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CROSSPOST: NICHOLAS GRUEN: Hobbes on Spin & Bullshit

Brad DeLong · 20 Sept 2026 · braddelong.substack.com ↗

3 korrents from this piece

Brad DeLong did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    Modern PR and corporate values statements are distinctively pathological because they are designed to never face an opposing advocate.

    Their wordsthe distinctive modern pathology is unopposed rhetoric: values statements and PR that pre-empt criticism as they are designed to never face an advocate on the other side.

  2. Our reading

    Modern institutional speech does face adversaries, through journalism, litigation, regulators, social media, and whistleblowers.

    Their wordsit is not true that modern institutional speech faces "no adversary": we have journalism, litigation, regulators, social media pile-ons, whistleblowers, and o on.

  3. Our reading

    Much disagreement is genuinely rooted in conflicting values or contested facts, not merely a lack of institutional standing for evidence.

    Their wordsDisagreement is, often, genuinely about values or truly contested facts.