The repugs in the House have failed to submit a jobs program of any kind (which they ran on in '10 and '12), but their slavering base of luddites only care for the endless blatherings of faux-rage and the types of useless quixotry that repealed Obamacare 37 times.

RSNML

I'm a luddite, not from the US, so don't have a good understanding of baseball. Can someone explain what happened?

This is all good fodder for discussion, but it is clear from the dishonest way in which this video was put together that the Kochs are more interested in creating a political hit piece than fostering any kind of discussion.

They claim Obama signed an executive order to kill American citizens, but they provide no context and erroneously use the plural (citizens) when in actuality it's just one guy. I'm not sure if it could have been avoided. I'm not sure how many lives it saved, if any. I'm not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. In context, it exists in a very debatable grey area. But we see no attempt to understand any of this in this sanctimonious sermon.

As far as NDAA, it was not a bill designed to indefinitely detain prisoners, it was, (is) an annual military budget bill. John McCain attached a rider to the 2012 NDAA that allows for indefinite detention, for reasons I don't understand, because indefinite detention was already permissible under other existing clauses. Obama asked for it to be removed, but no action was taken, and it was voted in with a veto proof majority.

As to why the court case was appealed, I don't know. It might have something to do with Obama's executive order to shut down Guantanemo and provide trials for the prisoners. Congress vetoed the order by prohibiting funds to try the prisoners, leaving them in a kind of limbo. Does this clause give him more time to shut down Gitmo and give trials to the prisoners under a new and improved congress? I don't know. The point is that while it might be fun for the Koch's to drop some provocative soundbites, they do it in a superficial way that does little to further the conversation. If you want depth, read Chris Hedges, who has written some great stuff on the subject.

You could say that Reason is being superficial on purpose to mirror the Jackson video, but none of the videos they produce ever approach any level of depth.

Beyond all that, right wing libertarianism is not a viable alternative to a consensus guy like Obama or even a complete disaster like Romney. They are at the bottom of the barrel as far as our choices go. Their backwards and luddite view of economics disqualifies them from serious consideration from anyone with even a cursory understanding of economics.

Obama has kept his promises of ending combat in Iraq, getting us a healthcare system and signing an executive order to shut down gitmo (even if congress stopped him from doing it). I'd love to elect Noam Chomsky as President, but that's not going to happen, and he probably wouldn't get much done if somehow he were miraculously elected. There are many factions in this country pushing and pulling, and frankly, I can't remember a time when regular citizens had more pull. Change is slow in a democracy.

No 'Hydrogenateds' - good; in civilised countries poisoning food is illegal.
No Corn Syrup - good.
No 'Artificials' - this is meaningless.
No Preservatives, GMOs - this is fucking anti-science hippie luddite shit.

Fixed.

Bill Maher's site and the HBO site look as if they were designed by Luddites.

^ More insane blathering from our local Repug tool. Good for a chuckle if you forget that this nutter actually believes this stupidity. Incredible how little it takes for some people to rail and vote against their own interests in the name of some cultish ideology. Gullibility, tunnel-vision, and the lack of common sense use to be culled from our species by lions and other predators. Now, these luddites multiply like rats and have become dead weight on humanity and progress. It's almost like Mother Nature's way of balancing out our decimation of the natural world. Humans overpopulate -> humans displace natural predators -> more low-intelligence, self-destructive idiots survive -> idiots infect gene pool -> raise more idiots -> vote for idiots -> humans destroy themselves -> predator population increases (if not already extinct).

Not one thing this kid said was true. I feel sorry for him. You can't pick your parents.

Quboid I think you should check out the story of the first Luddites, you'll be not at all surprised that it's still misused today.

I guess my point was missed, FWIW I'm not a luddite who doesn't see any value in handheld technology. I've been through about 6 iPods now and have come to rely on them, for music and for advancing my Spanish and Portuguese through podcasts.

My problem is with the techno-dweebs I know who get excited over any technology advancement. As long as it's newer, faster, shinier, smaller, with better audio/video/storage/bandwidth, etc, than last quarter's model I'm supposed to be impressed when they wave it around and rattle off its specs. Then they use it to look up Brady Bunch trivia or some such garbage.

The smug sense of "I have more computing power in my hand than the Apollo astronauts had" yet they can't construct a fucking correct sentence on their own if their lives depended on it. But I digress. >> ^Quboid:

I wouldn't have thought there'd be so many Luddites on the sift.
@ulysses1904, yes, your non-existent example of exaggerated uselessness is indeed useless. Something useful? How about checking prices and product reviews while in the shop? I can browse my local video store and if I see an interesting movie, I pull out my phone, load the IMDB app, take a picture of the BluRay case and learn all about it.
When I was in Italy a few months ago, I had language trouble when ordering food on one occasion - I pulled out my phone, typed my order into Google Translate and handed the phone to the waitress. That day, the human race was closer to having a Babel Fish than we have been in thousands of years of human development - but hey, it's just a gizmo, right? Who cares?
In fact, come to think of it, even your example isn't useless - that birther nonsense wouldn't have lasted long if everyone with a smartphone could have done that while watching Obama's inauguration.
@CheshireSmile, if that's all you need then fine, although I'm guessing your friends have rubbish keyboards on their phones. I don't need much, but I want loads and why not? If I'm waiting for a plane or something, I like to be able to web browse, check Facebook and Twitter, play games, whatever.
My Samsung Galaxy S 2 probably would not survive falling out the window of a moving car, however this has yet to cause me any distress - just out of interest, how often does your phone fall out of a moving car?

