Thursday, December 9, 2004
Monday, September 6, 2004
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Saturday, May 8, 2004
Saturday, May 1, 2004
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
I am a pretty resolute believer in evolution, Darwinian theory, natural selection, all that. To me this system is inherently selfish - you might say "libertarian" or even "capitalistic" - animals collect what resources they need for their own individual survival, providing only for their children and close family, and there is intense competition to ensure that more of your genes get passed along than your neighbours'. Contestably, human society worked this way until the introduction of agrarian states, taxation, and social welfare systems (which, for the record, I also agree with, by and large).
Theories describing "group selection" - or the natural selection of genes and behaviours that encourage individual sacrifices for the good of society ("taking one for the team"?) - have basically been rejected as logically flawed on several accounts. To me, this is a strike against pure communism, which seems to contradict what we are inherently designed to do.
I think people tend to align themselves politically with whatever career choice has earned them a living. None of the wealthier business owners interviewed in "The Corporation" would willfully vote for publically-imposed restrictions on business or capital, regardless of how many human rights they violated to earn that capital. There is some inherent tendency to protect the system that has earned them and their families their livelihoods. Maybe this causes people to put the rights of their companies before the rights of other people. Likewise, most artists and professors have earned their livings through some help from the state, and without disadvantaging many people in the process, and they feel that entrepreneurs should commit to doing the same (even if it means lowering their living standards), creating a sometimes reactionary leftist movement. I used to draw clear-cut lines like "the poor tend to be leftist, the rich conservative," but now I think the relationship is more complex - more dependent on the ethical choices we unconsciously make as we earn our ways through life.
Monday, January 12, 2004
At some level the past 14 months have been a lesson in callousness, trickery, and maintaining the upper hand
I always come home from vacation more in love than I was when I left, but this time, I fell in love with my hometown. I even got a speeding ticket for trying to get back home faster.
i propose we open up the back doors
and let in all the evils of the night
morning jogs / slurpees / death cab for cutie / beach volleyball / djarum / pita pit and dairy queen / studio drywalling / gas prices / cottage cheese / keith's and bavaria / sweden / mushrooms / rilo kiley / visits from long lost friends / the high arctic / emotional investment / jericho / basketball and bike rides / the bourbon / housecleaning / auditions / indian summer / yoshi / long distance phone bills / the weakerthans / power ranger kicks / term papers / tympanis / dubai, the azores, and morocco / sloppy seconds / global warming / canada post / saturday morning phone calls / the screen door
I want peaches. When are peaches in season?
They really should have taught us this shit in grade school.
I will say that we have truly entered an era of great films when phone numbers in movies no longer have to start with 555.
Just saw "The Corporation." A few reactions:
I can't remember the last time I was even a little bit sick. I know it was more than ten months ago, and maybe more like 14 or 16! I brag about this a lot, but deep down it's starting to get unnerving.