Questions to Aggravate
A few things I’ve been wondering….
Would Global Warming attract nearly the same level of interest among environmentalist activists and Hollywood celebrities if the most effective proposed policy solutions had a free market bent ?
If you were to run a country going to war would you rather be in charge of Iran or the United States? Iran or Israel ? China or Taiwan?
If independents and third party wannabes are correct that the country really needs an effective and competitive major third party, why are they historically unable to propose any set of original programmatic ideas that the Republicans and Democrats cannot steal ?
If the EU has genuinely changed the twenty century-long warlike character of Europeans to apathetic, bureaucratic, declinists why does the idea of Germany with nuclear weapons still give everyone pause ?
Or for that matter, who’s up for the Japanese Prime Minister announcing a successful test of a hydrogen bomb ? If you’re not but you are also ok on a nuclear Iran, can you give an intellectually credible explanation as to the difference?
What government entitlement programs that you personally benefit from should people be prepared to live without ?
To what degree is opposition to the death penalty rooted in opposition to the concepts of individual accountability and punishment ? To what degree is gun-control a repudiation of the right to self-defense ?
If you are pro-Life, why should a woman who happens to be pregnant have to take into account your personal religious beliefs before her baby is born but not afterward when making life-altering medical decisions on behalf of her minor child?
If the rich should pay more taxes, who counts as “rich” ? Why is your arbitrary figure plucked out of the air better than mine or anybody else’s ?
How many laws regulating the legal profession are ever proposed ? How many are passed ?
If the U.S government has friendly but non-committal diplomatic relations (minimal or no conflict) with another state, does that constitute “support” for the regime or ” non-intervention” ?
If multiculturalists are correct that that the non-Western cultures are of greater moral stature than the oppressive West, then why did none of the non-Western cultures ever practice multiculturalism ?
December 18th, 2007 at 7:51 am
ZenPundit, Agent Provocateur.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
1. Yes. The emotional impulsive is puritanism, not socialism.
2. United States, to maximize my possibility of living through it.
3. The "winner takes all" election system institutionally creates a duopoly — the set of programmatic ideas proposed is not relevant.
4. A new independent nuclear deterrent in Europe marks a substantial set backwards in the collectivization of security across Europe.
5. A good idea. If nuclear deterrent worked for the five major powers during the Cold War, it would work for the five major states of East Asia.
6. Counter-cyclical agricultural adjustments.
7. a. Largely. While both pseudo-scientific (mistakes can be made leading to permanent death — so there are no deaths in prison?) and sadistic (death is too easy for them!) rhetoric is employed, the idea of encouraging requests for forgiveness seems to be carrying it. b. Completely, with regards to community self defense. Gun control is a modernist idea that seeks to replace traditional security-networks.
8. Because infanticide — the killing of infants — is murder of a person, under any sensible definition of murder and person.
9. An appropriate figure would increase economic growth and investment.
10. Also, how many are enforced?
11. Both.
12. Because multiculturalism is post-modern, and there is no evidence of post-modernity is any non-western culture.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Fantastic set of questions. Love the new site btw!
December 18th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
LOL! Dan is such a grad student – he must have thought this was a test! 🙂
December 18th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I’ll answer the purely political/non-policy question in the bunch:
<blockquote>
If independents and third party wannabes are correct that the country really needs an effective and competitive major third party, why are they historically unable to propose any set of original programmatic ideas that the Republicans and Democrats cannot steal ?
</blockquote>
Neither the Republican nor Democratic parties are programmatic, however much activists in both parties would like them to be so. They’re both catch-all parties that have moved in a more programmatic direction over the last 35 years. “Democrat” does not mean the same thing in Chicago as it does in San Francisco any more than “Republican” means the the same thing in New York as it does in Arizona.
A third party in the United States would be no different. It would be a non-programmatic catch-all party with a Chinese menu of a platform.
