The Danger of Polite Politicians
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- On this episode of Common Sense Soapbox, the gang questions why polite-sounding politicians are often favored over prudent policies. Why do we choose what “sounds nice” over what works well? What does it actually mean to be decent? Florida Man inquires; Seamus explains.
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CREDITS:
Written by Sean Malone and Seamus Coughlin
Animated by LtAmazil, Adamdonk, and Emily Slatt
Voiced by Seamus Coughlin and nosoup4knowles
Layout by Jaime Velasquez, Trevor Smith
Produced & Edited by Sean W. Malone
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LINKS:
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"If you want to help people, you tell them the truth.
If you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear."
Thomas Sowell
Beware of individuals who smile as they twist the knife in your back.
Smiling faces, sometimes they don't tell the truth.
I can do one better. Beware the friendly politician that wants to convince you to put the slave collar around your own neck for your own good.
Little late at that point. Hence the knife already in your back...
The truth is more important than making people happy.
Though generally it is a lie wrapped in the facade of truth.
The engineer's definition of tolerance is how much strain, imperfection, or corruption a system can endure before being rendered inoperable. So whenever people tell you to be more tolerant, what they're really saying is that you need to put up with more abuse. From them.
Also, check if they really mean it or if only their ideas should be tolerated.
a very good point!
Well said and absolutely true!
A biologist's definition of tolerance is how much harm an organism can take before irreversible damage occurs. Similarly, demands for "more tolerance" mean not fighting against them as they harm you.
So, what I'm understanding from y'all is that the sciences (The Science!) agree that "tolerance" means the limit to the amount of damage any given thing can take without systemic failure.
Those who are telling us to be "More tolerant" are telling us we need to accept more damage.
Since I already have some of the side effects of The Jab, I guess I'm no longer being able to be tolerant. Any more tolerance and I qualify for part of the LD25 for this experiment.
We need people who are assertive, not someone who acts like the cool uncle who buys icecream.
Agreed. There is a time for both. Respect is for the respectable. The corrupt, greedy, lying politicians and leaders we have aren't in that category.
Speak to them like the trash they are and still refer to the nice old lady who bakes apple pies for the neighborhood with "Ma'am"
I want to be nice _and_ right about stuff. How can we show that free trade helps people who feel like the system works against them? We need working answers and we need to sell them hard. We have people who are in equal measures hostile and incompetent trying to control us, and nobody who can offer a cohesive response to them. And need it be said that Biden's not the only one like this?
@eksortso It's a simple concept with complicated obstacles. A lot of problems can be solved with systematic changes intertwined into the complex system. The biggest obstacles are people. People who disagree despite the evidence, people who don't understand, and people who are malicious.
If everyone thought the same way the solutions would be easier than anything else. But, natural restricted mindsets in combination with overt propaganda will always prevent unity.
It is both a blessing of humanity and a curse for policy: individuality.
At this point give men a dictator or better yet a wise king.
Yea,but we live in a society with people so sensitive they associate being assertive with being bad.
Too many people care about how something is said rather than what is actually said.
evil raven
People don't want to admit that democracy fails because the idiots outnumber the rest.
yeah, women
I remember back when I went liberal for a few years a long time ago. There's a culture within left wing spaces that puts a lot of emphasis on safeguarding feelings but also that anyone that says mean things is bad.
@@scorpio6587This is the comment I was searching for.
And the first step of the Bunny Costume wearer is to make laws that help bunnies. So when people say, "that's a wolf stop him," everyone turns around and says "but he's making laws to help bunnies, don't you want to help bunnies?"
A wise meme monger once opined: “It is better to be a good person pretending to be bad than a bad person pretending to be good.”
As the good book says: Beware of False Prophets.
Are you saying that Milei is selling himself as a prophet?
Personally I would have gone with wolves in sheep's clothing but let's be honest there's not much functional difference between the two.
