Stonehead

Can I add to this exquisite corpse? Here, the words of the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk seem relevant: The Grasping Hand. One needn’t speak no longer of parties. There is only the modern welfare state and its actions. Though one could image it somewhat differently and speak of the welfare-warfare state or the corporate state as Murray Rothbard wrote about. We might yet see the fulfillment of a world where real freedom is completely replaced by a semblance of freedom. First, I would say that freedom is defined partially by minimization of government inference in your life. The opposite of that, pervasive government involvement, is appearing increasingly likely with technological advances including developments in medical imaging and behavioral analysis. Of course, individual possibility can be enhanced by government directed initiatives but only for the ultimate purpose of producing an individual who cannot live apart from his dependencies on the state. The fascist-like consolidation of power between business and government that we’re currently witnessing with the unfolding of the financial crisis is another indicator. The culmination of that consolidation will be the turning inward of the global security apparatus as the eye on terror focuses domestically to pinpoint dissension and discontent within the state. Social coercion will take the form of both soft means such as through mass media and by harsh means through government intimidation and quasi-military force. The semblance of freedom will be characterized by pervasive interference which is actually experienced as the course of normal contemporary life. Take, for instance, credit purchases. How often does one see a person conducting economic transactions solely in cash? Rare, isn’t it? It wasn’t always that way if you are old enough to remember the 70’s. Historians will convince you though that this is merely social progress. The underlying message is: Accept your enslavement to a better future. The evolution of the system will culminate in a rising tide that lifts all boats… The continued presence of mass advertising would be an argument against the lack of influence. Why would so much money (think Superbowl ads) be spent annually if advertisement didn’t work? It is the pervasive subtle nature of advertising that incorporates its message into the very fiber of your being. The choice isn’t between Coke or Pepsi, Democrat or Republican. It is between the status quo and a truly liberated position of thinking outside the system. If you see money as manipulation then you may see the reality of this. You might ask, so where’s the oppression? We’re still free to make our own decisions, right? One can be sold on the convenience of a cashless society but with little recognition of the immense information that can be compiled and parsed to reconstruct the history of an individual’s economic and social behavior. That information is used in turn along with neuromarketing to convert you into a captive consumer, only you don’t recognize the chains binding you. And, some of us are only too happy to be corralled and herded in the security of the master who changes faces through time but remains rooted in a monied caste. The system is required to staff and fund advanced research projects to enable the leap to a transhuman future where consciousness may transcend its biological roots, in a sense, deus ex machina. What type of systems could support massive research projects such as characterized, for instance, by the space programs or by the multinational endeavors including the Hadron Large Collider? And, concerning the latter is it merely to disprove or lend support to a pet cosmological theory? What actually lies at the heart of the motivation for things such as greater knowledge? Is it really human curiosity together with an altruistic sense of love for mankind that motivates research at the cutting edge or is it more base instinctual drives such as the fear of death? The motivating spirit appears to be striving for immortality, godlike in its quest, and by its mechanism also appears to be opposed to the spirit of individual liberty But the final thought is the realization of the paradox that to be truly free one must be faced with oppressive conditions to temper the soul of authentic being. How’s that for complete utter bullshit?

Zizek said, “The worst slave owners were those who were kind to their slaves.”* Is this true? Have we been lulled into complacency and are in potential danger of becoming obsolete?**Is it true that the only real underlying conflict is that of class warfare and everything else is just distraction? We’re accustomed to seeing clusters of affluent gated communites symbolized as islands in the sun but this development, what Zizek might refer to as “new apartheids”, might evoke similar imagery of islands but different in resembling Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s gulag archipelago. Shouldn’t this imagery resonate with our collective cultural history to bring up something as a moral compass that allows us to recognize the inherent inhumanity of where we’re going? Or, is this development actually more humane? --John Donne, Devotions upon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes - Meditation XVII , 1624 Does our experiment in ordered liberty have a future? * [video:youtube]v=hpAMbpQ8J7g ** Are the American people obsolete?

