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People with a lot of power deserve extraordinary scrutiny.

by The_Colonel 2y ago

ekianjo 2y ago
So when do we scrutinize politicians next?
- left-struck 2y ago
  Politicians in democratic countries are inevitably hated by roughly half the people, and that’s if they are popular!
- simonw 2y ago
  Are you suggesting powerful politicians don't get scrutinized?
  - ekianjo 2y ago
    Not really. Do you see many of them go to prison? Because statistically some should.
- llIIllIIllIIl 2y ago
  The worst part that there are politicians that do not care if you scrutinize them or not. In a majority of nations on the planet.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  Who says we aren't? It is possible to scrutinize more than one thing.
left-struck 2y ago
Yes exactly. It reminds me of this video by veritasium, which is in turn inspired by Adrian Tan where he says “Be hated” and describes how in being successful you should seek to be hated by those with poor values. Not that I agree with everything Elon, Mr beast or Veritasum does by any stretch, but they have all seemingly embraced this. I also think it’s inevitable with fame, and perhaps a good check on the actions of those with power. If I were Mr Beast and I read this I’d shrug it off and think you can’t impress everyone. Again, I don’t agree or even follow what he does but it actually doesn’t matter, if you do good, or bad, or do much of anything notable, you will attract hate.
- The_Colonel 2y ago
  > Again, I don’t agree or even follow what he does but it actually doesn’t matter, if you do good, or bad, or do much of anything notable, you will attract hate. Of course, and you need to accept that you will get hate, but it shouldn't become a source of validation. Getting hate from bad people doesn't mean you're doing good - e.g. Stalin was hated by Nazis, that doesn't make him a good guy. > where he says “Be hated” and describes how in being successful you should seek to be hated by those with poor values I think that even if you're in fact the good guy doing good things, seeking hate / outrage from the bad people is wrong or at least tactically a bad decision in the sense they will get even more deep-seated in their bad values.
  - left-struck 2y ago
    No you’re totally right, and Derek from Veritasium does point out that being hated shouldn’t be a moral compass. I think the point is more that you should know that even when you’re doing something right some people, maybe many people, will hate you for it. Incidentally if you’re doing something wrong you might be quite popular as well. Popularity isn’t a good judge of character.
tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago
There is a difference between "extraordinary scrutiny" and "finding reasons, no matter how far fetched, to shit on people just because they're successful". They sometimes overlap, but this seems to be mostly the latter.
- The_Colonel 2y ago
  I kinda agree on MrBeast. In the big picture he's pretty irrelevant, and I don't even want to invest enough energy to make an opinion. With Musk, it's quite different. He's the richest person on the planet, exchanging favors with a presidential candidate of the most powerful country on earth, both of them having pretty "flexible" views on democracy and upholding the law. Musk is powerful and dangerous.

People with a lot of power deserve extraordinary scrutiny.

ekianjo 2y ago

So when do we scrutinize politicians next?

left-struck 2y ago
Politicians in democratic countries are inevitably hated by roughly half the people, and that’s if they are popular!
simonw 2y ago
Are you suggesting powerful politicians don't get scrutinized?
- ekianjo 2y ago
  Not really. Do you see many of them go to prison? Because statistically some should.
llIIllIIllIIl 2y ago
The worst part that there are politicians that do not care if you scrutinize them or not. In a majority of nations on the planet.
ryandrake 2y ago
Who says we aren't? It is possible to scrutinize more than one thing.

left-struck 2y ago

Yes exactly. It reminds me of this video by veritasium, which is in turn inspired by Adrian Tan where he says “Be hated” and describes how in being successful you should seek to be hated by those with poor values. Not that I agree with everything Elon, Mr beast or Veritasum does by any stretch, but they have all seemingly embraced this. I also think it’s inevitable with fame, and perhaps a good check on the actions of those with power. If I were Mr Beast and I read this I’d shrug it off and think you can’t impress everyone. Again, I don’t agree or even follow what he does but it actually doesn’t matter, if you do good, or bad, or do much of anything notable, you will attract hate.

The_Colonel 2y ago
> Again, I don’t agree or even follow what he does but it actually doesn’t matter, if you do good, or bad, or do much of anything notable, you will attract hate. Of course, and you need to accept that you will get hate, but it shouldn't become a source of validation. Getting hate from bad people doesn't mean you're doing good - e.g. Stalin was hated by Nazis, that doesn't make him a good guy. > where he says “Be hated” and describes how in being successful you should seek to be hated by those with poor values I think that even if you're in fact the good guy doing good things, seeking hate / outrage from the bad people is wrong or at least tactically a bad decision in the sense they will get even more deep-seated in their bad values.
- left-struck 2y ago
  No you’re totally right, and Derek from Veritasium does point out that being hated shouldn’t be a moral compass. I think the point is more that you should know that even when you’re doing something right some people, maybe many people, will hate you for it. Incidentally if you’re doing something wrong you might be quite popular as well. Popularity isn’t a good judge of character.

tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago

There is a difference between "extraordinary scrutiny" and "finding reasons, no matter how far fetched, to shit on people just because they're successful". They sometimes overlap, but this seems to be mostly the latter.

The_Colonel 2y ago
I kinda agree on MrBeast. In the big picture he's pretty irrelevant, and I don't even want to invest enough energy to make an opinion. With Musk, it's quite different. He's the richest person on the planet, exchanging favors with a presidential candidate of the most powerful country on earth, both of them having pretty "flexible" views on democracy and upholding the law. Musk is powerful and dangerous.