tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post2481921816598195810..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Who benefits from the politics of outrage?David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51919851551267923882014-01-18T16:03:32.369-08:002014-01-18T16:03:32.369-08:00In my life I've been forced to deal with peopl...In my life I've been forced to deal with people who have legitimate rage issues. It burns withing them. All the time. But lately it's shocking to look around and see how many people are angry. You can see it in their eyes. They would like to hurt you. Where is this coming from? Thomashttp://www.zombielogic.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42785337732634222592014-01-17T10:07:57.389-08:002014-01-17T10:07:57.389-08:00Only in that case… how is a secretive cartel of 1...<i>Only in that case… how is a secretive cartel of 10,000 or so conniving, back-room-dealing, circle-jerking, self-interested golf buddies intrinsically better allocators than say 500,000 skilled, educated, closely-watched and reciprocally competitive civil servants? Both groups suffer from delusional in-group-think, Hayek had a good point. But the smaller clade - more secretive and inward-looking, uncriticized and motivated solely by conniving greed - is inherently more likely to fail.</i><br /><br />Not only are the 500,000 people *more* people, and have better motives (And can't suck money out of the system without committing fraud.), but they work 9-5 jobs, they have a mortgage to pay, they buy toilet paper and milk at the grocery store, they drive an 11-year old car, they got through college on student loans, etc.<br /><br />The superrich? The 10,000 or so people who own everything? Do none of those things. Probably *never* did any of those things their entire life.<br /><br />Civil servants *actually live in the same world* as everyone else, so can probably make better choices about what *everyone else* needs.<br /><br />Now, civil servants, in theory, don't have the same correction system that the free market has...except that, as you point out, companies aren't operated by some sort of magical fairy, they're operated by interlocking groups of people, and it scarcely matters to them if the *company* fails...what matters is how much money can be sucked out of it on the way down. At least civil servants would *try* to operate otherwise.DavidTCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26037558508277847032014-01-16T10:18:51.310-08:002014-01-16T10:18:51.310-08:00onward
onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64966638990836269972014-01-15T22:57:54.974-08:002014-01-15T22:57:54.974-08:00Hi
Nice post. Most of the times i never spend a mo...Hi<br />Nice post. Most of the times i never spend a most of the time on any posts. But i really like you post and i read your post. Thank you for sharing and keep posting a more post on new topicsbrockhttp://www.dulceplacereseroticstories.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87867820564589876172014-01-15T22:40:08.017-08:002014-01-15T22:40:08.017-08:00@locumranch at 9:46 PM, I am a self professed &quo...@locumranch at 9:46 PM, I am a self professed "Useless Old Fool"; but you have embraced my chosen name and shamelessly made it your own. Your feelings of contempt for your fellow Americans are load and clear. You criticize historic achievements but you offer no solutions to the problems that the "New Deal" and Keynesian policies addressed.<br /><br />1 ) Higher Education is not and never was a progressive solution to unemployment caused by the Great Recession and a Global economic crisis.<br />http://www.epi.org/publication/top-charts-2013/<br />Chart #9 "A college degree is no sure ticket to adequate wage growth"<br />Chart #10 "Tech credentials are no guarantee that wages rise as the economy expands"<br /><br />Congress and its creation the "Federal Reserve" have the responsibility and power to promote Maximum employment.<br />Sadly the Federal Reserve and Congress have long ignored its Dual Mandate to promote maximum employment and to keep prices stable.<br /><br />But Congress can immediately create about 400,000 local jobs across the country by repealing the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006.<br />This Holiday season both "Fed Ex" and "U.P.S" failed to deliver on time. The result Christmas trees with missing presents and disappointed children.<br />This was just the latest failure of privation ( Greed ); over the experience and the values of our Founding Fathers.<br />http://www.savethepostoffice.com/corporatization-postal-service-post-office-closures-suspensions-relocations-reductions-2013<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL_IYiMdmOA<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX_WasAnDcM<br /><br />2 ) Really insurance programs to minimize risk and promote the common good were supported by the Founding Fathers.<br />Look at Ben Franklin you know "The First American" who signed the "Declaration of Independence" and the Constitution.<br />Ben Franklin the self made entrepreneur and inventor of the lightning rod which he never patented.<br />Ben Franklin who established the first public lending library, a fire-fighting brigade, organized a weekly Junto, and established a mutual insurance company.