tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post9143966127533064556..comments2024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00Comments on Avedon's Sideshow: Darling, you got to let me knowAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-5527453737570665262016-07-17T04:24:26.648+01:002016-07-17T04:24:26.648+01:00That said, I'd agree Dmitry Orlov has done a g...<i>That said, I'd agree Dmitry Orlov has done a good job freshening up an old critique here</i> <a href="http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-law-of-attraction.html" rel="nofollow">[LINK]:</a><br /><br />[QUOTE] ...One unintended consequence of our current mode of living is that it has warped and perverted our interpersonal interactions. In order to be able to afford to simply inhabit the planet and satisfy our basic needs, we are required to play all sorts of contrived roles. Specifically, we are forced deal with each other according to arbitrary rules that are forced upon us.<br /><br />As employees we are expected to readily lie to customers to protect our employers’ profits. As salespeople we are expected to sell things we know better than to ever want to buy. Then there is a whole category of people who work as enforcers, and are specifically paid to disregard all humane considerations and to dole out punishments without any allowance for dire personal circumstances. Vast social and financial hierarchies reward psychopathic behavior (which is regarded as professionalism) while punishing altruism and compassion (which is regarded as weakness or corruption).<br /><br />Co-workers arbitrarily thrown together by managerial whim often spend more time with each other than with their own families, trapped in a world of stunted, superficial relationships that gradually erode their humanity. Parents often have no choice but to pay strangers to raise their children for them. These strangers work for a wage rather than out of love for the children, and when their contract ends, so does the bond between the child and caregiver, undermining the child’s faith in humanity. When parents do get to see their children, they are often tired and distracted, conditioning the children to treat them no better than they treat the strangers who take care of them the rest of the time.<br /><br />Growing up with a constant deficit of sensitivity, sincerity, security and warmth, once they reach adulthood these children expect their relationships to be either manipulative and abusive, or regulated by contract. Their humanity becomes reduced to a set of selfish and materialistic drives. Their misshapen psyches are balanced on a knife’s edge between a morbid fear of exclusion, which drives them toward mimicry and conformism, and an unnatural, hypertrophied competitive drive that destroys their instinct for spontaneous cooperation.<br /><br />When you take a step back from it all and look at it, the impression is one of a society-wide mental disorder.... [END QUOTE]CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-64060632125277080292016-07-15T16:29:57.668+01:002016-07-15T16:29:57.668+01:00Nicely united hereNicely united <a href="http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/international/mideast-africa/2016/05/10/us-diplomats-sofex-highlight-defense-industry-prospects-middle-east/84202936/" rel="nofollow">here</a>ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-39866676781647252762016-07-14T21:36:18.368+01:002016-07-14T21:36:18.368+01:00You beg the question with that citation. Chomsky i...You beg the question with that citation. Chomsky is explicitly defending egalitarianism and rejecting "a competitive society based on capitalist principle," here. Therefore, he argues, it is the values of "solidarity, concern, sympathy, and kindness, for example" which society should be promoting by some measure necessarily through, and here's the tricky part for egalitarians, the rewarding of, or rather the awarding of, the individual practitioners of those values.<br /><br />Douthat makes no suggestion the meritocrats to whom he refers are actual philosopher-kings leading us confused cave dwellers closer to the ideal forms of reality. Rather, though a bit late to it and only part way there, he seems to be taking his meaning straight from the horse's mouth, that horse having been born in 1915 and having died in 2002.<br /><br /><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Young,_Baron_Young_of_Dartington" rel="nofollow">LINK</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Meritocracy-Classics-Organization-Management/dp/1560007044/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468526775&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Michwel+young" rel="nofollow">LINK</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment" rel="nofollow">LINK</a><br /><br />[QUOTE] <i>I have been sadly disappointed by my 1958 book, </i>The Rise of the Meritocracy.<i> I coined a word which has gone into general circulation, especially in the United States, and most recently found a prominent place in the speeches of Mr Blair. The book was a satire meant to be a warning (which needless to say has not been heeded) against what might happen to Britain between 1958 and the imagined final revolt against the meritocracy in 2033....</i><br /><br /><i>In the new social environment, the rich and the powerful have been doing mighty well for themselves. They have been freed from the old kinds of criticism from people who had to be listened to. This once helped keep them in check - it has been the opposite under the Blair government.