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The Libertarian Future, Today
The Cato Unbound roundtable launched by my essay is continuing apace, with contributions from Brink Lindsey and Tyler Cowen.
I'll be finishing off the roundtable, after Virginia Postrel and Tom Palmer have weighed in, so I won't go on about them here, but herewith some samples that might be of interest to Hit and Run assembled, and spark some interesting conversation.
From Lindsey, whose essay is called "Libertarians in an Unlibertarian World":
To be effectively idealistic, we must first be realistic. This means recognizing that libertarian ideals as we understand them are not widely shared by our fellow citizens. Sometimes we like to imagine that under the skin of every American is a libertarian yearning to breathe free. In fact, though, the most we will find are some libertarian instincts, competing with egalitarian instincts, nationalist instincts, moralistic instincts, and various narrow conceptions of self-interest.
Lindsey ends with a call, the thinking behind which is buttressed by his excellent forthcoming book The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed American Politics and Culture, for libertarians to rethink their traditional sense of alliance (for some of them, by no means all) with the Republican Party and the right, and be willing to forge a usuable political movement around the people who, while not accepting all the radicalism inherent in movement libertarianism as its story is told in my new book Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement, do fall roughly into the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" category.
Tyler Cowen has an analysis that is alternately positive and negative for the committed libertarian--and ties in nicely with the discussion Jonah Goldberg started about libertarians and positive and negative liberty.
From Cowen's "The Paradox of Libertarianism":
Those developments [in a libertarian direction] have brought us much greater wealth and much greater liberty, at least in the positive sense of greater life opportunities. They’ve also brought much bigger government. The more wealth we have, the more government we can afford. Furthermore, the better government operates, the more government people will demand. That is the fundamental paradox of libertarianism. Many initial victories bring later defeats.
I am not so worried about this paradox of libertarianism. Overall libertarians should embrace these developments. We should embrace a world with growing wealth, growing positive liberty, and yes, growing government. We don’t have to favor the growth in government per se, but we do need to recognize that sometimes it is a package deal.
|3.12.07 @ 6:04PM|#
...various narrow conceptions of self-interest.
Oh for the day when everyone is as super-smart as me and correctly
identifies their own self-interest.
Penry|3.12.07 @ 6:09PM|#
"The more wealth we have, the more government we can
afford."
This depends on how you define "more goverment". If it's purely in
dollar terms, then sure, growth and inflation will allow indefinite
expansion.
On the other hand, if you measure government size by the proportion
of the population who are working on the government dime, then this
measure is bounded at 100%, and we know that figure is not
desirable.
|3.12.07 @ 6:19PM|#
I sometimes think that it might be easier to get people who are normally strongly aligned with one of the two major parties to accept, if not embrace, a federalist approach to government, than to do the same with libertarian principals, and thus support on a defacto basis, in some places, a more libertarian form of government. Of course, some libertarians would need to compromise their principals as well, is this course were followed, and even this ignores the question as to whether there is any real potential support for federalism among Democrats and Republicans.
Cerro|3.12.07 @ 7:28PM|#
Will Allen
I have the same suspicion. A lot of people, left or right, are
probabaly susceptible to the idea of government closer to the
people, if they're (small d) democrats at least (and everybody
claims to be).
One thing that worries me about that idea is that it might actually
further entrench the legitimacy of government action. Your
thoughts?
|3.12.07 @ 7:32PM|#
"And the older story of "big government crushes liberty" is
being superseded by "advances in liberty bring bigger
government.""
Is, I believe, the key phrase to analyze.
Guy Montag|3.12.07 @ 8:10PM|#
Brian,
Nice try, but Ron already
fooled me with this Political Science Student Union
doublespeak. Reason me once, and all that.
NM,
"And the older story of "big government crushes liberty" is
being superseded by "advances in liberty bring bigger
government.""
Does not require any further study beyond rejection. If they are
true advances in Liberty then the government is a smaller and
smaller voyour to the sides.
Guy Montag|3.12.07 @ 8:12PM|#
When I hear talk of "positive liberty", I reach for my
revolver.
I am with you brother, but I am an auto-loader guy.
|3.12.07 @ 8:41PM|#
Cerro, I suspect it would, in some places. As long as people had
the real chance to vote with their feet, however, I'd be wiling to
live with that. It'd be cause for concern, however, because one
could not absolutely guarantee such a real chance.
A real United States, providing a widely varied choice in degree of
government involvement in the lives of citizens, however, would be
a wonderful thing.
