![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Spewing about politics online
Jul. 4th, 2018 03:34 pmQuora is a question-and-answer website, filled with rambling, scattershot essays that are written to entertain and impress people first, and maybe answer their questions second.
It's the sort of place where you might ask, "why does burning things usually turn them black?", and the most up-voted answer will start with "Let me tell you about this time I worked in a tanning salon when I was fifteen..." and go on for ten pages.
I think I'm just about done going there.
For a while I wasted a lot of time in the comments sections there. Almost everything I wrote was pointless and forgettable, but there are a few bits that I'm pleased with, and might be worth further comment. So I'm dumping them here.
- - -
Writing for clarity, as well as for the rhythm of easy readability, is a huge part of writing.
Up in the frozen north, Robert W Service would spend day after day writing words on a chalkboard in his cabin and then erasing them, aiming to get the perfect phrase that said what he wanted. Then he would test out his work at the local pub, and see how everyone reacted. And then it was - literally - back to the drawing board.
The key to his legacy wasn’t his wide vocabulary (though that he did have), it was perfectly assembled phrases like “a promise made is a debt unpaid.” (The Cremation of Sam McGee).
So, in that spirit, I suggest you write as though you were trying to hold the attention of the local pub. If you have no choice but to use a fancy word, have the courtesy to explain it as you go, and you can be high-falutin’ or mean-spirited if you like but it will cost you your audience.
- - -
The national debt has one effect, and one effect only: It transfers a bunch of everyone’s tax money DIRECTLY into the pockets of the rich, in the form of interest.
The inequality is built right into the plumbing of the government. It’s in plain sight, and getting worse. In less than ten years, the entire federal budget will be devoured by interest payments to the rich. What will it mean to be an American then? What will be the difference between "American" … and "peasant"?
- - -
Did you know that every year, an average of 2000 Americans are injured by AIR FRESHENERS?
When are we going to defeat RADICAL ISLAMIC AIR FRESHENERS?
50 people die in the USA every year from being struck by lightning.
When are we going to defeat … say it with me …RADICAL ISLAMIC LIGHTNING??
Did you know that 5000 US citizens are injured every year by Bad Hombres? Did you know that 30% of all Bad Hombres are named Jesus, and a further 20% are named Juan?
Okay I made those last two statistics up.
- - -
Nah, man. Once you get near the politics, everything you do everywhere should be free of charge, ’cause everything you receive constitutes a bribe - even unsolicited donations.
That’s why I, an aspiring politician, eat out of dumpsters and scrupulously hide under this cardboard, lest the water that occasionally falls from the sky taint me with the promise of a free bath!
- - -
Perhaps "don't stare at women" is not actually what we should be teaching. Perhaps that should be a custom that a person learns on their own, by putting the puzzle pieces together for themselves.
That way, you know that when a man is polite enough not to stare, it's because he's well socialized, not just because he's being stealthy.
- - -
Women dress themselves for their own pleasure, generally. Some things just feel nice to wear, or complement an experience of being in a place, or help express an inner mood. It's not always about men or sex.
Sometimes women will wear clothing that distracts men. Inexperienced women may do this accidentally, and experienced women may do this deliberately. Some adults realize when this is happening, and are concerned that sexual manipulation is being brought to bear in an environment where it should not matter - mainly the workplace. And some men (and women) feel powerless to object, out of fear of being a "prude", or admitting to their own weakness, and simply let it happen. Or they see it happening and quietly judge the wearer for their ignorance, or their attempts to manipulate. Are they wrong to judge?
Ask any female teacher whether it would be appropriate to wear Daisy Dukes and a tank top to work. Ask a yoga instructor how difficult it is for her to find and walk the appropriate line, when her body is a reference template for everyone in the room. Ask any woman who's been passed over for a job, or a part, or membership on a team, that was ultimately won by another woman who wore a tight shirt to the interview. Do we blame the men for being exploitable? Or the women for seeking to exploit?
Context is everything.
- - -
America has been a difficult and flawed place since its very beginnings, for many many people. The difference between all those times and now is, you are a grown-up. You can finally see beyond the safe suburban or pastoral bubble that you spent your youth inside.
All this suffering, happening around you, in immigrant groups, working-class groups, racially victimized groups, etc.. It’s always been going on! Always! And kind and motivated Americans have always been fighting against it! It’s just that YOU NEVER SAW IT GOING ON.
Now it’s splashed across your smartphone every day. Especially the stuff that makes you angry, because that makes you click links, and that puts money in ad-men’s pockets.
What are you gonna do about it? Yes, you, personally. Voting in an election is not enough. What are YOU going to do? I hope you have something better in mind than sitting around complaining… Because that just ain’t the American way.
- - -
Armchair biologists often like to point out that the optic nerve is layered "backwards" onto the eye, with a mat of blood vessels sitting between it and the lens, as an example of evolution getting something "good enough" without getting it "right".
Well, the explanation I read for that (in "Life Ascending") is somewhat different: The optic nerve pushes through the retina because, if it connected in the back, it would restrict the blood supply to the retina, effectively crippling its ability to deal with the intense changes in light level that daytime hunters encounter. (Compare with, for example, a cat's vision.)
- - -
In response to: "America will be great when Mr.Trump cleans house."
