Victor Davis Hanson on The War Against the Producers: "Do not discount again the psychological element."
Labels: PJM
posted by Helen at 6:33 AM
Monday, July 13, 2009
Contributors
Previous Posts
- "..it’s very hard to imagine the media criticizing...
- How is this not a hate crime? I'm not in support o...
- The Mancession is here
- Fox News: Police Say South Carolina Spree Killer...
- "...the Web's outpouring of human expression deser...
- Daily News: Retired NFL QB Steve McNair killed in...
- PJTV: The Depression Cure
- "America isn't hiring precisely because of governm...
- New research on the link between schizophrenia and...
- But "she managed to disarm him and cut him".....
21 Comments:
What's going on with today's Democrats is indeed class warfare, but is not the classical "vertical" class warfare of rich vs poor. It is, rather, "horizontal" class warfare, instigated by a class which has obtained its wealth & influence via educational credentials and social/political connections, and is deeply resentful that some people (like VDH's electrical contractor) have been able to obtain wealth in other ways.
There have always been multiple hierarchies in American society: the wealthy western cattleman didn't care much about the people in the Social Register. The current effort is to collapse all this into a single hierarchy with carefully guarded gates.
Speaking of which, Dr. Helen, could you offer some professional commentary (PTJV segment?) on the degree to which all of the anti-Sarah Palin vitriol is actually what the Left wants to say about BHO, but cannot?
Seems to me the Democrats are punishing the healthy, gifted, and hard working. Perhaps they do so to feed the jealousy of the lazy to get their votes, maybe it is because they feel guilty about their own success.
I don't really know, and I care less and less now that more of my time is spent trying to be more productive in order to take care of my family.
Interestingly, although I have been a very healthy person, I bet a nickle that the stress of working 6 days a week will increase my medical expenses.
Without my faith, I would be lost.
Trey
I would ask simply if the Obama plan is not working, not worthwhile, what then has the loyal opposition offered that makes more sense?
Victor typically badmouths what is going on but offers no constructive insights as to what we ought to be doing.
fred, are you open to any other ideas? I know several alternatives that have been talked about: tax holidays, tax rebates, and credits that could be used to make downpayments on homes are part of most of them.
I do not agree with all the ideas, but many, many alternatives can be found by googling "stimulus alternatives."
That is only if you want to look for them.
fred, you post some good stuff when it does not deal with Obama. But you are a broken record when it comes to him. Seriously.
To prove me wrong, you do the google and show us why you disagree with the many alternatives that have been offered by Republicans and others.
Please. 8)
Trey
The democratic party swept into overwhelming power and majorities off Bush hatred, Bush hysteria, and nonstop Bush-bashing without offering any real alternatives.
That isn't a criticism, it is a fact. It worked marvelously for them. But now that the left has the reigns of power, they don't much like criticism without alternatives.
In other words, they don't like tasting their own medicine.
find ways to work for cash.
many of my clients are glad to pay cash for a service that provides clear benifit to them, and know that i`m not being taxed out of business like many in canada who work for themselves.
on top of what the government expects from me for the right to do business here, my ex wants me to help ,me to pay or her recent real estate investements under the guise of lawfully supporting our children.
i put the goods and services in thier hands instead, and told her to sue me.
i treat her and the government as the same bandits, using laws to rob me at gunpoint.
like the government and it`s armed agents, she has threatened to have me arrested, my driver`s licence suspended and me jailed if i don`t appear in "her" court.
so, yeah, i`m forced to survive the banditry on two counts...and life is good. i have my health, the love of my children, a rewarding job and a woman who suports my position regarding my money earned honestly providing benifit to others.
the government wants to erode the middle classes out of existance to homogenise society and sell cheap products and services for big profit so that we will all fit into one nice simple spreadsheet.
the new feudalism.
If I understand you right, "Dr. Alistair", you don't pay taxes or child support and work under the table.
The problem with that - right or wrong - is that the kind of life you are describing is going to catch up to you. I've seen it happen quite a bit.