Oh well, one can dream, I guess.....
|3.12.07 @ 9:06PM|#
"When I hear talk of "positive liberty", I reach for my
revolver."
Fluffy is clearly a Mission of Burma fan, or should be
Once I had my heroes
Once I had my dreams
But all of that is changed now
They've turned things inside out
The truth is not so comfortable, no
And mother taught us patience
The virtues of restraint
And father taught us boundaries
Beyond which we must go
To find the secrets promised us, yeah
That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when it all gets blown away
That's when I reach for my revolver
The spirit fights to find its way
A friend of mine once told me
His one and only aim
To build a giant castle
And live inside his name
Cry and whispers sing in muted pain
That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when it all gets blown away
That's when I reach for my revolver
The spirit fights to find its way
Tonight the sky is empty
But that is nothing new
Its dead eyes look upon us
And they tell us we're nothing but slaves
That's when I reach for my revolver
(...but slaves)
That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when I reach for my revolver
That's when I reach for my revolver
|3.12.07 @ 9:08PM|#
"We don't have to favor the growth in government per se, but we
do need to recognize that sometimes it is a package deal."
No it does not have to be a "package deal", it is this way because
we (citizens) allow it. It seems this might be a sloppy use of the
word "paradox". Though the point is well taken that a parasitic
government can ride the back of liberty. The stronger the beast the
larger and more leeches can latch on (i am referring mainly to
policy, not people)
|3.12.07 @ 9:47PM|#
More wealth brings broad demand for more government. My read of Cowen is that fighting any increase in government at any cost is not favorable to our cause.
|3.12.07 @ 9:55PM|#
Just how do egalitarian principles conflict with libertarian
principles?
Egalitarian = "Nobody is better than me."
Libertarian = "Nobody can take care of my affairs better than
me."
Or am I wrong?
Robert|3.12.07 @ 9:57PM|#
"If they are true advances in Liberty then the government is a
smaller and smaller voyour to the sides."
No, sorry, not always. State lotteries brought both a true advance
in liberty and larger gov't. Before, lotteries were illegal,
period. After, you were allowed to gamble with the state. Your
liberty truly advanced, and gov't got more money &
bigger.
The same would be true if, for example, prohibition of non-medical
use of narcotics was replaced by a state monopoly in same, but the
advance would be much bigger in terms of its consequences, inasmuch
as the war on drugs would practically end. It's about what happened
where liquor prohibition was replaced by state stores.
It's also possible to have a shrinkage of gov't and a concomitant
decline in liberty. A couple of obvious examples would be
diminution of enforcement of freedom-preserving laws, and failure
to maintain roads (while keeping them as gov't property).
|3.12.07 @ 10:23PM|#
So, if I'm a fiscal conservative (more importantly a regulatory conservative), but a strong social liberal, does that mean I'm not a libertarian? Can I still fake it at least?
|3.12.07 @ 10:33PM|#
A wealthy society can afford a big government as measured in
spending. But a society cannot remain wealthy indefinitely if the
government constricts growth too heavily.
The most meaningful thing to look at is probably government
spending as a fraction of GDP. America with a fairly small
government would probably still spend more on the state than a tiny
socialist country. You can have a state that does a lot and still
be wealthy, as long as it doesn't do too much to any one
person.
Fluffy|3.12.07 @ 11:09PM|#
True, Neu.
Perhaps a further word of explanation is also in order:
I distrust the discussion about so-called "positive liberty"
because the concept inevitably gets twisted, Atrios-like, into a
mere checklist of the number of things a theoretical "average
consumer" or "average citizen" can choose to do at any moment in
time, regardless of the source or foundation of those options. This
means that you have more "liberty" in the middle of Manhattan than
you would if you were the sole inhabitant of Australia, because
despite its many statist regulations Manhattan would have more
restaurants, libraries, and museums. And by the terms of this
analysis big government is good, because big government can provide
that average citizen or consumer with subsidized cultural and
entertainment opportunities and with the option of telling his boss
to go fuck himself and going on the dole instead of working. In
other words, bread and circuses actually make you more free.
