[decisive nod]

[sff_corgi_lj]

.
Al Franken's Chapter 20 is... concise.

I'm feeling whiny -- you lot have spoiled me for comments, and here I'm posting this nifty flaming-liberal stuff and nobody's sayin' anythin'.

Whah.

;)

In other news, Life keeps insisting on being an annoyance. Nahhh... you don't want the details. I just want it to get to a stopping place -- get caught up on everything, so I can take a breather that doesn't involve lovely people spoiling me rotten (not that that's a BAD thing...).

Comments

[immovablemover.livejournal.com]

[raises eyebrow] Well, it could possibly be because some of us are flaming capitalist Libertarians, and have learned that debating our points of view against flaming liberals is about as effective as trying to convince a non-R/S shipper that the One True Way is the One True Way. ;)

Also, I do nothing but read scientific papers about whale evolution anymore, so politics hasn't exactly been my thing lately. ;D

[cheerful razzberry]

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

I've formed the opinion that Libertarians in general are hopeless optimists... but maybe I'm just misunderstanding the position.

Capitalism, however, seems the be the least of multiple evils. At least it seems to work with human nature rather than the naive optimism of Communism-in-its-pure-form (which I don't think ever existed in 'nature', right?)

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[immovablemover.livejournal.com]

Well, we're less optimists than we are idealists, I think. The LP is a smorgasboard of individuals who are fed up with aspects of both the Democratic party and the Republican . . . for instance, I am screamingly liberal in terms of social issues (like I need to tell you that . . . I get up on my homosexual rights soapbox at least once a week), but I'm equally conservative on economic issues (like I said, flaming capitalist). The Libertarian party--while I don't agree with EVERY one of their tenets--provides me with a nice enough cross-section of my beliefs that I feel better voting for their candidates than for either Dems or Reps.

You're one of the only liberals I've ever met that has had the insight to observe that capitalism works with human nature. I agree--in part because I am an evolutionary paleontologist, so I'm biased. ;) Socialism is a lovely idea--but it's impractical in an industrialized society; to put it in the most basic terms possible, the majority of people are unwilling to put forth their best effort unless they expect to reap a proportional reward (in large part financial, though I have to say I wouldn't BE in my field if I was only after money. Professors are poor. ;).

And now I'll quit, lest I get on my soapbox again. Got some more evolutionary bio papers to read, anyway. :/

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[martinhesselius.livejournal.com]

::Nods::
Though I tend to vote Dem and call myself a Liberal, I like using things like the LP's multi-axis political graph to show folks that there isn't some clear left/right continuum...

I also favor capitalism and personal responsibility, though with a mild (workfare-style) safety net designed to get people back into the economy.

But then that's why I've been doing a not-so-slow burn on things like Florida choosing DBT to 'cleanse' votes (replacing a contractor charging less than $6K/yr with one charging more than $2M/yr, and not letting them fully do the job), giving away stuff to Texas A&M under Patriot Act without bidding, letting Haliburton get the Iraqi contracts without proper RFPs, etc... Could someone *please* re-educate the GOP on the need for marketplace competition?

Anyhow, whale evolution is cool.
But then my (now ancient) BA was in biology. ;)

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[immovablemover.livejournal.com]

Could someone *please* re-educate the GOP on the need for marketplace competition?

Ahh . . . one of the many reasons I don't vote GOP! ;D

Anyhow, whale evolution is cool.
But then my (now ancient) BA was in biology. ;)

It's cool even if you're not a bio/paleo geek. ;) My B.S. is actually in geology, so I'm far from my "usual" field . . . but I do love it.

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[martinhesselius.livejournal.com]

::Nods::
I wish that I'd taken some geology...
Sure, I've read the articles appearing in Scientific American, but it ain't the same!!!
Very cool. :)

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[immovablemover.livejournal.com]

BTW, is it the moon, the CA elections, the fact that Bush has been more of an asshat than normal recently, or what?--a lot of people seem to be discussing politics as of late. Basically the closest I've come to being political has been wishing the city of Chicago would solve the problem with the garbage workers so they will come back from strike and my city will no longer REEK when I'm walking to class . . . but maybe that's just me. ;D

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

It's people getting fed up. I'm hoping that all the garbage we're going through now will produce, like the Eisenhower '50s did, a echo of the social liberation movements of the '60s/early '70s.

'Greed is good' -- OK, it isn't really, but it works better than most motivators.

And the 'hopeless optimism' I'm thinking of is the Libertarian idea about gun control, if I'm understanding it correctly. [partyreference] You guys [/partyreference] actually TRUST people with GUNS? The same people who don't understand 'don't drink and drive' and 'George W. Bush is lying'??

Re: [cheerful razzberry]

[immovablemover.livejournal.com]

This is the part where I tell you I am firmly anti-gun gontrol before politely extricating myself from the conversation, because ain't nobody changing anyone's mind on this one and I'd rather not argue about it. ;D (And no, that's not a screen I'm throwing because I can't back up my opinion--it's just that I have to be on campus for 12 hours today, which leaves little time for debate.)

In other news, I have never had a chance to use this icon in quite THIS context before!

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

It's because we're all lovely flaming liberals ourselves who like to spoil you rotten. And deservedly so.

Besides, California has You-Know-Who. What could possibly be wrong with that picture?

[themorningstarr.livejournal.com]

I've just been bad about commenting at all lately.

>_<

But I've been thinking about getting the book, so I can argue with my dad some more.

:D

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

There's a football Al Franken??

No, this is definitely the one who has written/writes for SNL, occasionally performs, and is being loathed by Bill O'Reilly.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Other than your comment about Dubya, I think I shall bite my tongue on disagreements, because they really aren't relevant.

:) I'm glad you spoke up, though. Politics are a weird, weird business for sure.

[spin1978.livejournal.com]

You have to understand, that as a future King, I am above all this pedestrian "liberal/conservative" nonsense. I am terribly amused at all of this inefficiency and malcontent, because it's going bye-bye when I restore my throne. :)

See my icon for my ancestor and the explanation of my claim. Hee.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm fine with this -- I'm a sort of democratic royalist anyway. Go you! So when are you gonna be king, anyway?