[video:youtube]v=aOlM1pPMNBc

What's up with the South? [video:youtube]v=1hvaeHllwtw

Lame spray? Not enough NSFW type material? [video:youtube]v=OEpbpoqgUdM

Seems that WEA was instrumental in assuring that Washington State did not share in funding under the Race to the Top initiative. The issue was something about performance or outcome based evaluation of teachers. Or was it about charter schools? In any event it appears that WEA seems to have become a regressive force in ensuring a quality education for residents of Washington.

Comrade, We hold no prejudices in the Party. Together we stand as One against the forces of disunity. We boldly march forward to a glorious future with the Party as our common identity. Long live the Party!

The biggest crime of our time could arguably be, not the devaluation of assets in general, but the devaluation of human life or in economic terms, human capital.

...in contrast to cities of the past/present: [video:youtube]v=2OpXhd7iau8

It would be an interesting exercise to estimate the number of people required to sustain the system and if the retrenchment that is occurring is a manifestation of this emerging knowledge. Certainly along with technological developments such as advanced robotics the issue of chasing after the least expensive labor pool would dwindle in significance. Some problems would be solved but issues such as displacement of workers and the feeling of alienation resulting from replacement would still persist. Kind of crazy to consider but interesting nevertheless. The rationale for a new eugenics? [video:youtube]v=nvZBtJ-ncEM [video:youtube]v=aPTd8XDZOEk [video:youtube]v=wg8YYuLLoM0 As Chinese Wages Rise, Machines Replace Migrant Workers---Bloomberg.com

Unfettered capitalism or malignant capitalism? Two different things, huh? The first might be indicative of the absence of government regulation of any sort and the second might imply the corruption of government by special interests. What the article points out is that the government FAILED for whatever reason and that the behavior of the megacorporations is a symptom of that failure. As far as government oversight, I wouldn’t say that regulation in itself is the magic bullet. I thought that capitalism implied competition so that encouraging the growth of businesses was advantageous. When overregulation stifles growth then it is counterproductive. Here’s a radical idea: perhaps government should become more efficient in delivering its services. Apart from the role of government, the root problem seems to stem from the malignant process that forms megacorporations. It is the concentration of power itself that appears to be the problem. The merger of power forms corporations ‘too big to fail’ and often takes the guise of monopoly. It is like a cancer in that this type of abnormal growth tends to stifle the normal components of the system. The same problem could be said for a particular form of government.

Hey, look over there!

Yeah, they travel vast distances of time and space but once they enter our atmosphere they end up crashing. lmfao

So basically, government either failed to enforce laws or acted weakly in its regulation. Sounds oddly similar to the Feds handling of the illegal immigation situation, the BP deepwater drilling, and the financial crisis. Some of this might be more indicative of the sheer power of megacorporations but I wouldn't automatically assume that more government is the answer. Perhaps though, gov't could be more efficient.

Lol. I have no interest in ‘smashing the state’. No, if Krishnamurti is right then the bonds are internal and mental. Emancipation begins with the individual. So according to that philosophy one can still be free within the confines of a prison. The deed? Yes, the formula typically follows thus: In the beginning was the word, then the deed. To put the primary emphasis on the deed seems misplaced although the deed is something real that manifests in the field of action. It is realization, not merely manifestation. It’s like that saying about the bomb. The meaning of the bomb is its explosion. Conception and development by itself is not enough. Think about it though. The bomb is not merely for destructive purposes. The explosive can be used constructively to build things such as roads. Likewise, with E=mc squared. Violence to property? You got the relationship all wrong. Violence is committed against people. Yes, property is destroyed but the insult or impact is only possible where people are involved. The act of defiance is the oldest sin. But that in itself is not the purpose. The life-affirming goal of reformation is the ultimate prize otherwise the only impulse would be nihilistic.

