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16 | <h1>Do Not Accept the Weak State of Mind in Our Time</h1> |
17 | <div class="contents"> |
18 | <dl> |
19 | <dt> |
20 | <a href="#sec1">The Basis of My Philosophy</a> |
21 | </dt> |
22 | <dt> |
23 | <a href="#sec2">The Current Economic and Political Structure Is Broken</a> |
24 | </dt> |
25 | <dd> |
26 | <dl> |
27 | <dt> |
28 | <a href="#sec3">The Government of the Unites States</a> |
29 | </dt> |
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30 | <dd> |
31 | <dl> |
32 | <dt> |
33 | <a href="#sec4">Healthcare <em>Reform</em></a> |
34 | </dt> |
35 | </dl> |
36 | </dd> |
2aff8b5c |
37 | <dt> |
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38 | <a href="#sec5">Capitalism is Intrinsically Evil</a> |
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39 | </dt> |
40 | </dl> |
41 | </dd> |
42 | <dt> |
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43 | <a href="#sec6">Misc</a> |
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44 | </dt> |
45 | <dd> |
46 | <dl> |
47 | <dt> |
4863a6da |
48 | <a href="#sec7">Long Term Copyright Causes Harm to Society (<code>Draft Revision 2</code>)</a> |
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49 | </dt> |
50 | <dt> |
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51 | <a href="#sec8">Fewer Laws Are Better</a> |
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52 | </dt> |
53 | <dd> |
54 | <dl> |
55 | <dt> |
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56 | <a href="#sec9">Individuals should not have their actions regulated</a> |
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57 | </dt> |
58 | <dt> |
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59 | <a href="#sec10">Corporations must have their actions heavily regulated</a> |
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60 | </dt> |
61 | </dl> |
62 | </dd> |
63 | </dl> |
64 | </dd> |
65 | <dt> |
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66 | <a href="#sec11">Social Ills</a> |
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67 | </dt> |
68 | <dd> |
69 | <dl> |
70 | <dt> |
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71 | <a href="#sec12">Mass Culture</a> |
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72 | </dt> |
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73 | <dd> |
74 | <dl> |
75 | <dt> |
76 | <a href="#sec13">The Talking Heads</a> |
77 | </dt> |
78 | </dl> |
79 | </dd> |
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80 | <dt> |
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81 | <a href="#sec14">The Automobile</a> |
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82 | </dt> |
83 | <dt> |
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84 | <a href="#sec15">Learned Ignorance and Weakness</a> |
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85 | </dt> |
86 | </dl> |
87 | </dd> |
88 | </dl> |
89 | </div> |
90 | |
91 | |
92 | <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here --><p>I have views that could perhaps be seen as odd. Do note that I am <strong>not</strong> |
93 | a liberal; nor am I a conservative. I do not buy into the traditional |
94 | socieconomic dipole scale, and I also reject the <em>political compass</em> two |
95 | dimensional scale; my political belief system could best be described |
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96 | as <em>curmudgeonly bastard</em> if you must have a label for it. This is only |
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97 | because being a curmudgeonly bastard isn't an ideology, but rather a |
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98 | broad set of ideas centered around the rejection of traditional |
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99 | political and social structures (<em>i.e</em> hating everything). I reject the |
100 | <em>ressentiment</em> (lookit I'm Nietzsche) of traditional anarchism and |
101 | believe not that every man should have no master (for then <em>all</em> would |
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102 | be weak), but rather that he should be his own master (does that even |
103 | <em>mean</em> anything? Eh, it sounds nice so who cares).</p> |
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104 | |
105 | <p>These short essays are mere stubs I wrote a long while ago, and each |
106 | will perhaps be extended in the future.</p> |
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107 | |
108 | <h2><a name="sec1" id="sec1"></a> |
109 | <a href="Wisdom.html">The Basis of My Philosophy</a></h2> |
110 | |
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111 | <p class="first">I read some things and thought they were cool. Now I can make people |
112 | think I'm smarter than I really am.</p> |
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113 | |
114 | |
115 | <h2><a name="sec2" id="sec2"></a> |
116 | The Current Economic and Political Structure Is Broken</h2> |
117 | |
118 | <h3><a name="sec3" id="sec3"></a> |
119 | The Government of the Unites States</h3> |
