Splicetoday

Politics & Media
May 02, 2024, 06:24AM

I’m Against Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson has become unreliable and untrustworthy as he toes the party line.

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Tucker Carlson is too smart to sound like Tom Friedman, sweeping aside facts with the alacrity of the machines that sweep the floors of the Moscow Metro, because no substance—neither the most potent soap nor the most pungent solvent—can blot out the image of Lenin and the legacy of Stalin. For Carlson to say otherwise is no oversight, because it takes skill to overlook the truth about Moscow; it takes purpose to ignore the symbols of tyranny. And now, after his ode to the city’s underground, it takes faith to believe anything Carlson says, or rather it takes a true believer—a fanboy or fellow traveler—to say Carlson acts in good faith.

Carlson misreads the red stars over Moscow too. The result is cosmic censorship, or the disappearance of anything contrary to what Carlson says, because it’s impossible not to see these stars—the five-pointed symbols of the Soviet Union—throughout the city. It is, however, easy to see what is missing from this world of false prophets and fake miracles known as Socialist Realism: reality itself.

All art in the Metro is in the service of Socialist Realism, and as subtle as the hammer with which the revolutionary forges the New Soviet Man. In every scene, in every station, the image of the leader of the revolution predominates. In his image, according to his ideology, the commandment reads: “Thou shalt have no God before me.”

All art in the Metro is propaganda of this kind, with unkindness toward non-believers and individuals of conscience. The only truth is the mutual understanding that everything’s a lie. The Russian word for this exercise is vranyo, the art of lying or the game of pretending, for which survival is a matter of silence; from which silence breeds consent, because the state not only has a monopoly on violence, but the means to do violence to history and memory.

All deliberate and visible distortions spring from this monopoly, reducing a multiplicity of forms to a single function: the immortalization of a lie. The effect on art and architecture is the glorification of a dead regime below ground and the preservation of a dead leader above it. The effect on Carlson is to talk like a defector to Russia, with unqualified praise of Moscow. The net effect is to render him not only unreliable, but untrustworthy.

At issue is Carlson’s assertion that Moscow is free of buildings that imprison and oppress the soul, when in fact the city’s a monument to control. Monumentalism is itself the continuation of control through architecture, imprinting itself on Moscow with an abundance of excess. All Stalinist architecture in Moscow is monumental too, with an emphasis on seven buildings (the Seven Sisters) which bear the same symbol of oppression: the Soviet coat of arms.

Take, for example, the main building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The design evokes the Woolworth Building and the Palace of Westminster, but rejects the spirit of Anglo-American architecture. The rejection is obvious, for the building has no mystery. The rejection is willful, for the building has no integrity. The rejection is total, for the building has no soul.

To be curious in necessary matters is to search out a matter, regardless of politics. Tucker Carlson violates this rule, and with it the rules of honest and thorough reporting. He chooses the way of the half-truth, with no effort to broaden his understanding. He deceives himself.

Discussion
  • I largely agree with Bill Asher regarding the socialist realism and propagandistic bent to Moscow's art and architecture but while the oppressive undertones of this form of art may make myself or Bill Asher wince it is not without its elements of elegance and it falls within the realm of subjectivity. What is Beauty? One of the points Tucker Carlson makes is to draw a contrast between Russia's largest city's metro which is clean, safe, orderly and in many ways impressive regardless of what one thinks about the art and the United States largest city's subway system [New York] which is dirty, dangerous and in a state of decay. While beauty is subjective and in part depends on the eye of the beholder ugliest on the other hand is far less subjective. You know it when you see it. People can argue over the beauty of Moscow's metro system but there is no argument over New York's subway. it is the definition of ugliness as well as the definition of dysfunction and a symbol of civilizational decline.

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  • The NYC subway has extensive art installations across five boroughs; photos at https://new.mta.info/agency/arts-design/permanent-art . It's true that the MTA doesn't have a Stalinist legacy to build on https://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/05/art-and-decor-of-moscow-metro-stations.html in showcasing a totalitarian utopia, but I'm happy to live without that.

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  • Thanks for the nice link to the art installations within the NYC subway system Ken. Perhaps I have the wrong mindset when it comes to assessing the experience of riding in New York's subways and should try to be a little more optimistic. When traversing the NYC subways you shouldn't let the aggressive psychotic people who are threatening you get you down or allow yourself to get depressed having to walk around the homeless and over trash, urine, feces and hypodermic needles. Instead look on the bright side and appreciate the lovely art scattered throughout the subway. If you are one of the thousand plus annual crime victims on NYC subways don't let the fact that you were assaulted, mugged or robbed of your belongings ruin your day. Take comfort knowing that there will be a nice mural or art display waiting for you as you make your way to the exit to uplift your spirits. For the many victims of murder on NYC subways in recent years including those who got pushed onto the rails maybe the lovely works of art that they were exposed to while making their way to the railcars gave their souls solace as they fell onto the 3rd rail.

