tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5677693472703447514..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The alluring dream of "Central Planning." David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47069208347283171912019-01-17T05:15:08.998-08:002019-01-17T05:15:08.998-08:00>> Duncan Cairncross said...
\\Disagree COMP...>> Duncan Cairncross said...<br />\\Disagree COMPLETELY<br />Central planning works very well - at the macro level<br /><br />Because it's not about PLANNING. %)<br /><br />Its about <a href="www.shsu.edu/~mgt_ves/mgt560/Simulation.ppt" rel="nofollow">queuing systems</a> -- for mass-production/service.<br />porohobotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81860200627256788122019-01-16T17:21:54.928-08:002019-01-16T17:21:54.928-08:00Imbeciles can't perceive their own traps. Exa...Imbeciles can't perceive their own traps. Example, the racist right not only weakens Western Civilization with their every Putin-licking action, destroying the alliances that helped America keep the Pax. They also ignore the only way that Western Civilization can survive all the trends, including population and the ever-present human allure of oligarchy.<br /><br />That means is memes. I care about my kids and I hope some folks carrying my genes will be around to enjoy the world of 300 years from now. But it will only be an enjoyable world, healthy and spreading across space, if the MEMES of Western Civilization root and spread.<br /><br />It doesn't matter squat if they are white or brown or even if they salute the US flag. If the coming era fills every child on Earth with impudent, individualist confidence and habits of grownup, respectful reciprocal accountability, then we win. Then we've conquered both history and the world. And that is a conquest to be proud of.<br /><br />And imbecile racists like Steve King, who associate victory with a fight they cannot conceivably win -- keeping the future dominated by lily-white males -- are not allies toward that future. They are jibbering morons who seek to bring us to Idiocracy.<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85639956624487892592019-01-16T17:17:53.804-08:002019-01-16T17:17:53.804-08:00EVERY ATTEMPT at central planning at scale dehuman...EVERY ATTEMPT at central planning at scale dehumanizes the people being controlled... or fails. <br />Some of us know that, but history does not yet.<br /><br />Disagree COMPLETELY<br />Central planning works very well - at the macro level<br /><br />The problems come when it is expected to work at too low a level AND when the "Plan" is not flexible enough<br /><br />If you keep those two in mind then it works very well<br /><br />An example would be the British economy during WW2<br /><br />Central Planning works a lot better than the "market" for:<br />Electrical generation and supply<br />Health Services<br />Water supply, rainwater control and sewage treatment<br />Roads and railways<br />Postal Services<br />Education<br /><br />Probably some others as wellduncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39119454322118504702019-01-16T15:59:33.662-08:002019-01-16T15:59:33.662-08:00climate stabilized
heh. Y'all are funny toda...<i> climate stabilized </i><br /><br />heh. Y'all are funny today. 8)<br /><br />Any atmosphere at all stabilizes the climate.<br />Sit on the cloudless high desert and feel the transition from day to night.<br />You can feel the heat being sucked out of your body.<br />Of course... it actually isn't. It's just that you don't get to keep it without a blanket.<br /><br /><i> when history declares this dream repulsive </i><br /><br />Locumranch isn't being so funny.<br /><br />Dude... history says no such thing. The lure of central planning is inherently human.<br /><br />We map our biological expectations learned by economizing at the family and band level to larger communities and nations. It doesn't matter if the central planner is your mother or a strongman. We KNOW IN OUR BONES that planning works for economizing scarce resources.<br /><br />Turns out our bones are wrong for larger communities, though. Planners need too much information to be effective at scale. It's not possible to get that information without a time machine and even that might not be enough. People who think AI can solve this don't get it. It would have to be one of V Vinge's transcendent/transhuman beings to have even a ghost of a chance for communities of millions and in the attempt... it's quite possible they only succeed by making us something less than human. <br /><br />EVERY ATTEMPT at central planning at scale dehumanizes the people being controlled... or fails. <br />Some of us know that, but history does not yet.<br /><br />Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74604351974772458092019-01-16T15:46:54.981-08:002019-01-16T15:46:54.981-08:00... just to show I DO read the posts and occasiona...... just to show I DO read the posts and occasionally keep my comments relevant...<br /><br /><i>“Democrats favor freedom in the bedroom and republicans like freedom in the board-room.” </i><br /><br />One thing we libertarians do is mistake theory for practice. Maps for terrain. That sort of thing. Freedom in the board-room is the theory and it's perfectly fine. Real board-rooms are another matter.