tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post4596739866417789684..comments2024-03-28T10:08:38.560-04:00Comments on The Adventures of Roberta X: Wall? Head. Rock, Paper, ScissorsRoberta Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-91551498513535254402008-06-13T08:56:00.000-04:002008-06-13T08:56:00.000-04:00"Way I see it, I'm too old to enjoy things going s...<I>"Way I see it, I'm too old to enjoy things going smash..."</I><BR/><BR/>Me too, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it as a young man, in any case.<BR/><BR/><I>"...and the actual process is nearly always long and slow anyway."</I><BR/><BR/>Perhaps, but that is no necessary rule in this sort of thing. Ayn Rand once pointed out: "This country cannot -- as yet -- be ruled, but it can explode." Over thirty years later, that's more true than ever.<BR/><BR/>Our best intentions will probably not be enough.<BR/><BR/>Watch out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-5165005836781172242008-06-12T23:31:00.000-04:002008-06-12T23:31:00.000-04:00Amen, Earl! Billy, that's pretty much what I w...Amen, Earl!<BR/><BR/> Billy, that's pretty much what I was after sayin'. Voting can, however, change the rate of decline and the direction things slide.<BR/><BR/> Way I see it, I'm too old to enjoy things going smash and the actual process is nearly always long and slow anyway.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-42687851059784529942008-06-12T19:40:00.000-04:002008-06-12T19:40:00.000-04:00Some how, American citizens aren't in charge of th...Some how, American citizens aren't in charge of their government - maybe we should have instituted a new Constitutional Convention every generation - but we haven't, and the people have drifted into thinking they aren't responsible but should be in the pursuit of Happiness at all costs. Forgetting Life and Liberty were first and foremost.Earlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794620086508373660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-17481651195694134712008-06-12T19:33:00.000-04:002008-06-12T19:33:00.000-04:00Good stuff. Thank you for writing what needs to be...Good stuff. Thank you for writing what needs to be said and read.mousestalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07640977915382623244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-79594816264472684702008-06-12T10:59:00.000-04:002008-06-12T10:59:00.000-04:00You are young enough, Roberta, that you will very ...You are young enough, Roberta, that you will very likely live long enough to have this immutable truth put before you by events, and the question is whether you will face it:<BR/><BR/>No nation in history has ever voted its way out of straits like these.<BR/><BR/>We won't, either.<BR/><BR/>Mark my words.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-70841115686930256412008-06-12T07:34:00.000-04:002008-06-12T07:34:00.000-04:00Thank you, Kevin. High praise indeed!Thank you, Kevin. High praise indeed!Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-55792100054801011822008-06-12T00:02:00.000-04:002008-06-12T00:02:00.000-04:00An excerpt from this post is tomorrow's Quote of t...An excerpt from this post is tomorrow's Quote of the Day at <I>The Smallest Minority</I>. Good stuff. Damned good stuff.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10324035824298948422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-82200230950271689012008-06-10T13:53:00.000-04:002008-06-10T13:53:00.000-04:00So, is the proximity of this to the link to the Le...So, is the proximity of this to the link to the Letter From Cthulu significant...?Dranghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08082177597135236652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-62085524681199770282008-06-08T19:27:00.000-04:002008-06-08T19:27:00.000-04:00Milton Friedman suggested that there are 4 kinds o...Milton Friedman suggested that there are 4 kinds of spending.<BR/>Class 1; you spend your own money on yourself. You care how much it costs, and you care about the value of the purchase.<BR/>Class 2; you spend your own money on someone else. You may have a target for your gift, (Uncle Fred gets a $40,00 present) but you don't really care how happy he is.<BR/>Class 3: you spend someone elses money on you. An expense account, where you work hard to be sure you are happy, but you don't care how much it costs.<BR/>Class 4: you spend A's money on B. You don't care what it costs. You don't care if B likes it or not.<BR/><BR/>Government spending is almost all Class 4, with all the inefficiency that goes with it.Don Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06057058763094040058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-17342083551827818642008-06-08T00:27:00.000-04:002008-06-08T00:27:00.000-04:00Elegantly stated, my dear.Elegantly stated, my dear.phlegmfatalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08636803080525003892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-37162612186407685652008-06-07T20:51:00.000-04:002008-06-07T20:51:00.000-04:00True, Og, true and yet, much as I'd like to wear a...True, Og, true and yet, much as I'd <I>like</I> to wear a colander for a face mask and ride in blood to Samarkand, in my heart of hearts I'm in no hurry to see it all go smash. It's a bug and a feature of the system. :|<BR/><BR/> George: there are many parallels; and some differences. That's what makes it fun, right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-61547959254197450052008-06-07T19:23:00.000-04:002008-06-07T19:23:00.000-04:00"Fascinating, in fact. I agree with the need for a..."Fascinating, in fact. I agree with the need for a deterrent -- and the need to keep that sword sheathed as long as possible."