Because everything in our history tells us that we should treat authority with skepticism? Don't get me wrong -- I have respect for our institutions (one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do was to sit in the House gallery and watch a session) but I don't have automatic respect for "authority". Authority should be questioned and viewed with skepticism. Would you not question this guy? How about this dude?
but neither do I think western versions of 'democracy' is as great as everyone makes them out to be
Winston Churchill said something like "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." Our system isn't perfect but it beats living in China, Russia, Burma or Saudi Arabia. Can you think of another system of Government anywhere in the World that sprung up on the basic premise that the individual has inalienable rights and can limit the power that the Government has over him?
We don't always manage to live up to the ideals outlined in our documents (the Magna Carta and US Declaration of Independence being my two favorites) -- but I do think that on balance the Western World is still the place where I want to live.
As a British citizen I don't feel like I had a choice in things like whether we went to war in Iraq, or any number of issues
Eh, Democracy doesn't mean that you always get what you want. I had a voice through my Congressman and Senators. Congressman voted against it -- Senators both voted for it. Presumably you had your MP? Did you write to him? Contact his office? Picket outside?
I have never voted either, so some will say "then you can't complain"
I wouldn't say that you can't complain but I would encourage you to still get out there and vote. I'm pretty disillusioned with my choices this year but I'll still find the ten minutes to go out and vote for the people whom I think will do the least amount of damage. What more can you do?
There is even some kind of urban myth over there which says that Bittorrent will wear off your hard drive because of excessive hard drive activity.
At least they don't believe that electric fans will consume all of the oxygen in the room and kill you in your sleep;) No, I didn't make that up either!
Waco is a dumb comparison. Kent State is better (protesters being shot by troops) but even still..... situation that gets out of hand resulting in four deaths compared to a situation where the Government sent in the troops with the specific mission of cracking down on the protesters and which ended in hundreds of deaths.
There's no telling what the Russians are up to today as well
I'd be all for a Great Firewall of Russia if said firewall would cut down on the spam and the ssh hacking attempts that always seem to come from Russian IP addresses.
I doubt any of those complaining about the way the Chinese government operate have much experience running even small projects, let alone a country with >1 billion population
Lack of experience running a country of >1 billion people didn't stop Mao from trying his hand at running the place. How'd that work out again?
different concepts of respect and authority
Japan had a culture not far removed from a feudal system (complete with the Emperor supposedly descended from the gods) just 70 years ago and today it's a functional and stable Democracy. So I don't know if I buy the argument that there is something unique about Chinese culture that isn't compatible with Democracy.
basically I don't really see any respect for authority in the western world, we're always complaining about the way things are done
Isn't that the point? We aren't supposed to trust or respect authority.
This could also be applied to literacy, you know. Or any other kind of knowledge.
Knowledge != generic modification. If you know something that I don't know that would give you an advantage at work I'm free to learn it. If you have been genetically modified in such a way that you gain an advantage (maybe you don't need sleep any longer?) how am I supposed to compete with that?
Most sex-related crimes (rape, sexual assault, molestation, indecent exposure) are state crimes, not federal ones and so the vast majority of these wonderful people go to state prison. Similarly, most violent offenses are state, not federal.
What does prison rape have to do with sex-related crimes? I've always been under the impression that prison rape is more of a power/ego type thing and has little to do with sex offenders..... In fact aren't sex offenders usually on the receiving end of prison rape and/or assaults? They aren't well regarded in prison from what I've been told, particularly ones who have assaulted a child in the past.
Hell other than perhaps being a cop or CO I'm hard pressed to think of anything worse then being a known rapist/child molester in general population....
It's one of the sickest little bits of our culture that prison rape jokes aren't considered offensive.
See, I've always thought one of the sickest bits of our culture is people that can't laugh at a good joke and whom insist on dumbing everything down with political correctness.
And I thought the only reason they were trying to sneak into this country was to get a Visa card..... hmmph, guess it must be something else;)
Can't really blame the Mexicans though. They want to escape their downtrodden country and go somewhere with economic security and prospects for the future..... and the only way to get to Canada from Mexico is to go through the United States;)
I know you were just quoting Office Space but in reality no Federal prison (not even the white-collar golf course kind) allows for conjugal visits.
