Monthly Archives: March 2012

Quote of the Day – Niebuhr on Economic Inequality

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The idea that the profits of capital are really the rewards of a just society for the foresight and thrift of those who sacrificed the immediate pleasures of spending in order that society might have productive capital, had a certain validity in the early days of capitalism, when productive enterprise was frequently initiated through capital saved out of modest incomes. The idea, as a moral justification of present inequalities of privilege, has become more and more dishonest, since the increased centralization of power and privilege makes it possible for those who make the largest investments in industry to do so without any diminution of even the most luxurious living standards. Since we are living in a world in which there is too much capital for production and too little for consumption, the argument that economic inequality is necessary for the accumulation of capital resources has lost even its economic validity. Yet it is still used by privileged classes to establish a specious connection between virtue or social function and privilege.

Reinhold Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, 1932

Occupy yourself

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Experimental Theology: On Blog Arguments and Dumbfounding

To be clear, I’m not saying that when people disagree with me they don’t have good reasons or solid arguments. It’s just that I don’t find those arguments persuasive. Largely, and this is key, for a host of emotional reasons. Consequently, until I feel differently about things, until my affections change, exchanging self-justifications in the comments section of a blog isn’t going to move the conversation forward. It’s a dumbfounding situation.

xkcd: Error Code

Ta-Nehisi Coates: On Making Yourself Right

It is natural to think of the damage [a liar and opportunist] did to people [] by embracing lying as a weapon. But I found myself thinking of the great injury he must have ultimately done himself, for by the end [], he was a man lying only to himself and other liars.

Six-Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway, Hides For 80 Years

Kickstarter: A Show with Ze Frank

Extreme Makeover: The story behind the story of Lawrence v. Texas.

“The cause was greater than the facts themselves. Lawrence and Garner understood that they were being asked to keep the dirty secret that there was no dirty secret. That’s the punch line: the case that affirmed the right of gay couples to have consensual sex in private spaces seems to have involved two men who were neither a couple nor having sex.”