[FRIAM] Globalism in the age of populism? .. & Open Source Software

[glen ☣]

On 01/27/2017 10:17 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
> Many Trump voters, e.g. midwest blue collar folks, don't appear to want to present it as victimhood.   They came to expect a standard of living, but it was no longer sustainable given the evolution of the economy.    They want to believe it wasn't their failure, so if a demagogue provides them with a story that he knows the perpetrator and will crush them (a Mexican! An Elite!), then that's just perfect.  

Hm.  I suppose it's reasonable to further circumscribe "elites" by saying that it simply _cannot_ have a definite referent.  When the particular populist sits down with someone like Hillary Clinton to quaff a pint and eat a hot dog, it's likely Clinton will be either removed as a member of the referent class or at least be considered "one of the good ones" or an accidental member of the "elites".

That would imply that "elites" is defined by its indefiniteness, not merely a symbol that can be used regardless of whether it's bound or unbound.  It must be an indefinite symbol.  That helps me think about it.  There are lots of symbols we use on a regular basis becuase they work as schema, concept clusters that have free variables yet still cohere.


>> ... Frauke Petry ...
> 
> She's not susceptible, but she is looking for people that are.

So, the question arises whether people like Frauke _know_ they're using an indefinite symbol, like a magician using sleight of hand, or if they really believe the way they've bound it is _the_ value it should take on?

I'm still a bit of a humanist in the sense that I reject original sin and believe the overwhelming majority of people have good intentions.  To know you're using an indefinite symbol and lie by omission, fail to tell your audience that the referent of "elites" is questionable would be a purposeful lie.  So, my preference would be to assume people like Trump (who I think is too simple to know) and Frauke (who is not too simple, but still susceptible to confirmation bias) don't realize "elites" is and must be indefinite for it to do any linguistic work.

-- 
☣ glen