The more rapacious 'won', of course

Post #26,597 by Ashton 1/30/02 6:25:21 PM Reply	The more rapacious 'won', of course ..but continued the rapine long after parity was achieved. That became a habit, then a tradition - and now it seems to be all we know, to keep selves occupied during waking hours. So - is that the best we can supply as a 'Purpose' for hanging out in these parts? - get as much of everything as you can.. then try to get some more? Repeat. B o r i n g. And it makes the 'entrepreneur' the epitome of maudlin conversationalist: you always Know What S/he Wants, and it's always the same: my very Own Monopoly! Ashton
Post #26,600 by marlowe 1/30/02 7:02:59 PM Reply	Big problem with that theory. Conflicts with real world. A lot of loser types I can name are way more vicious and predatory than some winner types I know. It's not hard to find groups with an inflated sense of entitlement, and a ruthless determination to collect, who nonetheless are stuck at the bottom of the totem pole. Common street thugs. New Guinea headhunters. Day traders (yes, they kill, sometimes.) Those drunken losers who fall for get-rich-quick scams, and then go on a shooting spree when things don't turn out the way they planned. And that's just financial rapacity. What of the lust for power, and for respect far beyond what one is entitled to? Arab terrorists. The IRA. Chechens. And do you really not know any decent, honest people who work for a living, and happen to be doing well at it? If not, you need to hang out with a different crowd. And if so, can't the same principle apply to entire cultures? Why not? Not everyone who wins cheats. And not everyone who loses plays nice. Far from it. Be careful what underdog you root for. It might be rabid. Or just stupid. Really, Ash. If you'd actually thought about what you said for even a moment, you'd have realized how silly it is. You're envious. Get over it. [link\|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html\|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html] Sometimes "tolerance" is just a word for not dealing with things.
Post #26,670 by Ashton 1/31/02 1:43:53 PM Reply	Any use of the word 'real' to bolster a stereotype is doomed to failure - as is the usual reply: of YAN 'opposite'. This isn't argument - it's contradiction. Ditto 'power fairy' type excrescenses.. And your adolescent ideas about 'losers and winners' - hell, Billy is perhaps the biggest seeming-Winner to be.. so evidently: a 'real' Looser. You appear still to imagine that there are only Two POVs, and also believe that the usual polit-speak of inane polar opposites actually has 'meaning' (!) There are many reasons - none of which constitutes causality - for the US ascent to now virtual Imperial hegemony over any #2 or the rest. Our position is bolstered by our single-minded devotion to the mercantile, mechanical model of all things + our jingoistic, very Christian-like Certainty [a lot like the certainty your every comment oozes] -- that there is no need to examine any other peoples' POV: Ours is Best by definition, since we hold the \ufffd on those. We manufacture new nonsense words to justify our every action. We invented! the TLA (and we believe those fake words - that's the scariest part). For this tissue of self-referential 'morality' to continue, there needs to be ultimate power finally backing it up. We have that - the best nukes, delivery systems and.. a group well-conditioned to destroy the world on orders, if need be: to save Our idea of "democracy" (by Corporate surrogate, of course: here And abroad). Just as in Vietnam - kill the country and it's gooks - as we always dehumanize Every 'enemy' - to save them for Murican 'goodness'. Still the rampant mindset in US and us IMhO. No, not that any rocketeers long to see this magic stuff used (well, every techno type secretly wants to see His system perform) - just that: in the End (and it will Be That]: They Will Launch.. us all into terminal madness. No one out there can counter devoted, sanctimonious M.A.D. Certainty - backed by apocalyptic weaponry. And we're so insouciant: we feel actually smug about possessing!* this Damocles sword over the continuation of the species. Smug is the word because the Decision is already made: We Will Launch. * Who possesses Whom.. Don't talk to me about your fanciful idea of any real world or for that matter, about 'reality' of any label. You can't ever get past the cant, it seems. Erwache! Gehabt, kindern. Ashton
Post #26,722 by marlowe 1/31/02 4:18:34 PM Reply	Methinks you're suffering from reality envy. [link\|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html\|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html] Sometimes "tolerance" is just a word for not dealing with things.

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