You're nuts. Republicans are confidently asserting that Democrats represent radical left values. You're finally going to get what you want with this election!eumaas wrote: ↑31 Oct 2018, 9:25amhttp://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/ ... -vote.html
I feel like they chose some of these for the stupid arguments.
Kim is voting, but I didn't bother to register this year. The probability makes it almost wholly symbolic. I guess we'll see what happens. I hope the Dems get in so we can see them hem and haw and stall and do nothing. Woohoo.
The Dictator observations thread.
- Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
I’ve decided to become one of those reddit weirdos who pines for the restoration of the Habsburgs.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑31 Oct 2018, 9:48amYou're nuts. Republicans are confidently asserting that Democrats represent radical left values. You're finally going to get what you want with this election!eumaas wrote: ↑31 Oct 2018, 9:25amhttp://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/ ... -vote.html
I feel like they chose some of these for the stupid arguments.
Kim is voting, but I didn't bother to register this year. The probability makes it almost wholly symbolic. I guess we'll see what happens. I hope the Dems get in so we can see them hem and haw and stall and do nothing. Woohoo.
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman
I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy
— Morton Feldman
I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy
- Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
That's not even in the top two-thirds of Reddit weirdoness. Even removing the bots and Russian trolls, it's a remarkable gathering of what's gone wrong with the Enlightenment project.eumaas wrote: ↑31 Oct 2018, 9:53amI’ve decided to become one of those reddir weirdos who pines for the restoration of the Habsburgs.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑31 Oct 2018, 9:48amYou're nuts. Republicans are confidently asserting that Democrats represent radical left values. You're finally going to get what you want with this election!eumaas wrote: ↑31 Oct 2018, 9:25amhttp://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/ ... -vote.html
I feel like they chose some of these for the stupid arguments.
Kim is voting, but I didn't bother to register this year. The probability makes it almost wholly symbolic. I guess we'll see what happens. I hope the Dems get in so we can see them hem and haw and stall and do nothing. Woohoo.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
From The Doubter's Companion
I laugh whenever I re-read this entry. It further reaffirms my belief that libertarians are just Communists who have switched which class to support. But the intolerant temperament and total devotion to dogma over complicating reality binds the two groups.MARXIST The only serious functioning Marxists left in the West are the senior management of large, usually transnational corporations. The only serious Marxist thinkers are neo-conservative.
Marxism is primarily an analysis of how society works—or rather, how it must work. This dialectic is based upon the struggle of the classes and the battle of the unregulated marketplace in which the strongest win. It is a marketplace which cannot be tempered, according to Marx. It must and will run free and so function as a battleground between those who have power and those who don’t. The marketplace will seek to maximize profits even if this is to the disadvantage of most. Profits and power are the truth of the economic struggle and economic determinism will decide the social structure.
Most functioning Marxists had stopped believing this sort of stuff by the end of the Second World War. They had come around to the ideology of stable bureaucratic management. In that they resembled the technocrats of Western governmental and corporate bureaucracies.
But these Western corporate managers and their academic acolytes were in fact thrown into a state of confusion by the collapse of 1929. It seemed as if the pure capitalist analysis, of which they were the official inheritors, had failed. An unrestricted marketplace had led not to ongoing growth and prosperity, but to total economic collapse. The ideology of a natural and general equilibrium produced by competition had been given its chance and had self-destructed for all to see and suffer the consequences.
A good thirty-five years passed before the corporate leaders were able to erase from their own memory and from that of the public this failure. They then rediscovered with a virginal ideologic enthusiasm the virtues of the unregulated market.
This time they were supported by an intellectually sophisticated explanation for the dialectic provided by a group of economists centred at the Chicago School. They were able to dispense with the idea that public institutions could achieve social stability, protect the weak or encourage a wider distribution of wealth. Their new argument would have made Marx proud. It was not that they did not wish to help the weak or promote fairness. It was the natural rules of the marketplace—the dialectic—which made the class struggle inevitable.
The only disagreement between the Neo-conservatives and Marx is over who wins the battle in the end. This is a small detail. Far more important is their agreement that society must function as a wide-open struggle.
Some people are surprised that Marxism should have reemerged on the Right. However, ideas, once launched, become public property. And they often reappear in several disguises before discovering their true form.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Marky Dread
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑16 Nov 2018, 10:49amFrom The Doubter's CompanionI laugh whenever I re-read this entry. It further reaffirms my belief that libertarians are just Communists who have switched which class to support. But the intolerant temperament and total devotion to dogma over complicating reality binds the two groups in their total respect for Phil Collins.MARXIST The only serious functioning Marxists left in the West are the senior management of large, usually transnational corporations. The only serious Marxist thinkers are neo-conservative.
Marxism is primarily an analysis of how society works—or rather, how it must work. This dialectic is based upon the struggle of the classes and the battle of the unregulated marketplace in which the strongest win. It is a marketplace which cannot be tempered, according to Marx. It must and will run free and so function as a battleground between those who have power and those who don’t. The marketplace will seek to maximize profits even if this is to the disadvantage of most. Profits and power are the truth of the economic struggle and economic determinism will decide the social structure.