Despite being the presumed beneficiary of a third party (I’m a Democrat who believes in a strong defense and means-testing Social Security and Medicare benefits), I believe that what we need is electoral reform rather than partisan reform and that we’re as likely to get that from the present system as we would from a three party one.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
+ no
+ US, Israel, China. guess i’m a Machiavellian (like you 😉
+ the Repubs and Dems think they are playing to their bases. they aren’t ‘smart’ enough to branch out
+ a nuclear Germany gives me much less pause than nuklear Pakistan
+ Germany:Pakistan::Japan:Iran
+ can’t think of any this minute (though i’m sure there are some ;-). (upon further review: what Dan said. my farming family has long benefited from ag subsidies)
+ not much, i don’t think, in both cases. i don’t think those are the main issues in those issues
+ wrong question. some things are objective, and preserving life is one of them
+ i am willing to negotiate. let’s vote and take a simple majority
+ no idea. fewer 😉
+ at some point, non-intervention is support
+ the mulitculturalist are wrong. power corrupts (and would have corrupted the nonWestern cultures, given a chance)
methodological statement v. Shane: for my part, it just seemed like fun 😉
December 18th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Agreed with Dave and Dan – Dems and Republicans are not ‘parties’ in the traditional sense of the word as much as they are confederations of what should be several parties. As Dan mentioned, this outcome has near mathematical certainty given the way we’ve set up the electoral system with winner takes all.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Good questions, Mark. My answersWould Global Warming attract …?Ha. The question answers itself. The hype over global warming is not about the environment. It is about finding a new excuse to turn the entire economy over to the government and to academics. With socialism dead they took only a few years to come up with another reason to submit to slavery. Like the first one, this too is a fraud. Unlike the first one, it does not promise a utopia but merely says it will save us from disaster. It breeds similar irrational fanaticism in its followers, however. If you were to run a country going to war …?USA, Israel, Taiwan. If independents and third party wannabes …?The Constitution is brilliantly drafted to force the existence of two diverse coalitions, both trying to find the median voter. This imposes centrist and consensual government on a very large country. It is a feature not a bug. If the EU has genuinely changed …?Count me out of “everyone”. If Germany had a robust fleet of SSBNs the world would be a better, safer place. Nukes keep the peace. Or for that matter, who’s up for the Japanese …?Same answer. If Japan had a robust fleet of SSBNs the world would be a better, safer place. What government entitlement programs …?Not aware of what program I may benefit from. I don’t get a check from the government. I don’t use the government schools and would like to privatize the whole thing. I favor the home mortgage deduction, but I favored that before I had a house as a political matter – homeowners become conservatives. I would happily forego government involvement in retiree medical care, in twenty years when it would apply to me, in exchange for a radically privatized system. To what degree is opposition to the death penalty … gun-control …?A predominant degree in both cases. If you are pro-Life …?My personal religious belief is that you cannot murder people. This is widely shared. The question is where the line is. How to determine the line? I say democratically. Others say they descry a line in the emanations and penumbras of the Federal Constitions. So, all homicides are illegal and should be. Life-altering medical decisions are in hands of parents and always have been, for minor children. Of course, very incompetent parents face the prospect of the state taking their children away. You do not have a parallel here. If the rich should pay more taxes…?There should be a flat tax with a high deductible that would protect the poor and not create perverse incentives. How many laws regulating the legal profession …?Lawyers are subject to a code of Professional Responsibility. They can get sued for malpractice, or disbarred, though this is uncommon. As to more direct regulation, they have been good lobbyists over the years. And most politicians are lawyers. It would be very difficult to take on the Bar directly. The effort in Illinois a few years ago to do “tort reform” was struck down on appeal. On the other hand, we have a privatized tort system, with non-wealthy plaintiffs suing on a contingent fee basis. The alternative would be more direct regulation of business. Probably worse. Would you rather do business here or in Sweden? If the U.S government has …?Non-intervention. Talking is not supporting. If multiculturalists are correct …?The lovely communities outside the West killed and ate their homegrown multiculturalists long ago.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
"If you were to run a country going to war would you rather be in charge of Iran or the United States? Iran or Israel ? China or Taiwan?"
It would be great to use a little of each. The USA because of its solder’s attatude of "get’er done". Weapons of mass destruction? Bring democracy to the region? Globalize those who are in the gap? What eve…r–let’s just get the job done and go on.
