3001
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Lollercaust Repository
« on: May 28, 2008, 04:18:47 pm »
<ego> this discussion should be taking place at the Repository </ego>
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3002
Or Kill Me / Re: not srs rant material but...
« on: May 28, 2008, 04:17:12 pm »Why would I go to Walmart?
And, your "dismissals" have no power over me.
First of all, you must go to Wal-Mart and buy something at least once a week, if you want to stay off the government's Un-American list. Secondly, Wal-Mart is the among the highest quality locations to sit on a bench and observe the Automaton-Human in its native environment.
And my dismissals have as much power over you as your declarations of Feminine Nudist Law have over the general population.
3003
Or Kill Me / Re: not srs rant material but...
« on: May 28, 2008, 04:01:38 pm »
Have you been to Wal-Mart? Your "women should not wear shirts" rule is summarily dismissed.
3004
Or Kill Me / Re: Time Travel Ramblings
« on: May 28, 2008, 03:47:19 pm »
time travel is irrelevant. what you're really looking for is tourism/escapism. this is why somebody needs to build an industry based on Anton LaVey's "Total Communities" - where entire towns are constructed, for people to live in permanently, which recreate in every detail other worlds or times. We could build a medieval township where people must live as if it is the year 1153 AD, or a Classical Roman township, or whatever else. That way you get a taste of life in the past without the trouble of going there.
3005
Or Kill Me / Re: not srs rant material but...
« on: May 28, 2008, 03:44:01 pm »
thanks for the ass crack commandment. too many people do not heed this advice.
3006
Or Kill Me / Re: Time Travel Ramblings
« on: May 28, 2008, 03:16:09 pm »
"Time is an illusion; lunch-time doubly so." -- Ford Prefect to Arthur Dent
Time travel would be cool, and I have no expertise on the matter.
As for Zen koans, they might illustrate the nonlinearity of time, but they don't explain it very well. In my time machine, I will not have a control dial with options like "flax" and "grasshopper." It will have numbers, probably in traditional order, and I will not be taking a monk with me to fix the technical hiccups.
Time travel would be cool, and I have no expertise on the matter.
As for Zen koans, they might illustrate the nonlinearity of time, but they don't explain it very well. In my time machine, I will not have a control dial with options like "flax" and "grasshopper." It will have numbers, probably in traditional order, and I will not be taking a monk with me to fix the technical hiccups.
3007
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Lollercaust Repository
« on: May 28, 2008, 02:59:43 pm »
uhm.. there's no Mangrove. I'll make you an account and PM you your username/password.
3008
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Lollercaust Repository
« on: May 25, 2008, 04:12:38 am »
HEY YOU FUCKING DISCORDIANS! quit sewing discord in my thread!
3009
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Lollercaust Repository
« on: May 24, 2008, 04:10:50 am »
hence the commenting feature for suggestions/discussion and the ability to post/revise anything. or, we can just assume the project won't go anywhere and act accordingly, i guess.
3010
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Lollercaust Repository
« on: May 23, 2008, 04:00:31 pm »
the link takes you to my site which would allow for broad collaboration and stuff. kinda like a wiki except you can add/edit your own pages easier and post comments to each item for discussion.
i'm thinking this format would make it a lot easier to collaborate and produce new material as well as help organize existing stuff. pages can be moved around, sub-chapters created, etc. take a look, maybe register at the site, and we might be able to get the ball rolling.
i'm thinking this format would make it a lot easier to collaborate and produce new material as well as help organize existing stuff. pages can be moved around, sub-chapters created, etc. take a look, maybe register at the site, and we might be able to get the ball rolling.
3012
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Inverted totalitarianism, Superpower and managed democracy
« on: May 22, 2008, 07:56:25 pm »
The view that the Government officials are monsters that are consciously seeking total domination is, imho, a little naive. Government exists as it is allowed to exist. That's just a fact of social dynamics. When governments become insufferable, people eventually get rid of them, once enough of them agree on what about their government is insufferable. Government does tend by its nature to want to regulate and police everything under the sun, but that isn't a characterization of ethical or "conscious" behavior as much as it is a description of what Government's purpose is. One reason why bureaucracies survive is because of their ability to find gaps in regulatory coverage, and fill them.
A successful, liberal democracy does have the effect of pacifying the people. There's really very little difference between a "peaceful" population and a "pacified" one. When we speak of domestic peace and stability, don't we mean a society in which people defer to a common mediator (government) on matters they might otherwise take into their own hands? We're talking about being pacified and subdued, because the absence of pacification means a society where people can have no meaningful or reliable expectation of everyday life.
Humans are habitual creatures and we tend to favor whatever flavor of government allows us to form and keep our habits without interference. We can live under the most oppressive regimes and not buck the system so long as there is no painful shock to our daily rituals (see: Mussolini and Punctual Mass Transit) - and we can live under the most tolerant and liberal systems, but work automatically to undermine them when they challenge the habits and assumptions we have come to rely upon to define ourselves (see: Gay Marriage).