120 | |
121 | <p class="first">I feel that the government in the United States is very close to being |
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122 | broken beyond repair (perhaps this is a bit conservative, but one must |
123 | hope). As it stands the government above the local level (and even |
124 | there!) ignores the individual citizen and instead is only forced to |
125 | do anything by large scale action. As far as the individual is |
126 | concerned we no longer live in a Republic, but rather in an Plutocracy |
127 | which is quickly descending into something far worse.</p> |
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128 | |
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129 | <h4><a name="sec4" id="sec4"></a> |
130 | Healthcare <em>Reform</em></h4> |
131 | |
132 | <p class="first">Upon airing my objections to the current Healthcare <em>Reform</em> bill, I was |
133 | asked: did you read the bill? To which I replied with action and read |
134 | <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3590&tab=summary">the official summary of the bill</a>. And now I ask those who asked me if |
135 | I had read it: have <em>you</em> read it. I received as a reply an unequivocal: |
136 | <em>why should I have to</em>.</p> |
137 | |
138 | <p>Fun fact: it isn't as bad as some people make it seem, but guess what? |
139 | <em>It does nothing beneficial to the individual</em>. All it does it require |
140 | that anyone over 30 purchase insurance, severely restricts the usage |
141 | of Health Savings Accounts (which, may be not so bad—I have no |
142 | opinion on their usefulness... but <em>Republicans</em> created them so they |
143 | <em>must</em> be <em>evil</em>), and is generally a piece of hey-look-I-did-something |
144 | (but nothing goes into effect until I am out of office) |
145 | legislation. This has never happened before, obviously. We are on the |
146 | surface of Mars now too didn't you know.</p> |
147 | |
148 | <p>Meanwhile there is what amounts to no price controls, an actual <em>ban</em> on |
149 | the formation of State run healthcare (until 2017, and then only at |
150 | the discretion of the HHS secretary), and token (unfunded) support for |
151 | the formation of healthcare cooperatives. There are some taxes on |
152 | large drug makers, but the research required by the FDA for drug |
153 | approval is <em>tax deductible</em> (and so the larger drug makers can avoid |
154 | most of the new taxes, har). And... an excise tax on overly fancy |
155 | healthcare plans... more or less, a nice bill that, if it manages to |
156 | not be overturned by 2018, will do absolutely nothing one way or the |
157 | other.</p> |
158 | |
159 | <p>It is obvious that I am indeed a dirty Nazi redneck terrorist |
160 | teabagger Republican piece of shit who hates the poor and black |
161 | people. I guess it's time for my white ass to move to Iran and see how |
162 | I like it there!</p> |
163 | |
164 | |
165 | |
166 | <h3><a name="sec5" id="sec5"></a> |
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167 | Capitalism is Intrinsically Evil</h3> |
168 | |
169 | <p class="first">Cooperation is better than exploitation. How can one justify an |
170 | economic system based upon paying others as little as possible in an |
171 | attempt to make the most profit from their labor so as to make some |
172 | profit?</p> |
173 | |
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174 | <p>But then again, what does <em>evil</em> mean?</p> |
175 | |
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176 | |
177 | |
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178 | <h2><a name="sec6" id="sec6"></a> |
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179 | Misc</h2> |
180 | |
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181 | <h3><a name="sec7" id="sec7"></a> |
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182 | Long Term Copyright Causes Harm to Society (<code>Draft Revision 2</code>)</h3> |
183 | |
184 | |
185 | |
186 | |
187 | |
188 | <p>It is straightforward to calculate a fair cost for material goods. The |
189 | material cost follows from the materials, and the labor cost generally |
190 | derives from the complexity of construction. The fixed price for each |
191 | item consists of both of these factors. Thus it is trivial to ensure |
192 | that a craftsman is fairly compensated for his effort.</p> |
193 | |
194 | |
195 | |
196 | |
197 | <p>Creative works must have their value calculated via a more circuitous |
198 | route. The physical form of a creative work is of little importance; |
199 | the ideas it represents are. The material and direct labor costs |
200 | (printing, binding, etc.) are thus so small as to be of negligible |
201 | importance when calculating value. There is effectively no objective |
202 | way to place value on abstract work; all the value judgements we can |
203 | make are subjective. We must then rely on irrational human valuations |
204 | to determine the value on their own.</p> |
205 | |
206 | |