Iran, because of its ability to think in different spatial areas at the same time. Must be something from its imperial past or just because everyone has come through Iran to get somewhere else. Its presence was unmistakable in our invasion into Iraq. It is going to take a heroic effort by the Arabs to dislodge its presence out of Iraq, for many generations to come.
Israel, I hope our solders won’t have to fight the fight of survival that Israel brings to a war. As long as we work on imploding Iran instead of exploding it, maybe they will not have to. If only our leaders had brought the same seriuosness to the Iraq war. I get the feeling it was the high ground or no ground.
China. But then China would not have invaded Iraq as we did, in the first place. A country ran by a totalitarian ruler who would ruthlessly kill his own people? And the problem Is…? Weapons of mass destruction which could kill millions of our people. After 60 million or so we could start to get a little pissed off. Your willing to sell us your oil? Okkkkk! Of course, as soon as it is secured enough, probably China will follow the US out of Iraq, so maybe not that bad of choice.
Not sure of Taiwan. The people must have nerves of steel. To carry on a thriving society under a sever potential as that being between two powers. It is no wonder that more fights don’t brake out in its parliament, if that is what you call it.
I think I will have to go with the US military. Having worked with vets of shit-holes like Vietnam, their attitudes still seemed to be, when shit happens, let’s lean into it and see what happens. I don’t think most militarys would take the time to try.
Oh, by the way Zen, I think these questions prove you need a vacation.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
> why no effective and competitive major third party
Because we don’t have a parliamentary government where ruling coalitions are formed that have multiple parties in them. When you have a system where, say, 10% of the votes get you 10% of the seats, then third parties can be more powerful and meaningful.
But in the US, 10% of the votes get you nothing. And I believe we are the only democracy that works that way.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
What an interesting problem set.Q1. Would Global Warming attract nearly the same level of interest among environmentalist activists and Hollywood celebrities if the most effective proposed policy solutions had a free market bent ? A1. Yes, because who cares if the BEST solution is free-market-based? The "humans cause global warming" meme is the best control mechanism they’ve run across in decades. Q2. If you were to run a country going to war would you rather be in charge of Iran or the United States? Iran or Israel ? China or Taiwan? A2. For Iran vs. U.S., from the perspective of dirty tricks and asymmetric surprises, I’d choose Iran. From the perspective of disciplined ass-kicking, I’d love to help call the shots for U.S. forces. For Iran vs. Israel, I’d go with Israel since it would be a shadow war and a chance to test Hezbollah again. For Taiwan vs. China, for the sheer Ragnarok thrill of it, I’d go with Taiwan.Q3. If independents and third party wannabes are correct that the country really needs an effective and competitive major third party, why are they historically unable to propose any set of original programmatic ideas that the Republicans and Democrats cannot steal ?A3. Best guess – the welfare state system has worked so well and the U.S. has been so wealthy that the differences that matter to most of the voters have been minimal and the major parties could pull vast support for 70% of their platform. In a U.S. that, hypothetically of course, might experience a massive credit crisis and severe recession, the two major parties might be so locked into their welfare state positions that they can’t change quickly enough to suit voters and a 3rd party grows up to meet the new needs that the corrupt old parties can’t – maybe like what happened to the Whigs over slavery back in the 1850’s, when they were supplanted by the Republicans… Q4. If the EU has genuinely changed the twenty century-long warlike character of Europeans to apathetic, bureaucratic, declinists why does the idea of Germany with nuclear weapons still give everyone pause ? A4. Serve ’em up. The Germans are voting themselves into natural gas slavery to Russia right now by phasing out nuclear power, so who thinks they would actually become a weapons state any time soon? Now the Poles with nukes… Q5. Or for that matter, who’s up for the Japanese Prime Minister announcing a successful test of a hydrogen bomb ? If you’re not but you are also ok on a nuclear Iran, can you give an intellectually credible explanation as to the difference? A5. I hope I get invited to the test. A nuclear-weaponized Japan could be a reality in six months, considering their Pu stockpile. