I am not a conservative. A least that was the case. See, I was raised by a conservative father and liberal mother during the Reagan/Meese years, and during this time I picked up a lot of civil liberties beliefs. Due process, freedom of speech, freedom of religion (not that I subscribe to any faith) and these were tempered with a strong dose of personal autonomy; gay marriage is an unalloyed good, who is to say what I can or cannot put in my body, why do I have to ask the gov’t permission to marry someone, and so on. This was tempered by a strong love of the shooting sports and an equally strong belief in the second amendment, namely that we are all the militia, and it isn’t for the gov’t to say who is and who isn’t part of that.
And while I started my political thinking as a Democrat, as they were the only people who really seemed to care about those things, and in my youthful foolishness I rejected the Libertarian party due to its weak stance on environmental issues. See, my liberal mother is a true Berkeleyitte, and her cousin was president of the Sierra Club for a time, and always a lawyer for them. I grew up steeped in the ideas of environmentalism. But as I got older, watched Dem politicians I thought I respected fail at their stated morals, I found myself drifting away from that party of my youth. And about one week into the Obama administration, when he was proposing HRC as Secretary of State that I left in disgust.
And as I have gotten older, and more acquainted with the libertarian philosophy (I am a compulsive reader) that I began to really understand political history in both the US and (to a much lesser degree) the world at large, I began to believe in on very strong thing that has animated my libertarianism; namely that I don’t really care if the world gets more progressive or conservative. Because it will, in cycles both large and small. And that the most important thing for a person who is pretty centrist is to maintain the balance that allows for this, the switching of poles, balanced with those civil rights. That all men are created equal, God damn it.
You see, in any given body of people, half will be more conservative that the other half, and vice versa. And while that is a tautology, it informs my perspective. What allows for change, is the see-saw action of the desire to move society forward, against the desire to put the brakes on too much progress. And while the people at either end of the bell curve (as that essentially what the Left-Right axis of the political spectrum looks like) will not move, the apex of that bell curve will sway back and forth across the mid-point of that graph. This is due entirely to the push-pull of those two poles, the desire to keep going, damn the torpedoes and the desire to sit down and throw a spanner in the works. Libertarianism aims, through a pretty solid philosophy, to not split the baby, but allow multiple babies to be raised. Just don’t step on anyone, and you can do what you want.
Do you want to live by the tenants of your faith? Get down with it, but you don’t get to cross the all men are equal line. Want to try your hand at heaven on earth? Knock yourselves out, but you don’t get to take away my right to defend myself or my loved ones. And this can be boiled down to the Non-Aggression Principle. Or, don’t hurt anyone and don’t take their stuff.
Now, there are people who seem to have a limited view of this, and an example of that is related to Reparations. Now, for those of you who do not know (what hell, damn guy!) this pertains to paying those affected by slavery some sort of cash/social amount. Some look at this as just, some look at it as no more than paying the Dane Geld. Well, here is where I stand on it; show me a person how has suffered from slavery, and I will point to a person who deserves reparations. And I will be very tight on that. Who was the owner of this slave? Are they still alive? No? Is the former slave still alive? No? Sorry Charlie, no reparations. You see, I don’t believe in takings, and if no one alive took the liberty of someone, there is no current taking. Except the takings enforced out of some ancestral guilt, which is BS. They, the ancestors, did no taking, so aren’t guilty of anything. Oh, people will say all sorts of things after that. They will talk about Redlining, Jim Crow, things like that. On the later, I will agree that was an effect, so now you need to show me the specific effect, who was harmed and who did the harming. You see, the number of people who have been fucked over by shit laws that weren’t struck down, for whatever reason, is legion. Gays, Jews, Hispanics, women, and so on. You see, this is where that pesky little demon Progressive, come in handy. No conservative wants to go back to those days, that is not what they are about. Usually. So, society moved on, because it needed to. And in that moving on society ended up here, and that ain’t too cool. So, we are seeing the beginnings of a social pushback. This is the general slowing down and speeding up of society. All normal. As long as everyone plays by the rules. (Hint, I think the D’s are cheating.)
Oh, wait, I kind of elided that whole Jim Crow thing, didn’t I. Well, you see, we had reparations for Jim Crow, they are called Affirmative Action. And, well, they worked out for the first generation, and then have slowly slid down the slippery slop until we have what is going on now: a sinecure. And it is failing to halt the slide of African Americans into a gutter of racial politics and resentment.
