Its wrong. Making girls wear dresses on formal occassions is based on outmoded concepts of gender. The school can require them to dress nicely on formal occassions but they should be allowed to with pants if they want to.
I think that scientists should realize that not everybody is coming from their background and needs to understand things at a different level than they do. Its like the Four Sons from the Seder, the answer that works for the wise son is that the same as the one that would work for the other sons like the simple son. Too many scientists want everybody to be a wise son, so they do not have to think of ways to explain things in simpler language or terms.
The problem is that a lot of people in the scientific community seem to conflate the two. Any inability for a lay person to not understand scientific concepts is treated as willful or neglectful ignorance.
What? Most countries in the developed world have fertility rates just at or very bellow the replacement level. Israel being the only country with a fertility rate decently above the replacement level in the developed world. Even many other countries in the developing world are bellow replacement level.
If going to the past had a better survival rate, I'd pick a TV show that starts somewhere in the late 19th century. The late 19th and early 20th centuries always fascinated me so might as well use an opportunity to get to live there.
I agree to but my solution to urban renewal requires a lot of government involvement in city building, both indirect and direct. This is going to require a lot of tax dollars and controversial actions.
Thats why I don't think that the law should have anything to say about it. The degradation aspect of BDSM troubles me. Its not how I think I think that people should do to themselves or other people. There have been plenty examples of entire classes of people subject to petty or not so petty degradation in the real world and it hasn't been pretty. Its not something that should be encouraged.
I agree and disagree with Conor Friedersdorf on this. I do not think that the law should prosecute what consenting adults do between themselves for the most part. At the same time, the sort of acts described in the original article strike me as not being optimal behavior for humans. I place great importance on human dignity. Degrading that dignity too much can't lead to anything good.
I think one potential problem with allowing the sale of organs is that you might create a system where only the rich could afford organ transplants. Assume that there is a free market in organs and that most of the organ sellers are not doing so under duress. One would think that organs would sell for a rather high price, especially since I'd imagine that most people wouldn't be keen on selling their organs even if they could. If organs are very expensive than lower and middle income people are going to be cashed out of the organ market and likely not to get a transplant if they need it.
Oh this is a good one. To that I'd had the idea of a hedonistic pursuit of pleasure is a goal in life. Pleasure is good but I do not think that life should be a pleasure crawl. Hedonism brings no more self-fulfillment than material goods.
I lived in Japan and this is largely correct from my impressions. A lot of Japanese simply don't seem to care about politics the same way that citizens in other countries do. Politics plays a very small part in everyday life and culture. How many Japanese television shows or movies dealt directly with the political process? Very few if any. In most other democracies, the political thriller or procedural is an estabished genre.
Caleb, I think that people are outraged at fraud involved in the scheme. Its not that people are pretending to be disabled but they are taking adventage of a program designed to help the disable and their families in order to make money. It hurts the policy because gaming the system like this tends to raise the cynicism level.
I just remember reading that Vonegurt (sp?) intended Harrison Bergeon to be a parody of how Ayn Rand views socialism. Considering his typical politics, this views seems more plausible than the idea that Harrison Bergeon is a straight satire of socialism.
I just remember reading that Vonegurt (sp?) intended Harrison Bergeon to be a parody of how Ayn Rand views socialism. Considering his typical politics, this views seems more plausible than the idea that Harrison Bergeon is a straight satire of socialism.
I think its because many Republicans and libertarians have a relatively static, un-changing view of what government should or should not do and in case of conservatives what society should and should not look like. Libertarians have less static social views than conservatives. If your ideology requires a relatively unchanging version of government and society than you see consistency as a virture.
Liberals have a more loosely-goosey view of what government should and should not do and what society should look like. During the heyday of the Great Society, most liberals would have been revulted by open homosexuality and same-sex marriage. In fact, JFK's adminsitration actively persecuted homosexuals out of the federal government. Now equality for homosexuals and same-sex marriage is part of liberal orthodoxy and a self-evidently correct. This was a pretty fast and radical change over a period of forty or fifty years. It practically snow-balled after the end of the Clinton adminstration.
There are doctrinaire leftists like Orthoodox Marxists and Anarchists that do stick to consistency though and have the same problems as Conservatives and Libertarians. They play a very small part in American politics becasue they are much further to the left than any elected official and do not participate in the Democratic Party actively.