Ironic that that warning is the most famous one christians ignore
@@frankstrawnation Are you ignorant of a metaphor?
@@frankstrawnation Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Truth is not always kind or polite
Truth must be blunt and sometimes even brutal or cruel
“If it didn’t hurt, it wasn’t truthful enough.”
@@abcdefghij337Though that is generally used as an excuse to ad-hominem your way through arguments
To sum up, a nice fascist is still a fascist.
That's the same as, putting makeup on a pig is still a pig
Exactly, as well as a nice communist is still communist
The difference between actual respect and pretentiousness, is that those who actually respect you will be truthful, even if it means been crass or even hurtful, while the pretentious will talk in flowery language, but spend the entire time BSing you
Indeed numbing the pain and treating the wound are different things.
And that's why I hate the left with all my being!
The deep meta that it was a suburban mom listening to how he was speaking rather than what he was saying
Be *kind* and not _nice._
Be righteous and merciful. Kindness and niceness are overrated.
@@abcdefghij337 Psst... guess what your typical Christian means by "kindness"? If still unclear, research the etymology of both words, and understand this was the message of a sermon. XD
Ahem… Bill Clinton in the 90’s?
Obama's another good example
In still consider Clinton the consummate politician. He could convince a room full of people that he owned the Brooklyn bridge and get them to buy shares. He was a master manipulator and liar, but he wasn't an stupid. Which is more than we can say about the current office holder.
@@johnshaw6702 Don't forget the saxophone... smh.
A backhand compliment is never a compliment, only an insult in a ballgown.
Ironic that the rough sounding, true spoken ones are called 'populists'.
In the case of Milei, he is.
Seamus is ignoring some cultural differences.
Trump would have been a better example.
@@alfredosaint-jean9660 I think Soros is the example Seamus was aiming to make, not Milei. But I get what you're saying, he tries too hard, his speeches feel like people pleasing, but I do agree with his cut backs.
@@alfredosaint-jean9660 Only in an elitist world is populism bad.
@@benaplin9861and the results are in, Argentina seems to be doing pretty well under Milei! I'm happy for them, Milei seemed based from the beginning. I just wish most of us folk in the UK weren't too busy licking the boots of "polite" authoritarians like Starmer - who to no surprise, dropped the act immediately upon getting into power and has been continually disastrous for Britain in every metric. Go ask the British public what "Libertarianism" is, they've been trained to associate it without fail with scary anarchy and cry misunderstood, because the idea of not living with an absolute authority governing their very lives is just utterly foreign to them.
We need our own Milei, but we've been bred via centuries of absolute, unquestionable power structures (first Monarchy then The State) to be submissive fairies, any attempts to change the status quo have historically ended either in bloodshed or in imprisonment for "treason" (re: being publicly critical of New Labour politicians or the long-term impact of their policymaking).
I have been having issue with this for years, people are confusing pleasent with good/nice
WEF should stand for: What Everybody Fears.
World Subjugation Forum.
World’s Evil Fiends
"That's not being nice. That's putting on a nice sweater."
Man; that Mexican guy sure does make a lot of sense.
Yeah, he'd make a good king.
In short: There's a time and a place to be polite, but some uses this to manipulate others.
People mistake boring and sedate for serious and measured all too often. They pay attention to tone, not content. Comparing them to dogs is a bit harsh but provides a useful analogy: dogs can't understand language, but they understand tone and body language well enough. Someone like Alex Soros, or any other talking head, could recite a passage from Mein Kampf, and at least half of the listeners would think the speaker was thoughtful and measured as long as they sounded half-asleep while doing it.
One side: rude but honest and attacks the problems affecting the country.
Other side: polite but is calling you an idiot and says you shouldn't be allowed to make choices.
Striking a balance between bluntness and tact can only help the message.
Tact is pretty dope, though. I think it was Winston Churchill who said, and I paraphrase, "Tact is telling someone to go to Hell in such a way they look forward to the trip."
