3 ms·
Well put. I've noticed a phenomenon where people seem to substitute PR/optics for their own morality. That is, people will criticize a public person not for wh
by hsod 10y ago
Well put.
I've noticed a phenomenon where people seem to substitute PR/optics for their own morality. That is, people will criticize a public person not for what they've done or said, but for how it looks or how it is likely to be perceived by others.
- yummyfajitas 10y agoI have a Hansonian theory that we actually want powerful and visible people to engage in PR for us in spite of knowing it's BS. The reason is that this suggests to us that they care what we think, at least enough to signal tribal loyalty to us, to tell us that they need us. One of the greatest fears of the modern world is that the higher quality people might one day exit. We demonize companies for outsourcing, rich people for living in gated communities and sending children to private schools, tech bros for using Uber/google bus/etc rather than riding the broken SF public transit. A person like Kalanick (or Thiel, to name a similarly disliked figure) who refuses to engage in this kind of PR is scary; it's a reminder that they don't need us.