6 ms·

What about the economist made you cancel? My impression is that they're still doing a great job of providing trustworthy news which avoids sensationalism

rmrfstar 6y ago
When I read the Economist, I can't help but feel like I'm reading an advertisement for the center of the Anglo-American neoliberal Overton window, drafted by some recent grad who doesn't know who Allen Dulles was. To rip off a pg-ism, they are intentional moderates. Intentional moderates are boring.
- raxxorrax 6y ago
  Boring is pretty adequate for news. I think entertainment is better found elsewhere.
  - zingplex 6y ago
    There are different types of boring. When I read The Economist, I find their writing unchallenging, never broadening my worldview or making me rethink my preconceived notions. Good journalism and opinion writing isn't boring, it's absolutely fascinating, and that's something I find The Economist lacks.
    - username90 6y ago
      > I find their writing unchallenging, never broadening my worldview or making me rethink my preconceived notions. Why would you want that? Amateurs adding a personal spin on topics they don't understand is bad news. Reading that will just make you more misinformed.
      - zingplex 6y ago
        If news is just going to tell me what I already know and regurgitate what I already think, why bother reading it? Am I really more informed in a meaningful way if all I'm viewing is a carefully manicured slice of reality designed to keep me feeling comfortable? I'm not asking for amateurs throwing in their two cents, I'm asking for actual journalists to do their job and speak truth to power. As an example here is the type of story I want to see more of https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/state-pushes-prescription-painkiller-methadone-saving-millions-but-costing-lives/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/sta...
        tripzilch 6y ago
        Wow methadon as a painkiller?! > For decades, methadone — a synthetic opioid developed in the 1930s by a German company — was associated not with pain relief but with weaning addicts off heroin and other drugs. The word summoned an image of clinics, often in seedy parts of town. I mean that's what I know methadon from. Always has been and still is. And I also know that it's not like a "safe" replacement for heroin to kick yourself off. It's absolute shit. But it helps with the heroin withdrawal, which is absolutely worse. (not that I have any experience with heroin addiction, but I know some people that work at these addict care centres, that distribute methadon (not sure how this works though))
        tripzilch 6y ago
        little addition, the same article says: > A case from 2009 epitomizes this divide. Two sisters, injured in a car accident in South King County, needed pain relief. One, with private insurance, received OxyContin, an expensive drug. The other, on Medicaid, received methadone — and within a week, overdosed and died. but OxyContin is also shit. for very different reasons than methadone, that I won't go into here right now. but fact of the matter is that neither are commonly prescribed as pain killer meds, outside the US. our politicians actually want less people to be on oxycodon (the generic) because it's terribly addictive, and campaign against it.
  - tripzilch 6y ago
    The opposite of "boring" is "interesting". Not "entertainment".
cambalache 6y ago
I forgot the law's name, but with the Economist happens that every time I read an article about something I know the article leaves me dissatisfied. It is presented "objectively" but always key information is omitted if it goes against the Economist worldview (Free markets and liberal democracies led by center, center-left parties in USA and the UK is what is best for the world)
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- rahimnathwani 6y ago
  Gell-Mann Amnesia effect
  - cambalache 6y ago
    That's correct! And I've asked myself, if these guys are presenting this lopsided article about Venezuela, Colombia , Costa Rica, what chance do I have to get a better information from them on Nepal, Denmark or Egypt?
  - mthoms 6y ago
    I looked it up since I was unfamiliar with the name (but familiar with the concept). In case anyone is wondering -https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/ https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/
jazzyk 6y ago
I had been a subscriber for almost 30 years. Loved their cheeky style and erudite, but clear writing. In 2015, the publishing house Pearson sold their majority stake to a bunch of globalists: the Agnelli family, the Rotschilds, Cadbury, etc.[1] I was not aware of this at the time, but noticed the change of direction a year or so later. Cancelled my subscription - sadly there are few real journalists left. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist
- d3nj4l 6y ago
  Given The Economist's neoliberal bent, why would the sale to "globalists" change their values? Also, I'm not sure if it was intentional or not - but using the word "Globalists" as a pejorative for the Rothschilds is a very common anti-semitic tactic.
  - jazzyk 6y ago
    I think you are being paranoid - what has globalism got to do with anti-semitism? There are plenty of globalists of varying nationalities/religions.
    - eutropia 6y ago
      Globalist is a commonly used dog-whistle to talk about Jews which itself lacks a clear and useful definition. Neoliberal has a clear definition. "Top 1% of the 1%" has a clear meaning. "Globalist" does not. "Globalism" isn't an ideology so far so I understand it. For that reason I understand it to be a word that signals something about the writer more so than it describes something about the subject. But I could be overfitting this curve.
      - sizt 6y ago
        If you are in a card game and you don't know who the patsy is, it's you.
      - jazzyk 6y ago
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
throwawayvv 6y ago
Never been a subscriber, but the claims made in this article [0] are pretty damning for The Economist. Those claims are made by a conservative political journalism outlet [1], so make of that what you will. [0] https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/economist-failed-to-disclose-lucrative-beijing-ties/ https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/economist-failed-to-discl... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Free_Beacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Free_Beacon

rmrfstar 6y ago

When I read the Economist, I can't help but feel like I'm reading an advertisement for the center of the Anglo-American neoliberal Overton window, drafted by some recent grad who doesn't know who Allen Dulles was. To rip off a pg-ism, they are intentional moderates. Intentional moderates are boring.

