Twitter: @dhfreedman
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dhfreedman
I’m a science journalist and author. I’m a contributing writer at The Atlantic, where I’ve had several cover stories, and semi-regular cover-story contributor to Newsweek. I’ve contributed off and on to a number of publications, including Scientific American, Politico, Quanta, Men’s Journal, and others. I’m the author of five books. I co-founded and for a while ran an online magazine about global healthcare.
I’ve long been primarily a science, technology and business writer, with a special focus on health-related issues. Here’s a sampling of some of the other publications I’ve written for: The New York Times, Discover, Science, The Columbia Journalism Review, Forbes, MIT Technology Review, Self, The Boston Globe, Wired, The Harvard Business Review, The Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, The Boston Globe Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and many more.
I live in the Boston area. My byline usually reads “David H. Freedman.” The “H.” is there to distinguish me from various well-known David Freedmans who are not me, including the animator/producer, the late Bible scholar, the North Carolina defense lawyer, the law/boxmaking writer, the neuroscientist, the Trump administration’s ambassador to Israel, the psychiatric epidemiologist, the Australian racehorse owner, the blacksmith, the cricketer, the late gag-writer, the accountant, and the radio-station manager (whom I met when he was mistakenly installed in my hotel room). There are even several people of note who go by “David H. Freedman,” including an international labor researcher who wrote a book on employment, a Michigan lawyer, and a U.S. Army officer. I am not any of them, either. And no matter what Google tells you, I am most definitely not David A. Freedman, the late great Berkeley statistician, whom I interviewed at his home shortly before he passed away, and whose photo, book credits, and level of deceasedness Google routinely interchanges with mine.
My last book was called WRONG: Why experts keep failing us–and how to know when not to trust them. It’s about all the forces that push experts, be they top scientists, high-powered consultants, pop gurus, financial whizzes or journalistic pundits (like me), into misleading us with flawed advice, and discusses ways to tell good expert advice from the dubious stuff. I wrote about the subject for The Atlantic for the lead feature of the magazine’s annual “Brave Thinkers” issue, and substantial articles about the book ran in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, and many other publications internationally. I’ve spoken about the book on numerous radio and television programs in the U.S. and elsewhere. It’s published by Little, Brown, and you can learn more about it here, and find it on Amazon here.
My previous book was A Perfect Mess, co-authored with Eric Abrahamson. It’s about how disorganization and messiness can be good things. The New York Times wrote a feature article about me and the book, and CBS Sunday morning did a segment on me. You can learn more about the book here, and find it on Amazon here.
I’m the author of three other books–on the U.S. Marines, computer crime, and artificial intelligence–and you can learn more about my books, and browse some of my articles, elsewhere on the site. My work has also appeared in various collections of science writing, and in the Norton Reader.
David H. Freedman 
[…] ‘The End of Temptation.’ The article, The Perfected Self, is written by author and journalist David Freedman. In it he talks about B.F. Skinner’s theories of behavior modification to address the obesity […]
David,
I’m curious about your background in the sciences. Are you a scientist? What makes you passionate enough about science to want to write critically about it?
Thanks,
Christina
No, I’m not a scientist, just a journalist. I’ve always loved science, which makes it hard to even say why–I’m baffled why many people don’t love science. I wouldn’t really say that I write very critically about science, rather I’d say I’m interested in the aspects of science that make it difficult to progress rapidly, steadily or reliably. I think that sounds critical to non-scientists because they don’t understand that’s just the nature of science. Most scientists don’t find my work to be particularly critical of science, they themselves say these things all the time. I am, however, very critical of most science journalism, which tends to focus on those science stories that are least likely to hold up over the long term, and that in the case of health can mislead people into failing to do the things they need to do to live longer and healthier lives.
David wrote: “I am, however, very critical of most science journalism, which tends to focus on those science stories that are least likely to hold up over the long term, and that in the case of health can mislead people into failing to do the things they need to do to live longer and healthier lives.”
Yes. Thank you.
