I would contend that this here actual world, the United States (and the 'International Community' however one wishes to define it is in fact using to the full extent all the *non-military* options at hand - and that results in the world we have. (I would also contend that the world we have is the least worst option of the proposed competing alternatives)
Frex, we have sanctions http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx of one sort or another against Belarus, Burma, The Ivory Coast, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe, all because they've behaved like total asswipes to their people in the very recent past
Ah got it. My mistake. Based on your other writings here, and at The Art of the Possible, I had thought that was pretty close to your belief anyway. But my apolgies nonetheless.
(I still think you vastly underate how cheap global containerized transport has become for non-perishable goods - specifically, removing the IP regimes and other instruments of state power would substantially *increase* 'off-shoring' of mass production* in the absence of any other instruments of state power, like tariffs.)
Milosovec and Saddam were being assholes for about the same length of time during the same era. It seems kind of arbitrary on a strategic level that the afflicted population loved our intervention in one case and not in the other. (Which is not to say there were operation and tactical decisions that made the nature and outcome of the two operations substantially different). And I'd be at a loss to tell you who the leadership of the Kosovar opposition was without google. (otoh, I can tell who who was the purported leader of the Iraqi opposition was in 2002 - who of course wound up to be a key flaw in the plan)
In any case it doesn't strike me as Libya being amendable to the 'burn down to coals model'. There isn't the geographic interspersing of ethnic groups* that there is in either Iraq or the Balkans (or Afghanistan, or dozens of other places in the world), and also not so much such intermingling the tribes. (In general, the tribe that Qaddafi belongs to is in the west around Tripoli, and all the ones that have been historical rivals to Qaddafi's tribe are in the east - and this is largely how the balance of forces are playing out)
*The Berbers have their own thing, but I don't know how much political influence or power they hold, or even whose side they are on.
The Libyan situation is a straight up political civil war, and will either be a long stalemate, or a relatively short (as in by the end of the year) victory for pro-Qadaffi forces. Potentially, it could be a hybrid of the two, something akin to the situation in Afghanistan just prior to 9/11, where the ruling Taliban govt had de jure control over all the territory, but the NA created large 'no-go' zones - this situation for Libya seems somewhat unlikely though, as there are specific oil resources and infrastructure to fight over in Libya, not just vague territory like in Afghanistan.
Also we can include every Schwarzenegger sci-fi films in this, with 'Running Man' being more 'fear of crime' based, whereas Total Recall was more about straight up corporate dickatude.
They’re not about the fear of crime. They’re about the fear of where the fear of crime has led.
I'd argue that this was what both Robocop and Demolition Man were about as well. (and in a different way Escape from New York)
Although it's a fairly standard dystopic speculative fiction trope to have an 'insider vs outsider' dynamic characterized by:
a) the insiders lead life of relative affluence and order,
b) the outsiders lead of life of relative poverty and anarchy.
c) something specific or systemic or both is creating this divide
d) this forms the fundamental tension of the plot
(who's 'happier' is determined by the point the author is trying to make)
It's been used in everything from HG Well's Time Machine to Wheadon's Firefly.
As a nitpick, Escape from LA was made strictly for the dollar dollar bills; made in '96, when we were already well on the downslope from the crime peak, and even the memories of the Rodney King riots had started to fade (that is from broader Americana - I'm sure they were still in the zeitgeist of most Angelenos).
Within two years of that fateful utterance, both India and Pakistan had tested nuclear weapons.
India first tested a nuclear weapon in 1974.
Pakistan first successfully tested a nuclear weapon in 1998. Pakistan started on its nuclear program, though, shortly after India's '74 Smiling Buddha test.
Nobody on either side seems to remember anymore that it was Ted Kennedy who led the hearings and ultimately was the prime mover within the Congress for the legislation that deregulated airlines and trucking (and voted for telcom deregulation in the mid 90's and btw voted for the final conference version of Glass-Stegal repeal in '99)
But the driving factor, most economists agree, has been technological change and the consequent lowering of demand for middle-skilled workers.”
Which is why I find vexing the talking point that supposed to counter the 'big lie' that public sector workers are overpaid - that one needs to be "Controlling for education and other standard human capital variables" to see that that public sector workers are paid less than their private sector counterparts.
Not saying that it's not true - apples to apples public sector work pays less than the private, but that it's vexing as a talking point. If you adjust for 'education and other standard human capital variables' you account for the majority of the income distribution in the US between the 0th and 90th (or even 98th - around $250K per annum) percentile. People with professional degrees earn much more than people without them. High school drop outs have a much higher unemployment rate than college graduates. And so on.
In no other aspect of discussing the 'war on the middle class' - or on the flip side, the 'war of poverty' or any other social justice discussion - is this type of statistical re-norming commonplace.