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  • Crestrider, I've been riding the NY subway a long time (I lived in NYC for over 40 years and now live in NJ not far from NY). And it's not that I'm a particular fan of the subway; I don't go out of my way to take it. I don't know where you're located or if your comments are from firsthand experience, but statistics, as well as my experience, suggest your dystopian picture is extremely overblown. See https://www.vox.com/2024/3/12/24097470/new-york-crime-subway-deployment-gun-violence and https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/nyregion/nyc-subway-crime.html for example. It seems to me the NY subway is something right-wingers dredge up as a negative example with the same ignorant disdain that urban leftists have for rural places they've never seen. Disdain for things you know little about is a common human tendency. As another example, I'm extremely familiar with a certain major science magazine criticized here https://www.city-journal.org/article/unscientific-american and have indeed been critical of that magazine myself, but I can see that some right-wingers on Twitter are celebrating that piece without showing any sign they've read the magazine in recent years, if ever. I speak as one of the few (at most) people who've not just regularly read, but written for, both Scientific American and City Journal. I've probably even read them while riding the subway.

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  • Ken my pointing out the crime and degradation on NYC subways may be negative cherry picking but I don't think it is overblown. From Jan 1, 2024 thru March 31, 2024 there were 538 NYC subway crimes which if projected out for the entire year would put the annual total of NYC subway crimes at over 2100... https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/subway-crime-nypd-update-police-plaza/5286151/ I would venture to guess that the 2000 plus annual victims of those crimes and many others might agree with my assessment of the deteriorated condition of the NYC subways. I highly doubt that they would be dismissive of its current state as you apparently are... I would not refer to it as dystopian though [your word]. I save the use of that word for the societies that Stalin. Mao, Hitler, Pol Pot and their ilk have created. I would refer to it as unacceptably dysfunctional though. For me this debate is not about left/right or rural/urban it is about trying to promote and preserve civil society everywhere and for everyone as best as possible. When law & order and public safety breaks down civil society breaks down and it is not only the innocent people that become victims, decency itself becomes a victim.. In civilizations from the beginning of time on through to the present day there have been agents of construction or those that build, maintain, enhance and bring order to society and agents of destruction or those that teardown, destroy, erode and sew chaos in society. Our society today in too many places is not defending itself against the agents of destruction and for those that value civil society this should be unacceptable.

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  • According to the Vox piece that Ken cited, NYC subway crimes are only one per one million riders. If this stat is accurate, then straphangers can feel safe. I know I would.

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  • One per one million rides (not riders), to be technical, but that still seems not too bad.

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  • A similar distinction would help people grasp the supposed number of illegal aliens in the U.S. and how many Biden's "let in.: (Over 7 million according to this ridiculous article accusing Biden of trying to help Hamas: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/saving-hamas ) Numbers like that come from counting what the Dept of Homeland Security calls "encounters," basically meaning arrests, many of which lead to deportation. So someone is deported, they're counted as an illegal Biden let in. They come back and get deported again, they're counted as two people. https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/breaking-down-the-immigration-figures/

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  • I looked at that and the Tablet article is not off by much. The fact-check article you quoted estimated 4.2M illegals through October 2023. (That does not include illegals that were returned/removed, but it does include a government estimate of "gotaways" that were never apprehended.) If you extrapolate 4.2M to May 2024, the government number of illegals that have entered (and not been removed/returned) during Biden's term is 4.96M. That is the government estimate. Legal immigration has been very low during Biden's term (due to Covid).

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  • These 4-5 million figures are not people roaming free. This includes people being processed by immigration courts, often wearing ankle bracelets etc. Also there's no basis for Tablet's claim that "many" are from the Middle East and making a living through political violence.