And this is part of what I mean by not wanting to live in utopia. It won’t work. Why? Well, there are people there, people who don’t believe in your, or any utopia. And what starts as a calling, becomes a business, turns into a racket. Now, do we want any part of that as our government? I didn’t think so.
“Well, there are people there, people who don’t believe in your, or any utopia.”
That’s pretty much William F. Buckley, Jr.
“Don’t immanentize the eschaton.”
This. You should run far away from anyone pushing a “utopia”.
Your utopia is my dystopia.
I got no problem with how you want to live your life. I got a big problem with how you want me to live mine.
But I just want what’s best for you.
You might think that, but you don’t know that.
False Consciousness strikes again!
Much, much older than that – nemesis strikes hubris.
The nanny staters who talk about quality of life never think about the quality of life of being left the hell alone.
At least until they are being told how to live by their political opponents.
If we left you alone, you may make the wrong decisions.
While down inside I know everything is cyclical, I still have trouble with trusting things will come back around. I’m sure it’ll happen, I just worry when, and how ugly will the switching of the poles be?
Great rant; would read another
While down inside I know everything is cyclical
Quite frankly, I hear this from libertarians from time to time, and it sounds like wishful thinking more than anything else. Yeah, the day to day and year to year changes will move in either direction as the passions of the masses are ignited, but there’s no question we’ve tread a lot of ground between 1922 and 2022 that isn’t going to be untread. Some for the betterment of our society, most not.
As I say in the post, society evolves. Time moves on. Things change. There was a time when women were considered subservient, legally, to their families. Do you want to go back to that time? And I am not saying this to be a dick, but simply to show how society evolves. But, when the forces of progress move to far, there is pushback, which we just saw in Florida re Disney, Virginia re CRT in the classroom etc. The classic example from the last 100 years is prohibition.
So, yes, some times will be more conservative than others, think the post war vs. post ’68. But, they will never be the same as what came before, and will rarely match the utopists dreams.
There was a time when women were considered subservient, legally, to their families. Do you want to go back to that time? And I am not saying this to be a dick, but simply to show how society evolves.
Nah, but I’d like to go back to a time when FedGov didn’t take 30% of my paycheck, teach my kids to mutilate their genitals, force companies to incentivize hiring people who don’t look at me because other people who kinda looked like me did bad things in the past, etc. Beyond that, I think it’s really easy to over focus on government as a proxy for society. Community has been destroyed, family has mostly been conquered. A lot of the chickens from the 60s and 70s (let alone the 20s and 30s) have come home to roost, and our culture is worse off for it.
I don’t buy the “progress” aspect of societal evolution. Progressing towards what? The ethics and beliefs of modern day centrism? That’s a tautology. Yeah, some things are better than they were. Those seem to be the exceptions to the rule. On the whole, our society is much sicker and has been for a longer time than the culturally immersed, 70s worshipping GenXers would probably like to admit.
“ On the whole, our society is much sicker and has been for a longer time than the culturally immersed, 70s worshipping GenXers would probably like to admit.”
Looks to me (from quite the distance) that there are pockets of sickness that have now gone terminal. There are other pockets that still seem to be just normal people.
As there isn’t a human grouping that hasn’t created some form of gov’t; church leadership council, student body president, Roberts Rules of Order et al, I am not sure that Gov’t isn’t a proxy for civilization. In any case, back when I lived in SAC there was a guy who, rather famously around town, had huge signs in his front yard asking for the gov’t to raise his taxes. He was interviewed on TV a lot, and was, I would say, sincere. I bring this up as a huge part of this is that we do live in a society, one where we can sign our kids up for little league, go disc golfing, get mail delivered, and so on. And most people like that, and don’t want to lose those things. So, we have to balance much of this; too much taxes, not enough collective action.
Now, I am going to agree with you, quite strongly, that things are fucked right now, out of balance in a bad way. But, here is were we might differ. This is our fault. Yes, we should be allowed to run away, but with running away come the lose of what you ran from. We ran from asserting our rights in the order of our society, and we have lost a lot in this process. We let the perfect be the enemy of the good, in my eyes at least. We held our noses too many times and said “no, not me.” And now we have a butchers bill to pay.