I don’t think it is physically possible for the man to lift himself up by his own belt loops and drop himself in the wastebasket...
It's the sort of place where you might ask, "why does burning things usually turn them black?", and the most up-voted answer will start with "Let me tell you about this time I worked in a tanning salon when I was fifteen..." and go on for ten pages.
I think I'm just about done going there.
For a while I wasted a lot of time in the comments sections there. Almost everything I wrote was pointless and forgettable, but there are a few bits that I'm pleased with, and might be worth further comment. So I'm dumping them here.
- - -
Writing for clarity, as well as for the rhythm of easy readability, is a huge part of writing.
Up in the frozen north, Robert W Service would spend day after day writing words on a chalkboard in his cabin and then erasing them, aiming to get the perfect phrase that said what he wanted. Then he would test out his work at the local pub, and see how everyone reacted. And then it was - literally - back to the drawing board.
The key to his legacy wasn’t his wide vocabulary (though that he did have), it was perfectly assembled phrases like “a promise made is a debt unpaid.” (The Cremation of Sam McGee).
So, in that spirit, I suggest you write as though you were trying to hold the attention of the local pub. If you have no choice but to use a fancy word, have the courtesy to explain it as you go, and you can be high-falutin’ or mean-spirited if you like but it will cost you your audience.
- - -
The national debt has one effect, and one effect only: It transfers a bunch of everyone’s tax money DIRECTLY into the pockets of the rich, in the form of interest.
The inequality is built right into the plumbing of the government. It’s in plain sight, and getting worse. In less than ten years, the entire federal budget will be devoured by interest payments to the rich. What will it mean to be an American then? What will be the difference between "American" … and "peasant"?
- - -
Did you know that every year, an average of 2000 Americans are injured by AIR FRESHENERS?
When are we going to defeat RADICAL ISLAMIC AIR FRESHENERS?
50 people die in the USA every year from being struck by lightning.
When are we going to defeat … say it with me …RADICAL ISLAMIC LIGHTNING??
Did you know that 5000 US citizens are injured every year by Bad Hombres? Did you know that 30% of all Bad Hombres are named Jesus, and a further 20% are named Juan?
Okay I made those last two statistics up.
- - -
Nah, man. Once you get near the politics, everything you do everywhere should be free of charge, ’cause everything you receive constitutes a bribe - even unsolicited donations.
That’s why I, an aspiring politician, eat out of dumpsters and scrupulously hide under this cardboard, lest the water that occasionally falls from the sky taint me with the promise of a free bath!
- - -
Perhaps "don't stare at women" is not actually what we should be teaching. Perhaps that should be a custom that a person learns on their own, by putting the puzzle pieces together for themselves.
That way, you know that when a man is polite enough not to stare, it's because he's well socialized, not just because he's being stealthy.
- - -
Women dress themselves for their own pleasure, generally. Some things just feel nice to wear, or complement an experience of being in a place, or help express an inner mood. It's not always about men or sex.
Sometimes women will wear clothing that distracts men. Inexperienced women may do this accidentally, and experienced women may do this deliberately. Some adults realize when this is happening, and are concerned that sexual manipulation is being brought to bear in an environment where it should not matter - mainly the workplace. And some men (and women) feel powerless to object, out of fear of being a "prude", or admitting to their own weakness, and simply let it happen. Or they see it happening and quietly judge the wearer for their ignorance, or their attempts to manipulate. Are they wrong to judge?
Ask any female teacher whether it would be appropriate to wear Daisy Dukes and a tank top to work. Ask a yoga instructor how difficult it is for her to find and walk the appropriate line, when her body is a reference template for everyone in the room. Ask any woman who's been passed over for a job, or a part, or membership on a team, that was ultimately won by another woman who wore a tight shirt to the interview. Do we blame the men for being exploitable? Or the women for seeking to exploit?
Context is everything.
- - -
America has been a difficult and flawed place since its very beginnings, for many many people. The difference between all those times and now is, you are a grown-up. You can finally see beyond the safe suburban or pastoral bubble that you spent your youth inside.
All this suffering, happening around you, in immigrant groups, working-class groups, racially victimized groups, etc.. It’s always been going on! Always! And kind and motivated Americans have always been fighting against it! It’s just that YOU NEVER SAW IT GOING ON.
Now it’s splashed across your smartphone every day. Especially the stuff that makes you angry, because that makes you click links, and that puts money in ad-men’s pockets.
What are you gonna do about it? Yes, you, personally. Voting in an election is not enough. What are YOU going to do? I hope you have something better in mind than sitting around complaining… Because that just ain’t the American way.
- - -
Armchair biologists often like to point out that the optic nerve is layered "backwards" onto the eye, with a mat of blood vessels sitting between it and the lens, as an example of evolution getting something "good enough" without getting it "right".
Well, the explanation I read for that (in "Life Ascending") is somewhat different: The optic nerve pushes through the retina because, if it connected in the back, it would restrict the blood supply to the retina, effectively crippling its ability to deal with the intense changes in light level that daytime hunters encounter. (Compare with, for example, a cat's vision.)
- - -
In response to: "America will be great when Mr.Trump cleans house."
I don’t think it is physically possible for the man to lift himself up by his own belt loops and drop himself in the wastebasket...
