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DanLane

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  1. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from joojie in Fire Fighters Let Home Burn... for Delinquent $75   
    Someone who doesn't pay for fire protection isn't any worse off than someone in an area without a fire department. No harm, no foul. Nearby neighbors who payed for coverage might have a case. If it was me, I would help put out the fire (but not necessarily risk my life in the process) since I hate to see valuables go up in flames, and if I lived nearby a burnt house would be an eyesore at the very least. Also, it's nice to be able to assume that some people would do the same for me, but I can't imagine putting a gun to their head and forcing them into it.
  2. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from therights in Did capitalism caused the UK Financial Crisis   
    Greed is a motivation, not an action. It can, at most, be the secondary cause of something. It is defined as the willingness to disregard your own system of morality and take massive losses or commit crimes in order to gain something of little actual value. The "Because Greed" arguement is that capitalism brings out the oh so evil human nature in the best of us, and causes us to uncontrollably steal from or defraud others in a way which ordinary laws are somehow unable to prevent. Therefore we need to be brought under more creative forms of control to save us from ourselves. There is no need to present evidence of wrongdoing if the motive of the suspect's unidentified actions is enough to convict him of anything, and a pointed finger is enough to prove said motive.

    Why is greed only for money and never for power?
    Why can the greed of some only be restrained by the endless awarding of power to others?
    Why are the greedy jews the greedy businessmen so prone to greed while the lawmakers and the majority of voters are not?

    Why is it greedy to trade willingly for money, less greedy to tax or take it by force, less greedy still to sell it for some third party's political support, and not greedy at all to beg for it in exchange for someone else's blood?


    "Because Greed" is an empty appeal to emotion relying on the target's implicit hatred and misidentification of human nature (works particularly well on the religious). The hope is that the target will project this view onto a scapegoat and will forget to ask what crimes have actually been comitted and who stands to benefit from the proposed retribution.
  3. Like
    DanLane reacted to Tomer Ravid in How Ayn Rand Ruined My Childhood-Article   
    One cannot beat these leftists ever since they declare that your logic is a mere faith, that you live in a Platonic cave and that everything that seems reasonable in your mind is nothing but a cognitive haze.
    Moreover, observe how they regard Objectivism "a religion" or "simplistic and populist" and by means of what arguments (more correctly: slogans, no self judgement) and the weapon conformity ("Oh, look at these, they claim that the individual is the means and the end, but it is opposed to my very opinion, so that I will invest in not loving that as well as sharing that in public") they do that: that is, no philosophical claims on the ideas as they are (or rather no philosophical claims in general.
  4. Like
    DanLane reacted to Summer in My Law   
    Note: I am not looking for tips regarding my writing style.

    My Law
    By: Summer Hamori

    I am absolute. Consistent and perpetual. The start and the end. That first spark – the initial breath was mine, and mine alone. I am erected, built and solidified; independent of all support and guidance – there could be no question. What I took – you took twice from me.

    Threats were met with steady eyes – break everything. Do it. You’ll make me stronger. Until I can defend myself, I dare you to. In fact, I demand it. I have risen to reject these worthless games. I came from nothing, and there is nothing behind me. Alone. Each footstep –

    You can’t control me. I am the start and the end. The means and the purpose. That first spark – the initial breath was mine, and mine alone. I won’t have it. I won’t have you look at me with those eyes – with those eyes of sadness…

    There is nothing to pity. Not in me.
  5. Like
    DanLane reacted to CapitalistSwine in Must See:New Art Style kinetic wave sculpture. Incredible.   
    New art: Kinetic Wave Sculptures. Why do I have this odd feeling Ayn Rand would think this is pretty fantastic?



    Reuben Margolin, a Bay Area visionary and longtime maker, creates totally singular techno-kinetic wave sculptures. Using everything from wood to cardboard to found and salvaged objects, Reubens artwork is diverse, with sculptures ranging from tiny to looming, motorized to hand-cranked. Focusing on natural elements like a discrete water droplet or a powerful ocean eddy, his work is elegant and hypnotic. Also, learn how ocean waves can power our future. Learn more about Reuben at http://www.reubenmargolin.com/
  6. Like
    DanLane reacted to brian0918 in Cuba banned Sicko for depicting 'mythical' health system   
    One of the Wikileaks diplomatic cables claimed that Cuba banned Michael Moore's Sicko for portraying a "mythical" healthcare system that was far superior to that available in the US. The specific reason for the ban is because Moore highlighted a state-of-the-art hospital which only people with connections and bribe money have access to, and Cuban officials feared this would cause greater resentment from the public.



    Also, Moore released a response on his website, claiming that Cuba did not ban Sicko, and that the memo is all a lie to discredit the film and the Cuban healthcare system.
  7. Like
    DanLane reacted to SapereAude in Obama: Law Against Gay Marriage Unconstitutional   
    Well, in many ways there is. But not for the reasons she thinks.

