tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post6516043472271375697..comments2023-11-22T03:32:31.513-05:00Comments on Mostly Harmless: Least Harmless Historical Analogy WeekendThe Constructivisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-2956985160245045892007-03-10T00:47:00.000-05:002007-03-10T00:47:00.000-05:00Which might help explain why so many of them are t...Which might help explain why so many of them are trying so hard to come up with more effective and creative modes of philanthropy--or to rethink the concept entirely--b/c they're clear that their wealth depends on avoiding major disruptions to the system that helped produce their wealth, such as epidemics that start among the poor but know no borders, riots, or revolutions. On a more immediate level, they know that there's a lot of money to be made bringing the poor into the world of consumption.<BR/><BR/>My paranoia idea was simpler, though--the U.S. remains the only nation ever to have used atomic bombs, and moreover, we dropped them on overwhelmingly civilian populations with ambiguous justification at best. So if we helped legitimize the principle of total war, and were the only nation to move from firebombing to atomic bombing, then it stands to reason that U.S. civilians are a special risk for this principle being applied to them--the ultimate target may be the leaders of the evil U.S. empire (in the eyes of the targeters at least), but if a few million lives have to be sacrificed to "send a message," so be it. (This is scarily akin to Cheney-logic, it seems to me, which may help explain his obsession with doing it to them before they do it to us.)The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-78250872037368648832007-03-09T14:44:00.000-05:002007-03-09T14:44:00.000-05:00Or is this another idea that should be consigned t...<I>Or is this another idea that should be consigned to the dustbin under my desk?</I><BR/><BR/>Actually i think you are quite right in many ways. A close and dear friend, who happens to be one of the last remaining analog system geniuses (and Tesla scholar), said something similar to me in the wayback machine of Mr. Peabody era (early 70's): "the problem is a mind virus that replicates the addiction of capitalism among human populations." Now we always thought he was sort of silly in that super-geek, nerd, sort of way, but as time has worn on, his take then seems more and more apropos. <BR/><BR/>On September 11, 2001 i too shrugged my shoulders and said "mais oui?" as regards the most obvious symbolic targets of capitalism. Your suggestion that much of the acquiesence to the militarized response on both sides of the political spectrum being based on fear rings very true for me. The mind virus requires obedience and subservience to the lords of capital (corporations are individual citizens, right?), and the greatest of all fears is to fall out of favor (become poor). The most well-intentioned liberals fear being part of the "not-haves" as much as any selfish Randian/Straussian reichwing fascist. <BR/><BR/>If there is any evidence for this, i would suggest we start with the glowing wonderful reporting on the newest Forbes billionaire list. More and more extremely wealthy control more and more wealth. All of that must come from somewhere? When 900+ individuals have assets significantly greater than the entire annual US Federal budget, we have a non-aligned, globalizing, ruling elite.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-75098770614816979562007-03-09T00:13:00.000-05:002007-03-09T00:13:00.000-05:00Private feudal armies are being fully weaponized a...<I>Private feudal armies are being fully weaponized across the surface of the land of the Earth. They owe no allegiance to a national identity, nor to a revolutionary movement, but rather to accumulation of wealth, some at the point of RPG's and M-60's. </I><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><I>Mercenaries, abuseless, disunited, unfaithful<BR/>They have never enough to keep them in a battle<BR/>Other than a meager wage<BR/>Which is just about enough to make them wanna kill for you<BR/>But not enough to make them wanna die for ya</I><BR/><BR/>Spoken intro to John Cale's <I>Mercenaries (Ready For War)</I> (which I mentioned on an earlier apocalyptic songs thread here if I recall.)<BR/><BR/>So kind of another Conspiracy Theory Weekend. I do like to go back now and again and review the "Great Pirates" sections of Buckminster Fulller's <I>Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.</I> <BR/><BR/>And you must admit that the "George W Show" is one of their truly masterful creations. I think Mitt Romney is from the same mould and has excited the conservative base precisely because of his willingness to take whatever shape is necessary - his total enthsiasm for self-abasement is just what is needed to "run" that agenda.JP Stormcrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05030144309080576736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-71040304211478184282007-03-08T22:51:00.000-05:002007-03-08T22:51:00.000-05:00While I'm planting seeds, I wonder if US elites ar...<I>While I'm planting seeds, I wonder if US elites are stuck in a liberal guilt/conservative paranoia cycle at this state of affairs, which explains why the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were targeted by Wahhabi extremists.</I><BR/><BR/>In <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Curve-Binding-Energy-John-McPhee/dp/0374515980" REL="nofollow">The Curve of Binding Energy</A> McPhee relates an idle conversation with nuclear bomb builder Ted Taylor. They are discussing the potential effects of a crude terrorist planted device and Taylor selects three hypothetical targets: the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. (The book was first published in the early '70s.)<BR/><BR/>When I told my high school age son about this stunning coincidence he shrugged and said those were the obvious targets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-6878192666765555312007-03-08T19:55:00.000-05:002007-03-08T19:55:00.000-05:00spyder, comments like these are why you need the p...spyder, comments like these are why you need the privileges of the author-function at Mostly Harmless! btw, you may be interested in the following <A HREF="http://mlyhlss.blogspot.com/2007/02/wheres-rest-of-me.html" REL="nofollow">talks</A> I just <A HREF="http://citizense.blogspot.com/2007/03/in-which-i-make-extravagant-claims.html" REL="nofollow">gave</A>. (You have to download the .pdfs, but be my guest.<BR/><BR/>Here's a thought that may someday become a post: I totally agree with your analyss, but would add that nation-states are competing for "most favored nation" status by/with the forces of capitalism. You could argue, for instance, that the US serves the global capitalist system as the buyer of last resort and the discipliner of oil regimes of the first resort, is funded by Japanese, Chinese, and European capital, and is providing the shock troops for the "WW IV" against a probably trumped-up potential threat of the oil regimes going all radical (not in a marxist way) and dictating terms to the consuming nations.<BR/><BR/>While I'm planting seeds, I wonder if US elites are stuck in a liberal guilt/conservative paranoia cycle at this state of affairs, which explains why the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were targeted by Wahhabi extremists. That is, mainstream liberals are as paralyzed by their guilt (which as Audre Lorde once put it, is your feeling bad about a situation you have no intention of doing anything to change) as movement conservatives are driven by their paranoia (fear that the whole world is out to get us; that what we've done in the past will come back to haunt us; etc.). It's pop psych 101 I know, but may explain why Democrats are so cautious and Republicans so aggressive.<BR/><BR/>Or is this another idea that should be consigned to the dustbin under my desk?The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-59197100796120476632007-03-08T14:54:00.000-05:002007-03-08T14:54:00.000-05:00Given that it is still Thursday on this side of th...Given that it is still Thursday on this side of the International Date Line, and that the US decided two years ago to change the start dates of Daylight Saving Time to this weekend, we shall endeavor to comment when it is Friday. Okay, well it is Friday for half the planet, but still only Thursday morning for left coasters and the good folks in Hawaii. <BR/><BR/>My take on this (i just can't wait until tomorrow is today then) is that it is less about the nations and more about the Neo-Feudal Lords of Capital. And interesting development this morning(whatever day that might be) is the proposed legislation demanding a full accountability of the use of private contractors to fight the Iraq/Afghan wars. Private feudal armies are being fully weaponized across the surface of the land of the Earth. They owe no allegiance to a national identity, nor to a revolutionary movement, but rather to accumulation of wealth, some at the point of RPG's and M-60's. <BR/><BR/>Globalization is colonialization by the wealthy elites.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com