I was speaking with our friend Tonio about the movie Brazil the other day. I had heard of it and generally knew it was a bureaucratic dystopian nightmare, but had never watched it. It also got me thinking about a topic we’ve covered many times – libertarianism (deliberate or inadvertent) in pop culture. Perhaps there are some new entries or more obscure items we can all share to add to our lists. What are your favorite libertarian-themed movies, TV shows, and songs?
Here are some of mine:
Movies
Citizen X: HBO movie about a real-life Russian serial killer. But the serial killing is mere window dressing for a story of a man of principle, Detective Viktor Burakov (Stephen Rea) attempting to do actual police work in a system completely without principle. He gains an unlikely champion in the smarmy Col. Mikhail Fetisov (Donald Sutherland), a man who knows how to work the levers of power. I always cry at the end, not because of the outcome of the crime investigation, but because of one man’s triumph over the Goliath of the State of which he’s a part.
Changeling: period (1920’s) movie about a missing child. But the missing child is mere window dressing for a story of a woman crushed under the weight of the State and its media partners. Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) reports her son missing. The cops obligingly provide an imposter boy to replace him, telling her it is her actual child. Insisting the boy is not her son, she is mocked, vilified in the press, and eventually sent to a psych ward for her “hysterics”. The outcome results in a brief period of accountability, but we know that never lasts.
Song
“None of the Above“, Duran Duran, The Wedding Album, 1993. Lyric sample:
I am I, myself alone
Realize I never need to use no one
When it comes down to my soul
Freedom puts my faith in none of the above
TV
The First 48: true crime, real-time murder investigations. Learn just how much disrespect cops have for your rights and how they manipulate suspects and witnesses. The show has had many legal issues over the years, including being involved in the murder of 8-year-old Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones. I’ve learned a lot about interrogation techniques by watching this show. Continuing lesson for everyone: NEVER TALK TO THE COPS! EVER!
Whoa, have you still not seen Brazil?
I saw that when my Dad rented it a long time ago (I think k soon after its original release), and we both loved it. It, and other influences from my Dad, including other sci-fi works he had, set me on the philosophical path I’m still on today.
Awesome dads read science fiction. And Conan!
After my Dad died, I was going through some of his things. At his mother’s house, there was a trunk that was ful of books from his days in the Navy (submarines). It was chock full of 1950s-1960s sci-fi–novels, short story collections, etc. as well as Solzhenitsyn and others. What a trove!
Not his stock of porn?
You might like this podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1k0WPiJ7GYmTSvqu2jrlvs?si=baZixKchRsyzL9vhbx8RXQ
Good stuff. Going through my dads books when I was a kid, I remember Kipling, Burroughs, Conan, his girlfriend (after my parents divorce) gave me Herbert (she was also a scientist) and I remember him reading Decline and Fall when taking us to boy scout camp. He always had a nose in a book when not working in his shop.
My Dad used to fall asleep every night with a book on his chest. Every evening I’d walk past my parents’ room and he’d either be reading, or the book would have fallen over his face.
That’s me, now.
Sounds oike he was a good role model.
Last hour of every day, I go upstairs to read a actual book. No screens, no video. Just reading time.
Sounds like your dad was a good man.
He was that, times a thousand.
Smart.
That was me for years. I need to get back to that.
Songs:
Anthem, by Rush
Damn near anything recorded by Rush up until 1986.
I think libertarianism is very popular in American culture, but the people in charge (or who think they’re in charge, or would like to be in charge) keep trying to suppress it or treat it like it’s an adolescent phase. It’s not. It’s the very core of our culture, IMO.
Firefly is a good example (albeit not an original one to discuss here). Great libertarian themed story and characters, but the creator himself purports to hate libertarianism.
Anthem is one of Rush’s most raw, and yet still musically complex, compositions. The complex play of time signatures and intricate instrumental parts interweave with the solidly individualistic lyrics to form one gigantic middle finger to mediocrity and a celebration of achievement.
“Firefly” is good.
I rolled in here with that thought.
Particularly when capped off with Serenity.
Orson Scott Card called it the perfect science fiction movie.
Agreed. Add 2112 and The Trees.
MikeS hardest hit.
The other day I thought about listening closely and trying my best to accept Rush. Then I realized eating a bullet or two would be a much less painful way to go out.
Let me extend an olive branch. Some of their stuff is pretentious prog rock. If you don’t like that stuff generally, then you won’t like their stuff specifically. Then there is other stuff they did that is kick ass rock and (in many cases) a demonstration of incredible musicianship. That’s the stuff you might want to give a listen. Doesn’t mean you will like but maybe you will decide it’s worth living another day.
My first sentence was true, the second one was my snarky schtick.
I would be open to someone convincing me I could like Rush. It won’t happen with any of the songs I was bomb-fucking-barded with on our local rock stations growing up. It’ll take something new to me, which shouldn’t really be hard since that we’re talking their entire catalog minus a half dozen or so songs.
It will probably also take recordings that have been stripped of Geddy Lee’s voice…but I’m willing to be proved wrong there. I have, and will again say, that I acknowledge their musical talents. I’ve always said that Rush proves that the sum of the parts can be greater than the whole.
*ponders whether to “recommend” Roll the Bones in a Rick roll fashion*
Here’s an instrumental, which also happens to be one of my favorite Rush songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK1hmDpa8bo
1% by Jane’s Addiction. Describes the mindset, the outlook and the minorityness.
Everybody I know wants to be left alone/Some people I don’t know they won’t leave me alone
…
The gang and the government are no different, that makes me 1%.
