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The Criminalization of Everyday Life

tomdispatch.com

331–340 of 347 posts

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#331
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not vote.

If you were offered even one choice that would be acceptable to you, would you vote then?

That's a bit of a trick question, because I do not find political authority to be desirable. Thus there could not be a choice that would be acceptable to me.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#332
post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you're always free to leave. But you don't. And you keep on not voting, and then wonder why your government doesn't represent you. And you know, eventually on that track, you're no longer free to leave either. But you're indignation shall not brook political engagement! So that's...something.

> And you keep on not voting, and then wonder why your government doesn't represent you. Yet everyone else does vote and then wonders why their government doesn't represent them. What exactly makes that a better choice?

His implicit assumption is that the act of me voting increases the extent to which government represents me enough to justify the time and effort spent voting (not to mention researching candidates and options). I think that assumption is demonstrably false.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The is no "the" in Ukraine. And there is no point in comparing Ukraine to the US. If you think that people in Ukraine are contemplating change you have to read up more on it. Or maybe visit the country sometimes to see for yourself how wrong you are.

I have been to the Ukraine over a dozen times. Ukraine is doing more than just contemplating change. Everyone there is demanding change and is unhappy with all elected politicians no matter what party they are from. The main problem is that Ukraine is not sure what kind of change it wants. And it doesn't understand the steps to take to get change. And too many Ukrainians want a magical solution that will sweep the pr…

There isn't any reason preventing ("the") Ukraine as a E.U. member to have good relations with Russia.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#334
post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you were offered even one choice that would be acceptable to you, would you vote then?

That's a bit of a trick question, because I do not find political authority to be desirable. Thus there could not be a choice that would be acceptable to me.

I ever saw the option "Dissolve the government and just leave everyone to their own devices," on a ballot, I'd be pretty paranoid about it being a trap that would put anyone who voted for it on some sort of special list.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#335
post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To the contrary I am indeed afraid of the increase in Islamic fundamentalism across the world because of the destabilizing influence. Also because of the detrimental effects it has on global development, scientific progress and human rights (particularly women's rights). With the latter I fear that the more entrenched it becomes the harder it is to roll back. Sharia is a terrible thing for global progress and its imp…

You practically proved his point. It doesn't matter whether fundamentalism is risky, it's not a practical threat and therefore is not anything to be afraid. Destabilizing influence? Give me examples. Historians have no phobia of fundamentalism because it doesn't matter in today's society. There is an incredibly fractional chance that Sharia will take hold. That's what the OP was saying. It's not a real threat.

Your use of the word "practically" is very generous. I'm not sure I could have proved my point better if I had created a fake account to reply to myself saying exactly the right things to prove my point.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#336
post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You practically proved his point. It doesn't matter whether fundamentalism is risky, it's not a practical threat and therefore is not anything to be afraid. Destabilizing influence? Give me examples. Historians have no phobia of fundamentalism because it doesn't matter in today's society. There is an incredibly fractional chance that Sharia will take hold. That's what the OP was saying. It's not a real threat.

It's already taken hold in countries spanning a very large number of people. It matters in Pakistan for example. Pakistan has nukes. There's a threat there to everyone.

Sorry, I suppose I wasn't very clear. I was referring to the fear some people have of Sharia law taking hold in the U.S., not in other countries, which is a baseless fear that can be used by those in power to manipulate those who are afraid. The fear of fundamentalism in other countries is not so baseless, but it can still be used to manipulate people if those people don't examine the relationship between their fears and the policies advocated in their name (ie. fear of fundamentalism justifying not just surveillance of fundamentalists but of everybody).

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"the rest will cower" This is one aspect of sort of complicity with power that's being discussed. Sometimes, people decide en masse that a certain way of life is worth dying for, so we know there are other responses to armed pacification. Not that this is always a bad thing. It's pretty great that most of us obey the state's injunction to not wantonly kill each other.

I find it extremely distasteful to describe backing down in the face of slaughter as "complicity." If that's the sort of thinking that follows naturally from the model of power dynamics being discussed here, then I think the model is likely intensely flawed.

Complicity is a loaded term, so I can see why you'd feel that way. Perhaps it'd be better to say that such behavior enables the slaughterers to do what they do. As for the ethical question of whether a particular instance of backing down was right or wrong, hopefully our analysis of power dynamics avoids answering such questions and focuses on, well, the dynamics of power. That's not to say that such questions are irrelevant, they're just a different field, like the quantitative differences between the light emitted by configurations of dyes and the feeling evoked by a certain painting.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#338
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, you can't say every State has a Senate. Every State has a legislative branch of government whose setup varies by State Constitution. For example, Nebraska has a unicameral legislature while New York and California have a Senate and Assembly while Texas has a Senate and House of Representatives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Senator > A state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.

Touché. :)

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#339

I just find it so incredible that a hospital can bill you for a rectal cavity search ordered by police/judge. Honestly I think my mind is experiencing some sort of race condition as I try to pick a word that accurately describes my incredulity about this. Ughhhhhh

I share your sentiment, but trying to analyze objectively the entire scenario from different angles I find acceptable for the subject being searched to pay the bill if he is found guilty (which is hiding illegal stuff in his body). I don't agree with the shaky grounds used by the law enforcement to bring up the body search though.

Re: The Criminalization of Everyday Life

#340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We live in an era of delicate balance between global overpopulation and resource depletion. We have exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet, we are at peak supply rates for oil and other essential resources. We're rendering things less habitable and global climate change - coupled with water table depletion and topsoil burnout - threatens to crash food crops in some key regions. It's not a conspiracy. People who…

Thanks for the response. Fairly inline with what I thought. Next question, how to prepare? Is it futile to make an effort to protect myself and those around me, or is such a thing feasible (I imagine this would require a huge edit to lifestyle)? I don't want to be "that guy" but I also don't want to be caught in the headlights if shit hits the fan (which it seems is inevitable). Anything to study to guide my thinking…

You may plan your life to get a minimal exposure to future problematic development. Moving to a quiet place overseas might be a wise decision. This being noted though, you may also chose to gird up your belt, lift up your boots, and stay put enjoying what's coming - it'll be a helluva show (definitely worth witnessing)!
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