Part of what we consider "freedom" in the past was, really, just ignorance. In the 1950s it might have been seen as unwarranted government interference to, say, put emissions limits on dioxins; but, in the 1950s, nobody really understood how bad dioxins were.
Perhaps we're nostalgaic for the ancient age of freedom, but maybe that's the nostalgia of a child who's been potty-trained.
Or hell, Windex and Clorox. Mix those two together and you've got fun on a bun. (Which always makes me laugh when these jackasses say that there's no way a bottle of clear liquid could be dangerous.)
It would be ironic, wouldn't it, if it turned out that fifty years of fighting institutionalized racism and bigotry has resulted in a government that's more intrusive and more overbearing than Orwell's worst nightmares.
If you shoot a gun at your face and miss, it doesn't mean that shooting guns at your face is safe. There's a difference between "un-necessary caution" and "didn't know any better".
Most of the research supporting seatbelts and airbags wasn't done until mid-century--but it does exist, and they do act to protect vehicle occupants from injury during an accident.
It's not so weird if you hate the thought of happy white people.
It is awfully cliche, though. I mean, the suburbs? Really? Beat that horse some more, the flesh hasn't completely fallen off yet. Oh, and tailfins on cars. Again.
I got a kick out of Daniel Abraham's "The Long Price Quartet".
I also liked David Drake's "Servant Of The Dragon", which is the best of a nine-book series which represents an interesting attempt to repeat the same story nine times. ...well, okay, that's not really the idea, but the basic structure of each book is almost completely the same, and "Dragon" is the best-written of the lot and well worth a read.
Walter Jon Williams's "Metropolitan", for all its technological trappings, is basically a fantasy novel. It's actually an early example of what we now call "urban fantasy".
"Rock Band (and Guitar Hero, for that matter) has done a very good job of bringing (guitar-based, anyway) music to the masses that they otherwise would never have heard."
And causing people to realize that they geniunely enjoy music that had always been seen as a hipster joke. I've lost count of the number of people who've said "I actually like Boston songs, what the hell is wrong with me"...
The reason that housing is seen as an investment is that if you could not make money through appreciation of property, then a better use of your money would be to rent a house and put your money in a mutual fund.
This would encourage the centralization of ownership, and the development of a large class of people who owned nothing but their cars and the clothes they stood in.
I do have to say that the 2008 crash is notable for being so obvious. It's like someone said "what is the exact thing we should not do? Okay, let's do exactly that!" It's almost comical in its simplicity. This is one of those things that people will read about fifty years from now, and be all "really? really, guys? I mean, you didn't know how stupid that was?"
But if it weren't for all those regulations, then people might be exploited by business owners. Or those business owners would cut corners and sell dangerous products, dump hazardous waste, do all kinds of nasty things.
I mean, it's clear--just by looking at the activities of the regulatory bureaucracy--that anyone who wants to own a business is a money-grubbing, lazy, greedy bastard who would sell his own mother to make a dollar.
Actually, even the "reports" didn't claim that he was using anyone as a shield. Brennan gets confused and babbles a bunch of different things. I'm figuring that what happened there was she stood up at the wrong time and the SeALs shot the shit out of her.
Dude...just stop. The only way to get banned here is to post someone else's personal information. It's obvious that you want them to ban you so you can be all "oh, I was too cool for them, so they had to ban me"
"In the case of Osama, we should do what we can to hold up that he died holding his wife as a human shield instead of shielding her…"
Considering the situation and the sources, I don't know if I'll believe anything reported about the incident other than "he was there, and when he left he had holes in him".
He was a bad man and we're better off that he's dead.
I don't know if I like the idea of people celebrating the fact.
On the one hand, if we're going to personalize political activity to that degree--martyrs, heroes, Big Bads--then we're playing right into the mindset that motivates the people we're fighting.
And on the other...the way some of these people are talking, you'd think it was them out there fast-roping into a building full of bad guys with machine guns, kicking in doors that might have a shotgun behind them, running through blacked-out buildings hoping that the guy behind them didn't aim too low? What the hell are people doing posting about it on Facebook like they personally pulled the trigger?
