Official Favorite Tumblr Thread

[Cain]

Bump

http://www.thenation.com/blog/179160/cancelcolbert-and-return-anti-liberal-left

Recently, we've seen the calls to #CancelColbert because of something outrageous said by Stephen Colbert's blowhard alter ego, who has been saying outrageous things regularly for nine years. Then there's the sudden demand for "trigger warnings" on college syllabi, meant to protect students from encountering ideas or images that may traumatize them; an Oberlin faculty document even suggests jettisoning "triggering material when it does not contribute directly to the course learning goals." At Wellesley, students have petitioned to have an outdoor statue of a lifelike sleepwalking man removed because it was causing them "undue stress." As I wrote in The Nation, there's pressure in some circles not to use the word "vagina" in connection with reproductive rights, lest it offend trans people.

I don't agree with everything Goldberg says, though I don't have the time to go into the exact reasons why. Well, OK, I'm not comfortable with her conflating "anti-liberal left" with the left overall, and I'm not sure that's the correct ideological prognosis in the first place.  If you were to ask me, I'd say this attitude is more a mixture of social liberalism with postmodern identity politics than "leftism" as it's currently understood. 

But still, I think it's worth a read.  The above paragraph was interesting, as was the observation of how freedom of speech tends to be only highly valued when conservatives are in power.  It's also backed up, to some degree, by this observation by Freddie de Boer:

Please believe me when I say: it is not at all unusual, for me, to encounter liberals and leftists who speak out about issues of social justice like feminism and racism and similar who do not believe that controversial speech (what they call hate speech) should be legally expressible. You are free to question how prevalent that view is. But I encounter it all the time, and not just online. Being in a PhD program in the humanities, I have regular exposure to people who feel that the right to free expression does not or should not include racist, sexist, or homophobic ideas. And their definition of racism, sexism, and homophobia tends to be expansive. Indeed, I was motivated to write in large part because I just came from a large, national conference. I met lots of cool people, like I always do, and came away inspired, as I always do. But I was also disturbed, because of the casual way in which some people asserted their belief that people who express beliefs they abhor– that I abhor, that I hope all good people abhor– should be shouted down, should be coerced into silence, should be barred from entry into public forums, should be legally or otherwise prevented from expressing those beliefs.

Academic left-wing culture frequently is a leading indicator of the broader social justice left. I am not at all saying that left-wing ideas only come from college campuses, but there is little doubt that academics help to popularize and spread fashionable political ideas. They were talking about intersectionality on college campuses long before there existed the social media spaces where such talk is now ubiquitous. Sometimes, this tendency of campus politics to lead to broader discussion is an unmitigated good, such as in the nascent movement for trans rights, which again was not started on campus but which has benefited from discussion and advocacy on college campuses. Sometimes, this tendency leaves me ambivalent. I am happy that talk of privilege has become widespread, because it's essential that we understand the ways in which systematic inequalities shape our world; at the same time, as privilege talk has become unavoidable, it has lost much of its meaning and descended into a signalling mechanism of a certain strata of our postcollegiate professionals.

[LMNO]

I spent a year at Oberlin in 1990, and this was something that was building, even then; but it was self-contained, because Oberlin was in the middle of nowhere. The OP makes a lot of sense when you consider those students are now of the age to be in somewhat greater positions of power, and then the addition of technology sets the whole thing ablaze.

[Cain]

It definitely doesn't help.

Incidentally, did you know IOZ also went to Oberlin?  Between you and him, if you were there now...well, I can imagine the screeching only too well...

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

I spent a year at Oberlin in 1990, and this was something that was building, even then; but it was self-contained, because Oberlin was in the middle of nowhere. The OP makes a lot of sense when you consider those students are now of the age to be in somewhat greater positions of power, and then the addition of technology sets the whole thing ablaze.

That's Lena Dunham's alma mater. She was interviewed recently by the student newspaper. They asked her "How does it feel to be a line item in so many people's story of privilege and oppression?"

I 

[LMNO]

Oberlin is an ultra-liberal college with a high tuition, in an echo chamber.  Her show "Girls" is an alternate view of what we just went through with FernandoPoo: a look at how people in their 20s are functionally psychotic. What's funny about that question is that the journalism major who asked it will most likely be paralleling that behavior when s/he graduates.

[Cain]

So, after some considerable absence, I went back on tumblr today and discovered "nan0gender".



I would like to think this is a parody, like the ones that 4chan has been seeding over twitter for the past six months (but was only discovered the other week), but even if it is, people are defending it.

[xXRon_Paul_42016Xxx(weed)]

So, after some considerable absence, I went back on tumblr today and discovered "nan0gender".