Down below I point out that neither liberalism nor conservatism is freedom. Freedom comes from the force we put on things, to force them to be free. As I said in the post above, I grew up in the Meese era (not much of one for nostalgia of the seventies though) and there was a strong conservative vibe in the country. And in a lot of ways that I feel are important, this sucked. I think a lot of people rights, especially those of gay people, were stepped on. I don’t want that. And I don’t want that again. I think the whole trans thing is going to blow up in the lefts face in a rather dramatic way and is already a catalyst for the conservative pushback we are experiencing. But that doesn’t mean that those people are not people. I don’t want to see them harmed either.
As far as progressing, they are “progressing” to the exact thing you want to conserve; the good life.
This! When I was a child it was the Right that were the “Baddies” (or at least I was led to believe it). It’s hard to be conservative when you spend nearly every waking moment getting high or trying to do so. This is also why I used to be pro-choice. I actually had some skin in the game.
the exact thing you want to conserve; the good life.
Good arguments across the board, and I appreciate your comment.
That said, I have zero interest in conserving the good life. I align with conservatives only insofar as their worldview aligns with my faith (ditto libertarians, but that’s not germane). Nostalgia for the good life has always been a mirage, with time sweetening the memories. Certain aspects can be judged better or worse from era to era, but my measuring stick is of a different character.
My point is merely this. I have no allegiance to the 1950s or the 1850s or the 1550s. I work hard every day to align my desires with the commands of God (despite failing miserably time after time). Popular culture, of any era, is more of man than of God. No matter the era selected, the popular culture a shit measuring stick. To mangle a sentiment I’ve heard here before, conservatives are only worth anything when there’s something worth conserving.
I see your point. As an atheist it has been difficult to come around to your way of thinking. Your Faith, if you will. I’m more open to other ideas just by joining with you wondrous people. Oddly enough, Libertarianism changed my attitude for the greater good. Taught me how to be not so fucking sure of myself. That’s a win, right?
Yup, I completely understand. The further in time I get away from having been an agnostic, the harder it is to put myself back in those shoes and remember what it was like. It’s nice to be in a community where we get to roughly the same place via very different routes.
I am going to push back a bit at you. You have a 100% interest in conserving the good life; to align your desires with the commands of God, as you see that. I think, and I hope I am not overstepping any boundaries here, that you are finding that in many ways that doesn’t align with the United States at the present time. And here is the pushback; you are the person who, ultimately, gets to drive your alignment. Not me, not harpy #1 Prog, not the leader of your religious sect. You are the only one who can drive that, no one else.
As a firm liver of the secular world, I know how strong its temptations are. How easy it is to “soft” align yourself with it. But only you can make a determination of what is important.
Now, do we want any
part of that as ourgovernment?Fixed it.
I was raised by the old left. Not really progressives, but definitely lefties. My parents in the ’70s would be classified as righties today (they aren’t). I’m not a proponent of utopias, as I think their pursuit just kills a shit-ton of people, but giving people the space to pursue their own weird worlds seems reasonable.
Also, Come Around
Dang, they were a good band.
One more.
This was the one decent band from home, they never did go anywhere though.
Trees of Mystery! I wasn’t at this show, per se, I was outside listening as I would graduate from HS the next month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em4L79-74J4
My mom was mostly apolitical. I know she voted for Carter and Reagan and that’s about it.
Nice tune. Heard of them but never paid attention.
Hopefully not in the same election. 😉
Nah, my mom was the opposite of dingbat.
The ’80 election was the one that ate my parents marriage alive.
It was the last election that I voted. I fell for the Reagan promises, learned about big time deficit spending in the aftermath.
Fun little trivia: In 16 Candles, Molly Ringwald had “The Rave-Ups” written on her school notebook. I believe her sister was involved with the singer. They also did a song or two for Pretty in Pink.
Chance is a terrific album. Give it a listen.
Yeah, wikipedia mentioned one or the other movie.
I’ll check it out, thanks.
Singer is the spitting image of a huge work crush I had in the aughts but with blond hair instead of black.
He was in a band lol
My dad was a Rush Limbaugh conservative. My mom was a product of Blue Collar Democrats.