You can complain that the government is not fair and all the rest (and you're probably right), but it is still going to catch up to you.
that`s not entirely what i said, and only partially true.
firstly, i provide psychotherapy and many of my clients are recieving treatment through thier employer withwhom i have a p.o. number, paid by corporate cheque and that income is declared, along with other cheque-paying clients.
regarding paying "child support", my children live with me weekends and when in school two evenings through the week. in the summer they travel with us to the cottage, day trips to the beach and generally hang out and do family stuff.
the alternative is that they are left alone at 10 and 13 while thier mother works the 70-80 hours a week she always has as a nurse so that she can buy more bricks and mortar, as this is her prime value in life.
it is up to me to be parent and guide them, instruct them, invest in thier desires (music, sport, art etc...), things of which she has no value, and believes to be a waste of money.
i am a taxpayer, father and entrepreneur who believes strongly in provision for family and community, where i fall down is in that a burgeoning government wants to be provider of all services, including parent, and wants to pick our pockets to provide the means by which to deliver these services.....so i do my small part to keep some resources at hand for my children.
regarding catching up.....aren`t we all waiting for the reaper...in one form or another?
and the mother of my children wants to use the force of the courts to pick my pocket so that she can fund her next real estate purchase, none of which will ever benifit my children...so she can go fish.
As a side note:
It's kind of bizarre that psychologists and therapists position themselves (usually in an arrogant, condescending way) as being better informed and smarter about the paths to choose in life, but they don't strike me as being any smarter.
Dr. Alistair sounds like he is choosing a life path that is not going to lead to anything good down the road. He can do what he wants, but in any case I don't respect him (along with TMink and other people in the arrogant, clueless crowd here and out in the real world).
I have seen that kind of dynamic all over the place, not just on this board. Arrogant and dopey. The general public must be incredibly stupid in reality if all of these psycho-help people can separate them from their money so easily.
My belief in the utter stupidity of the general public was complete, however, when I saw that the fatso "Dr. Phil" wrote a book on dieting - and it was a best seller.
Unreal.
Maybe I should look into selling snake oil. I'm tired of actually working and doing something real for a living.
"... but they don't strike me as being any smarter."
-------
They are also the ones waving "Doctor" in your face, although it is one of the easiest doctorates to get - by far. I worked with a guy for two years before I knew he had a doctorate in physics. It just wasn't important to him to grind it in my face - he correctly thought that you can judge intelligence as it is in a person. And "doctors" in psychology mostly don't have a whole lot.
jg, tether and mb...it seems as if you have some issue with the idea and application of psychotherapy, and further that you are ok with the predatory taxation of the citizens of our countries, and finally that you make broad and sweeping judgements of another person`s situation without showing any interest in the situation they are discussing.
good, old-fashioned moral dogmatists.
and tether (?) you have no idea how smart i am, but thanks for trying to guess.
I know that very intelligent people I have run across would come back with a response with a curve to it - something I had never considered.
You, on the other hand, "Dr." Alistair, are simply salivating because the bell rings. Someone said something you dully interpret to be bad, so you have to respond.
And if you are putting "Dr." in your Internet pseudonym, you seem to be very interested in getting that out to people. A doctorate in psychology (or allied subjects) is easier to get than some bachelor's degrees (for instance in electrical engineering or physics). That's my opinion.
If you're smart, show it. Quit trying to hint around that you're smart.
"it seems as if you have some issue with the idea and application of psychotherapy"
We have a winner! Get ready for your, well, prize.
Trey
ok, let`s play.
tether, why do you think i would have to come back with a response with a curve to it?
my doctorate is in metaphyisics....easier to "get" i suppose than other subjects because i understand the material and have a desire to learn more about it....and i would have a hell of a time trying to help people in relationships with a degree in electrical engineering for instance unlees they were in the market to design a new torroidal transformer for thier class "a" amplifier.
the doctor pseudonym is a name that stuck while blogging, and if you check my blog you will see that it`s about a variety of things unrelated to my work....morelike an escape valve, and i meet some interesting and funny people there who understand the humour in all of this...including jabbing at text boxes in the hope that it will make our dicks bigger....
and trey, i got my prize already thanks.
Dr. Alistair opines: "my doctorate is in metaphyisics ..."
----
OK, dude.
You even almost spelled it right, so I'm pretty sure that you're serious.
If they offer doctorates in women's studies (... and, unfortunately, they really do ...), metaphysics can't be far behind.
Dr. Alistair, I understand. Carry on sir.
Trey
jg, yah got me dude.....my typing sucks...and i take the e.e.cummings approach to capitalisation.
women`s studies? divisive politically correct way to get more bums on seats in schools...i wouldn`t want to be treated by one though.
metaphysics though? the underpinnigs of all study. without exploration of the meta-states of reality we would all be in the dark ages still flinging shit at eachother....or typing it.
Well carried on!
Trey
Post a Comment
<< Home