Most functioning Marxists had stopped believing this sort of stuff by the end of the Second World War. They had come around to the ideology of stable bureaucratic management. In that they resembled the technocrats of Western governmental and corporate bureaucracies.
But these Western corporate managers and their academic acolytes were in fact thrown into a state of confusion by the collapse of 1929. It seemed as if the pure capitalist analysis, of which they were the official inheritors, had failed. An unrestricted marketplace had led not to ongoing growth and prosperity, but to total economic collapse. The ideology of a natural and general equilibrium produced by competition had been given its chance and had self-destructed for all to see and suffer the consequences.
A good thirty-five years passed before the corporate leaders were able to erase from their own memory and from that of the public this failure. They then rediscovered with a virginal ideologic enthusiasm the virtues of the unregulated market.
This time they were supported by an intellectually sophisticated explanation for the dialectic provided by a group of economists centred at the Chicago School. They were able to dispense with the idea that public institutions could achieve social stability, protect the weak or encourage a wider distribution of wealth. Their new argument would have made Marx proud. It was not that they did not wish to help the weak or promote fairness. It was the natural rules of the marketplace—the dialectic—which made the class struggle inevitable.
The only disagreement between the Neo-conservatives and Marx is over who wins the battle in the end. This is a small detail. Far more important is their agreement that society must function as a wide-open struggle.
Some people are surprised that Marxism should have reemerged on the Right. However, ideas, once launched, become public property. And they often reappear in several disguises before discovering their true form.
Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty
We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.
"Without the common people you're nothing"
Nos Sumus Una Familia
- Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-year- ... broke-ganz
Long but fascinating account of what happened to American conservatism in 1992 as somewhat of a preview of today's dystopia.
Long but fascinating account of what happened to American conservatism in 1992 as somewhat of a preview of today's dystopia.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Flex
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
This is a GREAT read. Very compelling.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑05 Dec 2018, 6:50pmhttps://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-year- ... broke-ganz
Long but fascinating account of what happened to American conservatism in 1992 as somewhat of a preview of today's dystopia.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
Pex Lives!
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
Pex Lives!
- Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fa ... b99058dd3a
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.
As you say mate not really all that surprising in these tech riddled times. Further proof if ever it were needed of just how much we are all simply pawns in the power play of the wealthy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:37amhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fa ... b99058dd3a
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty
We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.
"Without the common people you're nothing"
Nos Sumus Una Familia
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116683
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
A fair trade off to learn of my existence.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:54amAs you say mate not really all that surprising in these tech riddled times. Further proof if ever it were needed of just how much we are all simply pawns in the power play of the wealthy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:37amhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fa ... b99058dd3a
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Marky Dread
- Messiah of the Milk Bar
- Posts: 59038
- Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
Just be grateful that you exist at all.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 11:59amA fair trade off to learn of my existence.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:54amAs you say mate not really all that surprising in these tech riddled times. Further proof if ever it were needed of just how much we are all simply pawns in the power play of the wealthy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:37amhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fa ... b99058dd3a
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty
We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.
"Without the common people you're nothing"
Nos Sumus Una Familia
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116683
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
I didn't ask to be born in this lousy world!Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 12:20pmJust be grateful that you exist at all.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 11:59amA fair trade off to learn of my existence.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:54amAs you say mate not really all that surprising in these tech riddled times. Further proof if ever it were needed of just how much we are all simply pawns in the power play of the wealthy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:37amhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fa ... b99058dd3a
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Marky Dread
- Messiah of the Milk Bar
- Posts: 59038
- Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
Or any other world for that matter.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 12:32pmI didn't ask to be born in this lousy world!Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 12:20pmJust be grateful that you exist at all.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 11:59amA fair trade off to learn of my existence.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:54amAs you say mate not really all that surprising in these tech riddled times. Further proof if ever it were needed of just how much we are all simply pawns in the power play of the wealthy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:37amhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fa ... b99058dd3a
Appalling but not overly surprising, and further confirmation of the observation that if you're not paying for a service, you're not a client, you're the product.
Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty
We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.
"Without the common people you're nothing"
Nos Sumus Una Familia
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116683
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
Well, there is a nice little planet at the far end of the galaxy that I'd be okay with.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 3:22pmOr any other world for that matter.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 12:32pmI didn't ask to be born in this lousy world!Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 12:20pmJust be grateful that you exist at all.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 11:59amA fair trade off to learn of my existence.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 10:54am
As you say mate not really all that surprising in these tech riddled times. Further proof if ever it were needed of just how much we are all simply pawns in the power play of the wealthy.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Marky Dread
- Messiah of the Milk Bar
- Posts: 59038
- Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am
Re: The Dictator observations thread.
It's very cold and lonely on Hestonia. So I've been told.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 3:29pmWell, there is a nice little planet at the far end of the galaxy that I'd be okay with.Marky Dread wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 3:22pmOr any other world for that matter.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 12:32pmI didn't ask to be born in this lousy world!
Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty
We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.
"Without the common people you're nothing"
Nos Sumus Una Familia