<br /><br />Serving on a Board helps drive home the distinctions that need to be recognized. Serving as a Chair helps one see all those details that go into the sausage making. It's not just legislators who make sausage after all.<br /><br />I don't mind attempts to ensure the sausage won't kill people as long as they aren't attempts to close board-rooms or make their proper, theoretical function impossible. They serve a good purpose when well formed and well run. They serve an illusion of purpose otherwise.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58711859990320711782019-01-16T14:59:47.522-08:002019-01-16T14:59:47.522-08:00That would only be true, Larry, if you believe tho...That would only be true, Larry, if you believe those greenhouse gases on Earth help keep the climate stabilized. But then you would also have to believe that increasing one of those gases would trap more heat in our atmosphere, causing a forcing that would almost certainly increase the average temperature. And as we all know, that's a Chinese conspiracy theory.<br /><br />Just ask our President... :) A.F. Reyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08102355714883828348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67430227317358939572019-01-16T14:30:20.190-08:002019-01-16T14:30:20.190-08:00Zepp Jamieson:
knowing it would drop to -170 (C o...Zepp Jamieson:<br /><i><br />knowing it would drop to -170 (C or F? Does it matter?) in 48 hours, after the sun set. (Turns out the Moon has a sun, too!). That's surprising. In my Met class, we were taught that nighttime lows were alleviated in the presence of a low pressure system, and at 0.000001 millibars, this was quite a strong low.<br /></i><br /><br />I think you're kidding, but just in case...<br /><br />I think earthly low-pressure systems are typically higher in moisture content and cloud cover, both of which keep lows from dropping too far. The moon has neither.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45433237507533577482019-01-16T14:14:53.233-08:002019-01-16T14:14:53.233-08:00"David talks about 'the alluring dream of..."David talks about 'the alluring dream of central planning' even when history declares this dream repulsive."<br />Ignoring the rest of the crapola in that post, there is the fact that central planning is still a widely held dream, not just in governments, but in corporations as well. And the Corps have the same problems that Stalin and Mao encountered: centralization is supposed to bring the economics of scale into play, and standardization is supposed to enhance efficiency. The problem is that humans are neither standard nor efficient.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77970574422837391722019-01-16T14:09:36.667-08:002019-01-16T14:09:36.667-08:00Hmm. Growing cotton on the Moon, and now steam-dr...Hmm. Growing cotton on the Moon, and now steam-driven rockets. (https://www.livescience.com/64487-steam-powered-spaceship.html) <br />Reality, brought to you by Terry Pratchett.<br />The cotton plant died, by the way. Those heartless Chinese let it germinate, knowing it would drop to -170 (C or F? Does it matter?) in 48 hours, after the sun set. (Turns out the Moon has a sun, too!). That's surprising. In my Met class, we were taught that nighttime lows were alleviated in the presence of a low pressure system, and at 0.000001 millibars, this was quite a strong low. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76899889449184949842019-01-16T13:30:35.802-08:002019-01-16T13:30:35.802-08:00One of the high points of The Tick animated series...One of the high points of The Tick animated series was the superhero who dressed up like a bat. His name was Die Fledermaus, which is German for "the bat," or more literally translated as "the flitter (fluttering) mouse."<br /><br />A name that struck fear into the hearts of every criminal everywhere... :)A.F. Reyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08102355714883828348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67185116984605109082019-01-16T13:20:13.892-08:002019-01-16T13:20:13.892-08:00If I didn't know locum was being deliberately ...If I didn't know locum was being deliberately obtuse, I'd point out that the claim that white culture isn't the <b>only</b> important one is not the same as saying it should be eliminated.<br /><br />Or that I was actually giving Steve King more credit than he gave himself.<br /><br />But really, what would be the point?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58570758127152278162019-01-16T12:44:55.453-08:002019-01-16T12:44:55.453-08:00Alfred Differ:
I would expect "the batman&qu...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />I would expect "the batman" or "Batman", but not "the Batman". Proper nouns and all that.<br /></i><br /><br />Well, my dad was speaking at the time, not writing.<br /><br />In the very early comics appearances (I mean back in the 1930s), he was "The Bat-Man", shortened to "Bat-Man". The hyphen makes it look more like a descriptor than a name.<br /><br />I was introduced to the Batman character long before I knew about vampires, so it never occurred to me that the image of Dracula and company probably contributed to that character's inspiration.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42849175273673525162019-01-16T12:31:27.344-08:002019-01-16T12:31:27.344-08:00Hmm, more racist crap from loco. To be expected.
