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Stephen Hawking Calls Trump A 'Demagogue' Who Appeals 'To The Lowest Common Denominator' (go.com)
An anonymous reader writes: British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking told ITV's morning show that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican Party candidate for U.S. president, "is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator." He said, "Gone are the days we could stand on our own against the world. We need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security and our trade." ABC News writes, "Stephen Hawking understands the workings of the universe -- but says he cannot fathom the popularity of Donald Trump. He went on to say that British voters should keep the United Kingdom in the European Union in a June 23 referendum, saying the EU provides essential support for British scientific research as well as its economy and security.
I don't understand why Hawking's opinions about anything outside of physics is given publicity. Although one of the most brilliant minds of our time, in his field, he's not a politician nor a businessman.
The UK has plenty of issues including the Brexit and the desire of Scotland to secede. Worry about your own country. Let Americans concern ourselves with the affairs of the US. And here's a hint: it's pretty damn unlikely we'll elect Trump as President.
I see the current establishment keeps pulling out bigger and bigger guns to keep in power.
Burn!!
You can't just look at one of the candidates - you have to look at all of them. The choices this time around - to me - seem horrible overall. How does Hawking feel about Hilary Clinton? Who would he pick? The only thing sure with Trump is that things will change. Will they change for the better? Who knows. With most of the other candidates, seems like more of the same corporate bribery and corruption. So when people's backs are against the wall, will they take a chance with the devil they don't know instead of the devil they do know?
Mind of a Trump supporter: Hawkings is part of the system and not a fundalmentalist Christian. Therefore if he is against it then we must be for it. Go TRump
http://saveie6.com/
Statement
Statement
Statement
Conclusion?
Look, say whatever you want about any politician or any issue. But you don't make an argument like this...
Saying "gone are the days when you can operate as a singular nation" needs to be explained. First, you'd have to say that anyone is actually suggesting such a thing. Second, whether people are doing that or not doesn't mean that is or is not a good or reasonable idea.
Meh.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
All the hip people are egging trump on....only to dump him at 5he altar, and say nananana....haha
This is barely an article let alone one with a remote tech slant. Does slashdot sell itself as an ad botnet now?
Just as flimsy as Hawking's opinion of Trump.
While noting that he is not a sociologist, nor behavorial psychologist. His work history does not include work with any intelligence gathering nor counter intel branch. So a slightly above average person is unable to answer a question very far outside of their field of exptertise. Film at eleven. Clickbat now.
Trump is a demagogue? Of course.
I don't have to be Stephen Hawing smart to know that.
The definition of a demagogue is a leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
I'm no fan of Trump, but doesn't that describe the political strategy of EVERY politician seeking/maintaining office?
Where does Stephen Hawking live? Where does he get his news? Do you trust a British Knight to be up-to-date with US politics? If so, why?
How much time do you suppose he invests in looking into the dissenting opinions?
How many people do you think he has around him that might debate the pros and cons of Trump's statements vs. Sanders or Clinton?
Personally, I think this is true for most celebrities that have a legion of personal assistants and entourages surrounding them. I don't think ti's deliberate isolation, but I don't think they're exposed to both sides of most arguments, either. I've had too many 'friends' that *BRAGGED* about how their only/main source for news was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Not sure why it's not a PRIMARY story on Slashdot, but Scott Adams knows exactly why Trump is appealing - and it's not just to the lowest common denominator, but all people that are not hard-core tied with one ideology they will cling to unto death.
Try this mind-blower on for size with the next Trump hater - ask them if they believe anything Trump says, they will say no. Then ask them why the so strongly oppose someone based only on things they are certain he will not do, of their own admission...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How is this news? Why is this here?
Trump is very consciously replaying George Wallace's political campaigns of the '60s and early '70s:
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/22/475172438/donald-trump-and-george-wallace-riding-the-rage
Both men are essentially showmen who didn't or don't necessarily believe deep down in what they are saying, but they love getting in front of a huge crowd and rousing up the crowd with the ugly ("politically incorrect") hate talk it came to hear.
But the point is that it doesn't matter, not even one little bit, whether they are really good people underneath. They say what they do to advance their careers, and if Trump gets elected, he'll want to continue what got him elected so he can win a second term.
BTW at the end of his life Wallace renounced racism and publicly apologized to African Americans. He was often seen in the company of blacks singing and dancing and whatnot.
He should be smart enough to realize that regardless of what he thinks, we're going to get President Trump this fall.
President Trump is exactly the kind of president that the United States hasn't had in over half a century, but has very badly needed.
President Trump doesn't mince words like other politicians do. He describes things as they are, and that's why so many Americans love him, and will vote him into the presidency in just a few short months.
Maybe leftists don't understand this, but the support for President Trump is well beyond what they expect it to be.
Many leftists think that because President Trump has spoken out against illegal aliens, that all foreigners will dislike him. That's actually the opposite from the reality we're seeing! Legal immigrants are among his biggest supporters. After all, they went through the legal immigration process, and this isn't an easy thing to do by any means. Nothing makes them angrier than seeing people who bypassed the immigration process, and who knowingly entered America illegally, get amnesty and other special privileges. President Trump's plans to make it harder for illegal aliens to get into the country appeal very much to legal immigrants.
We see the same when it comes to many other stances that President Trump has taken. Leftists are perhaps blind to what non-leftists think. Despite all of their talk about "tolerance" and "acceptance", it's like leftists are unable to see things from different viewpoints. They just can't comprehend non-leftist positions on various issues.
While everybody else already knows that President Trump will be leading America by this time next year, for whatever reason this will come as a huge surprise to many leftists.
Besides a cunt.
Quick question: would we take seriously pronouncements on physics, black holes, and the nature of reality coming from, say, Kissinger? No, that would be idiotic. The man probably knows everything about the subtle interplay of diplomacy, but nothing about physics. The very idea of him commenting on particle physics is ludicrous.
Yet, at the same time, we don't immediately start laughing when someone like Stephen Hawking - who knows everything about physics, black holes, and the nature of reality but likely NOTHING MORE THAN THE GENERAL CITIZEN about diplomacy, history, and the interplay of international negotiations - starts commenting on international affairs, to say nothing of politics in a country not even his own?
Mr Hawking is entitled to his own opinion, of course. But the idea that "we should listen to him, he's smart" is pretty stupid.