The problem with class analysis is that it's far too easy to answer criticisms with "well, that just shows we didn't define our classes properly! Redefine the classes and the problem goes away!" (Like the post above, where someone suggests that doctors are part of the working class.)
How about rocket scientists? I (and everyone I work with now, and worked with in the past) had to submit a urine sample prior to employment. We don't have to keep doing it, but it's not as though our wee has never gone through a gas chromatograph. (And yes, people being hired for management positions have to do it too.)
I know that this is a very small thing, but the OP made such a big deal about "piss test = class war" that I think it's worth pointing out counterexamples.
I kind of wish that, more than once or twice in a great while, standing up in favor of supposedly-libertarian principles--local governance versus central, self-determination rather than rule by regulation, that sort of thing--wouldn't involve siding with such ridiculous people.
"State's rights are important" "Yeah!" "They're important because we want the power to define certain persons as being property!" "Um."
"Local governments should set their own school cirriculae!" "Yeah!" "Because we want to teach creationism as a possible model for the origin of the earth!" "Err..."
I think that Trump is entirely serious and on the level--when he's thinking about the issue. When he's proven wrong or decides to drop that particular stick, then he stops thinking about it at all. He isn't serious about it anymore; indeed, the whole discussion no longer exists for him. Birth certificate released? Well, yeah, but have you seen the price of gas lately?
It's classic modern argument technique. Positions are held passionately and honestly believed right up until the instant the person decides to think about something else.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Nostalgia & Freedom”
To bring in a comment from up-thread:
Part of what we consider "freedom" in the past was, really, just ignorance. In the 1950s it might have been seen as unwarranted government interference to, say, put emissions limits on dioxins; but, in the 1950s, nobody really understood how bad dioxins were.
Perhaps we're nostalgaic for the ancient age of freedom, but maybe that's the nostalgia of a child who's been potty-trained.
"
Or hell, Windex and Clorox. Mix those two together and you've got fun on a bun. (Which always makes me laugh when these jackasses say that there's no way a bottle of clear liquid could be dangerous.)
"
You have no fucking idea what you are talking about. None. That was an embarrassing post even for you.
"
That's certainly true.
It would be ironic, wouldn't it, if it turned out that fifty years of fighting institutionalized racism and bigotry has resulted in a government that's more intrusive and more overbearing than Orwell's worst nightmares.
"
The aerospace industry is certainly nostalgaic for the back half of the 20th century. That's when we had all the money!
"
If you shoot a gun at your face and miss, it doesn't mean that shooting guns at your face is safe. There's a difference between "un-necessary caution" and "didn't know any better".
Most of the research supporting seatbelts and airbags wasn't done until mid-century--but it does exist, and they do act to protect vehicle occupants from injury during an accident.
"
It's not so weird if you hate the thought of happy white people.
It is awfully cliche, though. I mean, the suburbs? Really? Beat that horse some more, the flesh hasn't completely fallen off yet. Oh, and tailfins on cars. Again.
On “Are you watching ‘A Game of Thrones’ yet?”
Tell me about it. Unfortunately, he seems to be very much driven by his muse, and she's apparently done giving him ideas about Aiah and Constantine.
"
...aaaaand there you have it, two recs in a row for Abraham :D
"
I got a kick out of Daniel Abraham's "The Long Price Quartet".
I also liked David Drake's "Servant Of The Dragon", which is the best of a nine-book series which represents an interesting attempt to repeat the same story nine times. ...well, okay, that's not really the idea, but the basic structure of each book is almost completely the same, and "Dragon" is the best-written of the lot and well worth a read.
Walter Jon Williams's "Metropolitan", for all its technological trappings, is basically a fantasy novel. It's actually an early example of what we now call "urban fantasy".
On “Two Neglected Greats”
"Rock Band (and Guitar Hero, for that matter) has done a very good job of bringing (guitar-based, anyway) music to the masses that they otherwise would never have heard."
And causing people to realize that they geniunely enjoy music that had always been seen as a hipster joke. I've lost count of the number of people who've said "I actually like Boston songs, what the hell is wrong with me"...
On “Abandoned By Superman”
"Had Kal-El landed in the USSR, I have no doubt that he would have adopted their value system to some extent or another. Certainly not ours. "
Check out "Red Sun", which explores exactly that idea.
