setgree

You can see in Trump’s take on Tim Cook what he really likes about tariffs, which is nothing to do with economics and everything about how it makes business leaders dependent on his goodwill.

Here are some questions I wish "Pause" and "Stop" advocates would address: 1. Assuming we achieve the desired policy goal through a bilateral US/China agreement, what would be the specific metric or objective we would say needs to be satisfied in advance? Who decides whether we have satisfied them? What if one one party believes we have satisfied them but the other does not? 2. If the goal is achieved through a bilateral US/China agreement, would we need capital controls to ensure that U.S. investors cannot fund semiconductor fabs, data centers, or AI research labs in countries other than the U.S. and China? 3. Would we need to revoke the passports of U.S.-based AI researchers and semiconductor engineers to prevent them leaving America to join AI-related ventures elsewhere? How else would the U.S. and China keep researchers within their borders? 4. How should we grapple with the fact that (2) and (3) are common features of autocratic regimes? 5. Do the above questions mean that this really should be a global agreement, signed by all countries on Earth, or at least those with the theoretical ability to host large-scale data centers (probably Vanuatu doesn't need to be on board)?

Who is most likely to take the bait? It’s a question I get asked a lot, so here goes: Self-importance - this is EASILY the trait that has the strongest correlation to taking the bait. People who take themselves seriously simply cannot resist the urge to tell someone else they are wrong Age - The Boomers and Gen Z are the easiest to troll for very different reasons. Millennials and Gen X are the hardest. Stans - if someone stans for a celebrity or a politician, they will take even the lowest quality bait. Tyler Swift and BTS have the most deranged stans you’ll find. Politics - I haven’t really noticed a left or right correlation. Sometimes it seems like liberals take the bait more and sometimes it seems like conservatives do, but it all balances out. But the more someone truly cares about politics, and especially social issues, the easier they are to troll whether they are left or right. So if someone makes 50% of their tweets about politics, they’ll be many times more likely to take the bait than someone who never does. The stronger they believe they are on the correct side, the easier they are to bait. People who believe the worst about the “other side” are easy to troll. Often the same post will have people calling me both a “Trumptard” and a “libtard.” People who are focused on economic issues are harder to troll. People who care primarily about social issues are easier to troll. Doomsayers - this is where left and right are equally easy to troll. If someone believes that America is about to devolve into a fascist or communist hellscape based on the outcome of the next election, you should be able to troll the bejesus out of them. Optimists are harder to troll. Religion - The more militant they are, the easier they are to troll. And that includes atheists. Geography - The more someone hates America, the easier they are to troll. Sports fans - Sports fans are actually a lot harder to troll repeatedly than the politics crowd. They might take the bait once but are less likely to do so repeatedly unless they also hold strong political views, then you can mix the two and they’ll take the bait. That’s where Barry was truly unmatched. Education - The easiest people to troll are (1) Those academia and those with advanced degrees, particularly those who list their degrees in their Twitter bio; and (2) Homeschoolers/those who were home schooled or who went to a primarily religious school. Your average HS or college graduate is harder to troll because they’ve spent more of their lives around normal people and don’t take themselves as seriously. Eating Meat - Vegans are obscenely easy to troll.