I heard about Andrew Marrou a little before I started my first job with a paycheck. I liked his anti-income tax stance. His anti-income tax stance seemed right to me. Then I got my first job with a paycheck. His anti-income tax was right.
Music is catchy.
There’s a (relatively) new butcher shop in my area. It actually has been around for about a year, but I didn’t manage to get there until today. I bought two nice-looking strip steaks there, as well as a hoagie and some other stuff there this afternoon. The hoagie was great for lunch, and the strip steaks turned out wonderfully on the grill for dinner.
As a plus, there was a small farm stand out across the street, and we had fresh grilled corn on the cob for dinner, and we topped the lunch hoagies with fonderful fresh tomato.
I’m definitely going to make that place a regular supplly stop. Also got some homemade beef sticks from there, but haven’t tried them yet.
Hoagie?
I thought you were from Pittsburgh?
ok, “sub”
I live near Pittsburgh, but I’m from a couple hours east of there. “You’nser” territory, not “Yinzer.”
Altoona, or the sticks.
The sticks surrounding Johnstown
Plus my GF is from the Philly area so we have traded localisms over the last 25 years or so.
For some reason I thought you were from Pittsburgh. I remember you saying lived near there.
I remember too you mentioning your girlfriend being from near Philly.
OK, makes sense.
By the way, for those who don’t know, this was an answer to a question TRSHMSTR posed about the NAP on KBolinos post last week. And I got two paragraphs in before the Gods of the WordPress Heading ate it for dinner. So, I rewrote it in word, posted the Great Wall of Text the next day, and Tonio said “WTF, JHTFC this is a post, dude.” And here we are.
+1 Tonio
Well, you see, we had reparations for Jim Crow, they are called Affirmative Action.
I remember the MA natives that referred to a black woman I worked with as an affirmative action hire. She was good at what she did. She didn’t need affirmative action. She quit and moved back to NYC.
Sometimes I think Affirmative Action has just had the effect of continuing Jim Crow by other means.
I will charitably subscribe to the idea that its originators had their heart in the right place but hoo boy what damage it has done since.
It’s a teaching moment about government run amok.
Hence all the noise about “removing the stigma” of reliance on government aid and a plethora of other things.
Fastest way to remove that stigma is to get rid of the aid.
No aid, no stigma.
Get a job.
I believe by “remove the stigma” they mean increase the aid to the level needed to support a middle class lifestyle.
The tyranny of mathematics makes such a level of largess impossible.
See Sowell’s first lesson of politics.
Now, there are people who seem to have a limited view of this, and an example of that is related to Reparations.
I think this is a good thought exercise for those who take the NAP as a first principle. What do you have to assume to make the NAP not apply to reparations?
I assume we’ve advanced beyond the danegild?
It serves to make the idea of long term, multigenerational harm understandable. AA sounded great on the surface, but we can see the downsides after a couple generations. It was really to allay the guilt of those taking, not to help those taken from.
First rule of government should be “First, do no harm.”
Every law takes from someone and gives to another, an act of force. If it didn’t there would be no need for the law.
^^^
That cyclical shift back and forth doesn’t take entropy into account. The bouncing ball’s apex exhibits a steady decline. Freedom is diminishes with each cycle.
Freedom is neither liberal nor conservative.
We have allowed freedom to diminish by not constantly pushing for it.
That is an important point that political parties like to hide
yup
No one believes in freedom, not even Americans….certainly not women. We believe in others’ right to agree with us, in our right to limit, manage, coerce, and punish others.
Because of this, it is okay to ignore the hypocrisy of the party that we sympathize with while screeching about the overreach and foibles of the enemy.
The exceptions to these trends are negligible.
decades and decades of this: entropy
One might notice that this is because we are prideful beings who subconsciously reject the golden rule and the equality of others with ourself. We mouth platitudes, but when it takes real sacrifice, we are quick to assert self over other.
This, of course, isn’t anything new. Practically every culture in history has confronted this fact.
That’s taking far too short a view, and ignores innovation. If freedom diminishes with every cycle, how could the Enlightenment, or the Great Enrichening, happen?
There are cycles, and many do suffer entropy, but — cycles exist within as well as alongside other cycles, and all of their ‘center’ or null points are moving around.
