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Status:
"A solution in search of a problem"
(set 12 days ago)
Location: New York Area
34,440 posts, read 16,527,546 times
Reputation: 29611
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtab4994
Dude, I'm not talking about your friend. I'm talking about a group that's lately come to prominence in America (and in Quebec over the weekend, apparently). They appear to revel in shouting down not only the extreme right, but also "classical liberals", and they throw plastic bottles & balloons filled with urine at cops and Katie Couric's producers, as well as their political opponents. If you tell me the meetings of the Greater Rochester Antifa don't include throwing urine at each other then I believe you, but out on the barricades they sure get their game face on, and it ain't pretty.
What I'm saying is: If throwing urine at your political foes isn't anti-intellectual then I don't know what is.
I would want to study the chemistry of the urine being thrown. That's medical as well as intellectual. </sarcasm>
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Marcinkiewicz
You're sure picking a strange, ideologically driven (on your part) target, and one you about which you likely know little.
Why do so many of your posts laced with insults?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Marcinkiewicz
I attended a few of the meetings, and although I had my issues with the group due to its being bogged down by 'the narcissism of small differences' (the debates were dominated by arguments among anarchosyndicalists and whatever their closest cousins are), I can tell you that the last adjective (or anti-adjective) I'd have applied to him would be 'anti-intellectual'. I'll reserve that description for most other people I encounter in life.
There is nothing "intellectual" about getting bogged down in "small differences." Indeed to me that's a great way of trying to sound smart without delving into the tough issues. In this context the hard issues would be how you accomplish anything in an anarchic society of any kind. It's fine to debate the difference between Kropotkin and Ionesco but those arguments prove little, settle little, accomplish nothing and are pseudo-intellectual.
You'll probably come back to debate me as to whether "theater of the absurd" literature is anarchistic or not. Then I'll ask you to compare the nihilism of militant Islam with anarchosyndicalism.
. Universities that have become far left think tanks and actively use their campuses as centers for , shall we say....RE-education. That is where animosity for "intellectuals" is coming from. Not from actual intellectual acheivment which is far to often buried in some big corporations bottom line.
What universities are those? Could you name a few?
I thought the anger toward universities was coming from a certain segment of conservatives mistaking the terms "liberal arts education" to mean a politically liberal education. They don't know what the term "liberal arts" means. You can see discussions that demonstrate that in other sub-forums right here on C-D.
When I was younger, I thought that one of the gifts of age was wisdom, and as I enter my fifties, I'm feeling a growing desire to cultivate a deeper understanding of the world around me with every passing year. It's a source of neverending frustration that I can't seem to find people who are willing to go down that path with me. On-line forums are filled with drive-by comments meant to inflame virtual warfare rather than engage others in constructive discussion. My friends, much as I love them, are either too busy or too shallow to have meaningful conversations. My spouse is wonderful but is busy with his career and traveling a ton, so there just isn't a lot of time to have meandering discussions about such topics. I do belong to a book club with some delightfully thoughtful people, but it meets just once a month for an hour or so.
I feel almost a physical ache for a kind of human connection that doesn't seem to exist any more. Maybe it never did. I don't know. I'm reading comments that ridicule any effort to wrestle with challenging ideas and that denigrate those who want more out of conversation than updates on the latest celebrity gossip, natural disaster, or political outrage, and I have to wonder if there are others out there who also feel like I do: disillusioned, disconnected, and dismayed. Where does one go today to tackle difficult topics without the discussion descending into an unseemly pit of personal attacks and shallow commentary?
An earlier poster ridiculed those whose coffee tables are filled with aspirational volumes meant merely to impress, which made me sad. I hesitate to admit this given the likely response from this forum, but if you looked at my bedside table right now, you would find Plato's Republic and an academic volume about rhetoric. I'd dearly love to find someone who was willing to discuss them with me not because I wish to impress but because I want to improve my understanding. Sadly, I don't even know where to look for that kind of conversation.
Last edited by randomparent; 08-29-2017 at 07:07 PM..
When I was younger, I thought that one of the gifts of age was wisdom, and as I enter my fifties, I'm feeling a growing desire to cultivate a deeper understanding of the world around me with every passing year. It's a source of neverending frustration that I can't seem to find people who are willing to go down that path with me. On-line forums are filled with drive-by comments meant to inflame virtual warfare rather than engage others in constructive discussion. My friends, much as I love them, are either too busy or too shallow to have meaningful conversations. My spouse is wonderful but is busy with his career and traveling a ton, so there just isn't a lot of time to have meandering discussions about such topics. I do belong to a book club with some delightfully thoughtful people, but it meets just once a month for an hour or so.
I feel almost a physical ache for a kind of human connection that doesn't seem to exist any more. Maybe it never did. I don't know. I'm reading comments that ridicule any effort to wrestle with challenging ideas and that denigrate those who want more out of conversation than updates on the latest celebrity gossip, natural disaster, or political outrage, and I have to wonder if there are others out there who also feel like I do: disillusioned, disconnected, and dismayed. Where does one go today to tackle difficult topics without the discussion descending into an unseemly pit of personal attacks and shallow commentary?
