tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post3110144029719246925..comments2023-12-17T19:35:07.459-08:00Comments on Bouphonia: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the PeoplePhilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-91238038461766396852009-09-12T11:39:30.791-07:002009-09-12T11:39:30.791-07:00Could I republish this in the next Journal of Blog...Could I republish this in the next Journal of Bloglandia? http://wapshottpress.com/j-bloglandia/ Leave me a comment at the link with your email, which isn't published, if you're interested.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />Ginger MayersonGinger Mayerson www.hackenblog.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14918629542323676028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-71424365242198184262009-03-04T22:55:00.000-08:002009-03-04T22:55:00.000-08:00buffoonia / yahoo. This site would be under a Crea...buffoonia / yahoo. <BR/><BR/>This site would be under a Creative Commons license if I weren't too lazy to fill out the forms....Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-55132223178564546942009-03-04T19:30:00.000-08:002009-03-04T19:30:00.000-08:00How does one get in touch with you about republish...How does one get in touch with you about republishing this blog essay in the Journal of Bloglandia?<BR/><BR/>Ginger Mayerson<BR/>Editor, J Bloglanida<BR/>editor AT wapshottpress DOT comGinger Mayerson www.hackenblog.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14918629542323676028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-60012269052427733002009-03-03T22:35:00.000-08:002009-03-03T22:35:00.000-08:00A four-sided triangle looks like a pyramid. It's e...<I>A four-sided triangle looks like a pyramid. It's easy to picture if you don't think in only two dimensions.</I><BR/><BR/>Those are faces, not sides.Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-15479134155666517502009-03-03T18:49:00.000-08:002009-03-03T18:49:00.000-08:00A four-sided triangle looks like a pyramid. It's ...A four-sided triangle looks like a pyramid. It's easy to picture if you don't think in only two dimensions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-64791314071262375492009-03-03T10:38:00.000-08:002009-03-03T10:38:00.000-08:00I can't wait for the next logical progression on t...<I>I can't wait for the next logical progression on the quest for ideological purity:<BR/><BR/>SHOW TRIALS!!!!!</I><BR/><BR/>Well, we already have party-ordained self-criticism sessions....we're getting there!Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-75923831112156954852009-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:002009-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:00The conservative mindset does not require any of s...<I>The conservative mindset does not require any of stupidity, insanity or viciousness. However, it does require the ability to subjugate logic to magical thinking, along with a supremely pessimistic view of the nature of mankind and it's potential.</I><BR/><BR/>But then, there's the supreme <I>optimism</I> of the "private vice, public virtue" outlook, as well as the whole Hayekian spontaneous order thing. Which I guess is the magical thinking you're talking about....<BR/><BR/>Still, similarly confused and magical thinking can be found among intelligent people on the left (cf. the transhumanist crowd, unregenerate Naderites, etc.). It's the authoritarianism, the lack of empathy, and the Burkean attempt to defend prejudice and willful ignorance as <I>principles</I> that are the bedrock problems with conservatism for me. <BR/><BR/>I should add that I could've (and have) written an equally jaundiced rant on liberalism, which has its own pathologies and blind spots, obviously. <BR/><BR/>Ultimately, I have to maintain some sort of a belief in the possibility of a non-negative common ground, if only to avoid the inflexibility I criticize in others.Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-64646149986110485572009-03-03T10:19:00.000-08:002009-03-03T10:19:00.000-08:00I can't wait for the next logical progression on t...I can't wait for the next logical progression on the quest for ideological purity:<BR/><BR/>SHOW TRIALS!!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-38081899098939036812009-03-03T10:00:00.000-08:002009-03-03T10:00:00.000-08:00Excellent post!The problem for conservatives is th...Excellent post!<BR/><BR/>The problem for conservatives is that forty years ago they decided to co-opt the religious-fundamentalists to expand their party's base. They were wildly successful at this and started winning elections by the 1980's. Prior to this, the fundies had no political home and either stayed out of politics or kept it local. Now they have a home and it's the GOP and they expect their house to to be comfortable. In fact, many of them are running large parts of the household.