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tim comments on Open Thread, Jul. 13 - Jul. 19, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
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Are you confused as to why politicians would repeat a phrase that reliably energizes their political base even though it may not represent reality completely accurately?
I think the issue is how seriously do you want to take that phrase.
For example, a few years ago when Putin was talking about gathering all the Russians under the protective wings of Mother Russia, most people interpreted this as a "phrase that reliably energizes [his] political base". And then Ukraine happened.
If certain phrases "energize" the voters, it seems likely that they will vote for the politician who promises to do it. And if the politician wants to be elected repeatedly, sooner or later he must start doing something that at least resembles the promise.
Or if the politician isn't willing to do it, he'll get replaced by someone who is.
A counter-example: the recent Greek referendum X-/
But yes, you make a fair point and so raise an interesting question -- what would be that "something that at least resembles the promise" with respect to the "Death to America" chants?
In general, no. But I take the chant as evidence that lots of people in Iran would be happy if an atomic bomb went off in New York City. If someone says he wants to kill me, I raise my estimate of the likelihood of him wanting to kill me. If he says it over and over again to his cheering friends, I fear him and want him to be weak even if in the past I have given him justifiable cause for offense. I become really, really scared and desperate if I think he would be willing to kill me even at the cost of giving up his own life. I wish my president shared this view.