Black Hawk Down – where libertarians fend off imperialist occupiers?
Okay, I laughed. Well played.
LOL.
Yes.
I never know any of the TV shows or movies y’all refer to. Being a Luddite can limit one in that way. Anyway, for a song, I’d go for Charlie Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Boy”
Chorus:
‘Cause I ain’t asking nobody for nothin’
If I cant get it on my own
If you don’t like the way I’m livin’
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone
My theme song.
When your guitar tech hands you a guitar that’s tuned for a different song
Well, I just said I don’t know any of the movies you mentioned, but how ’bout The Princess Bride?
– Piracy as a career
– Corrupt state officials, and the main one ends up getting it in the end
– Almost no females
For movies, The Mating Game (1959) sticks out. Debbie Reynolds plays the adult daughter in a family of farmers that have largely gotten by through the barter system. Their neighbor wants their land, and sics the IRS on them, something which in the movie is seen as a self-evidently bad thing to do. IRS agent Tony Randall investigates and falls in love with Reynolds.
The happy ending involves it being revealed that the government has been screwing the family over for generations, and getting the money they’re owed solves their perceived financial issues.
What are your favorite libertarian-themed movies, TV shows, and songs?
Blake’s Seven.
“Smokey and the Bandit”.
“The Outlaw Josey Wales”
I reckon so.
The Dukes of Hazzard.
(original of course)
YES
Moonrunners?
Libertarian, and has arguably the best TV theme song ever.
The Proviso and Stay by yours truly.
I love your love for DD. I get plenty of shit for mine.
Brazil is an amazing movie. You should watch it.
Libertarian art is really sparse. A lot of it has been mentioned, but I wonder if some cautionary tales aren’t equally as useful. Darkness At Noon is one of my favorite books, for that very reason (drink!).
Speaking of libertarian art…
Okay, not really, it’s to my blog where the 85 page complaint I managed to finally get filed in the E.D. TX is now up if anyone has some insomnia they would like to cure.
Might be more of a cautionary tale about joining the military and thinking you’re actually defending the republic.
I’ve got a window of about just under two years to go back in without a buttload of waivers. Things like this help keep the second guessing to a minimum.
I’m in trial right now. I may took a look this weekend.
The Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko. It becomes more obvious in the later novels.
Really? I kinda bailed on the series after the first three (which were good, but I felt like the story had been told.)
I have the Night Watch and Day Watch films. I know they are only loosely based on the novels.
Does Logan’s Run qualify?
(Also surprised you never saw Brazil. I join everyone in recommending it.)
As far as television goes Firefly is the obvious choice. How Joss Whedon squares the circle of the premise of that show with his stated preferences is beyond me.
(Assembling a metal desk for Home Office II: Air Conditioned Room Boogaloo. “Half hour” my ass.)
(Giving up for the night. I hope one of my drills has an Allen wrench plugin because that’s the only way some of these screws are going in.)
It would have gone better if you had a cat.
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/l2yFL-p5Sc6hKKJMgbdZSQ.WJmAh8ThJOSEMa3qbsH7F4
She’s very helpful.
Dallas Buyers Club
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Tucker
Italian comic book flick “Danger Diabolik” has a great scene where the master criminal/anarchist blows up the tax records HQ for Italy – followed by the Minister of Finance (Terry Thomas) getting on TV and entreating the taxpayers to please go ahead and honestly pay the government what they owe….and being greeted by waves of laughter.
OTOH it is just Italy.
V for Vendetta. The comic.
Also…Japanese flick – “The Man Who Stole the Sun” – high school chemistry teacher gets his hands on some raw materials and declares himself a one-man nuclear power. Of course…when he figures out what actually pisses him off, his first demand is for the TV news to stop preempting baseball games in the 7th inning.
Compared to western media (from what I’ve seen), a surprising amount of Japanese media actually show what happens when domestic activists actually get their hands on nuclear weapons. – as opposed to being stopped by the (generally competent) authorities.
See also the excellent anime series “Terror in Resonance” – same director/composer as Cowboy Bebop, etc.
————-
And of course the classic Seven Samurai (and it’s remakes). Citizens banding together for the good of their community and hiring private security because the government won’t (or doesn’t care) to look after them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expelled_from_Paradise
Really interesting story, but not fleshed out as well as I would like. Great voice cast however.
3.5 out of 5 for me.
Was Danger Diabolik the one that started out with an extended shot of the main character banging his girl on a 70’s rotating circular bed covered in money?
About 1/2 hour in, but yeah. John Philip Law Living the dream.
“Shenandoah” with Jimmy Stewart was sufficiently libertarian enough for us to show it at a libertarian conference in the early 70s.
Santiago by Mike Resnick. This is what, beyond the standard seventies and eighties dogma version of libertarianism, really got me thinking along these lines. It is a pretty simple SF story, but the core of it is the constant struggle against leviathan. And how leviathan will use everything at its disposal to crush all dissent.
https://www.amazon.com/Santiago-Myth-Future-Mike-Resnick/dp/0812551125/ref=sr_1_2?crid=19S5N809FIKL3&keywords=santiago+resnick&qid=1653353974&sprefix=santiago+res%2Caps%2C226&sr=8-2
I don’t know if 12 Angry Men counts as libertarian, quite, but there’s something in there that tugs at my liberty heartstrings. The original version.
Johnny Depp’s lawyer lets Amber Heard’s “Psychological Expert Witness” destroy himself in court. The judge tries to throw him a life preserver several times “Doctor, just please answer the questions” but he keeps plowing on, offering a diagnosis in court *after* admitting that the APA ethical guidelines sanction him from doing so.