Hello Mr. H. Freedman, I am a college student from MCTC located in Minnesota. I’m doing a research paper on one of your article, “How Junk Food Can End Obesity.” I just wanted to ask, when’d you create your ” About ” post from MM/DD/YYYY. Who is it sponsor of the article, if there’s one?
Hi Michelle. Not sure I understand your first question, “When’d you create your ‘About’ post from MM/DD/YYYY?” Do you want to try to ask it in a clearer way? As for your second question about sponsorship, I think perhaps you’re asking me if some food company or industry group paid me to write it. If that’s what you’re asking, the answer is no, I’ve never received any money from any food company or food industry group, not for that article or anything else. Does that answer your question, or were you asking something else? — Dave
I think the article is way too long. It at one point suggests you do not need to listen to what scientists say about healthy food. I assume we do need to listen to them when it comes to vaccinations though? I am vaccinated if there is a need to know. Yes healthy food movement is elitist. I was a teacher in the Bronx long enough to know what food deserts are. Sad situation for those children whose best and sometimes only meals come from school. I think the article may have been better to focus on eating less. Not exactly what you are eating. Locally sourced fresh food need not be expensive. Do the research on CSA and community gardens. Teach people and children to have respect for those who grow their food and where it comes from.
Hi, David.
Your essay “The War on Stupid People” was provocative. It reminded me of “Coming Apart” by Charles Murray in the sense that your essay highlighted a key source of the growing privilege gap. That gap worries me. I think we are on a trajectory where a growing and substantial number of people will simply be unemployable. I think your idea of government subsidizies to discourage automaton is unlikely to be adopted. Perhaps a guaranteed basic income is the solution but, even there, there will likely be tremendous opposition to such a program (as happened recently in Switzerland where the voters rejected such a plan with over 75% of votes against the proposal). That all being said, those with high intelligence would be well served to be more humble about the unearned privilege we enjoy.
I am using your article The Perfected Self to write an argumentative Essay on Behavior Modification and B.F. Skinner. Are there any sources you would recommend for this Essay? What would I say about you in a Annotated Bibliography for your accomplishments that are not included in this web page?
Glad to hear my article might be helpful for your essay. B.F. Skinner himself wrote a number of books on the science of modifying behavior, and the one I’d recommend is “About Behaviorism.” You can also find some material that might be helpful at abainternational.org, though most of it is aimed at people in the field. Most of what’s written elsewhere about behavior modification is from people who misunderstand the field, and they often know almost nothing about it. A frequent claim, for example, is that the field was “discredited” decades ago by Noam Chomsky, an absurdly wrong notion; another is that behavior modification tries to make people “like” or “dislike” certain things or behaviors by associating them with pleasant or unpleasant sensations, also wrong. I think the information about me on the website is fine for your bibliography. Good luck!
Your Men’s Journal article on wildfires and the WUI was disturbingly prophetic. “It may be paradise, but it’s one spark removed from hell.”
Thanks! Wish I had been way off base on this one.
Mr. Freedman:
In your article about Duolingo, you interviewed three people. That was it.
1)The creator of Duolingo
2) a competitor of another language program
and
3) a professor.
Wow.
After 70 hours (or about a month) on the program studying Italian you wrote about your results and critique.
Suggestion.
Maybe you should have interviewed some of the *users* of the software – both young and old – before you wrote your, what I would call, scathing, article for a more *well rounded appraisal* of a revolutionary language program called Duolingo.
Kind regards.
TR
i have never seen so many dumb generalizations in one article !!
I have never seen such a dumb observation in one comment!! Just kidding. Seriously, though, while I welcome even the shallowest of comments, it might help if you specified which article you’re commenting on. Or maybe you meant all my articles? Which would be quite the generalization.
I really enjoy all your articles in the Atlantic. The latest, The Worst Patients, got me thinking about patient responsibilities. It would be really interesting to know if any employers or governments require patients to adhere to standards (healthy BMI, exercise, no smoking, moderate alcohol intake, etc.) as a condition for receiving free or inexpensive coverage. I realize it would be an administrative nightmare to enforce, but still interesting to think about. Are you aware of anything like this?
