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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Falhaar
Published Letters: 48
There's nothing sadder to me than somebody neglecting an entire cultural element purely on the basis of some weird hatred of "snobbery". Guess what? You can like something on it's own terms, not just because a certain group of people does.
I would personally not consider myself a "snob". I like to be entertained. I'll watch anything if it's good. Thus I really enjoyed the latest Harry Potter film, got a bit of a guilty giggle out of Death At A Funeral and totally loved Knocked Up. One of my favourite all time movies is Aliens.
I'm also a huge fan of Fellini, Jean-Pierre Melville, I've watched the entire filmographies of Bulnel, Truffaut, Godard, Kurosawa, Bresson, Renoir, Mizoguchi, De Sica, Ozu, Kieslowski, Kubrick, Lean and many many others. When I watch a movie I'm not looking for some self-gratifying ego boost, (For example, popular as he is I think Godard is largely full of shit, but it's a personal taste thing), I certainly don't do it so I can fit into some mysterious "elite".
So, in my personal opinion, Bergman was the greatest director of the 20th century. His command of editing, shot placement, his control of actors, his imppecable screenwriting, his masterful lighting and his refusal to back down from some of the most awesome of human problems puts him a cut above all other. Cries and Whispers will one day be put on display right next to The Nightwatch, The Mona Lisa and Guernica. Mark my words.
Eh, I wouldn't exactly call Liberalism "related" to Fascism. But I would say that Liberalism is an inherently authoritarian political ideology, or at least it displays very authoritarian tenancies. If you're honest with yourself as a Liberal you'll have to agree.
BTW the political spectrum is not a line or a bullshit "circle" (that's retarded), it is in fact an axis, with the top of the y being Authoritarianism and the bottom being Anarchism, and the left of the x being leftism and the right being conservatism. This paints a way more accurate picture of what the political field looks like. Hence you can have Authoritarian Leftists (Stalinists), Anarcho-Rightists (Lazzi-faire capitlists) and visa versa.
Oh and I find the Ron Paul supporters here really funny. What are you even doing on this Liberal website?
Firstly, there are anti-industry primitivists (read: live in mud huts) within the Green movement which, like the NGO charities, is saturated with libertarians. However, these form a thankfully small minority and most Greenies and anarchists are pro-technology.
Anyway, I hope you all realise that's it's far FAR too late for any form of debate like this to occur. We're already beginning to see negative feedback loops in the environment and peak oil has finally begun to hit, which will plunge everyone into economic ruin at the worst possible time. Start preparing for alternatives. Real alternatives. The time to act was twenty years ago. Even if we agressively transform our energy policies tomorrow, there won't be a significant outcome until twenty years from now. Coupled with representative democracy's "slow-and-steady" built-in conservatism and the inherent selfishness fostered and nurtured by nationalism and capitalism, there is no out. We need to come to terms with this. Start planning now.
First of all, there's a variety of responses which have come from the left and it's a mistake to think that all the Greenies wish to employ the same means. The Liberals are the ones who have largely been pushing for increased regulation, it's something they pushed for before the advent of Global Warming and it's something they'll push for afterwards.
The State Socialists have declared this as irrefutable evidence of the failure of capitalism to concieve of reality beyond capital profit and the need for a huge push for state interventionism and control of the market to bring about a more human friendly system. They argue that progess is too slow and ineffective with the current system and we'll be screwed if we don't give ourselves over to a central authority.
The Libertarian Socialists, whom I might add make up a surprising bulk of student, grassroot and small-scale "greenie" groups, have declared that the only solution is a radical rethinking of how we utilise and transport energy and see this as an impetuous to push for more localised agriculture and energy production, as well as a decentralisation of renewable technologies and a push for greater independence.
So in actuality the leftist response to the crisis is varied and unsolidified, not driven as some may claim by some all powerful homogenising conspiracy.
Dude, if you don't understand the science, then please stop embarassing yourself and read a little. I'd personally be delighted if there were indeed a reversal, but the problem is twofold.
The weather for this year was extremely unusual and there has been a massive decrease in old core ice as well as the thickness of the ice. Much of the arctic is now less than one year old!. As you'd no doubt know, the surface of the water is much easier to freeze than the deep and it is the loss of the deep core ice which is a forewarning of some serious shit in the future.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2008/040708.html
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
