Old ppl ldo

Your old people too slow!

Religious people too

I don't think there's any conscious conspiracy. Bureaucracies naturally tend to develop self-protecting behavior.

this poast is EXACTLY what a lizardperson would say.

It's amazing how you think you have so much insight into the inner-workings of the minds of others.

1) No, I'll be shocked if marijuana is legal before I'm an old fogey.

2) No, misguided and misinformed people with good intentions are all the explanation that is needed for much of the bad things done by government.

Boom. Refuted.

I don't think either of you guys really got what I was getting at there.

That's true, but the universities certainly do promote a fair degree of academic freedom and there's plenty of subversion among academics as well.

The other thing is that tons and tons of academic work is 100% apolitical, yet they still get funding. Whether someone is working diligently on an obscure mathematical question that 6 people in the world understand and that 3 care about, or is engaged in a fierce debate about whether the correct translation of the 6th word of the 934th line of Beowulf is "should" rather than the commonly accepted "would", there is little political influence brought to bear on whether or not the person is of the correct political leaning to get a research grant.

You have to love how the Nebraska GOP is styling a return to the nearly universally loathed "winner take all" system as "Reform." And how the newspaper uncritically calls it that.

It's not like there's a much more substantiative rejection of what you're saying than "No, I don't believe those things you claim I believe."

This Is What We (Ridiculously) Thought Osama Was Hiding in Ten Years Ago

The War on Terror in a nutshell, imo

No, everyone got it.

I don't want this to seem like I'm simply repeating a right-wing talking point (although I essentially am, I just think it happens to be one with some value), but I have no idea how self-avowed Stalinists are hired as university professors. There is almost no way a self-described Nazi or fascist would be given a job as a professor at any univeristy besides Mises University, so why the double-standards and adherence to intellectual freedom when it comes to Stalinists. The ideas Stalinists hold are far more abhorrant than your run of the mill fascists, and maybe about as bad as a Nazi sympathizer, so why di we put up with lovers of Uncle Joe, but not of old Adolf?

I realize its a kind of Ann Coulterish talking point, but I really don't get it. Why are these scumbags not ostracized?

Probably because no professors are really self-avowed Stalinists.

I know Vixticator said his professor was, but color me skeptical.

One possibility is that his professor got his job by merely claiming to be a communist, and then later "outed" himself as a Stalinist. Once he's got tenure, he can't lose it for something as mundane as being a cheerleader for a mass murderer. You pretty much have to be a mass murderer yourself to lose tenure.

Uganda voting on death penalty for homosexuality. Vomit inducing obviously. Not sure what effect online petitions have but these guys claim they managed to block a previous bill and taking a few seconds to sign it couldn't hurt.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_...ia_petition?fp

Errrr... Maybe they are really, really good at math or whatever their field of expertise is.

Jeez, they said they're "backing away" from the death penalty, you bleeding hearts will never be satisfied!

Somehow the Charlie Sheen avatar is fitting. And it's not because you're #winning.

Would it get overlooked if a really good math professor was a vocal neo-Nazi or fascist?

Maybe. I mean, after spending the whole of the year studying the Russian Revolution, I'm really at a loss as to how people who defend Lenin and Leninism and look to him as a great leader, and see the Russian Revolution as a great thing that only got corrupted by Stalin are not publicly ostracized. I've just been revizing the Red Terror, and Lenin and others admitted that what they were doing was liquidating an entire class of people solely based on their (alleged) class. This is a pretty fundamental tenet to Marxist-Leninist philosophy and actions. And that's even before the Stalinist phase. So I guess I really don't see why we overlook these kinds of abhorrant, frankly genocidal beliefs in Communists, when we ignore them on the right.

Yeah, I'm basically ressurecting Cold War type views of Communism and Communists, but I don't see why I shouldn't, given the inconsistency I believe there is, and given the nature of those beliefs.

You might be right about the tenure thing though.

Mises defenders. Racist and can't take a joke

oh the horror

I guess part of it is that the horror of the early Soviets is fading in history and the "evilness" of it hasn't been preserved culturally the same way that, say, the Nazis' was. If you walk up to a random person on the street and say that you think Hitler's not so bad, they'll immediately have a strong reaction based on social norms. If you say that you think Stalin's not so bad, a fair number of people will say "who?"

Also, general class extermination isn't necessarily a cultural taboo. Again, if you go around suggesting that all Wall St bankers be hung you'll get a mix of responses including "that's horrible", "that's a little extreme, I think", "that's a great idea", and "that's a good start". Dehumanizing individuals by putting them into large groups that you are then allowed to hate isn't exactly unique to attitudes towards Stalinism.

It loses its charm when there's no sanity or seriousness to balance it. Not that I care so much what a fervent imperialist thinks.