On “Keynes vs. Hayek, Round 2”
The reason that housing is seen as an investment is that if you could not make money through appreciation of property, then a better use of your money would be to rent a house and put your money in a mutual fund.
This would encourage the centralization of ownership, and the development of a large class of people who owned nothing but their cars and the clothes they stood in.
"
I do have to say that the 2008 crash is notable for being so obvious. It's like someone said "what is the exact thing we should not do? Okay, let's do exactly that!" It's almost comical in its simplicity. This is one of those things that people will read about fifty years from now, and be all "really? really, guys? I mean, you didn't know how stupid that was?"
"
But if it weren't for all those regulations, then people might be exploited by business owners. Or those business owners would cut corners and sell dangerous products, dump hazardous waste, do all kinds of nasty things.
I mean, it's clear--just by looking at the activities of the regulatory bureaucracy--that anyone who wants to own a business is a money-grubbing, lazy, greedy bastard who would sell his own mother to make a dollar.
On “The Dead”
Actually, even the "reports" didn't claim that he was using anyone as a shield. Brennan gets confused and babbles a bunch of different things. I'm figuring that what happened there was she stood up at the wrong time and the SeALs shot the shit out of her.
On “Good.”
Dude...just stop. The only way to get banned here is to post someone else's personal information. It's obvious that you want them to ban you so you can be all "oh, I was too cool for them, so they had to ban me"
On “Regulating the Crash”
"The people responsible for enforcing the laws were unable or unwilling to enforce the laws!"
"Well, the solution to that is more and better laws!"
:confused:
Like he said: If the regulators don't regulate, then what does it matter how many regulations there are?
On “The Dead”
"In the case of Osama, we should do what we can to hold up that he died holding his wife as a human shield instead of shielding her…"
Considering the situation and the sources, I don't know if I'll believe anything reported about the incident other than "he was there, and when he left he had holes in him".
"
He was a bad man and we're better off that he's dead.
I don't know if I like the idea of people celebrating the fact.
On the one hand, if we're going to personalize political activity to that degree--martyrs, heroes, Big Bads--then we're playing right into the mindset that motivates the people we're fighting.
And on the other...the way some of these people are talking, you'd think it was them out there fast-roping into a building full of bad guys with machine guns, kicking in doors that might have a shotgun behind them, running through blacked-out buildings hoping that the guy behind them didn't aim too low? What the hell are people doing posting about it on Facebook like they personally pulled the trigger?
On “His Master’s Voice”
The problem with class analysis is that it's far too easy to answer criticisms with "well, that just shows we didn't define our classes properly! Redefine the classes and the problem goes away!" (Like the post above, where someone suggests that doctors are part of the working class.)
"
So doctors are part of the working class, now?
How about rocket scientists? I (and everyone I work with now, and worked with in the past) had to submit a urine sample prior to employment. We don't have to keep doing it, but it's not as though our wee has never gone through a gas chromatograph. (And yes, people being hired for management positions have to do it too.)
I know that this is a very small thing, but the OP made such a big deal about "piss test = class war" that I think it's worth pointing out counterexamples.
On “Foote’s Civil War, Volume II: Tragedy and Just Causes”
I kind of wish that, more than once or twice in a great while, standing up in favor of supposedly-libertarian principles--local governance versus central, self-determination rather than rule by regulation, that sort of thing--wouldn't involve siding with such ridiculous people.
"State's rights are important" "Yeah!" "They're important because we want the power to define certain persons as being property!" "Um."
"Local governments should set their own school cirriculae!" "Yeah!" "Because we want to teach creationism as a possible model for the origin of the earth!" "Err..."
On “Posted without Comment”
I do like Adams's contention that we should vote for Trump because he'll troll the entire rest of the world.
"
I think that Trump is entirely serious and on the level--when he's thinking about the issue. When he's proven wrong or decides to drop that particular stick, then he stops thinking about it at all. He isn't serious about it anymore; indeed, the whole discussion no longer exists for him. Birth certificate released? Well, yeah, but have you seen the price of gas lately?
It's classic modern argument technique. Positions are held passionately and honestly believed right up until the instant the person decides to think about something else.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.