An honest person is a logical speaker. A dishonest person is an emotional speaker.
by what measure though
As a South American, the only "capitalism" I can find around me is in my bookshelves.
As another South American, I'm forced to agree with you.
¿Libros de Axel Kaiser?
@@alfredosaint-jean9660 nos introdujo a muchos al liberalismo
@@alfredosaint-jean9660 Haven't read him yet. A personal favourite is "Manual del perfecto idiota latinoamericano", since it captures the political zeitgeist of the continent pretty well.
@@alfredosaint-jean9660No ese csm por la cresta aaaaa
Sometimes you have to be blunt to state the truth.
Folks don't like it, but sooner or later, that bitter medicine must set in to heal.
It's like pointing out hypocrisy of a self righteous person who must learn to be humble.
this is why so many people voted for Biden last election. it was not because he sounded nice but because Trump was 'too mean'. like my own mother voted for Biden for that very reason. she knew nothing about his policy, she never watched him debate, she just did not like Trump because he was 'mean' n stuff.
Just vote for a third Party. Are you seriously that stupid?
She didn't wanted the obvious rap*st and corrupt Guy, because if he is in office He gives rise to all the small horrible people who feel validated.
So she decided for the not obvious rap*st and corrupt guy, because at least in her neighborhood horrible people will still be held accountable to a degree.
Which is why I'll take the old Trump economy "mean tweets" and all over the "polite" left.
Perfect example of a feelings based society right here. Better to be brutally honest and considered a cad rather than a polite liar. Truth hurts and that's a good thing because nothing worth having is painless.
Though the people who consider them to be extrmely logical tend to be the most emotional out there, as they throw a fit every single time someone disagrees wuth them and promotes something that hurts their value-based world. Speaking the truth includes being truthful to yourself first and foremost, and being self aware. If you run around thinking that everyone who disagrees with you is an idiot, you are the idiot.
If you leave yourself completely tolerant, you'll leave yourself open for those who are intolerant.
I'm just reminded of the Dicks monolog in Team America. Crude, offensive, completely correct at the core.
I appreciate the touch of the fact that the one swept up by how “nice” alex soros is is the woman.
"Safe? Of course he isn't safe! But he's good!"
"afeura" is my new favorite word to say
There is an argument to be made for reserving harsh words for when they can highlight something, but that's the literary student talking. Given the choice between "considerate" corpospeak and "crude" plain language, I'll take the latter any day.
My mom needs to see this SO badly, she has TDS and ONE of the reasons is because he's a brash talker, he's not polite at all, and I've called her out on this so many times because of how bad W. Bush was as well as Obama and every President before them.
Look at how JFK got elected, it wasn't even on policy, he was just a handsome devil while Nixon looked like a cartoon villain. I keep telling my mom to ignore the personality, focus on the policy. She can't do it, the President MUST act Presidential! Whatever the hell that means!
I agree with anyone not wanting women to vote, because over the years the harsh truth is that women can't vote based on policy/logic, they're emotional, and vote on looks, politeness, and abortion.
Same can be said for most men, perhaps the monarchists have a point.
@@Richforce1Feminine minded men to be exact.
@@Richforce1No. Many men, not most men.
We need women to vote, because if women have to pay taxes but can't vote we are being hypocritical
@@sonofapirate Then they shouldn't work, either. They also don't get drafted. No draft, no vote.
In my eyes kindness and politeness should have a limit and be reserved for those who've earned it. For politics? I want someone who can stand their ground, be rude if needed, and get the damn job done in the best foreseeable way whilst listening to those around 'em. I want someone who can do what's right, not someone who tries to act nice while having horrible intentions.
Ultimately words (especially those from politicians) are irrelevant, yada yada actions not words. "Speak softly and carry a big stick" rings ever true.
The smart person uses tact. The good person uses tact to speak the truth.
