truth we trust.

 

1. Aside from catch-phrases though, should people who care about governance fight blatant disinformation campaigns or not?

2. Is Q Anon harmful, for example, in your view?

3. Would America be better off or worse off, if "Stop the Steal (sic)" had never become a thing? (Worked on by Roger Stone even before 2016, in the event that Trump lost that election.) It strikes me that many more millions of Americans would accept the results of the court-certified election were it not for that disinformation campaign.

It looks to me like humanity is gleefully running toward a new Dark Ages and there's little conscientious people who liked the Enlightenment can do about that... but I don't fault people for wanting to try.

 

"It sounds a little dystopian, I’ll grant. But let’s hear them out."

If they're really itching to have a reality czar, might as well restart public broadcasting like a domestic VOA. Create a charter that represents "reality" and let congress hold the money if they violate charter. Won't last long (socialist propaganda), but still longer than a reality czar.

Or maybe do a digital platform for government information clearinghouse. Part news, part social media for people to air grievances. It's mad suspect for civil liberties, but again, the idea is to promote an outside venue for comparison, not be the main venue.

 

Thanks for the reply. I used to be more sympathetic to the marketplace of ideas but am a bit concerned with that in the internet / cable news era. I hope the marketplace still wins out. Magical thinking has returned in a way that shocks me, and I do believe I've had my eyes and ears open for quite a while.

On Q Anon, I only read my news, and the phenomenon, (fitting with my concern above), seems both quite concerning and also part of the larger pattern of human subgroups demonizing others. Q Anon looks like a virulent strain of mystical thinking not unlike scientology, (which was also allegedly started as a joke), but more prone to anger and violence, based on recent evidence.

Cheers.

 

Need obscure blog to vaguely make a point regarding reality czar.

 

Your obscure blog aggregator app can sift through the fog.

 

Artisanal Internet

 

The Reality Czar would immediately be accused of being a lizard person.

 

It would be great if Biden appointed a Reality Czar but made him or her or them dress like a gorn.


"Hssssssss. Thank you. For coming. Today. Hssssssss. I would like. To describe. Hssssssss. ..." [reporters leave]

EDIT: I never noticed that the gorn is wearing a snakeskin tunic! WTF, Star Trek?

 

Yeah seems like something that can easily be abused and corrupted. I'd like PSA's and programs promoting science, mental health, etc.

 

Follow up, loving the marketplace of ideas is accepting social media platforms banning Trump / other political figures/pages, etc IS within the marketplace of ideas. Private companies choosing what's economically / PR favorable to make legal adjustments to their service IS the market place of ideas. Asking for the government to overrule these private marketplace decisions is very much asking for the government to take authority on truth / misinformation, right / wrong, fair / crossed lines etc

Can't have it both ways

@Os Trigonum

 

What does that have to do with a czar? A czar is nothing more than a person that coordinate or response to a serious issue with some expertise. Think Ebola Czar, not ICE or Homeland Security or IRS.

The marketplace is reacting (late, but it is) and many Trump GOP are crying foul because it is reacting to deal with disinformation, a favorite game of current Trump GOP. Fine by me, but that doesn't mean gov doesn't have a role in pushing toward truth seeking and knowledge while still fully compatible with 1A. If the executive branch goes overboard, I like to think the check and balance system will work. A bit less so now given how Republican completely abandoned their power to check the executive branch the last 4 years, but the Court showed they are still a strong check. I'm not so concern with a Czar trying to find solution toward the goal of truth seeking and knowledge, which are also the goal of 1A.

 

I like a lot of this, but we need *less* "compelling" "journalism." And we need a society who doesn't go to political news for compelling entertainment, but oh lord is that going to be a long slog at this point.