207 | |
208 | |
209 | |
210 | |
211 | |
212 | |
213 | |
214 | <p>Creative works are fundamentally different from concrete works. A |
215 | painting may inspire others start a new stylistic movement, the |
216 | structure of a story may cause the formation of a new literary form, |
217 | an essay may incite a new political movement, etc. Creative works |
218 | weave themselves into the mental fabric of each individual exposed to |
219 | them in a way that material goods cannot. A book may change your life; |
220 | a table will never do that. This suggests that the abstract concepts |
221 | which compose a work have a strange nature and great value. Those who |
222 | control the distribution of creative works wield great power as a |
223 | result of the ability of ideas to change the individual.</p> |
224 | |
225 | <p>After a certain period of time the physical manifestation of a |
226 | creative work loses commercial value. New art is being created |
227 | continually, and no one can be expected to read every important book |
228 | written, see every film, and so on for other areas. When a work ceases |
229 | to be profitable to publish distribution ceases. Allowing abstract |
230 | works to simply drop from the market creates a serious problem. New |
231 | ideas are built upon old ones, and after ideas have assimilated into |
232 | the collective concious it is important to be able to go back to the |
233 | old ideas and analyze them to understand the present culture. If a |
234 | work is no longer available it is impossible to do this. Thus works |
235 | that are no longer being commercially exploited should become the |
236 | property of the public so that any worth preserving will be preserved |
237 | by <em>someone</em> and avoid death.</p> |
238 | |
239 | |
240 | |
241 | |
242 | <p>Copyright manages to work fairly well for ensuring creators are |
243 | compensated for their effort, preventing abuse of creator rights to |
244 | the detriment of society, and ensuring that works will become public |
245 | property after they are commercially unprofitable. Irrational human |
246 | judgements over time often work well, and so giving exclusive right to |
247 | copy a work makes sense for a period of time to allow society to |
248 | determine its monetary value. The fair use provisions of copyright |
249 | give society reasonable leeway in the use of the ideas contained |
250 | within a work while the work is protected, and this allows society to |
251 | continue enriching its creative culture. The limited term of copyright |
252 | and ensuing reversion to the public domain prevents the cultural |
253 | stagnation and the loss of history that would result from works |
254 | becoming unavailable.</p> |
255 | |
256 | |
257 | |
258 | |
259 | |
260 | |
261 | <p>The term of copyright must be finely balanced between the need to |
262 | ensure creators have enough time to receive fair compensation for |
263 | their effort, and the desire to avoid cultural stagnation from |
264 | unavailable works. The term must be short enough that a work will not |
265 | be unavailable for too long after commercial interest dies. Every year |
266 | that passes where the work isn't being published tends to reduce the |
267 | number of copies in existence. It must also be long enough that a |
268 | creator can profit according to the value that society puts upon his |
269 | work.</p> |
270 | |
271 | <p>A term should be just long enough that a work will fall out of |
272 | copyright when physical copies are still likely to exist. A man may |
273 | keep his book collection unto his death, but his children may simply |
274 | sell them off or discard them after he departs the mortal |
275 | coil. Intuitive judgement says that things that are worth entering the |
276 | public domain will be preserved by someone for at least his life. A |
277 | person who has creative works in his posession is often attached to |
278 | them and will keep the ones he likes the most for as long as possible |
279 | (e.g. my music collection is backed up in flac so that I will be able |
280 | to listen to my music forever). After he dies there is a large |
281 | increase in the chance that the works will perish unless he by chance |
282 | made special arrangements to have them preserved.</p> |
283 | |
284 | <p>A generation then seems to be a reasonable term; how many things are |
285 | really commercially viable after thirty years? Some works may be |
286 | relevant to the children of the generation who created them; it seems |
287 | reasonable then that if a work is still commercially viable after a |
288 | generation then the creator deserves to retain copyright for a second |
289 | generation. It is questionable whether more terms would be good |
290 | (issues of supression of information, right to profit, etc. come into |
291 | play), but they can't quite be ruled out. A renewal system with a span |
292 | of roughly thirty years ensures that a work will be out of publication |
293 | for at most a generation's time. This appears to be a good balance |