<br />Famous quote "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”<br /><br />History lesson it was industrious Germans who set up the 1st old-age social insurance program in 1889 and later lowered the retirement age to 65.<br />If you are so concerned about your retirement there is a simple fix to Social Security "Lift the payroll ceiling".<br />http://www.epi.org/publication/socialsecuritytextbook/<br /><br />3 ) Netflix "A Place at the Table", the churches and private groups have failed to feed the poor in the USA while we have an over abundance of food available.<br />http://www.epi.org/blog/snap-food-stamps-economy-poverty/<br />You don't provide a better solution and I am too tired of your sweeping statements to write more tonight.useless.old.foolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04187028037760836387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23765524027597104802014-01-15T22:07:21.123-08:002014-01-15T22:07:21.123-08:00Hi Paul451
The long term trend to reducing violen...Hi Paul451<br /><br />The long term trend to reducing violence is just that a trend,<br /><br />Violence trends downwards over the long term, there were double decade increases in the west in the 60s and 70s<br /><br />Just like the sea ice - it trends downwards with fluctuations either side of a meanDuncan Cairncrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16927953355908146752014-01-15T21:13:35.778-08:002014-01-15T21:13:35.778-08:00And our wonderful DiFi looks like an anti-sousveil...And our wonderful DiFi looks like an anti-sousveillance proponent.<br /><br />http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/senator-dianne-feinstein-encounter-with-drone-technology-privacy-surveillance-102233.html<br /><br />Who could've known? :)Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74572682912103382752014-01-15T19:52:43.941-08:002014-01-15T19:52:43.941-08:00But some say transparency disclosure of CEO-to-wor...But some say transparency disclosure of CEO-to-worker pay ratios is counter-productive. It not only gives executives a good idea of how much they can get away with asking for, but peer benchmarking leads to Lake Wobegon effect: every C.E.O. gets treated as above average, and salaries ratchet inexorably higher. (This is taken from:<br />http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2013/10/21/131021ta_talk_surowiecki )Rodneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07301777595404508495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38228756767346757502014-01-15T19:50:48.386-08:002014-01-15T19:50:48.386-08:00There is an exception to the long term trend towar...There is an exception to the long term trend towards less violence.<br /><br />Pew Research claims religious violence is at a six year high.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2014/01/14/religious-hostilities-reach-six-year-high/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pewforum.org/2014/01/14/religious-hostilities-reach-six-year-high/</a><br /><br />Percentage of countries with abuses of minority religions has nearly doubled. Percentage of countries with severe restriction on religious freedom has doubled. Percentage of countries with reports of harassment of women over religious dress codes had almost quintupled. Rates of mob violence and terrorism related to religion have doubled. Sectarian violence has tripled.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27027377425439592042014-01-15T19:21:06.314-08:002014-01-15T19:21:06.314-08:00The concept of 'welfare' -- basic sustenan...The concept of 'welfare' -- basic sustenance provided to individuals in order to stabilize the community -- is as old as time. Juvenal described this process, employed by the Roman ruling classes to placate the fickle masses with food & entertainment, as 'bread & circuses' (2nd Century)<br /><br />Although a fairly common historical phenomenon, peasant revolts are rarely successful in the absence of military support because moral, financial & legal authority are no match for 'blood & iron', as in 'an unarmed revolutionary is merely a dead criminal'. <br /><br />This is a hard lesson, forgotten by most dilettantes, that 'might makes right', 'power comes from the muzzle of a gun' and 'authority must be purchased with blood'.<br /><br />Of course, there are, have been & will always be peaceful political transitions, but the unspoken power behind them, what keeps the contract-breaker in check, the elephant in the room, is the threat of overwhelming brutal force.<br /><br />You can download the lite version of F. A. Hayek's 'The Road to Serfdom' at www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/upldbook43pdf.pdf<br /><br /> <br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23963906153227423152014-01-15T19:16:28.123-08:002014-01-15T19:16:28.123-08:00Paul451, I would expect that conspicuously excessi... Paul451, I would expect that conspicuously excessive compensation would cause many shareholders to wonder about dividends that might've been, or needed investments foregone, to pay those immense salaries, structural changes to preserve that level of pay would surely salt those wounds further.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80634147112849201662014-01-15T18:40:52.120-08:002014-01-15T18:40:52.120-08:00Because to be honest? I think your articles and bl...Because to be honest? I think your articles and blog posts are losing some of their impact when you constantly link to your own books "to prove a point" in your discussion.<br /><br />I don't see that either,<br />What I do see (and like) is the links to all of the older Brin rants,<br />with their comments<br />Which is very usefulDuncan Cairncrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-3202659276181918882014-01-15T18:38:31.516-08:002014-01-15T18:38:31.516-08:00@Tony Fisk,