Because the truth is, the average person just wants “nice” people. Nice is easy. Nice is predictable. Nice doesn’t make you think. And that’s the point.
Or as I once heard someone say "Weasel words."
People NEED to hear what they don't want to hear instead of hearing pretty platitudes that cover dangerous ideas.
It's funny how essentially, the powerful used being nice as an excuse to be mean to people that weren't nice enough... to them.
Reminds me of the people who called Trump "UnPresidential" in 2016. I'll take the mean tweets please.
A Trump supporter on this page? You've missed the point
@@jingles123456789ify How on Earth could you have ever construed that they were not talking about Trump being a better choice despite his crude wording?
You should always trust a blunt person over a smooth talker, because the blunt person is speaking directly from the heart.
Argentinian here. And yep, Milei really makes you pay attention to the content and not the manners.
*The woman was just having a woman moment*
You can get away with saying very mean/ rude/abusive things to women as long as you say them in a way that doesn't make women _feel_ bad. Meanwhile, if you say things in a way that makes them _feel_ bad, they will be offended even if you were complementing/praising them.
My province after decades of a strong and over-reaching government:
- Second Poorest in the country (Average Yearly income equivalent to Palestine)
- Second to the bottom in general education
- 70% of jobs are provided by the Government
- ~70% of the Provincial Government Income comes from the Federal Government
Milei: Fuck the government
56% of the voting population of the province: Fuck the government
Someone earning X10 in a week what I earn in a month from Europe: But how can you vote for a guy that says bad words on TV?!
YES! What the Shamus(Seamus? //Oof my apologies I messed that one up//) said. Thank you for posting this. Hopefully I will remember to do the funding thing someday. God bless you and fam.
That ending was perfect timing since the 1st presidential debate was this past Thursday
Thank you, Seamus!!!!! Someone else actually understands! They are changing the meanings of words, beliefs, etc.
Perfect example! I fight with my dad about this all the time. He hears nice, patronizing language, but he doesn't _listen_ to what's implied.
Yes, message content does matter. 100% agree! That said, message delivery is also important. If your goal is to win people to your way of thinking, berating, belittling, and verbally abusing your opponents isn't going to help. Yes, brutal honesty may be needed from time to time, but "I'm just telling the truth" can't become a cover for poor behavior.
"dog birthing persons" 😭😭😭
"For the almost blind, you draw large and startling figures" -Flannery O'Connor
Alexander always looks like a kid who's never even tried a contact sport.
Oh, you mean a twig boy.
Sadly the way a politician presents himself and how he is presented by the media is massively important and literally the only thing many people will care about.
NPR in a nutshell.
This is why conservatives have been drawn to Trump. He doesn’t sugar coat things
Never vote for the "nice guy." Niceness is often used to conceal insidiousness.
There's a reason "nice guys" are known for finishing last. It's not always because life is unfair, it's because they're seen for the asshole they actually are.
I prefer competence over politeness. Quite often, truth is harsh and lies are soft.
Because of Milei we have began saying "Afuera" any time we're violently removing or just moving something in general. We love his energy!
I love these FEE cartoons, but it seems pretty clear Seamus is stuck in a contract he wishes he hadn't signed.
This is amazing, some of your best work yet
Smooth-talker isn’t a compliment, it’s an indication that you shouldn’t trust them.
I'd add awkward to this list as well. I've reached the point where only actions/policy of the politician matter and I view people obssessed with manerism of a politician with suspicion (like, are they discounting the politician for a different reason but pretending it's about their social behavior).
Graham's hierarchy of disagreement says hi.
Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.
I've always said "Never listen what politicians say, listen to whay they mean"
Too many people conflate taking a firm stance on a subject and continually disagreeing on matters of impasse as rudeness. Many people can have passionate debate and still be quite civil in disagreement.