OMG this is amazing
Dude looks half-baked to start with. Who let him near the stand? There is a reason they tell you to dress nice, comb your hair, things like that.
Forgive me if this comes across as dismissive towards your comment but I honestly couldn’t care less about Depp vs Heard.
I consider the topic purely trite tabloid garbage. I care as much about that civil trial as much as I care about the domestic problems of the white trash couple a block down the road. Ergo; not at all as long as it doesn’t directly affect my day to day life. The fact that they are prettier, wealthier, and more famous than me means nothing.
Hollywood is a gilded trailer park.
Again, sorry. I’m not attacking you personally. I just don’t care about those people or their relationship…maybe I shouldn’t have commented at all… I’m just feeling a touch snarky tonight.
Anyway, I’ll piss off now.
It’s totally trash. But it’s amazing the levels of derp that her case has fallen to. “Expert Witness” doesn’t imply “intelligent, careful practitioner of a profession.” This is a dumpstre fire.
Again, sorry. The second after I posted that comment I felt like a raging prick.
No worries at all! I hold a serious disdain for most “pop culture” stuff, but sometimes I can’t help myself.
I think I’m marginally #TeamDepp because she basically wrecked his career when she was the batshit insane one. My gma was a gaslighter extraordinaire and being made out to be awful by the evil one is crazy-making.
Thank god you have the Quordle score comments to calm you down.
Heh. I’ve never participated in that game and am perfectly happy to scroll past the topic. My only gripe is that I wish that the people who do so would keep the subject inside a single sub-thread on any given “links”. Then again, I’m not your supervisor and if y’all don’t then I’ll just have to get over it, won’t I?
That is coming closer and closer to reality. Or two sub threads, anyway. The early birds drop it in the nearly dead post from the night before and then the hope is to keep all the rest in the AM links.
Hear, hear.
He hasn’t done a decent movie in decades and I don’t who the fuck she is.
And what kind of creature is he morphing into?! Dude, give it up.
My wife calls him Aging Windchime, for all the lame “jewelry” he wears.
He looks like some weird amalgam of Michael Jackson and Mickey Rourke. *blech*
He did a perfume commercial within the last year or so were he clumsily played an electric guitar while doing the voice over that was so bad it made me physically cringe.
Looking it up now…ah, there it is.
https://youtu.be/-oeZ0nFsExs
I’m stealing “gilded trailer park.” That’s very clever.
You’re more than welcome to take it, my friend.
I think it’s a bit demeaning to folks that live in trailer parks.
A fair criticism. I’m not exactly living a life any better than your average trailer park resident.
I guess my point is that a not insignificant percentage of trailer park residents indulge in what is typically considered “white trash” behavior. AKA/ rampant substance abuse, domestic violence, loud abrasive behavior, infidelity, constant run INS with law enforcement…your average Jerry Springer guest.
Yes, I know these are generalizations for the community. My only defense for that comment is having spent a not insignificant amout of time in that community and seen enough of that behavior there to claim the stereotype isn’t completely without merit.
Perhaps I’m guilty of indulging in collectivism. I guess my point is that I see a lot of similar behavior amongst the famous millionaire actors who would never willingly step foot in a trailer park while never considering the fact they act no better than the worst of that group. There no better than them, they just have more money.
I apologize if I offended you or anyone else.
*they’re
Blah, I need to try go to bed.
This whole going without beer thing is messing with my sleeping habits.
Just wow.
Babylon 5.
J. Michael Straczynski is clearly a time traveler from the future sent to warn us.
Still a bit too Top Men for me, but light years from Star Trek.
The “Murder, She Wrote” guy?
His TV credits are a hoot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michael_Straczynski#Television
He Man and Jake and the Fat Man too.
Yeah, but I would hardly rate that as his primary work output. He did revitalize the show by moving Jessica to NYC.
Although more by accident I think – or via ‘classical liberalism’ I suppose. Plus Jerry Doyle used to argue with him constantly which probably helped restrain him as well. Though I suspect allowing discussion in itself is more than most producers would put up with these days, so he gets some props. He was also really generous when I met him at a con years ago in a situation where I couldn’t have blamed him for being a dick, so I have to give character props as well.
There’s quite a bit of Top Men going on in his Rising Stars comics as I recall, though in fairness the concept of superpowers does kinda lend itself to the trope unless you want to do a full subversion like The Boys or the later run on the Authority.
‘J. Michael Straczynski is clearly a time traveler from the future sent to warn us.’
I miss John Titor…and Suthenboy…and a slew of others.
I worry about Suthen. The last I heard there was some health issues either he or his immediate family was suffering from, then silence.
He did come back very briefly and say things were getting better…then gone again.
I’m watching “The Vow” about NXIVM. My god these people are stupid. One guy is talking about meeting the leader and talking about quantum physics, which the cult leader says is based on a new math he invented. And the guy bought it.
I have often considered that if I were more charismatic and less principled, I could be a very successful cult leader.
You certainly have the voice for it.
Yes.
Wow, thanks.
?
Yeah, I’ll reinforce your uncertainty by saying I’m not even sure if that is a complement or not. ?
If I were really cult leader material, I would have shown no uncertainty and Mojeaux would be on the next Greyhound bus to Pittsburgh with a cashier’s check in the amount of her life savings payable to “db Ministries, LLC” and a box of Thin Mints.
It’s not too late.
Fuck you. Get Keebler Grasshoppers.