According to Dr Brin, zombie movies a...@Tony Fisk,<br /><br />According to Dr Brin, zombie movies are about the evil rabble vs the elite protagonists.<br /><br />It's <b>vampire</b> movies that are about evil aristocrats vs the regular-guy protagonist.<br /><br />But to your point, I am not a fan of the current zombie craze, but you are right that there must be a reason it is so popular.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43720725298164061552014-01-15T18:26:40.501-08:002014-01-15T18:26:40.501-08:00That 'zeitgiest' is also seen in the ongoi...That 'zeitgiest' is also seen in the ongoing popularity of zombie movies. It would, perhaps, be a little more accurate for movie scenario to depict a diminishing band of elite undead seeking refuge from a tsunami horde of enraged humanity. <br /><br />#WorldWarVTony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46919145041013517202014-01-15T17:36:37.723-08:002014-01-15T17:36:37.723-08:00Tim H:
Business-critters do enjoy piling straw on...Tim H:<br /><i><br />Business-critters do enjoy piling straw on the backs of camels, don't they?<br /></i><br /><br />In the early 1990s, a movie could get a sure audience-applause reaction by displaying gratuitous contempt for HMOs and such.<br /><br />These days, the zeitgeist in the air is something more like "arrogant despots finally get their comeuppance" as in "The Hunger Games" series.<br /><br />Neither of us has to spend much time wondering why that is.<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1500415554583783682014-01-15T17:31:29.499-08:002014-01-15T17:31:29.499-08:00Robert:
Because to be honest? I think your articl...Robert:<br /><i><br />Because to be honest? I think your articles and blog posts are losing some of their impact when you constantly link to your own books "to prove a point" in your discussion.<br /></i><br /><br />Do you see that on this blog? It seems to me that Dr Brin mentions his own stuff primarily in the context of mentioning predictions that have come true. Which is possible to find annoying, I suppose, but it doesn't seem to be what that article is talking about.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92095263215585662912014-01-15T14:57:55.489-08:002014-01-15T14:57:55.489-08:00Something a little off topic, but reminiscent of t...Something a little off topic, but reminiscent of the opening pages of '<a href="http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/motors/the-submarine-that-can-fly-20140113-30r81.html" title="OK, So maybe a dolphin couldn't pilot this..." rel="nofollow">Sundiver</a>'Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61330098695261799722014-01-15T12:13:03.377-08:002014-01-15T12:13:03.377-08:00How long do you think our oligarchic robber barons... <i>How long do you think our oligarchic robber barons would last without the consolation of the welfare pittance, food stamps, SNIP, SNAP, social security, bread & circuses?</i><br /><br />Since welfare is only a relatively recent phenomenon, mostly early to mid C20th, why wasn't oligarchic overthrow by the peasants more common in the past? And where it doesn't exist today, why is it that leadership is changed primarily through the military, not the people. Even in ancient Rome, the emperors were most often unseated by the military. The French Revolution was fomented by the fed bourgeoisie, not the starving (let them eat cake) underclasses.Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40955987161063189192014-01-15T12:10:50.662-08:002014-01-15T12:10:50.662-08:00By the way, Dr. Brin, I thought you might want to ...By the way, Dr. Brin, I thought <a href="http://badredheadmedia.com/2014/01/11/4-common-misperceptions-about-self-publishing-authors-need-to-change-now/" rel="nofollow">you might want to consider this article</a> in regards to the Contrary Brin blog. Because to be honest? I think your articles and blog posts are losing some of their impact when you constantly link to your own books "to prove a point" in your discussion.<br /><br />People come here for your insights. If they enjoy your insight or the discussion they have, then they'll buy the books. And there are plenty of links for those books elsewhere. They can find it without constantly having it beaten around the head.<br /><br />Just something to consider.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34046433783571170422014-01-15T11:35:40.768-08:002014-01-15T11:35:40.768-08:00Tim H,
