Comments on: Missing Link Wednesday 1 August

By: amphibious

amphibious — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:34:44 +0000

The mere fact that, until a decade ago the cartoon ‘anarchist’ was a black cloaked figure with a round bouormb & fizzing fuze shoiws the power of imagery over rationality. Maybe there as something in the old prohibition (for the/any State) of theatre/players.
Most people are not rational and what is really disturbing is that they are least rational in those areas most critical to their interactions with ‘reality’.
THink of the Hansonite ‘truths’ about immigrants getting a 4 b/room house and a car +$10,000 cash – these myths ecxist in France & Germany and now the old east bloc – which latter is extra ironic (did the Greeks have a word for THAT concept?) in that they are the ones being so traduced.

By: cam

cam — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:51:00 +0000

We are becoming a nation of instant know-it-alls, ex post wisdom experts and hysterics.

Yes, anyone who disagrees with government is obviously irrational. It is an improvement from a few years ago when those that disagreed were being accused of treason, having their patriotism questioned and being called traitors.

If only we accepted the fluffy pink bunny authority of government unquestioningly then we would live in some civil utopia. Because benevolent government would never suffer from vices such as corruption, contempt or the use of government power and the public treasury for selfish political reasons.

Still doesn’t change the problem of the Migration Act which was written specifically to enable political executive decisions to be made under the cover of apparent legislative legitimacy. Also doesn’t change the fact that civil libertarians are often judged on their commitment to individual rights by their willingness to defend the repugnant.

We also need to remember the assumption of risk we accept as a free people. Of the great government scare over terror, outside of Iraq, there has only been a couple of instances of genuinely effective terror attacks, 911 and Bali/Jakarta being the ones I can recall off the top of my head. Terrorism is a remarkably physically ineffectual venture. It is dominated by luck more than anything.

The biggest reaction terror has got, and which is why the anarchists in the 19thC were successful on mainland Europe and not in Britain, is because governments have reacted by removing freedoms and acting irrationally.

By: whyisitso

whyisitso — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:12:34 +0000

What is bullsh*tting in the Harry Frankfurt sense?

What’s the coyness for Ken? It’s a word used every day by millions of Australians without asterisks.

By: gilmae

gilmae — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:02:22 +0000

Starting to see Harry Clarke’s point about the motives fallacy; who cares who they are, any argument put forward should stand or fall on its own merits.

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:03:48 +0000

Snaps to Gummo for that fantastic elephant, and to Troppo for having the good taste to feature it.

By: Darlene

Darlene — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:32:56 +0000

Interesting about Greenswatch or whatever it’s called. I left a message on the Guestbook suggesting that they’d have more credibility (cough cough) if they actually said who they are. I went on to suggest that the reason they haven’t said who they are is probably because they are hacks from some party or another (not the Greens, of course). There’s something inherently dodgy about such a well put together site in which people don’t have the guts to say who they are.

Anyway, since it’s a little Blog wrap-up, I’d like to nominate (link whore) my post about the movie about the trials and tribulations of the lovely Dixie Chicks, Shut Up & Sing:

http://thespinzine.squarespace.com/journal/2007/7/29/burn-those-witches-dixie-chicks-told-to-shut-up-sing.html