<BR/><BR/>Exactly. The trouble being, everyone has a different vision of the correct time to unsheath the sword.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-11322737565147473042008-06-07T17:18:00.000-04:002008-06-07T17:18:00.000-04:00Speaking as a Canuck,I imagine that you can't see ...Speaking as a Canuck,I imagine that you can't see many parallels between our countries. However, at its most basic level, what you said applies to all Western political efforts.<BR/><BR/>The only omission I saw was that our so-called representatives do not represent us. They serve only to devote their efforts at riding the public teat forever. Every now and then, I suppose, a worthwhile one comes along.<BR/><BR/>Good essay, Roberta. Thanks for posting it.<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/>GeorgeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-46310567819979524542008-06-07T14:32:00.000-04:002008-06-07T14:32:00.000-04:00I JUST wrote a Tweet yesterday that said this, in ...I JUST wrote a Tweet yesterday that said this, in 140 characters or less...lol.<BR/><BR/>"I can totally see where political disillusionment comes from. People won't talk to each other, but they're saying the same things. GAH!!"Bonniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01119645829480810524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-30972195672769939492008-06-07T13:40:00.000-04:002008-06-07T13:40:00.000-04:00Fascinating, in fact. I agree with the need for a...Fascinating, in fact. I agree with the need for a deterrent -- and the need to keep that sword sheathed as long as possible.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-30036957558158440722008-06-07T13:38:00.000-04:002008-06-07T13:38:00.000-04:00I wrote that without reading alger's comment. Hmm...I wrote that without reading alger's comment. Hmmm. Interesting in the parallels.New Jovian Thunderbolthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09452246769246304612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-59198228457856441552008-06-07T13:37:00.000-04:002008-06-07T13:37:00.000-04:00Nicely put.That's one of the things about this who...Nicely put.<BR/><BR/>That's one of the things about this whole 2A rights fight. If we win that are we gonna ninja up and march on gov't buildings? No. Not ga happa. But the idea that it is possible is present, on both sides of big gov/lil gov debate is there in the back of everyones mind. 300 million rifles that never leave a safe, and never would DREAM of violence is a mental deterrent, and it keeps everyone polite. Just like sleeping ICBM that are never used in a anger kept the Soviets a bit more polite. <BR/><BR/>What a nightmare, those ICBMs, and the necessity for a 2nd Amendment right, all for what it implies at the extreme conclusion of its purpose. It drips with death and suffering. But the alternative is a worse nightmare, with slavery and worse suffering added on to all that death. Better to contemplate the first nightmare, politely, and thus avoid the second.New Jovian Thunderbolthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09452246769246304612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-8980695703884699242008-06-07T11:00:00.000-04:002008-06-07T11:00:00.000-04:00I agree.BUT. (You knew there was a but.)Consider t...I agree.<BR/><BR/>BUT. (You knew there was a but.)<BR/><BR/>Consider this: the power to meddle in men's lives exists. I don't believe it can be entirely walled off from the hands of men.<BR/><BR/>A system like ours, which attempts to fence off the inherent power of any monopoly-coercive entity such as the political state, necessarily therefore leaves a power vacuum at the top.<BR/><BR/>And power, as we all know (pace Lord Acton), attracts the corruptible.<BR/><BR/>Power is manifest through strength. Strength in this case consists of the ability to move masses of people, and to project violent force -- or the threat of it -- against points to be influenced.<BR/><BR/>Thus is the rhetoric of rebellion made necessary. <BR/><BR/>The People must have a credible appearance of the ability and willingness to use countervailing force against the corrupt power-seekers, or there is an imbalance, and the People will inevitably lose.<BR/><BR/>Like the nuclear deterrent, it may never -- praise God -- be used. But it MUST exist, and the threat of its potential use MUST be credible.<BR/><BR/>MAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-17661052068677434782008-06-07T08:50:00.000-04:002008-06-07T08:50:00.000-04:00first time in a long time i have read something i ...first time in a long time i have read something i said not just an hour ago! and i didnt write it... <BR/><BR/>creepy. <BR/><BR/>Nice post. <BR/><BR/>and i agree 100%!<BR/><BR/>BAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com