Or they could follow the Jewish solution and lawyer around their scriptures to get the result that they want. If the Torah is the constitution of the Jews than the Talmud is the living constiution interpretation of it.
Or they could follow the Jewish solution and lawyer around their scriptures to get the result that they want. If the Torah is the constitution of the Jews than the Talmud is the living constiution interpretation of it.
Or they could follow the Jewish solution and lawyer around their scriptures to get the result that they want. If the Torah is the constitution of the Jews than the Talmud is the living constiution interpretation of it.
Is this really the case though? I think a good argument can be made that we were just as ideologically divided in the past as we are now but that limited technology made us largely ignorant of the divisions. It could be more about willful blindness to ideology than anything else.
To the extent that they were protesting government intervention they think only helps the top strata of society and corporations, yes. However, a lot of the Occupy movement is not opposed to government intervention in the economy as a matter of principle. I think that most of them would support government intervention that would help the masses.
Do you need to have rentier income to be considered upper-class? Is there anytime a salaried or proprietary income is high enough to be considered upper-class? An A-list celebrity makes money through means you describe as middle-class but there income is in the millions and life-style that reflects this. A lot of people in finance also earn their income through non-rentier methods. I'd say that once income reaches in the high six-figure range, say above 500,000, than you are upper-class. If your income is between 100,000 and 500,000 than you are upper-middle class.
Its an interesting question. A lot of people on the Left have criticized Marxism as practiced but I can't recall anybody that argued that Marx's writings themselves are completely lacking in value. Even many people who are Liberal find at least something of value in Marx.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Is This Wrong?”
Its wrong. Making girls wear dresses on formal occassions is based on outmoded concepts of gender. The school can require them to dress nicely on formal occassions but they should be allowed to with pants if they want to.
On “The Public and Science”
I think that scientists should realize that not everybody is coming from their background and needs to understand things at a different level than they do. Its like the Four Sons from the Seder, the answer that works for the wise son is that the same as the one that would work for the other sons like the simple son. Too many scientists want everybody to be a wise son, so they do not have to think of ways to explain things in simpler language or terms.
"
The problem is that a lot of people in the scientific community seem to conflate the two. Any inability for a lay person to not understand scientific concepts is treated as willful or neglectful ignorance.
On “…Because Getting Off Is Fun”
What? Most countries in the developed world have fertility rates just at or very bellow the replacement level. Israel being the only country with a fertility rate decently above the replacement level in the developed world. Even many other countries in the developing world are bellow replacement level.
On “Thursday Night Bar Fight #10: The “Three Hour Tour””
If going to the past had a better survival rate, I'd pick a TV show that starts somewhere in the late 19th century. The late 19th and early 20th centuries always fascinated me so might as well use an opportunity to get to live there.
"
I think the BBC has a policy about protecting minorities, so as a member of LBGT community your safe in most BBC shows probably.
On “Driving Blind: BDSM and Which is the Best Star Trek”
I agree to but my solution to urban renewal requires a lot of government involvement in city building, both indirect and direct. This is going to require a lot of tax dollars and controversial actions.
"
Thats why I don't think that the law should have anything to say about it. The degradation aspect of BDSM troubles me. Its not how I think I think that people should do to themselves or other people. There have been plenty examples of entire classes of people subject to petty or not so petty degradation in the real world and it hasn't been pretty. Its not something that should be encouraged.
"
I agree and disagree with Conor Friedersdorf on this. I do not think that the law should prosecute what consenting adults do between themselves for the most part. At the same time, the sort of acts described in the original article strike me as not being optimal behavior for humans. I place great importance on human dignity. Degrading that dignity too much can't lead to anything good.
On “What is your true rejection: Organ Trade Edition”
I think one potential problem with allowing the sale of organs is that you might create a system where only the rich could afford organ transplants. Assume that there is a free market in organs and that most of the organ sellers are not doing so under duress. One would think that organs would sell for a rather high price, especially since I'd imagine that most people wouldn't be keen on selling their organs even if they could. If organs are very expensive than lower and middle income people are going to be cashed out of the organ market and likely not to get a transplant if they need it.
