If you must write prose and poems the words you use should be your own
This is pretty devastating:
*All three* chapters on Vice were clotted with mistakes. Lots of them. The truth promised in Merchants of Truth was often not true. While trying to corroborate certain claims, I noticed that it also contained…plagiarized passages.
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 6, 2019
To state one obvious point:
Plagiarism is a bad idea, but if you decide to do it anyway, maybe not name your book "Merchants of Truth"?https://t.co/x1GkAh3BnQ
— David Watkins (@djw172) February 7, 2019
How could this happen?
(as some of you may remember a plagiarism accusation is how Maureen Dowd admitted that sometimes she doesn't actually "write" "her" column herself)
— Italian Alex Pareene (@pareene) February 7, 2019
This is probably the most likely explanation, although especially given the seven-figure advance “I can’t really be expected to write this myself” wouldn’t be much of a defense.
But there’s something darker going on here:
Alessandra Stanley was the TV critic for the Times for literally years despite the fact that she didn't seem to watch TV and constantly made horrific mistakes. She once referred to the beloved sitcom "All About Raymond." But!! https://t.co/1oL9MygEIY
— Italian Alex Pareene (@pareene) February 7, 2019
The idea that filling high status jobs with Ivy League degree holders guarantees high-quality work that should not be treated critically by lower-status people is the kind of thing that can lead to outcomes like “The Iraq War” and “President Donald J. Trump.”