"the primary competitors to American automanufacturing, Japanese and German companies, both have to pay far less for health care for their workers thanks to broadly socialized health care"
'‘The Japanese [and Germans] are beating the US in car manufacturing because of differentials in the health care system’
These sentences do not assert essentially the same thing? Really?
(I'll give you that I should have said "And so when Freddie says (to parapharase) 'The Japanese...'")
Japan outsourced its suppliers and moved its factories over here to the USA for the tax advantages. Their manufacturing base hollowed out.
Yes. And so when Freddie says 'The Japanese are beating the US in car manufacturing because of differentials in the health care system' it is a factually insupportable statement. You agree?
That's what I'm saying.
(and the problem with saying 'The Germans are beating the US in car manufacturing because of differentials in the health care system" is that the Germans are not beating the US in anything but the luxury section of the US market)
That's not the gotcha you think it is. The Big 3 US companies use the same exact supply chain integration to build stuff in both the maquiladoras and Windsor. And in any case North Americans from the Yukon to Chiapas are neither covered by the German nor the Japanese health care systems.
And the market share of the German based auto companies (7-10%) is much lower than the market share than the Japanese based companies (35-45%) - the Korean based companies have about the same share as the Germans.
http://chartingtheeconomy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/book7_17264_image003.gif
"As of July 2010, 89 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2 percent a year earlier. Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. each made 68 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. at North American plants, according to the carmakers"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-19/honda-founder-s-dream-of-u-s-production-protects-earnings-as-yen-surges.html
On “Toward a norm of humanitarian intervention”
I would contend that this here actual world, the United States (and the 'International Community' however one wishes to define it is in fact using to the full extent all the *non-military* options at hand - and that results in the world we have. (I would also contend that the world we have is the least worst option of the proposed competing alternatives)
Frex, we have sanctions http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx of one sort or another against Belarus, Burma, The Ivory Coast, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe, all because they've behaved like total asswipes to their people in the very recent past
On “The US prepares for war with Libya”
On the other hand, is the world willing to go without 1.6 million barrels a day of the sweetest crude around for the next 20 years?
My guess is no.
On “Objects and Animals”
take American kids on regular tours through meat processing plants
You mean, "Bovine University"?
(mmm, tripe)
On “Labor Roundtable: Kevin Carson”
My mea culpa below
"
Ah got it. My mistake. Based on your other writings here, and at The Art of the Possible, I had thought that was pretty close to your belief anyway. But my apolgies nonetheless.
(I still think you vastly underate how cheap global containerized transport has become for non-perishable goods - specifically, removing the IP regimes and other instruments of state power would substantially *increase* 'off-shoring' of mass production* in the absence of any other instruments of state power, like tariffs.)
*retail would be a different matter.
"
See, because labor costs are THE ONLY COSTS THERE ARE.
Oil is free in Mr. Carson's world. Or more precisely, only costs the 30 dollars US or so that it costs to take most of it out of the ground.
On “Israel in 2008 and America in 2011”
Milosovec and Saddam were being assholes for about the same length of time during the same era. It seems kind of arbitrary on a strategic level that the afflicted population loved our intervention in one case and not in the other. (Which is not to say there were operation and tactical decisions that made the nature and outcome of the two operations substantially different). And I'd be at a loss to tell you who the leadership of the Kosovar opposition was without google. (otoh, I can tell who who was the purported leader of the Iraqi opposition was in 2002 - who of course wound up to be a key flaw in the plan)
In any case it doesn't strike me as Libya being amendable to the 'burn down to coals model'. There isn't the geographic interspersing of ethnic groups* that there is in either Iraq or the Balkans (or Afghanistan, or dozens of other places in the world), and also not so much such intermingling the tribes. (In general, the tribe that Qaddafi belongs to is in the west around Tripoli, and all the ones that have been historical rivals to Qaddafi's tribe are in the east - and this is largely how the balance of forces are playing out)
*The Berbers have their own thing, but I don't know how much political influence or power they hold, or even whose side they are on.
The Libyan situation is a straight up political civil war, and will either be a long stalemate, or a relatively short (as in by the end of the year) victory for pro-Qadaffi forces. Potentially, it could be a hybrid of the two, something akin to the situation in Afghanistan just prior to 9/11, where the ruling Taliban govt had de jure control over all the territory, but the NA created large 'no-go' zones - this situation for Libya seems somewhat unlikely though, as there are specific oil resources and infrastructure to fight over in Libya, not just vague territory like in Afghanistan.
On “The IDF’s “mystique””
Are you saying Cast Lead wasn't a mainline IDF operation? It seems to me it was a fairly conventional combined arms operation.
In any case, Counter-Terrorism is not quite congruent with Counter-Insurgency, at least in US doctrine.