It's like a truism I have regarding cute animals: "Beware the cute ones, for that is how Nature gets you to lower your guard," which refers to the fact that the cute ones almost always have something we'd find uncute lurking behind the scenes. Other than our own babies, I have yet to find an exception.
I am all for finding better ways to say something ,but we need more "rude" language that speaks truth. It's the best we have right now.
Graveyard shift machine shop employees unite! Not only are we rude and straight to the point, most of us even make Alex Jones look like a bleeding heart liberal! It would be a lot of bleeping in our campaign speeches though...
Give me mean tweets instead of open borders and rampant crime.
The most skilled and dangerous liars tell people what they want to hear more than what they need to hear. And they can get many of those people to want to believe them. The truth hurts, but I will take it over the lies with their sugar coating any day.
We need politicians who are unshakable in their resolve not people who falter at the slightest questioning.
Sometimes a blunt instrument (rhetorically speaking) is called for.
So in other words polite politicians are the politics' equivalent of the so called "Nice Guys", right?
I remember a story of a "nice" guy telling a girl to go along with her desire to eat a specific snack despite her father saying it's very bad for her.
Thank you! to many people focus about how the words made them feel rather than what the words actually said. people get played by those who seem polite all the easier...
when im in something like this, i will stick to the truth, may it be nice or not. And OBVIOUS evils will be called out directly
I think tact matters, however, it isn't the most important thing. The scariest people I've met were quiet and polite and kind... On the surface.
I forget where I heard this, but it proven true more times than I can count: A good way to judge someone/ something is to look at who is opposing it and what they stand for. If the people opposing seem reprehensible to you and support reprehensible things, what they oppose is probably good.
If you say a mean thing in a nice way with good words, people will cheer say something nice in a bad way or bad words people will get offended.
"But he talks classy, he must be right"
As the Midwestern, I like Chicago style politics, correct me if I wrong but Chicago style politics. It’s just the insult and bashing the other guy.
There's a difference between saying things nicely and saying nice things.
I think both are good things. I, as a die-hard conservative on pretty much everything, cringe almost every time Trump talks about anybody, but I vote for him because I think he's right on a lot more issues than Joe Biden. Being right is more important than being nice, but if what you believe is better, it should reflect in how you treat others, and that's just lacking from a lot of the modern GOP.
I can't believe you need a common sense soapbox episode on this topic.
The danger is that they all have similar sounding last names for some reason and you go to jail for pointing that out
Javier Milei is my new favorite character on Common Sense Soapbox
I'm Mexican, and I don't think calling someone from Argentina Mexican is racist.
As an Argentinian, I aslo don't think it is racist. But I think the joke is that she's saying that mistaking someone's nationality to be racist
As an argentine I find being called mexican to be pretty speciesist, after all us argentines are not monkeys.
This is a joke, if anyone takes this seriously I will laugh in their face. Loudly.
It's interesting to me that we have all these different "races" which are all part of the human race.
Honesty is a trait we could really use more of in politics.
Now if only we could find the intersection of someone who's presenting good ideas in a positive and polite way. Unfortunately, someone like that probably wouldn't last long in today's cutthroat political landscape.
Move over "What is a Woman?" Time for "What is Nice?"
You know there was a Comic I read like 2 years ago called Transmetropolitan where one of the main antagonists was a politician who won the presidential run because he acted “nice” on TV.
I miss when we had both people who made sense and were reasonable AND didn't sound like assholes. Why must every conservative these days be so vulgar? Be calm, confident, and assertive, but also be well-mannered. Because if they get pulled into a name-calling match, the liberals are going to win due to experience.
We had a name for people who were nice no matter what and got pushed around by everyone, we called them nerds.
The danger of polite politicians is that they can trick you into forgetting that they're politicians
See: I get where you're coming from Seamus, and I hate communism as much as the next guy. But the US kind of has this unfortunate track record of overthrowing socialist nations in South America, propping up dictators that last for only a few years, and then folks just... Ya know, going back to voting for socialism again...