I think we're now moving a bit far afield from my original comment, so I'll try to get us back. I'll give an example of how Berger's Marxism leads his astray. He called the Impressionist's work "bourgeois nostalgic…
Agree with much of what you say. The art of a period reflects the culture of the time, including the structure of society. But there used to be a time when people looking at art (and critics presenting it to the public)…
Berger was a smart guy, but like so many smart people, his Marxism spoils everything. He has to see power emanating from every work of art, and traditional paintings all promoting "capitalist property relations that…
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard for their own interest" When companies make profit, it doesn't mean we get screwed, nor even that…
I meant income. I think you may be confusing what "real" income means. It adjusts for the typical bucket of goods and services Americans consume, and the deflator used to correct incomes over the years includes housing…
This is not complicated. Median household income in 1960 (in today's dollars) was about $58,000. Today it's about $88,000. You therefore have more inflation adjusted money available to spend on everything, including…
How would that slow down the Chinese models, given that the US has no regulatory reach in China?
Not in my organization, or in any that I know of. I don't even understand why it would be in an organization's interest to do that. Why should they care if I'm harrassed for data of a political nature? They generally…
I do that several times a year, and never wipe my phone. I looked at statistics of such phone examinations over the last few years, and I didn't see any difference between the current and last administrations, when…
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/against-the-survival-of-the... Not according to this article, which looks into it.
Exactly right. A slow down to enable deeper work on alignment is welcome, not matter what the motivations.
Among the list of countries which supply arms to Israel are UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, India, Italy, Taiwan, Romania and a few others. The US is not unique in this by any means.
Exactly. Decades of pax americana has lulled people into a view that the rest of the world are pacifists who will get along just fine but for the US.
There was more corporate and billionaire backing and donations to the Democrats than the Republicans. Also, studies have shown that the power of money in elections is overestimated. Money tends to go for the viable…
That may be partly true, but in recent times, most western countries participated in wars like Afganistan and Iraq, and provided logistical or other support during the current Iran war.
Should companies not participate in contracts from their country's defense department? Or is the argument that it's only US companies which shouldn't, because the US is uniquely evil?
The kind of problems you're describing certainly don't sound like things you should "pick up a weapon and give up your life" for, so this doesn't seem to add an argument in favour of "revolution".
I agree we should all be fighting to keep what we have, which is pretty good. But that sounds like the opposite of a revolution to me.
If everyone is so comfortable, what do we need a revolution for? Wasn't that the goal of civilization? If someone doesn't like civilization, why try to bring it down? There's plenty of places on earth you can go to live…
The article is suggesting that there was an assumed dynamic in designing these mechanisms for petitions and claims - that there is a threshold of cost (time and effort, mostly) that the petitioner is willing to pay for…
It's just that the universe is ordered, and math is the study of order.
As you move up levels starting from physics (eg. physics-> chemistry-> biochemistry-> biology), each layer has several "laws" which are generally pretty established, but a causal connection between the layers is hard to…
I think he makes two points: - This change of what used be a functional object into a brand was done to appeal to one-upmanship (my watch is more expensive than yours) rather than the aesthetic urge which drives…
What are these contradictions and hypocrisies? Maybe I'm just old, but I've never understood the angst younger people seem to have these days.
> People feel hopeless, and powerless. Some people, I guess. Looks like more than half the people approve of what he's doing. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/politics/trump-approva...
I think we're now moving a bit far afield from my original comment, so I'll try to get us back. I'll give an example of how Berger's Marxism leads his astray. He called the Impressionist's work "bourgeois nostalgic…
Agree with much of what you say. The art of a period reflects the culture of the time, including the structure of society. But there used to be a time when people looking at art (and critics presenting it to the public)…
Berger was a smart guy, but like so many smart people, his Marxism spoils everything. He has to see power emanating from every work of art, and traditional paintings all promoting "capitalist property relations that…
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard for their own interest" When companies make profit, it doesn't mean we get screwed, nor even that…
I meant income. I think you may be confusing what "real" income means. It adjusts for the typical bucket of goods and services Americans consume, and the deflator used to correct incomes over the years includes housing…
This is not complicated. Median household income in 1960 (in today's dollars) was about $58,000. Today it's about $88,000. You therefore have more inflation adjusted money available to spend on everything, including…
How would that slow down the Chinese models, given that the US has no regulatory reach in China?
Not in my organization, or in any that I know of. I don't even understand why it would be in an organization's interest to do that. Why should they care if I'm harrassed for data of a political nature? They generally…
I do that several times a year, and never wipe my phone. I looked at statistics of such phone examinations over the last few years, and I didn't see any difference between the current and last administrations, when…
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/against-the-survival-of-the... Not according to this article, which looks into it.
Exactly right. A slow down to enable deeper work on alignment is welcome, not matter what the motivations.
Among the list of countries which supply arms to Israel are UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, India, Italy, Taiwan, Romania and a few others. The US is not unique in this by any means.
Exactly. Decades of pax americana has lulled people into a view that the rest of the world are pacifists who will get along just fine but for the US.
There was more corporate and billionaire backing and donations to the Democrats than the Republicans. Also, studies have shown that the power of money in elections is overestimated. Money tends to go for the viable…
That may be partly true, but in recent times, most western countries participated in wars like Afganistan and Iraq, and provided logistical or other support during the current Iran war.
Should companies not participate in contracts from their country's defense department? Or is the argument that it's only US companies which shouldn't, because the US is uniquely evil?
The kind of problems you're describing certainly don't sound like things you should "pick up a weapon and give up your life" for, so this doesn't seem to add an argument in favour of "revolution".
I agree we should all be fighting to keep what we have, which is pretty good. But that sounds like the opposite of a revolution to me.
If everyone is so comfortable, what do we need a revolution for? Wasn't that the goal of civilization? If someone doesn't like civilization, why try to bring it down? There's plenty of places on earth you can go to live…
The article is suggesting that there was an assumed dynamic in designing these mechanisms for petitions and claims - that there is a threshold of cost (time and effort, mostly) that the petitioner is willing to pay for…
It's just that the universe is ordered, and math is the study of order.
As you move up levels starting from physics (eg. physics-> chemistry-> biochemistry-> biology), each layer has several "laws" which are generally pretty established, but a causal connection between the layers is hard to…
I think he makes two points: - This change of what used be a functional object into a brand was done to appeal to one-upmanship (my watch is more expensive than yours) rather than the aesthetic urge which drives…
What are these contradictions and hypocrisies? Maybe I'm just old, but I've never understood the angst younger people seem to have these days.
> People feel hopeless, and powerless. Some people, I guess. Looks like more than half the people approve of what he's doing. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/politics/trump-approva...