Posts by Evil Auditor

Re: Unless they're from the lucky sperm club they've got negative wealth

Being equally wealthy doesn't work. Not only do we have different interests, and one of those interests may indeed be being more or less wealthy, but also pursuing those interests requires more or less wealth. This is, however, seen only from the end.

As Phil O'Sophical wrote, inequality encourages progress. And without progress we wouldn't even be discussing wealth but hunting down some animals and collecting berries. Phil also mentioned that some are happy with less and we shouldn't push them to do more. Absolutely true. But the flip and really ugly side of the coin is, that those who wanted to do more, those who are ambitious, wouldn't get much of a reward for their efforts. Of course, they'd still have the intrinsic reward though.

Now tell me, Chris W, how motivated to work would you be if all of your income is taxed away? This is what being equally wealthy means.

Re: Unless they're from the lucky sperm club they've got negative wealth

Unfortunately it seems that human nature is that some always want more than others and are not happy being equal.

I'd rather say: fortunately the human nature is that we all have individual needs and wants which we do not share with all other human beings. Yes, some want more. Maybe more wealth, maybe more freedom and free time. Some like to travel, others prefer reading, and so forth.

Would life be worth living if we all wanted having the same, being similar? At least, I think it would be bloody boring. (Some communists tried it. It didn't work well.)

Re "Society is utterly broken these days"

No, it isn't.

If you don't like society and state how they are, you can, at least to some degree, indeed leave them behind - I do have sympathies for your "dropout" vision. But another way would be playing an active part of society and trying to change what you don't like.

For example, quite a few western European nations do not have a long democratic tradition and their citizen's attitude is still pretty much us against the state and vice versa without realising that they are not only part of the state but they are the state. Problem is, such people make it too easy for politicians to disconnect from them; then people get frustrated and resign further from politics. Then again, I fully understand that not many want to engage in politics, it's tedious with little reward.

Re: Unless they're from the lucky sperm club they've got negative wealth

Chris W, this is exactly what happened to my parents and me. And that's why I wrote "should count...", but in fact, I wouldn't. Still I'm absolutely not offended by Tim Worstall's sentence.

Re: Unless they're from the lucky sperm club they've got negative wealth

Chris W, may I ask you to elaborate for I really cannot see your point and why this would be offensive to you. Did you never have any luck in your life except for this one time, although I hesitate to call that life, as a sperm?

Then again, I might fail to understand because having graduated from university without any debt at all (and very little if any wealth neither) I probably should count myself to this club.

Re: Since when ...

I think you've answered your question already: demobilise has been around but can newly be spelled with a z.

Seriously, there are quite a few words where I'd raise the same question. And even more others which are over my head. Not sure if I even want to know what cu**-bitten means or which anatomic conditions it requires.

And what is it with "toilet-paper"? Are we going the German way now?

Re: of all the non-IT stories on this site..

I don't mind Caen (and indeed the snails) but please leave out Cherbourg and Le Havre - it's my usual choice of going back to Blighty.

Re: Gut feeling? Not selfies[1], rather peeping.

jake, as a photographer I quite like the term "selfie" because it is used for self-snapshots taken with el cheapo camera, often in a mobile phone. Quite different from a self-portrait which is carefully set up with background, light, etc.

Re: Soooo....

Are you into space alien porn?!

Re: Disgusting!

Apparently they did think of the children. The neanderthal children. Bummer.

Re: Reg Commentard surely?

Yeah, amanfrommars wants his fungus back.

They simply don't know in which haystack there might be a needle so they gather all the hay they can possibly get hold of. What's more, they are not even capable to distinguish between a twitch from hay and a sting from a needle.