[ExI] Capitalism, anti capitalism, emotional arousal

[Kelly Anderson]

2011/11/11  <natasha at natasha.cc>:
> Quoting Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com>:
>
>> Not familiar with Esfandiary...
>
> You might want to read his writings if you are interested in ?transhuman?
> concepts.

Are you referring to F. M. Esfandiary? He's got three books at Amazon,
entitled "Optimism One: The Emerging Radicalism" "Up-wingers" and
"Identity Card" is that what you are referring to?

>>> I don't begrudge
>> the President a little R&R...
>
> Well, he certainly does take many, many vacations. Executive jobs are tough,
> so is raising a family. That?s understood. This issue is that he is not a
> good leader in my view.

I absolutely agree with you there. I think he will be defeated in the
largest landslide since Reagan... There's just nothing to recommend
him. Even for left wingers, he's been a big disappointment. He hasn't
extracted us from the wars, there are still as many soldiers deployed
around the world, the bungled investment into solar energy are just
embarrassing.

> Did Giuliani go on to Aspen skiing as NYC was in a
> rut?  If Obama looked exhausted, skinny, and bags under his eyes, I?d gladly
> help pay for a trip to the Vineyard because I would know that he earned it.
> Yes, this is judgmental on my part, but it is my view and I am sticking to
> it.

I can't disagree... but Presidents in general deserve and need
vacations to avoid becoming dangerously tired. And I do mean
dangerous... that's a lot of power.

>> Altruism for it's own sake has evil components,
>
> Why interpret what I said this way? There is a difference between altruism
> and benevolence. I speak of benevolence. Anyway,  ... "random acts of
> kindness and senseless acts beauty of beauty".

I wasn't interpreting. Just clarifying. Sounds like we're on the same
basic wavelength here. I believe in benevolence. I also enjoy the
"random acts of journalism" that the AP occasionally stumbles into...
LOL.

The lack of journalistic integrity has to be one of the major
contributors to the downfall of America as well...

>> Do the masses need an opiate??? Since religion no longer fills that
>> void for many people, do we need the NFL, NBA and comedy shows and
>> other television (as well as video games, the Internet LOL cats, etc.)
>> to provide the drug for the masses? Does this prevent mass revolt in
>> the street? I often think that if we cancelled all major sports for a
>> year, and only had reruns on TV, we would have bonfires in the
>> streets...
>
> You are obfuscating my point. I'm not taking about cancelling TV or sports.
> I am an avid TV watcher. I am referring to specific narratives.  I don't
> need to take the time to explain these do I?

No. I was merely making a tangential point.

> If you turn on the TV you
> will see programming that is informative, entertaining and exciting.  And
> you will also see programming that is manipulative, argumentative, and
> appealing to the reptilian brain. If you watch the new H+ film, you
> will probably thing H+ is a horrible future. So, narratives that squelch
> critical thinking and promote stupidity are not the same as programming that
> excites, uplifts or promotes contemplation.

Fair enough.

>> That's all well and good. I think we all view ourselves in this
>> manner. It's just that most people tend to settle into a mode that
>> they think accomplishes this in the most effective manner. Perhaps if
>> you gave an example of a real world problem with it's real world
>> solution that you admire, that would give some insight...
>
> The problem is that you do not know me and are making assumptions that I am
> not *real bright*.  I'll just let this one pass.

I would never make such an assumption about you Natasha... honestly. I
don't know a lot about you, but what I do know inspires me. Please
don't think that I'm disrespecting you or your intelligence in any
way.

>> So as an example of something I'm enthusiastic about was the thing we
>> noted a few weeks back about putting day light to use in slums and
>> favelas... or the TED talk on replacing indoor use of charcoal with
>> another fuel, or the Gates foundation work on zapping mosquitos with
>> lasers. Those are REAL solutions. Public health care is just another
>> government boondoggle and power grab.
>
> Yeh -- These are a design solutions to real problems.
>
> Kelly, your posts are interesting and you mean well, but I think the problem
> in our communication is that you are talking at me and not to me.  This is
> often the case on lists.

I often feel misunderstood by you... and I wish that weren't the case.
I can't help but feel that if we met in person, we would get along
great... :-)  But my inability to express myself properly in plain old
black and white is just too limited.... I will ponder what you mean by
talking at you as opposed to "to" you... and will endeavor to do
better... but I honestly don't understand it at this point...

Very Respectfully Yours,
-Kelly