A few years ago a Swedish anti-globalist explained that he had been in a debate where the pro-capitalists had “constantly referred back to facts”, but the anti-capitalists had been more successful because they “used examples from reality”. Facts vs examples apparently. Aggregated statistics and broad abstractions vs flesh and blood. And I am not sure about who wins such a debate. We human beings like narratives and examples that we relate to. If an audience hears that there are almost 400 million fewer people in absolute poverty today than in 1981, but also hears a dramatic story about a specific individual who has fallen into poverty during this time – it’s not certain that they think that poverty has been reduced.
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