Granted, I'd still rather be in white-collar Federal prison than Federal-pound-me-in-the-ass or state prison. WTF was he thinking when he escaped? This white-collar miniumum security work camp is to tough? I'm sure he'll be going to pound-me-in-the-ass prison if they catch him.....
True, but only because the governments of Western nations impose all sorts of enviromental regulations making it too cost prohibited to manufacture locally.
You mean making it cheaper to manufacture overseas.
I could agree that population control is part of of the role of a government
Yes because we don't have enough Governmental control over our lives as it is..... let's give them the power to regulate our reproductive systems as well. Granted, I know what you are trying to say but how do you enforce it without stepping on peoples rights?
But I'd like to remind you that China has a population control policy and that most people in western countries criticize the Chinese government for that
There's a lot to criticize. Do you not find forced sterilizations (confirmed by many independent researchers) and abortions (not confirmed to the best of my knowledge but commonly rumored) abhorrent? Look at what happened to all the parents that lost their only child during the recent earthquake in Sichuan province. Now the Government is going to offer to reverse some of those forced sterilizations. How nice of them.
Anyway, you can't have it both ways. It's either per capita for each country, or total for each country. You can't compare the US to Canada on a per capita basis, and then compare the US to China on a total basis. It's one or the other.
So I have to pretend that China has zero impact on the environment just because my country is more developed and releases more CO2 per capita? Yeah, that's logical......
Slashdot Mirror
Why shouldn't we respect authority?
Because everything in our history tells us that we should treat authority with skepticism? Don't get me wrong -- I have respect for our institutions (one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do was to sit in the House gallery and watch a session) but I don't have automatic respect for "authority". Authority should be questioned and viewed with skepticism. Would you not question this guy? How about this dude?
but neither do I think western versions of 'democracy' is as great as everyone makes them out to be
Winston Churchill said something like "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." Our system isn't perfect but it beats living in China, Russia, Burma or Saudi Arabia. Can you think of another system of Government anywhere in the World that sprung up on the basic premise that the individual has inalienable rights and can limit the power that the Government has over him?
We don't always manage to live up to the ideals outlined in our documents (the Magna Carta and US Declaration of Independence being my two favorites) -- but I do think that on balance the Western World is still the place where I want to live.
As a British citizen I don't feel like I had a choice in things like whether we went to war in Iraq, or any number of issues
Eh, Democracy doesn't mean that you always get what you want. I had a voice through my Congressman and Senators. Congressman voted against it -- Senators both voted for it. Presumably you had your MP? Did you write to him? Contact his office? Picket outside?
I have never voted either, so some will say "then you can't complain"
I wouldn't say that you can't complain but I would encourage you to still get out there and vote. I'm pretty disillusioned with my choices this year but I'll still find the ten minutes to go out and vote for the people whom I think will do the least amount of damage. What more can you do?
There is even some kind of urban myth over there which says that Bittorrent will wear off your hard drive because of excessive hard drive activity.
At least they don't believe that electric fans will consume all of the oxygen in the room and kill you in your sleep ;) No, I didn't make that up either!
Waco is a dumb comparison. Kent State is better (protesters being shot by troops) but even still..... situation that gets out of hand resulting in four deaths compared to a situation where the Government sent in the troops with the specific mission of cracking down on the protesters and which ended in hundreds of deaths.
This is different from the Daily Kos how exactly?
The Great Orange Satan isn't backed up by guys with guns.
There's no telling what the Russians are up to today as well
I'd be all for a Great Firewall of Russia if said firewall would cut down on the spam and the ssh hacking attempts that always seem to come from Russian IP addresses.
it is a stricter version of laws that require hosting services to take down kiddie porn here in the US.
Yes, because outlawing kiddie porn is really comparable to outlawing speech that's critical of the Government.
I doubt any of those complaining about the way the Chinese government operate have much experience running even small projects, let alone a country with >1 billion population
Lack of experience running a country of >1 billion people didn't stop Mao from trying his hand at running the place. How'd that work out again?
different concepts of respect and authority
Japan had a culture not far removed from a feudal system (complete with the Emperor supposedly descended from the gods) just 70 years ago and today it's a functional and stable Democracy. So I don't know if I buy the argument that there is something unique about Chinese culture that isn't compatible with Democracy.
basically I don't really see any respect for authority in the western world, we're always complaining about the way things are done
Isn't that the point? We aren't supposed to trust or respect authority.
