Are you kidding? How about being part of the "neoliberal" vanguard that utterly undercut the Democrats and liberals ability to fight back against Bushite conservatism, the greatest American disaster of my lifetime? When you take part in an effort to force your party and your ideology into a stance of constant and total capitulation, and then your party and ideology are deeply damaged from it, yes, you are to blame. And that is a lesson that I am not alone in learning, and we won't be fooled again.
Time will tell. But I'll bet you a doughnut that the music industry and the PC games industry will have effectively collapsed within the next five years. And it's already happening in music. I don't think that the record companies are entirely honest on this issue. But I also don't think that they are lying when they say that professionally recorded and distributed music is in great peril.
Didn't mean to mention it as an average, just as ballpark figure for someone who is doing his or her PhD fulltime and nothing else. But you're right in the larger order of things.
I am calling, in fact, for a society with the integrity and the honesty to include itself in its criticism, and one which confronts the fact that its central narratives are pleasant fictions. Your father's hard work played a major role in his life. Again and again, that hard work was subject to pure chance, random accidents, crass casualty. And they, more than anything else, are responsible for the final content of his life, like they are for anyone else. That's not comfortable, but it is true, and since it's true, we should work to craft a society that doesn't praise itself for its justice and equality while it punishes those who have the misfortune of having been born in the wrong time and place. That's judgment, for you, real judgment, the kind that's less interested in narrative and more interested in reality.
If you think that Paris Hilton has really not enjoyed a life entirely the product of the accident of her birth, I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you.
This is a lot to mull over, but here I think I should plug Grand New Party which, while I disagree with a lot of its content, is a really well thought out attempt by two guys with unimpeachable conservative credentials to craft a right-wing response to the failure of the middle class to make much headway in terms of real wages in the last several decades. It's precisely the sort of thing, it seems to me, the right should be trying now, to create a tangible way forward for our country's middle and working class under the banner of conservatism.
Yes, solo Danzig is like if you take the Misfits and remove the fun, spirit and DIY ethos. So it's just some asshole singing about vampires and evil and taking himself really seriously.
This is all well said. You'll forgive a certain overly sensitive attitude from those of us who went to Direction State U. It's certainly true that there are many disengaged and disinterested students. There are very many others who are very much engaged, and passionate, and find themselves rather constantly marginalized as intellects and as students. I also tend to find that disengagement and disinterest are commodities found at all levels of the academy. But as I said-- I'm overly sensitive.
As I tried to say, but probably failed to say, you're in a tough position-- because, as you say, you should be honest with people and try to put them on the right path. The point wasn't that you are self-serving or hypocritical, only that it can't fail to seem that way sometimes to people who want very badly to be in your shoes. And that's an impediment to reform; grad students can placate themselves by saying "Oh, he's just being a grouch from within the world he criticizes; so I'll just ignore it." In other words, the people best equipped to honestly judge the situation are the ones who tend to be ignored out of a sense of petty resentment or professional envy.
At the end of the day, it's the responsibility of the administrations of the universities to have the integrity not to pressure departments to take on more than a certain minimum number of grad students; the departments to not take on more grad students than they have a reasonable expectation could possibly find some sort of related employment; and the students, to take truly discriminating accounting of the job prospects beyond "I really and truly love it". Many people really and truly love X academic subject and still have had to let go of professorial dreams. I did, although not, it's true, entirely.
Tolerant, egalitarian societies with a penchant for periodic, transparent elections, a free, uncensored press, a nat'l treasury under public scrutiny, a military under civie control, an independent judiciary under elected Gov oversight
Jesus.
And a pony. I mean, seriously-- if your preference for interventionism requires one to believe that it can create conditions that are met in a vanishingly small number of countries and that have absolutely no chance of being met by the current "bad actors" in the world, that is weak brew indeed. The idea that the United States can cause that kind of change is literally jaw-dropping, by which I mean that I literally sit here with my mouth hanging open. This faith in the omnipotence of the United States despite all evidence demonstrating its nonexistence is truly cognitive dissonance on an incredible level. Incredible.
Smokescreen aside - what is the alternative?
Hey, I know-- not invading other countries under self-defeating "democracy by force" adventures that leave the world less stable, the people less free and more dead, and our own country less capable of providing for its own defense? What a crazy notion.
It is my opinion that the historical record of the United States demonstrates that, from a humanitarian and democracy promotion standpoint, intervention has produced far more failures than successes.
But to argue that a more powerful state can not help create the necessary environment (sometimes through force) for that democratic system to develop seems patently incorrect.
I find that the number of times this has failed dwarfs the number of times it has succeeded to be a rather banal fact, and certainly, the recent history of the United States in this regard is simply atrocious. But then, like I said, this is a conversation that remains evidence-resistant.
