In political life, boosterism is the overzealous promotion of officials or programs while ignoring actual conditions (particularly conditions of the disadvantaged). It’s wrong and repulsive. (An acknowledgement worth making: I have never criticized boosterism because of a personal concern. My life is comfortable; objections to political boosterism are deep-seated in me as a matter of learning.) Civilizations…
147 search results for "boosterism"
Advertising, Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Boosterism, Culture, Economics, Economy, History, Poverty
Boosterism, ’30s Style
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Although the Roosevelt Administration was (whatever its other mistakes) candid about the economic conditions it faced, there was in the ’30s, as there has been over the 2010s in Wisconsin, a delusional impulse to happy talk – regardless of economic conditions – among some politicians and some business groups. Margaret Bourke-White‘s Kentucky Flood depicts the…
Babbittry, Boosterism, Coronavirus, Corporate Welfare, Disinformation, Economy, Mendacity, Newspapers, Opioids, Public Health
A Newspaper’s Boosterism During a Pandemic
by JOHN ADAMS • • 8 Comments
A worthy person – a man or woman committed to reason, honesty, and seriousness of purpose – would have little respect for the Janesville Gazette. This critical view is not a new one, truly: the paper’s work has been inferior during the Great Recession, during an opioid crisis, during cheerleading for countless state and local…
Boosterism, Coronavirus, Mendacity, Public Health
Grim Reality Forces Fox News to Abandon Its Ignorant Boosterism
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America, Babbittry, Culture
The Antidote to Boosterism
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Bret Stephens offers Neal Armstrong as a worthy example in Apollo 11’s Forgotten Virtues (“Armstrong stayed humble, and human, in the era of relentless puffery and self-promotion”): There’s a short scene near the end of “Apollo 11,” the thrilling new documentary about history’s greatest spaceflight, in which Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong make…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Government Spending, Mendacity, Newspapers
Predictable: From Boosterism to Bad Checks
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Anyone wanting to see how bad boosterism – the desire to push a local project regardless of sound arguments and actual experience to the contrary – can get should look to the 2018 ‘Warriors and Wizards’ festival in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Formerly a Harry Potter Festival, it was rebranded after Warner Bros. clamped down on obvious…
Catspaw, CDA, City, Common Council, Conflicts of Interest, Daily Bread, Entitlement, Foul Pursuits, Hubris, Local Government, Low Standards, Sycophancy, That Which Paved the Way, Toxic Positivity, Unfit
Daily Bread for 9.25.23: The Special-Interest Hierarchy of a Small Town
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
Good morning. Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:46 AM and sunset 6:46 PM for 12h 00m 06s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78.7% of its visible disk illuminated. The Whitewater School Board goes into closed session shortly after 6:30 PM and returns…
Daily Bread, Education, Good Ideas, New Whitewater
Daily Bread for 7.20.23: An Example of Private Educational Initiative
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 80. Sunrise is 5:35 AM and sunset 8:27 PM for 14h 52m 19s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 7.3% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM. On this day in 1972, an…
City, Culture, Daily Bread, Local Government, School District, University
Daily Bread for 7.6.23: Heals & Ails, General & Particular, Public & Private
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Babbittry, Boosterism, Daily Bread, Economy, Local Government, Marketing, Mendacity, State Government, WEDC, Wisconsin, WISGOP
Daily Bread for 5.31.23: Four Million Won’t Be Enough (Because Marketing’s Not It)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Daily Bread, DeSantis, Education, Facebook, School District, Social Media
Daily Bread for 5.30.23: Institutions Are Upstream, Social Media Are Downstream
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Daily Bread, Legislation, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 5.25.23: Narcan
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 66. Sunrise is 5:22 AM and sunset 8:21 PM for 14h 58m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 29.8% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1738, a treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular…
Boosterism, CDA, City, Daily Bread, Economy, Local Government, Poverty
Daily Bread for 5.17.23: The Great Recession Returns (But Then, It Never Left)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Local Government, School District, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 4.6.23: After the Spring Election in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:26 AM and sunset 7:27 PM for 13h 00m 18s of daytime. The moon is full with 99.9% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.…