George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#481

Post by ElectronCharge » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:37 PM UTC

MagnumOpus wrote: post #429

reddytowns wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

zero-bama?

It's a dog-whistle term. Politically neutral persons think it is a typo, but it is recognised by the anonymous poster's fellow associates, and marks the poster as someone they should upvote, endorse and agree with.

It is very simply a spelling that reflects my opinion of 0bama. I normally spell it as "0" but I wasn't sure if it would be clear in context.

The net effect of his presidency will surely be near zero. While I don't agree with everything on the Trump agenda, much of it is long overdue.

Of most relevance to HN, I expect the economy to boom!

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#482

Post by baddox » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:38 PM UTC

rbanffy wrote: post #470

peterclary wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this idea that just because somebody lives in a particular state their vote should count less than somebody in a different state. That seems evidently unfair.

It exists because some states are very sparsely populated while others actively suppress the votes of a large portion of its population, first by slavery, then by other methods. It's fair to increase representation of underpopulated states because their interests would be underrepresented if not (and it's a good thing because it allows large areas to be dedicated to nature). Unfortunately, there is no mechanism in pl…

I still don't get it. Why would sparsely populated states' interests be underrepresented if every individual vote were equal? That only makes sense if you think land area or population density is a primary unit of relevance regarding political influence, which to me seems completely arbitrary.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#483

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:51 PM UTC

davesque wrote: post #108

dpweb wrote: post #47

Its right to question which direction the country is headed, but i have to wonder what damage is being done to the nation's psyche with all the apocolyptic imagery. What's it like to feel in constant crisis. It makes people scared all the time and drives divisiveness. Its as dangerous as anything the prez may have planned.

It's a tricky question. On the one hand, you can try to calm yourself and avoid living in constant paranoia which could be a net gain. On the other hand, you can risk the water slowly coming to a boil all around you without your noticing. I've tried to remain as calm as possible throughout all of this, but I can't get the image of the frog on the hotplate out of my mind. I seem to recall that people who lived through…

[deleted]

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#484

Post by baddox » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:52 PM UTC

colllectorof wrote: post #320

rat87 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes Pence is at least a sane conservative theocrat Trump is a lying corrupt racist who is extremely unpredictable and may or may not blow up markets, start wars, abandon our allies, or deport millions of people

>Trump is a lying corrupt racist Whenever I read something like this, I always wonder whether people posting it legitimately think this kind of rhetoric will advance their argument, or is it all just about social signalling. If I was to criticize someone with the intent of changing others opinions about the person in question, the last thing I would do is interject my criticism with a bunch of derogatory and emotiona…

> Whenever I read something like this, I always wonder whether people posting it legitimately think this kind of rhetoric will advance their argument, or is it all just about social signalling.

I'm not the one who commented that, but I think it's simply true and easily demonstrable given any widely-accepted definitions of the terms. Will saying it "advance an argument"? I don't know. But it is true.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#485

Post by Hondor » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:54 PM UTC

wallace_f wrote: post #348

noobermin wrote: post #50

While I love 1984, I think Fahrenheit 451 has become more true than Orwell's novel. People have willingly given into an information bonanza that is the internet, with headphones always in (seashells). We don't need the TV walls, as our cellphone has taken that role, altogether with the hyperactive delivery of such content. A collectivist state has not become the dominating power, but wealthy individuals and corporati…

> the world today still is a better world it was say 20 or 30 years ago Are you sure? Can you tell me why you think this? Domestic crime has increased. We're bombing seven countries. Civil rights have been diminished. Human rights have been diminished. The last administration went to far greater lengths to go after whistle blowers and journalists than any in history. Income inequality is at all time highs. More than…

That's sort of backwards. Over the past 30 years, poverty has fallen massively, democracy has spread to more people, child mortality has fallen, literacy and education have risen [1], and rate of war deaths has fallen [2]. Maybe the direct death-and-suffering problems have now mostly been solved and that causes us to look to more intangible problems like human rights, freedom of speech and inequality. It's a common misconception that the world is getting worse but it's actually getting better.

