Read on Twitter
1. Hearing a lot of ppl say the NYT firing an editor shows the danger of engaging "bad faith" arguments from the right.
But I think it's good to recall what bad faith really it & how it was coined as "mauvaise foi" by Sartre as a tenet of existentialism
But I think it's good to recall what bad faith really it & how it was coined as "mauvaise foi" by Sartre as a tenet of existentialism
2. Bad faith, the above video explains Sartre meant in BEING & NOTHINGNESS, "occurs when we life to ourselves in order to spare ourselves short term pain, but thereby suffer from longterm psychological impoverishment." (h/t @briebriejoy)
3. In this understanding of bad faith, the bad faith arguments aren't coming from right-wing trolls but from the NYT (the DNC, MSNBC, etc.) when the purposely GIVE IN to arguments they know are bullshit, trying to get the short term gain of "both sides" objectivity.
4. The NYT knows this editor isn't a problem.
Just as the DNC *should* know there is a difference between white supreamcists & BLM or Antifa.
But THEY (not the right) are engaging their own bad faith arguments: going for short term gain while causing longterm suffering.
Just as the DNC *should* know there is a difference between white supreamcists & BLM or Antifa.
But THEY (not the right) are engaging their own bad faith arguments: going for short term gain while causing longterm suffering.
5. Similarly, as I am sure @briebriejoy and crew are well aware, the DNC is engaging in bad faith by not going full tilt towards M4A. Except for the ruling class, everyone else wants it. Below the oligarch level, it's a bipartisan issue & the Dems have the full fed govt RN.
6. But for the short term gain of making their ruling class financiers happy, the DNC is engaging in (at least) two bad faith arguments RN:
—Keeping M4A off the table in a pandemic
—Engaging in bipartisanship (except on M4A)
—Keeping M4A off the table in a pandemic
—Engaging in bipartisanship (except on M4A)
7. Definitions change over time. But what I like abt Sarte's original definition of bad faith is that it puts the onus on the self, i.e.: Dems (now in power) & media folx shouldn't say the right (currently out of power) is making "bad faith" arguments...
8. ...on the ropes, the right has been making explicit arguments abt what they mean for a long time.
It is liberals, the Dems (in power ( & mainstream media who are engaging in bad faith by trying to appease the right!
It is liberals, the Dems (in power ( & mainstream media who are engaging in bad faith by trying to appease the right!
9. IRT to the NYT, it is the NYT engaging in bad faith when it fires @Wolfe321 (or @Marketplace @DeborahAClark in 2016 canning @LewisPants).
It is the DNC engaging in bad faith when it doesn't push M4A.
It is cable news engaging in bad faith when it amps Trump alum.
It is the DNC engaging in bad faith when it doesn't push M4A.
It is cable news engaging in bad faith when it amps Trump alum.
10. Same thing happens w climate change.
So, the moral of the story for the left & MSM as they call the shots:
Don't just project "bad faith" arguments onto the right.
Take responsibility for them within your own house, political philosophy, beloved institutions—and mind.
So, the moral of the story for the left & MSM as they call the shots:
Don't just project "bad faith" arguments onto the right.
Take responsibility for them within your own house, political philosophy, beloved institutions—and mind.
11. The right might be making "bad arguments," but they're not "bad faith arguments"; their short and long term goals are aligned.
The schism is within liberalism, where willfully bad faith arguments are routinely made that prioritize short term gain over longterm wellbeing.
The schism is within liberalism, where willfully bad faith arguments are routinely made that prioritize short term gain over longterm wellbeing.
12. Similarly, liberals (especially in media) are engaging in bad faith when they don't engage critiques of the new president from his left (esp IRT to climate, M4M, war & policing) but will engage them from his right.
More short term gain > long term wellbeing BS.
More short term gain > long term wellbeing BS.
13 Yup. As I wrote the other day to @prisonculture, one of the biggest differences between the Democrats and GOP is that when the GOP loses, they act like they won but when the Dems win, they act like they lost— & then make bad faith short term arguments. https://twitter.com/Ryan_Deitsch/status/1353349691459690496
