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Post by bernard on Feb 6, 2018 1:38:44 GMT -6
I have more than one hat you dolt. I'm sure you do and I strongly suspect the other one is cone shaped and says "Dunce" on it. Why would I have your klan hood?
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Post by josephdphillips on Feb 6, 2018 8:20:18 GMT -6
if the term "authoritarian" does not fit, what term would you use I would use "Chinese." Hong Kong is more prosperous than it ever was. The Chinese economy is booming. The Chinese know how to get sh#t done. It works for them, and, by extension, it works for us, since they finance most of our debt. Who will be doing the defining, exactly? The government of China, or will you be polling the people? What's difference does it make? Do you mean with the government, or with two billion Chinese individuals I'm talking about the several Chinese who have lived with me in my apartment over the past 15 years. An authoritarian culture can be full of pragmatic, reasonable people, who choose to conform and obey because, being so pragmatic and reasonable, they are disinclined to violent revolt. They quite reasonably infer that, pragmatically speaking, they are unlikely to prevail in a confrontation with a heavily armed and ruthless government, and that even if their cause were to succeed, it might do so at the cost of their own lives. You make authoritarianism sound like a bad thing. It isn't. Different strokes for different folks. they do not support homeland security and law enforcement to the point that they are willing to put murderers to death. That is a recent, and unfortunate, phenomenon. She is also well known for rejecting libertarianism. Only those that reject capitalism and embrace anarchy, as many do.
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Post by bernard on Feb 6, 2018 12:16:41 GMT -6
if the term "authoritarian" does not fit, what term would you use I would use "Chinese." <rolls eyes> What term would you use to describe the political culture? Interesting that you choose the least culturally Chinese part of China, namely the part that was ruled by the Brits until about 20 years ago. They chose to live with you? I thought you said they were pragmatic and reasonable? Seriously, your "plenty of experience with the Chinese" equates to experiences with a few Chinese people who have made the unconventional choice to cross the Pacific and live in California and the even more unconventional choice to live with Joe Phillips. What makes you think these people are representative, as opposed to outliers? If you think authoritarian culture is a good thing, why are you so desperately denying that such brilliant, reasonable people as the Chinese could possibly have one? "Capitalism is the one system that requires absolute objective law, yet libertarians combine capitalism and anarchism. That’s worse than anything the New Left has proposed. It’s a mockery of philosophy and ideology." - Ayn Rand. "Anarchists are the scum of the intellectual world of the Left, which has given them up. So the Right picks up another leftist discard. That’s the libertarian movement." - Ayn Rand. "What do you think of the Libertarian Party?" "I’d rather vote for Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers, or Jerry Lewis—they’re not as funny as John Hospers and the Libertarian Party." - Ayn Rand. "I dislike Reagan and Carter; I’m not too enthusiastic about the other candidates. But the worst of them are giants compared to anybody who would attempt something as un-philosophical, low, and pragmatic as the Libertarian Party. It is the last insult to ideas and philosophical consistency." - Ayn Rand "Why don’t you approve of libertarians, thousands of whom are loyal readers of your works?" "Because libertarians are a monstrous, disgusting bunch of people: they plagiarize my ideas when that fits their purpose, and denounce me in a more vicious manner than any communist publication when that fits their purpose." - Ayn Rand "libertarians aren’t worthy of being the means to any end, let alone the end of spreading Objectivism." - Ayn Rand "Libertarians provide intermediate steps toward your goals. Why don’t you support them?" "Please don’t tell me they’re pursuing my goals. I have not asked for, nor do I accept, the help of intellectual cranks." - Ayn Rand Are you sure she was a libertarian Joe?
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Post by oslooskar on Feb 6, 2018 15:32:13 GMT -6
Hong Kong is more prosperous than it ever was. The Chinese economy is booming. The Chinese know how to get sh#t done. Yes, but at what cost? I was in Hong Kong and Mainland China in November 2014 and the air pollution was the worst I'd ever seen in my life. Have they cleaned it up since then?
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Post by josephdphillips on Feb 7, 2018 13:28:46 GMT -6
Yes, but at what cost? I was in Hong Kong and Mainland China in November 2014 and the air pollution was the worst I'd ever seen in my life. Have they cleaned it up since then? That's better than the draconian regulations we have here. In any case, that's up to the Chinese, not up to us.
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Post by oslooskar on Feb 7, 2018 23:23:14 GMT -6
That's better than the draconian regulations we have here. You don't know that because you have yet to breathe the air in either mainland China or Hong Kong. In any case, that's up to the Chinese, not up to us. That's not the point. You claimed the Chinese knew how to get things done. So the question is .....are the Chinese getting things done to the benefit of the Chinese or do the negatives outweigh the positives? Incidentally, I've got an eight hour layover in Hong Kong on Sunday so I'll see of there's been any improvements in air quality since I was last there.
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Post by whitediamonds on Feb 8, 2018 11:14:27 GMT -6
I know very little about China or the Chinese but, I do love their egg rolls. Interesting read though.
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Post by oslooskar on Feb 8, 2018 11:49:55 GMT -6
Why would I have your klan hood? I don't know, maybe it's because you have a pointed head.
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Post by josephdphillips on Feb 8, 2018 13:49:45 GMT -6
That's not the point. You claimed the Chinese knew how to get things done. So the question is .....are the Chinese getting things done to the benefit of the Chinese or do the negatives outweigh the positives? Actually that is precisely the point. We are not qualified to ask the question, as we are not Chinese.
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Post by oslooskar on Feb 8, 2018 15:16:07 GMT -6
That's not the point. You claimed the Chinese knew how to get things done. So the question is .....are the Chinese getting things done to the benefit of the Chinese or do the negatives outweigh the positives? Actually that is precisely the point. We are not qualified to ask the question, as we are not Chinese. Well, then, by your own frame of reference you're not qualified to claim the Chinese are getting things done because you're not Chinese.
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Post by whitediamonds on Feb 8, 2018 15:24:59 GMT -6
Actually that is precisely the point. We are not qualified to ask the question, as we are not Chinese. Well, then, by your own frame of reference you're not qualified to claim the Chinese are getting things done because you're not Chinese. They are as far as the DP, that is how China came into this. To add: They had on the news not long ago regarding China's air quality. Fake News? Wrong. Nov of 2017 they shut down dozens of steel plants . Exceptionally bad in Beijing & surrounding area's.
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Post by whitediamonds on Feb 8, 2018 15:50:33 GMT -6
Why would I have your klan hood? I don't know, maybe it's because you have a pointed head. I thought you were boneheads, not Elf's?
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Post by oslooskar on Feb 12, 2018 0:41:16 GMT -6
Well, I was just up on Victoria Peak a couple of hours ago and the air up there seemed clean enough but look off in the distance and judge for yourself. Is that mist or smog that I'm pointing to?
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