Good. I actually gave one reason that shows that there is a rational difference between “crimes (or inequality) has gone up and we need to do something” and “crimes (or inequality) has gone down, but we still need to gain more”:
“Another reason for why the Argument from Crisis is rhetorically effective is of course that we believe that whatever trend there is will continue (rightly or wrongly). Hence if we think that crime or inequality is increasing, we believe that it will continue do so unless we do something about it.”
You point to another important such reason, however.
Still my hunch is that loss aversion is a major reason why the Argument from Crisis is so effective.
Good. I actually gave one reason that shows that there is a rational difference between “crimes (or inequality) has gone up and we need to do something” and “crimes (or inequality) has gone down, but we still need to gain more”:
“Another reason for why the Argument from Crisis is rhetorically effective is of course that we believe that whatever trend there is will continue (rightly or wrongly). Hence if we think that crime or inequality is increasing, we believe that it will continue do so unless we do something about it.”
You point to another important such reason, however.
Still my hunch is that loss aversion is a major reason why the Argument from Crisis is so effective.