Well, yes and no-- there is indeed a young, pro-democratic, pro-reform internal resistance movement in Iran. And thank god. Two things. One, to call them pro-America, I think, is simplistic. In fact, many of the pro-democracy activists or genuine revolutionaries are also major critics of America, as Reza Aslan has written about before. Second, the best way to support this pro-democratic movement is to leave Iran alone; every act of American influence or aggression, whether threats of military action or the use of the United Nations to enforce sanction, results in an upsurge in popularity for the (already moderately popular) Iranian regime. Which is pretty easy to understand as a matter of human psychology.
Look, if you want America to reform through example, I am absolutely supportive of that. But that example is tarnished by people recognizing (correctly) the utter hypocrisy in talking about democracy and then turning around remaking the world through force of arms.
No, I think EFCA is either/or proposition, and you are unlikely to get anything you want out of its implementation.
Content yourself with the fact the EFCA will keep the tiny, beleagueredand functionally powerless on a national level American labor movement around, for the right to continue to use as an all-purpose target on which to blame our country's ills. Union power has been vanishing in this country for decades, the number of unionized members has never been smaller since the advent of the American labor movement, and yet conservatives continue to blame them for all of our country's various misfortunes. The smaller unions shrink, the more they are supposed to be to blame. It's weird. But it's a handy rhetorical device, and so I think conservatives would probably rather have some union presence around to act as a shibboleth and hate object, rather than ending unionism altogether.
On “the continuing fraud of Mickey Kaus”
Are you kidding? How about being part of the "neoliberal" vanguard that utterly undercut the Democrats and liberals ability to fight back against Bushite conservatism, the greatest American disaster of my lifetime? When you take part in an effort to force your party and your ideology into a stance of constant and total capitulation, and then your party and ideology are deeply damaged from it, yes, you are to blame. And that is a lesson that I am not alone in learning, and we won't be fooled again.
On “The Death of Art?”
Time will tell. But I'll bet you a doughnut that the music industry and the PC games industry will have effectively collapsed within the next five years. And it's already happening in music. I don't think that the record companies are entirely honest on this issue. But I also don't think that they are lying when they say that professionally recorded and distributed music is in great peril.
On “Two words, Benjamin: Economic Oblivion”
As to the decline of the PC gaming industry, that’s caused less by piracy and more by having an inferior product than the consoles.
Sacrilege!
On “Israel, Alone”
E.D., to untangle Roque's various arguments, simply consult this post.
http://lhote.blogspot.com/2008/12/illegitimate-pro-israel-arguments.html
On “I, troll”
And yet here you are, writing about me.
On “the grad trap”
Didn't mean to mention it as an average, just as ballpark figure for someone who is doing his or her PhD fulltime and nothing else. But you're right in the larger order of things.
On ““All I want… to kno-ow! All I want!””
My Favorites I think are
1.Last Caress
2.Astro Zombies
3.Hatebreeders
4.Hybrid Moments
5. Die Die My Darling
I also dig "Teenagers from Mars" but that's a little too close to self parody.
On “Stimulation After (Economic) Climax”
Who, me? I don't do wrath.
On “calling bullshit on bullshit”
I think you're overreacting, Phil.
"
I am calling, in fact, for a society with the integrity and the honesty to include itself in its criticism, and one which confronts the fact that its central narratives are pleasant fictions. Your father's hard work played a major role in his life. Again and again, that hard work was subject to pure chance, random accidents, crass casualty. And they, more than anything else, are responsible for the final content of his life, like they are for anyone else. That's not comfortable, but it is true, and since it's true, we should work to craft a society that doesn't praise itself for its justice and equality while it punishes those who have the misfortune of having been born in the wrong time and place. That's judgment, for you, real judgment, the kind that's less interested in narrative and more interested in reality.
If you think that Paris Hilton has really not enjoyed a life entirely the product of the accident of her birth, I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you.
"
There’re winners and there’re losers, and the category in which you end up is largely in your own hands.
I'm sorry, Phil, but that's just utterly at odds with real life, and believing it disqualifies you from the ranks of the thoughtful.
"
Struck a nerve, I see.
"
My point exactly: Philip Primeau does not know of what he speaks.
It's easy for everyone who's not in it and hard for everyone who is. Funny about that.
On “Opportunity, Society, and the Role of the State”
This is a lot to mull over, but here I think I should plug Grand New Party which, while I disagree with a lot of its content, is a really well thought out attempt by two guys with unimpeachable conservative credentials to craft a right-wing response to the failure of the middle class to make much headway in terms of real wages in the last several decades. It's precisely the sort of thing, it seems to me, the right should be trying now, to create a tangible way forward for our country's middle and working class under the banner of conservatism.
On “calling bullshit on bullshit”
Freddie I know it is your gut reaction to phrase the challenges faced here by hyperghetto residents
too true, too true, bah.