Thanks, Gini. Yes, it’s becoming more common for employers to find ways to get employees to take better care of themselves in order to lower healthcare costs. But they have to be careful how they present it–if a plan looks like it’s discriminating against those who for whatever reasons aren’t willing or able to improve their lifestyle habits, then it could run into all kinds of legal and regulatory trouble. So typically these programs offer modest incentives for better health habits, such as rewards for achieving a certain number of steps taken per day. Certainly plans offer significant discounts for being a non-smoker–for some reason, our society is all behind openly discriminating against smokers, but goes nuts if people who maintain any other type of habit associated with poor health are encouraged to make changes.
Did you publish Death of an American?
No, that’s David M. Freedman, I’m David H. Freedman.
Hi David, I’m a student at Utah Valley University, and I’m doing a research paper on your article “how junk food can end obesity”. It caught my eye, being a moderately overweight college student who frequently eats out at fast food places.
In your article, and in the video where you talk about it, you make a lot of bold and generalized statements about the Health and Wholesome food industry as a whole, but for part of the essay I am doing, I am supposed to look at and consider the credentials of the author.
Looking through this page and on the article itself, I have learned that you are not a scientist, but a journalist interested in science- seeing your reply to Christina Quinonez above.
Additionally, while looking around, I have not found any sources that you have cited towards your article, and a lot of what you say comes from personal experience.
Do you have any sources to back up what you say in your article, or any background that should make us believe what you say more than- say, any other journalist covering a health topic? I really enjoyed reading your article, and am eager to work on my essay about it.
Kind regards,
Nikolas Ver Steeg
Thanks, Nikolas. Yes, I have sources to back up everything I have to say in the article. Feel free to point out any particular claims I make that you think call for more sourcing than I already provide in the article, and perhaps I can give you a source or two for them. My background is that I’m a journalist with no financial or other interest in the food industry.
The link to David’s book “WRONG” isn’t working. It leads to a diet website of some kind.
Thanks! I need to go through and update that and many other links on this site. I think the book is easy to find via a Google search on “wrong” “david h. freedman”
Hi,
Just wondering what your university quals are?
Interested. T
Doing some research and cannot seem to find in all the available links
Thanks
Jennifer
Started off with two years in Northwestern University’s journalism school, but ended up with a BA in physics from Oberlin College. No graduate studies.
Were you serious in your article on the
Atlantic arueing against a meritocracy?
Perhaps in your embracing of mediocrity you failed to consider the high costs of those who make significant numbers of mistakes routinely, costs they pay, their families pay, those who work with them and society at large. Also, research has shown they generally do not self correct, nor identity their mistakes. And they are easily influenced to vote for populist candidates who promise them simple solutions to complex problems. Perhaps you can name a few leaders such as get elected due to unsophisticated voters. It might be funny, but it has resulted in a lot of people getting killed.
Nope, I’m well aware of those costs, they’re mostly obvious. I wonder, though, if you’ve ever given any thought to the costs of leaving behind those who fail to thrive in our meritocracy. Also, do you think everyone who voted for Trump is dumb, and everyone who voted for Biden is smart? And what’s your proposed solution for those “mediocre” voters?
No, everyone who voted for Mr. Trump is not dumb. Those with very large incomes have benefited by the tax policies he put in place and many high income earners are quite bright. And, many who voted for Mr. Biden did so on an emotional basis, not based on the exercise of logic.
I do not have an answer in regard to voters who make decisions on the basis of heuristics in the short term.
In the long term, I support the teaching of critical thinking skills.
IQ has been shown to only have a slight correlation to rational analytical thought. The SAT and ACT do not test for it.
Heuristics are easier then deeper and more involved thinking and decision making. Perhaps if we were all taught that when making important desisions we need to think a out what we are deciding and careful consider our decisions and if we are equiped with the tools to do so we all can make better decisions.
In regard to Mr. Trump, I have had many conversations with individuals who are religious conservatives who were very bothered by him and wished they had an alternative canidate. Other than on abortion, he violated many of their values and they felt they were being used. This included both conservative Roman Catholics and Fundamentalist Protestants.