On “Popular and Wrong”
Oh this is a good one. To that I'd had the idea of a hedonistic pursuit of pleasure is a goal in life. Pleasure is good but I do not think that life should be a pleasure crawl. Hedonism brings no more self-fulfillment than material goods.
On “Japan Restoration Party is a National Disgrace.”
I lived in Japan and this is largely correct from my impressions. A lot of Japanese simply don't seem to care about politics the same way that citizens in other countries do. Politics plays a very small part in everyday life and culture. How many Japanese television shows or movies dealt directly with the political process? Very few if any. In most other democracies, the political thriller or procedural is an estabished genre.
On “You have no idea how upset this makes me…”
Caleb, I think that people are outraged at fraud involved in the scheme. Its not that people are pretending to be disabled but they are taking adventage of a program designed to help the disable and their families in order to make money. It hurts the policy because gaming the system like this tends to raise the cynicism level.
On “Ideology is the Enemy: The Creeping Victory of “Consistent” over “Judicious””
I just remember reading that Vonegurt (sp?) intended Harrison Bergeon to be a parody of how Ayn Rand views socialism. Considering his typical politics, this views seems more plausible than the idea that Harrison Bergeon is a straight satire of socialism.
"
I just remember reading that Vonegurt (sp?) intended Harrison Bergeon to be a parody of how Ayn Rand views socialism. Considering his typical politics, this views seems more plausible than the idea that Harrison Bergeon is a straight satire of socialism.
"
James, I thought that Harrison Bergeon was intended to be a satire on the conservative view of liberalism/socialism rather than an illustration of it.
"
I think its because many Republicans and libertarians have a relatively static, un-changing view of what government should or should not do and in case of conservatives what society should and should not look like. Libertarians have less static social views than conservatives. If your ideology requires a relatively unchanging version of government and society than you see consistency as a virture.
Liberals have a more loosely-goosey view of what government should and should not do and what society should look like. During the heyday of the Great Society, most liberals would have been revulted by open homosexuality and same-sex marriage. In fact, JFK's adminsitration actively persecuted homosexuals out of the federal government. Now equality for homosexuals and same-sex marriage is part of liberal orthodoxy and a self-evidently correct. This was a pretty fast and radical change over a period of forty or fifty years. It practically snow-balled after the end of the Clinton adminstration.
There are doctrinaire leftists like Orthoodox Marxists and Anarchists that do stick to consistency though and have the same problems as Conservatives and Libertarians. They play a very small part in American politics becasue they are much further to the left than any elected official and do not participate in the Democratic Party actively.
"
Or they could follow the Jewish solution and lawyer around their scriptures to get the result that they want. If the Torah is the constitution of the Jews than the Talmud is the living constiution interpretation of it.
"
Or they could follow the Jewish solution and lawyer around their scriptures to get the result that they want. If the Torah is the constitution of the Jews than the Talmud is the living constiution interpretation of it.
"
Or they could follow the Jewish solution and lawyer around their scriptures to get the result that they want. If the Torah is the constitution of the Jews than the Talmud is the living constiution interpretation of it.
"
Is this really the case though? I think a good argument can be made that we were just as ideologically divided in the past as we are now but that limited technology made us largely ignorant of the divisions. It could be more about willful blindness to ideology than anything else.
On “Self Criticism!”
Speaking of cartoon libertarianism:
http://hurryupharry.org/2013/05/12/anarchodepravity/#more-81514
"
To the extent that they were protesting government intervention they think only helps the top strata of society and corporations, yes. However, a lot of the Occupy movement is not opposed to government intervention in the economy as a matter of principle. I think that most of them would support government intervention that would help the masses.
On “What the Hell am I supposed to make of the new Pew report?”
Do you need to have rentier income to be considered upper-class? Is there anytime a salaried or proprietary income is high enough to be considered upper-class? An A-list celebrity makes money through means you describe as middle-class but there income is in the millions and life-style that reflects this. A lot of people in finance also earn their income through non-rentier methods. I'd say that once income reaches in the high six-figure range, say above 500,000, than you are upper-class. If your income is between 100,000 and 500,000 than you are upper-middle class.
On “Self Criticism!”
Its an interesting question. A lot of people on the Left have criticized Marxism as practiced but I can't recall anybody that argued that Marx's writings themselves are completely lacking in value. Even many people who are Liberal find at least something of value in Marx.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.