@Quboid - I dunno about "Luddites", but to each his own. If people don't find a smartphone/tablet/whatever useful, then they shouldn't buy one. Cost/benefit isn't the same for everyone.

I have a Galaxy S 2 also, but I'm not much of a "cloud" person. I have gmail and some picasa galleries to share photos with my folks, and that is about it. No facebook or anything like that. I mainly use the phone for games, eBook reading (took me forever to be a convert to this, but "night" modes with white text on black background fixed eyestrain issues I originally had with moving away from ink on paper), music, and roadtrip GPS.

None of that is exactly universal must-have functionality. So while I'm personally happy with my purchase, I fully understand the folks that are resistant or hesitant to jump on the new-tech bandwagon.

I wouldn't have thought there'd be so many Luddites on the sift.

@ulysses1904, yes, your non-existent example of exaggerated uselessness is indeed useless. Something useful? How about checking prices and product reviews while in the shop? I can browse my local video store and if I see an interesting movie, I pull out my phone, load the IMDB app, take a picture of the BluRay case and learn all about it.

When I was in Italy a few months ago, I had language trouble when ordering food on one occasion - I pulled out my phone, typed my order into Google Translate and handed the phone to the waitress. That day, the human race was closer to having a Babel Fish than we have been in thousands of years of human development - but hey, it's just a gizmo, right? Who cares?

In fact, come to think of it, even your example isn't useless - that birther nonsense wouldn't have lasted long if everyone with a smartphone could have done that while watching Obama's inauguration.

@CheshireSmile, if that's all you need then fine, although I'm guessing your friends have rubbish keyboards on their phones. I don't need much, but I want loads and why not? If I'm waiting for a plane or something, I like to be able to web browse, check Facebook and Twitter, play games, whatever.

My Samsung Galaxy S 2 probably would not survive falling out the window of a moving car, however this has yet to cause me any distress - just out of interest, how often does your phone fall out of a moving car?

Ugh, this guy is psycho. Based on just this video, which is even the father's version of the events, I'd have to say the daughter is completely right at the father is completely wrong in so many ways. People get pissed off and vent, it's normal. She vented by complaining to her friends. That's about as benign as venting gets. And he flips out and punishes her for it. Does he think people are supposed to never get upset? What a fucking tool.

0:10
I'm pretty sure Hannah nor her friends thought her post was cute. She was upset and venting, and her friends were probably sympathizing. The father seems thinks her Facebook post was some kind of performance piece intended to elicit laughter at his expense. He seems to be self centered, and indifferent or oblivious to his daughter's frustration.

0:18
He thinks other parents don't know their kids curse or get angry and vent. And given his level of shock and over reaction to his daughter's behavior, he apparently didn't know it himself. How could he be that naive and out of touch?

0:25
I doubt she thought she was being "smart". She was sharing something with her friends, it wasn't meant for her parents. Phone conversations are by default private, Facebook is not so she had to make it private. On this point he's effectively getting upset at his daughter over idiosyncrasies of different technologies or the fact that Facebook is currently the trendy way to communicate. This reminds me of the judge that flipped out on his daughter over a computer. God bless America and its luddite rednecks, ruining childhoods one at a time.

Also, him using words like "cute" and "smart" to describe his daughter's behavior again hints that he is completely out of touch with how she feels and why she's acting this way.

0:45
Is he hinting that he found the post by logging into Facebook as her on her comp and snooping around? If so, that's pretty fucked up. There's nothing quite as infuriating and rage inducing and relationship ruining as having your parents treat you like an animal with no right to privacy.

1:35
It's absolutely disrespectful and extremely inconsiderate to track dirt across a floor that you know somebody else has to clean. If you have shitty shoes, take them off at the door. If he can't be bothered to do this he's an assbag.

1:40
Telling her to get a job at 15? If she wants to get a job at that age, in addition to school, then good for her. But telling her she has to get one? What an ass.

3:15
What a smug douche. He absolutely should pay her for doing chores. The amount she makes should correspond to the chores. If the chores amount to nothing, then so does her pay.

3:35
She has to wipe the counters? Really? In itself that's a minor thing to do, but it indicates that he(or his wife, or somebody) doesn't clean up after themselves. It's exceptionally infuriating having to run around behind fucking slobs and clean house.

3:52
Making beds. What an entirely useless activity. I have never understood peoples' obsession with this. And it's her bed, not his! Does he hold business meetings in her bedroom? How many shares of stock does he own in her bed? Is he afraid Martha Stewart and the SS are going to drop by for a surprise daughter-bed inspection? Being uptight about pointless (and unseen) aesthetics fits in with his overall douchiness.