<br /><br />The business meritocracy is in vogue. If meritocrats believe, as more and more of them are encouraged to, that their advancement comes from their own merits, they can feel they deserve whatever they can get.<br /><br />They can be insufferably smug, much more so than the people who knew they had achieved advancement not on their own merit but because they were, as somebody's son or daughter, the beneficiaries of nepotism. The newcomers can actually believe they have morality on their side.<br /><br />So assured have the elite become that there is almost no block on the rewards they arrogate to themselves. The old restraints of the business world have been lifted and, as the book also predicted, all manner of new ways for people to feather their own nests have been invented and exploited....</i> [END QUOTE]CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-63880917743379675652016-07-14T14:53:21.263+01:002016-07-14T14:53:21.263+01:00"It's Douthat who has no idea what the wo..."It's Douthat who has no idea what the word 'meritocratic' means in the context in which he used it?" I don't think it's that difficult to recognize that people often use words they don't understand, especially big important-sounding words like "meritocracy"; think of "deconstruct" or "social construction," to pick two easy ones. And we're talking about Ross Douthat here, who has never shown himself to be a particularly careful thinker or writer, to put it gently.<br /><br />As for Chris Hayes, he's a nice guy and he tries, but his book on "meritocracy" was <a href="http://thisislikesogay.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-system-that-dare-not-speak-its-name.html" rel="nofollow">quite bad</a>. He also threw the word around carelessly. Is "meritocracy" something we already have, or should have, or used to have but alas have lost? He managed to suggest all three, often at the same time. I liked Deresiewicz, but he also seemed to be confused. And so is Diane Ravitch, based on that quotation you just gave us: "who came to believe that meritocracy would solve the nation’s problems." Evidently we don't have a meritocracy but it would be nice if we had one -- but I hope Ravitch isn't ascribing the ascendancy of Clinton and Obama to their "merit" rather than to their being canny, amoral hustlers. Try a Noam Chomsky quotation for a palette-cleanser:<br /><br />"One might suppose that some mixture of avarice, selfishness, lack of concern for others, aggressiveness, and similar characteristics play a part in getting ahead and 'making it' in a competitive society based on capitalist principles. Others may counter with their own prejudices. Whatever the correct collection of attributes may be, we may ask what follows from the fact, if it is a fact, that some partially inherited combination of attributes tends to lead to material success?"Duncan Mitchelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05304723745550906958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-79473950116192062482016-07-10T16:59:47.715+01:002016-07-10T16:59:47.715+01:00If I am reading what I am reading 'round the i...If I am reading what I am reading 'round the internets the morning, The Democrat Party Platform is:<br /><br />More Corporatism: regardless the candidate's recent lip-service to opposition, the platform committee voted ongoing support for the ascension of the Rule of Law to the International Bankers and Insurers. The Usarers.<br /><br />More War: the platform committee voted to continue to finance the ongoing Isreali occupation and genocide of the indigenous population of Palestine; and to otherwise in general continue to poke at <i>all</i> of that hornet's nest.<br /><br />More Environmentall Degradation: regardless the candidate's recent lip-service the platform committee voted ongoing support for "fracking" both on land and in coastal waters and our National Parks.<br /><br />That's just this morning.Ten Bearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594307610015584119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-55116118186758546372016-07-10T16:58:46.850+01:002016-07-10T16:58:46.850+01:00If I am reading what I am reading 'round the i...If I am reading what I am reading 'round the internets the morning, The Democrat Party Platform is:<br /><br />More Corporatism: regardless the candidate's recent lip-service to opposition, the platform committee voted ongoing support for the ascension of the Rule of Law to the International Bankers and Insurers. The Usarers.<br /><br />More War: the platform committee voted to continue to finance the ongoing Isreali occupation and genocide of the indigenous population of Palestine; and to otherwise in general continue to poke at <i>all</i> of that hornet's nest.<br /><br />More Environmentall Degradation: regardless the candidate's recent lip-service the platform committee voted ongoing support for "fracking" both on land and in coastal waters and our National Parks.