tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post8656522149579201385..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: More steps toward an open worldDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-21478157256852785242019-12-15T05:26:50.220-08:002019-12-15T05:26:50.220-08:00"Sublunari hi. Sorry but you are going to be ..."Sublunari hi. Sorry but you are going to be disappointed. I deem the younger Marx (like the younger Freud) to have been a brilliant observer who rationally asked vital questions about economics and capital formation and class warfare that’s recurred in nearly all societies that had agriculture. The later Marx (like Freud and many others) allowed his flattering followers to turn him into a guru who became ever-more detached from a scientist’s duty to base theories on contingence and falsifiable tests.<br /><br />The PATTERNS that Marx portrays… feudalism displaced by royalty then by bourgeoise capitalism that devolves into cheating oligarchy… is certainly one of the most enduring. His prediction that penultimate capitalism would become ripe with final completion of the means of production followed by takeover by advanced proletariate… has never happened, ever, anywhere in the world. The “Marxist” revolts in 1917 Russia and in China were by the LEAST advanced proletariates and clearly were just the latest peasant revolts propelled by a new religion and its priest-lord elites.<br /><br />Marx never conceived that sapient beings in the most advanced nations might read his books and then choose a new path, as did the Greatest Generation in the US, under FDR.<br /><br />Having said all that, let me add that Marx seems relevant again, as a towering cabal of top oligarchs moves to crush the Great Experiment and restore feudalism, in a pattern that now SO resembles Karl’s that you have to wonder at how stoopid they are… or clever Putin and his fellow “ex” commies are. (I’ll wager not a single person at Fox, nor Koch, Mercer or any of that lot have read Marx or have a clue how all their efforts fit right into his pattern.)"<br /><br />Hi David, thank you for your comment. Would you not say, though, that your last paragraph here contradicts the first? If Marx is relevant again, maybe the future history he envisioned hasn't come to pass—yet. Recent protests in Berlin have demanded that the government seize private housing and provide public housing for all. Similarly, large German companies must have 49% worker representation on their boards of directors. These are just two of many examples of socialism advancing in Europe; in Finland a leftist Social Democrat in her early thirties was just put into office; Brexit will similarly annihilate the UK while freeing Northern Ireland and Scotland from British colonialism.<br /><br />Marx and Hegel are both making a comeback, and maybe that's for a good reason. I'm not sure we can make it to the 24th century world you and I both love without them.<br /><br />I agree with many of your points, but I think that your emphasis on intergenerational politics (rather than class politics) ultimately only serves capital. I know rad leftist boomers and fascist millennials and zoomers, but I don't know a single business owner who is okay with President Bernie Sanders. Also: will you endorse Bernie for president, or have you already? Thank you!Sublunarihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01459014862752371943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4327211460967509092019-12-14T20:38:24.665-08:002019-12-14T20:38:24.665-08:00onward
onward
onward<br /><br />onward<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78971107863568569882019-12-14T19:51:00.502-08:002019-12-14T19:51:00.502-08:00thm: "Hallelujah."thm: "Hallelujah."David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29381442662100132222019-12-14T19:44:59.857-08:002019-12-14T19:44:59.857-08:00Heh. Palin and I are different things. In fact, th...Heh. Palin and I are different things. In fact, the opposite thing.<br /><br />Actually I was thinking more of Margaret Atwood than Leonard Cohen.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13369662588705888812019-12-14T19:28:04.106-08:002019-12-14T19:28:04.106-08:00scidata:
...when only a Canadian can truly see Am...scidata:<br /><i><br />...when only a Canadian can truly see America.<br /></i><br /><br />From your house?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43980268501399834202019-12-14T15:26:53.231-08:002019-12-14T15:26:53.231-08:00The first SNL after the election opened with a Hil...The first SNL after the election opened with a Hillary impression doing Cohen's "Halleluja"<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-_ZDrypec<br /><br />There are times when only a Canadian can truly see America.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11262555002263128992019-12-14T15:22:31.534-08:002019-12-14T15:22:31.534-08:00Is anyone familiar with Leonard Cohen? His song, “...Is anyone familiar with Leonard Cohen? His song, “Democracy is Coming to the USA” kept playing in the back of my mind as Bernie Sanders was gaining popularity during the 2016 campaign. Then when Trump won, Cohen’s song, “The Future” replaced it. Cohen was warning us about the Trumpites, as did Hunter S. Thompson with his columns and books.<br /><br />Cohen died right around the time of the election — he had impeccable timing.the hanged manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13908513776709889563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25007941672693260222019-12-14T13:50:34.147-08:002019-12-14T13:50:34.147-08:00"It was David Brooks, and it was an Opinion p...<i>"It was David Brooks, and it was an Opinion piece.<br /><br />He did point to two other stories (not behind a paywall, as far as I can tell).<br /><br />"Britain's Nightmare Before Christmas", in The Economist: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/12/05/britains-nightmare-before-christmas<br /><br />And in this one:<br /><br />https://www.convivium.ca/articles/a-place-of-great-debate/<br /><br />they are not talking about Britain, but, in fact, are quoting . . . David Brooks (among other)."</i><br /><br />How... circular. I hope they all washed their hands afterward.Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25367440526541622752019-12-14T13:27:00.951-08:002019-12-14T13:27:00.951-08:00LH: Evidence? We don't need no stinkin' ev...LH: Evidence? We don't need no stinkin' evidence!<br /><br />It was David Brooks, and it was an Opinion piece.<br /><br />He did point to two other stories (not behind a paywall, as far as I can tell).<br /><br />"Britain's Nightmare Before Christmas", in The Economist: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/12/05/britains-nightmare-before-christmas<br /><br />And in this one:<br /><br /> https://www.convivium.ca/articles/a-place-of-great-debate/<br /><br />they are not talking about Britain, but, in fact, are quoting . . . David Brooks (among other).<br /><br />Bob NeinastAhcuahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06514651362748555460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87536453004612492702019-12-14T12:34:44.171-08:002019-12-14T12:34:44.171-08:00Larry Hart said...