4:15
Oh my god, she wants a battery and a power cord! That is so much to ask for her! How dare she ask her parents for relatively cheap items that are essential to her education!

4:25
Calling your daughter a lazy ass. Good parenting, bravo good sir! That'll surely strengthen the familial bond and her encourage her to be productive!

4:40
Just because you had to deal with a lot as a teenager doesn't mean your daughter is capable or should have to do the same. What kind of psycho parent wants their kids to have as hard a life as their own? Don't most loving parents want the opposite?

4:45
Well no, just a moment ago you also listed chores she has to do. Using hyperbole is not a way to get your daughter to respect your argument. You sound like a husband bickering with his wife.

5:15
Is this the same instance of grounding as he mentioned earlier, for three months? But he can't remember what it was? Did he have a stroke? Or does he just not give enough of a shit about his daughter's life and concerns to remember what he grounded her for three months for? Three months! For three months he had to enforce restrictions on her. Every day for those three months he would obviously have to remember she was grounded, and that in turn would reinforce his memory of what she was grounded for. But now he can't remember?

5:18
More name calling.

5:30
Pure unbridled psychotic. He got so pissed off at his daughter using Facebook that he felt a serious urge to discharge a firearm into her laptop? Grade A fucking lunatic. This man is dangerous.


I'll stop here, it just gets worse. I'm going to try to find out what town they live in and contact the local police. This guy may be a hard worker, but he is an extremely shitty parent, is no doubt terrorizing to his daughter, and possibly a danger.

It only makes my resentment of the terrified, cave-nostalgic luddites all the more bitter.

@dystopianfuturetoday

1a. Social stratification is increasing in every country around the world. It's due to globalization and automation, not to domestic policy. People who work smart and hard doing 21st century work are contributing more to society every year, and people who prefer work that can easily be automated are contributing less to society each year. Resistance to that is just the luddites burning down loom machines all over again.

1b. My lazy collectivist friends who grew up with more advantages than I did all contribute hardly anything to society, whereas large numbers of consumers enjoy the results of my labor. Economics is multi-sum by definition because unless both parties benefit, no trade can be completed. Trade creates value all around.

Some regulation is reasonable.

2. Problems in the US are generally due to (1) inevitable globalization (only 21st century labor is valuable now) and (2) to population replacement. (We're in the process of replacing a high education white/jewish/asian society with a low education non-Asian minority society. That's why California went from being one of the most well-off states in the country to being literally #50 out of #50 on some measures, despite having very liberal policies on education spending, teacher salaries, etc.)

3. Read the NYT article that was linked, and then wonder why virtually all liberal academics will lie about that article and about HBD (human bio-diversity) in general if you ask them about it. Reading Pinker's Blank Slate is a good start.

4. A free society means you don't have to cover the costs of your stupid neighbors who are exercising their right to be stupid and to reject your sound advice. Arguments counter to that are just an excuse for liberals to avoid pursuing their human potential and working smart and hard. My productivity already subsidizes my lazy friends that I grew up with... it's weird to try to increase subsidies for stupid ideas.


It appears to be the case that even if we assume voting liberal is best for society, holding liberal beliefs in your private life greatly reduces your ability to contribute to society, because liberalism makes its adherents think of smart hard work and careerism as slavery rather than contribution and personal development.

right on IATB.
i think maybe we are talking about two seperate,yet similar,issues.
i am addressing the willy nilly diagnosis of the majority of people who have been diagnosed and then subjected to mind altering chemicals which have been proven to not be very effective.
how can you speak to someone for an hour and decide they are bi-polar and then put them on an anti-psychotic?
thats crazy.
it seems you are addressing the very REAL and tragic mental disorders in which medication may be a persons only real hope for a somewhat normal existence.
and in that regard i totally agree with you.
now you may disregard alternative methods in treating someone diagnosed with bi-polar and that is ok and your right but i feel it is not something to be dismissed so lightly.
please understand i am not dismissing the science,that would be foolish of me.i am not a luddite.i just feel treatment and healing will not come solely from chemicals.
i have anecdotal evidence but thats not exactly proof of anything except for my own experience.

in my opinion other avenues should always be pursued before we zombify people.there is a growing amount of data concerning the healing power of affection and love concerning us humans which is not surprising to me.
so while this man has taken a spiritual lilt to his approach,i would just call it being human.

this is a societal issue.on how our culture has become so materialistic as to strip us of our humanity.a constant barrage of "you are not good enough,smart enough,sexy enough but you WILL be if you buy this or that useless piece of crap".
mass marketers=satans little helpers.
is it any wonder that our society is lonely,depressed,anxiety ridden?
it really should not come as too much of a shock to those paying attention and is an entirely different conversation.

thanks for the recommendation on the books!
very awesome of you to offer to pay for them as well! appreciated but no need.the bad science one does look interesting and i will check it out (no chemistry in there right? cuz i suuuuck at chemistry).

p.s:dont feel bad trashing this dudes videos.berticus has to hold his down from exploding when i post one of this guys vids.

Why didn't this get more votes? Haha! What a protectionist luddite.