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  • And that's still assuming we're talking real people based on "encounters." "What is certain is that because of multiple counts of the same individuals, the total number is less than the 4.2 million new undocumented immigrants that Cruz claims have entered the U.S. since the start of the Biden administration."--https://theconversation.com/why-the-number-of-encounters-at-the-southern-u-s-border-does-not-mean-what-the-gop-says-it-means-191144

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  • To bring some clarity to the Vox article that Ken posted and Subbeck commented on regarding NYC subway crime, the one crime per one million riders statistic refers to violent crime. It doesn't include theft, larceny, vandalism. drug crimes or other non violent crimes. It is also important to note that many crimes go unreported particularly nonviolent crimes so the reported crime rate is less than the incidents of crime that actually takes place. While the victims of these crimes are understandably traumatized those who witness the crimes can also become traumatized and they themselves become second hand victims who have to cope with the stress and anxiety of what they witnessed. The witnesses of the crimes that happened over a 7 week span on the NYC subway earlier this year are a case in point. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2024/03/06/nycs-subway-violence-heres-what-caused-a-new-national-guard-crackdown/

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  • Ken, I agree with your skepticism regarding the numbers. But it does work both ways - there may well be more or fewer than enumerated in the estimates. I would certainly not take an estimate generated by the Trump administration at face value. And I wouldn't ever take one generated by the Biden admin either. I also agree that the Tablet article read like propaganda. But you don't have to look hard to find propaganda from both sides on the Hamas issue. I was mainly intrigued by your comment since I had not heard the term "encounters" before, so I looked it up to get a little more background.

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  • Maybe comparing NYC subway to other subways could shed some light. I've taken DC's Metro many times and don't see anything close to what's happening in NYC, both with violent and non-violent crimes. No needles, psychos scaring people, etc.

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  • I don't wish to be an apologist for the NYC subway. It has its problems. It is, though, different from other subway systems in that it's (a) much bigger; and (b) open all night. Policing it is a challenge. I'm glad National Guard were added.

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  • It's my impression that the bad stuff happening on NYC subways isn't happening after midnight.

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  • My daughter is currently going to college in DC and she rides the DC metro frequently and her experience mimics Subbeck’s. She has never had an issue on the DC subway and has never felt unsafe or threatened. When it comes to comparing subway systems one of my neighbors travels to Tokyo once a year or so on business and uses their subway and raves about how clean, safe and efficient their transit system is. Why does the largest city in the world Tokyo have such an exemplary transit system while New York has such a sub-standard subway system? That would be a very instructive discussion to have.

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  • Washington DC overall has a much higher crime rate than NYC. https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=51150000&city2=53651000 Comparing the two totally different transit systems isn't very meaningful in my opinion. DC's Metro is largely a suburban commuter rail that was likely designed to circumvent some of DC's more dangerous areas. Tokyo and Japan have much lower crime rates thsn NY or DC, for many reasons including that you can't buy a gun.

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  • Also, anecdotes about individuals riding around happily in DC or Tokyo, contrasted to news reports of people assaulted in NYC, are an apples-to-oranges comparison. I could similarly tell you how happy I am in New Jersey compared to "Florida man," who's constantly reported to be in trouble.

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  • One last point is that the Tokyo subway doesn't run all night. NY has a longtime policy of 24 hour train service that is highly unusual if not unique, and carries significant costs.

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  • If the Tokyo subway were to run all night, the crime rate on it would remain almost nil. Drunkenness would be the main problem. I don't think running all night is a major factor in this issue, but I'd like to see a breakdown of the overnight crime activity in NYC subway.

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  • The example I gave about Tokyo's subway system while anecdotal does comport with reality https://www.realestate-tokyo.com/living-in-tokyo/tokyo-general/the-safest-city/ As Ken mentioned correctly the low crime rates on Tokyo's subway reflects the cities overall low crime rate especially compared to New York. So the substantive question to ask is what is Tokyo doing right and what is New York, DC and many other cities in the U.S doing wrong in regard to dealing with crime. While it is fair to mention gun violence as part of the problem I think it goes far beyond that seeing as the vast majority of gun owners including myself are responsible law abiding citizens who never commit crimes. The heart of the issue is value systems. Japan has a culture of being considerate and respectful towards others and committing a crime is a gross violation of their cultural ethos . In the U.S morals based value systems have eroded in recent decades and so has the ethos of consideration and respect for others. It also comes down to prioritizing public safety and having policies that support high standards for enforcing the rule of law and maintaining order which unfortunately have also eroded do to irresponsible, corrupt and derelict leadership in many cities and states.

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  • A survey of NYC residents https://cbcny.org/sites/default/files/media/files/CBC-POLCO-REPORT_Full-Results_03192024_0.pdf shows that they're far more afraid of taking subway at night than in day, and also that fears about the subway overall grew greatly from 2017 to 2023 (in 2017 perceptions were pretty good). Probably those fears will remain elevated for some time even though crime in the subway and city may have peaked a few years ago. I entirely agree that it would be good if our culture were more like Japan's in some key respects.

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  • I'd like to see the numbers, as fear doesn't necessarily translate into reality. As for mono-ethnic Japan, we have no chance of replicating their culture in key respects.The lack of diversity for Japan is both a strength and a weakness, just as American commitment to diversity is both a strength and weakness.

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