    I find it deeply offensive to my very core that Obama would dare talk about what is constitutional and what isn't given his utter disregard for it on all other occassions when the Constitution presents an inconvenience to his collectivist, regressive agenda.

    As someone who happens to be gay I find deeply and personally offensive his disingenuous about-face pandering. He has always waffled on the issue but usually come down on the side against gay marriage. This turn about comes at a time when the Democrats can no longer take the gay vote for granted.

    There is no "victory" here whatsoever for "gay rights" or individual rights. All there is is a lying opportunistic politician whoring himself to a demographic he was starting to lose.
  8. Like
    DanLane reacted to FeatherFall in Wisconsin Union Protests   
    They actually need a 3/5 quorum, which means they need 20 senators. 19 Republicans, one with a donkey on his lapel, will not suffice.

    A common theme of the union-side is that Gov. Walker is abandoning democracy. Of course I don't need to explain why democracy is bad on this forum, but I still think there is some irony here that shows how confused the term, "democracy," is today. Reducing the power of the teacher's unions is exactly what many of us in Wisconsin elected the Republicans to do. We voted, the unions lost. Sounds democratic to me.
  9. Like
    DanLane reacted to Hotu Matua in Is It Moral To Objectify Men or Women   
    The moral thing is to treat people for what they are: human beings.
    Treating people as animals or stones or machines is faking reality, irrational, and therefore immoral.

    Now, "treating people like people" means, essentially, respecting their freedom, their rights.
    It does NOT necessarily mean to get interesed in their personal affairs or well-being.
    If a model voluntarily chooses to pose nude for Playboy, there is no coercion involved and she is not being treated as an object. We don't need to get interested in her intellectual or emotional life to show her respect as a human being. She is not being treated as a " sexual object".
    In an act of rape, or in child pornography, the victim is treated as a sexual object and therefore the act is immoral.
    By the same token, attending an Opera house for the sole purpose of being delighted with the voice of the actors, without getting involved in their personal well-being, does not mean that we are treating the singers as "esthetical objects". On e other hand, forcing a film maker or artist to work for Kim Il Sung in North Korea implies treating them as objects or robots.
  10. Like
    DanLane reacted to brian0918 in Integrating Volition   
    Actually, we are not in agreement, and that is why your question arises. Your notion of "volition" or "free will" assumes freedom *from reality*. It is one of the two common false alternatives in philosophy - determinism vs. free will. Both notions are incoherent.

    Men interact with reality, and gather knowledge about reality. Men also have value hierarchies, against which they evaluate the facts of reality, and perform actions in pursuit of those values. For example, a man is hungry, and knows where to find food, and so can decide how to act in order to obtain that food, prepare it for consumption (if necessary or desired), consume it, and satisfy his hunger.

    What about this requires that part of him be nonphysical? - other than the fact that man's mind, and the choices he makes, are conceptual and abstract, in the same way that a clock's function of "telling time" is abstract, and not self-evident from the nature of any specific atom within the clock.

    [zomg 2000 posts! - I should have made this an epic treatise]
  11. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from OCSL in Private property rights in natural resources   
    So the land is the fruit of the state's labor?
  12. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from JayR in Private property rights in natural resources   
    So the land is the fruit of the state's labor?
  13. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from 2046 in So I was thinking   
    Apply that analogously to sex/rape. It's also the question every mugger asks right after he draws his gun. You can't be my friend, ever.
  14. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from SD26 in Fire Fighters Let Home Burn... for Delinquent $75   
    Someone who doesn't pay for fire protection isn't any worse off than someone in an area without a fire department. No harm, no foul. Nearby neighbors who payed for coverage might have a case. If it was me, I would help put out the fire (but not necessarily risk my life in the process) since I hate to see valuables go up in flames, and if I lived nearby a burnt house would be an eyesore at the very least. Also, it's nice to be able to assume that some people would do the same for me, but I can't imagine putting a gun to their head and forcing them into it.
  15. Like
    DanLane reacted to freestyle in City plans to bill Florida pastor $200k   
    Perhaps he should ask for a copy of the contract he has signed and is obligated?
  16. Like
    DanLane got a reaction from Rockefeller in Can you love your baby after it's born?   
    Not in the Christian/egalitarian sense. A child represents the culmination of a lot of productive effort, can symbolize your value of human nature, etc.. You can also look ahead to all the values of parenthood. Some people think babies are cute, the captured essence of new life or something like that.

    Just because a fetus, as a potential person, doesn't have rights, that doesn't mean a fetus or small child cannot be of great value to its parents by virtue of that same potential. It just isn't exactly equivalent to the person it will grow up to be.
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