Yesterday, I tested the claims made by journalists that the loss of Disneyworld’s special district status in Florida would be devastating to local taxpayers and leave the counties that are home to the giant theme park ‘staring at financial ruin.’ In response, some commenters talked about the matters of principle that I hadn’t examined, like the inherent correctness or abusiveness of the power to tax. All of that is just fine, and is ultimately a worthwhile discussion, but here’s what I mean to say:
We live in such a degraded information environment that we can’t get to discussions of principle.
Over and over again, journalism doesn’t begin to accurately describe; consuming it, we don’t get to the starting line of a functioning political discourse, which is just knowing what’s happening, more or less. We’re buried in fakery, in representations of reality that have no connection to reality. A highly respected British intelligence professional with deep connections to Russian sources has revealed the existence of a videotape showing that Donald Trump traveled to Moscow to pay prostitutes to have a golden shower party in Barack Obama’s hotel room bed, news at 11:00. Trust us, man, this totally happened. Read more…