Archive for the 'The Gentle Art of Making Enemies' Category

ACA Reax

“Clinton’s attempt to socialize healthcare was the second most disgusting thing he did in the oval office. I can’t remember what the first thing was.” -Ann Coulter

I know I’m all sorts of late with this, but I wanted to say something about the Supreme Court’s health care ruling.

I have to say that I wasn’t optimistic that the legislation was going to be upheld. And for me, this was a giant tree trunk that was going to break the camel’s back. I didn’t want to live in a country that doesn’t provide health care to its citizens. It’s morally reprehensible.

The decision came down at 4PM here and I knew I’d be on the train, heading home. So I asked @dmfarley to text me with updates. I figured I would learn that the mandate wasn’t upheld and I could lose myself in the awesomeness of the AWOLNATION album until I could get home and start drinking.

I sat on the train and held my phone, constantly checking to make sure the sound and vibration notifications were on and cursing the lack of 3G reception. And then I got the text. It turns out that @dmfarley is more reliable than CNN and reported to me that the mandate had been upheld.

I let out an excited shout.

The Dutch guy next to me on the train leaned over, eyes wide, and asked “Did they announce the new Dutch football coach?”

Published on July 10, 2012 in The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. 0 Comments

The Internet Can’t Have Nice Things

“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” -Bill Gates

So yet another example of atrocious and despicable behavior on the internet. Its behavior like this that has the UK and the states of Arizona and New York consider legislation to ban trolling and anonymous posting online.

I don’t believe that laws should exist against trolling. There’s a very practical reason for that which they will be extremely difficult and costly to enforce, if it’s even possible.

Jay Smooth said it better than I can.

Sexism exists in society. Society exists on the internet. Ergo, sexism exists on the internet. It’s not like this is the first example of gross misogyny online. For example, see here, here, and here  and that’s just 8 seconds of Googling. The misogyny and sexism that exists online is fucked up. So is the misogyny and sexism that exists in the real world. Laws against trolling aren’t going to fix that.

The solution here isn’t legislation. It’s fixing society. And that is a helluva lot harder than just passing a law.

Published on June 22, 2012 in Feminazism and The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. 0 Comments

The European Fascination With Libertarians

“That’s libertarians for you – anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.” -Kim Robinson

Living in Europe, I get an interesting perspective on American politics. There’s the fascination with the two party system, a lack of understanding of the Tea Party, disgust at American foreign policy, and a weird love for Ron Paul.

I meet a lot of Dutch people who ask me why Ron Paul isn’t taken more seriously as a candidate or who tell me that if they could vote in the American presidential election, they would support Ron Paul.

At first, I found this love affair with Ron Paul confusing, after all, in the US, it is common knowledge that Ron Paul and his “Paulites” are totally insane and have completely broken with reality. Are the Dutch unaware that Paul supports returning to the Gold Standard, wants to withdraw from the UN, and opposes the Civil Rights Act?

In a word, yes.

The only picture of Ron Paul that the Dutch seem to get is that he was opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and wants to withdraw from them immediately and he supports marijuana legalization. From that perspective, Paul seems like a reasonable candidate. In fact, on those two platforms alone, I’d support Ron Paul.

Unfortunately, with the good Ron Paul comes the crazy Ron Paul. Paul supports Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, doesn’t believe that sexual harassment happens in the workplace, thinks that states have the rights to enact anti-sodomy laws, denies climate change, and thinks that health care is a privilege you should have to pay for. He’s also radically anti-choice, going so far as to claim that he once witnessed “a two-and-a-half-pound baby taken out crying and breathing and put in a bucket” during a late-term abortion procedure. I consider myself radically pro-choice and I don’t like babies but if I was standing in that operating room, I would have thrown a goddamn fit.

I’m doing my part to enlighten the Dutch as to Paul’s problems, but it’s been an uphill battle so far.

Published on May 14, 2012 in Holland and The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. 5 Comments

Are Things Getting Better?

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” -Confucius

The other day I was asked if the world is becoming a better place to live. Sure, the question is open-ended, but I think, in general, the answer is yes. Certainly if you’re an American whose home was foreclosed on last year or any number of “uncontacted people” who were contacted and then died of disease or Moammar Gaddafi, no your life isn’t better. I would argue, however, that for the vast majority of people, their lives are better now than they were 50 years ago and will be even better in another 50 years.

Steven Pinker’s Book The Better Angles Of Our Nature discusses the decrease in violence, especially among Western nations. The idea of a war like World War II is pretty much inconceivable among most Americans and Western Europeans of my generation. The current crisis facing Europe is, while very serious, minor when compared with the wars and dictators of the previous century.

And life hasn’t just improved for those of us fortunate enough to live in a Western country. The World Bank reports that the number of people living in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 per day) has declined. The World Health Organization has met its sanitary water goal ahead of schedule. Compare even the current atrocities in Syria. The current conflict started in January 2011 and has killed an estimated 8,000 – 10,000 people. While horrendous, this is much less violent than the conflict which occurred in the country in 1982. The Hama massacre saw somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000 people killed in a single month.

Despite the recent controversy surrounding women’s reproductive health, life for women in the US is better than it was 30 years ago. And for the LGBT community. And people of color. Are things perfect? No. But thing have improved.

And, I think, they will keep improving.

Published on March 9, 2012 in Dollars and Sense, Hodgepodge and The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. 0 Comments

Negative Ads

“The method of political science is the interpretation of life; its instrument is insight, a nice understanding of subtle, unformulated conditions.”  -Woodrow Wilson

If you live in any state where the GOP primary has come to town, you’ve probably been inundated with political ads, many of which are negative. John Sides, over at the Monkey Cage, has two really good posts about negative ads.

There is basically no empirical evidence that negative ads help candidates, but negative ads continue to air. This topic is an especially good example of the disconnect between the mentality of political actors and the evidence produced by political scientists.

Published on February 28, 2012 in The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. 0 Comments

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