I would like to think this is a parody, like the ones that 4chan has been seeding over twitter for the past six months (but was only discovered the other week), but even if it is, people are defending it.

Homeopathic genders?

[xXRon_Paul_42016Xxx(weed)]

http://thisiscleanprivilege.tumblr.com/

Probably a parody, but still.

[Cain]

I'd guess so, but they have the tone down just right.  If they'd done a bit more work, more posts, it probably would've fooled me.

Incidentally, the whole "truscum" thing still kinda bothers me.  I think the implication is that if you think dysphoria is a necessary precondition to being transgender (which I would say it probably is) then you are Othering transsexuals as having a mental illness (which seems like a leap in the logic) and therefore are scum (probably true, but not necessarily for that reason).

I still don't know where the "tru" bit comes from, though.  Mainly because whenever I try to ask anyone, I get told "it's not my job to educate you".

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'd guess so, but they have the tone down just right.  If they'd done a bit more work, more posts, it probably would've fooled me.

Incidentally, the whole "truscum" thing still kinda bothers me.  I think the implication is that if you think dysphoria is a necessary precondition to being transgender (which I would say it probably is) then you are Othering transsexuals as having a mental illness (which seems like a leap in the logic) and therefore are scum (probably true, but not necessarily for that reason).

I still don't know where the "tru" bit comes from, though.  Mainly because whenever I try to ask anyone, I get told "it's not my job to educate you".

Tumblr is fucking dumb. I swear, every time I look at it I'm astounded by the dumb. I think it's because it's powered by emotionally dysfunctional teenagers, but still, even for emotionally dysfunctional teenagers it's dumb.

[Faust]

So, after some considerable absence, I went back on tumblr today and discovered "nan0gender".



I would like to think this is a parody, like the ones that 4chan has been seeding over twitter for the past six months (but was only discovered the other week), but even if it is, people are defending it.

One day I will see a bell curve, nyquist plot or gantt chart of someone's gender.

[Faust]

This is beautiful:

I was shooting heroin and reading "The Fountainhead" in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.

"Bad news, detective. We got a situation."

"What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?"

"Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars' worth of bitcoins."

The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. "What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?"

"Not yet. But mark my words: we're going to figure out who did this and we're going to take them down ... provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so."

"Easy, chief," I said. "Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair."

He laughed. "That's why you're the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins."

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm on it."

I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.

"Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®" I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. "Nobody move unless you want to!" They didn't.

"Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?" No one spoke up.

"Come on," I said. "Don't you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?"

It didn't seem like they did.

"Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I'm just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters."

Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn't care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.

I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.

"Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®" I yelled.

Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.

"Stop right there!" I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.

I was losing him. "Listen, I'll pay you to stop!" I yelled. "What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I'll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn 'Bob Barr '08' extra-large long-sleeved men's T-shirt!"

He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.

"All right, all right!" the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. "I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins."

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.

"Because I was afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers," he said. "I'm a central banker."

I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.

"Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street," I said. "No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you'll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom."

He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.

—    (via fishmech)

[Junkenstein]

 

[xXRon_Paul_42016Xxx(weed)]

So, after some considerable absence, I went back on tumblr today and discovered "nan0gender".



I would like to think this is a parody, like the ones that 4chan has been seeding over twitter for the past six months (but was only discovered the other week), but even if it is, people are defending it.

One day I will see a bell curve, nyquist plot or gantt chart of someone's gender.

My gender can only be expressed with hyperbolic manifolds. Please check your Euclidean privilege.

[Cainad (dec.)]

This is beautiful:

I was shooting heroin and reading "The Fountainhead" in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.

"Bad news, detective. We got a situation."

"What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?"

"Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars' worth of bitcoins."

The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. "What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?"

"Not yet. But mark my words: we're going to figure out who did this and we're going to take them down ... provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so."

"Easy, chief," I said. "Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair."

He laughed. "That's why you're the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins."

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm on it."

I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.

"Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®" I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. "Nobody move unless you want to!" They didn't.

"Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?" No one spoke up.

"Come on," I said. "Don't you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?"

It didn't seem like they did.

"Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I'm just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters."

Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn't care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.

I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.

"Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®" I yelled.

Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.

"Stop right there!" I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.

I was losing him. "Listen, I'll pay you to stop!" I yelled. "What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I'll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn 'Bob Barr '08' extra-large long-sleeved men's T-shirt!"

He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.

"All right, all right!" the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. "I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins."

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.

"Because I was afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers," he said. "I'm a central banker."

I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.

"Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street," I said. "No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you'll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom."

He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.

—    (via fishmech)