I always read James Kuntsler's blog. Not because I agree with everything the man has to say, but because he is a THINKING man. Today he mention's his view that the folks on the Right are running a know-nothing campaign of sorts while being only slightly more kind to the Left.
I half agree with Kuntsler: I believe both heads of the 2H1P run a know-nothing disinformation campaign - and they run it at high decibels... 24/7. Further, I think there is no hope that a solution to ANYTHING of substance is forthcoming from either of those "heads". Mayhap a third party, but under no circumstances from this crew.
So many of the political questions of the day can be answered with a pencil, a calculator, and a napkin. Yet it seems to me that 100% of the true believers simply will not work that calculator nor heed voices that will.
As my father used to say when I was 15 and he had forbidden me to do something that "everybody else is doing": "If everybody else went down and jumped off the bridge... are you going to jump, too?"
I don't watch T.V... so I don't know what it is that folks find so objectionable in Glen Beck and Sarah Palin, et al, and their equivalents on the Left. My bet is its just noise, and is of no bearing or meaning. I can see slant and bias coming at me in loud colors in published "news" - and there are no articles, blogs, news... that are NOT slanted and biased (including yours truly). The beauty of numerical analysis is the certainty of it all... though perhaps many don't see the beauty in that and go right on spinning and spitting and foaming at the mouth.
This much is certain: promises made by government will be broken.
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Pat Robertson is calling for Drug Law Reform? Hallelujah!!! No pun intended.
Any step forward in ending the prison/industrial complex is a step worth taking.
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I'm surprised you read anything Kunstler has to say. If ever there was an anti-capitalist, anti-Republican/Libertarian, pro-central planning liberal Democrat, Kunstler is it. ;) Nice to see you are coming around.
Kunstler is a tool. The same turd that was pushing for national healthcare and then saying how broke the government is. I stopped reading him a yr or more ago. Not to mention I think he only attacks the right and throws in the lefty's to give him some cred. He is a no nothing jerk off. I would rather read archdruid and his neo-feudal fantasy of preindustrial economic policy nirvana. Freedom is the lasting euphoria of the free market system and these turds want to turn us into a backwoods third world country. All of these Idiots rally against something that is not real; their straw man is the supposed free market economy which they so dearly hate. Funny how the leftist windbags that put in power are the same one propagating all this bogus fascism and then turn around and call it a free market so they can place more blame, control more stuff and on and on and on and on and on (global warming anyone). We are the most regulated we have ever been in the history of mankind and you think this is a free market.
I emailed when I first started reading about peak oil 5 yrs and he is not only an arrogant self entitled jackass in his post, but a petty little bigot in real life. I pointed out that global warming is not even a remote possibility in a world of lowering carbon usage and asked why he belongs to a cult that goes against the one historical correlation of CO2 levels, which is that CO2 levels follow increased temperatures. Where did I learn this amazing fact: a college science book, which I referenced with a few papers concluding the same thing. The oceans hold most of the earth’s CO2 and release it when the oceans warm. He responded like a typical tool saying that I was an ideologue with nothing to back his statments up, just a ad hominen attack. I responded that he was hiding behind his screen and would like him to explain his position. So in no way do I think he is anything but a self righteous, duplicitous toolbox!!!!
The Children of the '60's, Kuntsler being one, are for the most part unable to put down the baggage they carry around.
That does not mean that they do not come out with something intelligent once in a while any more than those on the far Right are incapable of intelligence.
I think JHK was half right, as I said. Our 2H1P has become a single Know-Nothing party.
I like Jim's blog because he is fun to read and can turn a phrase... I enjoyed his books, too. More so when I read the feminazi's blast him for not writing women to their approval.
"turn a phrase"
He is a hell of a writer, but he just does not put everything together.
He puts a lot together, but he doesnt seem to realize the baby boomer managers and directors who run this country will never spend for all the "railroading and town-condensing and suburban destruction" he proposes. We'll just have to hope peak oil will give them no alternative.
My move from a purple state (AZ) to a blue state (CA) is now less than a month away. Gotta keep the family homestead in the family. The good thing is that we do a lot of repair work, and that has become one of the few growth sectors. They were able to net $300k per year until recently, but are cutting that way back. Why work 80 hours a week when so much is taken away?
My uncles have also been getting some of the acreage ready for farming and replacing the dead trees in the orchard, so that we can get by on a minimum of money.
Most people only listen to other people (newspapers, blogs, TV programs, etc) that agree with their current view of the world. The definition of a 'thinking man' might be one who seriously tries to understand and empathise with the viewpoint of people who don't agree. There aren't many around - often they seem indecisive, their views inconsistant.
Politically, the Sarah Palins and radical feminists of this world are easy to understand - they speak to the bigot in many of us (positively or negatively), saying what many people believe but don't necessarily talk about. Free speech at least gets it into the open, ready for debate, and few radicals ever get elected to anything meaningful. Much better than banning these people and driving them underground.
Kunstler is almost European in his views, which in American politics means left wing. But he has developed his views over many years and they are, I think, thoughtful and coherent. They have led him to scary but feasible conclusions (pursued in his novels)which will be tested by time.
I certainly agree with his views on architecture and urban planning (which I sometimes lecture) and I like his talk on ted.com. I was truly shocked by my first visits to US cities (30 years ago)and what had been done to them.
As for his politics, I think they are too subtle for many American's tastes - radicals are much easier to understand. Easier to brand him a 'lefty'and dismiss him!
Donal, I think that is essentially correct...
THINKING does not mean "sure of". We have to be able to consider things... and we absolutely have the right to be wrong AND to change our minds and evolve (when I was young I thought I was "pro-choice")... particularly in areas where the data is still coming in.
I gotta tell you... good traders understand this like no other profession. You need to be able to admit you were wrong. OFTEN. and to go over your errors to help with a future trade.
Most of the people commenting here are "THinking people". I think Mr. Kuntsler is a thinking person, too. He may not have much of a grasp of economics (who on the Left does? Just kidding... sort of...)... my grasp of architecture leaves much to be desired...
Most of the people commenting here are "THinking people".
except for compulsive posters like Bureacrat who repeats his tripe over and over w/o every learning anything from this blog
I'm hoping one of these days we can start talking about oil again. :) In the meantime ...
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