Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Episode 57: Cucumber Monkeys
Play Now!The title of Episode 57: Cucumber Monkeys refers here not to long, green vegetable carvings of tiny primates, but to a condition I hope you will understand once you hear the content. Remember, when you do, that we have instincts shared by all the primates, no matter how "developed."In this episode, I play Dan Baum, author of "Gun Guys: A Road Trip," as people heard him in C-Realm 356: "Gun Guy." You also hear then-candidate Obama commenting on some voters, and Frans de Waal, a primate researcher. I read in this episode excerpts from Baum's "Gun Guys: A Road Trip," Richard Wilkenson & Kate Pickett's "The Spirit Level," and Steven Johnson's "Future Perfect."Bernie Sanders opens the show with help from KMFDM. Mistle Thrush provides the close.
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I get the relationship between advertising and stoked-up fears, but I'm not sure talking about fear really gets to the heart of the gun-control debate. Sure, some people buy guns or advocate for gun control out of an immediate personal fear of violence. And to some extent, it's driven by longer-term fear about some hypothetical future armed political conflict. But I don't think that's what's really driving the debate. On both sides of the gun-control debate, I think a major driving force is not fear, but disgust.
ReplyDeleteLiberals are disgusted by guns (as a tool designed to kill people efficiently) and by people buying guns (as maybe a way to "buy into" a fantasy of committing justifiable homicide). Conservatives are disgusted by liberal squeamishness, liberals' relative fondness for government force, and liberals' willingness to outsource violence they feel is justified to other people so they don't have to think about it. It's another interminable culture-war thing.
On the point of economic inequality, you did jump a bit from talking about "correlation" to talking about "effect". I haven't read The Spirit Level, so maybe Wilkenson and Pickett make an argument that income inequality causes e.g. poor health and SUV ownership. (And I'd be totally happy to believe that.) But given those correlations, it's important to distinguish between "income inequality causes all of these other things" and "some factor causes all of these things including income inequality".
Hey, L33t!
ReplyDeleteOn both sides of the gun-control debate, I think a major driving force is not fear, but disgust.
Absolutely. That's why I focused where I could on the culture issue, as per Baum's note that bashing gun owners is the last acceptable prejudice allowed. People on both sides are taking their personal opinions, noting how others differ, and framing stereotypes. That's why I ended the show as I did, asking folks to get out and meet the "other" side (as I personally did).
On the point of economic inequality, you did jump a bit from talking about "correlation" to talking about "effect".
Yup. I noticed the slip in the post-edit review phase. I even deviated from the script, so I blame my id. Sadly, I was so late getting this one out, and had a long day the next day, and [insert yet another lame excuse], that I let the slip stand.
I haven't read The Spirit Level, so maybe Wilkenson and Pickett make an argument that income inequality causes e.g. poor health and SUV ownership.
Nope. The authors (unlike me) are very careful to note that there is nothing but strong correlation. They suggest possible causes, but never assert they are causes. That came only from me and [my bracketed excuse generator].
I make mistakes, true. I am really, really surprised I don't make more. Outside of this project, I am a mistake generating machine.
That doesn't mean I don't regret the error. I'll slip a correction in the next wrap-up the details episode. Thanks for pointing it out!