One other thing. I believe that there is a significant diference between a meritocracy and the gatekeeper function that college degrees operationalize.
Specifically, many, actually most jobs until recently did not require college degrees. As example, my brother in law thirty years ago was able to become a store manager without one, instead it was on the basis of his performance.
Ony after race based testing was determined illegal (Supreme Court case regarding Duke Power) did we see a proliferation in the requirement of college degrees rather than positions being open to all based on skills and acheivement.
Today I believe College degrees function to block minority candidates for jobs they otherwise would be able to do.
And advanced degrees along with unpaid and low paid internships and periods of low paying post graduate work and entry level University Positions have an additional function, to ensure that most of the really good jobs, the ones which allow for creativity, spontaneity, flexibility and travel are held by the children of those who can devote the resources to make certain their offspring can get them by financially supporting them during the many years long period of experiance now almost required gain those positions and to do so comfortably and without taking on supplemental employment or living in poverty.
Thanks for these thoughtful comments. It really doesn’t sound like we disagree much. it sounds more like you’ve misinterpreted my article as championing mediocrity. It didn’t; it called for a reexamination of the de facto policies that would today prevent your brother-in-law from becoming a store manager without a college degree.
Please look at this study: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED536488.pdf
It is an academic look at one of the unintended consequences of Griggs v. Duke.
Basically getting a degree has been transformed from simply the acknowledgement of the completion of a level of formal eduction to acting as a gate to keep some people out of some jobs.
If you couple this with the decline of eduction as a leveling factor, especially as you outlined in your article it borders on what could be considered a conspiracy to continue policies of racial segregation in employment.
While it is ancedotal, I recall the story the father of one of my clients who after retiring as a vice-president of a major insurance company and becoming a consultant found blatent racism in the South in the form of the warm embrace and language used by those administrators he acted as a consultant for when they heard his accent, that of Virginia and specifically the Shenandoah Valley. As someone who spent his carreer largely in the North (New York, Connecticut and Ohio) and Texas he said he was taken aback by it. These were younger men and women, but they talked n the manner of the segregationist of his youth in the 1960s.
I believe the underfunding of public education and the proliferation of private, often “christian” acadmies throughout the south is a defuse but strong and self reinforcing set of actions to maintain the power elites in the South, namely wealthy whites who to this day benefit from an inheritance from Slavery.
And, by the way, I am a person who would be classifie as white, actually based on genetics, very white as in Northern European 98% by genotype.
Dear Mr. Freedman,
I was doing some file cleaning when I came upon my dog eared copy of your Marine Corp Article in the 1998 issue of Inc. Magazine. At the time I was working for a liberals arts college as a Dining Service Retail ops manager who had received a promotion to run the Convenience Store, the Cafe and Concession stands and at that time I was a hands on manager. But after reading that article I used the rule of three, empowered my staff, and used the end game thinking to make my operations thrive. My workers at the time were all college students but because the Marines trust 18-22 year olds with responsibility I created a group of student leaders that took to management. Many of them still keep in touch with me today and let me know that was one of their best work experiences.
The Marines know what they are doing and I also added their leadership principals (J.J.D.I.D.T.I.E.B.U.C.K.L.E) and their 11 point training : Know yourself and seek improvement, etc.
Along with some Biblical principals I think I did a pretty good job of leading people.
I hate to think if I had stayed that micro-manager. That would have been frustrating.
Thanks for such a great article. I changed my world.
Sincerely,
Warren Nast
Thanks for these kind and inspirational comments, Warren. It sounds like you instilled a lot of pride in your employees, and I wish more managers were able to do that.
Quit lying for them. You are the vehicle through which fear mongering is delivered to the general public. You wanna wear a mask for the rest of your life, stay locked up in your house? The vaccination and masks don’t work. That’s what the real scientists say. But you’ve obviously sold your dignity for your job. Bravo!!
