Ah, so more of a soft coalition, those have become more popular here in recent years too. It gives the minor parties more ability to stake out their own identity, I think.
And yes, I suppose there's nothing like the English playing the fool to make everyone want to play nice with each other.
So Ireland is controlled by a Grand Coalition of the two largest parties at the moment? How interesting, the possibly of such a coalition gets raised every so often in New Zealand, but its never happened. Has it proven to be stable?
Your position is that Friedman didn't advocate for a welfare state while we are discussing his advocacy of a UBI? that's an interesting position to take.
Friedman had a fully consistent position here. For Friedman, the size of government wasn't about taxes it was the amount of control the government exerted over people's lives (he used the page count of the Federal Register as a proxy for government size, not tax rates or the Federal Budget). A UBI doesn't require people to justify themselves to a government bureaucracy like existing welfare does, so that makes it a reduction in the size of government, even if it ends up costing more in taxes.
If you read Friedman's writings you can see this theme in a lot of things he advocated for. He saw a role for government, but that role was about preventing individual people's actions from unduly interference with each other rather than attempting to impose a view of The Good upon the world.
Yeah, that sounds about right to me. This is a kind of voter that just wants someone to sweep in and fix everything. Of course, if it were that simple someone would have done it already.
This is a good post Christopher, we need more people from the right taking this issue seriously, most of the right is in total denial, and much of the impetus from the left seems to mysteriously peter out as soon as the discussion strays away from forcing a singular vision of the good on everyone or creating a massive government boondoggle.
These chefs are basically the same because they use the same recipe for chilli con carne. I mean, one of them uses human flesh as an ingredient, but otherwise they're interchangeable.
Netfix was like this when it first opened in New Zealand. They couldn't show some of their own exclusives because they had sold the rights to local networks. Once those deals expired, they started showing them on their own service.
If it were like D&D I wouldn't have a problem with it, but managing 4-6 characters in real time is an entirely different class of problem to managing one in a turn-based game.
I've never really been able to get into Planescape Torment. Before the enhances edition, getting it to work was problematic and the fact it uses the worst combat system in cRPGs makes it painful to play.
I finished Disco Elysium yesterday. It is spectacular. And it's on sale at GoG right now. If you like the non-combat parts of RPGs, you should play it, its a genre-redefining as Planescape Torment, maybe more so.
Yeah, those damn neoliberals, wanting to solve the problem with minimal cost instead of implementing every item on the far left's wishlist at once. How can anyone take them seriously?
It's a dialogue-based RPG set in an alternate earth, playing a detective who as alcohol-induced amnesia. But the truly unique part is how its mechanics work. You have 15 different stats, from the fairly straightforward Physical Instrument and Rhetoric, to more esoteric things like Shivers, which gives you insights into the mood of the city and Inland Empire that basically turns you into Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks.
And these stats talk to you. You're having a conversation with someone about history and if you pass an Encyclopedia check, it will chime in with pertinent details. Your Electrochemistry stat keeps telling you to get high. Espirit de Corps gives you insights into you fellow officers, including being shown vignettes of what is going on in your precinct. They also have their own personalities, like Drama tends to call you "my liege" and "sire" and your Authority stats wants you to assert dominance over others.
While its theoretically about solving a murder, it's also about trying to put your brain back together and figuring out what you wanted to drink yourself into oblivion in the first place.
I've stared playing Disco Elysium. It's like nothing I've played before. I think it will be very influential on computer RPGs. I certainly hope it will.
In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek makes a similar point, though he was drawing the distinction between physical science and social science. He noted that the only physical science books the nazis burned were ones whose authors were Jewish or otherwise “undesirable” for reasons unrelated to their work. By contrast, many social science works were burned specifically for their content. His conclusion was that the physical sciences are no threat to tyrants, while the social sciences often are.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Release Date Announced for Jim Butcher’s next book in the Harry Dresden series: Peace Talks”
Ah, excellent. Between this, the last expanse book and the last Interdependency book, this is a good year for fantasy and sci fi.
On “The Irish General Election: A Guide for Folks From A Land Beyond the Wave”
Ah, so more of a soft coalition, those have become more popular here in recent years too. It gives the minor parties more ability to stake out their own identity, I think.
And yes, I suppose there's nothing like the English playing the fool to make everyone want to play nice with each other.
"
So Ireland is controlled by a Grand Coalition of the two largest parties at the moment? How interesting, the possibly of such a coalition gets raised every so often in New Zealand, but its never happened. Has it proven to be stable?
On “Harsh Your Mellow Monday: Landslides Are Best Left for Songs, and Other Fleeting Hopes”
It's campaign slogan can be "Lets get Kraken!"
On “Sanders A Bridge Too Far For Never Trump Republicans”
Donate to Gareth Morgan.