If you applied yourself, I bet you’d make an awesome televangelist.
ouch
That was not an insult. *haughty sniff*
Well, I cried myself to sleep thinking it was…
my good friend in college and I planned the “Alternate Universe” cult, based around the idea of vibes in alternate versions, and trying to draw the vibes from the versions more successful/wealthy/powerful/whatever than you to make you better.
Honestly I think we were just a little ahead of our time,
NXIVM
I think that’s the new Kia logo.
Hunger Games books make a strong case; didn’t really shine through in the movies, which is a shame.
I saw lots of “mockingjay” pins on folks at some political conventions several years ago.
You got there first! I was going to also recommend that. I also agree, the books were stronger than the movie (Isn’t that always the way?) but the movies served as a gateway to the books.
“Isn’t that always the way?”
Almost always, yes. Difficult to compress books into movie length and deal with internal dialogue.
Speaking of movie adaptations and libertarianism, was the recent “Atlas Shrugged” with Jolie etc a deliberate attempt to torpedo libertarian thought ? It was so TERRIBLE it had to have been done on purpose.
Oh boy. I did not mention it because it was horrible. I was wondering if anyone would bring it up.
I devoured the Hunger Games books (Ha! Devoured Hunger Games!) and couldn’t believe that the films could effectively portray the heroine’s internal conflicts, which I thought were among the best aspects of the books. I finally watched the movies (overcoming my lifelong heeby-jeebyness about seeing film adaptations of favorite books) and thought they were good, but I don’t know if a viewer unfamiliar with the books could appreciate them fully.
I always advocate books first, then movies.
I would say The Expanse book series has a fairly jaundiced view of state power. A lot of the series is how does one set about self-government when most of the power lies somewhere else.
Sorry OT. Long freaking day today – 2 appts in Cville (4 hr round trip driving) then back to do 7 hours in the office. Make up another hour the next day or so.
Couple notes for folks on the day crew who may or may not see them:
Brawndo: recommended these books last year when they came out – Escape the City vol 1 & 2 by Free State Project member and libertarian SF writer Travis Corcoran. Excellent, massive amounts of easily accessible data and also probably even more useful to you geographically.
Whoever was talking about the new Ghost in the Shell series. Haven’t watched any of the newest series. Recommend checking the wikis though. Original 2 movies were connected thematically. Then the original “Stand Alone Complex” 2 season show (plus Solid State Society movie) were essentially a reboot. While the original movies were excellent, the first show is vastly superior overall given how much it is able to flesh out all the characters and handle a stack of excellent technophile plots and settings in a living universe. – definitely libertarian tinges throughout the show that get debated in detail as characters try to decide how much consciousness can be controlled or manipulated or what is necessary to create a stable society.
Heard mixed reviews about the follow-on series – think the first ones showed up about 10 yrs ago. They drop in and off netflix periodically and my OCD won’t let me watch things out of order.
Do have the 1st volume of the original GITS manga too – looks like it was just rereleased.
just to clarify – what I’ve heard is that each of the follow-on SAC series is also a separate (standalone) reboot – I’ll get around to them eventually.
Could not watch the latest series.
I did watch the older and burned out. Great setting and universe, but the repetitive plots wore me down.
However, I love, love love
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atsuko_Tanaka_(voice_actress)
Who does Kusansgi. Her voice is amazing.
Escape From New York
I thought you were dead.
+1. One of my faves.
DAILY QUORDLE ROUNDUP™©®
(The ‘Brought to you by the letter E’ Edition)
#119
Champ
Not Adahn 18
whiz 19
Rat on a train 20
Grummun 22
Ownbestenemy 22
ScoobaSteve 22
Ted S. 22
Grosspatzer 23
Ozymandias 23
grrizzly 25
MikeS 25
Sean 25
Tundra 26
one true athena 27
l0b0t 28
SDF-7 30
kinnath 113
Grumbletarian 114
trshmnstr the terrible 116
The Hyperbole 117
db 119
Tulip 119
QuordleBot 121
Mojeaux 214
Classy AF Chump
TARDis 0
Firstly, let’s all give a hearty “HUZZAH!” to the first Glib Quordle Champion, Not Adahn! ????
grrizzly fought like a bear, but could not overcome that which was written in the stars.
Let’s see…what else happened today? Oh yes. Eight players busted. Eight! And that’s not counting TARDis cheating*. The average score was 58.75. Good grief. As we speak, The Hyperbole is drowning his shame in cheap Scotch watered down with ice.
There were four players on the Tundra Line and only 3 over it. 17 were under. Ouchie! The undoing of (most of) us all was the letter “E”. It appeared in all 4 words; twice in three of them. “EAGER” proved to be especially difficult for all but a handful of us. The Scrabble score was a ridiculously low 25, further proving it’s a worthless metric.
Sean still has his impressive no-bust streak going at 41. Our champ, NA, and yours truly are nearly at a month (29), and there’s three behind us in the 20’s.
New Quordle Tournament starts tomorrow!
*He called himself out and accepted his fate like a true Player.
Go rodentia!
Well done, Not Adahn, maybe there is something to that astronomy stuff after all. Click my handle or here to see the new tournament’s bracket, with no one jumping in we have a field of 16 so everyone plays tomorrow. GQ and GL
Also Laphroaig isn’t cheap, it comes in a cardboard tube and everything.
When you said you put ice in it I just hoped it was cheap.
