Urban v's the Commentariat

[frogwoman]

Well, what? What's your opinion? Is it just that Moore submitted another piece while pished, or what?

That some of that piece could be made up.

 

[J Ed]

That some of that piece could be made up.

It's also just stupid and makes her seem stupid, which she is

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

That some of that piece could be made up.

I guess it could be. It's not entirely implausible that Suze made the whole thing up, but the idea that Marxist publications back then then were run eccentrically isn't entirely implausible either.

 

[Bakunin]

Luckily my criticisms of a two child policy are purely recreational and harmless. I don't actually believe it or commit to anything at all in my magazine. Fine. But what about other people less stable, less educated, less middle-class than me? Builders or blacks for example. If you're one of those, my advice to you is to do what your betters tell you to do and shut up. Good luck.

The smug, middle class elitism is thick enough to choke on, yes.

Are we seriously saying that not supporting a social enginerring policy by a female leadership contender makes you a sexist. If you are saying that then fucking come out and say it rather than nudge wink snidey underhand ways of implying it.

Because Lewis has a habit of not committing to any position she might be called to defend later. That allows her and her ilk to shift their ground and hold or discard views on anything as and wen convenient. Typical politician's trick of never being pinned down to anything.

 

[DotCommunist]

Helen Lewis lets her inner Blairite show: http://www.newstatesman.com/helen-l...g-left-cosy-delusion-and-dangerous-insularity

people get paid to write this shit

 

[J Ed]

people get paid to write this shit

Privately educated, Oxbridge liza-- err people get paid to write this shit

 

[Bakunin]

Helen Lewis lets her inner Blairite show: http://www.newstatesman.com/helen-l...g-left-cosy-delusion-and-dangerous-insularity

Looking at that piece again, I notice there's no comment section for it. Is the writer not entirely convinced that comments would be sufficiently supportive? Afraid of people voicing an opinion different from her own, perhaps?

I think we should be told.

 

[J Ed]

Because Lewis has a habit of not committing to any position she might be called to defend later. That allows her and her ilk to shift their ground and hold or discard views on anything as and wen convenient. Typical politician's trick of never being pinned down to anything.

Going through previous stuff by her it really is hard to pin her down on anything other than class solidarity with other rich and privileged women and support for transphobic feminists, even then that is massively qualified by mostly alleging that she is not a transphobic feminist she just spends all of her time being victimised by trans activists.

 

[Bakunin]

Going through previous stuff by her it really is hard to pin her down on anything other than class solidarity with other rich and privileged women and support for transphobic feminists, even then that is massively qualified by mostly alleging that she is not a transphobic feminist she just spends all of her time being victimised by trans activists.

While I don't dispute that there is a lot of online victimisation, I don't think any intelligent person could deny that or oppose it, I can't help thinking that professional victimhood exists as well. Accusations of bigotry and bullying can also be a useful way to shut down a debate that the accuser is losing, come to think of it.

 

[J Ed]

On that issue she is just a bigot posing as a victim imo, in the same way that bigots BNP and some in UKIP say that the real victims of racism are those who dare to speak out against 'anti-white racism'.

 

[cesare]

On that issue she is just a bigot posing as a victim imo, in the same way that bigots BNP and some in UKIP say that the real victims of racism are those who dare to speak out against 'anti-white racism'.

See also: "I'm not transphobic, I'm just playing devil's advocate"

 

[rekil]

Going through previous stuff by her it really is hard to pin her down on anything other than class solidarity with other rich and privileged women and support for transphobic feminists, even then that is massively qualified by mostly alleging that she is not a transphobic feminist she just spends all of her time being victimised by trans activists.

This take was particularly tepid.

 

[butchersapron]

What on earth does "those who voted simply for more of the same etc" even mean? What relation does it bear to the election outcome?

 

[cesare]

What on earth does "those who voted simply for more of the same etc" even mean? What relation does it bear to the election outcome?

Someone should point out to her that voting for a coalition wasn't a choice on the ballot papers.

 

[Bakunin]

I'm really enjoying it

Watching the Prada-Meinhof brigade going 'Oh shit, here come some actual left-wingers! Fuck, fuck, fuck, what the hell are we going to do against the genuine article!' is extremely edifying, yes.

The Prada-Meinhof brigade's leader, yesterday:

 

[J Ed]

So Helen Lewis, still posing as a 'left-winger' is recommending Cass Sunstein in order to understand this stuff...

http://www.salon.com/2010/01/15/sunstein_2/

Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.” In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-”independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens’ faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists.

...

He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government). This program would target those advocating false “conspiracy theories,” which they define to mean: “an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.”

