Quotes

Quote of the Day: A Lesson From Counterculture Economics

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We were going along really well. And then the crowds came in. All the people who were looking for something….[There were] too many people to take care of and not enough people willing to do something. There were a lot of people looking fo the fee ride. That’s the death of any scene, when you have more drag energy than you have forward-going energy.”
From Blair Jackson’s excellent Garcia: An America Life, 1999, page 132 Paperback Edition

Garcia was referring to the Haight-Ashbury scene in the late 1960s. It was relatively small and crashed quickly under the weight of drag energy.

Larger societies, say continent spanning countries, will take longer to crash but the mechanism is the same and the results, well, they are likely to be much messier.

Quote of the Day #3 ~ Education

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…I could not help receiving the impression that I was being cheated out of something. Out of what I knew not, yet I did not believe that twelve years of unrelieved boredom was exactly what the state had in mind for me.
Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960, page 37 in the 1982 Popular Library Edition

Hmmm, this is probably exactly what the state had/has in mind…

Given the structure of the education school systems in the US those who are not afflicted with boredom must be the small exception.

Quote of the Day or Why You Aren’t President

This entry was posted in Anarchism Government Journalism Quotes on by

The first reason you are not president is that you probably are not…, well, read on:

To me, the desire to be President of the United States in itself means you’re a psychopath who should never be President of the United States. Unfortunately, of course, this desire is a job requirement.

A Funny Little Story About The Media, Jonathan Schwartz, 8/22/05

He goes on to note:

But the point is the powerhouse media and their politician lovemates truly do feel there are things normal, grubby Americans simply can’t handle. Moreover, it has nothing to do with political parties. Everything I’ve seen in my life confirms that, with few exceptions, they feel this way across the (extremely narrow) political spectrum.
If you’re not part of their little charmed circle, believe me, all your worst suspicions about them are true. They do think you’re stupid. They do lie to you. They do hate and fear you. Most importantly, they think you can’t be trusted with the things they know—because if you did know them, you’d go nuts and break America.

I don’t know as going nuts is the right phrase but it seems it might be wise to calmly and with determination reclaim our lives and our potential from the political parties and their bureaucratic lapdogs at every level of government

Via Making Light via Pharyngula.

Role of the Courts

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“Mr. Norrell, it is not the duty of the court – any court – to exalt one person’s opinions above others! Not in magic nor in any other sphere of life. If other magicians think differently from you, then you must battle it out with them. You must prove the superiority of your opinions, as I do in politics. You must argue and publish and practise your magic and you must learn to live as I do – in the face of constant criticism, opposition and censure. That, sir, is the English way.”
Susanna Clarke, Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell, 407

For more on this novel see the Seminar at Crook Timber.