Yeah, but it is Scotch, so you feel cheap drinking for drinking it.
yeah, congrats to the people that use EERIE as a starting word because that would’ve been very helpful today. oy vey
OT
Grr…
I have to figure out how to communicate with my neighbors. I’ve scheduled the roofers and they want to lay down some sort of tarp/trash catchment around the house so they can just chuck old material off. My neighbors store a buch of crap in the alley between the buildings, which will be in the way of this and ideally needs to be moved. But you don’t just touch someone else’s crap. Oh and there’s far too much crap out there.
Put a lock on your garbage cans and wait ’til they come over to complain?
The locks have been there for a while. They do still turn the cans until they see the lock, but then just wander off.
After the tarp clean up take a very careful looksie ’cause there may be overlooked nails, either used or new but your feet and tires don’t care.
Plus, I scored a really nice folding utility knife that one of the roofers lost over the edge into my front yard. I would have given it back but they took 3 weeks to do my roof and left trash everywhere.
“Son of Flubber” does a very nice juxtaposition of free market versus gubmint. At the first of the movie, a marketing team from some corporation tries to hermit Prof. Brain are to sell them the rights to flubber. They have a short film promoting various ideas they had about improving life with flubber. They offer him a check for a million dollars, and give his wife a mink coat. He turns them down for “principles”—he thinks the government should have control of his invention.
A short while later, the tax man shows up and says they have to pay several thousands of dollars in taxes, based on estimates that the Professor made concerning potential income, even though the government is slow-walking promised payments to him. The tax man admits to throwing his own mother in jail for not paying taxes on homemade jellies, and then goes after the paperboy.
“get” not “hermit”
“Brainard” not “Brain are”
Anyone who takes a slog through the Baen Books back catalog will find a cornucopia of libertarian, proto-libertarian, and accidentally-libertarian thought. One of my standout favorites is Eric Flint and Dave Freer’s Rats, Bats, and Vats series. These books deal broadly with a socialist utopia gone horribly wrong, which all the more interesting because Eric Flint is a card-carrying Socialist Workers Party member. They also touch on concepts of sapience and uplift, self-ownership, government corruption, art, theater, and cooking, and are suspenseful and hysterically funny to boot. Highly recommended.
Good point – esp with the 1632 series. Heavy union references, etc- but very pragmatic because they realize the specifics of the situation and the need to be realistic. Very intelligent way to handle the plots- hadn’t even read the socialist stuff about Flint until last year – a decade and almost a dozen books after I got into him.
Speakjng of Baen. Big fan of John Ringo too – lots of libertarian stuff in his novels – esp the Troy Rising trilogy. One man’s quest to save the planet even
As the government is trying to tax his battlestation.
I like his ideas but kinda hate John Ringo’s writing. Always with the Marty Stu lead (in the ones I have read).
Still annoyed by his incursion into the Monster Hunter storyverse. It read like fanfic.
“Changeling” sounds like a case that happened for real.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6eLSqSwLH6UhtYhCeAtL4M?si=I89aRWqkRqWvm2DlkSwjkQ
Almost all of my favorite movies & TV are based on real stories. The further away from reality a movie/book/TV show is, the less I like it. With a few exceptions.
If you like early-mid period Sci-fi, H. Beam Piper is a very libertarian author.
I only ever read his Fuzzy books. TEDDY BEAR ALIENS! omg I loved them so much when I was a wee lass. lol
Waldorf and Beeker made it safely to the north country. Thanks!
YAY! And I got Sean’s Fozzie bear today. So all around Muppets for everyone.
And I just scored Statler for $7.50 on eBay. Big day!
?
Ewoks?
They were more like monkeys as I recall, but basically, yeah. as I dimly recall, the first book is first contact, where the humans first think they’re just dumb animals, but discovers they have a language/culture/etc, with the other books following the development of human settlement and investigation of this other species.
I still like good old L Neal Smith and his book series. The Probability Broach was great, Pallas was also great, and… Hell, I liked all of them. He snuck libertarianism into all the Star Wars books he wrote as well. Sadly he passed last year. I hope his books don’t fall out of print. There are even comic (graphic novel) versions of some of them. I’d love to see The Probability Broach become a movie.
Distracted boyfriend meme, ten years later:
https://twitter.com/backpackerfi/status/1528364251672260608?s=21&t=B43WYimrgxYtnH-zf5Ufqw
Fake, but accurate?
Yes. The second tweet in the thread admits that it is different people.
Here’s what they really look like: https://twitter.com/the_plugseeker/status/1370899720621727752?s=21&t=aTN7eXFwzm4996No0yesNg
Bikini Car Wash.
No shit, it’s chock full of “who’s exploiting whom?” and free choices on the part of independent men and women. Find a market niche.
Give the people what they want
My ex-GF was a hughe Kinks fan. That was one of her favorites–she’d quote it all the time.
That song is the spiritual ancestor to Tool’s Vicarious.
The taxman’s taken all my dough ?
Washington Post:
“On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was shot and killed in police custody. His death sparked outrage, wide scale protests and calls to change policing.
Two years later, what has — or hasn’t changed?“
Cop had a gun hidden in his knee.
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1528914203687505921?s=21&t=B43WYimrgxYtnH-zf5Ufqw
Look let’s not quibble a man died and we need to exploit it for political purposes.
The rest is just details.
They took it down. But GD that is some stupid writing. Earlier today I read that NATO was the North American Treaty Organization and that the Soviet Union had never invaded another country from another MSM site.
For an older classic, “Lonely are the Brave” 1962
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056195/
Dalton Trumbo did the screenplay from an early Edward Abbey novel. Kirk Douglas stars with lots of later major actors in supporting roles.
For more current government fuckery, “Molly’s Game” 2017
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4209788/
She sets up a high stakes poker game and the Feds, well are the Feds.