...Hmm, more racist crap from loco. To be expected.<br /><br />Point by point:<br />1) that is "preserve" not "conserve," you ignoramus. <br />2) show me where "white culture" is dying and I'll put orange lilies on the grave, right after I spit on it, you racist fuck.<br />3) Evangelical Christians in the US are shown to be hypocrites by their every utterance. "Christian Mercy & Tolerance" is an utter joke if you've read any history. I doubt loco reads though. He name-drops books without showing a scintilla of understanding of the contents. <br />4) We have yet to see an "absence of patriarchy" but I cannot wait for the day. I and mine will do just fine in the absence. I've spent my children's lives teaching them to respect no unearned authority and authority due to ownership of a penis is a laughable idiocy. <br />5) I *know* I'll be protected by my friends and neighbors. They know the same from me. This is tested quite often. <br /><br />Now, I do know the consequence of having a loco malevolent ass in my circle or my neighborhood or in my government.I'm perfectly willing to act to remove one such as you, you racist asshole. <br /><br />Goodbye and don't let the door hit you. <br /><br />matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16469314865361950302019-01-16T12:07:41.347-08:002019-01-16T12:07:41.347-08:00Bah! David talks about 'the alluring dream of ...<br />Bah! David talks about 'the alluring dream of central planning' even when history declares this dream repulsive.<br /><br />I would apologise for my snark if any of you could recognise that words have actual meaning, but I will not apologise because you will not & cannot recognise the contradictions inherent in your word use:<br /><br />(1) You wish to conserve the Rule of Law without being 'conservative';<br /><br />(2) You wish the benefits of white culture in the absence of white culture;<br /><br />(3) You wish the benefits of Christian Mercy & Tolerance without the drawbacks of either Christians or Christianity;<br /><br />(4) You wish the protections of Patriarchy in the absence of Patriarchy; and<br /><br />(5) You expect to be sheltered by the very social contract which you have deemed invalid & archaic.<br /><br />Even now, you fail to understand the consequences of your so very progressive attempts to separate that which is inseparable, as in the case of Yin from Yang & Light from Dark.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06812045410916208141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78531455340215945912019-01-16T11:27:57.357-08:002019-01-16T11:27:57.357-08:00Larry,
I would expect "the batman" or &...Larry,<br /><br />I would expect "the batman" or "Batman", but not "the Batman". Proper nouns and all that.<br /><br />I do remember in the earlier movies when villains referred to him as 'the bat'. That could go either way, I suppose. 'The Bat' works for me.<br /><br /><i>He was as much in favor of that as your mother was.</i><br /><br />Yah. Many moons ago our host posted something semi-religious about people not being sheep. As evidence, one could ask wither parents expected their children to surpass them. Even a secret desire for our children to improve upon themselves would be enough to demonstrate the failure of a pastoral metaphor.<br /><br />When I first read that post, my inner response was 'No @#$@ing kidding!'. One of the things that always bugged me (as my mother dearly hoped it would) about blind faith is that it isn't really human. It is what oppressed humans might do in a pinch. It is what sheep might do. It is not what free humans do unless we are indoctrinated as children. My parents made damn sure I was ignorant of such things until I had learned some skepticism and a willingness to distrust even some of what they said. When I occasionally wondered aloud how my father knew certain things, he'd point at his head and say 'kidneys'. Obviously, I wasn't supposed to believe him, but I WAS expected to figure out the truth anyway.<br /><br />Secret parental desires for their children can be hard to spot even when they create a burden for the child. When it comes to understanding American's, though, I think it is critical to look for the deepest ones among us. That we desire our children to surpass us is among those core needs.<br /><br />For my mother, this included her desire that I not fear deep water. Learning to swim was a way to do that. For my father, this included college and grad school. In hindsight, I think I was well into my 30's before I was working on my own goals because it turned out that I HAD adopted a form of blind faith. I believed in some unnamed thing my parents believed deep down. Our host has described it, though. It's the transcendent thing called 'enlightenment civilization.'Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83340233961742557122019-01-16T11:07:59.334-08:002019-01-16T11:07:59.334-08:00Barr's responses yesterday contained some impo...Barr's responses yesterday contained some important points whether or not they've been followed perfectly.