-Styopa
Do we post all insults, or only those we agree with? There isn't even an argument here, just a bare opinion: "I don't like Trump." And guess what, I'm none too fond of him, either. But let's just review our alternative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dY77j6uBHI
Okay, so that's not our only alternative. I think I'll write in "none of the above" or something, or maybe my dog. We'd have trouble finding worse candidates, but I'm sure they'll find some for us next election.
will either
* take it as a compliment
* make a joke about disabled people in wheelchairs
* offend Great Britain as the home country ("They did not send us the best persons")
* offend all physicists (Anything beyond Newton an Galileo is just for the elites which want to take away everything from us)
* Suggest to build a big wall against Hawking Radiation ("These Black holes will pay for it, and it will carry my name")
* Make an offensive joke on the penis size
Isn't this literally anyone who wins an election?
"Donald Trump is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator." -- Stephen Hawking
"Stephen who? Who is this guy? I've never heard of him? How can I respond to a guy I've never heard of? Maybe he's a good guy, maybe he's a rapist, I don't know. Some people say he's working for the Chinese to steal American jobs. I don't know but that's what I hear." -- Donald Trump
Only an idiot would bring rationality and reason to a bullshitting contest.
I find it hilarious how hypocritical you are.
You condemn President Trump for supposedly using "insults", yet we see your comment riddled with insults and attacks directed at President Trump!
You ridicule President Trump for allegedly having "ignorant ideas", yet we see so much intolerance, anger, wrath and dislike displayed by you!
You rail on about "conspiracy theories", yet you're the one projecting this weird notion of President Trump seeing success because of "ignorant ideas, insults, and conspiracy theories", rather than just admitting that he's successful because he has widespread public support!
It would be very comical, were it not for the fact that you're serious!
Why not just give everyone voting rights in every election everywhere in the world? That would save them the expense, beyond the means of most, of having to move not to mention brave the opposition of racist nationalist xenophobes everywhere. I mean, it's not like people who are migrating to the US to obtain US citizenship to engage in racial/ethnic bloc voting are going to help drive society in the direction of a racial/ethnic blind society, so the US has already given up on that goal. And think of the benefits: With Africa slated to have the highest population in the world due to its inability to liberate its women, every democratic country in the world can be run by Africans! Well, we'll let Israel off the hook because it's a special place for special people. NYC too, for the same reason. Of course the problem with this Grand Plan is it might temporarily reduce global migration but I'm sure once The Best People were put in charge everywhere, that would change very rapidly.
Seastead this.
So i should vote for the guy who i disagree with but know he's lying?
So you should vote for the woman you agree with even though you know SHE is lying?
That is better why again?
In the end you are voting for a woman who fundamentally is the ultimate tie-in to every status quo between government and business insider dealing that has existed for decades. Or you vote for the person who is part of none of that existing government/business wheel of fortune.
Or you can vote for the woman the press have an inherent interest in covering for and let her continue with behind-doers deals with business and governments all over the globe. Or you can vote for the person who the press will spend four yours putting every action under a microscope.
Think about what RESULTS you want, and vote for that. Not for what the person says they will or will not do.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Stephen Hawking is no more of a scientist than Sarah Palin.
(hahahaha)
All of the above.
Trump polling: Up five points.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Hawking could have just said demagogue instead of saying demagogue and then saying what a demagogue is. Perhaps he's being ironic?
demagogue
demä/
noun
a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.
This is more of the 'Trump is not a real politician so everyone will vote for HR Clinton' argument.
Don't worry: There's a politician who appeals to the pork-barreling military-industrial complex and those bureaucrats who tell everyone only they know the truth.
Both sides of this US election are unworthy of elected office. It's disappointing so many clever people are driven by a 'school tie' mentality.
Everyone forgets the grand-daddy of crazy policies, Ronald Reagan, called Russia "evil" and wanted to declare war on them. When he couldn't get that, he started the Star Wars project: A way to project the US military into every country on the planet. That behaviour is long forgotten and Reagan is remembered as a prophet. Yet Trump is called crazy for having isolationist policies and being anti-immigration.
I totally agree with you about the effect of a bad president, seeing what Europe has to deal with now after eight years of Obama destroying the middle east and handing Iran nuclear weapons.
The difference is I think Trump can at least start to reverse some of the damage by not rolling over for every tin--pot dictator from here to Havana. The funny thing is, you are totally ignorant that the very reason you so irrationally despise trump is why the very elements de-stabilizing the world will irrationally fear him and thus bring about a measure of stability to the world that sorely needs some breathing room to think.
The funny thing is, it seems rather like you are backing far more of a warmonger (Hillary) than Trump will ever be. When the first Iranian nuke detonates in an American city, do a little thought experiment as to what Hillary would do, vs Trump... Trump would at least listen to the council of the military, Hillary would go off on some Libya quality exercise of country annihilation. Hillary has already demonstrated what she would do, yet you still back her.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of America
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
And those who worship them?
Stephen Hawking is a loser. He's stupid and says stupid things, not like Trump, who is smart, has a good brain and a lot of words.
https://www.salon.com/2016/04/...
You are welcome on my lawn.
Hawking is kind of a twat himself. Still, he happens to be correct on this particular non-physics matter.
It ain't rocket science.
I think Trump is actually saying what he genuinely feels (warts and all), which If true then by the dictionary definition of demagogue he CAN'T be one.
by insulting everyone's intelligence with your blather?
morons like you claim you like him because he tells it like it is, yet whenever your betters point out the facts you whine about how your feelings are hurt and that you need to go and hide in your safe place. Face is son, you only like this failed little man because he panders to the willfully ignorant, bigoted dregs of society that are desperate to find a scapegoat for the messes that they have made.
It's pretty obvious that slashdot is getting more political. The new owner is pushing his left coast agenda with nonsense stories like this.
I'm pretty sure it's this political science department.
Randy Newman - Political Science
lyrics
This classic song has never been timelier...
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
Yes, I also can't figure out why preventing illegal immigration to save literally billions per year is a good idea.
And that's just for California.
Who'd've thought that people don't want political correctness, extra crime, migrant welfare, and a change of culture?
