There's a reason why smart socialists actually respect a paper like the Financial Times - because, yes, it's written for the rich, but the type of rich person who subscribes to the Financial Times wants accurate information, which means, almost by accident, the Financial Times sounds more left-wing than much of the mainstream media on some economic issues.
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Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
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Notes -
There's a reason why smart socialists actually respect a paper like the Financial Times - because, yes, it's written for the rich, but the type of rich person who subscribes to the Financial Times wants accurate information, which means, almost by accident, the Financial Times sounds more left-wing than much of the mainstream media on some economic issues.
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