The problem with this concept of positive liberty can be neatly
summarized with a simple thought experiment: If you had a family
composed of one very diligent and wealthy patriarch and four or
five complete screw-up adult children, you could maximize the
"positive liberty" of the family relationship by forcing the
patriarch to support the adult children and to provide them with
all the spending money they wanted. It would be a comparatively
minor impediment to the patriarch's autonomy, and he might not even
miss the money all that much; and just THINK of all the positive
liberty enjoyed by his kids! If your concept of liberty includes
obvious injustices like this example [and "positive liberty"
absolutely does] then there is something wrong with your concept of
liberty.
|3.12.07 @ 11:23PM|#
State lotteries brought both a true advance in liberty and
larger gov't. Before, lotteries were illegal, period. After, you
were allowed to gamble with the state. Your liberty truly advanced,
and gov't got more money & bigger.
A little relaxation of regulation is sometimes worse than none at
all, though. In particular, once the state became involved in
gambling, and came to depend on it as a revenue source, it had an
even greater interest in stomping any competing sort of gambling
out of existence. Thus we reach the current nonsense of arresting
CEOs of foreign gambling companies at US airports.
|3.13.07 @ 12:55AM|#
So the basic idea of the article is that its too hard to stop
big government so we shouldn't even try?
The way I look at it, we can always have less government and less
restrictions on liberty regardless of how much or how little we
have at the current moment.
And it is true that libertarian ideas are not shared by our fellow
citizens. That's why the founding fathers set up an individualist
republic, not a democracy.
Our first ten or so presidents weren't Christians. Compare that to
the present state of affairs where Republican candidates have to
grovel to Jerry Falwell.
Death to democracy.
Jurgen|3.13.07 @ 1:27AM|#
Amazing. Is Mr. Doherty is stepping back from the ideology? Many Stalinists gave up their Stalinism only after some cataclysm like the crushing of the Hungarian revoltuion. But libertarians have never dirtied their hands with reality enough to experience such a cataclysm. Is it just boredom then?
tros|3.13.07 @ 2:27AM|#
This is actually pertinent to the conversation. Read all of
it.
http://redtail.chaoshacker.org/
Out with the old, in with the new..
redtail lives.
redtail collective
A private workspace/studio/gallery in Boston's Fort Point Channel
artist community.
The Red Tail Collective is the utopian community that Zebbler, also
known as Peter Berdovsky, is a part of. I must say, they have the
best SOMA-I-MEAN-ART in the Boston area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glitch_%28music%29
Glitch (also known as Clicks and Cuts from a representative
compilation series by the German record label Mille Plateaux) is a
genre of electronic music that became popular in the late 1990s
with the increasing use of digital signal processing, particularly
on computers. Often considered a sub-genre of intelligent dance
music, Glitch eschews traditional instrumentation, preferring
instead the use of mechanized and non-natural sounds. Though rhythm
is a central focal point of Glitch, the style's various sub-genres
range from the ambient to the dance-oriented.
So I wanted to tell you all that way back when before the
Mooninites went public, I attended the Red Tail Glitch party. Now
it is more and more looking like a "retail glitch", which is a
dual-use pun that a space alien told me about.
Suffice to say that this is a very "cool" place that knows how to
hawk it.
promomagazine.com
www.toxicollective.org/ps/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399149864/reasonmagazineA/
The first of William Gibson's usually futuristic novels to be set
in the present, Pattern Recognition is a masterful snapshot of
modern consumer culture and hipster esoterica. Set in London,
Tokyo, and Moscow, Pattern Recognition takes the reader on a tour
of a global village inhabited by power-hungry marketeers,
industrial saboteurs, high-end hackers, Russian mob bosses,
Internet fan-boys, techno archeologists, washed-out spies, cultural
documentarians, and our heroine Cayce Pollard--a soothsaying "cool
hunter" with an allergy to brand names.
Don't bother waiting for the Pattern Recognition movie, YOUR
WATCHING IT RIGHT NOW. Red Tail is a subset of the RADICALS FOR
CAPITALISM that do the radical survival thing once a year, then go
back to day jobs in Babylon. Yes, Brian Doherty is the missing
link. Sweet. He should evolve himself and then write another
book.
tros|3.13.07 @ 3:41AM|#
Oh for the day when everyone is as super-smart as me and
correctly identifies their own self-interest.
OH, FOR THE DAY WHEN EVERYONE HAS FREE ACCESS TO LSD.
tros|3.13.07 @ 3:43AM|#
When I hear talk of "positive liberty", I reach for my
revolver.
LSD can be provided to everyone on the planet free of charge. In
monetary terms, it is probably the most inexpensive substance to
synthesize in the universe, besides cannabis of course.
tros|3.13.07 @ 3:50AM|#
Quite frankly I believe that the future of the libertarian
movement requires the union of opposites. I think the term
"anarchy" is pretty counterproductive, and prefer to use the
circled "A" to point to two different words, namely "Amnesty" and
"Autonomy".