"your suggested evasion of executive c...Tim H,<br /><i>"your suggested evasion of executive compensation limits would work, but would hopefully fuel shareholder resentment."</i><br /><br />Why would shareholders resent it? Any more than they resent existing structural arrangements to avoid or minimise regulation/taxes/risk/etc.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89082305172364168542014-01-15T05:41:13.896-08:002014-01-15T05:41:13.896-08:00Tony Fisk, the net neutrality decision might point... Tony Fisk, the net neutrality decision might point to a future where you pay for fast broadband, yet don't see faster downloads, unless you choose a site blessed with priority. Business-critters do enjoy piling straw on the backs of camels, don't they?Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8697145195206346492014-01-15T05:21:45.013-08:002014-01-15T05:21:45.013-08:00Paul451, your suggested evasion of executive compe... Paul451, your suggested evasion of executive compensation limits would work, but would hopefully fuel shareholder resentment. The .1% can be a bit thick outside of their specialties, but they're not stupid.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80208525234642529172014-01-15T05:13:11.300-08:002014-01-15T05:13:11.300-08:00 The fragmentation of media aids outrage, a person... The fragmentation of media aids outrage, a person can be isolated from most dissent, with the exception of the occasional strawman. Folks who so choose can be subjected to the world according to Roger Ailes, or, with some digging, nearly any other possible political view, to the point that my Aunt can view the President of the United States, who acts more conservatively than (The underappreciated) Gerald R. Ford as a dangerous socialist. Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72488683439241383382014-01-14T21:46:01.094-08:002014-01-14T21:46:01.094-08:00David's assessment of the current US socioecon...David's assessment of the current US socioeconomic situation, including what he calls the 'oligarchic putsch', is exceptionally accurate excepting that he manages to come to exactly to the wrong conclusions as to its situational cause and solutions, possibly due to his progressive moral bias.<br /><br />Like a scientist who demands that his results conform to his hypothesis, David demands 'more of the same' in terms of progressive results-- more social justice, more reforms, more bread and more circuses -- in the hopes that a new 'New Deal' will produce a different social outcome than the dysfunctional present created by the old 'New Deal' that lead us here. A surprising assumption, I grant you, made even more surprising by his previous expose of the GOP conservative party's counter-intuitive stand on Illegal Immigration, being publicly against while implicitly supportive of its depressive effect on US labour costs.<br /><br />This common disconnect between stated social policy and actual consequence is well-known to David but, like any partisan, he has difficulty acknowledging this when it impacts his core beliefs. Hence progressive statements offering (1) Education as a solution to unemployment when it serves the actual purpose of keeping many young people unemployed & out of the workforce with the promise of better jobs for a select few, (2) Social Security & Medicare as a moral obligation to our elderly when it serves the same purpose of education, speeding geriatric exit from our over-populated workforce and (3) Welfare & Food Stamps as a solution to poverty when it serves the actual purpose of institutionalizing the very poverty-based social inequalities that it claims to eradicate.<br /><br />Perhaps it is time for David to put his intellectual currency where his progressive mouth is. If he really believes in competition, social self-correction & Smithian principles, then he should stop his progressive social tinkering & allow our society to self-correct without the social mollification strategies which keep our kings in their counting-houses.<br /><br />How long do you think our oligarchic robber barons would last without the consolation of the welfare pittance, food stamps, SNIP, SNAP, social security, bread & circuses? They would be swinging from lamp posts in no time, dancing to the music of the wind, along with selected management from the BP Deep Horizon, Fukishima, Chemical Polluters, AIG & Goldman-Sachs, a self-preventing prophecy made tangible, unreformed but incapable of recidivism.<br /><br />The true etymology of the term 'outrage' has nothing to do with out or rage. Rather, it is a borrowing from French term 'outrage', meaning 'extravagant; excessive; immoderate' in the sense of "the passing beyond reasonable bounds" until its meaning narrowed in English toward violent excesses because of the folk etymology of out (meaning 'expel') + rage (meaning 'passion' or 'fury').<br /><br />Obviously, Americans are NOT addicted to 'outrage' in its modern form or we would not suffer fools so gladly. If only we were ...<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37383563689939727352014-01-14T21:31:28.896-08:002014-01-14T21:31:28.896-08:00I own shares in a dozen companies, but since I am ...I own shares in a dozen companies, but since I am not a multibillionaire, any choices I get in the annual shareholders report are pretty unimportant: choose 5 of the following 10 people to rotate onto the board of directors, choose 1 of the 3 companies listed to perform accounting and auditing functions, etc. I am almost never offered a choice that could actually affect the way my companies do business. Even selling my stock is largely irrelevant as an individual; it's like the barnacles on the side of a cargo ship affecting its steering.<br /><br />TheMadLibrarian<br />preope: opinion before the opinionTheMadLibrariannoreply@blogger.com