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they went nuclear – it might force a rational rethink of the NPT.Q6. What government entitlement programs that you personally benefit from should people be prepared to live without ?A6. Hmmm, I currently rent, so I guess I benefit most from the student loan interest deduction. A lot of those deductions are going away in the coming decade as the Baby Boomers move like a wave of locusts over the land. Q7. To what degree is opposition to the death penalty rooted in opposition to the concepts of individual accountability and punishment ? To what degree is gun-control a repudiation of the right to self-defense ? A7. I’d say some degree of opposition to the death penalty is root in opposition to individual accountability, the other factor might be the fact that many of us out here don’t trust prosecuting attorneys at all. Just ask those 3 Duke Lacrosse players who got hoaxed in Durham what they think of the behavior of Prosecuting Attorneys… As for gun control, IMHO, it is a complete repudiation of the right of self-defense (at least for us scrawny guys who can’t knife-fight very well)Q8. If you are pro-Life, why should a woman who happens to be pregnant have to take into account your personal religious beliefs before her baby is born but not afterward when making life-altering medical decisions on behalf of her minor child?A8. Not going there. Q9. If the rich should pay more taxes, who counts as “rich” ? Why is your arbitrary figure plucked out of the air better than mine or anybody else’s ? A9. $376,892.14, indexed to inflation starting today at noon, ESTQ10. How many laws regulating the legal profession are ever proposed ? How many are passed ?A10. Not enough. Q11. If the U.S government has friendly but non-committal diplomatic relations (minimal or no conflict) with another state, does that constitute “support” for the regime or ” non-intervention” ?A11. No, not in my opinion. Q12. If multiculturalists are correct that that the non-Western cultures are of greater moral stature than the oppressive West, then why did none of the non-Western cultures ever practice multiculturalism ? A12. You are obviously an oppressive tool of the patriarchy and have not studied the effects of White Male Colonialist Oppression upon the schema of indigenous thought patterns.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
What an interesting problem set.Q1. Would Global Warming attract nearly the same level of interest among environmentalist activists and Hollywood celebrities if the most effective proposed policy solutions had a free market bent ?
A1. Yes, because who cares if the BEST solution is free-market-based? The "humans cause global warming" meme is the best control mechanism they’ve run across in decades.
Q2. If you were to run a country going to war would you rather be in charge of Iran or the United States? Iran or Israel ? China or Taiwan?
A2. For Iran vs. U.S., from the perspective of dirty tricks and asymmetric surprises, I’d choose Iran. From the perspective of disciplined ass-kicking, I’d love to help call the shots for U.S. forces. For Iran vs. Israel, I’d go with Israel since it would be a shadow war and a chance to test Hezbollah again. For Taiwan vs. China, for the sheer Ragnarok thrill of it, I’d go with Taiwan.Q3. If independents and third party wannabes are correct that the country really needs an effective and competitive major third party, why are they historically unable to propose any set of original programmatic ideas that the Republicans and Democrats cannot steal ?A3. Best guess – the welfare state system has worked so well and the U.S. has been so wealthy that the differences that matter to most of the voters have been minimal and the major parties could pull vast support for 70% of their platform. In a U.S. that, hypothetically of course, might experience a massive credit crisis and severe recession, the two major parties might be so locked into their welfare state positions that they can’t change quickly enough to suit voters and a 3rd party grows up to meet the new needs that the corrupt old parties can’t – maybe like what happened to the Whigs over slavery back in the 1850’s, when they were supplanted by the Republicans…
Q4. If the EU has genuinely changed the twenty century-long warlike character of Europeans to apathetic, bureaucratic, declinists why does the idea of Germany with nuclear weapons still give everyone pause ?
A4. Serve ’em up. The Germans are voting themselves into natural gas slavery to Russia right now by phasing out nuclear power, so who thinks they would actually become a weapons state any time soon? Now the Poles with nukes…
Q5. Or for that matter, who’s up for the Japanese Prime Minister announcing a successful test of a hydrogen bomb ? If you’re not but you are also ok on a nuclear Iran, can you give an intellectually credible explanation as to the difference?