I just read your article entitled “Millions of Angry, Armed Americans Stand Ready to Seize Power If Trump Loses in 2024” – My critique goes directly to your angle. You include your opinion, such as “stoked by misinformation” and “a fear constantly pumped up on Fox and other right-wing media” to assert facts. I personally know many intelligent moderate Republicans who are NOT hoping to take up arms against the government. The people I know are concerned for the state of the country. For reference, look at the extreme measures taken in Australia to curb covid19 for just over 2k deaths in the country. Americans are not willing to have our lives destroyed because of a disproportionate response form the government. Have you ever thought of researching why there has not been an honest investigation into the origin of the virus? Over 5 million people dead worldwide, and nearly every human has had their life significantly impacted, yet accountability seems to be a foreign concept with this one. Why? There are many related topics Americans are thinking about. Speaking for myself, and I’d venture to guess for many others, the Biden administration is rapidly taking the country in the wrong direction. There’s obviously so much more to it. I just ask that you include a bit of rigorous honesty in your writing. What do I mean by that? The article I referenced above paints all Republicans (BTW, I am not one) as ignorant radicals. There are some, but most Republicans exercise reason and good judgement. I invite you to write articles on BLM, Antifa, and other far-left groups which have caused significantly more damage to this country than any right-wing group. Why do they get a pass? Why is looting, burning buildings & cars, attacking innocent people, etc. OK for left-leaning folks? Why is their behavior accepted as normal? Why? Why are Republicans upset with the current state of the country? Answer the “why” rather than trying to convince others your opinion is correct.
Thanks, Wilson. You bring up some important questions. Hopefully I’ll get to address some of them in future articles.
I disagree with your characterization of the article and of Republicans.
Real Republicans do not support D. Trump, FOX, nor the lies they propagate. They have faced hostility for supporting long standing Conservative beliefs as the new fake Republicans spin on and on with populist, no nothing nonsense to appeal to the mean self centered people who now claim the Republican Party. I left the Republican Party as have all thinking Conservatives, not because we love or even like the Democratic Party, but because we are repelled by new Republicans who really are Dixiecrats, unrepentant Southerners and former Southerners or Copperheads.
You’re right that I didn’t take pains in the article to emphasize that there are many Republicans who, like you, want nothing to do with the Trumpist extremism that has taken over the party. I also could have been more careful to state that even among the Trumpist Republican majority, it would likely only be a distinct minority who go so far as to brandish weapons in support of overturning an election, or to threaten Democratic protesters. Still, if, say, only the most extremist 5% of Republicans come out with arms in response to a call from Trump in 2024 to stop what he says is a 2nd Big Steal, we’ll have an armed insurrection mob of more than 5 million people, and we’ll be in big trouble.
Perhaps I have been misunderstood. The people who are currently indicating they are Republicans are from four different groups I have observed and all are culpable. First, there are those like my elderly mother, life long Republicans who joined the party and campaigned for Republican candidates that were holding to fiscal conservatism, middle class values and held a view America can and should be a part of the world dialogue who were in favor of democracy. They have lost touch with those values and simulate coasting, not noticing the Republicans now in charge don’t share them. Second are Southern Dixiecrats, they took a role in the Republican Party when their real party, the old Democrat Party rejected their positions on Civil Rights. Third are the single issue anti-abortionists who compromise on all other values and embrace the Republican Party despite it not matching either traditional Protestant values nor Catholic teaching. And fourth, opportunistic populists who don’t care about Democracy. They could and would just as easily be Fascists, Socialists, or anything else, etc. , they just want power.
Thanks for the reminder that when we refer to some giant group like “Republicans,” we’re ignoring the fact that there are sub-groups within it that may behave very differently from one another. We often ignore these differences for the sake of being able to make concise, useful observations, but we should remember the limits of those observations.
Yes, who Republicans are is complex as is the case of most large groups which only share a limited number of characteristics, And, referring to them as if they were a single person both alienates the members of said group and helps build that groups self identity and solidarity and this it interferes with interacting with them.
