The New York Instances revealed a superb editorial concerning the upcoming election and Donald Trump. It’s not practically harsh sufficient for individuals who despise him and too harsh for individuals who don’t, and it supplies a surprisingly truthful appraisal of who and what he’s. If you happen to don’t imagine the instances, imagine his former Chief of Workers, John Kelly: Trump is the “most flawed individual I’ve ever met.”
However for anybody studying this publish, you already know this and have made up your thoughts about Trump, whether or not to be towards him or mistaken. Hey, it’s my blawg and I get to put in writing that. However that’s not the purpose right here. Slightly, the purpose arises from lots of the feedback to the Instances’ editorial which be aware its pointlessness. The individuals who must learn the editorial don’t. It’s simply phrases bouncing off the wall of an echo chamber whereas previous individuals write about what younger individuals ought to do.
Younger individuals don’t learn, they argue. Younger individuals don’t learn the Instances, they argue. To the extent some do, they learn the headline, perhaps the primary paragraph, after which get bored and test their TikTok or Insta. So if younger individuals don’t learn, why write to them? Why write for them? In the event that they by no means see it, by no means learn it, it doesn’t exist.
This made me marvel who reads SJ and whether or not there’s any level in writing issues designed to boost questions and provides rise to that the majority dreadful and painful of human actions, considering. Regardless that feedback have a tendency to return from the identical group of individuals, there are nonetheless an awesome many lurkers right here. Are they the identical crowd as when SJ was combating the nice combat to inform those that cops did dangerous issues typically, the regulation sucked typically, courts have been mistaken typically, and that we wanted to do higher?
Many readers within the early days (we’re arising on the seventeenth Anniversary of SJ) got here due to its protection lawyer perspective, and whereas that hasn’t modified so far as I’m involved, some have morphed into the simplistic view of ACAB and Abolish Cops, absurd positions that I reject. They then fled SJ for extra woke views that conformed to their prejudices and gave them no trigger to assume.
So who’s nonetheless right here? I do know what the common commenters must say, tedious although a few of you’ve gotten grow to be, however what concerning the lurkers? Who’re you?