Interesting take which seems to...<b>Larry Hart said...</b><br /><i>Interesting take which seems to have a point. [Emphasis removed]:<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/opinion/UK-election-politics-boris-johnson.html<br /><br />...<br /><br />These two power blocs [disaffected conservatives and woke liberals] are driving the debate and setting the agenda. But there’s another group of people, who have become the most interesting part of the electorate, both here and in Britain. It’s the exhausted 75 percent, people who are defined not by any common ideology but by an affective state — they are simply worn out by the endless war between these two armies. Exhaustion has become an independent force in modern politics. Many people are voting for whatever candidate will exhaust them less.<br /><br />Thursday’s British election was defined by the fact that most voters were simply ground down by Johnson and Corbyn. The Economist called the election “Britain’s nightmare before Christmas.”</i><br /><br />Is there any actual <i>evidence</i> presented that such is the case? (NB: I won't give money to the NYT, so I can't look myself.)<br /><br />It's possibly true, but: a) there are almost certainly a long list of reasons that explain the UK election results; and b) what I see far too often in this sort of case is something like, "see, this is what I already thought, and it shows that I am right!" (when in fact it does no such thing).gregory byshenkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08565517478782844083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44254096773537537562019-12-14T09:27:32.976-08:002019-12-14T09:27:32.976-08:00I too see the potential for songs/lyrics. They cut...I too see the potential for songs/lyrics. They cut through polemical defenses (necessary for reaching cultists). I don't have TCB's lyrical talent, but I did attempt such a ditty for promotion of computational citizen science some years ago. I set it to the melody of "So Beautiful" by Javis Church (of The Philosopher Kings). I even connected with him on several SM channels, but was unable to get him to record/delegate this version. The storyline replaced his longing for a girl with a modest PC in the corner looking for pulsars all night and all day. Gee, I wonder why he didn't go for it.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-3072234360407363402019-12-14T09:13:05.038-08:002019-12-14T09:13:05.038-08:00The UK Labour Party suffered its worst showing in ...The UK Labour Party suffered its worst showing in more than 80 years. What does this teach us about calls for the US “resistance” to spurn moderation, like Labor did? == I’ve shown six reasons why we need to pounce on “splitterism” - sanctimony junkies who shout that moderate liberal democrats are just “Republican lite" ... that the way to defeat the Putin/Fox/Saudi/Confederate/Trumpist treason-madness is to offer working class whites hard-cider socialism. To be clear, I like Warren and Bernie is a clone of my dad. I got no probs with AOC types primarying old dems in deep blue safe districts then pushing for Scandinavia-ism. But those who ignore my SIX rebuttals to splitterism are at best fools . Some of em live/work in Kremlin basements.<br /><br />I point to blue states like CA. OR, WA where moderates and rockrib socialists (mods &rockers) work well together. ALL of the territory that was won from purple or red districts in 2018 - making Pelosi Speaker - were taken by hairbun/crewcut veterans or similar science-and-justice loving moderates.<br /><br />The UK election that rendered Labor almost a joke - was a loss for humanity and will likely result in breakup of the UK. (Hear Putin chortling?) It also shows that average Britons were not swayed by ‘pure, courageously open leftism.’ (Things might have been different with rank choice voting, which should be top priority for would be supporters of 3rd parties.<br /><br />All of it predicted in Polemical Judo.<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/13/world/europe/uk-general-election-results.html<br /> <br />http://davidbrin.com/polemicaljudo.htmlDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55448410034782186072019-12-14T09:10:19.459-08:002019-12-14T09:10:19.459-08:00TCB what was the melody to that song?TCB what was the melody to that song?David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23927855411474974382019-12-14T09:07:20.157-08:002019-12-14T09:07:20.157-08:00TCB: The hard work shows, too. That was beautifu...TCB: The hard work shows, too. That was beautifully done.<br />Hanged Man: Yes, music still inspires, but you won't find much of that in the commercial stuff they sell. And yes, the culture is fragmented, but you can find inspiring songs with strong social messages in all genres. One of the greatest protest songs I ever heard was done in purest Red River Valley C&W style: "We Can't Make It Here Any More" by Jame McMurtry. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8201377655977743322019-12-14T06:20:34.249-08:002019-12-14T06:20:34.249-08:00Re: Mule powers