<br />1. 'Confidential' is a security marking much like 'Secret'. One does not hand out reports willy-nilly when they have security markings on them. There IS a process for releasing material to the public, though.<br />2. Security markings should not prevent Congress from seeing the material if they are forceful enough. There IS a process for sharing secured material with cleared congress critters.<br />3. Evidence that doesn't come together to lead to indictments should not be shared openly, so a security marking makes sense. Sharing the material would lead to harm to the United States of America in that it would violate laws and norms regarding privacy of investigated individuals. The easiest way to ensure this doesn't happen, though, is to exclude the evidence from the secured report. If there are to be no indictments, perhaps the evidence could be left in the vaults where it was collected. They have rules for this.<br />4. DoJ shouldn't review that rule about indicting a sitting President. It would look partisan and arbitrary. However, Congress can make it's will known to DoJ.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12973728700340908402019-01-16T10:57:49.820-08:002019-01-16T10:57:49.820-08:00porohobot | em... Romanic maybe
See? That's a...porohobot | <i>em... Romanic maybe</i><br /><br />See? That's a good application of rule-based thinking that students of English have to bring to start learning English. Unfortunately, the rule doesn't work here. Latin languages are referred to as 'romance' languages, though I never learned why. 'Roman' as a root word is present, but when I hear it spoken for some reason I think of a movie. [A Fish Called Wanda.] I think of one of the characters and how she liked the sound of Russian speech. To an English speaker, some of the older, European 'romance' languages sound more musical, lyrical, or poetic. I may be way off base, though.<br /><br />As for bastard languages, any cultural group faced with frequent invasions is probably going to have one. Considering Ukraine's location on the map and the geopolitical importance of Crimea, it's no shock. The way I was taught history pointed out that the region is rarely independent of nearby empires and is often fought over if none of their neighbors can dominate. People in the US won't get that because we haven't faced that kind of conflict in almost two centuries, so we have to make a mess of our language all by ourselves. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49131894324794753002019-01-16T10:26:56.055-08:002019-01-16T10:26:56.055-08:00Now, that's a bridge too far, to suggest that ...<br />Now, that's a bridge too far, to suggest that conservative, white, christian, patriarchal Western Civilisation is a 'bad thing', just because of the ongoing progressive villainisation of all things conservative, white, christian & patriarchal.<br /><br />No worries though, as those who come after the extinction of all things conservative, white, christian & patriarchal will most assuredly embrace the same values of Western Civilisation with identical zeal, I'm sure.<br /><br />Like those Enlightened Islamists who will exalt & pedestalise the liberal, female, lesbian, bisexual, gay, transexual & non-muslim communities just enough to ensure that the fall from said pedestal will ensure certain death.<br /><br />Enjoy the tolerance of Sharia Law.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06812045410916208141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22398318750627134392019-01-16T09:04:36.237-08:002019-01-16T09:04:36.237-08:00BTW, I heard congressman Steven King on the radio ...BTW, I heard congressman Steven King on the radio this morning defending his remarks by "clarifying" what he said as (his own emphasis) "White nationalist, white supremacist, <b>Western civilization</b> — how did <b>that</b> language become offensive?". <br /><br />What he seemed to be getting at was that he was rhetorically asking when "western civilization" became a bad term, lumped in with those other bad things--not asking when white supremacy became a bad thing.<br /><br />If that's really his point, though, he made it so clumsily that I'm probably giving him more benefit of the doubt than he claims for himself. Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7832238450048820682019-01-16T08:28:34.349-08:002019-01-16T08:28:34.349-08:00@Greg Byshenk,