Then why do we prohibit steroids in sports?
Again, I'll ask, what if I don't want to be genetically modified?
Trying to come up with a justification for seeking some grant money?
This could also be applied to literacy, you know. Or any other kind of knowledge.
Knowledge != generic modification. If you know something that I don't know that would give you an advantage at work I'm free to learn it. If you have been genetically modified in such a way that you gain an advantage (maybe you don't need sleep any longer?) how am I supposed to compete with that?
Most sex-related crimes (rape, sexual assault, molestation, indecent exposure) are state crimes, not federal ones and so the vast majority of these wonderful people go to state prison. Similarly, most violent offenses are state, not federal.
What does prison rape have to do with sex-related crimes? I've always been under the impression that prison rape is more of a power/ego type thing and has little to do with sex offenders..... In fact aren't sex offenders usually on the receiving end of prison rape and/or assaults? They aren't well regarded in prison from what I've been told, particularly ones who have assaulted a child in the past.
Hell other than perhaps being a cop or CO I'm hard pressed to think of anything worse then being a known rapist/child molester in general population....
Why are there 2.1 million people in jail
Because our Government is so upright it wants to regulate what substances consenting adults can put into their bodies?
It's one of the sickest little bits of our culture that prison rape jokes aren't considered offensive.
See, I've always thought one of the sickest bits of our culture is people that can't laugh at a good joke and whom insist on dumbing everything down with political correctness.
And I thought the only reason they were trying to sneak into this country was to get a Visa card..... hmmph, guess it must be something else ;)
Can't really blame the Mexicans though. They want to escape their downtrodden country and go somewhere with economic security and prospects for the future..... and the only way to get to Canada from Mexico is to go through the United States ;)
Metric or standard years?
It was supposed to be standard but they coded it as metric so the probe is prolly gonna get to Mars a few months early ;)
I know you were just quoting Office Space but in reality no Federal prison (not even the white-collar golf course kind) allows for conjugal visits.
Granted, I'd still rather be in white-collar Federal prison than Federal-pound-me-in-the-ass or state prison. WTF was he thinking when he escaped? This white-collar miniumum security work camp is to tough? I'm sure he'll be going to pound-me-in-the-ass prison if they catch him.....
Ah, yes! I failed it too! Wonderful. Somebody mod my prior post into oblivion.
For the record, use the ampersand (&) symbol followed by gt; to make a greater than symbol while posting in html mode.
Next time try using &>
I mean who in their right mind would object to anyone snorting coke on their desk?
I would. Everybody knows that the best way to snort coke is off a hookers ass. Didn't you learn anything in college? ;)
Maybe we can just agree that you get to keep your handguns and I get to get married.
I don't get the connection. Are you suggesting that people who are pro-gun are automatically anti-gay?
I just damn well hope that Wikipedia link isn't needed for anyone to get the joke.
You'd be surprised ;)
The benevolent Americans demand that you give us Space Flight and Atomic Theory or else we will have to crush your puny civilization!
I think the Japanese learned first hand about atomic theory from the benevolent Americans ;)
(Yes, I'm going straight to hell....)
True, but only because the governments of Western nations impose all sorts of enviromental regulations making it too cost prohibited to manufacture locally.
You mean making it cheaper to manufacture overseas.
I could agree that population control is part of of the role of a government
Yes because we don't have enough Governmental control over our lives as it is..... let's give them the power to regulate our reproductive systems as well. Granted, I know what you are trying to say but how do you enforce it without stepping on peoples rights?
But I'd like to remind you that China has a population control policy and that most people in western countries criticize the Chinese government for that
There's a lot to criticize. Do you not find forced sterilizations (confirmed by many independent researchers) and abortions (not confirmed to the best of my knowledge but commonly rumored) abhorrent? Look at what happened to all the parents that lost their only child during the recent earthquake in Sichuan province. Now the Government is going to offer to reverse some of those forced sterilizations. How nice of them.
Anyway, you can't have it both ways. It's either per capita for each country, or total for each country. You can't compare the US to Canada on a per capita basis, and then compare the US to China on a total basis. It's one or the other.
So I have to pretend that China has zero impact on the environment just because my country is more developed and releases more CO2 per capita? Yeah, that's logical......