tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post2744163530207451856..comments2024-03-17T00:10:44.022+00:00Comments on From Arse To Elbow: Asymmetric StupidityDavid Timoneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-13353424096177618872017-06-30T19:38:04.878+01:002017-06-30T19:38:04.878+01:00"curtains drawn in the daytime" meant my..."curtains drawn in the daytime" meant my Dad was doing the ironing, wouldn't do to let on. #northeastengland<br />#amiallowedhastags?<br />...<br />#illgetmycoatPaul Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16012158146472028122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-34820146488305835992016-12-26T09:41:25.322+00:002016-12-26T09:41:25.322+00:00Yes, there is an element of this. I'd also sug...Yes, there is an element of this. I'd also suggest that the fear of estrangement concerns culture as much as geography, which is why tales of campus weirdness find an audience in the tabloids.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-19738859096312704632016-12-26T08:18:54.011+00:002016-12-26T08:18:54.011+00:00Do you think there may be some genuine hostility a...Do you think there may be some genuine hostility among the working class to higher education, due to its being seen as detrimental to family ties (either because of students having to move away to go to university, or due to the eresulting qualifications only having economic value in big cities)?George Cartyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170378024031141482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-27964822404086248532016-11-24T17:55:15.129+00:002016-11-24T17:55:15.129+00:00It is ok to articulate why people do not vote for ...It is ok to articulate why people do not vote for liberals and in a way liberals are easy targets. They want to reform a dog eat dog, grab what you can system into something nice and cuddly, or at least they present it in this way. In reality liberals are as oppressive as conservatives. The liberals are as big on war mongering as the conservatives, and have said next to nothing about mass surveillance etc. To all intents and purposes we are in post democratic and post free world. We are at the beginning of totalitarianism and the liberals don't seem to give a toss.<br /><br />One good reason for this is that liberals are as totalitarian as you get. They are most concerned by internet trolls, they are most concerned about political correctness, they are most concerned about what people think and say. Liberals have an alert button that if anyone says anything that seems offensive they bleat how something should be done.<br /><br />The liberals are an oppressive force to particularly white working class men who see liberals telling them what to think and what to believe. The refreshing thing about Trump, to them, is that he was outrageous and said anything crock of shit that came into his head. For people on the receiving end of liberal concern this appears highly liberating. Many women were also liberated by Trumps 'careless' talk.<br /><br />People are therefore not only suffering under the suffocating hierarchy of society they have to put up with liberals telling them what they should and shouldn't think. The thought police.<br /><br />But we should also ask the question, why after 100 years of state education, are people generally so lacking in analytical skills? In other words why are most people so dim? i think this is a legitimate question and not one only the liberal elite are asking!<br /><br />I don't think the media help in this regard. The media have an endless stream of people giving opinions on things they know nothing about. Personally I would ban opinions in the media and make everything analytical. And if that means only professors get in the media then at least we know these people have spent some degree of effort on understanding the problem.<br /><br />Katie Hopkins on the Syrian refugee crisis, do me an effing favour! Simon Fanshawe discussing the pros and cons of leaving the EU, do me a favour! BBC breakfast, a news programme, like hell it is!Herbie Kills Childrennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-84599976310468278402016-11-24T00:00:16.359+00:002016-11-24T00:00:16.359+00:00I'm not a fan of "hardwiring", wheth...I'm not a fan of "hardwiring", whether due to nature or nurture. I believe that people are more amenable to reason that is commonly supposed, and that much that is classed as irrational (e.g. "voting against their own interests") is actually rational, albeit within the bounds of limited information. <br /><br />Many claims of irrationality are indicative of one side (those who claim to be rational) refusing to engage with the rationale of the other, e.g. US liberals trying to deny that economics has anything to do with voters deserting the Democrats.<br /><br />The paradox is that modern liberal rhetoric is status-conscious while conservative rhetoric appeals to a positive view of the self. In other words, the rhetoric is the reverse of the ideology.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-1358705315990743462016-11-23T18:49:30.885+00:002016-11-23T18:49:30.885+00:00You see this in the bone fides read out before eac...You see this in the bone fides read out before each guest on a heavy radio 4 discussion programme. It's visiting emiritus professor this, holder of the professorial chair that and author of the prestigious award winning the other. Then reintroduced after the weather. Good job there's not any ad breaks. Usually nothing about their political or philosophical hinterland, the most pertinent bit.davidjchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18432693921346520951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-66481747109543429572016-11-23T18:18:19.169+00:002016-11-23T18:18:19.169+00:00Sorry, typos should be immorality in line 2 and re...Sorry, typos should be immorality in line 2 and ressentiment in line 9Hugo Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12705056750207255618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-74803903514062756972016-11-23T18:15:14.850+00:002016-11-23T18:15:14.850+00:00So in summary conservative rhetoric directs resent...So in summary conservative rhetoric directs resentment at immoral, liberal rhetoric directs it blindly at itself. Do you agree with George Lakoff that this difference reflects the way neuronal pathways are created during childhood, locking us into this struggle for the meaning of virtue, or can the left defeat ressentinent without scapegoating any particular social group ??Hugo Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12705056750207255618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-66622043460485561922016-11-23T17:03:36.323+00:002016-11-23T17:03:36.323+00:00A couple of things.
"Educational qualificati...A couple of things.<br /><br />"Educational qualifications are tokens."<br /><br />Not only that, they are *measurable* tokens - something you touch on later in the piece. So very suitable for lazy politicians and lazy journalists to use, without wasting their time on any underlying complexity. It also suits the McKinsey-type managerialists, who are obsessed with measuring things.<br /><br />"Many more kids go through further education today ..."<br /><br />Something omitted from the analyses of voting on both sides of the Atlantic, when pundits are trying to prove to each other whether the prime reason for the vote is age or education. Young people naturally have "more education", as they have more qualifications, because they've had the opportunity to gain them. So any analysis involving different generations or educations needs to take this into account.<br />gastro georgenoreply@blogger.com