Source: Persuasion
“It’s the first thing you learn when you go to some rough-and-tumble new school—if you run into a bully, the trick is to stand up to them. More than the particular situation, what matters is the underlying psychology. The point is that, whatever else seems to be going on, bullies usually prefer to puff up than to follow through, and, once they sniff strength, they’ll tend to move on to someone they can more readily pick on. After ten years of Trumpism — ten-and-a-half if we date our current era to Trump’s descent down the golden escalator — the great wisdom of our time may simply be to confirm the schoolyard adage.” (02/02/26)