The autonomy can be see over the internet. Chiapas remains peaceful
but also armed. Oaxaca is struggling for Autonomy.
The war on drugs makes true Autonomy impossible in the United
States of America. The trick for the union of opposites is to allow
democratic socialism and libertarian communism coexist
peacefully.
The influx of Brown People into the wellfare state will be balanced
by the mass exodus of middle class white children. Or maybe the
Brown People will take over the government and spend all the money
for the FAITH BASED PROGRAMS on mushrooms 8-)
tros|3.13.07 @ 3:56AM|#
From Drug WarRant:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/16887843.htm
Again, can't really argue that the RESULT of this study, and the
entire drug war in general, is that more and more white middle
class kids are smoking herb every day.
And they should. How about a campaign to advocate vaporizer use
among underage cannabis users? It's good for your brain. Albert
Einstein, whose brain was one of the crowning acheivments of human
evolution, said that IMMAGINATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWLEDGE.
Cannabis certainly makes art better than the commercial "music"
industry.
And it takes a SECOND bullshit war in the middle east for people to
wake up and realize that the government lies about
EVERYTHING?
PAGING ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. COLLEGE IS A JOKE. DROP OUT AND
SMOKE HERB. SELL YOUR ART. TAKE MONEY AWAY FROM THE GOVERNMENT.
LIVE FREE AND BE HAPPY.
----
Hippie Redneck: I used to have a plum colored minivan a few yrs
ago, and I put a few bamper stickers on it...such as: NRA, Support
Our Troops, Carribean Connection (headshop), Pink Ribbon (breast
cancer), 911 - never forget, rainbow celebrate diversity, terrorist
hunting permit, & FairTax.org.
---
Hippie rednecks! Them be my kinda folk... IB12!
Armed and peaceful...
---
Sorry, tros... not that you're wrong, it's just how you say it!!
The '60's called...they want you back!
---
Don't even get me STARTED! Not only did I miss the boat, but I had
to spend all of the 90's behind a computer screen. Seriously,
though, it goes San Fransisco -> Los Angeles -> New York
City.
O yeah, for the "bona fide" hippies, I'm sure you know that Family
Fluff is the gold standard across the country.
WELCOME HOME!
---
Where I live, the dominant species is Suitus Americanus Corporatii,
an unusual beast that lusts after things it can't afford, partly
due to the false belief that they denote social position, which is
in fact not anywhere near their true stance on the food
chain.
Many spend their entire lives attempting to achieve a goal which
they never realize is actually a mockery of their pursuits: He who
dies with the most toys, wins!. The fact is that they win the same
prize as any corpse - a small plot of soil, if they're lucky. But
some seem literally Hell-bent to get there. I tend to step out of
the way of such people, not out of deference to their beliefs, but
out of self-defense; if someone is in a hurry to fill their grave,
I tend to oblige them.
I can't ever say I was a hippie; not with a Marine father. Never
had the chance. But I would be far more comfortable in their
company than I am with ol' Suitus. Just being around him makes me
nervous...
---
I actually have a friend who is sixteen and remarkably experienced
for his age. Remarkably. Experienced. His father is an ex-marine,
but he is also a high school AP American History teacher.
He knows the truth about the Iraq War, and he is tolerant of his
child's "hippie phase". When he graduates high school he will
undoubtedly work through the travelling "head" phase and eventually
settle down into the "mooninite phase", hopefully in New
Hampshire.
Oh yeah, and his mom was/is a cancer patient that uses medicinal
cannabis. Did I mention that both of his parents are libertarians?
Did I mention that my friend made a movie about how experienced he
was/is? It's a bit long right now, with many a throwback to the
Blair Witch Project, but it will be up on youtube as soon as we
finish editting.
So ya'll get to see what I look like, finally. This is where I
would usually say something about how I am not afraid / don't care
about narcs reading this, but honestly, from the shit Souder is
saying, I am suspicious that he doesn't even know how to
read.
So go ahead. Send a SWAT team to my house and bust down my parents
door and haul me in, after ALL THESE PEOPLE know who I am. Go
ahead. I fucking dare you.
tros|3.13.07 @ 4:05AM|#
Fluffy is clearly a Mission of Burma fan, or should
be
Oh yeah, I forgot to say that if you work for the Babylonian
Capitalist system, as opposed to the Anarchist Capitalist system,
then you ARE a slave.