Trump's rise is possibly the biggest demonstration of confirmation bias in recent history. Literally *any* news or opinion about the man - be it positive, negative, factual, wrong, not even wrong, cogent or otherwise - simply reinforces his supporters positive opinions of him. Negative views must be "biased" or "politically correct nonsense" or similar, while positive views are seen as "obviously" factual. And it works the other way too: any positive opinions expressed are dismissed by his opponents, and anything sensible that passes his lips is ignored, while every story that paints him as a egocentric, self-serving and dangerous is lauded. If this election doesn't get included in future psychology textbooks as *the* example of confirmation bias then someone isn't paying attention.
I would have thought that Trump is more of a Toxic leader (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_leader) and the George W Bush was more of a demagogue.
That's how you win here, folks. That's how Walmart and Target to go where they are now. Sell the cheapest shit to the bottom of the pond, and profit like crazy. Oh yeah, squeeze your suppliers until they bleed and move manufacturing offshore to keep your business.
The race to the bottom is already won. Thinking people lost. The bottom won. Now we need to deal with the aftermath and reverse the effects.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Retorts with devastating Tweet that Hawking is a no-walking no-talking wheelchair loser who's never made one dime in real-estate. Pulls down trousers and says he's got Hawking's black hole "right here".
Polls surge. News at 11.
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
I was ready to comment but already found scamper_22 opinion that match my own: https://science.slashdot.org/c... "People aren't voting for Trump because they are amazed at his policies. They're voting for Trump because he's the only one (aside from Bernie) actually speaking about issues people want addressed instead of dismissing their concerns. If progressives/liberals actually began addressing the concerns of people. In the stereotyped Trump supporter case, poor white people, they might get somewhere. Instead probably the only message poor white people hear from the left is... you have white privilege..." My big question is: Why progressives/liberals dismiss so easily the real concerns of most voters? I am starting to believe that SOME progressives/liberals actually believe that they MUST BE the leaders above the rest of the people because somehow they are "better" than their fellow citizens... and that is exactly how most deadly confrontations began.
Okay, So he admits he's a flawed human himself. So why does this flawed human think then that he knows shit about people or anything outside the reach of his eyelids?
On the other hand racist socialist populist Barry O appealed to the intelligentsia.
you idiots. You destroyed your own continent by allowing a walking army to colonize you.
While you are too busy celebrating declining populations, and abortion you've just made yourselves part of the Caliphate. Maybe if you'd ever read a book on European history, you'd know how many thousands of years the west has been at war with Syria and friends.
Way to go, now white guilt yourselves some more into why being the rape capital of the world is good for your guilt.
Stephen is talking about half the voting population in the USA.
Fine, the solution is easy.
Give us a candidate that is worth a damn.
That isn't on the payroll for Wall Street, Big Pharma and the like. One who doesn't want to tax me to death to support his ideas.
Show me that candidate and I will gladly vote for them.
Until then, STFU.
You reap what you sow.
Career politicians have been robbing the people for long enough - their lack of any real world talent and greed is the central cause of failure.
Ttrump is the best bet, out of the current crowd that may execute the change people actually want.
Hope Trump wins and the more importantly I hope the people win for a change.
Trump 2016
Rather than opining about the politics of a foreign country, why doesn't he promote a pro-science party in the UK? Though the Europeans have suddenly come to understand why we in the US are so concerned about the replacing of legal immigration by mass insurgency, American political issues are for the most part different from those in his own region. But he would understand the anti-science problem in Europe as being the same one the US faces. Hawking could be a powerful voice for unifying the science/tech community around a new party that represents their interests.
Slashdot are obviously owned by some filthy billionaire, who wants a puppet like Hillary to reduce his tax bill.
Career politicians are the real enemy of the people.
Trump may win with a landslide, and if he delivers on his promises, he will get another super easy four years...
Say no to puppet politicians who don't give a damn about the electorate, and just focus on their greed.
You're seriously arguing that because so many people are here illegally, we shouldn't do anything for fear that they'll burn our cities to the ground?
Well, I'm even more extreme than that. I have this crazy idea that we're all citizens of Earth, and all policies that suggest which patch of dirt you're allowed to stand on, and for how long, are fundamentally evil and racist.
As a first generation Canadian I'm okay with letting most people into my country, but I still want a border/filter to keep out the folks from (say) ISIL/Daesh. Letting in most people is fine; letting in all people is not.
If anyone can move anywhere at anytime, one risks the tragedy of the commons where people arrive, shit all over things, and then move on and not care about the results. Having some barrier to entry, and some "skin in the game" helps to ensure that anyone in a given area has some vested interest in keep that area/community in decent shape.
nothing like a bigoted hissy fit from a trump supporter to show exactly what the dregs are.
That definition also fits Hawking himself.
Trump got $2B worth of press coverage with his "crazy" statements and being a "demagogue", and did it in a way that doesn't necessarily legally bind him to anything he said, because anyone with half a brain understands why he does what he does, and the rest just like the craziness. He's much smarter than people give him credit for.
I'm more curious what he does after he gets the nomination. I think he will continue to troll the (mostly liberal-controlled) press to get 24x7 coverage for free, but I also think he will tone things down considerably, and he will become a lot less "off the cuff", letting experts come up with strategy and talking points instead of making shit up as he goes along. Going against Hillary will be like shooting fish in a barrel for him.
Stephen Hawking is disabled moron that hasn't actually done anything and gets praised cause he has to have someone wipe his butt.
Who cares what a wanker from the EU who no doubt is a brilliant physicist thinks about American politics? Can't really call it the UK if they answer to the EU? This is like caring what Kanye West thinks about Trump... Hawking is entertaining on Big Bang Theory but that's about it. Movie stars seem to believe their politics are elite, I beg to differ. It is still Power to the People in this country, we select our own president thank you very much for your unrequested input we will be sure to comment on your next choice in prime minister.
Trump is a whole lot smarter than many give him credit for. For example, he has the whole media wrapped around his little finger. The man has spent chump change so far on the campaign while his opponents burned through over a 100 million dollars combined. The congress approval rating is at an all time low and the GOP leadership greatly despised for being elected in two landslides since Obama was elected but actually going against their election promises and doing nothing. The people are absolutely angry beyond the establishments ability to comprehend. So long as Trump stands against them and fights he will continue to sway the public. The man can do no wrong, the people are that angry. The Democrats have managed to piss off the worker unions and many of their members are voting for Trump instead of for Hillary, regardless of the union's leadership position. Trump is drawing in many infrequent voters and many Democrats who have awoken to the fact that their party as it currently stands is no longer their party. It has moved so far left it is unrecognizable. They may have been asleep for the last ten years but they are fully awake now. Trump is accomplishing massive feats of political prowess with what looks like very little effort.