Dear Sir,
I read your article from yesterday. I almost vomited; it is rife with bold-faced lies. I wonder about people on your level of ignorance; are you aware of the lies you spread, or do you really believe your twisted views? ‘Trump this, Trump that. Beware of the Republicans and their guns!’ You said the last time the Insurrection Act was invoked was by Bush for the LA riots. That’s flat wrong. Trump himself invoked the Insurrection Act, when the movement to pretend to care about black people (while actually serving to undermine them) caused riots not in 1 city, but in cities large and small in every corner of the country. You have to know that, right? You can’t be unaware of the massive-scale left-wing violence that went on and on for months, conveniently leading to the election. You have to notice the extreme hypocrisy in your article, right? It is people like you that piss off the right more than anyone with your attempt to rewrite recent history. With all due respect, for the sake of our nation and human freedom, I hope parts of your article are true. If that’s the case, good luck to you… your misinformation is as clear as day to tens of millions of Americans. If we do devolve into a civil war, expect to be specifically targeted by the people you write and lie about. No one said you had to put your name on these disgusting articles and have them published. Most likely you want to be some glorious martyr. In reality, if your own predictions are true, you’ll probably be executed without fanfare and forgotten by the next day. But hey, at least we have our freedom of speech, right Dave?
Thanks for writing, Eric. one note like yours does 100 times more to make my case than anything I can write in an article.
I agree with your observation.
The comments made were rambling, incoherent and appeared to be a threat.
His statement only “makes your case” to unintelligent fools who believe the divisive lies you’re pedaling. He essentially called your article false garbage designed to enrage people and then said, “if” your predictions are true and “if” we devolved into civil war… you yourself may be in trouble for the divisive role you played in the destruction of the country. He made no “threat” but a statement of opinion based on the “ramblings” in your original article.
You’re unintelligent response to his critique only proved HIS point, being that your sole intention is to stoke anger and division.
Have you ever considered writing articles that encourage unification of our country? Articles that would motivate and inspire individuals from both sides of the political spectrum to look for common ground and reasons to respect one another despite our differences?
Or have you no love for our country or anyone living in it that you feel the constant urge to stoke hatred between individuals with different viewpoints? If you love anyone who lives here or in any way wish to leave a better country for the future, maybe you should consider the consequences of stoking further division and trying to irritate people you clearly hate. You become one of the crazy extremists you are attempting to warn against and a critical part of the problem, not the solution when you try and enrage or incite fear in the population.
Your family, and the future of this country deserve more from you. I invite you to the side of common decency and mutual respect. The side that recognizes good and strength in both sides and seeks to inspire unification instead of trying to magnify the tiny minority of extremists on one side while ignoring the same divisive evil that exists on the other side, and even in your own biased heart. You can be better than what you are! Please be better!!!!
Eric, I like your spirit and wish Freedman had the courage to be rigorously honest in his writings. I.E. He, like all far-left charlatans, totally ignores the devastation caused by blm and antifa (both far-left groups aimed at destroying this great country). However, the reason I’m replying to you is to ask you to do your research. When you don’t, your message is discounted. Trump never invoked the Insurrection Act. Back to Freedman’s article, think about it this way – Why did Hillary Clinton lose the presidential election to a man that was, and still is, hated by so many? Why? It’s because there are enough ignorant people out there that believe everything Freedman (Newsweek), CNN, MSNBC, etc. put out there. All the ignorant people believed Hillary was destined to win. When they paint facts only for their cause, it undermines what they’re trying to do. Let them sit on grenades!
As a person who was forced to sell his home under the threat of Imminent Domain because local Republican Government officials wanted to save money and put in a parking lot where my house stood I know without wealth private property, a traditional conservative value means nothing. What does that have to do with what is ranted about those in opposition to the wealthy, such as BLM, I sympathize with them. The Republican Party as it now is constituted does not stand on principles. It does not follow long held beliefs. Rich bigoted Southern White men used their positions in government to advance their agenda, reconstituting a form of subjugation and exploitation which while not slavery functionally was close to it when they lost the right to continue to enslave and exploit others after loosing a war they fought for the purpose of retaining Slavery. Their descendants now control the Republican Party. They have acted as enemies of black Americans, so it is understandable they are treated by the descendants of those exploited people the way they do. Rich, spoiled stupid white people are who are ruining this country and they are ruining it for people like me; a middle class, hard working, intelligent, Private church owned University educated, God fearing, traditional Protestant white male with blue eyes and light white skin whose ancestry qualifies him to be a member of the local Saxon Club and German Club. They have so messed up the principles of a Meritocracy that instead of rewarding talent, skills and hard work that personal relationships based on established wealth and nepotism have come to the for buttressed by a false white racialism. Oh, they talk about traditional values, but they don’t follow them. Opposing BLM and continuing to push racial politics is actually a smoke screen for their desire to keep everyone down, both the descendants of slaves and the descendants of those they lost to like me, whose daughter qualifies as both a DAR and of Union Veterans.
