Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The Higher Perspective of Moderation

I used to think Conservatives were hysterical in smelling Communism within any statement the least bit liberal, and when Liberals smelled Fascism in any statement the least bit conservative. Having started off as a Libertarian, I settled into my newfound moderation by turning a jaundiced eye toward either knee-jerk reaction. Things are never as extreme as extremists think!

But having lived long enough to watch cycles repeat a few times - to compile a deeper data set - I've reversed course. I now smell what they smell. Both sides!

When Liberals dictate, with infinite arrogance, the latest words we're no longer allowed to use, or the latest trendy viewpoints all well-meaning persons must immediately adopt (or be intolerantly shunned for one's lack of tolerance!), I do catch a whiff of Soviet/Maoist lockstep. And when Conservatives vent their whacko paranoia and xenophobic jingoism, I do smell the jackboots.

It turns out both are right. As are the Taoists, who observe that extremes bleed into each other. The Stasi and the Gestapo may have talked very different talks, but they had more in common than not. In the end, it's less about one's particular dogma and more about one's penchant for assholery. The true conflict, in other words, lies between humanity's better, loving nature versus our crueler, more divisive impulses (and our cursed tendency to mistake one for the other).

Most human conflicts can be viewed within that light. As I once wrote:
Racism, sexism, classism, etc. are nothing more than the incomplete registration of a perfectly appropriate misanthropy. We study the Other...and we don't like what we see. Men rue the cruelty of women; women rue the cruelty of men. Both are quite correct, really.
From the highest perspective, one finds true moderation. But the case for "high-mindedness" is a sticky-wicket, because even the noblest credos can become monsters. Look at what liberals have done with a swell credo like "tolerance" - wielding it into its very opposite - and what conservatives have done with such lovely credos as "individualism" and "morality".

So what can be done with a species that makes cudgels of its highest principles? The best suggestion to date may be the Christian injunction to hate the sin but love the sinner. High-mindedness may degrade into monstrousness, but that also means the darkest and most inhuman results may stem, however murkily, from virtuous human impulses. To see this requires a loftier perspective than is fashionable, but if we can try to keep our eye there, there's hope for us.

In fact, my quoting of Christianity is, itself, an example of such perspective. Given the centuries of unimaginable cruelty my ancestors withstood in the name of Christian doctrine (supposedly all about the love, baby!), I, as a Jew, have to look past quite a bit to arrive at the beautiful kernel underpinning those many cudgels. I can't say this higher perspective makes the cruelty any more attractive, but it does help pinpoint the true culprit - so we can react to extremism with enlightened moderation rather than with reciprocal extremism.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Bundy's Racism is Completely Beside the Point

The fact that Cliven Bundy is a racist, doofy ass does not invalidate his position with regard to the bureau of land management.

What invalidates his position is the complete illogic and fecklessness of his argument. Bundy exemplifies the contradiction of American Libertarianism, which is that our staunchest libertarians have always been the western ranchers, ala Bundy, who are, themselves, vigorously unrepentant welfare queens (just one example: the grazing fees Bundy refuses to pay are hugely subsidized by the federal government; they're priced far, far below market value). Their issue with the country isn't that people are on the dole. It's that the wrong people are getting a piece of that dole.

They say wisdom's the ability to tolerate paradox. If so, Bundy's a Buddha. There's also his claim of being an American patriot - and waving flags everywhere - while denying the existence of the United States. That's some profound non-linearity, but the best counterargument the Left can muster has been to scream "Racist!".

The Left, which has seen pretty much every worthy movement degraded by the participation of goofballs, flakes, and extremists of their own base, should know better. In fact, they do know better! But it's easier to scream "Racist!" than it is to dismantle a faulty argument (just as it's easier for a conservative to rail against those damned hippie liberals than to grapple with their arguments). If you're a racist (or a damned hippie liberal), everything you say or do is without value or basis. It's a word one can utter to refute not merely an argument but a person's right to make any argument at all (it's all about tolerance!).

Jon Stewart, alone, did a pretty good job with Bundy's argument on its merits (see below). He's an idol for the Left because he's the only one apparently able to parse and express anything in a coherent and persuasive manner. But even he missed the central paradox of the patriotic flag-waving brio of Bundy and his posse as they deny the existence of a United States of America.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Russians in Ukraine, etc

The Economist has an article on Putin's latest in Ukraine, which includes this:

"Russian agents have turned up in custody and in reporters’ notebooks, organising the protests and, some say, paying for them. Russia has been meddling in eastern Ukraine for weeks, occasionally with results from the pages of Gogol. On April 6th “local people” stormed what they thought was the regional administrative headquarters in Kharkiv only to find that they had taken control of the opera house."

Russia is - and has long been - a prototypical example of a strong drunk

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Uncommon Terseness














I never understood how anyone could experience transcendent greatness and not want to devote their lives to it. (link)


Anxiety is the bain of deep-carers. (link)





Quality oughtn't be a side effect. (link)


Racism, sexism, classism, etc. are nothing more than the incomplete registration of a perfectly appropriate misanthropy. (link)


If you've got a zit on the tip of your nose, all injustice appears to stem from that. (link)





History always unfolds via a succession of immoderately reactive pendulum swings. Will we human beings ever learn to react to extremism with enlightened moderation rather than with reciprocal extremism? (link and another)


America is so rich that we mistake mere discomfort for bona fide poverty. (link)





Two Random Thoughts

1. "Righteous anger" is an oxymoron.

2. Am I only the person in the world who thinks the "before" photo always looks better?

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Butter's Okay Again....etc, etc.















Don't Re-Use Passwords

Timely reposting:








Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Mike Judge's New Series: "Silicon Valley"





Nailed it.





Monday, April 7, 2014

Pyramid Pan Silicone Baking Mat


The supposed upsides are:



4. The pad can be cleaned in a dishwasher




4. The pad can be cleaned in a dishwasher

Sunday, April 6, 2014

It's All About the TV



And The Americans, about deep-covered KGB agents posing as a normal 1980's American family (on FX), is midway through a second season which is somehow managing to far exceed its tremendous first season (which I wrote about here).



More TV tips (plus links to previous TV writings)

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