The media keep putting Trump on air and hosting debates because their viewership ratings are through the roof and they cannot abide letting a competitor gain advantage of all that advertising money. Whenever the media cycle of hype slows all Trump need do is make an outrageous statement that supports the general feelings of the people but clearly crosses boundaries and the cycle spins back up to full speed. No publicity is bad publicity. It keeps people talking about him and provides him free access to the media.
Meanwhile his enemies, those in the GOP establishment (the career politicians who care not for the people nor this country but seek only to be re-elected and to increase their wealth and power) attack him relentlessly only to be soundly defeated every time. The number of primary votes made in favor of Trump greatly exceed all known records. Trump is making speeches (of which there is little being said) and he's drawing enormous crowds, filling stadiums and arena's to capacity with thousands left outside! The protestors only number in the 100's some of these events drew more than 20,000 people.
His most brilliant move so far was to offer to debate Bernie Sanders after Hillary Clinton refused to debate him prior the California Primary. So Trump stepped up and offered to debate him so long as they can collectively raise 15-20 million for women charities. Now this is smart in several ways. First, it makes Hillary look irrelevant. But the real reason is Bernie is an unabashed Communist who doesn't care if anyone knows it. Bernie thinks he can win a debate with Trump but he's in for a surprise if he underestimates the man. A debate in the public arena of ideas showing what the Democrats truly believe would be disastrous for not just Bernie but the entire party. They would lose even more congressional seats. Bernie would put Obamacare away in favor of nationalized healthcare putting all the insurance companies out of business and he's in favor of free government colleges. Both of which cannot be paid for, there isn't enough money. In order to pay for it he would raise taxes not on just the 1% but on the middle class. Even with all those taxes it would still not be enough money. It would bankrupt the country an
...because I want to hear Stephen Hawking launch into an expletive-filled tirade about Trump and/or other divisive topics?
Strangely I noticed she told the truth to the mine workers in West Virginia a while back.
Didja now?
You mean when she said this:
So for example, I'm the only candidate which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity using clean renewable energy as the key into coal country. Because we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, right?
And we're going to make it clear that we don't want to forget those people. Those people labored in those mines for generations, losing their health, often losing their lives to turn on our lights and power our factories.
Now we've got to move away from coal and all the other fossil fuels, but I don't want to move away from the people who did the best they could to produce the energy that we relied on.
Well, I'm even more extreme than that. I have this crazy idea that we're all citizens of Earth, and all policies that suggest which patch of dirt you're allowed to stand on, and for how long, are fundamentally evil and racist.
I have yet to see anyone who floats this thought acknowledge that some cultures are in fact better than others. If you let the wrong person in- and they're far more common in shitty cultures- they will degrade and destroy everything we've built with our nicer, more secure, more productive cultures.
I'd go further, in fact, and state that people who float these 'borderless' ideas are the ultimate chauvinists, as they imagine that people only naturally think the same way some left-leaning westerner does.
Either that, or you actually seek to undermine and destroy western civilization, and you make compassionate-sounding arguments in order to advance that cause. It's the same way that 'peace activists' are often not against war, per se, but they're simply on the other side, and are hiding their true motives for the sake of expedience.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
I don't see how this is different from Hillary, Sanders, or any other major politician?
In fact, "appealing to the lowest common denominator" of your electorate is arguably what you should do in a representative democracy.
Pretty please! Im Italian and I've spent the last 20 years getting lectured and laughed at because Berlusconi. Now you're on the brink of electing a person so special and unique that Berlusconi is Mother Teresa in comparison. I'll be lighting a candle if you do. Sincerely yours.
is also the largest group. What's so hard to figure out?
Your statement that "Trump supporters don't think he'll be a good president, they feel he'll be a good president. " is absolutely WRONG
Some think he will be a good president, some think he will be a great president, some think he will be a moderately effective president, but MOST simply think he's a better option than the other stuffed suits the GOP offered and far less of an unqualified dirtbag than Hillary.
Think Hillary is more qualified than the Trumpster? Why?
Yeah, she was a young lawyer on the Democrat capitol hill staff that worked to impeach Nixon, but she was kicked off by Democrats for being too unethical
Yeah, the was married to the governor of Arkansas.
Yeah, she was married to a President.
Yeah, she was given the safe senate seat the Democrats were holding for JFK Jr up until he died crashing his plane.
And, yeah, she was given the Secretary of State job, for which she had no training/education and which she thoroughly screwed up.
Where's a SINGLE qualification to be CEO of the nation??????
If you think that being married to a governor and then president counts, then I presume you think Dr Ben Carson's wife is qualified to do brain surgeries, that captain "sully" Sullenberg's wife is qualified to fly airliners, and "Buzz"Aldrin's wife is qualified to land on the moon.
Oh, and as for saying something stupid, Trump would have to work real hard to out-do Hillary (who had a guy jailed for a year for uploading a YouTube video, as a way to distract from her incompetence) or Obama (the guy who thinks the US has 58 states and thinks Navy medics are "corpse men", etc). Obama and Hillary have buckets of blood on their hands, AFAIK Trump has never killed anybody. Personally, I'm more outraged by ACTIONS than by WORDS.
Hawking had a keen insight about black holes decades ago.
The man's gone quite mad since,making all sorts of nonsensical and baseless claims about life-after-death, alternate universes, portals between dimensions and realities etc. The stuff he pumps out nowadays all have something in common:
They're all stuff he just imagines, with all the scientific evidence of the average SciFi novelist and none can ever be proved/disproved within his lifetime but all of these statements are presumed to be brilliant by a mostly science-ignorant but celebrity-crazed press because of his life story and handicap rather than because of the validity/evidence of the claims. All his pronouncements keep his name in the press and thus keep him in the mind of the public, which is handy for somebody who must live off the money generated from things like book sales. To Hawking inc, the validity of anything he types is far less important than the publicity; as the saying goes: "there's no such thing as bad publicity" and nothing will get Hawking more attention than spending 2016 throwing grappling hooks onto the Trump train. For pure PR attention seeking, wrapping your words around Trump sure beats statements for/against any other politician. I'm betting he will make many more anti-Trump statements at regular intervals all the rest of the year.