If not for the injustices served to enslaved people, I often wish there had been no War of Secession and the USA had been rid of the South and the Copperheads could have been forced to love it, the USA, or leave it and go down South. We in the North would enjoy a much better country without the near constant drain of our tax dollars for the last 150 years to the South, plus no Civil War costs!
No facts, just opinion from the most recent critic of Mr. Freedman. How about you argue your position. And in regard to unity, I actually have read about the “Unity” of this country at different points in its history and it seldom has occurred. Read contemporaneous accounts of WW2 and you don’t find unity, despite what is written about “the hood war”. I actually heard about from my grandparents who lived through it. And historically back at the beginning it is clear the American Revolution had little to do with personal freedom, it had to do with Rich men, many slaveholders who felt they were disrespected and who had their ambitions to make larger fortunes through the exploiting of the western lands thwarted by a King who promised the natives the land they occupied, historically had used and/ or hand conquered would remain under their control, due to their assistance fighting the French.
Hello,
Good article on ivermectin (October 21, Newsweek)! Only coherent one I have been able to find.
As far as Joe Rogan goes you kept it short and less accusatory than most (all?). Maybe I don’t fit his regular demographic? I don’t watch all his shows. However I have watched enough to know how terribly mischaracterized he is by mainstream media. He always says, “talk to your doctor”. Often followed by the disclaimer that he is an “idiot” and simply a comedian. He does have a mind bogglingly large audience.
He supported Bernie Sanders for president. Not sure why he is considered right wing?
That would make a great article, write an article about him in the vein of the ivermectin article. The research will be hard on you, most of his shows are 3 hours long! I assure you the article will have a built in audience. If you need help with the research let me know;).
I have lived in NYC and rural NY. Sorry to tell you that being into guns is not a direct indication of one’s political views. I also think it’s pretty irresponsible to get left leaning city dwellers into thé thought that there will be an armed reaction to the next election. I feel that notion stokes the fire rather than finding bridges that connect all of us as American in this anxiety ridden and confusing time. I remember all the people who told me Trump wouldn’t leave office and there would be an armed response by his supporters. That Jan 6th mob (or whatever you choose to call them) was not an organized armed reaction. Those people left most all of their guns at home. I don’t have much sympathy for what happens to them, but that was nothing compared to what many were predicting, none of that materialized. I could have told you that having one foot in each “camp”.
There is a whole strata of society forgotten about by the “Lap Top” class of Americans during this pandemic. Many of whom vote democratic year after year. You want to keep trump out of office. Wake up! These people are drifting into a political no man’s land. The lockdowns never took them into consideration. Having been a teacher I know how destructive closing schools was to the mental health of our country’s children. I know they needed to close for a while. They stayed closed far too long. Putting a huge burden on a working class that didn’t have the luxury to stay home and blog about not realizing what it was like to have to spend all day with children.
Find ways to bring these people back into the fold. Not alienate them further, whatever their political views.