[1] https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-condit... [2] https://ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace/

Maybe the great lengths they went to against Manning and Snowden were because they released massively more data than anyone in history? People selling secrets to the soviets were dealt with just as harshly despite releasing far less information.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#486

Post by Shivetya » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:55 PM UTC

oculusthrift wrote: post #161

downandout wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump has been in office for 4 days. Conflict of interest laws do not apply to US Presidents, so the business interest argument is moot. We don't impeach Presidents because a loud group of people dislikes the fact that they lost an election. We impeach Presidents when they commit crimes, which he has not done and hasn't even been in office long enough to do.

Yeah I guess to you breaking the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution is nothing. And its funny you say that when that is exactly why they impeached Clinton.

it is one hell of a stretch to claim that any foreigner making standard use of a business you own or have interests is somehow violating this law.

if anything it seems tailored made to keep non politicians from ever taking office without sacrificing a lot. funny how many politicians come in with little and leave with a lot more

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#487

Post by faceyspacey » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:56 PM UTC

faceyspacey wrote: post #371

faceyspacey wrote: post #370

I can't help but perceive this as being a result of people thinking Trump is somehow kickstarting our Orwellian future/present, when he's probably the highest profile person to point out how government before him has been working on this plan of ultimate control for a very long time. The biggest examples being: 1) that he pointed out there were no weapons of mass destruction and--false flag or not--our government use…

CONTINUED...: At the end of the day, the hardest part is that we are talking a country here, and many/most of our leaders believe the perception imposed on them. I don't believe in some grand conspiracy. I believe in people susceptible to taking on information they don't know for themselves as truth. So the result is we have ultimately good people--hopefully--in congress that literally believe we are helping the worl…

I was very happy with what I finally put to words, so I mediumed it too: https://medium.com/@faceyspacey/in-response-to-george-orwell...

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#488

Post by rokosbasilisk » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:56 PM UTC

legodt wrote: post #127

rconti wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the legislators won't be losing their healthcare :) If you mean the voters, my understanding is it's a fairly high hurdle from a structural standpoint -- there are far more democrats up for reelection than republicans.

I didn't know that last part. Well, shit. Reagan years are here again...

Even elizabeth warrens reelection looks rough. Im really hope the non wall street democrats get their act together.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#489

Post by Shivetya » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:57 PM UTC

Grue3 wrote: post #232

Who gives a shit? Literally anyone can make a #1 Amazon bestselling book. http://evergreenprofits.com/becoming-an-amazon-1-best-seller... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8358538/Wh... http://okdork.com/2014/02/17/hit-1-amazons-bestseller-list/ And so on.

The one thing people either don't understand or even know about is that rankings can be games and in this day an age political action groups can sway such rankings with a simple mailing to subscribers to do something. It is all about appearances and the current hard sell is they want to portray Trump as Hitler. they will keep hammering this point about fascism, dictator, and more, for as long as it takes to make it stick. I am surprised SNL hasn't started (they may have)

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#490

Post by baddox » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 12:59 PM UTC

ElectronCharge wrote: post #291

imauld wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason people believe he should give up his business is because there is a conflict of interest. He does business in countries where many of the corporations his company could deal with are owned or operated by the government at least in part. You can't be sure he is making a decision that is best for the people of the US if he stands to personally gain from it. Add to the fact he won't be releasing his taxes so…

"The reason people believe he should give up his business is because there is a conflict of interest. He does business in countries where many of the corporations his company could deal with are owned or operated by the government at least in part. You can't be sure he is making a decision that is best for the people of the US if he stands to personally gain from it." Are you aware that all profits from his foreign h…

I am not aware of that. I am aware of a pledge Trump made to donate profits when foreign governments use his hotels. That pledge does not apply to all profits from his foreign holdings.