Let me know if/when Steven Hawking actually does some real science in the post-slide-rule era. He's gotten by quite well living off of science while not actually doing any, so I'd be quite surprised to see him try some real science any time soon. The typical chemistry or physics grad student has done more science in a year that Hawking has ever done, and probably contributed more to the human race.
"In popular usage, “demagoguery” simply means “effective rhetoric on behalf of a political agenda I dislike.” Not only is that a useless definition, but, if anything, it increases the likelihood of people being persuaded by demagoguery. The term once meant “leader of the non-elite” so, essentially, “populist,” and it wasn’t necessarily a criticism."
~Trish Roberts-Miller
Trump talks the way he does because it's what gets other people talking. He calls it "hyperbolic truth". He makes bold controversial claims that can easily be misunderstood for the most effective damage. But the funny thing is with all the spinning people do with his claims it has the opposite effect. They don't damage his reputation or even come close to destroying his arguments. Instead they strengthen Trump because they bring more people to him.
Trump is a very good salesman. He is a real estate developer by trade. He has the history of convincing people to invest in enterprises. He knows how to sale an idea. He knows what ideas are worth selling and to whom. He only needs people to listen to him for one moment. And so when big important people shit on him the smaller unimportant people go to him to get the facts straight. They want to hear that shit for themselves.
People like to get their information straight from the horse's mouth. That is uniquely an american trait. We won't believe a thing until we hear it from the person himself. We believe whole heartily in direct personal testimony. And when the people go and listen to Trump it gives him an audience. And he does what he is very good at.
Go ahead and call him a demagogue. The "lowest-common-denominators" have been called much much worse. And when they hear what the man has to say they understand why he said that way to begin with. Nearly everyone that has become a Trump supporter did so after listening to him. Past the bombastic and hyperbolic talk he speaks some hard truths. His issues reaches a lot common folks who have been forced into the silent majority at a time when the most vocal minority seems to be calling all the shots.
I rather vote for a demagogue than another tone-deaf politician.
For all of his challenges in life he has still been admired and adulated, if not quite well off.
For many people they live a life that is poor and ignored, even if it above a nominal poverty line they don't get much fun beyond a few simple pleasures. What is more they are told and treated as cannon fodder on which society will improved but seldom see any of it themselves.
So when somebody comes along and actually acknowledges them and their struggles existence and does not talk down to them, even if the solutions are unworkable they will get behind them. It is nice to not be ignored for once. It is nice to be told you will be able to work yourselves up a bit in ways of your own choosing, instead of being told we will help you up in the ways we approve of.
I wouldn't vote for the guy, but I did grow up very poor, got out of it through the luck of being smart and stubborn, but I understand why the people back in my old neighbourhoods feel the way they do. Nothing with race and all about economic class, upward social mobility (which everybody wants for their kids) relies on you starting with at least a little bit of momentum and a whole lot of people have seen themselves and family become static and penned in.
What I see is a whole lot of hand wringing from people who are not half as smart or anywhere near as empathetic of others struggles as they like to think they are and it is amusing.
I think that migration should be allowed freely. I also know that some cultures are better than others. Thatâ(TM)s pretty obvious. That theocratic culture that kills and tortures their people is inferior to one who isnâ(TM)t based on religious principles, does not impose capital punishment and is peaceful and prosper. I see that you think that if you happen to be in a place that embraces a good culture you want to keep people from bad cultures out. I think this is borne out of fear. Good cultures, for the most part, thrive on letting others in. How would you question your religious ideas if you are not exposed to alternate viewpoints? How would you enrich your life with new types of food? How would your political and personal views change to embrace new ideas? You need to have exposure to those. Bad cultures also need to improve. We are all together on this space ball. If you let many people from bad cultures in where people of good culture live, they are now exposed to new ideas and ways, an exposure which would not happen in any other way. Many will reject their new culture, because bad culture has some stickiness to it, but those that do not will spread the seed of doubt, spark interest, even back home where the bad culture thrives. Adding to this, bad cultures are rarely universally bad. They bring some valuable ideas, perspectives, that we can import. Even if the ideas are all bad, there will at least be some good food. Youâ(TM)d be surprised how open people of bad cultures are to new ideas, if you approach them with respect instead of fear and contempt.
Borders are obsolete. Deal with it.
Wow, and you were modded "insisghtful", I would have labelled you an arrogant paranoid troll. I hope I don't share too much of your "superior culture".
Black holes occur when God divides by zero.
Hawking needs to get out of his comfort zone and pay attention to what's going on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
And what, Hawking is pro-Clinton?
I had a lot of respect for the guy, that respect got torn down to one subject, his specialty. Politics I honestly think he cannot grasp what is going on in the world, or he is part of the system that is dragging humanity into indentured servitude, caste systems, feudalism, and a whole lot of things we can look forward to. The elitists are oligarchs of the world are the problem, perhaps Hawking is just one of them.
Does he. So he has no idea what life is like for the poor whites (literally 'poor', I mean) who have to watch as their neighbourhoods are turned into third world hellholes.
Let's do a simple thought experiment: if you and your family, and everybody you know, were forced at gunpoint onto a plane, and then taken to Haiti and dumped there, and told there was no way you could ever go back to your own country, so you were now forced to live in a third world hellhole, surrounded by non-whites who hate your guts just because you are white, would that be a bad thing? Would that be wrong? Of course it would. Well, exactly the same thing happens when Jewish controlled governments in formerly white nations open the borders and allow in millions of third world non-whites. White people never asked for this. We have had it FORCED on us. It is genocide, plain and simple. "bringing about the destruction of a race, IN WHOLE OR IN PART".
He's showing once again how so many 'intelligent' people sometimes act or say some really stupid sh1t.
WTF is this doing on slashdot anyway?
If you let the wrong person in- and they're far more common in shitty cultures- they will degrade and destroy everything we've built with our nicer, more secure, more productive cultures.
If one man can destroy your culture then you had a shitty culture and you need to try again.
I'd go further, in fact, and state that people who float these 'borderless' ideas are the ultimate chauvinists, as they imagine that people only naturally think the same way some left-leaning westerner does.
