tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post1755661444563805972..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Founders and Bounders, Panderers and SlanderersGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43747728594099154522011-04-28T13:54:25.565-07:002011-04-28T13:54:25.565-07:00Speaking of oppressive categories, check out Taran...Speaking of oppressive categories, check out <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/best_of_the_web_today.html" rel="nofollow">Taranto</a>'s last story, which is funnier than a barrel of primate companions.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35573715419009464812011-04-28T13:02:53.810-07:002011-04-28T13:02:53.810-07:00"But does this mean that we should in effect ..."But does this mean that we should in effect adhere to caveman psychology and group dynamics?"<br /><br />For the primitive tenured tribal chiefs, and their henchmen, the answer is yes, they do believe the youts' of the tribe <a href="http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/04/28/umsl-investigates-whether-class-promotes-violence/" rel="nofollow">should be trained in how to bully and hate</a> the evil tribe of 'the rich' and boo-schwah-say.<br /><br />And of course, to love gaia too.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-13375135786191310792011-04-28T12:18:18.536-07:002011-04-28T12:18:18.536-07:00self-esteaming piles of manure
I would hate for a...<b>self-esteaming piles of manure</b><br /><br />I would hate for anyone to miss that.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1353171720183864722011-04-28T11:58:54.598-07:002011-04-28T11:58:54.598-07:00Indeed. And to the extent that people acknowledge ...Indeed. And to the extent that people acknowledge their flaws, it is as often to <i>glorify</i> them, not to overcome them. Yesterday's Zombie post was a case in point.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28407042106958898712011-04-28T11:55:01.989-07:002011-04-28T11:55:01.989-07:00Yes, all of the Founders had flaws, were generally...Yes, all of the Founders had flaws, were generally aware of them, and tried very hard to overcome them. Very much in contrast to our modern self-esteaming piles of manure.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-24202989044129653362011-04-28T11:52:02.949-07:002011-04-28T11:52:02.949-07:00Jefferson also was an early "Jesus Seminar&qu...Jefferson also was an early "Jesus Seminar" type <a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/62/The_Jefferson_Bible_The_Life__Morals_of_Jesus_of_Nazareth_1.html" rel="nofollow">taking his razor to the New Testament and cutting it down to size.</a> <br /><br />I cannot bring myself to criticize Jefferson too much. He was a brilliant man and courageous. Nobody is perfect.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57061920136821074532011-04-28T11:37:48.944-07:002011-04-28T11:37:48.944-07:00And even then -- I could be wrong about this -- Je...And even then -- I could be wrong about this -- Jefferson didn't so much write the DoI as polish it. I think a lot of the content was from Adams. But I could be wrong.<br /><br />Obviously TJ was a bright guy, but in the absence of a stable and vertically oriented center, intelligence will inevitably lead one astray.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-90353854508758077582011-04-28T11:09:05.956-07:002011-04-28T11:09:05.956-07:00Fascinating point about Jefferson. I've been ...Fascinating point about Jefferson. I've been reading Ron Chernow's biographies of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, and hope to get my hands on McCullough's of John Adams. I need to supplement this with one of Jefferson as well.<br /><br />I observe that of all the Founding Fathers, Jefferson was most enthusiastic about the French Revolution, even as it devolved almost in the first instance to an untameable orgy of anti-Christian violence and terror... the others, especially Adams, were openly horrified. Many of them also favored quick reconciliation and trade with Great Britian, most strongly Hamilton, whom Jefferson regarded as a dangerous monarchist conniver - and whose Vice President, Aaron Burr, eventually shot him dead.<br /><br />Jefferson more and more strikes me as the sort of person who commands excellent theories and writes magnificently upon them, while others have to actually hammer those theories into workable real-life structures. You need a Jefferson to write a Declaration of Independence; you need the rest of them to write the Federalist Papers and the Constitution.nightflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04666773766092187348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38310390747017115772011-04-28T11:02:01.122-07:002011-04-28T11:02:01.122-07:00Speaking of CLARITY
