Type I: Overestimations of the group — its power and morality

Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of “disloyalty”
Mindguards— self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

It’s still around now. Isn’t it what people were voting for when they voted for Biden and “normal” politics? The party left criticizes Biden for what they think was too moderate and consensus-oriented an approach. What really made them angry is that their form of groupthink didn’t prevail over the groupthink of the more Establishment, not so radical Democrats. Say what you will about the chaos of the Trump years, groupthink wasn’t a problem then.

If “Biden” is in Wonderland than it behooves us all to be.
If “Biden” is naked, then the only logical thing to do is make clothing illegal….
Etc.

One may well wonder what they’ll do when the depression hits….
(Probably have to haul out the “Things-have-never-been-better” tap dance routine and make it mandatory across the land…the idea being that if people are busy tap-dancing 24/7 they won’t notice that the economy has tanked. It’s not original—I stole the idea from Krugman.)

This guy makes Klaus Schwab look like a piker, a dilatente in the court of the Good Idea Fairies.

Admittedly, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel, but you did it with a nuclear-tipped torpedo. So well-deserved.

As both an old guy and an old-fashioned guy, I still have a sense of shame. So, if I were in Stephens’ shoes and happened to read your column, I would resign from the NY Times and try to do something with my life.

Forty years ago, when I was in the Air Force, one of the more raunchy expressions that my fellow enlisted folks used when talking about what they’d do after separating, went like this: “I’m going to get a job cleaning the restrooms at the bus station with my tongue until I get my self-respect back.”

That might be a good place for Stephens to start.

The crops are blighted.

What the man just did is admit that he’s a complete, total, fucking imbecile, whose “advice” should be scoffed at by drunken homeless bums.

“Hey, have some free money!” ??

Yeah, no one’s going to spend THAT. Particularly not governments. What planet are you from, you lackwit idiot, that that has not ALWAYS been the nature of the people around you?

Not everyone lives paycheck to paycheck in this country, even though the Feds are idiots.