I can bet any amount of money that there is no liberal on my campus who reads more than I do. I understand that he’s talking about general statistical trends. But trends get extrapolated onto individuals all the time. Many times when I’ve said I’m a conservative, people with maybe 1/10 of my readings started trying to condescend to me.
Since Zygmunt Bauman died, I have not found any remotely interesting ideas originating on the left. Nothing, zip, zilch, a vacuum.
If you’ve been on substack for a while, it has been widely noted there, that while conservative/right-oriented writers usually build up a following very gradually, every time a big-name leftie joins substack, they instantly have a follower/subscriber count that stretches the bounds of credibility.
“Lefties are more well-read” is not the only interpretation one could reasonably apply to that chart.
Just as easily: conservative writers on substack have organic followings, while lefties have a massive organized machine that games popularity numbers and financially rewards their propagandists.
-ethyl
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Exactly. Who knows what people actually read on there? This would be more interesting if we had actual reading counts. Following somebody out of group allegiance is a sign of nothing.
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While I think he’s right about the general statistical trend, wouldn’t the fact that X throttles any external link have a big impact here? People used to be able to successfully promote their substacks on there but now they can’t.
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But i/o is one of those people obsessed with looking down on right wingers and calling them stupid, so for obvious reasons this explanation is the one that interests him.
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This insane level of group-think cannot occur in a group of “well-read” people. So either we have to change the definition of the term well-read or stop assigning any positive value to it.
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They don’t even read that much, to be honest. I go for years on campus without anybody mentioning that they are reading something. It’s all a pose, for the most part.
Now I really read, as we are all painfully aware. 😁😁
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https://x.com/i/status/2018703752996209099
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