...weren't we?Speaking of <a href="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43201" rel="nofollow">CLARITY</a><br />...weren't we?NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83093019703169613182011-04-28T10:50:50.805-07:002011-04-28T10:50:50.805-07:00But that's the thing about any cultural elites...<i>But that's the thing about any cultural elites, who inevitably believe their point of view is "normative" and that opposing ones are deviations.</i><br /><br />Not only do they think their views are normative, but they also believe themselves to be <i>objective</i> - that is, reasonable and dispassionately correct. But of course, there is nothing reasonable about faith, whether it's faith in O or faith in non-faith. The difference is, at least those who profess faith in God know that's what they are doing. Those who believe in no-faith honestly think themselves free of irrationality, when instead they are ruled by it.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-39053596680585386312011-04-28T10:41:47.023-07:002011-04-28T10:41:47.023-07:00Heck, it's not even necessary to look into his...Heck, it's not even necessary to look into history to get a sampling of primitive tribal life. <a href="http://jungle-hut.blogspot.com/search/label/Jungle" rel="nofollow">Just ask a missionary</a>. <br /><br /><i>And just as an individual has psychic defense mechanisms to keep out the not-self, the group has defense mechanisms to protect its own integrity -- mechanisms such as human sacrifice, ancestor worship, and ritual warfare. </i><br /><br /><a href="http://jungle-hut.blogspot.com/2011/03/csijungle.html" rel="nofollow">For instance</a>:<br /><br />"One thing that seems universal among the tribes, is that death is never from a natural cause. Whether the death is of a new born or elder, the death was inevitably caused by witchcraft. You can explain that the baby died from dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea and they will believe you. They also will set out to discover WHO caused the curse of sickness to be placed upon the child, or the elder, or the healthy young man who dies from malaria complications. Someone sent a curse."<br /><br />And yet, it is just this form of living to which the left would ultimately have us return.<br /><br />In truth, it's no small wonder that people ever broke away from that life. Any study of tribes living in remote areas in their "natural" state demonstrates that there is little or no room for innovation from within. They may have interesting mechanisms for dealing with their particular environment, but they are the same mechanisms that have been used for almost as long as the people have been there. And when new technology is introduced, it seems as though it often is used simply to replace what they already have with something a little more durable.<br /><br />Tribal life seems to be mostly a closed loop. Or from an evOlutionary perspective, a dead end.<br /><br />As to the tribes in Venezuela, now that Chavez in all his benignity has chased the missionaries out, I can't help wondering whether the infusion of Christianity they had was enough for them to move forward to a better future.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9681890841336275922011-04-28T09:33:54.323-07:002011-04-28T09:33:54.323-07:00Mushroom said,
"Rural people naturally work ...Mushroom said,<br /><br />"Rural people naturally work together, especially during harvest, often because of time constraints."<br /><br />That's a good point -- because it's just tricky enough to sound like communism. Maybe almost as much as tax "contributions" sound sorta like charity.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-12537112627468538042011-04-28T09:23:40.318-07:002011-04-28T09:23:40.318-07:00"And the conservative Washington not only fre..."And the conservative Washington not only freed his (slaves) upon his death, but even provided for them.."<br /><br />Plus, he married into the "family". And if I recall, he left his own family early and lived in a way on his own...as a surveyor and then the military.<br /><br />I remember reading in I think it was one of Abigail's letters to her husband Mr. Adams that she found the slaves to be much less productive than the workers (paid free men) she was used to back in MA. She may have even commented that she thought this had nothing to do with their race. Because of course it wouldn't.<br />Thank God they wrote those more than 1,000 letters to each other. And that we still have them.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73431883222006928872011-04-28T08:58:54.393-07:002011-04-28T08:58:54.393-07:00...unrelated peasants into collective farms
Rur...<i>...unrelated peasants into collective farms</i> <br /><br />Rural people naturally work together, especially during harvest, often because of time constraints. If science actually believed in evolution, they would understand that me helping my brother/cousin/nephew prosper enhances our shared DNA's survivability. As shorthand, this means I like a lot of people to have the same last name as I have.<br /><br /><i>Amazingly, in the Soviet Union, the tiny four percent "of land that remained privately owned accounted for one-quarter of total agricultural output"</i><br /><br />Indeed, I still remember my sixth-grade teacher stating this same fact back in the Year 2 BSP (<i>Before Sgt. Pepper</i>).mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.com