Report from Alba

Touring Scotland for the next month with the sole purpose of gleaning nuggets to feed the DB forges.

"Today's world is comprised of two archetypes:
1. Dynamists are people who see 21st century modernity as a basically successful civilisation advancing towards a future that's better than the past. They do not deny that problems exist but they believe we can innovate ourselves throughthem while staying on an ever-richer, ever-more-liberated course.
Dynamists of the left tend to put their faith in technographic government: dynamists of the right, in the genius of the free market. But both assume that modernity is a success story whose best days are ahead.
2. Catastrophists, on the other hand, see a global civilisazion that for all it's achievements is becoming more atomized and more balkanized, more morally bankrupt, more environmentally despoiled. What's more, they believe that things cannot go on as they have, that the trajectory we're on will end in crisis, disaster, degringolade.
Like dynamists, catastrophists can be on the left or the right, stressing different agents of our imminent demise. But they're united in believing that current arrengements are foredoomed, and that only a true revolution can save us."

-Ross Douthat-

Dynamist or catastrophist?

Grand Mal said:

Touring Scotland for the next month with the sole purpose of gleaning nuggets to feed the DB forges.

"Today's world is comprised of two archetypes:
1. Dynamists are people who see 21st century modernity as a basically successful civilisation advancing towards a future that's better than the past. They do not deny that problems exist but they believe we can innovate ourselves throughthem while staying on an ever-richer, ever-more-liberated course.
Dynamists of the left tend to put their faith in technographic government: dynamists of the right, in the genius of the free market. But both assume that modernity is a success story whose best days are ahead.
2. Catastrophists, on the other hand, see a global civilisazion that for all it's achievements is becoming more atomized and more balkanized, more morally bankrupt, more environmentally despoiled. What's more, they believe that things cannot go on as they have, that the trajectory we're on will end in crisis, disaster, degringolade.
Like dynamists, catastrophists can be on the left or the right, stressing different agents of our imminent demise. But they're united in believing that current arrengements are foredoomed, and that only a true revolution can save us."

-Ross Douthat-

Dynamist or catastrophist?

Click to expand...

Responsible Capitalist.( I never allow myself to be pinned down by an A or B questions,reality isn't just black and white,and humans are way to complex for that).
I make tons of money and I give back to the community,give to charity,an do vonunteer work.
Not a lot of people here can make that claim (since I created a thread this morning asking people what they do for their community and not one person responded.
I just turned 50 this past month and I see things as being a lot better than when I was a kid.

Let's be honest,Liberals and Conservative,the Left and the Right have been ruling this country for decades and look where it's gotten.
I believe this country needs less ideologues in charge and more Resposible Capitalists.

Verthaine said:

Responsible Capitalist.( I never allow myself to be pinned down by an A or B questions,reality isn't just black and white,and humans are way to complex for that).
I make tons of money and I give back to the community,give to charity,an do vonunteer work.
Not a lot of people here can make that claim (since I created a thread this morning asking people what they do for their community and not one person responded.
I just turned 50 this past month and I see things as being a lot better than when I was a kid.

Let's be honest,Liberals and Conservative,the Left and the Right have been ruling this country for decades and look where it's gotten.
I believe this country needs less ideologues in charge and more Resposible Capitalists.

Click to expand...

Problem is, the definition for responsible capitalist is likely quite vague, and even if nailed down...you'd be hard pressed to prove that the majority of wealthy business owners are such.

To put it another way...it's because of a complete lack of responsible capitalists that we have and require so much regulation in this country.

KevinKohler said:

Problem is, the definition for responsible capitalist is likely quite vague, and even if nailed down...you'd be hard pressed to prove that the majority of wealthy business owners are such.

Click to expand...

Never stated that it was.
I gave what was my interpretation of what a Responsible Capitalist is.
Is as good as any other defintion.
Make lots of money.give back to the community,give to charity,do volunteer work.
The majority of people here don't even give back to their communities other than taxes,and they even bitch about that.

KevinKohler said:

To put it another way...it's because of a complete lack of responsible capitalists that we have and require so much regulation in this country.

Click to expand...

Bravo! I fully agree.
I am seeing a lot of the Millenials (when they manage to get off their asses and their noses out of a smartphone) starting to embrace Responsible Capitalism.
Gives me hope.

Grand Mal said:

Touring Scotland for the next month with the sole purpose of gleaning nuggets to feed the DB forges.

"Today's world is comprised of two archetypes:
1. Dynamists are people who see 21st century modernity as a basically successful civilisation advancing towards a future that's better than the past. They do not deny that problems exist but they believe we can innovate ourselves throughthem while staying on an ever-richer, ever-more-liberated course.
Dynamists of the left tend to put their faith in technographic government: dynamists of the right, in the genius of the free market. But both assume that modernity is a success story whose best days are ahead.
2. Catastrophists, on the other hand, see a global civilisazion that for all it's achievements is becoming more atomized and more balkanized, more morally bankrupt, more environmentally despoiled. What's more, they believe that things cannot go on as they have, that the trajectory we're on will end in crisis, disaster, degringolade.
Like dynamists, catastrophists can be on the left or the right, stressing different agents of our imminent demise. But they're united in believing that current arrengements are foredoomed, and that only a true revolution can save us."

-Ross Douthat-

Dynamist or catastrophist?

Click to expand...

That's fair enough.

I was so hoping this thread was about Jessica Alba. Oh well.

It's about here.



Looks like a summer morning in Edinburgh... They're islanders singing in Gaelic which most of the locals don't understand.

KevinKohler said:

To put it another way...it's because of a complete lack of responsible capitalists that we have and require so much regulation in this country.

Click to expand...

Can you in any way prove that assertion or is it more of a hasty generalization? I mean, a "complete lack of responsible capitalists"? I think its more human nature. For instance, the Soviet Union was not know for either its responsible or irresponsible capitalists and yet they left their posterity in Russia and the new republics with a lot of environmental degradation.

Humans, capitalists or otherwise require laws/rules... for laws and rules to be practical, they have to be enforced. There have been, without doubt, plenty of responsible capitalists... agreed, depending on what your definition of that is. I would rather say we have a pretty clean environment and that at the same time we are now much over-regulated.

I would venture to say its more the socialist types, ones that would dream of having almost everyone working, in some way or another, for the government, that desire and create more regulations that require additional regulatory jobs be created and sustained. One of the best ways is putting even more rules and regs in necessitating even more workers to enforce the increased set of rules on the one end and more workers filling in/filing the paper work necessitated by the former... both jobs essentially non productive and so a large squandered opportunity cost all the way around.