The world needs our cynical jackassery heard!
I ain’t got time for all the theory stuff. I just look around and see who’s being the biggest jerks. That’s who I’m attacking.
Oh, oh, I’m outta here before Straff shows up!
Yeah, well… fuck you too buddy.
Daily Quordle 155
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Part of the problem with Jim Crow reparations is that these laws were instituted by governments. I believe they have sovereign immunity from their actions.
I am of the opinion that the real lasting way to eliminate Jim Crow would be to enforce Gov’t non-discrimination, but not have it bleed into the private sphere. It is too tempting to attempt to eliminate racism, but that should fail a 1st amendment test. But the gov’t, state or local or fed, should pay a hefty price for not allowing people to be equal.
I’m not sure what you mean: examples?
I don’t know about jim crow, but I reject the commerce clause side door for government to manage all things under the sun. I prefer people put up the signs they need: no Irish need apply….whatever: post it in your window and let the chips fall where they may. And if ever racist in town is eating together, so much the better: I know where they are so I can avoid them: everyone’s happier.
As for public sector discrimination, I think it’s dead in the places where it matters: voting and general bureaucratic access. The rest (schools, civil contracting) should be minimized until no one cares who has what kinds of access. The size of government is the fundamental problem: it is the very reason we don’t naturally and easily solve all the social and market problems.
You last paragraph covers what I meant, or close enough.
Good to see that Zwak reposted his wall-o-text! Needed more noticing.
Speaking of counting your blessings Zwak – posted this one on twitter this week (saw on a church sign in the neighborhood):
“We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand.” – Spurgeon
+1 tuned mass damper
+1 Pit
Dunno what that means, but thx for the sod recommendation. Sounds like some hard yard work. Maybe I pay the nephew and his friend a couple 100 bucks and see if the can knock it out in a day.
I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to find it there.
The globalists are good for something. I’m sure I can. Just a matter of price.
Also, googly eyes.
And auto laser cannons.
Yes, googly eyes. I will pay you $100 bucks for a year of googly eyes on your trees.
We’ve got the same in one of our garden patches but the only one that thrived were the little red ones. Zone #3.
That’s too bad. At the risk of sounding like a nutcase, I think those little sedums have loads of personality.
the Galton Board is the best way I’ve found to show people what natural randomness looks like
We have a 5ton mass damper in our tower here in Vegas
Really? I have one in the upstairs bathroom.
Heh. Come out to Vegas and ya get a tour. We are allowing it now
I love stuff like that. KK might be a plane-spotter, but I love trains.
Well, next time I need to take a depleted uranium dump.
I spent 4 hours dealing with bureaucrats today and paid for 3 hours of parking. Waiting areas were filled with hard, plastic chairs but the weather has turned nice at last. Many yoga pants and sundresses. Two Ukrainian girls sat beside me for about twenty minutes. It was hard not to leer… What do they say? “Every time a door closes a window opens?” Whatever, I’ve jumped through some hoops and will possibly be left the fuck alone for a bit.
⬅
TV warning about a rash of heat stokes. 80 y/o people walking around 38°C with masks on.
Federal building like an empty cathedral today. Masked up. Two security guards, five employees and maybe a dozen customers. Wait time – nearly an hour and a half. Provincial building? Maskless and bustling. Same wait time but nobody told me that I needed to call ahead. I hate this fucking place.
We all are old enough to remember (and not too old to forget) what our lives were like as kids. We enjoyed the ‘old days’ ’cause it was the only days we knew. We want to believe that every 20 years or generation or whatever things change, and not for the better.
I start every story with “When I was a kid…” and you will too and maybe you already have. We tend to live our lives in blocks and the changes seem to be coming too fast. The problem is that the changes are occurring all the time and have been forever. My Dad was born in1893, that was 10 years before H. Ford was putzing around in his garage. By my memory that isn’t too long but yet we’ve come from a horseless carriage to landing stuff on Mars. I’ve lived through crank telephones to the magic we all carry in our pockets.
Even though we may try to resist, the changes keep coming. 30 years from now you guys/gals will be sitting around pondering the changes you’ve seen, your grand children will still believe they are living in the good old days.
Judging by my gait today 30 years from now ain’t a worry.
Don’t look back, sumthin might be gainin’ on you.