294 | between the right of the creator and the desire to keep knowledge from |
295 | dying (from my eyes).</p> |
296 | |
297 | <p>The works of the current generation, their parents, their |
298 | grandparents, and their great-grandparents are still copyrighted in |
299 | the US. Works created in the present will be copyrighted for the |
300 | lifetime of the author and seventy years after; a span of roughly six |
301 | generations.</p> |
302 | |
303 | |
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304 | <h3><a name="sec8" id="sec8"></a> |
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305 | Fewer Laws Are Better</h3> |
306 | |
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307 | <h4><a name="sec9" id="sec9"></a> |
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308 | Individuals should not have their actions regulated</h4> |
309 | |
310 | |
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311 | <h4><a name="sec10" id="sec10"></a> |
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312 | Corporations must have their actions heavily regulated</h4> |
313 | |
314 | <p class="first">Corporate power disrupts the functioning of a free society. If the |
315 | power wielded by a corporation were merely the sum of the individuals |
316 | that composed it there would be little issue; the fundamental problem |
317 | is that the benefits of gaining access to mass production facilities |
318 | and a huge workforce that can be forced to cooperate on certain goals |
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319 | gives a large corporation much more than this.</p> |
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320 | |
321 | <h5>Corporate Personhood should be revoked</h5> |
322 | |
323 | |
324 | <h5>Corporations should not be allowed to influence politics</h5> |
325 | |
326 | |
327 | |
328 | |
329 | |
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330 | <h2><a name="sec11" id="sec11"></a> |
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331 | Social Ills</h2> |
332 | |
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333 | <h3><a name="sec12" id="sec12"></a> |
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334 | Mass Culture</h3> |
335 | |
336 | <p class="first">American culture in the early 1900s began to homogenize, and now there |
337 | is a single massive culture that almost all three hundred million |
338 | people in the country share. This presents problems to those who do |
339 | not fit in; in the days of the self sufficient village one could move |
340 | to another location to find people similar to him, but now there is |
341 | nowhere to go. Everywhere a <em>social deviant</em> goes he will feel alienated |
342 | and have his social options severely limited.</p> |
343 | |
344 | <p>A monoculture reduces the rate of idea formation, and ours is actively |
345 | hostile toward anything not falling in line with the |
346 | mainstream. People are trained to act as a mass instead of as |
347 | individuals; this results in far less creative people. Critical |
348 | thinking is not encouraged; no, it is far worse! Critical thinking is |
349 | discouraged, and those of us who wish to argue our points with logic |
350 | are met with the undefeatable enemy of a closed mind that has been |
351 | exposed to propaganda from birth.</p> |
352 | |
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353 | <h4><a name="sec13" id="sec13"></a> |
354 | The Talking Heads</h4> |
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355 | |
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356 | <p class="first">Poison the well. Burn a strawman.</p> |
357 | |
358 | <p>This is real argument. Real thought.</p> |
359 | |
360 | |
361 | |
362 | <h3><a name="sec14" id="sec14"></a> |
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363 | The Automobile</h3> |
364 | |
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366 | |
367 | |
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388 | |
389 | |
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390 | <h3><a name="sec15" id="sec15"></a> |
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391 | Learned Ignorance and Weakness</h3> |
392 | |
393 | <p><a href="Old%20Viewpoints.html">obsolete</a></p> |
394 | |
395 | <p><a href="TRUTH.html">TRUTH</a></p> |
396 | |
397 | |
398 | |
399 | <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse ends here --> |
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424 | |
4863a6da |
425 | <p class="cke-footer">Corinne: this is why we should have designated bath buddies |
426 | Corinne: to get places you cant reach because youre slippery and in |
427 | case you get a lil tooo slippery and crack your head open |
428 | someone can call the coast guard and save you |
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429 | </p> |
430 | <p class="cke-timestamp">Last Modified: |
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431 | April 4, 2010</p> |
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432 | </body> |
433 | </html> |