The DnD jokes are lost on me because Dragon Age and Mass Effect are as close as I've come to playing the game...
Anyhow, sure, if you want to use the archaic terminology. That, or he needs to grow a spine and stand up for his beliefs, or, in other words, be more liberal...
edited 18th Sep '11 8:42:37 PM by USAF713
I am now known as Flyboy.Well, those people are out there. Rachel Maddow as an example, although the left doesn't have nearly as many "Level 2" transmitters as does the right.
What I mean by "Level 2" is that you have "Level 1", they're the thinkers. You have your Krugmans, you have your Heritage foundations, you have whatever. Then the information from them goes to the Level 2 transmitters, who repackage the content for the masses. Rush Limbaugh would be the classical example on the right.
So Krugman himself shouldn't have to do that work.
Democracy is the process in which we determine the government that we deserveWhy not?
"I just figure it out" isn't good enough. I want activists, not cowards. Don't hide behind the numbers, stand up for what you believe in.
If only because having all the crusaders on the Right makes the debates boring...
I am now known as Flyboy.Well, that's why the cult of centrism needs to die a horrible death. There's a certain privilege in our culture that accepts more of a combative attitude from the right than it does from the left. That's a big reason why you see what you see.
Democracy is the process in which we determine the government that we deserveIt's less the cult of centrism and the fact that the Left has decided to let its history taint its image personally.
I, frankly, don't even care if the Left is right or not. I don't necessarily agree with everything they do, anyhow. But a proper government needs at least two sides willing to counterbalance each other...
I am now known as Flyboy.Because if they aren't standing up for what they believe in, I question whether they really believe in it, and that would make them unfit to govern regardless of the "rightness" of their position.
I am now known as Flyboy.A.) That's ridiculous
B.) They're not governing, they're telling governors the facts necessary to govern (and calling them out when they're ignoring the facts)
C.) Being The Academic is a form of standing up for what you believe in.
Ultimately, the level of precision you get from academia isn't really feasible for recruitment, which is what you're talking about. You would have to sacrifice precision in order to get recruitment, and that's not Krugman's MO. Krugman being correct but unpersuasive does not prevent others from being persuasive-and by virtue of his being correct, he allows others who are persuasive to also be closer to being correct. It's a system.
edited 18th Sep '11 8:58:37 PM by TheyCallMeTomu
I'm confused. Is, or isn't, Paul Krugman a combative asshole?
That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something AwfulA moment o' silence for the late Captain George Carlin, may he sail forever under clearer skies.
(What? It do be International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Shame we'll no see Black Krugman celebrate it in any of his arrrrrticles.)
Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.I'm talking about the Left in general. Krugman is merely the epitome of what annoys the hell out of me in politics: someone who thinks they're right, can fairly well prove it, and yet is incapable or unwilling to stand up for it.
Too bad. If you don't do it, nobody listens to you.
Charisma is more important than "being right" in politics. Is that fair or right? Probably not. But it's true, and so if they expect to get anywhere they have to play the game properly...
Nice guys finish last.
I am now known as Flyboy.Krugman is happy to stand up for it. He's just not very good at it. He never backs down and he has his own blog. He goes on Colbert Report just to talk about economics, what more do you want from him?
It's not Krugman's job to be convincing. It's his job to be right. It's the job of the convincers to show that information and to convince. It is a multi-part process. It's like accusing an accountant of not getting your firm out of legal trouble, when they're an accountant, not a lawyer.
edited 19th Sep '11 2:20:16 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

Don't look at me, I made Cha my dump stat.
Well, that and Strength. And Dexterity. And Constitution... What?! I had shitty die rolls!
In all seriousness, my dad used to have a theory about this. There are Wizards (or "Viziers") and there are Kings. Krugman is a Wizard. He needs a King.
edited 18th Sep '11 8:39:54 PM by TheyCallMeTomu