/Satchel Paige
My fathers grandmother died when I was around 5-6, she was in her 90s. She had travelled, via buckboard, from Los Angeles to San Quentin to visit her father, who was doing time for train robbery. Her uncle shot a grizzly bear on the trip. That has stuck with me for 45 years now. The passage of time.
what our lives were like as kids
I went to school instead of work. I had summer off. Snow was for playing not shoveling. The government was abstract not something that beat you down (my parents didn’t feel the need to sit me down so they could explain every world event).
OMG!!!
Season two of Only Murders in the Building just dropped on Hulu today!
I’ll be in my recliner.
Also, mr Splosives cataract surgery went well today.
Molto bene, re: the surgery
Watching now.
I hope your dude is too!
Yup! We watched the first ep, but was fading so I think we will rewatch this weekend.
He’s looking sassy with his eyepatch. Growwwwl.
Good news!
Good! Now you have to reteach that independent streak that drew you two together! Great tidings!
We started and realized we uh…didn’t remember season 1
Sweet! I just dropped Netflix and was trying to think of what streaming service to get.
Don’t forget to tell Mr. Splosives when to put in the eye drops!
OT: I hate tray ceilings, that is all.
You mean, like pressed tin?
Also known as dust catchers.
Ah. I thought he meant ton ceilings too. Shows how worldly I am.
Now I’m curious what in the world y’all are talking about.
*I* am talking about tray ceilings.
Yup, you and I are on the same page. The number of houses in our search region with weird tray ceilings is extreme.
4500 ft2 and 2.5 acres? Nice.
Dang, that place is less than the house I used to have in SAC, and 4X as big.
And did you see the lovely creek with the pic-a-nic table?
That place is only 3 hours from me.
Half a million and has visible neighbors?
Ripoff.
Wife kinda likes this one, but I don’t know how I feel about living in a fire house.
UCS, you’ve vocalized one of the voices in my head. I’d prefer substantially more acreage, personally.
I can’t put my finger on what’s ‘off’ about the second one. I like the privacy but there’s something not quite right.
Mansfield! *does Snoopy Dance*
That house is going to take a helluvalotta baby-proofing. I personally love the cabling on the railings but I wouldn’t have it with little kids around.
Get out of my head, UCS! I said the same exact thing to my wife. Something doesn’t look right on the outside, and I can’t put my finger on it. Seriously, it looks like a converted firehouse to me.
It has no eaves.
The “converted firehouse” has no eaves. Not to mention the garage doors don’t look like residential garage doors.
I wouldn’t want just anyone to be able to see inside my garage so easily.
(Dammit! I’d have gotten that in first if I hadn’t taken time to look at more of the pictures!) ::shakes fist at Moje::
Heh.
I can see firehouse, but I was gonna say “semi industrial building now converted into an art gallery”. That’s the vibe I get. Brick exterior with a modern interior, and yet the building’s new, so they did it on purpose. Why not just make the exterior modern? (they wanted a ‘loft’ — that’s why)
I mean, I’ve seen worse on McMansion Hell, but yeah, it’s charmless.
I like to call mine “belly-button”.
Those repel government mind control rays more effectively than just a homemade tinfoil hat. Don’t be hatin’.
“Tres Ceilings” is what happens when he gets bucked off one his big girls.
FESTUS OFF THE TOP ROPE!
Oh, well done, Festus.
literal LOL at “goth fonzie”
Farg! Edit fairie? 🧚♂️
Thank you!!
An apologia for idiots. “goth fonzie” is nearly perfect!
Someone I came across the other day refered to Reason as Libertarians of DC. And that made sense to me.
FIRSTER, HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Wife wants the piano diddy from the Little Ceasers commercial ad her ring tone.
For reference
One of my ringtones.
The other.
Both worthy
Politics is only a pendulum swinging about a midpoint in a relative sense. The midpoint is not fixed, and neither are the poles. The absolute position of the entire spectrum matters as much if not more than the relative position of the pendulum within it, and it’s too easy to make movement in one for the other.
Leviathan is growing to consume everything. Sure, nominal control of Leviathan may cycle between Republican and Democrat, but Leviathan keeps growing. I see a runaway process, not a cycle that will eventually reverse and start causing Leviathan to shrink. Loss of liberty may be a pendulum swing, or it may be a shift in the Overton window and the pendulum will never swing far enough back to restore it.