On “Cultural artifacts from the age of fear”
No, it's that the kids - they're horrible.
"
We were talking about how Kindergarten Cop illustrates the limitations of so-called education reform.
"
by the third movie, they strongly implied that a nuke war had torn up Sydney, (or whatever city that was supposed to be)
"
Also we can include every Schwarzenegger sci-fi films in this, with 'Running Man' being more 'fear of crime' based, whereas Total Recall was more about straight up corporate dickatude.
"
They’re not about the fear of crime. They’re about the fear of where the fear of crime has led.
I'd argue that this was what both Robocop and Demolition Man were about as well. (and in a different way Escape from New York)
Although it's a fairly standard dystopic speculative fiction trope to have an 'insider vs outsider' dynamic characterized by:
a) the insiders lead life of relative affluence and order,
b) the outsiders lead of life of relative poverty and anarchy.
c) something specific or systemic or both is creating this divide
d) this forms the fundamental tension of the plot
(who's 'happier' is determined by the point the author is trying to make)
It's been used in everything from HG Well's Time Machine to Wheadon's Firefly.
"
As a nitpick, Escape from LA was made strictly for the dollar dollar bills; made in '96, when we were already well on the downslope from the crime peak, and even the memories of the Rodney King riots had started to fade (that is from broader Americana - I'm sure they were still in the zeitgeist of most Angelenos).
On “Live from the J Street National Conference”
Within two years of that fateful utterance, both India and Pakistan had tested nuclear weapons.
India first tested a nuclear weapon in 1974.
Pakistan first successfully tested a nuclear weapon in 1998. Pakistan started on its nuclear program, though, shortly after India's '74 Smiling Buddha test.
On “Best Incoming Search Link Ever”
Though you haven't done recipes in a while.
On “On Free Markets”
Ted Kennedy,
Nobody on either side seems to remember anymore that it was Ted Kennedy who led the hearings and ultimately was the prime mover within the Congress for the legislation that deregulated airlines and trucking (and voted for telcom deregulation in the mid 90's and btw voted for the final conference version of Glass-Stegal repeal in '99)
On “On the language of assumption”
speaking of back end re-distribution of resources...
On “The Middle Class Isn’t Dying”
But the driving factor, most economists agree, has been technological change and the consequent lowering of demand for middle-skilled workers.”
Which is why I find vexing the talking point that supposed to counter the 'big lie' that public sector workers are overpaid - that one needs to be "Controlling for education and other standard human capital variables" to see that that public sector workers are paid less than their private sector counterparts.
Not saying that it's not true - apples to apples public sector work pays less than the private, but that it's vexing as a talking point. If you adjust for 'education and other standard human capital variables' you account for the majority of the income distribution in the US between the 0th and 90th (or even 98th - around $250K per annum) percentile. People with professional degrees earn much more than people without them. High school drop outs have a much higher unemployment rate than college graduates. And so on.
In no other aspect of discussing the 'war on the middle class' - or on the flip side, the 'war of poverty' or any other social justice discussion - is this type of statistical re-norming commonplace.
On “Labor Roundtable: Dreams of a Libertarian-Labor Alliance”
"the primary competitors to American automanufacturing, Japanese and German companies, both have to pay far less for health care for their workers thanks to broadly socialized health care"
'‘The Japanese [and Germans] are beating the US in car manufacturing because of differentials in the health care system’
These sentences do not assert essentially the same thing? Really?
(I'll give you that I should have said "And so when Freddie says (to parapharase) 'The Japanese...'")
"
Japan outsourced its suppliers and moved its factories over here to the USA for the tax advantages. Their manufacturing base hollowed out.
Yes. And so when Freddie says 'The Japanese are beating the US in car manufacturing because of differentials in the health care system' it is a factually insupportable statement. You agree?
That's what I'm saying.
(and the problem with saying 'The Germans are beating the US in car manufacturing because of differentials in the health care system" is that the Germans are not beating the US in anything but the luxury section of the US market)
"
That's not the gotcha you think it is. The Big 3 US companies use the same exact supply chain integration to build stuff in both the maquiladoras and Windsor. And in any case North Americans from the Yukon to Chiapas are neither covered by the German nor the Japanese health care systems.
"
And the market share of the German based auto companies (7-10%) is much lower than the market share than the Japanese based companies (35-45%) - the Korean based companies have about the same share as the Germans.
http://chartingtheeconomy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/book7_17264_image003.gif
"
"As of July 2010, 89 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2 percent a year earlier. Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. each made 68 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. at North American plants, according to the carmakers"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-19/honda-founder-s-dream-of-u-s-production-protects-earnings-as-yen-surges.html
"
".. but with significantly below average results."
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.