O wait, they had that 3/5 bargain thing, where they oly take 40% of
your money, right?
tros|3.13.07 @ 5:54AM|#
Parallel conversation going on at my diary at Daily Kos. We all
have our language prisons, after all...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/13/4854/76943
NATO
Stands for NO ANARCHISTS TRIPPING OUT.
So in this union of opposites you have a choice. You can do the
Common Good goose-step at the daily cause, I mean the Daily Kos. Or
if you want to TRY to be an individual, you read the Reason "Dot
Com" slash-Blog.
...
P.S. If you don't appreciate Nietzsche, then you've probably never
been in a language prison. Right now I am working on breaking the
civil libertarians out of the "Capitalism" language prison as well
as springing the progressive democrats from the "Marxist" language
prison.
mutualist.blogspot.com
Kevin Carson is so underground that his book doesn't even have an
ISBN number. He has some very interesting theories concerning the
Right called the right to SELF TREATMENT. This is an idea that I am
very interested in promoting.
Now say it with me now:
YOU ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS!
"We are all individuals"
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WORK IT OUT FOR YOURSELVES!
"We're going to have to work it out for ourselves"
"Oh, there you go, bringing class into it AGAIN!"
"BUT THAT'S WHAT IT's ALL ABOUT!"
"Oh, stop worrying about class, Dennis, and just worry about the
mud!"
tros|3.13.07 @ 6:47AM|#
http://www.globalorgasm.org/
WHO? All Men and Women, you and everyone
you know.
WHERE? Everywhere in the world, but especially in countries with
weapons of mass destruction.
WHEN?
Winter Solstice Day - Friday, December 22nd,
at the time of your choosing, in the place of your choosing and
with as much privacy as you choose.
WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth
through input of the largest possible surge of human energy a
Synchronized Global Orgasm. There are two more US fleets heading
for the Persian Gulf with anti-submarine equipment that can only be
for use against Iran, so the time to change Earth's energy is
NOW!
http://forums.lycaeum.org/index.php/topic,19455.0.html
Foreign thoughts and dreams jive
racing irreverently through his mind
And mirroring every memory
Exciting delusions so passionately confused with truth
Marveling at the new dimensions
Dark beauty and shimmering lakes with lizard love
His powers of creation and destruction rise and fall like
breath
Writing histories of concept and structure,
And tremble before the sublime and beautiful
Only to carry out nihilism to its final conclusion
To sing the shamanic death song for all humanity
There is a familiar rhythm and primordial drum beat
The cosmic jazz freaks all doubt, laziness, and fear
The conception of the continuation is drawing near
He cringes with bliss, gives god a kiss, smiles sheds tear
Into his wine and proceeds to drink to the health of the
universe
What a day, what a day.
10,000
sifting through the shifting sky
for familiar images as they pass by
grass on my skin
naked and restless
natural
patiently waiting as the sun dies
and the climate cools
patiently waiting for the groove
Come with me and look inside
where all your motivations hide
where you know so much you can't abide
to let your humble ego slide
as the clear light sears your senses closed
the multitudes of of timelines freeze
and you wish to God you weren't too hosed
to divine the possibilities
for your next release
that existential grease
to help accept what's true
piece by piece, sliding through
the neutral space where your soul can't hide
the cause of all where it casts its roots
as we do our best to flow with the tide
after all the others who came before
you'll pick the ones that mean the most
before the sun kicks down the doors
their minds cast shadows and project a toast
to our most benevolent and glorious host
molest my emotions
then drop me off backwards
into all those vagaries of miscommunication
and uneven development
a landscape of distorted growth
full of good intentions and foolish decisions
and dreams long buried beneath the weight of years
I've come far enough to feel
feel the ground below my feet sinking
feel the original intention drifting
To wish it all away and the next day
cling because its the only thing of value in this whole doomed
entropic universe
I've been taught to dream as a pallative to a dreary life I've not
chosen
Rather than as a testing ground for infinite possibilities
So let this be the point of departure
to the [{BRAVE}] New World of self discovery
I'm packing lightly
And I'm living lightly too
P.S. Have you seen the episode of South Park where Cartman
mass-murders a bunch of hippies with a giant drill? It is quite
enlightening.
tros|3.13.07 @ 6:55AM|#
And before you call me a College Knowitall Hippie, I should tell
you that the only "hippy festival" I have ever been to was a
festival that was organized and facilitated by a friend of mine who
runs a for-prophet (and profit) weekly open mic event in my home
town. The festival was "family friendly", and by that I mean only
cannabis.