Borderless is coming, and it's coming fast. An increasing number of people are developing their networks and friendships online and they don't care what country their friends are in, but they do care that silly border laws are keeping them from meeting in person. The next generation will change how we think both about nationality and about territory-based borders.
sigs are hazardous to your health
appeal to the lowest common denominator.
In other words, everybody loves Trump and votes for him. Wait, was that what Hawking meant?
Queue Tump making fun of Hawking being in a wheel chair and speaking with a funny voice in 5....4....3...2...
Strange that he has warned about competition from extraterrestrials, but completely denies that there is any competition between groups of the same species that have the same environmental niche.
Make America great again. Vote Trump ! Impeach Clinton !
Need I repeat?
"is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator."
This, coming on the heels of the man who appealed to the ignorant masses who still carry around their "Obamaphone".
That's fucking rich.
Does anyone care about what Steven Hawking thinks?
"Stephen Hawking Calls Trump A 'Demagogue' Who Appeals 'To The Lowest Common Denominator'"
The lowest common denominator he's referencing is "The People"
It's more of an insult to us than Trump.
I want a President who appeals to me. I want a President who will look out for the interests of us "lowest common denominators"
Steven Hawking has the resources to pay people to take care of his every body function yet he would ridicule the people for their choice of President.
Steven Hawking is free to take a long roll off a short pier.
Trump 2016!
(This message was not endorsed by Donald Trump)
- A Frog in a pond utters an azure cry. -
> I have yet to see anyone who floats this thought acknowledge that some cultures are in fact better than others.
That's... that's because most cultures aren't.
> they will degrade and destroy everything we've built with our nicer, more secure, more productive cultures.
There are many, many flaws with the culture of the USA you're conveniently ignoring here. I mean, if you use torture or capital punishment as a metric for how much better a country is, then America is extremely backwards compared to most (or even all) other places on Earth. You're not even a democracy anymore. You're still (on the whole) having problems with racism and sexism, something that has been largely sorted out in Europe (Even though we still have a way to go, we don't have as far a journey as you!). Hell, religious fundamentalists control a large part of your country still, and you're having to fight large parts of the country about the right for schools to teach scientific fact over religious fiction! You're having huge problems with surveillance, and the sheer extent to which your rights and freedoms have been curtailed by the state is still only just becoming apparent. You don't even have a universal healthcare system for crying out loud! What seems like every other day, there is a mass shooting happening in some place or another -- I can't really think of anywhere in Europe with such a rate of gun violence. And that's including the places where guns are not banned.
In what world is such a place 'nicer' or 'more secure'?
Additionally, do you think that it's beneficial and progressive to limit the fruits of modern science, knowledge, etc. to a subset of humanity?
Alternatively: So you think that some people are more deserving than others in the rights that they have, purely because of where they were born, and happen to live?
Culture is not connected to race. They often overlap but they are ultimately two different things. A Japanese boy adopted by Scottish parents wont likely pray to Bishamonten or say "Itadakimasu" before meals unless he actively seeks to embrace his heritage's culture. Also, it's not nazi, you don't get to call a political opinion "nazi" just because you don't agree with it. If all you can do in the face of an opinion is hurl insults, then you are more interested in starting fights to derail the discussion than actually arguing your own points and countering his with facts, statistics, and experience.
So a non-politician, smart dude, hawkins thinks trump is bad as if other politicians are better in the same evaluation criteria
>I have yet to see anyone who floats this thought acknowledge that some cultures are in fact better than others. If you let the wrong person in- and they're far more common in shitty cultures- they will degrade and destroy everything we've built with our nicer, more secure, more productive cultures.
I'm afraid whoever told you this bullshit was lying to your face. All cultures are 100% evil. There is no redeeming qualities to ANY of them. It's our biggest evolutionary failure that we still have them. And no, "your" culture is none of the things you describe. The greatest evils and murders in history were all done by "your" culture. Nearly all the wealth that gave "your" culture it's current dominant position (which you false describe as *productivity) was stolen from other cultures over a half a millenium process of enslavement, oppression, eradication and subjugation. Most of the gold in your vaults were mined in Africa. Hell most of the rare earths in your phone right now was mined by slaves in east Africa.
Your economies are built on ensuring the enduring poverty of other countries because their poverty keeps the price of resources low. You may not rule their countries anymore but you don't need to since you rule the markets.
*The idea that wealth is correlated to productivity is flat out easy to prove wrong. The hardest working people in the world are invariably the poorest. They are also the most ingenius and the most creative. They have to be all these things because without that they don't survive. The wealth of Europe and America is built on the exact opposite of productivity - on laziness, by NOT having to work hard or be very creative or ingenius to survive - people get to spend their mental and physical energy on more profitable endeavors. But the hard work that bring those endeavors to life didn't dissappear - they just got outsourced to people who have no choice but to suffer so far off foreigners can live in luxury. Colonialism never ended... it just changed it's clothes.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
"All other countries" you mean Europe. It has drifted way left. You can watch it sink, starting with Greece and Spain.
Or maybe you think Venezuela is a centrist country? Look at those policies and those failures, then decide if you want to follow them.
These people lack the empathy and imagination required to understand that there are different cultures and different ways of thinking and feeling about life.
It'll be evident from the consequences of their decisions though. Then they'll say they really disagreed all along.
That's how disingenious we humans usually are.
Of course, this is all perfectly balanced from the inhumane and exploitative ways Western culture has evolved, and which other / repressed cultures rightly detest.
We're in a way, starting to harvest what we have sown in a poetic justice kind of way.
However, we have the means to make new balances, right past wrongs and to choose a middle path. We'll need to evolve and adapt even more, but it's possible and even probable. Just need to avoid the bleak scenarios and choose what's best in the longer run.
racism and sexism arent real things here, its a boogie man the media drummed up because fear sells
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Surely, a man as smart as Hawking knows this.
All of the things you just complained about, positions of ending free trade, putting up walls, regulating markets, and insulting leaders, are things that the Chinese and Russian leaders do on a daily basis. You want the USA to tie one hand behind their back. You want the USA up on a pedestal so that others can knock her down.
But maybe I'm just a stupid Joe Six Pack who doesn't see how the rest of the world really is.
