- Authoritarianism. It doesn’t merely appear to be growing. It scarily is. (H/T RG)
- Absurdities of background check laws.
- Speaking of cruelly absurd laws, here’s a test that’s been around a while (courtesy of Joe Huffman), but it a good one to keep in mind. Would proposed new law X, Y, or Z pass the Jews in the attic test?
- The DOJ is ending the use of private prisons after a scathing report (pdf) found them dangerous to both prisoners and guards. (Outsourcing statism also outsources accountability.)
- A mayor (Republican, says the WaPost in shock), helps the homeless and the community, as well. (Okay, he does it with taxpayers’ money, but still this is creative problem solving.)
- But of course the bold volunteer help of neighbors is best of all. (After the horror stories from Katrina about desperate people being forced — by government rescuers — to abandon or even kill their pets, it’s especially heartening to see these boatloads of dogs, cats, sheep, and goats.)
- You see, Joel. They don’t love us only because we have opposable thumbs and can openers. Sometimes they just love us.
Ending the use of private prisons is good. Ending the imprisonment of people who committed no real crime (harm of person or property) would be much better.
Touching as the dog study may be, such “research” is always extremely limited because there are so many variables that can’t be reasonably measured and so, are not included in the calculations.
I suspect the findings would be very different if these pups were truly hungry, just for starters. And if they had ever been abused, all bets are off. It took me nearly three years to teach my “rescue” dog to come to me most of the time, and he’s still unreliable if he gets excited or frightened. Even offering a “cookie” is no guarantee he’ll come to me after all this time, and may never be. But I love him anyway. 🙂
Neighbors helping neighbors. What a concept! I’ve witnessed a number of tragedies (flood, house fire, tornado) where neighbors and loved ones then swooped in to help. In less than a week the person’s life was pretty much back to ‘normal’. Absolutely amazing what a small army of friends and neighbors can do for one another.
I agree with ML, there are way too many variables in the dog studies. The individual bond with the owners will primarily affect whether or not the dog prefers praise. There have been many, many examples of dogs saving humans in distress. The most likely – and riotously funny – conclusion from that study is that the dogs knew the people were faking. And if test dogs had not been taught the meaning of the word “notebook,” how were they supposed to know that’s what the owners wanted? “Science” is a real hoot sometimes. Under Most Viewed Stories on the site that had the notebook study is “What It’s Like to Be a Celibate Pedophile.” Another hoot. If anyone wants to waste time reading it and writing about it, I’ll read their writing.
A “celibate pedophile?” I guess pretty much anything is possible, but I really don’t care who or what they are… as long as they kept his/her hands to themselves in my presence…
re: “Liberal Democracy and its discontents” —
The problem is, people confuse an Almighty State where 51% believe they can dictate to the remaining 49% with something resembling the sole purpose of government being “to secure these Rights.”
If anything, they are very much negatively correlated.
The link “Liberal Democracy and its Discontents” IMHO speaks a lot of truth to what is happening in the world and the US today.
There has been a lot of debate about whether America is special or even great or ever has been or can be made great again; IMHO America has lost whatever so called greatness it may have had because of the failure of all of our institutions in not being able to do any longer what Alexis de Tocqueville said made it great;
“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”
He also said;
“The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That is a commonplace truth, but one to which my studies are always bringing me back. It is the central point in my conception. I see it at the end of all my reflections.”
Therefore if this be true could it be assumed that the lack of morals can also make the best of constitutions not work?
I also thought (at first) that the article on “Authoritarianism” was flawed because they seemed to assume that “democracy equaled freedom” which I do not believe it does, although I am not disagreeing that authoritarianism is not rising. I guess the new term (to me) to describe using a voting majority (mob rule) to enact tyranny is “illiberal democracy” but if they use a voting majority to enact “freedom”, it is a “liberal democracy” or just “democracy” for short. The article makes more sense to me with that understanding.
Interesting that someone is finally trying to come to grips (through the redefinition or expansion of terms), with the failure of “Democracy” (I mean illiberal democracy) in providing liberty.
Maybe I am just old and slow in learning.
Thanks for “The Jews In The Attic Test”. It was new to me and worthy of remembering and passing along, which I will.
OT: Coping with “White Fragility” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3747572/Seattle-classes-white-fragility-sold-out.html
Kinda related;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnP2-ntvIlY
– Authoritarianism
The author seems to have figured it out. America is dying. Many think it will collapse. I’m leaning toward war. Of course one of the articles he sites speaks of Wilson but truly it was the mass murderer on the right Lincoln, who destroyed that writer’s precious republic. America was dying back then, and so we fought.
My suspicion is; that the eager importation of foreign military age men who have no intent of attempting to adapt to European or American life is on purpose. The left has no guns, doesn’t know how to use them and is scared to fight. We “need” a good solid war in order to repudiate all this debt and avoid collapse.
But how to get an enemy, so that they can save their own skin, is the ruling class problem. Hmm, what to do? Islamism? Solved. A majority of America will not submit to sharia. I’m surprised Europe has gone this long but alas, they have been disarmed. Hang on to your guns boys and girls, collapse into feudal debt slavery or no, this will be ugly.
Just a working theory.
The Jews in the Attic test clarifies things quite a bit, doesn’t it?
Whittle is a treasure.
The founding fathers were well aware of the tyranny of unrestrained democracy. That this awareness has been so overshadowed by “Democracy” being worshiped as the ultimate good does not bode well.
I was thinking today, I really like the new blog design much better than the old one! I needed something uplifting.
I have to agree, bad things are coming, and they weigh on me every day. “Anguish of spirit” is how Patrick Henry so eloquently put it. http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html
Taking Democracy for granted may have caused a loss of respect on the part of millenials; I don’t know. But wandering off into using as justification the strange characterizations for Trump and LePen as xenophobes is silly. What’s not to resent against those who would destroy your own culture? Rational self-interest in your own way of life is not xenophobia.
A question I have been asking for some forty years: What gun control laws have ever served to reduce the rate of violent crime involving firearms? So far, no answer.
Thanks for the “Jews in the attic” article. Much appreciated.
It’s good to see the “Jews in the attic” test again. Still valid.
I went and reread the “Authoritarianism” article. Totten notes that millennials might not fear authoritarianism enough because they didn’t live beside Nazi Germany or the USSR. He misses the complement, that they might not admire democracy because the current “democracies” aren’t providing much to admire.