He is a great musician and his spiritual calling in life, besides
being a yoga teacher, is also to create a space for children to
express themselves creatively. The Fountainhead is one of his
favorite books. He also likes A Stranger In A Strange Land as well
as The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
Still hasn't read the Cat That Walks Through Walls, though. I'll
have to put him on to that one. Usually I would tell people to read
that book after reading EVERY OTHER Heinlein book, but considering
his general state of mind, I think he will like it anyway.
tros|3.13.07 @ 7:12AM|#
A boy comes to a dark, desolate corner of town called "the Street of the Lifted Lorax," to learn who the Lorax was and how he got "lifted and taken away." Through a "whisper-ma-phone," the Once-ler tells the boy what happened. When the Once-ler first arrived at this place, it was a beautiful, sunny forest where the Swomee-Swans sang, the Humming-Fish hummed, and the Brown Bar-ba-loots played in the shade while eating the fruit of the Truffula Trees, colorful woolly trees spread throughout the area. Enchanted by these gorgeous trees, the Once-ler built a small shop, where he chopped down a tree and knitted a Thneed, an odd-looking but versatile garment that he insisted "everyone needs." Out of the stump popped a strange little man called the Lorax, who claimed to "speak for the trees." The Lorax first pooh-poohed the Once-ler's creation, until someone came along and bought it. Spurred by greed, the Once-ler invited all his relatives to town where they started a huge Thneed-making business, chopping down Truffula Trees left and right, much to the Lorax's distress. The skies gradually got darker and more polluted, forcing the Lorax to send the Bar-ba-loots, the swans, and the fish off in search of a better place to live. The Once-ler, while upset to see the animals go, dismissed the Lorax's pleadings until the last Truffula Tree got chopped down, leaving the Once-ler alone with the Lorax and a failed business in a desolate place under a dark smoggy sky. With a "sad backward glance," the Lorax picked himself up by the "seat of his pants" and floated away through a hole in the smog. At the end of the story, the Once-ler reveals that he has one last Truffula seed left, and instructs the boy to start a new forest so that "the Lorax and all of his friends may come back."
tros|3.13.07 @ 7:16AM|#
This is the wikipedia entry on Joseph Alois Ratzinger, written
by Theodor Seuss Geisel:
In the first book featuring the character (The Cat in the Hat,
1957), the Cat brings a cheerful, exotic and exuberant form of
chaos to a household of two young children one rainy day while
their mother is out. Bringing with him two creatures appropriately
named Thing One and Thing Two, the Cat performs all sorts of wacky
tricks to amuse the children, with mixed results. The Cat's antics
are vainly opposed by the family pet, who is a sentient and
articulate goldfish. The children (Sally and her older brother, who
serves as the narrator) ultimately prove exemplary latchkey
children, capturing the Things and bringing the Cat under control.
He cleans up the house on his way out, disappearing seconds before
the mother arrives.
tros|3.13.07 @ 7:17AM|#
So I guess we could call this one The Cat In the Hat That Walks Through Walls.
tros|3.13.07 @ 7:21AM|#
Here is a joke that an Alien Plant Thing told me...
Tros: How would one go about being Jesus Christ and Satan at the
same time?
Mushroom: One would become a male prostitute and spend all the
profits giving out free LSD.
Tros: Wow, that sounds like an awful pain in the ass!
Mushroom: Yeah, that's why they're two different people.
tros|3.13.07 @ 7:27AM|#
Posted this on an "anarchist" message board. Have you heard the
recent Marxist bullshit? Gandhi was a "racist" because he used the
word "kaffir" at some point in his life, or something? I'm willing
to attribute it to a secularist conspiracy out of modern India
meant to suppress any upstarts.
But then they don't have to worry, because all of the Indian
Libertarians come to America and run our Corporations' computer
networks.
So right now what I am doing is conventionally referred to as
"underground marketing", which is to say that I am promoting a
product on a peer-to-peer basis. I want you to know that I am not
being paid money to do this. Edan is a rap artist local to Boston
and deserves your monetary support in exchange for his brilliant
music. Besides that, I also thought I should mention that this
album is also a partial transcript of my first LSD experience,
which happened in the summer of 2005. This album was relatively new
at the time.