Ultimately whether a policy is “liberal” or “conservative” in the political spectrum du jour is irrelevant to the question of whether it is right. I care how the pendulum moves because it shows how the whole spectrum is moving, and I care whether the world becomes more or less free.
A more eloquent take than mine:
“Every thing you do effects other people in some manner therefore we get to regulate what you do. “. They act like they are the first humans to recognize the butterfly effect. If they want exert power over strangers, the strangers have a duty to put them in their place.
The modern progressive thinks that everything they believe is unique, new and modern. I think this is most readily apparent example is there attempt to regulate speech by pointing to hate speech and supposed disinformation, as if either is new. They pretend that their objective judgement of such things can’t possibly be wrong, so that they are really nothing like the endless regimes throughout human history that engaged in censorship to quell dissent.
I know public schools get mocked a lot, but honest to god…I was taught growing up that censorship was dangerous and that unpopular speech needed to be protected, all of it, because societal progress stems from unpopular beliefs. That’ seems like a completely foreign concept to the modern left. Maybe part of how that was taught was the problem, though…when an ideology becomes so convinced of its own self-righteousness, and the defense of self expression isn’t grounded in an individuals inalienable rights, it becomes easy to rationalize quelling dissent.
Jordan Peterson talks about that a lot in his biblical series, when rational thought/intellect falls in love with itself.
Partly that was the result of how it was taught, but partly, at least in my eyes, is a result of a retreat from that space by conservatives and libertarians. They went to the easy world of business, and abandoned civic life. And, seemingly, lost both.
Straf is right, we have a duty to put those who wish to command in their place, so to speak.
This is all completely wrong. Modern progressives are, without a doubt, on the right side of history. Their ever evolving positions with regards to everything are always correct and improving society. Making it more tolerant and egalitarian. Building equity where there was systemic discrimination. Ideas like free speech and inalienable rights are just the ethos of the oppressor class. No dissent from modern progressivism, even if said idea was acceptable and held by progressives a week – neigh – 1 minute ago and has evolved can be tolerated. There is no pendulum, just a straight line of progress and no possibility that we are getting things wrong. Tomorrow, our ideas will inevitably be superior to those we held yesterday if you are one of the good thinkers.
I mean, it’s right in the name of the movement – you can’t spell progressivism without progress!
And the people yelling for them to stop are using words like “athwart”.
Zwak, I am currently deep in the bowels of my evening gig, so I can only post one-liners. I will read and digest your article tonight or tomorrow.
Worth it!
Uhh, you will digest… In the bowels?
Huh, huh, you said bowels.
Cool! Cool!
*whisper* And I do medical transcription. *whisper*
Comments dying away. Ah well. Nice to talk at you fine folk for a little while again!
Ungovernable? Meh, become unfathomable.
Right wing fascism is that ugly girl you ignored but end up calling late at night when the hot chick you lived with burned all your clothes in the driveway.
She didn’t burn my clothes, she poured Patchouli all over them.
What’s the bell between CRAZY and UGLY?
How many beers ya got?
Jägermeister.
People like to indulge in the “go back in time and kill Hitler in 1932” thing. Honestly, killing Stalin in 1932 would probably have been the better choice).
But I just want to go back in time far enough to kill the people responsible for making that “Oh No. Oh No. Oh no no no no” song that is on EVERY video these days.
Ever since we went to Vienna, I love the trivia that Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, Tito, and Freud lived in Vienna in 1913 (only Trotsky and Stalin are known to have met, IIRC). So in the future, if humanity gets time travel, THAT’s where the Time Assassin should go.
Sounds like a worthy destination.
And yet, as my Austrian namesake points out, it’s not really that much driven by the personality of the leader, but instead is driven by a society, a system, in which assholes like Hitler and Stalin can bubble up to the surface.
If our governance were better, guys like that wouldn’t even have power beyond being a middle school hall monitor.
Probably true, but until we test the theory we don’t actually know, right? So I think Future Time Assassins should give it a try. For Science!
