Correct me if things are different in the UK than America, but aren't you leaving one thing out of your analysis: the strong sentiment among the Left that dialog with strongly Right outlets is tantamount to endorsing those positions? Yes much of your essay focuses on the gulf between how Kisin presents himself and how he is, but most of your evidence centers on the lens of who he talks to. As political isolation becomes more the norm across all ideologies, then it becomes functionally impossible for any show to escape its own echo chamber. Yes, Kisin may be genuinely Right wing, but also want genuine dialogue with the Left. If any show with a defined ideology wants to open up dialogue to its opposition, but the opposition won't go along with it, then it's choices are either talk with who'll talk to you or just don't do a politically based show.
That would be an alternative way of explaining some of the data. I dont think it explains why theyve had Nigel Farage on five times very well though. Especially not compared to the rival hypothesis that the guest composition simply reflects his biases.
I'm thoroughly disillusioned with the entire "IDW" and free speech movement more broadly. They operate under obvious double standards, now that their renegade narrative has become the establishment in the U.S. guilty of more severe censorship and intimidation as the "woke" universities and legacy media etc. I may have learnt through that experience not to be so easily swayed by an allure of reason and common sense.
Great work on the analytics in any case but I am also put off by your emotional insults and qualifying Kisin's outcome as a clear conclusion given his "privilege" and paid schooling, which calls into questions your own bias and broad generalizations about people's character and the relationship with their upbringing/origins.
Thanks for your comments. To clarify, I do think I have a bias against people who went to public school (very expensive in the UK), but that bias isn't automatic. It's more like GIVEN that knowledge, if someone from that background acts in a toxic/entitled way that holds more weight as a judgement against their character with me than if I didn't have that information.
Particularly in Kisin's case I note it because I think that he weaponises it and exhibits the WORST traits of that system.
I honestly don’t know enough about UK schools. I went to a French private school. Does that give you a conclusively bad impression of me as well?
To clarify too, I always disliked triggernometry. It clearly caters to the worst and polar instincts. And if you told me that this kind of righteous and arrogant behavior is common in these socioeconomic circles, I would believe you. I suppose I would just not want people to group me or anyone else in with those guys just because we share some social stratification marker.
I think that for me, the way you behave, your interests and conduct constitute the vast majority of evidence. So given just went to private school, that’s not doing much but certain tropes like being a self entitled d-bag AND went to private school massively biases my view towards you because that’s a very specific space.
I think people like Kisin genuinely believe they are centrists, because they believe themselves to be the centre of the world and everyone else exists in orbits of extremism - they're barely able to discern between right and left, everything is just moderate if it aligns with their views, and extreme if otherwise. It's why they are so prone to appeal to the 'horseshoe' model of politics and make the gross claim that fascism is a left wing ideology.
It's going to be fascinating to see how he reacts to this latest move by Trump to start a war in the Middle East. The last ten years have seen conservatives/right wingers/ 'enlightened centrists proclaim their anti war sentiment - civilised people contrasted with the warmongering Musalman.
A holes like Michael Knowles have been jumping right on board the War machine as if it's the most natural thing for them to do, but Kisin should find it more difficult. His pretensions of rational reasonable 'common sense' will require some careful manouvring - and he's a coward who will likely think long and hard before declaring that there was no choice and in any case it hurts Putin. Then again, he might jump to it quickly in case the war is over before he can show how loyal he is.
I appreciate the rigorous analysis here but the conclusion has been apparent for a long time. It is also evident that he is becoming ever more humourless for a self-advertised comedian. Indeed the professions of even handedness are the only faintly amusing aspect of that show.
It's the whole "I am about free speech" really means "I want to publicly discuss garbage ideas that reasonable people have no time for" type of person. Personally, I am very pro-free speech and basically support U.S. free speech jurisprudence as it is which maybe some europeans will think is insane. But when I hear people say they are about free speech I have an alarm that goes off in my brain which tells me to check if it is a rightoid who wants to discuss garbage ideas and therefore I should ignore it or if it is actually something substantial.