George Floyd was shot and killed in police custody
Shot, strangled, whatever.
Knock it off with those negative waves!
Can’t you say anything righteous, and hopeful for a change?
Kelly’s Heroes.
Excellent choice.
Enjoy some wine and cheese in the Sun for that nomination.
I mean, like, so many positive waves…maybe we can’t lose.
heh heh
I was going to go fall asleep with a book in my hand, but now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t’ watch Kelly’s Heroes instead.
Good idea. I gotta be up early though.
It isn’t explicitly libertarian (except, perhaps, in the sense of private investigators continually succeeding where government police fail), but “Psych” is probably the most Gen-X show I’ve ever watched. Every member of “The Breakfast Club”, with the exception of Emilio Estevez, shows up in at least one episode. Ally Sheedy is in several of them. Ralph Macchio is in a couple of them. They continually reference 80’s movies and music.
If you haven’t seen it, I recommend Season 2, Episode 1: “American Duos” to start out with. Just realize that Sean is not actually psychic, but rather hyper-observant (a skill drilled into him by his dad).
Also, Sean’s dad is not a buffoon, even though he is often the butt of his son’s jokes. Sean usually has to go to his dad for advice.
If y’all want to get your gratuitous violence on, enjoy this clip of dudes hunting feral pigs from a helicopter.
https://youtu.be/FFSkSwC-eHY
They could make a successful video game of this.
Most hunting games have a bit more sedate pace.
My go to is Call of the Wild. A bit buggy and DLC laden, but relaxing.
RC Dean – they’re all using Beretta 1301s.
How can you shoot those female and juvenile hogs like that?
They’re at infestation levels.
*obligatory*
You don’t lead ‘em as much.
*that’s* the answer I was looking for
Easy, you just don’t lead them so much.
Dammit.
Lead them a little more than Hyperbole does.
OK so I watched these two videos together (hog video and the other one’s audio over the other one’s):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFSkSwC-eHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt0DC7PFmMs&t=3857s
They complement each other well
I wonder if they’d let me use the MCR belt fed on full auto
Frankly I feel bad for the wounded ones they don’t finish off from the air. It’s not really humane. I know there are people who come by on the ground to finish them off, but the thrill-kill aspect of hitting them from the air doesn’t comport well with the respectful attitude of many hunters who go for the cleanest kill possible.
Not gonna get the drone operator job with an attitude like that.
So be it, I guess
Agreed. Better than death by poison, but not a clean death.
Enjoy some wine and cheese in the Sun for that nomination.
Woof woof woof.
Did we all forget “Free to Choose” by Uncle Milty?
As soon as my tax refund clears, I’ll order a copy.
Yes. Great f***ing book.
Songs are tough but “Moving to Montana” is free market focused. I really appreciate the Zappa testimony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ZGKd9Wh1A
Short form
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAF8Vu8G0w
Full testimony
I’m gonna need you to post this in triplicate and the get a waiver from room 1408 before I can even reject it.
I’m afraid your rejection was prematurely filed. We have notied this deviance from procedure in your personnel file.
Skip ahead to 1:15:45 and you can hear what the US had in mind in Ukraine. That guy is the former ambassador to Russia 2014~2016 and he was actively involved in the negotiations. It’s amazing when they just come right out and tell you.
https://youtu.be/ivcSVG5eCeQ
If you continue from that point, you’ll hear the simian looking Pollack demanding the US do everything it can to save Ukraine. The crowd claps like seals and I doubt a single one of them would occupy a single pair of boots on the ground there. I hate these mfers.
I always add “Cube” to these most libertarian movie questions. It’s the blind inertia of govt programs that scares me and not the actions of outright psychopaths.
Movies
The Fountainhead
Red Dawn
TV
The Wire
Cash Cab
CSPAN
Music
https://youtu.be/31A6RjOxE74
https://youtu.be/AjPau5QYtYs
Books
Robinson Crusoe
The Federal Register (unabridged)
That first link reminds me of the old David Spade joke: You’re in a limousine? Ooh, you have 40 dollars.
We can dance if we want to.
Reminded me of another song: https://youtu.be/1rmPckNvD3E
Mr. Soundtrack! Great tune, great movie.
Some libertarian music:
I didn’t kill anyone. No, I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun.
The cuckoo clock has died of shock…The windows feel no pane.
First comment on “The Safety Dance”
“This would have been a better ending to Game of Thrones”.
Shit, yeah, The Wire.
Another show where the creator refuses to come grips with the dichotomy between his personal politics and that of his creation. Simon is worse than Wheaton, if anything.
Really? You found something in TV worse than Wil Wheaton?
Dammit. “Whedon”.
Not as bad as Wheaton.
That’s funny. I thought the same thing.
I First, therefore I am.
The Passion of Joan of Arc, Harold and Maude, My Cousin Vinny, Half-Baked, and Bugs Bunny cartoons seem to be alls I gots.
*in my possession
The proponents of motion smoothing can GDIAF.
?
I’m in my hotel room getting motion sickness watching tv.
So no access to settings? Sorry, dude.
I can fix it but it resets the tv/loses the guide and I can’t fix that. I felt kinda bad of leaving the tv effed up one time I did it.
I’m going out on a limb and putting in a word for Star Trek: The Original Series. Obviously, the show had a thing for socialism (i.e. no money) but look below the surface. In most episodes, the immediate, often life threatening, problem was solved by a small group of people acting on their own initiative. Many an episode involved transporting people to a new world to be colonized according to their utopian scheme or visiting a world that had been colonized. Those colonies were free to set up whatever system they wanted. Also, the show had an overarching theme of personal freedom and tolerance for others.