On ““All I want… to kno-ow! All I want!””
Yes, solo Danzig is like if you take the Misfits and remove the fun, spirit and DIY ethos. So it's just some asshole singing about vampires and evil and taking himself really seriously.
On “the grad trap”
This is all well said. You'll forgive a certain overly sensitive attitude from those of us who went to Direction State U. It's certainly true that there are many disengaged and disinterested students. There are very many others who are very much engaged, and passionate, and find themselves rather constantly marginalized as intellects and as students. I also tend to find that disengagement and disinterest are commodities found at all levels of the academy. But as I said-- I'm overly sensitive.
As I tried to say, but probably failed to say, you're in a tough position-- because, as you say, you should be honest with people and try to put them on the right path. The point wasn't that you are self-serving or hypocritical, only that it can't fail to seem that way sometimes to people who want very badly to be in your shoes. And that's an impediment to reform; grad students can placate themselves by saying "Oh, he's just being a grouch from within the world he criticizes; so I'll just ignore it." In other words, the people best equipped to honestly judge the situation are the ones who tend to be ignored out of a sense of petty resentment or professional envy.
At the end of the day, it's the responsibility of the administrations of the universities to have the integrity not to pressure departments to take on more than a certain minimum number of grad students; the departments to not take on more grad students than they have a reasonable expectation could possibly find some sort of related employment; and the students, to take truly discriminating accounting of the job prospects beyond "I really and truly love it". Many people really and truly love X academic subject and still have had to let go of professorial dreams. I did, although not, it's true, entirely.
"
Sorry Paul! Of course we're talking in broad strokes... many can and do succeed. Not trying to be discouraging, just realistic.
On “the democracy fallacy”
Tolerant, egalitarian societies with a penchant for periodic, transparent elections, a free, uncensored press, a nat'l treasury under public scrutiny, a military under civie control, an independent judiciary under elected Gov oversight
Jesus.
And a pony. I mean, seriously-- if your preference for interventionism requires one to believe that it can create conditions that are met in a vanishingly small number of countries and that have absolutely no chance of being met by the current "bad actors" in the world, that is weak brew indeed. The idea that the United States can cause that kind of change is literally jaw-dropping, by which I mean that I literally sit here with my mouth hanging open. This faith in the omnipotence of the United States despite all evidence demonstrating its nonexistence is truly cognitive dissonance on an incredible level. Incredible.
Smokescreen aside - what is the alternative?
Hey, I know-- not invading other countries under self-defeating "democracy by force" adventures that leave the world less stable, the people less free and more dead, and our own country less capable of providing for its own defense? What a crazy notion.
On “the inevitability dodge”
It is my opinion that the historical record of the United States demonstrates that, from a humanitarian and democracy promotion standpoint, intervention has produced far more failures than successes.
"
But to argue that a more powerful state can not help create the necessary environment (sometimes through force) for that democratic system to develop seems patently incorrect.
I find that the number of times this has failed dwarfs the number of times it has succeeded to be a rather banal fact, and certainly, the recent history of the United States in this regard is simply atrocious. But then, like I said, this is a conversation that remains evidence-resistant.
"
Well, yes and no-- there is indeed a young, pro-democratic, pro-reform internal resistance movement in Iran. And thank god. Two things. One, to call them pro-America, I think, is simplistic. In fact, many of the pro-democracy activists or genuine revolutionaries are also major critics of America, as Reza Aslan has written about before. Second, the best way to support this pro-democratic movement is to leave Iran alone; every act of American influence or aggression, whether threats of military action or the use of the United Nations to enforce sanction, results in an upsurge in popularity for the (already moderately popular) Iranian regime. Which is pretty easy to understand as a matter of human psychology.
Look, if you want America to reform through example, I am absolutely supportive of that. But that example is tarnished by people recognizing (correctly) the utter hypocrisy in talking about democracy and then turning around remaking the world through force of arms.
On “A Quick Note on A Rigged Game”
Never been smaller, that is, as a percentage of the American workforce.
"
No, I think EFCA is either/or proposition, and you are unlikely to get anything you want out of its implementation.
Content yourself with the fact the EFCA will keep the tiny, beleagueredand functionally powerless on a national level American labor movement around, for the right to continue to use as an all-purpose target on which to blame our country's ills. Union power has been vanishing in this country for decades, the number of unionized members has never been smaller since the advent of the American labor movement, and yet conservatives continue to blame them for all of our country's various misfortunes. The smaller unions shrink, the more they are supposed to be to blame. It's weird. But it's a handy rhetorical device, and so I think conservatives would probably rather have some union presence around to act as a shibboleth and hate object, rather than ending unionism altogether.
On “eating my vegetables”
The thing is, RSM-- I am the type of person who has to learn his lessons over and over again. I'm working on it. Sorry.