A5. I hope I get invited to the test. A nuclear-weaponized Japan could be a reality in six months, considering their Pu stockpile. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they went nuclear – it might force a rational rethink of the NPT.Q6. What government entitlement programs that you personally benefit from should people be prepared to live without ?A6. Hmmm, I currently rent, so I guess I benefit most from the student loan interest deduction. A lot of those deductions are going away in the coming decade as the Baby Boomers move like a wave of locusts over the land.
Q7. To what degree is opposition to the death penalty rooted in opposition to the concepts of individual accountability and punishment ? To what degree is gun-control a repudiation of the right to self-defense ?
A7. I’d say some degree of opposition to the death penalty is root in opposition to individual accountability, the other factor might be the fact that many of us out here don’t trust prosecuting attorneys at all. Just ask those 3 Duke Lacrosse players who got hoaxed in Durham what they think of the behavior of Prosecuting Attorneys… As for gun control, IMHO, it is a complete repudiation of the right of self-defense (at least for us scrawny guys who can’t knife-fight very well)Q8. If you are pro-Life, why should a woman who happens to be pregnant have to take into account your personal religious beliefs before her baby is born but not afterward when making life-altering medical decisions on behalf of her minor child?A8. Not going there.
Q9. If the rich should pay more taxes, who counts as “rich” ? Why is your arbitrary figure plucked out of the air better than mine or anybody else’s ?
A9. $376,892.14, indexed to inflation starting today at noon, ESTQ10. How many laws regulating the legal profession are ever proposed ? How many are passed ?A10. Not enough.
Q11. If the U.S government has friendly but non-committal diplomatic relations (minimal or no conflict) with another state, does that constitute “support” for the regime or ” non-intervention” ?A11. No, not in my opinion.
Q12. If multiculturalists are correct that that the non-Western cultures are of greater moral stature than the oppressive West, then why did none of the non-Western cultures ever practice multiculturalism ?
A12. You are obviously an oppressive tool of the patriarchy and have not studied the effects of White Male Colonialist Oppression upon the schema of indigenous thought patterns.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
42. I told you, you wouldn’t like it.
December 19th, 2007 at 4:33 am
Now this was a quality response to a blog post!! I thank everyone who commented, particularly those who gave the unexpectedly comprehensive responses, bravo! Extra props to Mr. Meade for linking as well- Boo-YAH!
It’s always intriguing to me to watch good minds turn their wheels around the same questions. You get a feel both for their normative standards and the particular way they process information. Shane was correct – some of this was me agent-provacateuring but all in a good cause.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
[…] posed a bunch of provocative questions over on his site, and I thought they might start some lively […]
December 19th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Lex Gree’s comments fully indicate how off the wall biases can be! The large body of scientific findings, those who note glabal changes (ie, Antartica etc) all atest tochanges and yet to do something is simply–says this dolt–to try to turn the country over to socialists! We have socialism for our military industry and capitalism for the working man.
As for the questions: does spelling count? Can we take the test over if we get a lousy grade? Do you mark on a curve or are you straight?
December 20th, 2007 at 1:55 am
The dolt says that absolutely none of the proposed fixes make any sense on a cost benefit basis. So, what does the dolt think about the people proposing to destroy the market economy on a global basis? They are not dolts! They know that the proposed fixes won’t fix the problem. So, they must want to do something other than what they say they want. That happens all the time. If even a dolt can see that, lots of other people will too.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Hi Dot Calm,
You wrote:
"We have socialism for our military industry and capitalism for the working man."
Socialism for military industry is wrecking our military. On the one hand, preserving the platform to make a B-2’s or similar planes in off-years when production is zero is sensible; shielding defense contractors from realistic tests or rewarding them for half-baked crap weapons systems is not.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Would Global Warming attract nearly the same level of interest among environmentalist activists and Hollywood celebrities if the most effective proposed policy solutions had a free market bent ?
Their heart is in the right place (and mind in some cases, as those who invest heavily in R&D for innovative energy or technology solutions) but it seems the masses and the various clasess of elites who shape opinion/viewpoints typically eschew common-sense solutions or less "sexy" or "dramatic" answers. Solar ovens in Dar Fur, malleable cellphones in Burma and shortwave radios in N. Korea just don’t have the same ring or jolt as "a carbon-free world" and "climate social justice".
