On Trump flouting norms and why this is a negative development: "[One of the] remarkable things about Donald Trump—and uniquely among American politicians—is that he has violated norms that have been in place, such as: you don’t boast, you don’t blatantly lie. I mean, all politicians lie because all... human beings lie. But they lied under the cover of claiming to be honest. With Trump, it’s patent that he just doesn’t care about factual accuracy. He’ll say things that are in his interest and that demonize his opponents, with little regard for factual accuracy. Insulting a woman’s appearance, insulting war heroes, insulting patriots, insulting his predecessor in office, flattering enemy leaders, insulting allies—all of these things—there’s never been a law against them, but they just seemed to be things that a decent leader would not do. By doing them and not suffering consequences, the danger is that he is actually destroying norms that were a pretty good idea. For example, whether he was trolling or semi-serious about, say, annexing Greenland—let alone Canada, my own country—there has been a norm since World War II that nation-states are immortal, borders are grandfathered in, aggressive conquest is taboo. Now, of course, like any norm, it can be floated. Russia is obviously floating it now. But even to talk about floating it, even casually as Trump is doing, I think is a negative development." Clip from an interview with UnHerd.show more

Steven Pinker

857,855 subscribers

Paylaş İndir