raxxorrax 6y ago
Boring is pretty adequate for news. I think entertainment is better found elsewhere.
- zingplex 6y ago
  There are different types of boring. When I read The Economist, I find their writing unchallenging, never broadening my worldview or making me rethink my preconceived notions. Good journalism and opinion writing isn't boring, it's absolutely fascinating, and that's something I find The Economist lacks.
  - username90 6y ago
    > I find their writing unchallenging, never broadening my worldview or making me rethink my preconceived notions. Why would you want that? Amateurs adding a personal spin on topics they don't understand is bad news. Reading that will just make you more misinformed.
    - zingplex 6y ago
      If news is just going to tell me what I already know and regurgitate what I already think, why bother reading it? Am I really more informed in a meaningful way if all I'm viewing is a carefully manicured slice of reality designed to keep me feeling comfortable? I'm not asking for amateurs throwing in their two cents, I'm asking for actual journalists to do their job and speak truth to power. As an example here is the type of story I want to see more of https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/state-pushes-prescription-painkiller-methadone-saving-millions-but-costing-lives/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/sta...
      - tripzilch 6y ago
        Wow methadon as a painkiller?! > For decades, methadone — a synthetic opioid developed in the 1930s by a German company — was associated not with pain relief but with weaning addicts off heroin and other drugs. The word summoned an image of clinics, often in seedy parts of town. I mean that's what I know methadon from. Always has been and still is. And I also know that it's not like a "safe" replacement for heroin to kick yourself off. It's absolute shit. But it helps with the heroin withdrawal, which is absolutely worse. (not that I have any experience with heroin addiction, but I know some people that work at these addict care centres, that distribute methadon (not sure how this works though))
        tripzilch 6y ago
        little addition, the same article says: > A case from 2009 epitomizes this divide. Two sisters, injured in a car accident in South King County, needed pain relief. One, with private insurance, received OxyContin, an expensive drug. The other, on Medicaid, received methadone — and within a week, overdosed and died. but OxyContin is also shit. for very different reasons than methadone, that I won't go into here right now. but fact of the matter is that neither are commonly prescribed as pain killer meds, outside the US. our politicians actually want less people to be on oxycodon (the generic) because it's terribly addictive, and campaign against it.
- tripzilch 6y ago
  The opposite of "boring" is "interesting". Not "entertainment".

cambalache 6y ago

I forgot the law's name, but with the Economist happens that every time I read an article about something I know the article leaves me dissatisfied. It is presented "objectively" but always key information is omitted if it goes against the Economist worldview (Free markets and liberal democracies led by center, center-left parties in USA and the UK is what is best for the world)

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
rahimnathwani 6y ago
Gell-Mann Amnesia effect
- cambalache 6y ago
  That's correct! And I've asked myself, if these guys are presenting this lopsided article about Venezuela, Colombia , Costa Rica, what chance do I have to get a better information from them on Nepal, Denmark or Egypt?
- mthoms 6y ago
  I looked it up since I was unfamiliar with the name (but familiar with the concept). In case anyone is wondering -https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/ https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/

jazzyk 6y ago

I had been a subscriber for almost 30 years. Loved their cheeky style and erudite, but clear writing. In 2015, the publishing house Pearson sold their majority stake to a bunch of globalists: the Agnelli family, the Rotschilds, Cadbury, etc.[1] I was not aware of this at the time, but noticed the change of direction a year or so later. Cancelled my subscription - sadly there are few real journalists left. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist

d3nj4l 6y ago
Given The Economist's neoliberal bent, why would the sale to "globalists" change their values? Also, I'm not sure if it was intentional or not - but using the word "Globalists" as a pejorative for the Rothschilds is a very common anti-semitic tactic.
- jazzyk 6y ago
  I think you are being paranoid - what has globalism got to do with anti-semitism? There are plenty of globalists of varying nationalities/religions.
  - eutropia 6y ago
    Globalist is a commonly used dog-whistle to talk about Jews which itself lacks a clear and useful definition. Neoliberal has a clear definition. "Top 1% of the 1%" has a clear meaning. "Globalist" does not. "Globalism" isn't an ideology so far so I understand it. For that reason I understand it to be a word that signals something about the writer more so than it describes something about the subject. But I could be overfitting this curve.
    - sizt 6y ago
      If you are in a card game and you don't know who the patsy is, it's you.
    - jazzyk 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

throwawayvv 6y ago

Never been a subscriber, but the claims made in this article [0] are pretty damning for The Economist. Those claims are made by a conservative political journalism outlet [1], so make of that what you will. [0] https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/economist-failed-to-disclose-lucrative-beijing-ties/ https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/economist-failed-to-discl... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Free_Beacon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Free_Beacon