Matt Ridley on the probable origins of Wuhan Flu. You won’t be surprised by the conclusion but some of the links are deeper dives.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/27/the-case-for-the-lab-leak-theory/
https://youtu.be/s2o4zxtqNZ4
🎶🎶
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2022/06/28/al-alshraf-khalil-charged-fire-collapse-sean-williamson-killed/
They can certainly catch criminals when they put some effort into it. Don’t kill the kings men, seems to be the message here.
“They can certainly catch criminals when they put some effort into it.”
Yes they can. Check out how NYC is taking a bite out of crime.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/28/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-defends-arrest-of-subway-saxophonist/
I was hoping it was Kenny G,
/disappointed
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/us/r-kelly-sentencing-racketeering-sex-trafficking/index.html
What year is it? Seems like this should have happened years ago.
One more 🎶🎶
https://youtu.be/d27gTrPPAyk
Morning, Glibs.
I need a vacation.
Morning, UCS — I’m on mine, fortunately. Though I just put my blood pressure through the roof messing with F1 2022. Gorram Imola chicanes are such a pain in the butt… especially since the car this year (granted, early days in My Career so it is supposed to be a bit of a problem) just does not seem to want to turn unless you hit the apex absolutely perfectly….
You’ve got the 4th and a long weekend coming at least, right?
I’m not sure the long weekend will be enough to even reach baseline, let alone recharge.
We can’t decide where to go this year and the clock is ticking. 😕
I don’t even need to go anywhere. I just need to not have to worry about work for a while, maybe get some writing done.
Welp, time to hit the road. see you when I reach the office.
I swear — I have the “always guess other possible words” gene or something. Barely didn’t Chump.
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Damn… the rat is fashionable *and* skilled. Nice job.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/29/what-to-know-about-ex-meadows-aide-cassidy-hutchinson/
I can’t wait until she starts her onlyfans account. 🙄
Brother… they might as well have been HM the way they were trying to lick her butt so much in that article. Nothing like taking uncorroborated hearsay in a political show trial at face value and fawning over the deliverer, you twits…
It sounds like Trump’s screwed now what with assaulting a member of his security team and whatnot. I didn’t know the Pres sat up front with the Secret Service guys. Who knew?
Honestly, how damn stupid are they that they put this person front and center?
Schiff and Cheney? Pretty damned stupid.
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That looks familiar…
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I picked the wrong day to mix up my seed words. I should have had a 2.
🙁
Good morning… everyone!
Sorry – no time to greet you all by name. I have to go back to the dentist this morning: a couple of adjacent lower back teeth (with old fillings) are cracked and need crowns.
And I have to be there at 7 EDT. ☹️
Ouch 🤕🦷🦷
Hope all goes well from here and there are no more complications.
Thanks (in the right place the time.) Getting numb now.
Ouch, I hear ya. Just had a crown put in yesterday, another one scheduled for Tuesday… You know the drill.
The sound is the worst part of the drill.
I particularly dislike the smell of burnt tooth. At least that is what I assume the smell is.
I’m not fond of that either.
Worse than the drill: There is a TV in the procedure room, because who wouldn’t want to watch/hear News 12 NJ while having teeth drilled? But I did learn that the First Minister of Scotland is a woman named Nicola Sturgeon. Sounds fishy to me.
The people residing in Scotland today are an embarassment to the Scots.
Thanks. Waiting for the dentist right now. 😟
Good morning All, first cup of coffee has disappeared and the world is coming into focus.
Good job last night, Zwak, even as bedtime comes earlier for me than some others.
Youngest G’daughter and husband are coming to visit for a few days. I have a few small chores for them to do, just small things that are tough for me to do. Actually, I could do them but I want them to feel necessary.
It’s good to see young people with their heads and caps on straight. There is still hope.
Mornin’, 4×20.
There is still hope.
A good thing to keep in mind.
Mornin’, reprobates. Excellent rant, Zwak!
I normally do not wish I’ll on my opponents, but AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10963301/Anthony-Fauci-says-hes-experienced-rebound-Covid-symptoms-Paxlovid-course.html#comments
Should’ve gone with horse dewormer and fishtank cleaner, Tony.
Too good for him. I’d want him to fall into a pit of ravenous beagles, but that’s not fair to the poor beagles. Prison and losing all his ill gotten gains would be closer, at least.
Karma’s a bitch.
“Keep jabbing until I don’t get sick any more.”
GFY