Hi, David. I just read your piece on angry republicans/Trump 2024, and I have to say that it is one of the most inflammatory articles I’ve read in years. As a moderate Republican with a great deal of friends from BBC all walks of life, and all across this country, I don’t know a single person who fits your description of armed and angry Trump loyalists. In fact, the only time I ever even hear the Trump name is out of the mouths of CNN and MSNBC anchors. I suspect there may be an angry mob of Trump loyalists, but they certainly only number in the thousands or tens of thousands, and they’re undoubtedly widespread with no ability to organize. They’ll get no support from the vast majority of Republicans and conservatives. Very few people think the last election was stolen. That’s nonsense. Those people are in such small numbers. As for guns, I think you’ll find your assertions to be off base. On a quest for a difficult-to-find hunting cartridge in 2021, I asked several gun store owners/employees who was buying all of the guns, and each of them said it was a very diverse crowd, with young people and women showing a surprising part of those contingents. You imply that guns are being purchased for use in a civil war, but that is not the case. People are increasingly concerned about crime and mobs if varying types. Most of the people in this country aren’t as politically charged as yourself and others, but every time an article like this comes out, I’d be willing to bet both republicans and democrats rush to the gun store. Between FOX, CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and writers like yourself, I can envision a nation in the prophetic state of civil war. Build it and they will come. That being said, I can also see all of our countrymen turning against the media machine that is clearly trying to incite such a war. I’d be willing to bet that mainstream media will be found out and ousted before families take up arms against their mothers, fathers, brethren, and neighbors over something as trivial as political leanings. People aren’t stupid. We read every article and see through the BS, even if we don’t express that observation out loud. When it comes right down to it, the people of this country will point their fingers at the real enemies.
Well said George!
Not true.
Moderate Republicans are a disappearing breed, basically people like my mother and members of her church, elderly people who believe that the Republican Party is still the party they backed when they were growing up, the party of Teddy Rosevelt, Ike Eisenhower and Richard Nixon who in turn busted the trusts & regulated food & drugs for safety, enforced civil rights & put high taxes on the rich to pay down the national debt & build up infrastructure and open diplomatic relations with China & create the EPA. The Republican Party changed when the friendly to Russia, sell secretly to the Iranian theocracy weapons to secretly fund a war, forget about regulating and stopping monopolies, spend on programs benefiting the rich while cutting their taxes Reagan came to power. He was the antithesis of traditional Republican values and lead to the disappearance of them and there replacement by the current groups which run the Republican Party. The Bushes tried to bring it back to somewhat traditional Republican values such as service to country over self, International cooperation, a serious distrust for Russians no matter what they call themselves as well as Iran and other places with governments hostile to the USA and freedom but that did not hold. The Republican tent had by that time as the traditional Republicans left started to accumulate a new core of reliable voters.
Donald Trump was who this new core voted for while the last of the traditional Republicans still paying attention left or decided they really didn’t care about values instead they went for power and the new core Republican voters, a group of bigots, racists, patriarchal people, single issue antiabortionists, Dixiecrats, self centered cut my taxes I don’t want to share, I got mine, go get your owns and blame everyone else “no nothings”.
And why does this group include those willing to scrap democracy, because they don’t believe in it. They are not stupid. They know that traditional Republicans find them offensive and are ashamed to be in the same party as them. They know their numbers are diminishing. They never had power before. They never appealed to enough people to get elected. Each of them recently had a taste of power, of validation. And they are angry they lost and know that if democratic rules are followed they will never regain power.
Donald Trump a charismatic media figure actually did what he promised to do for them and they liked it. They overlooked his ineptitude and his moral and ethical failings because he delivered.
So, yes, they are willing to steal, to lie, to cheat as Donald Trump regularly does. They know what he is and they don’t care. His success was the example they have followed because it worked in the past and almost worked last year.
So, expect more lies, more fabrications from whole cloth, more strange and desperate attempts to put Donald Trump back in power. Some will come from him, but some will come from his followers.
The question for the few real Republicans left is do they want to fight for their party.
Hello Mr. Freedman. I am a student at UNLV writing a rhetorical analysis on your article How Junk Food Can End Obesity. it was a long read but a great one. you make such strong statements and I love how you support your perspectives with relevant personal experience. I would like to know more about your background like why you focus on health issues more and if you feel your message in the article was conveyed and/or effective?
Thanks for writing, Gregg. I’ve focused some on health in my writing not because of anything in my background or any particular experiences, but because I find it interesting and important, and because I think a lot of what’s written about health is misleading. I do think the article conveyed my message clearly and strongly, but most people already have their minds made up about health-related diet and the role of Big Food, so I doubt I changed many minds.