I don’t know if it was so much socialist as “post scarcity”. They didn’t need money because the basic necessities could be provided free of charge, or something. Technology.
They really couldn’t keep it straight. For some episodes, you are right. For others, there was a crop failure Enterprise had to deliver a shipload of grain.
I think the Enterprise is going to have to make a slingshot around the sun and bring a load of grain to *us*.
You ever been to Riverside, IA?
No. I’ve been to Riverside CA. Probably the same, but with oranges.
Riverside, IA is where Captain James T. Kirk will be born. They have a historical marker there.
How about a song about a guy who ditches the girl who is trying to control his life?
Or, the creepy guy who listens in on a woman’s private conversation
How about a song about a guy with marital troubles that he solves himself and then doesn’t get arrested cause he’s smart?
Tribute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA00eXVWiN8
Bluegrass music is pretty libertarian, right?
I like slide guitars
https://steelguitarforum.com/
How could I forget Dooley?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBg835ytdfA
Oops.
https://soranews24.com/2022/05/21/man-who-gambled-entire-japanese-towns-covid-relief-money-arrested/
“Come on, seven! Baby needs some formula and a mask!”
“Oops!”
Not mentioned in the story: any sort of punishment for the government workers and officials that fucked up.
?♂️
See also California EDD. Someone should be drawn and quartered. I’m willing to start with Newsom.
omg have you heard the new ad for that schmuck from the “State Law Enforcement” something something? It sounds so fake. I wish I remembered exactly who the PAC was, because it sounded like some bogus dark money bullshit org that was created last year to sound like it’s the state police union.
uhh, not yet?
The sidebar led me down a rabbit hole. Sadly the video is no longer available.
https://soranews24.com/2020/02/14/greta-thunberg-lookalike-advertises-pachinko-slot-machine-parlor-in-japan【video】/
As I understand it, “Brazil” is the second movie in a loose trilogy, with “Time Bandits” and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” being the first and third movies, respectively.
“Brazil” is also credited with inspiring the style for the Coen Bros. flick, “The Hudsucker Proxy”
Interesting Easter egg: in “Raising Arizona”, Hi works at Hudsucker Industries.
Just saying I’d rather watch Blame it on Rio
Than anything, or just the movies I listed, or than Brazil specifically?
I can see Brazil by going to the DMV.
That reminds me of the scene in “Zootopia”
https://youtu.be/HHKwnUa3txo
I don’t remember that much teeth sucking in Brazil.
I’d like to see your warm Brazil and touch your Panama.
I’ve had complaints about my Popsicle toes during see-sawing before. I can’t help my poor circulation.
Hey hey, I like the geographical dirty talk. She’s alright and I bet she has a damn fine Nile River Basin if you know what I mean and I think you do.
7 9
5 x
up late so I thought I’d try it…
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*sigh* 3 tries for TR.
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Argh, my only hope is that MikeS pulls a MikeS.
After yesterday, are you going start tracking Chump streaks too?
Not everyone cribs off their wife.
Hey, I already sat in the penalty box and felt shame. Sad part was, she was showing me her double chump.
go on….
Yaaaasssss!
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⬜?⬜?⬜ ⬜⬜??⬜
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TL pisses me off for some reason.
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Get your waffle on!
#waffle123 5/5
?????
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??⭐??
?⭐?⭐?
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? streak: 28
? #wafflesilverteam
wafflegame.net
It’s late and this thread is probably dead, but I watched The Astronaut Farmer and found it to be sorta libertarianish.
Free by Powerman 5000 has one of the most poignant verses about natural freedom I have ever heard.
Morning, Glibs.
*waves*
Mornin’, fellas.
Got a walk in before the day got too warm. Working my way back up to my pre-winter range.
I hate the rapidity with which gains are lost.
Yeah, that’s the never ending battle.
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2022/05/23/lower-moreland-will-not-mandate-masks-in-schools-after-tense-community-meeting/
Keep fighting.
https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/news/21268671/swedesboro-firefighters-use-aerial-to-grab-monitor-lizard-from-tree
I’m gonna name him “Holster leather”
That striped pattern would look nice. He’d make a sweet belt too.
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2022/05/invasive-worm-species-that-can-leap-1-foot-into-the-air-spreading-across-us.html
Jumping worms?
Da fuq?
“Backlash as Biden Says High Gas Prices Are Part of ‘Incredible Transition’”
https://www.newsweek.com/backlash-biden-says-high-gas-prices-are-part-incredible-transition-1709401
No empathy with people who are having their wallets drained and no meaningful proposals to fix the problem. That motherfucker’s a disaster.
That anyone who has ever worked for living can praise that POS is beyond my comprehension. 38% approval rating?
Reduce regs and red tape on refining and drilling and grant a federal gas tax holiday. That should help…this ain’t brain surgery but unfortunately it’s being done on purpose.
An incredible transition to being 15 years-old and hitch hiking everywhere. What could go wrong?
Notice he was in Japan when he said that.
When he’s in the U.S., it’ll be back to “Putin’s price hike”.
We’re not worthy of the quiet part out loud.
My only source of bitter amusement is the thought that those attempting to pull the strings behind the scenes somehow thought they could control his mouth.
All this bitter amusement is making me… salty.
https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2022/05/fauci-tells-princeton-grads-covid-left-an-indelible-mark-warns-against-normalization-of-untruths.html
“Minorities disproportionally bore the brunt of the pandemic because they were more likely to be essential workers who couldn’t isolate themselves at home and are disproportionally at risk for underlying health issues, he said.”
