Tuesday, October 18, 2011
NEW STUFF
Guess what guys, I started playing Malifaux! Hooray! I'm also working 40 hours a week so I have even less time than normal. So basically I'll be updating at maximum once a week but I'll try to ensure that it IS once a week. Also I might write about Malifaux sometimes. I'm bashing my head against this Nemo update so once it's done it'll show up. I know what I want to write but I open the file and I'm like URRRRGGGGHHHH and nothing gets written.
Monday, October 10, 2011
NO! THAT IS VERY WRONG!
YOU CLING TO YOUR PATHETIC FABLE OF FLUID EXCHANGE!
seriously, this will never ever not crack me up
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Ugh
Oh god I am really bad lately :(. When I started writing in this thing again I promised myself I'd be more regular. Today I want to talk about something that's not wargaming, though I know I should stick to what I'm good at. I promise I have another caster coming up-- actually, it's Commander Adept Nemo, unexpectedly enough.
Anyways, I'm really excited about Elizabeth Warren. I think one thing she does very well, and something that basically every Democratic politician should be taking lessons about, is articulate the ethos of the liberal position. Not the Democratic position, the liberal position. The media has done a good job in turning "liberal" into a dirty word in recent years, which is a bit of a shame. We shouldn't run away from our liberalism. We should embrace it. Saying "I'm a liberal" is saying "I believe in the mission of government." Liberalism is the belief in the social contract, and the idea that government's purpose is to improve the lives of its citizenry. People come together to form governments because they think they're stronger together than they are apart. Hell, that's on our money: E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many, One.
The market is all about efficiently allocating resources, but the government says that sometimes the market's idea of efficiency is wrong. Sometimes something is socially inefficient. Letting people's houses burn down if they can't afford to pay for fire protection is economically efficient, but socially inefficient. Liberals believe that sometimes we must accept a certain level of economic inefficiency to provide against things like poverty, starvation, illness, disasters (including fire) and etc.
I am a liberal, and proud of it. I believe that government can be a force for good. I believe that taxation is not slavery-- it is the price we pay for civilization, for roads and bridges and power and water and protection. If you are rich in America, you didn't get rich all on your own. You worked hard (maybe, inheritance is something else entirely) but you also ate food and drank water that was safe because the FDA made sure of it; you drove your car and shipped your products on roads that were built by the government; you communicated with your clients, family, friends, and coworkers through the government postal service or the government-developed and funded Internet. The government set up the environment in which you were able to make your money. The most brilliant investor in the world can't turn much profit if he has to hire mercenaries to protect his money, build and pave his own roads, grow his own food etc.-- and if he's relying on other people to do it for him, he has no reason to trust that they will do a good job unless he can oversee them or pay someone else to do so. And if he does that then we're starting to get government again! See how that works? The absence of government is an undesirable situation. Anyone who says otherwise has not really thought it through.
Conservatives forget this. They take government for granted. They assume that because things are ok now with the level of government we have, we can slash spending. In effect, they believe that the rich are rich in spite of the government, not because of it, and this is a dangerously stupid and myopic view. The conditions for wealth only exist in the presence of civilized society, and such a society requires a strong and well-funded central government.
There's a lot more I want to say on the morality of wealth distribution, but that can wait for another time. Basically, government is an invisible benefit to everyone, and in recent years some people have taken to denying the existence of that benefit because they've forgotten about it. They've grown accustomed to it. Elizabeth Warren articulates the liberal point of view-- that because government helped us get where we are, we have a responsibility to see that it carries on to help the next generation-- and I am glad of her for it.
Anyways, I'm really excited about Elizabeth Warren. I think one thing she does very well, and something that basically every Democratic politician should be taking lessons about, is articulate the ethos of the liberal position. Not the Democratic position, the liberal position. The media has done a good job in turning "liberal" into a dirty word in recent years, which is a bit of a shame. We shouldn't run away from our liberalism. We should embrace it. Saying "I'm a liberal" is saying "I believe in the mission of government." Liberalism is the belief in the social contract, and the idea that government's purpose is to improve the lives of its citizenry. People come together to form governments because they think they're stronger together than they are apart. Hell, that's on our money: E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many, One.
The market is all about efficiently allocating resources, but the government says that sometimes the market's idea of efficiency is wrong. Sometimes something is socially inefficient. Letting people's houses burn down if they can't afford to pay for fire protection is economically efficient, but socially inefficient. Liberals believe that sometimes we must accept a certain level of economic inefficiency to provide against things like poverty, starvation, illness, disasters (including fire) and etc.
I am a liberal, and proud of it. I believe that government can be a force for good. I believe that taxation is not slavery-- it is the price we pay for civilization, for roads and bridges and power and water and protection. If you are rich in America, you didn't get rich all on your own. You worked hard (maybe, inheritance is something else entirely) but you also ate food and drank water that was safe because the FDA made sure of it; you drove your car and shipped your products on roads that were built by the government; you communicated with your clients, family, friends, and coworkers through the government postal service or the government-developed and funded Internet. The government set up the environment in which you were able to make your money. The most brilliant investor in the world can't turn much profit if he has to hire mercenaries to protect his money, build and pave his own roads, grow his own food etc.-- and if he's relying on other people to do it for him, he has no reason to trust that they will do a good job unless he can oversee them or pay someone else to do so. And if he does that then we're starting to get government again! See how that works? The absence of government is an undesirable situation. Anyone who says otherwise has not really thought it through.
Conservatives forget this. They take government for granted. They assume that because things are ok now with the level of government we have, we can slash spending. In effect, they believe that the rich are rich in spite of the government, not because of it, and this is a dangerously stupid and myopic view. The conditions for wealth only exist in the presence of civilized society, and such a society requires a strong and well-funded central government.
There's a lot more I want to say on the morality of wealth distribution, but that can wait for another time. Basically, government is an invisible benefit to everyone, and in recent years some people have taken to denying the existence of that benefit because they've forgotten about it. They've grown accustomed to it. Elizabeth Warren articulates the liberal point of view-- that because government helped us get where we are, we have a responsibility to see that it carries on to help the next generation-- and I am glad of her for it.
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