<BR/><BR/>So yeah ... I can't picture a Jindal, Palin, Steele, or Romney to give a shout-out to science and/or cultural changes either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-86545469873661310722009-03-03T08:12:00.000-08:002009-03-03T08:12:00.000-08:00well done phila. a most excellent post. cpac may n...well done phila. a most excellent post. cpac may not be the entire republican party, but it seems to be calling tune for them all.rogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05910951099847351232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-81742446976650739312009-03-02T20:04:00.000-08:002009-03-02T20:04:00.000-08:00Silly me. I forgot to mention gobstopping ignoran...Silly me. I forgot to mention <A HREF="http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2009/03/joe-plumberization-of-press-corps.html" REL="nofollow">gobstopping ignorance</A>.<BR/><BR/>Come to think of it, the low information voter is a fertile field for right wing polemic.<BR/><BR/>WV: humpec - the way I type.Jazzbumpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07337490817307473659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-59760521705910710532009-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:002009-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:00There is an irony here that many good, decent, int...There is an irony here that many good, decent, intelligent and (even technically) educated people are conservative. <BR/><BR/>The conservative mindset does not require any of stupidity, insanity or viciousness. However, it does require the ability to subjugate logic to magical thinking, along with a supremely pessimistic view of the nature of mankind and it's potential.<BR/><BR/>Beyond that, as you pointed out, it quickly becomes a thicket of logically incompatible premises. <BR/><BR/>John Dean deals with this in <B>Conservatives Without Conscience.</B> IIRC, the "authoritarian followers" he speaks of comprise 20% to 22% of any population. This can be a powerful block if they are mobilized to vote together, and this accounts for much of the GOP success over the last 35 years.Jazzbumpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07337490817307473659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-91144946101811822382009-03-02T19:31:00.000-08:002009-03-02T19:31:00.000-08:00But I do believe that a principled, intelligent co...<I>But I do believe that a principled, intelligent conservatism actually is not possible.</I><BR/><BR/>Call me a Pollyanna if you will, but I think it's possible. I'm confident that I'd disagree with pretty much every word of it, and I'd fight its implementation tooth and nail, but I do think it's possible. <BR/><BR/>Chesterton's a case in point, actually. Some of his more conservative positions are pretty...uncongenial, let's say, but he's not stupid or insane or vicious (unlike most of the people who consider themselves to be carrying on his legacy). I can disagree with him while respecting him. Same with Hayek, who wasn't a liar or a thug as far as I can tell.<BR/><BR/><I> I have been convinced of this by reading Russell Kirk's The Conservative Mind.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>I'm afraid, or maybe grateful, that I only know his tenth-rate supernatural fiction....Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-50828581061914854742009-03-02T17:58:00.000-08:002009-03-02T17:58:00.000-08:00My, my, you certainly do write a fine rant. Conse...My, my, you certainly do write a fine rant. <BR/><BR/>Conservatives aren't (all) bat-shit crazy sociopaths. But I <B>do</B> believe that a principled, intelligent conservatism actually is not possible. I have been convinced of this by reading Russell Kirk's <B> The Conservative Mind</B>.<BR/><BR/>Conservatives believe that society is ordained by god, that having society divided into classes is good and proper, since it is part of this plan. They believe that prejudice is a good thing, since it avoids all that tedious and dangerously unpredictable mucking around with actual thinking. They believe in faith, and not in science.<BR/><BR/>They believe that Rush Limbaugh spouts the truth, and not self-aggrandizing bullshit.<BR/><BR/>And this is not the sorry state that conservatism has degenerated into. It is their default mindset.<BR/><BR/>Moloch help us all.Jazzbumpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07337490817307473659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-43709245314874790682009-03-02T17:30:00.000-08:002009-03-02T17:30:00.000-08:00"cheerful social darwinism." thanks so much. gre..."cheerful social darwinism." <BR/><BR/>thanks so much. great piece. everyone should read it.<BR/><BR/>baudinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-71980007090084440142009-03-02T16:31:00.000-08:002009-03-02T16:31:00.000-08:00these fantastically weird charactersSays it all. G...<I>these fantastically weird characters</I><BR/>Says it all. <BR/>Great post, phila.chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05203633769014796067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-33729667525309265902009-03-02T16:18:00.000-08:002009-03-02T16:18:00.000-08:00What a great post! Especially the section that beg...What a great post! <BR/><BR/>Especially the section that begins, "The plain fact is that when you strip conservatism of its cheerful Social Darwinism, in which 'market forces' are conflated simultaneously with natural selection and God, you're left with little more than masculine and nationalist insecurity."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com