Also, I just wanted to point out, didn't ya'll think it was pretty
funny that the CIA uses LSD as a "truth serum"? Well it is official
now. LSD reveals the Truth about your SELF, and LSD is illegal
because the government DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW THE TRUTH. Wow,
didn't see that one coming! They have a method, where they give you
LSD and then when they don't like the Truth that they heard, they
give you PCP to destroy your soul. Probably PCP and LSD at the same
time, or some other heinous shit that human beings don't even have
a name for yet.
Here are a few select tracks from the album. Seriously, though, who
talks shit about GANDHI? What the fuck is wrong with you people. I
know he has the illest day job in the universe, but you should
really consider skipping the Noam Chomsky paper chase when it comes
to current events.
And I want to tell all of you that IF I FELT LIKE IT, I could have
been the person on the other side of the NSA supercomputer
listening to your conversation. I love each and every one of you,
and that's one hundred percent pure certified organic love from the
rainbow family of living light.
Prince Paul already used this loop
But I'ma keep it movin' and put you up on the scoop
I first saw the Earth in 78
Around the same time rap music source first played
Nowadays aim's to be a kingpin with words
Kids should drop my personality like King Tim the third [{Timothy
Leary}]
Word to the fat back queen with the sugar hills
I should be splicing verse without the payment of a dollar
bill
I gots to chill though or think about sex
'Cause if whiskey fills my third leg
Or should I say the second neck?
Connect the dots with all the faggots making records
Who couldn't suck a dick or put the gloss on the upper lip
They can't fuck with this I'm just too vivid
Like rainbows falling out the sky and turn liquid
My word systems turn your scene to tangerine
The kid sees colors flashing wild on his movie screen
Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow
I loved most brothers but someone told me that I burned
bridges
I simply use a rack of those to build my furniture
I work with the aesthetic of the brain medic
Cutting up the reels with crystal shards to make a tape edit
I take lettuce, onions, tomatoe
Add a dab of mayo plus the fish fillet-o
Appetizing gray matter with a strange platter
The symmetry of energy the chemistry of plasma
After you latch on to lost masters
Come back to re-evaluate the now chapter
Style masters born to make classics
And paint canvas geometric break dances
The almighty made Saturn caves and caverns
The flames of magma rivers in Niagara
All of this beauty can be yours to discover
Can't you see it brother?
Without the LSD I see colors
Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow
Red and Yellow and gray and black
All the colors that represent my past
But now they're just a part of
The shadows of my mind
----
"Beauty"
----
Well it's the rap beautician
The facts you listen
I blast through rhythms like hash through your system
True in love and wisdom
Well off and witty
Using God's sleeve to wipe the hell off the city
See my elegance, dining on the periodic table called
developments
The universe designs my intelligence
Drop science down a bottomless pit
Run swift through a handstand on pyramid tips
The sun splits the waterfront causing prismatic effects
Butterflies come alive to have sex
Birds fly out of a top hat slow
To join the brilliance of wilderness and soar through the
Congo
Speak the convo through colors and shapes
My word choice is turquoise I love to create
My art hurdles over the clouds of dark purple
Red mixes yellow and blue in sharp circles
Paint splashes over your conscious like canvas
Colors jump out of the body to form branches
Psychedelic images flash like avalanches
Illustrate skill with the quill to build stanzas
I use pens like hallucinogens
So who can pretend, my music ain't a beautiful thing
A suitable king
Deserving of the jewels and the rings
That only flatters my appearance like the tulips in spring
I'm cool with the gods, I could never use the facade
Of a musician to celebrate hate and abuse women
The beautician is back, Humble Magnificent wizard of rap
Throwing tuxedos on the wax
The numbers they fall off the clock midnight
At the museum an apple is stolen out of a still life
You see 'em, stand by the mirror with no reflection
A point five appears on your shirt for half stepping
Scientists explain that they no longer know things
A dog takes a shit on the floor and grows wings
Planets of the solar system now trade places
Statues and national fame become faceless
Great lakes evaporate and leave no traces
The man with the mustache reveals the three aces
Briefcases open to expose sheet music
The thief hears the piece performed and weeps to it
Master violinist plays the solo one handed
The notes on the page become ants that run frantic
Slowly the symphony dissolves into noise
The phantom with the glass eye sweats and loses poise
A scene is made, the cheese brigade is summoned
The man in the mask walks fast and starts running
An officer fires a pistol in black apparel
But instead of lead, a red rose grows from out the barrel
The criminal escapes through a disappearing door marked
beauty
Exiting the world forevermore
---
WELCOME HOME aka "Promised LAnd"
---
After days of the brain pain I came
With the sell-a-lot plot from the megawatt mainframe
With a suit made of electricity..