An earlier poster ridiculed those whose coffee tables are filled with aspirational volumes meant merely to impress, which made me sad. I hesitate to admit this given the likely response from this forum, but if you looked at my bedside table right now, you would find Plato's Republic and an academic volume about rhetoric. I'd dearly love to find someone who was willing to discuss them with me not because I wish to impress but because I want to improve my understanding. Sadly, I don't even know where to look for that kind of conversation.
I don't know where you live, but if Meetup is active in your area, you might find a group dedicated to such conversations. I live in the Atlanta area and we have such an animal here. Another thought would be to take a university class or seek out a symposium. I have gone to a long weekend symposium that combines university lectures with sightseeing and socializing. Oh, it is glorious!! My brain awakens! I have actually gone twice and may go again next summer. Try nearby universities or look for one that you can make into a short trip.
Subjective thread but times are changing and evolving too fast for us to pick up the pieces as a whole imo.
In the last 20 years the divorce rate has jumped up to 50%. With single parents working AND raising a child many(not all) parents are in survivor mode. Long hours at work and not much left in the tank to spend with the little one. This child zombies out on the internet and/or video games further desensitizing themselves... waiting for the next ping (.) If it isn't your child there's a good chance it's your neighbors child.. directly influencing them. Not to mention all the kids at school.
Having watched the internet take the world by storm since '94 or so it's hard to not see how it's turned us into an obsessive binge watching instant gratification culture. Kids talk about music these days saying "I got it" not I like such and such song. Adults sit in line waiting for the bus or drive to work after they drop their kids off at school listening to the same music on their ipod/phone over and over because corporate radio stations have taken control of the airwaves. Then the days over and they/we go home and start dinner.. turn on the tv and you have similar corporate interests controlling the news stations. We all know what's happening to our airwaves but have enough distractions to not make a difference (guilty as charged).
As a whole we've become desensitized and/or preoccupied with getting ahead or staying afloat within our own desires/wants. Mental health and health issues are hitting an all time high and the people in charge of making us better are treating the problem and not the cure... even though it's within their grasp. Why release 4.0 when there's still money to be made on 2.5?
The faster the corporations can numb the public the greater the success they have at stopping them from becoming intellectuals. As a result more dividends can be paid out (.)
Subjective thread but times are changing and evolving too fast for us to pick up the pieces as a whole imo.
In the last 20 years the divorce rate has jumped up to 50%. With single parents working AND raising a child many(not all) parents are in survivor mode. Long hours at work and not much left in the tank to spend with the little one. This child zombies out on the internet and/or video games further desensitizing themselves... waiting for the next ping (.) If it isn't your child there's a good chance it's your neighbors child.. directly influencing them. Not to mention all the kids at school.
Having watched the internet take the world by storm since '94 or so it's hard to not see how it's turned us into an obsessive binge watching instant gratification culture. Kids talk about music these days saying "I got it" not I like such and such song. Adults sit in line waiting for the bus or drive to work after they drop their kids off at school listening to the same music on their ipod/phone over and over because corporate radio stations have taken control of the airwaves. Then the days over and they/we go home and start dinner.. turn on the tv and you have similar corporate interests controlling the news stations. We all know what's happening to our airwaves but have enough distractions to not make a difference (guilty as charged).
As a whole we've become desensitized and/or preoccupied with getting ahead or staying afloat within our own desires/wants. Mental health and health issues are hitting an all time high and the people in charge of making us better are treating the problem and not the cure... even though it's within their grasp. Why release 4.0 when there's still money to be made on 2.5?
The faster the corporations can numb the public the greater the success they have at stopping them from becoming intellectuals. As a result more dividends can be paid out (.)
We are still responsible for our choices. I listen to NPR on the radio during my commute and on the weekends. I haven't had the internet turned on at my new house, so NPR is on the radio there most of the time. If you want in-depth stories and clever weekend programming that will stimulate your brain, tune in.
We are still responsible for our choices. I listen to NPR on the radio during my commute and on the weekends. I haven't had the internet turned on at my new house, so NPR is on the radio there most of the time. If you want in-depth stories and clever weekend programming that will stimulate your brain, tune in.
My husband would always raise his hands victoriously over his head and yell, "We win!" when one of the kids would raise an issue at dinner that they had heard on NPR. Years of listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and Car Talk with us apparently convinced them that NPR was a fun and informative way to spend their own commute to and from school each day.
My husband would always raise his hands victoriously over his head and yell, "We win!" when one of the kids would raise an issue at dinner that they had heard on NPR. Years of listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and Car Talk with us apparently convinced them that NPR was a fun and informative way to spend their own commute to and from school each day.
As parents, these are the small victories we live for! Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, This American Life, Fresh Air, All Things Considered, so much good stuff on NPR. Even Car Talk was entertaining to me and I am not that interested in cars. Sadly, one of the hosts of Car Talk has passed, but they it can still be enjoyed on the rebroadcasts.
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