tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post1068555414786532894..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: The China CollectiveBryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-78312459210623497382008-08-15T00:15:00.000+00:002008-08-15T00:15:00.000+00:00With apologies to Gertrude Stein Brooks is as thic...With apologies to Gertrude Stein Brooks is as thick as a brick, is as thick as a brick, is as thick as a brick<BR/><BR/>Or a one-dimensional BOZO as/are all of his "right"-thinking fellow travellers in the culture wars.<BR/><BR/>The trouble is, is that he is taken so seriously. He belongs in the same retard school of cultural ANAL-ysis as Dinesh DSousa, Jonah Goldberg and the entire "intelligent Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-19449266261658863982008-08-13T15:11:00.000+00:002008-08-13T15:11:00.000+00:00The point is that Brooks is searching for another ...The point is that Brooks is searching for another Cold War, another conflict that pits us againt them. It's a conservative trope that's worked well for decades. Our way of life is always under attack; there's always a tempting alternative luring wayward nations from the one true faith; and it's our responsibility to recapture our glory and defeat rival ideologies.<BR/><BR/>So Brooks goes halfway Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-82088358198591788162008-08-12T16:01:00.000+00:002008-08-12T16:01:00.000+00:00Perhaps Brooks' column was strange and ambivalent ...Perhaps Brooks' column was strange and ambivalent because he frapped it off in twenty minutes after doing no more research than watching the opening ceremony on NBC where the wise presenters laboured at great length to explain to a simple, naive public that China is a COLLECTIVIST SOCIETY. Not really knowing much about the topic, and with the words of the philosophic titan Tom Brokaw ringing in Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-8571101415665366672008-08-12T14:19:00.000+00:002008-08-12T14:19:00.000+00:00One thing that struck me is that the Chinese seem ...One thing that struck me is that the Chinese seem to do all sorts of spontaneous things and the athletes and crowds seemed relaxed and happy. Maybe they are not so afraid of their Government anymore... maybe that helps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-48645916227057878742008-08-12T11:42:00.000+00:002008-08-12T11:42:00.000+00:00I don't think that your off-the-cuff definition of...I don't think that your off-the-cuff definition of 'libertariansim' is very useful. There are lots of varieties of libertarianism but I don't think extreme individualism characterises many of them. Many libertarians, such as Hayek, stress collaborative beahaviour as the key to human flourishing. But they all believe that collaborations are only legitimate and, ultimately, successful, to the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-73230328535897180882008-08-12T11:10:00.000+00:002008-08-12T11:10:00.000+00:00Can we separate the economic from the cultural?Can we separate the economic from the cultural?Neil Forsythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00240393170374161007noreply@blogger.com