With a suit made of electricity
I ran through the Great Wall of China, convincingly
That was after the World Tour..
That was after the World Tour
when I travelled through gravel and battled matter at the Earth's
core
I did the show on a fireball..
I did the show on a fireball, a pioneer
ran into the jungle and jetted wearing a lion's ear
I fought fear where the Hammer of Thor led me..
I fought fear where the Hammer of Thor led me
and tangled with the Angel of Death for four centuries
Put a nameplate on a asteroid belt..
Put a nameplate on a asteroid belt
and I ran through the future with an android's help
That's when civilians were made of metal..
That's when civilians were made of metal
I received the Coronation cause I had the last flower petals
My power settled a clash between races..
My power settled a clash between races
and put good people on the magazine faces
Substituted television scandals with elephants and pandas
tell 'em it's the elegant commando
With a hand so large..
With a hand so big, I punched a sphinx in the nose
in the nose, decomposed, and so the story goes
I smacked a 40o out of a young man's hand..
I smacked a 40 ounce, out of a young man's hand
and fed him lesson's of life to formulate a plan
I wore the Prime Meridian as a wrist band..
I wore the Prime Meridian as a wrist band
and gave away my riches but I still remained a rich man
I thought of freedom and I jetted to the Promised Land..
|3.13.07 @ 8:59AM|#
What a shame. Thirty tros posts ago, this thread had the hope of being interesting.
|3.13.07 @ 9:07AM|#
What a shame. Thirty tros posts ago, this thread had the
hope of being interesting.
Sheesh, I skipped all those essay length posts without even
noticing they were all the same person.
Someone needs a hobby.
|3.13.07 @ 9:28AM|#
Someone needs a hobby.
I think he already has a hobby. I suspect he needs to come down
from that hobby and learn not to post messages while he's
"hobbying".
|3.13.07 @ 9:58AM|#
My problem with "positive liberty" is that it sounds like a
slippery euphemism for "positive rights", which are a very
dangerous concept in a democracy.
Show of hands - who else is sick and tired of scrolling past the
tiresome tros? Who else thinks tros should get his own damned blog,
and quit free-riding on H&R? Who would shed a tear if he got
banned for abusing his privileges as a commenter at H&R?
Robert|3.13.07 @ 10:23AM|#
"A little relaxation of regulation is sometimes worse than none
at all, though. In particular, once the state became involved in
gambling, and came to depend on it as a revenue source, it had an
even greater interest in stomping any competing sort of gambling
out of existence. Thus we reach the current nonsense of arresting
CEOs of foreign gambling companies at US airports."
That's not a problem of relaxation of laws per se, but rather that
once the details are "in play", there will always be doubt at the
margins. It's not that anyone is less free as a result.
|3.13.07 @ 11:34AM|#
"To be effectively idealistic, we must first be
realistic."
In my experience, many libertarians are not interested in being
effective, idealistic or realistic. They are content to know that
they are right. The ability to rail against the stupidity of the
balance of the species is just an added bonus, I suppose.
|3.13.07 @ 11:41AM|#
Jose,
You are my favorite poster on H&R.
Always spot on.
I do think, however, that should be
They are content to "know" that they are "right."
;^)
tros|3.13.07 @ 12:54PM|#
This is my last day living for free (on my academic MERIT
scholarship) in a college dorm. I can't realy do this any
more.
EMERGENCY: Grow a brain.
|3.13.07 @ 1:01PM|#
It's quite simple, actually. Wealthy societies become lazier and more risk-averse. Hence the demand for more government. Of course, this pattern sows the seeds for the destruction of all that wealth, which is well underway in this society and in Europe.
tros|3.13.07 @ 1:07PM|#
"to keep me from becoming conceited because of these
surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my
flesh, a messenger of satan to torment me. three times i pleaded
with the lord to take it away from me. but he said to me 'my grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'
therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so
that christ's power may rest on me. that is why, for christ's sake,
i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions,
in difficulties. for when i am weak, then i am strong."
-2 Corinthians 12:7-10
|3.13.07 @ 2:31PM|#
Just how do egalitarian principles conflict with libertarian
principles?
So long as your egalitarians are interested in equality of
opportunity, there probably isn't much conflict.
Once they move on to equality of result, the conflict is profound
and irreconcilable.
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