Those powers lay not within tyran...Re: Mule powers<br /><br />Those powers lay not within tyrants, but within us. The fault dear Brutus...<br /><br />That's the entire premise of BNW, and why it is so much more frightening than 1984. He may have loved Big Brother at the end, but people fall out of love all the time. In the happiest cases, it's called Enlightenment.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86040126501665206082019-12-14T05:49:58.115-08:002019-12-14T05:49:58.115-08:00Daniel Duffy:
Have you not seen the people that a...Daniel Duffy:<br /><i><br />Have you not seen the people that attend Trump rallies?<br /></i><br /><br />Trump has Mule powers. Hitler probably had them too. Maybe Boris Johnson as well?<br /><br />You all snark, and I'm kidding on the square of course, but seriously, is there a theory that <b>better</b> explains what we've been living through the past three years? Is there a theory that better explains Lindsey Graham, the former Viceroy of Kalgan?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91565278378991447922019-12-14T05:45:59.948-08:002019-12-14T05:45:59.948-08:00the hanged man quotes Kurt Vonnegut:
How about Je...the hanged man quotes Kurt Vonnegut:<br /><i><br />How about Jesus’s sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?<br /></i><br /><br />Why is it that right-wing Christians are so hot to merge church and state with quotes from the <b>Old</b> Testament? Has anyone ever insisted that respect for our Christian heritage demands posting of the Beatitudes on the courthouse lawn? Or <b>anything</b> that Jesus actually...whatayacall...said?<br /><br />On a separate but somewhat-related subject, after two days, I still don't understand the reasoning behind Trump's policy on "protecting" Jewish students on campuses. I don't mean I disagree with it--I mean I literally can't <b>understand</b> it. The upshot seems to be that, because Jewishness is like a nationality, Jews are a protected minority. But the practical application is not to protect Jews, but to block any public criticism of policies of the state of Israel. Universities can be fined for allowing anti-Netenyahu demonstrations, but "very fine people" are still good to chant "Jews will not replace us!"<br /><br />Not to mention that the administration which pushed through the courts a Muslim ban based upon an individual's country of origin is complaining about anti-Israel sentiment reflecting discrimination based on national origin.<br /><br />I suppose the true purpose of the exercise, like much of Republican policy, is to convince people that "Two plus two equals whatever the Party says it does."<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8472766688784123842019-12-14T05:29:17.434-08:002019-12-14T05:29:17.434-08:00the hanged man:
Lately, I have taken to re-readin...the hanged man:<br /><i><br />Lately, I have taken to re-reading Kurt Vonnegut. His novels make me despair, but they also make me howl with laughter.<br /></i><br /><br />Vonnegut has always resonated with me since I first read "Breakfast of Champions" back in 1977. His writing was a comfort when it seemed he did influence at least part of a generation. The despair you mention is from the futility of it all in hindsight--a despair he himself seemed to share in his last novel "Timequake".<br /><br />I've noticed the same feeling in the latest Michael Moore films, and to some extent in recent Bill Maher screeds. An increasingly exhausted plea of, "I can't keep doing this on my own, people!"Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27096421673137619632019-12-14T04:40:10.747-08:002019-12-14T04:40:10.747-08:00"However, labeling people as racist, homophob..."However, labeling people as racist, homophobes etc clearly doesn't engender a debate."<br /><br />Do you honestly think that if we are just nice and understanding with Trump's base supporters that the will respond in a spirit of brotherhood and co-operation, meeting us half way across the aisle and join in a chorus of "Kumbaya"?<br /><br />Have you not seen the people that attend Trump rallies?<br />DPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07087941506162882852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85312051120507580802019-12-14T04:36:40.582-08:002019-12-14T04:36:40.582-08:00Ironically, when the Big Bang theory was proposed ...Ironically, when the Big Bang theory was proposed it was attacked by atheists who preferred the steady state universe model since the act of creation implied a Creator.DPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07087941506162882852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34203957092333086002019-12-14T00:18:19.572-08:002019-12-14T00:18:19.572-08:00Has there been any music since the sixties that ha...Has there been any music since the sixties that has captivated and inspired a social movement — maybe Marvin Gaye.<br /><br />I Think our culture has become too fragmented. <br /><br />Lately, I have taken to re-reading Kurt Vonnegut. His novels make me despair, but they also make me howl with laughter. Most recently, I have been re-reading “If That Isn’t Nice, What Is?, a collection of his commencement addresses.