Correct me if things are different in the UK than America, but aren't you leaving one thing out of your analysis: the strong sentiment among the Left that dialog with strongly Right outlets is tantamount to endorsing those positions? Yes much of your essay focuses on the gulf between how Kisin presents himself and how he is, but most of your evidence centers on the lens of who he talks to. As political isolation becomes more the norm across all ideologies, then it becomes functionally impossible for any show to escape its own echo chamber. Yes, Kisin may be genuinely Right wing, but also want genuine dialogue with the Left. If any show with a defined ideology wants to open up dialogue to its opposition, but the opposition won't go along with it, then it's choices are either talk with who'll talk to you or just don't do a politically based show.
That would be an alternative way of explaining some of the data. I dont think it explains why theyve had Nigel Farage on five times very well though. Especially not compared to the rival hypothesis that the guest composition simply reflects his biases.
I'm thoroughly disillusioned with the entire "IDW" and free speech movement more broadly. They operate under obvious double standards, now that their renegade narrative has become the establishment in the U.S. guilty of more severe censorship and intimidation as the "woke" universities and legacy media etc. I may have learnt through that experience not to be so easily swayed by an allure of reason and common sense.
Great work on the analytics in any case but I am also put off by your emotional insults and qualifying Kisin's outcome as a clear conclusion given his "privilege" and paid schooling, which calls into questions your own bias and broad generalizations about people's character and the relationship with their upbringing/origins.
Thanks for your comments. To clarify, I do think I have a bias against people who went to public school (very expensive in the UK), but that bias isn't automatic. It's more like GIVEN that knowledge, if someone from that background acts in a toxic/entitled way that holds more weight as a judgement against their character with me than if I didn't have that information.
Particularly in Kisin's case I note it because I think that he weaponises it and exhibits the WORST traits of that system.
I honestly don’t know enough about UK schools. I went to a French private school. Does that give you a conclusively bad impression of me as well?
To clarify too, I always disliked triggernometry. It clearly caters to the worst and polar instincts. And if you told me that this kind of righteous and arrogant behavior is common in these socioeconomic circles, I would believe you. I suppose I would just not want people to group me or anyone else in with those guys just because we share some social stratification marker.
I think that for me, the way you behave, your interests and conduct constitute the vast majority of evidence. So given just went to private school, that’s not doing much but certain tropes like being a self entitled d-bag AND went to private school massively biases my view towards you because that’s a very specific space.
fantastic work.
I think people like Kisin genuinely believe they are centrists, because they believe themselves to be the centre of the world and everyone else exists in orbits of extremism - they're barely able to discern between right and left, everything is just moderate if it aligns with their views, and extreme if otherwise. It's why they are so prone to appeal to the 'horseshoe' model of politics and make the gross claim that fascism is a left wing ideology.
It's going to be fascinating to see how he reacts to this latest move by Trump to start a war in the Middle East. The last ten years have seen conservatives/right wingers/ 'enlightened centrists proclaim their anti war sentiment - civilised people contrasted with the warmongering Musalman.
A holes like Michael Knowles have been jumping right on board the War machine as if it's the most natural thing for them to do, but Kisin should find it more difficult. His pretensions of rational reasonable 'common sense' will require some careful manouvring - and he's a coward who will likely think long and hard before declaring that there was no choice and in any case it hurts Putin. Then again, he might jump to it quickly in case the war is over before he can show how loyal he is.
I appreciate the rigorous analysis here but the conclusion has been apparent for a long time. It is also evident that he is becoming ever more humourless for a self-advertised comedian. Indeed the professions of even handedness are the only faintly amusing aspect of that show.
It's the whole "I am about free speech" really means "I want to publicly discuss garbage ideas that reasonable people have no time for" type of person. Personally, I am very pro-free speech and basically support U.S. free speech jurisprudence as it is which maybe some europeans will think is insane. But when I hear people say they are about free speech I have an alarm that goes off in my brain which tells me to check if it is a rightoid who wants to discuss garbage ideas and therefore I should ignore it or if it is actually something substantial.