American culture is the most diverse of any country on the planet. When you generalize America and Americans all of your arguments fall flat. The US is a relatively young nation state that was populated by immigrants from all corner of the world. Immigrants who wanted to leave their home countries in search of a better life. This process is still ongoing. Legal immigration processes 1000's of new US citizens a week in all parts of the country. Throw away the extreme positions you are inundated with on a daily basis and look at the under lying truth. The screeching rhetoric from the left and right drown out the truth and the people holding those extreme positions only want to generate strife and hatred to make them feel their pitiful opinions actually matter. Oh and there is plenty of health care in the US. Every public hospital in the country is legally required to admit and treat anyone who walks into their emergency room regardless of their ability to pay. That's why hospital costs are so high which ultimately effects those who do have health insurance. Medicare and Medicaid programs also provide health care coverage for those who qualify. The US is not officially the land of free handouts but the reality is somewhat different and the systems are not perfect but they are also not as non-existent as people complain about. And gun violence is what it is.The horse has left the proverbial barn when it comes to gun control. All guns could be declared illegal tomorrow and the result would be that the only ones left armed are the criminals. The US attempt of prohibition led to an increase in organized crime and making guns illegal would make the money earned circumventing prohibition look like pocket change and there would be no decrease in people being killed by firearms. And Europe should just mind their own business when it comes to gun control and hope they don't piss off the US public so much that we will never spill another drop of blood protecting a bunch ingrates who fail to see their current societies were only possible due to the security provided by the US over the past 60 years. I want the US to withdraw all military forces from every where in the world and see what happens. That is what it will take to knock some sense into those who do nothing but criticize and insult the US every chance they get. Russia would own eastern Europe within a year and China would complete what Japan failed to do in WW2 which was take over the South Pacific. Sounds like fun doesn't it.
This is hilarious. Aside from the fact that hawking is not exactly accomplished in political circles and thus has as much political influence on me as the pimple face kid at a drive up window, Trump IS the result of left and mod-left policies.
I have yet to see anyone who floats this thought acknowledge that some cultures are in fact better than others.
Those two concepts are orthogonal; it's not contradictory to disagree with both nationalism and cultural relativity.
Why do we ascribe intelligence to our politicians for merely being elected into office? They are normal, average human beings. They have skills that I don't have much like I have skills they don't have, but they aren't any smarter (or dumber).
Trump, Hillary, Sanders, Obama, Bush... they aren't idiots and they aren't geniuses. They are normal. They aren't gods. They are average.
The whole purpose of the superdelegate system is to "completely ignore huge swaths of the population". The DNC realized that their party had become unelectable and (re-)instituted the superdelegate system in the early 80's.
I have yet to see anyone who floats this thought acknowledge that some cultures are in fact better than others.
Well, which cultures are best, then? The western culture is predicated upon the suffering of others, exporting one's pollution and permitting corporations to ignore externalities for example. We could measure automotive efficiency in miles per murder, if we liked, but that might not be a selling point. That doesn't really differentiate it from eastern culture, but that's my central point. How do you measure? What makes you think you're so great? AFAICT, nothing but cognitive dissonance.
It's the same way that 'peace activists' are often not against war, per se, but they're simply on the other side, and are hiding their true motives for the sake of expedience.
When your country is running an empire with military bases all across the world, and drone striking weddings to take out persons of interest, maybe you start to think that the other side might have a point.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I'm a middle class white person who believes in giving equal opportunity to everyone. I hold a couple advanced degrees from U of Michigan and I make a significant salary.
Somehow it makes me a racist, sexist, oppressor misogyterrorist if I don't want to allow tens of millions of third worlders into my nation. Somehow it makes me a hitlerofascist if I want the fucking law to be applied to the illegal immigrants who live in my nation. Somehow it makes me worse than hitler if I want hiring practices to be completely blind toward race, gender, age and disability and select merely for merit.
The regressive left has no fucking idea why the world is turning on them, but it's about to knock the shit out of them.
Borderless is coming, and it's coming fast. An increasing number of people are developing their networks and friendships online and they don't care what country their friends are in, but they do care that silly border laws are keeping them from meeting in person. The next generation will change how we think both about nationality and about territory-based borders.
I see the extension of the "global village" and culture blending, however, I don't see the erosion of border laws as the end result of these forces. Instead I see advances in consumer grade electronics that allow multi-party VR telepresence, haptic suits, and teledildonics to be the future for those so predisposed and privileged enough to have access.
Another way to think of this is if you have the funds and flexibility to buy an expensive plane ticket, take off of work, etc. for a vacation to go see some people you met online, you would also have the capital to invest in the above mentioned items. And, once you have the gear you have repeated access to any number of adventures with your global community of "friends."
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
Stephen Hawking is the next evolutionary jump in the human species. Part human, part moped, he truly is the next homosapien biped.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-flip-flops-then-flips-and-flops-more-on-h-1b-visas/
Trump has also admitted to using the service industry's equivalent to H1Bs at his hotels in Florida. He's possibly the only candidate to actually HIRING temporary foreign workers directly.
I don't understand why Hawking's opinions about anything outside of physics is given publicity. Although one of the most brilliant minds of our time, in his field, he's not a politician nor a businessman.
Maybe because he is one of the most brilliant humans of our current times who, by his life works and words has made him both an intellectual and moral figure. I would venture to say that, although he is neither a politician, nor a businessman, he might have a better grasp at issues in those domains than the average Joe or Bubba.
Plus, he is not talking about specific (or complex/esoteric) political policies or business practices. He is talking from an ethical POV using history as a guide.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-flip-flops-then-flips-and-flops-more-on-h-1b-visas/
We Progressives feel like the right thing was done in Venezuela even if it was done wrong. We'll make sure to do Socialism right in America.
You don't mind if I crash at your place, for 20 years?
Black and Trump.
Most foreign slashdoters, and even most local, have no clue how the U.S. government works. Most of them think of the President as a king or dictator. His word is law. That isn't the way it is. Outside the scope of his office the president has no more power than a normal citizen of the United States. Granted the power inside his office is vast but it is limited.
When it comes to shaping public policy the president can only really issue decrees called executive orders.
As a US citizen, I'll call bs on this assertion that a POTUS has limited power (as in minimal power.)
Yes, he is not king.
No, he can have enormous influences in governance, politics and law.
He nominates to the SCOTUS. And he has the power to issue executive orders that can have enormous implications both negative (ie. Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII) and positives (de-segragation of public schools.)