<br /><br />They are so relevant today, for instance:<br /><br />“I love science. All Humanists do. I’m particularly fond of the Big Bang theory. It goes like this: there was once all this nothing, and it was so much nothing that there wasn’t even such a thing as nothing, and then there was this great big BANG, and that’s where all this crap came from. Forget the Bible.<br /><br />Any questions?”<br /><br />(see Larry, that’s what David S. Pumpkins was referring to.)<br /><br />Also, “Doesn’t anything Socialistic make you want to throw up, like great public schools or health insurance for all?<br /><br />How about Jesus’s sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?<br /><br />Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,<br /><br />Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,<br /><br />Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God, and so on.<br /><br />Not exactly planks of a Republican platform.”the hanged manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13908513776709889563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74784812202201262802019-12-13T21:55:27.910-08:002019-12-13T21:55:27.910-08:00Out of gas and run too far, red shifted to infinit...Out of gas and run too far, red shifted to infinity<br />A rain of light from a cloud of stars gently covers me<br />Look up there, heaven’s maps, home fires of others perhaps<br />If they’re out there, do you hope they come?<br />When you break down do you stick out your thumb?<br /><br />You’ll have no reason to smile again with all of the good things gone<br />If you take your place with the final men in a wasted dawn<br /><br />So it’s up to you, you're the fulcrum of what you do<br />We have a duty to carry life from the cradle where it grew<br />It's time we flew from the old world to the many new<br />Where the currents lead at interstellar speeds like dandelion seeds in the blue<br /><br />And like the patter of rain ripple rings in the ocean that sings in our hearts<br />Sunlight will scatter in Saturn’s rings as we pass and the real journey starts<br />I only hope I live to see it come<br /><br />We could live every wizard’s wish, we children of lizards and fish<br />We hold the future but can’t forget every creature we owe a debt<br />By the compass needle we are led, lay a graph on the wine dark sea<br />That computer sitting in your head is the master key<br /><br />Before you burn all your enemies in the furnaces of your mind<br />You'll find we all have the same disease, we are all confined<br />Stay here and smother in your own waste or sail for a new found shore<br />With such horizons to be embraced you’d forget this war, you were born to explore<br /><br />So it's up to you, you’re the fulcrum of what you do<br />We have a duty to carry life from the cradle where it grew<br />Casting craft and crew from the old world to the many new<br />Where the currents lead at interstellar speeds like dandelion seeds in the blue<br />Dandelion seeds in the blue<br /><br />(Note: I put far more than 30 minutes into this particular piece, back in 1998. The arrangement was legit, I wouldn't change it much even now. I think I have since lost the recording. The feedback I got was not kind. So when I say I don't see a filk video catching fire, I mean it. The only human who could pull that off is probably Weird Al. And I don't have his phone number.)TCBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08153506222271955110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26838187562543299082019-12-13T21:24:27.331-08:002019-12-13T21:24:27.331-08:00A single video might not change the world, but isn...A single video might not change the world, but isn't it worth 30 minutes to take the chance?Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12009279673962525372019-12-13T21:13:01.797-08:002019-12-13T21:13:01.797-08:00Hmm. I don't know if a YouTube video can save...Hmm. I don't know if a YouTube video can save the world. Take your fiction: very widely read, popular, contained (for the most part) a strong ethical and intellectual foundation) and affected millions of lives. ("Earth" taught me what abject nonsense social darwinism is). Next to that, what's an internet meme going to do? Especially an appeal to reason: YouTube has millions of those, and few if any go viral. More people watch Alex Jones than Amazing Randi.<br />Still, you do have one strength you can bring to the table: a keen sense of absurdist humour. That can be a very effective tool for swaying public opinion. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56282233801595510872019-12-13T19:07:41.272-08:002019-12-13T19:07:41.272-08:00TCB, I am not asking for a "viral" mirac...TCB, I am not asking for a "viral" miracle. I'm saying there ought to be folks who would put in 30 minutes to get a meme in the can online that MIGHT catch on and make a difference.<br /><br />I kept offering - 5 years ago - my Reagan-Bush, Bush, Clinton Clinton, Bush, Bush, Clinton? chat that might, maybe have helped - a little - to block that disaster nomination..<br /><br />I guess I'll have to do it myself.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com