14 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2023
  2. Nov 2022
    1. Of course, if theblurb is nothing but a puff for the book, you will ordinarily beable to discover this at a glance. But that in itself can tell yousomething about the work. Perhaps the book does not sayanything of importance-and that is why the blurb does notsay anything, either.
  3. Oct 2022
  4. Sep 2022
    1. Could the maintenance of these mythsactually be useful for particularly powerful constituencies? Does the contin-uation of these myths serve a purpose or function for other segments of theAmerican population? If so, who and what might that be?
  5. Jan 2022
  6. Oct 2021
    1. As early as 1928, Edward Bernays recognized propaganda as a modern instrument to produce productive ends and "help bring order out of chaos".

      Amy Westervelt delves into the history of propaganda to uncover the deceit at the heart of public relations, marketing, advertising, and design in an analysis of the business strategies of oil and gas companies in the podcast, Drilled.

      Westervelt pays particular interest to Edward Bernays.

      “Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, coined the term ‘public relations’ when propaganda started to become a negative term. His specialty was using psychological know-how to manipulate the masses and orchestrate cultural shifts in his clients’ favor (clients like Standard Oil, the American Tobacco Company, and General Motors).”

  7. Sep 2021
    1. The press is full of reports that President Biden screwed up the pullout from Afghanistan. But none of the people saying he did it wrong say what he should have done instead.

      I've noticed this phenomenon as well. When criticizing public policy, writers should be required to write down their alternate plans and then go at least one or two levels deep as to the knock on effects that their decisions are likely to have.

      It's easy to criticize, but it's much harder to do the actual work and thinking to actually do something else.

  8. Apr 2021
    1. because the public’s perception of the goodness or evil of a Silicon Valley company often hinges on the design of the company’s apps.

      This is one of the core points Barron is making in the article - the cutesy design choices these companies make are not a whimsical design decision made off the cuff, but the end result of many deliberate UI and UX choices to shore up their image, which helps to counteract against any negative press they might receive.

  9. Mar 2021
    1. It’s the usual Silicon Valley sleight-of-hand move, very similar to Uber reps claiming drivers aren’t “core” to their business. I’m sure Substack is paying a writer right now to come up with a catchy way of saying that Substack doesn’t pay writers.
  10. Sep 2017
    1. Calling people out using the constructionist ideals — The American government is not living up to their high ideals.

      Poetry as a way to express frustration when there is no way to go up against actual US military power. A weapon of the weak; a powerful message.