The rhetoric of "liberty" and "freedom" are tools used by all sides at various times, and like any rhetorical device, they can mean almost anything depending on how you phrase them. People like to use these words to encourage (or attack) each other, always using them in whatever way will best help their own cause, which is almost never in any real allegiance to freedom or liberty per se, but rather in an allegiance to their own worldview and set of habits, and whatever they think is most likely to secure those.
As for Inverted Totalitarianism, that is exactly what most people have been asking for. If you were able to explain the way this works objectively to most humans, and get an honest answer from them, they would think it's a terrible thing unless they were at the top. That's the real crux of the matter. Not that democracies are failing but that we want them to fail.
A successful, liberal democracy does have the effect of pacifying the people. There's really very little difference between a "peaceful" population and a "pacified" one. When we speak of domestic peace and stability, don't we mean a society in which people defer to a common mediator (government) on matters they might otherwise take into their own hands? We're talking about being pacified and subdued, because the absence of pacification means a society where people can have no meaningful or reliable expectation of everyday life.
Humans are habitual creatures and we tend to favor whatever flavor of government allows us to form and keep our habits without interference. We can live under the most oppressive regimes and not buck the system so long as there is no painful shock to our daily rituals (see: Mussolini and Punctual Mass Transit) - and we can live under the most tolerant and liberal systems, but work automatically to undermine them when they challenge the habits and assumptions we have come to rely upon to define ourselves (see: Gay Marriage).
The rhetoric of "liberty" and "freedom" are tools used by all sides at various times, and like any rhetorical device, they can mean almost anything depending on how you phrase them. People like to use these words to encourage (or attack) each other, always using them in whatever way will best help their own cause, which is almost never in any real allegiance to freedom or liberty per se, but rather in an allegiance to their own worldview and set of habits, and whatever they think is most likely to secure those.
As for Inverted Totalitarianism, that is exactly what most people have been asking for. If you were able to explain the way this works objectively to most humans, and get an honest answer from them, they would think it's a terrible thing unless they were at the top. That's the real crux of the matter. Not that democracies are failing but that we want them to fail.
3013
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Inverted totalitarianism, Superpower and managed democracy
« on: May 22, 2008, 06:18:26 pm »
The biggest problem with liberal democracy is that it works. It makes people comfortable, and people don't act or think when they are comfortable. They just go along. And, of course, they eat up the propaganda which besides keeping them mostly pacified, it makes them suspicious of one another, and it keeps them very much uneducated about what they should actually do when something happens that makes them realize their "liberal democracy" is gone.
So, it turns out that the best way to manage a government is also the worst way to plan for its continued success.
So, it turns out that the best way to manage a government is also the worst way to plan for its continued success.
3014
Or Kill Me / Re: Decagons are regular. Oregons are fucking dull.
« on: May 22, 2008, 06:06:27 pm »
to set the record straight:
a) Oregonians are stupid, but no more so per capita than anyone else. Taking the entire universe into account, they are still 15% percent more likely to fill out a federal tax form correctly than the average chunk of space rock. That counts for something, I'm sure.
b) It isn't "Global Warming" anymore. Now it's "Climate Change." They do this so they can say "I told you so" no matter what the temperature is next year. I realize that "liberals" are duty-bound to adhere to the words and obey the commandments of the Goracle, but I fail to see how that involves me. On the topic of man-made climate change, there are two possibilities as far as I know: 1) It's true, we're responsible, and if Nature is worth her salt she'll adapt to survive; or 2) It's bullshit, we're not responsible, and Al Gore can fuck all the goats he wants without worrying about his Carbon Footprint.
c) When, in the course of Human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to pass ridiculous legislation regarding any matter at all, it is always safe to consult Americans, because we are the best there is in that department.
a) Oregonians are stupid, but no more so per capita than anyone else. Taking the entire universe into account, they are still 15% percent more likely to fill out a federal tax form correctly than the average chunk of space rock. That counts for something, I'm sure.
b) It isn't "Global Warming" anymore. Now it's "Climate Change." They do this so they can say "I told you so" no matter what the temperature is next year. I realize that "liberals" are duty-bound to adhere to the words and obey the commandments of the Goracle, but I fail to see how that involves me. On the topic of man-made climate change, there are two possibilities as far as I know: 1) It's true, we're responsible, and if Nature is worth her salt she'll adapt to survive; or 2) It's bullshit, we're not responsible, and Al Gore can fuck all the goats he wants without worrying about his Carbon Footprint.
c) When, in the course of Human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to pass ridiculous legislation regarding any matter at all, it is always safe to consult Americans, because we are the best there is in that department.
3015
Think for Yourself, Schmuck! / Re: Black Sheep ARE still Sheep
« on: May 14, 2008, 05:39:43 pm »
if (cat == long) then { lulz; }