Wut?
Translation: They don’t eat good and tend to be fat. Alternate translation: It’s whitey’s fult.
“They just can’t help themselves!”
Pretty much. The infantilization of large groups of people for political purposes is disgusting and it says a lot about him.
https://youtu.be/FSOHO3GwEPg a really fine tune and Raquel at the top of her game.
Not a fan of PFP, but that’s a great video.
Right? Girl had some moves!
“Why, it’s just like back on the plantation!”
Feck! I was really hoping for a graceful exit from current job. They brought in a high-dusting crew for the first time in seven years. I have exactly one week to clean up a month of extra work. I told them to pound sand. You’ll get what you pay for. No more, no less. Cuntes. Sure would suck to be the new contractor.
Mornin’ folks!
Gym time soon. ReopenNH is pushing to get the anti-grooming law passed. The governor threatened a veto. But first, the bill has to go through both chambers again. The Senate changed the bill (for the better), and now both chambers need agree on the changes.
Oh, I should add: Helping get the anti-grooming bill ties in with pushing back on public health fascism because the way the bill is written it prohibits schools from vaccinated kids against Covid without parents’ permission. It doesn’t explicitly mention covid vaccines, it’s just the way the bill is written.
Proper grooming is important for date night! Nose hairs, belly-button lint and toe jams must be dealt with! Always be sure to wash behind your ears! She needs sumpin clean to hang on to!
The bottom left made me crazy.
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I wanna be a Quordler, too. How does one start? I’ll be unemployed soon. Probably too numb-skulled, never mind.
Good morning, Fes, Tulip, DEG, Stinky, Sean, TARDy, Teh Hype, and U!
Yesterday morning at work was inexplicably hectic, with all sorts of gotta-do’s coming from multiple directions over and above my usual work and my cover-for-Reliable-Coworker tasks. Still, I managed to get payroll done – even final approval – which leaves only the accounting of same for later in the week. I hope this morning is calmer – I have to tackle Accounts Payable. ?
I hope all of you have a pleasant, drama-free day!
Drama is easy when you stop caring, much. Have a great one, Red!
I don’t know how to tackle accounts payable.
*body-checks desktop off desk*
It somehow involves hurling myself onto a stack of invoices. I’m sure all the nitpicky details will come back to me…
Mornin’ GT!
“I managed to get payroll done”
Job #1 unless you fancy being torture by your co-workers.
Indeed. On alternate Mondays, any requests from co-workers are met with, “I’ll do that AFTER I finish payroll. You DO want me to finish payroll, don’t you?” I have yet to hear anything other than an enthusiastically affirmative response to that.
The reason that “Brazil” failed at the box office was because it was not a funny movie. It wasn’t supposed to be a funny movie. Only Terry Gilliam got it at the time. Now here we are.
The only time I saw Brazil it was being shown on a college campus, and I was much too sleepy trying to watch it in probably-not-very-comfortable seating. (Must have been a Friday evening.) Thus, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me at the time, and I didn’t retain much of what I saw. I should give it another go.
The funniest part is DeNiro as a sort of super-hero fighting back! What a difference four decades can make.
Mornin’, reprobates.
Tall Covfefe and a bowl of Sutliff 1849 to kick off the morning.
*Checks upthread*
Festus, is a high-dusting crew what I think it is? Cuz PCP is a helluva drug. And speaking of drugs, stay away from Quordle! You think you can handle it, but next thing you know, you’re hooked.
Cleaning the high fixtures of dust and dead birds. It’s all gotta go somewhere and that is to the floor, my domain. No worries, they’ve been told to fucke offe.
Wordle was a gateway to Quording. The next thing you know you’ll be Waffling, Globleling, and gasp:
Lewdle ?? 126 3/6
⬛⬛⬛?⬛
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?????
lewdlegame.com
So, I had high hopes when my regular starting word was the word. Those hopes were quickly dashed by the upper left abomination.
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#waffle123 5/5
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wafflegame.net
A mere 17, my condolences.
Back to Chumptown here…
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Is that our first 1?
9 4
8 5
How about libertarian leaning comics? Or, in this case anarcholibertarian-feminist comics. Starstruck by Elaine Lee and WM Kaluta is right up there with Elfquest as one of the best comics ever created. It began as an off-off-Broadway stage play and became a star-spanning epic.
https://starstruckcomics.com/episode-1/cover/
I really dug Moebius back in the day.
Out with the old…
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/05/23/nyc-public-payphone-removed/3581653323177/
“Officials said it was the last public pay phone in the city, but there are still privately owned pay phones and four permanent, full-length “Superman” phone booths.”
Clark Kent breathes a sigh of relief.
From the sidebar:
“Right away, boss!”
The Bankster Comedy Relief Puppet just doing what he’s told.
Late to the game on the night’s topic.
Band: the Interruptors
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Ol-YDS4Jc
They wrote the Ron Paul campaign song.
Also have an album called liberty.
Whatcha gonna do
When they show up in black suits
On your street in army boots
And they’re there to silence you
Whatcha gonna say
When they strip your rights away
And the taxman makes you pay
For every bead of sweat you bled today
We don’t need to run and hide
We won’t be pushed off to the side
What’s your plan for tomorrow?
Are you a leader or will you follow?
Are you a fighter or will you cower?
It’s our time to take back the power
Great Libertarian Movie? The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
No one is going to mention “Demolition Man”? Socialist Utopia has it’s dark underbelly exposed by unfrozen caveman cop ? Plus it gave us this gem