KRUGMAN: "Always be skeptical & Never Rely On Supposed Authority"

[kpete]

Paul Krugman, drawing an analogy between "everyone knows there are WMD in Iraq" and "everyone knows the deficit is the problem", asks a simple question:

What we should have learned from the Iraq debacle was that you should
always be skeptical and that you should never rely on supposed
authority. If you hear that “everyone” supports a policy, whether it’s a
war of choice or fiscal austerity, you should ask whether “everyone”
has been defined to exclude anyone expressing a different opinion. And
policy arguments should be evaluated on the merits, not by who expresses
them; remember when Colin Powell assured us about those Iraqi W.M.D.’s?

Unfortunately, as I said, we don’t seem to have learned those lessons. Will we ever?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/opinion/krugman-marches-of-folly.html?hp&_r=0

[graham4anything]

1. Which is why I don't take Krugman's word, as he is the Op Ed authority in the NY Times

and he makes much money off his 2013 persona which may or may not be his 2012 persona or his 2014 one, which ever way the $$$ he makes keeps flowing.

BTW, I hope in 2014, that the NY Times is finally sold and returns to its old glory, with new owner Mike Bloomberg.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Can you point to a few specific times that Krugman's changed his positions?

I've been reading his stuff closely for > 20 years, and I've not known him to change positions often. On the other hand, time has proven him right more often than anyone I know of.

[graham4anything]

4. He is an authority, therefore his own headline says don't trust authority

And he is an authority, so saying don't trust authority, gives me no reason to absolutely, blindly trust him.

[edhopper]

5. You seem to have completely missed the point of his column.

Or you want to be contrary for the sake of it.

[Dragonfli]

7. oh come on G-dogg, we know you luvs you some authority, blindly and without question

When it comes to Obama and St. Bloom-Earl of NYC.

I admire you for it, it takes guts to post drunk and declare all that is good and bad in the realm with such authority on behalf of authority.

You are one of my favorite new posters, I enjoy the challenge of making sense of some of your finer works of word salad.

Post more often please.

[PasadenaTrudy]

19. I don't think

Krugman would even consider himself an authority, he seems too humble for that...

[Bandit]

20. He said question authority not disbelieve authority.

There is a difference.....

[edhopper]

3. Good thing you didn't listen to him about

the Iraq War, the Bush Tax Cuts or the current deficit bullshit.
Obviously you take pride in being wrong.

[Zorra]

6. That concept has always worked extremely well for me. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Question Authority. Eschew Obfuscation. nt

[chervilant]

9. Will we ever?

Probably not before our extinction event. There will still be people lamenting their inability to purchase the bargain du jour, while millions of us struggle to find water ...

[jwirr]

10. One of the most valuable lessons I learned in college was - always ask how do you know?

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. That's how I was raised, and how we've raised our girls. Always Question Authority....essential.

[randome]

12. I tell mine to not take anything I say at face value, either.

I may not always know what's right.

[NRaleighLiberal]

13. Yes - questioning authority means questioning us as well.

I spend quite a bit of time questioning myself, actually!

[randome]

14. And the paradox is, they respect me and listen to me more often!

Strange how that works, isn't it?

[siligut]

15. This is why Texas wants to stop teaching critical thinking skills in school

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/27/1101959/-Texas-GOP-Platform-to-ban-teaching-Critical-Thinking-Skills-in-schools-The-stupid-IT-BURNS

They want blind obedience to whatever bullshit they want to spew.

[CTyankee]

16. I have to sigh. I have been reading Krugman for a very long time and he has NEVER been wrong in all

that time. And there were times I was wishing mightily that he WOULD be wrong!

[SheilaT]

17. I recall being fully aware ten plus years ago that there were no WMDs in

Iraq. Anyone with half a brain was laughing out loud at the ludicrous "proof", including the drawings a ten year old might have made that Colin Powell showed at the UN. Even back in 1962 we had satellite photos of the missiles in Cuba, but forty years later they could only give us drawings? Really.

Then, of course, there was Scott Ritter, who was screaming to high heaven that there were no WMDs, as well as some other UN inspector whose name I forget.

The only people who believed the Bush cabal were those willing to be bamboozled.

[Egalitarian Thug]

18. Yeah well, being right is no qualification for anything in America. Popularity and the

ability to convince the gullible are the ultimate qualifications for everything.

It's really too bad that we never try any of the ideas that the merely correct propose.
& R

[bvar22]

21. Timothy Leary is NOT dead,

...he has been reincarnated as Paul Krugman!!

[font size=3]"Think for Yourself!

Question Authority!"[/font]

[bananas]

22. He's outside looking in