The Problem of "Nudging"

For those who didn't read it when it first came out, you might want to check Amazon for Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. It's not cheap - the Kindle edition is $13.99, and the money goes to Leftists Thaler and Sunstein. However, you can get used real books for $5 or less, and a new book is marked at $8.

However, it's a fascinating look at how Leftists think about people, their motivations, and how the Left might profit from those tendencies. Ya' see, Leftists and Progressives think the Normal people (to use Kurt Schlichter's phrase), are kinda stupid.

OK, they think they're VERY stupid. Easy led. Incapable of thinking for themselves.

So, 'cause these Slow People need the Elites to tell them What to think, How to think, What to say and do, Leftists want to step into that void, and just TELL them what they have to do.

Unfortunately, the Brighter Leftists have, over time, observed that Normals really dislike someone telling them how to live. Why, so much do Normals value their independence, they actually elected someone that the Elites told them was No good, in fact Evil, and a Big Dummy, too.

Honestly, those Stupid Normals just don't get that the Elites know better. Maybe the Elites (or, their delegated mouthpieces, those who WANT to be Elite) need to just shout LOUDER.

Hmmm. That didn't seem to work.

That's where the concept of Nudging comes in. You see, the Elite are going to SUBTLY use tricks to get the Normals to act in ways that the Elite approve of. The Elite are going to rig the selection process SUBTLY, by selecting their preferred choice. Those Dumb-Ass Normals are too Stupid to figure out what's going on, and will just click on the Submit button, thereby selecting the Default Choice.

Which, the Elites maneuvered to be the one that they wanted the Normals to choose.

It's all Real Subtle. Because those Dummy Normals are just too Stupid to see what's happening, and will go along like the Sheeple the Elites wish they were.

Little does the Left realize that the Normals have caught on. All those web forms that have "Yes, I want to receive endless spam emails forever" as the default choice have taught the sharper ones to de-select the default. And, thanks to Facebook, they were able to spread that knowledge to others, making it very hard for spammers.

And the Elite said, Damn.

And, it must be Trump's fault somehow.

Here's a take-down of the concept of Nudging.