POSTED September 23, 2009

Persuade xor Discover ⚓

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If I believe everything I said in the second version, why didn’t I write it that way? Why offend people needlessly?

Because I’d rather offend people needlessly than use needless words, and you have to choose one or the other. The courage of past or present union leaders is beside the point. The only reason to write the paragraph the second way is to ingratiate oneself with people who overrate the importance of labor unions. If you want to please people who are mistaken, you can’t simply tell the truth. You’re always going to have to add some sort of padding to protect their misconceptions from bumping against reality.

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