Nasty dangerous shit, and you can see that she is dripping with that kind of paternalistic technocratic attitude.

 

[J Ed]

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=199668

In a striking empirical regularity, deliberation tends to move groups, and the individuals who compose them, toward a more extreme point in the direction indicated by their own predeliberation judgments. For example, people who are opposed to the minimum wage are likely, after talking to each other, to be still more opposed; people who tend to support gun control are likely, after discussion, to support gun control with considerable enthusiasm; people who believe that global warming is a serious problem are likely, after discussion, to insist on severe measures to prevent global warming. This general phenomenon -- group polarization -- has many implications for economic, political, and legal institutions. It helps to explain extremism, "radicalization," cultural shifts, and the behavior of political parties and religious organizations; it is closely connected to current concerns about the consequences of the Internet; it also helps account for feuds, ethnic antagonism, and tribalism. Group polarization bears on the conduct of government institutions, including juries, legislatures, courts, and regulatory commissions. There are interesting relationships between group polarization and social cascades, both informational and reputational. Normative implications are discussed, with special attention to political and legal institutions

Of course none of this 'group polarization' could ever apply to a political class who went to the same schools, the same universities and act as the constituent members and handmaidens of an oligarchy. Group polarization, just like 'virtue signalling' is something that only ordinary people can do.

 

[butchersapron]

The naturalistic assumption here and in the other piece is that her and and class are the normal ones - they are the ones that need pampering - that's just how nature intended.

The 9 million people (overwhelmingly w/c) who stood by labour - not emotionally committed but using them as a last defence. Now she speaks for those defenders too. They always do. The 3 million lost w/c votes since 2001. All really oxbridge types with the same circular interests?

Keynes said "The class war will find me on the side of the educated bourgeoisie." - he also said, when he edited the NS, that he could write the whole thing on his own. Well here we go, anyone could write what they print now and they would be on the side of the educated bourgeoisie.

 

[rekil]

http://www.theguardian.com/artandde...15/jul/23/museums-should-charge-entrance-fees

The unsayable truth: museums should charge entrance fees


erm why is this "unsayable"? didnt stop him saying it, did it?

He also said this about the Abu Dhabi Louvre which as the Guardian itself reported, has been built with slave labour.

Nothing excuses the inhuman working conditions that have been reported. But I suspect that when it opens, this audacious new museum will be admired as a world destination and artistic treasure house. And so it should be.

With any luck, this is the beginning of a global spread of great museums. The world needs a network of cultural oases on every continent, perhaps one day sharing all their collections. That would vindicate the democratic educational dream of the Enlightenment, from which the first world museums grew.

 

[butchersapron]

In't he shocking. I'm shocked.

 

[rekil]

Have some Oxbridge opinions why don't you.

Spoiler

Link blocked, bah.

 

[The Pale King]

He also said this about the Abu Dhabi Louvre which as the Guardian itself reported, has been built with slave labour.

Bloody hell. When you are raving about 'vindicating the educational dream of the enlightenment' (whatever that means) in regard to a plce built by slave labour, its time to put down the kool aid.

 

[CNT36]

somewhere in cornwall. It's dedicated to displaying all the crafts and techniques the net-draggers of yesteryear used in their centuries old sea harvesting, its basically a museum to a lost art when there was no engines and you feared the sea with a healthy respect rather than just plowing through it with a massive engine. But no, always the fucking beach so I get sand in my arse crack and my packed lunch

also it covers all the preservation and post-catch industry used to keep pilchads saleable over distance

Newlyn near Penzance. I might go next week.

 

[two sheds]

There's a nice little maritime museum in Polperro, too, on site of old pilchard packing plant. Only small but full of interesting little pieces. Polperro's gorgeous too, spent a veh pleasant week there.

to pilchard oriented museums.

 

[Libertad]

There's a nice little maritime museum in Polperro, too, on site of old pilchard packing plant. Only small but full of interesting little pieces. Polperro's gorgeous too, spent a veh pleasant week there.

to pilchard oriented museums.

A week in Polperro?

 

[two sheds]

With a couple of neighbours out of season. Lansallos church is really interesting too - amazing carvings on the pew ends.

 

[Libertad]

With a couple of neighbours out of season. Lansallos church is really interesting too - amazing carvings on the pew ends.

Yep it's a lovely church, I rebuilt and installed all the windows there after the fire. Slightly off topic

 

[two sheds]

Bloody hell

proper job

 

[Libertad]

Thanks

 

[two sheds]

It was a superb job altogether on the restoration - the wooden screen/door that was replaced was lovely piece of crafted work too.

/end of derail