On “Bernie Sanders accepts Joe Rogan’s endorsement”
Your position is that Friedman didn't advocate for a welfare state while we are discussing his advocacy of a UBI? that's an interesting position to take.
Friedman had a fully consistent position here. For Friedman, the size of government wasn't about taxes it was the amount of control the government exerted over people's lives (he used the page count of the Federal Register as a proxy for government size, not tax rates or the Federal Budget). A UBI doesn't require people to justify themselves to a government bureaucracy like existing welfare does, so that makes it a reduction in the size of government, even if it ends up costing more in taxes.
If you read Friedman's writings you can see this theme in a lot of things he advocated for. He saw a role for government, but that role was about preventing individual people's actions from unduly interference with each other rather than attempting to impose a view of The Good upon the world.
"
This is also true.
"
Yeah, that sounds about right to me. This is a kind of voter that just wants someone to sweep in and fix everything. Of course, if it were that simple someone would have done it already.
On “Private: The Case for Conservative Climate Action”
This is a good post Christopher, we need more people from the right taking this issue seriously, most of the right is in total denial, and much of the impetus from the left seems to mysteriously peter out as soon as the discussion strays away from forcing a singular vision of the good on everyone or creating a massive government boondoggle.
On “Painting the Barn: Never Trump, The Lincoln Project, and Ignoring Obvious Answers”
That's kinda burying the lede though isn't it?
These chefs are basically the same because they use the same recipe for chilli con carne. I mean, one of them uses human flesh as an ingredient, but otherwise they're interchangeable.
On “The Happiest Sadist: Phèdre and Kushiel’s Dart”
I just wanted to chime in and say that "The Happiest Sadist" is a really good title.
On “Something, Something Teach a Man to Fish…”
Combine them - Set a fish on fire an you have a tasty meal.
On “Parenting the Apocalypse Du Jour In Three Not-So-Easy Steps”
Smart phones can give you the power to fact-check, but not the inclination.
On “Honey, I Shrunk the Disney Plus”
Netfix was like this when it first opened in New Zealand. They couldn't show some of their own exclusives because they had sold the rights to local networks. Once those deals expired, they started showing them on their own service.
On “Wednesday Writs: Pre-Trial Publicity and Jury Bias in Irvin v. Dowd”
I can't imagine expecting Congress to do anything other than nothing.
On “The Last Day Of 2019”
Yeah, the 20s were pretty good for their era, it was the decades either side that sucked hard.
"
I for one, am looking forward to not having to come up with silly circumlocutions to describe what decade we're in. Welcome to the '20s everyone.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: One of the Greats Turns 20 Years Old”
If it were like D&D I wouldn't have a problem with it, but managing 4-6 characters in real time is an entirely different class of problem to managing one in a turn-based game.
"
I've never really been able to get into Planescape Torment. Before the enhances edition, getting it to work was problematic and the fact it uses the worst combat system in cRPGs makes it painful to play.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Art Theory and Vampires”
I finished Disco Elysium yesterday. It is spectacular. And it's on sale at GoG right now. If you like the non-combat parts of RPGs, you should play it, its a genre-redefining as Planescape Torment, maybe more so.
On “Greta Thunberg named Time’s Person of the Year 2019.”
Yeah, those damn neoliberals, wanting to solve the problem with minimal cost instead of implementing every item on the far left's wishlist at once. How can anyone take them seriously?
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Gaming As A Service”
It’s incredible, I strongly recommend it.
"
It's a dialogue-based RPG set in an alternate earth, playing a detective who as alcohol-induced amnesia. But the truly unique part is how its mechanics work. You have 15 different stats, from the fairly straightforward Physical Instrument and Rhetoric, to more esoteric things like Shivers, which gives you insights into the mood of the city and Inland Empire that basically turns you into Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks.
And these stats talk to you. You're having a conversation with someone about history and if you pass an Encyclopedia check, it will chime in with pertinent details. Your Electrochemistry stat keeps telling you to get high. Espirit de Corps gives you insights into you fellow officers, including being shown vignettes of what is going on in your precinct. They also have their own personalities, like Drama tends to call you "my liege" and "sire" and your Authority stats wants you to assert dominance over others.
While its theoretically about solving a murder, it's also about trying to put your brain back together and figuring out what you wanted to drink yourself into oblivion in the first place.
"
I've stared playing Disco Elysium. It's like nothing I've played before. I think it will be very influential on computer RPGs. I certainly hope it will.
On “Briefly, on the STEM vs Humanities debate”
In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek makes a similar point, though he was drawing the distinction between physical science and social science. He noted that the only physical science books the nazis burned were ones whose authors were Jewish or otherwise “undesirable” for reasons unrelated to their work. By contrast, many social science works were burned specifically for their content. His conclusion was that the physical sciences are no threat to tyrants, while the social sciences often are.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.