- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Winter Olympics
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: If you could choose one current "intellectual"
Posted on 2/17/14 at 3:48 pm to SlowFlowPro
Posted on 2/17/14 at 3:48 pm to SlowFlowPro
The way I'm reading that quote is that he SUPPORTS individual decision making. He is against manipulation of the public.
1
Posted on 2/17/14 at 3:50 pm to inadaze
quote:
He is against manipulation of the public.
sheep are manipulated. they follow. that's my point
in the era of the most discerning decision making in American history, i find it difficult to imagine that the public is manipulated in its economic choices. i'm actually trying to develop an article about the niche industries based in discerning taste that have exploded the past decade or so. my newest favorite is single blade shaving, fwiw
Posted on 2/17/14 at 3:53 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
if chomsky's philosophy was correct, no big company would ever fail. big companies cannot fail if the public only makes the choices the big companies tell them to make. if the public makes its own choices, big companies can fail.
You are attributing to Chomsky the idea that ALL current choices are dictated by big companies. Where has he made that claim?
Posted on 2/17/14 at 3:56 pm to inadaze
Chomsky seems to think that there is no evidence tying Bin Laden to the 9/11 attacks. That's enough to discredit any utterances from him, imo.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 3:57 pm to inadaze
let me rephrase it and reverse it
if big companies truly do tell consumers what to purchase, how can smaller companies ever become big?
apple in the 00s is a pretty good example that consumers will make their own choices in terms of goods to revolutionize industries and society. if the bigger companies of the era truly had control, this couldn't occur
you can go through all sorts of things. organic personal electronic devices. food. audio equipment. shaving equipment. etc etc.
if big companies truly do tell consumers what to purchase, how can smaller companies ever become big?
apple in the 00s is a pretty good example that consumers will make their own choices in terms of goods to revolutionize industries and society. if the bigger companies of the era truly had control, this couldn't occur
you can go through all sorts of things. organic personal electronic devices. food. audio equipment. shaving equipment. etc etc.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:05 pm to stuntman
The late but forever pertinent Russell Kirk for his clear headed defining of classical and, if I may indulge an ecclesiastical notion, orthodox Conservatism. Engaging subjects as diverse as "higher" education and architecture Kirk often displayed the effects that trendy liberalism had on such institutions with the inevitable catastrophes resulting. He even managed time for a gentle swipe at someone other than progressives or liberals. Libertarians: Chirping Sectaries
And one "intellectual" to whom I wish we paid no attention at all. Noam Chomsky
And one "intellectual" to whom I wish we paid no attention at all. Noam Chomsky
This post was edited on 2/18/14 at 12:24 am
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:07 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
in the era of the most discerning decision making in American history, i find it difficult to imagine that the public is manipulated in its economic choices. i'm actually trying to develop an article about the niche industries based in discerning taste that have exploded the past decade or so. my newest favorite is single blade shaving, fwiw
Sounds interesting.
I live near a local store that seems to fit this conversation. It's employee-owned (which is what Chomsky advocates). It started off having a small niche organic/health food section, and sales have exploded in recent years, so they just did a huge overhaul of the store to expand the health food section. I'm encouraged by that, and I'd like to see the store eventually flip from the way it started to having a niche section for regular/unhealthy foods. The issue with that happening on a larger scale is that many people don't have the means to buy the healthier foods.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:08 pm to inadaze
quote:
The issue with that happening on a larger scale is that many people don't have the means to buy the healthier foods.
they do. they just choose to use their money elsewhere. healthy food isn't that expensive at the basic level
veggies and most fruit = cheap as shite
buy meat in bulk when on sale and stock up on veggies. not expensive. i'm doing that right now for the most part
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:12 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
thomas sowell, since milton is dead
Sowell was a Marxist for about a decade, even while working under Friedman.
He claims working a summer internship for the federal government cured him of Marxism. This really makes little sense, as Marx believed in the abolishment of the political state and many interpret Marxism as a vehicle to destroy everything about our current system and start over, some of the most studied Marxists will say that Marxism is supposed to self destruct after it defeats capitalism, creating the ultimate freedom.
Anyway, that doesn't really matter too much, the point is that Marx didn't believe in anything that even remotely resembled our federal government, for Sowell to change his beliefs because of an experience working in our government is most silly.
What really exposed Sowell's questionable intellect is his view that Marx was simply a depressed nut because he wrote apocalyptic poetry as a teenager before he had studied the free market.
You don't need to know the name of something to feel like it is wrong.