<br /><br />That's just this morning.Ten Bearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594307610015584119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-3378762035816949382016-07-05T06:42:58.933+01:002016-07-05T06:42:58.933+01:00It's Douthat who has no idea what the word &qu...It's Douthat who has no idea what the word "meritocratic" means in the context in which he used it? The one time he did use "meritocratic" Douthat embedded it in a hyperlink to an article that included this run through of the recent literature arguing over the controversy that surrounds the word:<br /><br />[QUOTE] ...in <i>Excellent Sheep, </i>William Deresiewicz accuses the Ivy League of imposing a malignant ruling class on the country, then meekly suggests that elite universities might solve the problem by giving greater weight in admissions to socioeconomic disadvantage and less to “résumé-stuffing.”2 In <i>The Tyranny of the Meritocracy,</i> Lani Guinier belies the harsh terms of her title by advising that we simply learn to reward “democratic rather than testocratic merit.”3 Christopher Hayes subtitled his debut book<i>Twilight of the Elites</i> “America after Meritocracy,” but the remedies he prescribes are all meant to preserve meritocracy by making it more effective.4 In his latest book,<i> Our Kids, </i>Robert Putnam proves that American social mobility is in crisis, then reposes his hopes in such predictable nostrums as housing vouchers and universal pre-kindergarten.5 [END QUOTE]<br /><br />Prior to reading the Douthat column I had found myself agreeing with a Thomas Frank's insight in that author's most recent book which runs along the same line in a crucial particular. Avedon has all ready linked to discussions of Frank's book a couple of times but here's Diane Ravitch introducing another one:<br /><br />[QUOTE] What happened to the Democrats? He says that they have been blinded by their Ivy League pedigrees, and they surround themselves with people just like themselves. Their class interests blind them to the needs of working-class Americans. They do not hear from people outside their social and economic class. He takes Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as examples of people who were plucked from obscurity and turned into superstars and came to believe that meritocracy would solve the nation’s problems. They were wrong. Meritocracy served to put them out of touch and to insulate them from different points of view. [END QUOTE]<br /><br /><a href="https://dianeravitch.net/2016/04/04/thomas-frank-the-democratic-party-and-the-failure-of-meritocracy/" rel="nofollow">LINK</a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-82604178165853283332016-07-04T23:14:59.535+01:002016-07-04T23:14:59.535+01:00Even Douthat can utter a coherent sentence now and...Even Douthat can utter a coherent sentence now and then, but that column isn't one of the times. He fell flat with the referenece to "meritocratic," demonstrating that he has no idea what the word means. Most of the column is a word salad signifying nothing, which is to say, typical Douthat product.Duncan Mitchelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05304723745550906958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-81275899885113815262016-07-04T22:05:39.664+01:002016-07-04T22:05:39.664+01:00Sorry about that, Blogger and IE had a fight yeste...Sorry about that, Blogger and IE had a fight yesterday, I think.Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-39684133856903779572016-07-03T21:01:14.445+01:002016-07-03T21:01:14.445+01:00Emmett Rensin LINK recommends this Ross Douthet co...Emmett Rensin <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/emmettrensin/status/749645882098933760" rel="nofollow">LINK</a> recommends this Ross Douthet column <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/opinion/sunday/the-myth-of-cosmopolitanism.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fross-douthat&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0" rel="nofollow">LINK</a> which, for sure, I otherwise would have missed.CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-44410198226101932562016-07-03T10:38:13.585+01:002016-07-03T10:38:13.585+01:00Yikes. Avedon quotes Sputnik News claiming:
[QUOT...Yikes. Avedon quotes <i>Sputnik News</i> claiming:<br /><br />[QUOTE] <i>According to the Libyan government, Goldman Sachs bankers used bribes, lavish gifts, and prostitutes to lock in contracts that turned out disastrous for the African nation. The trial, which begins this week in London, has made headlines, as many of the bank's top officials rotated into and out of influential government jobs, <b>including managing partner Timothy Geithner,</b> who was appointed Secretary of the Treasury under US President Barack Obama.</i> [END QUOTE]<br /><br />Er, for all his sins, Geithner never worked at Goldman Sachs, let alone was ever the managing partner there. Here's <i>Wikipedia's</i> rundown of his career: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Geithner#Early_career" rel="nofollow">LINK.</a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-10981678439117452672016-07-02T21:59:22.080+01:002016-07-02T21:59:22.080+01:00This is very good.
http://www.commondreams.org/vi...This is very good.<br /><br />http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/06/23/liberal-elites-hate-left<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-53337099408072427592016-07-02T19:45:46.904+01:002016-07-02T19:45:46.904+01:00Much more policy, hardly any horse race. Great pos...Much more policy, hardly any horse race. Great post.CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-13929066061525907822016-07-02T18:42:02.833+01:002016-07-02T18:42:02.833+01:00Right that Scalia going home to his gods has been ...Right that Scalia going home to his gods has been a true blessing, and TX women are greatly benefited. Some of these cases were brought because of Scalia's presence guaranteeing a terrible judgment, and this reversal of those expectations is schadenfreude of the finest kind.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17553541514560319083noreply@blogger.com