Additionally, he has the power to direct departments to implement change with enormous implications (think Obama's new ruling regarding overtime pay.)
And if we were to assume the generalization that foreigners are so uneducated that they think the US POTUS as a king of sorts, let us not forget how many Americans operate under the same premise : Trump will single handedly, by pure sheer bravado will bring all those jobs back from China and, like in the old cotton farm days, he will whip the backs of those lowly Mexicans with his yuuuuuge dick until they build a wall (and no, I'm not exaggerating, some people truly believe this shit.)
Oh fuck off you clown, and close the "doers" on the way out. How typical of the ignorance of Clinton supporters.
Its going to be so much fun watching the butt hurt you will suffer when Clinton fails miserably, and Trump is elected, despite the campaign of made up lies brainless turds like you propagate.
Agreed on keeping the UK in the EU. If Trump wins, the whole world will need all the help it can get!
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
To understand Trump, you must appreciate that he is not a liar, he is a bullshitter:
"Bullshit can be neither true nor false; hence, the bullshitter is someone whose principal aim—when uttering or publishing bullshit—is to impress the listener and the reader with words that communicate an impression that something is being or has been done, words that are neither true nor false, and so obscure the facts of the matter being discussed. In contrast, the liar must know the truth of the matter under discussion, in order to better conceal it from the listener or the reader being deceived with a lie; while the bullshitter’s sole concern is personal advancement and advantage to their own agenda." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit)
The truth value of Trump's statements are irrelevant to Trump and, apparently, his supporters. Once you accept this, you realize that debating about Trump on the basis of facts is pointless. This is the challenge of dealing with Trump.
the only message poor white people hear from the left is... you have white privilege.
I grew up as a poor white kid. The only privilege I had was what I worked for.
Sure, now tell me I had privilege but I just didn't know it ... you're right (about not knowing it). I saw no evidence of it in any part of my life.
I'm going to ask you to please read this twice, very carefully, before you decide to comment.
In this context, privilege is the fact you will most likely never suffer from loan discrimination practices (see link to recent story.)
Privilege is the fact that no one is ever going to tell you you are a quota hire (specially by people less qualified than you.)
Privilege is the fact that no lady is every going to hold her purse a little harder when you are next to her, even when you are wearing a business suit and carrying an expensive suit case.
Privilege is the fact that you can go house/condo hunting at an upscale zip code wearing shorts and sandals, and that you will never be forced to dress business casual just to get a sales person to make time for you (or to lie you that they do not have any new units left even though they do.)
Privilege is the fact no one is going to intercept you as you take your kids for a walk around your gated community to ask, to demand at point blank if you live here.
(*) All the things I listed, they have happened to me as a professional Hispanic of good financial means. African-Americans have it worse. I've personally witness people denying jobs to Black people TWICE freely stating that color was the factor. The things I've seen... SMH.
In this context, privilege is not about making your life easier, or giving you hand outs.
It's about being able to live like a human, without having a system bent over in tripping you as you try to live your life. It's living without being surrounded by ignorant assholes who 1) assume the worst of you, and 2) act upon those assumptions in such ways that 3) have actual, measurable negative effects in your life.
You struggled and succeeded. You deserve credit for that. Now, think of those struggles and imagine a system that, at every other struggle, it puts an asshole that tries to trip you, assault you and sometimes even lynch you.)
The word privilege in this context is not about you or whether your struggles were real, or whether you deserve praise for the fruits of you labor. It is not about blaming you, you specifically. It is about the fact we live in a nation that, even after 5 fucking decades after the civil rights acts, it is still plagued by systemic discrimination.
Privilege here stands for the fact that the fundamental right of being treated equally is still treated as a privilege that can be denied to a whole class of people whenever a hateful motherfucker feels like it.
Well he isn't going to get votes with the Least Common Denominator. Kinda makes sense actually.
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/
BT
I'm "brainwashed" (my father's exact words)
What stands out here, IMO, is the human instinct to form teams and reject outsiders. The "us vs. them" mentality. Apparently it's so strong that it can cause a father to insult his own son over a matter that obviously has no "right" or final answer.
Of course, the problem isn't that you're "brainwashed" -- the problem is that you're on the wrong team.
If something doesn't work, you haven't done enough of it?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
So, if I understand you correctly, I have to apologize for everything that's imperfect with the United States- or Northern / Western Europe- before I daresay western culture is superior to others?
Do you ever stop navel-gazing long enough to see where you're going?
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
it makes it easier to identify bigoted trailer trash before you go so far as to meet their parole officer.
The idea that wealth is correlated to productivity is flat out easy to prove wrong. The hardest working people in the world are invariably the poorest.
Economics 101: productivity != hard work. Economic progress in a free market is not a zero sum game.
Famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking was beat up and raped by a Muslim youth gang. His computer voice was heard saying over and over again. "I thought they wanted to be friends."
GP was talking about cultures - not economics. In that context productivity is a code-word for work-ethic.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
The simple fact that you do not understand that "hardest working" is not the same thing as productivity disqualifies you from any further commenting on this topic or any other economic discussion.
Productivity is not a measure of how hard someone works.
It is a measure of how much value their work generates (usually measured in units of currency) in a given time period.
If someone works in a factory making those infamous widgets, and they use crappy tools to do so they might not make many widgets per hours, or the widgets they do make might be low quality and so fetch a low price.
Give the person better tools (or alternatively, more and better training) and they can produce more or better widgets, and so produce more value per hour worked.
People in the poorest countries of the world tend to work very hard, but their labour does not tend to produce results that are valued very high (again, in monetary terms).
If we want them to be better off, then finding ways of making them more productive is essential.
If you truly believe some cultures are better than others, you're essentially arguing in support of ISIS. I know you probably aren't smart enough to realize that, but others do, and dismiss your ideas because of it.
When did the word Demagogue become redundant during a discussion of politics?
Requiem for the American Dream
some cultures are in fact better than others
That can only be true if members of the "lesser" culture agree. Someone sitting in the US declaring the US is better than everywhere else is ignorant and racist. Someone sitting in the US saying "The Japanese culture is superior to ours" is less ignorant and racist.
What generally happens is some people in each find the grass is greener, and most are happy where they are. In that case, even if you really don't like the other culture, there's no means to gauge it "inferior".
Learn to love Alaska