american liberals are not exempt from some of this kind of thinking. (e: while the following is not as egregious as maga):
unrelated to politics, one self-avowed liberal in my circles with a sagacious mien recited a quote from benjamin franklin about the saxophone, with zero indication of jest. this was obviously one of those
-abraham lincoln moments. five seconds of google-fu for the specifics, and the inventor of the sax was born after franklin's death. the original quote was supposedly in the next century, in a local newspaper, and about the cornet.
this is an example of an easy fact-check a person person can do, on their own. this person likes fact checking when it's them doing it (preferably against conservatives),
including for misattributed quotes. they present as "experts" on any subject that comes up and will spend an afternoon reading wikipedia about the bible or sumerian history or whatever just to infodrop along with the usual obnoxious spelling/grammar catches. so i get the knowing elbow nudge about v.p. vance not liking fact-checking, but this person
loathes being on the receiving end of it. they get all angry or insular and withdrawn when it is done to them.
it wouldn't do anyone any favors here to point out that adolphe sax was well past when franklin could have made a joke about the instrument and gentlemen who don't play it. or that the quote is even later (and non-verbatim) to begin with. next to the other fake news that americans—including lefties—eagerly line up to mouthpiece for: fairly inconsequential. enough on my plate without needlessly generating cold shoulders at work.
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i think a lot of americans don't like being corrected, and don't have the emotional maturity or were never taught how to take correction without internalizing it as a personal attack. or they usually receive correction in the manner or intent of an attack.
* on the reverse, i also think a lot of americans don't do a very good job of correcting without coming off as unnecessarily, insufferably smug. if their intent is to inform, ineffectual. but exasperation, i understand. completely understandable, the urge to sign on and call a republican senator an absolute nincompoop for hopping up and down on a table flinging feces across the room.
*(e: this is one of the barriers i've encountered and have had to figure out ways to tiptoe around on an individual basis when walking people through math, or computing)
Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2025-03-16 05:39:54)