I thought we were talking about a caricatured reality where some bad dude gets puts down for committing the crime of 'contempt of cop'? No, we only want the facts here and that's about what justice is, isn't it? And the facts are what are presented in court. Anything outside that order is considered nonexistent. Because if it's not about that, then what's justice? FYI, my comment was concerning the mention of anarchists. The moment one mentions that word then you inject some philosophy or ideology into the picture. Otherwise, the word is diluted into simply referring to a common criminal. I suppose what the anarchist does is criminal in many respects but that word doesn't define him fully. I never would have taken you for someone with a fascistic obedience to the law. Breaking the law is not an automatic condemnation to societal hell. Sometimes breaking the law answers to a higher cause. I'm not advocating or condoning what happened, only trying to go beyond my preconceptions to a better understanding.

I guess I never really got the Black Bloc tactic since it seems to be simply property destruction and mayhem. In this instance the violence is explicit whereas the violence the direct action activists seek to draw attention to is more subtle. They contend that there is violence inherent in the system itself but that we are conditioned to dismiss it since it is a more pervasive violence that masquarades as something else. The point is brought to the forefront once the armored black-clad ninja police begin to corral all protesters and start arresting and busting heads. At that point all one sees is the raw power of the State beyond the usual restraints such as due process. Everyone becomes guilty by association despite congregating in constitutionally protected protest. Perhaps more often than not, things are not what they seem. I don’t doubt there are frustrated hotheads who only want an outlet for some repressed anger but sometimes undercover police act as agents provocateurs to incite violence. It’s often a tactic used to discredit a movement or cause.

Yeah, I heard they drove in from Eugene.

Phenomenon such as the surging popularity of Fredrich A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom and the recent victory in McDonald v City of Chicago may forecast if we’re experiencing one of the last gasps or the dawning of a new day. In support of libertarianism, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in his concurrence nevertheless broke from the majority rationale by invoking the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment to support his decision in upholding individual guns rights. No other justice attempted to disassemble Thomas’ well-reasoned argument. The potential momentous nature of his position would be the resurrection of the Privileges and Immunities Clause through the overturning of the Slaughter-House Cases simultaneously leading to an era of economic liberty and perhaps other liberties as the influence emanates outward. Time will only tell how long before this occurs but the outcome seems to be assured by the trend apparent in the historical pattern.

That's, like, sooo cool. Like orange mocha frappuccino. --quote from Krishnamurti Handsome Chinese vagrant draws fans of 'homeless chic'

You talk as if there actually is a prison-industrial complex. [video:youtube]v=AIX_0nMlIBU

Are you sure you're not confusing altruism with cooperation?

I was under the impression that having a criminal mind was prerequisite for political office.

[video:youtube]v=Gw8LPn4irao So, do the most potential solutions to the politico-economic environmental crises lie outside of the State and the markets as the philosopher suggests? Is he suggesting a libertarian approach but doesn’t the wrong application of it also lead to the crisis of the commons? Or, are the extraordinary concentrations of power characteristic of late stage capitalism necessary to transition to the next stage of humanity? Will wholesale emancipated individuality eventually be seen as a transient feature of late 20th/early 21th century life? Regarding one salient development, there didn’t seem to be much fanfare surrounding the announcement of the creation of artificial life designed using a computer. What should be the logical response to the monumental landmark announced by J. Craig Venter? Is the poison also potentially the antidote (e.g., quantum information science)? If it were possible, should we send probes into one of the many futures to assess the potential outcome of this development? If art is a lie that lets us recognize the truth, should we exalt art over science? Will hubris be the defining feature of humanity? Should we worship an embodiment of the notion of creative destruction (what the Hindus call Shiva) as one of the demiurges? Is sanity merely a matter of reference?

What if the chimp wined and dined the frog so that the frog formed an attachment to the chimp, would it still be sexual harassment? Is it only an abusive crime because the chimp objectifies the frog as a sexual object? Would it be considered a victimless crime if the frog was not conscious of its degradation? What if it only happens behind closed doors? Is it a crime to observe this behavior without interceding in the frog’s behalf? But, more importantly, will the chimp respect the frog in the morning?