If you were to run a country going to war would you rather be in charge of Iran or the United States? Iran or Israel ? China or Taiwan?
Iran, Taiwan at face value. Yet what type of war are we talking? For Iran/USA, a limited "punitive expedition" by some naval air assets, B-2’s, missiles and SOCOM? Or an all-out invasion? Either way, I’d rather be Iran. Just too many easily reachable targets in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi, Iraq. Iran/Israel? Israel might win the battle but lose the war if it got out of hand 10 years from now. Right now though they have the upper hand because of their nuclear capability and what it could mean for the Arabs & Persians if Israel felt its existence actually threatened and not just annoyed. China & Taiwan. Taiwan, I think Dan Abbott has a point about the various defense options Taiwan has that could make life hellish for the Chinese. If Taiwan were to collapse China’s economy or just seriously damage it with any number of possible attacks/counter-attacks, there would be chaos and the CCP won’t be able to stem it, which then again could bode ill for the Taiwanese years later……If independents and third party wannabes are correct that the country really needs an effective and competitive major third party, why are they historically unable to propose any set of original programmatic ideas that the Republicans and Democrats cannot steal ?
The inherently biased media, the ill-fated top-down nature of 3rd Party movements in recent history and the lack of extensive, name-brand credibility in even a region of the US are what is to blame. Given the changes both parties have gone through in the past few decades, there could be room for a significant 3rd party in the future if the right/wrong decisions are made in Washington and in party HQ’s. I would get a rich donor like Bloomberg or preferably someone more private, build a power base in a reasonable state like Ohio, Texas, or Washington and focus on local issues exclusively with heavy financial backing for prime-time candidates. I should elaborate this more in a post though because I actually believe this could have legs if done right….
If the EU has genuinely changed the twenty century-long warlike character of Europeans to apathetic, bureaucratic, declinists why does the idea of Germany with
nuclear weapons still give everyone pause ?
Because the historical footprint of the Holocaust and German militarism still carries such weight with its neighbors as well as the West in general.Or for that matter, who’s up for the Japanese Prime Minister announcing a successful test of a hydrogen bomb ? If you’re not but you are also ok on a nuclear Iran, can you give an intellectually credible explanation as to the difference?
In the end, there is no intellectually credible explanation for the difference, not for
Germany, Iran, Japan, Brazil, India, Pakistan, etc.
What government entitlement programs that you personally benefit from should people be prepared to live without ?
Social Security because people are not using it wisely nor preparing for retirement as they should. And its a terrible drain on the government resources that should (a) be invested back in the people through education and health improvements to some degree and (b) invested into rebuilding America’s physical infrastructure and truly building its digital one.To what degree is opposition to the death penalty rooted in opposition to the concepts of individual accountability and punishment ? To what degree is gun-control a repudiation of the right to self-defense ?
Lex spoke wisely of this. I cannot begin to do justice to the simple yet achingly true nature of it.
If you are pro-Life, why should a woman who happens to be pregnant have to take into account your personal religious beliefs before her baby is born but not afterward when making life-altering medical decisions on behalf of her minor child?
A unborn child is nothing less than a human being (scientifically, or am I wrong?) and that is murder. The mother may have a good reason for choosing a risky treatment or putting a sick child out of its misery that are arguably debateable.If the rich should pay more taxes, who counts as “rich” ? Why is your arbitrary figure plucked out of the air better than mine or anybody else’s ?Great question I do not have an answer to as I know jack**** about taxes.
How many laws regulating the legal profession are ever proposed ? How many are passed ? Not many perhaps and their lobby seem rather quite effective at killing threatening legislation.
If the U.S government has friendly but non-committal diplomatic relations (minimal or no conflict) with another state, does that constitute “support” for the regime or ” non-intervention” ?
"Non-intervention" save for the fact that we tend to stick our nose in their business on everything from human trafficking to software piracy to money laundering. And that includes seemingly everyone, from Belgium to Jamaica.
If multiculturalists are correct that that the non-Western cultures are of greater moral stature than the oppressive West, then why did none of the non-Western cultures ever practice multiculturalism ?
No real evidence (save India) exists that I know of that shows that multiculturalists ever survived their awakening stages….