You are correct about the author. ...@Greg Byshenk,<br /><br />You are correct about the author. I said the wrong one.<br /><br />And you correctly spoil the end of the book. :) But just before history rights itself, the US either does or is just about to join the war on the Axis side. The protagonist who expected to escape to Canada was in danger of facing a militarily closed border. If I recall correctly, FDR pulled a kind of coup to prevent that course of history.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35097494865057571892019-01-16T06:37:59.449-08:002019-01-16T06:37:59.449-08:00Just for info: "The Plot Against America"...Just for info: "The Plot Against America" is by Philip Roth.<br /><br />And (IIRC) it does not involve the USA joining the Axis, but signing a form of non-aggression pact with Germany. In the end it goes amiss, the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurs, and the USA enters the war as happened more or less in this reality.gregory byshenkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08565517478782844083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45960431531332536332019-01-16T06:16:33.188-08:002019-01-16T06:16:33.188-08:00https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2019/Pres/Maps/J...https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2019/Pres/Maps/Jan16.html#item-1<br /><i><br />Barr also had a few responses that made the Democrats none-too-happy:<br /><br />...<br />+ That he sees "no reason" to revisit Justice Dept. policy against indicting sitting presidents<br />+ That, in view of the above, it may be necessary to keep some elements of Mueller's report a secret. "If you're not going to indict someone, then you don't stand up there and unload negative information about the person. That's not the way the Department of Justice does business," he explained.<br /></i><br /><br />He apparently didn't need to mention "...unless the person in question is named Hillary Clinton." I suppose that goes without saying.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63437460989679496132019-01-16T06:07:26.949-08:002019-01-16T06:07:26.949-08:00porohobot:
\\until we finally entered the war on ...porohobot:<br /><i><br />\\until we finally entered the war on the Nazi side, against England and therefore Canada.<br /><br />(my eyebrows going high)<br />Can you provide chain of circumstances that lead to such an end?<br />Or it's just stupid plot device?<br /></i><br /><br />I don't remember the plot in great detail, but the real life Charles Lindbergh was notorious for a certain level of anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizing. His baby son was also very famously kidnapped and never seen again, and in the book, the kidnapping was a Nazi hostage-taking to insure that President Lindbergh would not cross Hitler too much.<br /><br />As I write this, I'm noticing echoes of this plot happening in real time America.<br /><br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73564485669112502872019-01-16T06:02:11.043-08:002019-01-16T06:02:11.043-08:00porohobot:
\\large parts of it are Romantic
em.....porohobot:<br /><i><br />\\large parts of it are Romantic<br /><br />em... Romanic maybe<br /></i><br /><br />English speakers actually do use the term "Romantic" to describe Latin-based languages. It wasn't a typo.<br /><br />I understand your reluctance to use that term which carries separate connotations, but keep in mind a favored quote from Isaac Asimov talking about how the word vitamin was once thought to describe amine compounds, but no longer does. Paraphrasing from memory: "We've known for centuries that 'oxygen' is a misnomer, but what are you going to do?"<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33314219113318370362019-01-16T05:57:23.115-08:002019-01-16T05:57:23.115-08:00Alfred Differ:
@Larry | I suspect your professor ...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />@Larry | I suspect your professor was wrong. One of the great things about this civilization, though, can be seen when a science related academic says a certain thing can't be done. <br /></i><br /><br />Yeah, and I really think the "can't be done" part was intentional hyperbole. He was pointing out how complicated a task it is to parse the English language.<br /><br /><i><br />...Even Mathematic does that.<br /><br />Ugh. That 's' is needed, <br /></i><br /><br />Maybe if you said "<b>The</b> Mathematic"? :)<br /><br />Tangentially, I grew up on the 1960s Batman tv show, so the fact that his "name" was Batman never sounded weird to me. My dad, 30 years older, always thought they were dropping a definite article from "<b>The</b> Batman."<br /><br /><i><br />but I do see the silliness in my unwillingness to use 'maths'. <br /></i><br /><br />No, I'm in agreement with that unwillingness. Even though it makes logical sense to keep the plural from "mathematics", "math" just <b>feels</b> like a collective noun to me. If I had a week or so to think about it, I could probably explain why. :)<br /><br /><i><br />She admitted early that I was leaving her in the dust... exactly as she wanted. <br /></i><br /><br />My dad was a professional optometrist, so no slouch at math. But when my brother and I were in high school (mid 1970s), he caught a glimpse of the problems we were working on in matrix algebra, and had to admit, "It's like a foreign language to me." <br /><br />He was as much in favor of that as your mother was.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.com