Maddy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 29, 2018 1:45 pm
It's one thing to question the source of a thesis of you have a bona fide reason for believing it to be wrong. It's another when it becomes a habitual way of responding to an argument with which you do not agree and when its purpose is to wear down an opponent rather than to promote legitimate argument.
Why are you so resistant to going and looking at the 990s for yourself? They're a public record.
Maddy,
You are presupposing that my wanting to see sources is to wear down an opponent. It's to do one of two things...
1) Acquire new information or analysis that can help me understand a topic
-or-
2) Confirm for myself and other onlookers that someone doesn't know what they are talking about and isn't worth wasting MY/OUR time considering their posts.
If you are are in-fact grossly under-informed or afraid to share who you follow, I don't particularly care if you feel like you have to waste YOUR time, as you've just wasted OURS by posting sourceless drivel. If you have sources, it shouldn't be a huge waste of time.
For example, I have strong opinions on foreign policy and civil libertarianism...I could easily give you 5 people right off the bat that I'd recommend following on those topics. Just like I EASILY posted sources for all the MR/MMT monetary system debates we had back in the day. The reading wasn't easy, but the sharing was.
Even if I find 990's (I think I found access to a couple yesterday before having to get some work done), I still have to research the organizations. And even if I come to the conclusions that the organizations give to liberal causes, I have to find if there are some hard-leftist causes. And if there are, I then have to somehow weave that into a narrative that you generally claim which goes WAAAY beyond Soros and into establishment political power in the U.S. and somehow only represents "the left," is simultaneously corporatist and hard-leftist in nature, parse out what the TRUE belivers of this cause want vs the "useful idiots." I then also have to somehow find out that conservatives are generally benevolent and in-fact almost devoid of power compared to "the left," which seems to conflict with much of what I currently know.
Only then can I come even close to arriving at some of the conclusions you arrive at.
And keep in mind I have to do this without descending into conspiracy theorist websites and sources that are completely full of it.
Please give us a shortcut if there is ANYONE out there in media or public commentary that dives into this stuff and comes out with the same conclusions you do about "the left," international corporatism as a sub-set thereof, generally and historically benevolent conservatism, etc. There either has to be someone you can name for us to read/view their content, or you're telling us that you're alone on this topic as far as you can tell.