Imagine watching a movie and not knowing it's name. A quarter of the way through the movie you think, this sucks. You don't need to study cinema and you don't need to know the name of the movie to get the feeling that it's no good.
As a teenager Marx simply had the feeling that this system was no good. Sowell's point against Marx in this case absolutely lacks logic.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:14 pm to Sleeping Tiger
OK, mong...so who is your choice?
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:17 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
they do. they just choose to use their money elsewhere. healthy food isn't that expensive at the basic level
It's correct that healthy food isn't that expensive.
Important to note that truly healthy eaters aren't going to be buying as much nonsense. Bad eaters usually eat more, negating the argument that they don't eat healthy because it's too expensive.
Despite those truths, another truth must be taken into consideration.
The government subsidies GMO and pesticide crops while a farmer has to pay extra to be organic certified.
Corn is subsidized, this turns into your junk food. Almost all your crap food uses corn.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:18 pm to Sleeping Tiger
even with government interference in teh food market, you can still eat healthy cheaply
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:18 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
OK, mong...so who is your choice?
I don't know.
Not Noam.
I wish David Foster Wallace was still alive.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:19 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
if big companies truly do tell consumers what to purchase, how can smaller companies ever become big?
I don't know exactly how Chomsky feels about this, but I don't think he's saying that large companies tell consumers what to purchase across the board. You're implying that he denies that personal choice exists in our society. Surely he doesn't think that.
From what I've read and heard, he is against monopolies of power that subvert choice. I'm not sure about all of his positions in this regard. I've been meaning to read more of his work. I actually don't like listening to him speak so much. I just don't think he has a pleasant voice to listen to.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:22 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
even with government interference in teh food market, you can still eat healthy cheaply
Odd that you'd tell me this when I made two points that supported this notion.
You most definitely can eat healthy without breaking the bank, and a lot of times it's cheaper or the same price as bad food.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:33 pm to inadaze
quote:
I actually don't like listening to him speak so much. I
Glad you feel that way, Noam is an absolutely awful awful terrible awful terrible terrible speaker.
I can't stand 2 minutes of him anymore.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:34 pm to inadaze
quote:
From what I've read and heard, he is against monopolies of power that subvert choice.
that doesn't exist now, though
but to get back to my overall point about "sheep". this argument regarding PR is exactly the argument about sheep that i was discussing. sheep follow PR, so we have to enact policies to protect them (to summarize)
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:35 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
veggies and most fruit = cheap as shite
Yes, and I think that is a better option than the overly processed middle aisles of a typical store.
But, this is the thing - Take your typical poor person/family (that will mean different things to people, and I don't know exactly how to define it for this conversation) - if they are used to eating and drinking rich foods and drinks filled with sugar and various strange ingredients that make the product more palatable, the idea of transitioning to a bland diet of fruits and vegetables doesn't seem that appealing.
And many poor people live near stores that don't offer much beyond bland basics.
However, this store near my house is chock-full of all sorts of healthy foods beyond the basics. If you have access to that wide range of healthy foods that actually taste really fricking good, it will be much easier to eat a healthy diet.
But, like Whole Foods, this section of the store is more expensive on average.
What I'm saying is - I agree with you. But, poverty and access to this type of range of good-tasting foods are huge factors. Many more people would eat better if they had the money and the access.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:39 pm to REG861
quote:
Chomsky seems to think that there is no evidence tying Bin Laden to the 9/11 attacks. That's enough to discredit any utterances from him, imo.
I liked Chomsky at a time, not a fan of him anymore.
But in regards to this, I think he's petrified of being branded a 'conspiracy' guy. He's already so very old, if he gets slapped with the conspiracy tag it destroys the credibility of his life's work. I'd bet that's how he feels.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 4:45 pm to inadaze
I am going to vote for Noam also.
I dont agree with most of what he says, but like Ron Paul, his message can resonate with disparate groups. Plus the man is brilliant. A young chomsky completely frustrated buckley in the late 60s, basically wtih buckley at the end saying he wanted to sock noam.
He has faltered quite a bit in the last few years though.
finally he does not like Obama. We went to see chomsky speak last year and he spent a good half of it bashing obama.
I dont agree with most of what he says, but like Ron Paul, his message can resonate with disparate groups. Plus the man is brilliant. A young chomsky completely frustrated buckley in the late 60s, basically wtih buckley at the end saying he wanted to sock noam.
He has faltered quite a bit in the last few years though.
finally he does not like Obama. We went to see chomsky speak last year and he spent a good half of it bashing obama.
Page 5 of 7
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News