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CamperBob2
Well, the Murdochs blew a hole in democracy, so it seems only fair.
gambiting
Very few other people have done as much damage to democracy and broadly defined "social order" as Murdochs, so I'm not going to have any sympathy.
lazyeye
The underlying thesis to a comment like this is that the majority of people are stupid and easily manipulated (not smart like you).
cyanydeez
No, the underlying thesis is bullshit artists are selffullfilling prophecies.
CamperBob2
That appears to be the null hypothesis at this point. It's up to you to provide evidence to the contrary, ideally in the form of an election that doesn't result in RFK as HHS secretary and Tulsi Gabbard as DNI.
lazyeye
(shrugs) the majority of people voted for this. Why is their opinion of less value than yours?
CamperBob2
Simple self-preservation, if nothing else. Stupid voters constitute a threat to my own well-being, and probably to yours as well.

Again: I'm not the one with questions to answer and propositions to prove.

lazyeye
ok but whatever is going inside your head has no relevance to me or anyone else. And the fact that you feel "threatened" maybe more related to your propensity for being influenced by ideology and the bubble you live in, than anything happening in reality.
Two4
The best quote I've seen to explain this is from the Men in Black movie: a person is smart, but people are dumb.

Group dynamics and identity politics are massively underestimated by many as motivating forces to get people to act against their interests.

Also remember: half of all people are below average intelligence.

[dead] lazyeye
[flagged]
gambiting
Do you think everyone here works in silicon valley? That's an assumption that happens all the time on HN and I personally hate it, there's a lot of us non Americans here.
lazyeye
Yes point taken. I did think that before posting but still thought its true in the general sense. I'm guessing that on average the people on HN are being paid alot more than the general population regardless of location.
moritzwarhier
Why? Do you think that people have to be stupid to be vulnerable to manipulation?
mpalmer
In skipping straight to "oh so Fox News viewers are stupid?", you simultaneously make this about emotion and avoid discussing what the Murdochs actually do.

That could be interesting, but you're choosing to be a weird mix of defensive and aggressive.

lazyeye
Neither you or the comment I was replying to have said anything about "what the Murdochs actually do"?
tim333
People do tend to be kind of stupid and easily manipulated regardless of who wrote the comment. I'm often stupid and manipulated myself.
viraptor
The most interesting part for me was Rupert's quote

> Fox and our papers are the only faintly conservative voices against the monolithic liberal media.

I would love to know if he actually believes that or does he say that even in private just in case. Not that it matters for the results, but there's a few characters in really high positions these days where I can't tell if they're actively lying or just lost in their world.