Clearly, the qualities Poles admire in a secretary of state - foreign languages, diplomatic experience, even sense of humor - are emphatically not those desired in a head of state: So be it.
Anne ApplebaumRead
Birtherism surely increased Americans' distrust of politics, though in ways that are hard to pin down. By contrast, when anti-vaxxers persuade parents not to vaccinate children, the result can be sickness and even death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates how misinformation can damage public trust and lead to severe consequences.
Anne Applebaum's quote highlights the detrimental effects of political misinformation, using the concept of 'Birtherism' to exemplify how such beliefs erode trust in political processes and figures. She contrasts this with the anti-vaccination movement, pointing out that the consequences of misleading beliefs about health can be dire, resulting in illness and death. This serves as a reminder of the power and responsibility of information in shaping societal trust and public health outcomes.
Themes
BirtherismDistrustPoliticsMisinformationVaccination
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about current political issues, this quote can highlight the dangers of misinformation.
More from Anne Applebaum
All quotes →At times when people fear death, they go along with measures that they believe, rightly or wrongly, will save them - even if that means a loss of freedom. Such measures have been popular in the past.
Anne ApplebaumRead
Quite a lot has been written, including by me, about the effect of social media on politics, and in particular the way in which the algorithms built into Facebook and YouTube are more likely to spread angry, extremist and deliberately provocative political language.
Anne ApplebaumRead
As a journalist, I know what it is like to incur the self-righteous wrath of people who denounce you for things you didn't say or didn't mean.
Anne ApplebaumRead
If we can't have a public debate because the information space is so polluted, or because people are afraid of the reactions of organized trolls, then we can't really have meaningful elections anymore, either.
Anne ApplebaumRead
Elections are always a Rorschach test - people look at the results and see what they want to see.
Anne ApplebaumRead
Similar quotes
Experience shows that when political governance and economic management diverge, overall development becomes unsustainable.
Mo IbrahimRead
You might be tempted to think that China has a Streisand-effect problem, in which trying to censor an event creates even more publicity. But that assumes the Chinese government doesn't understand the Streisand effect, and that can't be right, because if one government understands attention dynamics online, it's China's.
Zeynep TufekciRead
I considered 4 of these bills [of the revised code of Virginia] as forming a system by which every fibre would be eradicated of antient or future aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a government truly republican.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Behold a republic standing erect while empires all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments - a republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared.
William Jennings BryanRead
I get asked a lot about getting into politics. I say, 'Take a look at politics. You tell me what seems appealing about that.'
George ClooneyRead
By creating an urgent crisis that can only be solved by those fluent in a language too complex for ordinary people to understand, the Wall Street crowd has turned the vast majority of Americans into non-participants in their own political future.
Matt TaibbiRead