|
Acebuckeye13 posted:The problem with any supposedly benevolent dictatorship is that it's real easy for it to slide into regular dictatorship. And what benevolence that does exist rarely lasts past the lifespan of the original dictator. Basically this, yeah
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 05:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 07:23 |
|
|
Well a lot can be done in one lifetime.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 07:03
|
|
|
there has never been an authoritarian leader that didn't turn against the people
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 07:11
|
|
|
The problem with democracy is it's only as good as the voters. So if you're in, say, Kentucky, the voters freely, fairly and overwhelmingly elect Mitch McConnell, and you weep in awe of The Glory Of Democracy.ChubbyChecker posted:there has never been an authoritarian leader that didn't turn against the people huey long Byzantine has a new favorite as of 07:18 on Aug 6, 2023 |
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 07:16
|
|
|
I mean this is a silly argument as democracies can turn to authoritarianism pretty easily. The US government has done it many times but for some reason people don’t think it counts? Like there is nothing inherent in democracy that prevents authoritarianism
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 08:48
|
|
|
Also best to examine who 'the voters' actually are, that is, who is allowed to vote and whose votes are of significance. Athens had a voting population consisting of a tiny segment of the actual population. And not even getting into the situation of the US, then and now.Kenning posted:It was sediment, which forms for a variety of reasons, but in very old wines the tannins bind to some of the pigments and fall out of solution as sediment. Old wines get decanted in part to remove the sediment. There's a reason such a big deal is made of what year a wine or other drink was made along with where it came from and what it was made from- you can't tell how well a wine is going to age until, well, it ages, and you can only test that by drinking it, uncorking a bottle of what's presumed to be the same wine and seeing how it's going. (Or whatever they do with barrels) It can be very much a speculative thing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 09:21
|
|
|
I really don't think it's fruitful to approach democracy only as a system for aggregating votes, there's a lot of other stuff in play that makes a form of society 'democratic' or not. Respect for plurality, taking fundamental rights as a self-evident part of society, a general self-understanding among folks that they are entitled to get their concerns heard out in public, those concerns actually having influence on policy, that sort of stuff. Focusing on just voting tells you nothing about how democratic a society is, there are a lot of countries out there where everyone has a vote and then some warlord or oligarch makes all the decisions. Or where voters keep on voting in authoritarians because most of them don't like any of that other stuff that comes with being a democracy. Approaching matters in a more nuanced way also makes it easier to see where a nominally democratic society has gone wrong and where things could be made better, if not perfect. Many if not most "democratic" societies are very much lacking in many of these respects even while being democratic in the sense of there being regular elections.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2023 10:08
|
|
|
ChubbyChecker posted:there has never been an authoritarian leader that didn't turn against the people
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2023 01:58
|
|
|
I'd never support any revolution whose first act wouldn't be to detain and execute me as a dissent.
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2023 03:27
|
|
|
barbecue at the folks posted:I really don't think it's fruitful to approach democracy only as a system for aggregating votes, there's a lot of other stuff in play that makes a form of society 'democratic' or not. Respect for plurality, taking fundamental rights as a self-evident part of society, a general self-understanding among folks that they are entitled to get their concerns heard out in public, those concerns actually having influence on policy, that sort of stuff. And that seems like something you ought to examine how many societies you consider 'democratic' actually have in practice.
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2023 08:41
|
|
|
barbecue at the folks posted:I really don't think it's fruitful to approach democracy only as a system for aggregating votes, there's a lot of other stuff in play that makes a form of society 'democratic' or not. Respect for plurality, taking fundamental rights as a self-evident part of society, a general self-understanding among folks that they are entitled to get their concerns heard out in public, those concerns actually having influence on policy, that sort of stuff. Focusing on just voting tells you nothing about how democratic a society is, there are a lot of countries out there where everyone has a vote and then some warlord or oligarch makes all the decisions. Or where voters keep on voting in authoritarians because most of them don't like any of that other stuff that comes with being a democracy. True, but in a discussion of democracy vs authoritarianism, I don’t see how authoritarianism does any of the good parts of democracy at all
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2023 22:07
|
|
|
are you people just watching Legend of Galactic Heroes for the first time this month or something
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 01:31
|
|
|
thetoughestbean posted:True, but in a discussion of democracy vs authoritarianism, I don’t see how authoritarianism does any of the good parts of democracy at all Why are you treating them as separate things. They aren’t. One just allows more people a say in the later
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 01:40
|
|
|
Alaois posted:are you people just watching Legend of Galactic Heroes for the first time this month or something I’ve never watched it. I want to but boy it’s a time commitment
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 02:45
|
|
|
thetoughestbean posted:I’ve never watched it. I want to but boy it’s a time commitment Not as much as you might think, mentally at least. The show is always compelling and pretty neatly divided into seasons so you can take breaks relatively easily.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 02:49
|
|
|
I actually did start watching LOGH recently. I am uncertain which handsome anime man is the Correct one to Like. Please advise.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 04:18
|
|
|
Nessus posted:I actually did start watching LOGH recently. I am uncertain which handsome anime man is the Correct one to Like. Please advise. Find the one you know you’re not supposed to like and like him the most
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 04:22
|
|
|
thetoughestbean posted:True, but in a discussion of democracy vs authoritarianism, I don’t see how authoritarianism does any of the good parts of democracy at all Authoritarianism literally has no defined meaning, beyond maybe 'Leaders the American government doesn't like'. There are entire books about authoritarianism trying to define it and they are always vague and nonsensical and say nothing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 04:28
|
|
|
Nessus posted:I actually did start watching LOGH recently. I am uncertain which handsome anime man is the Correct one to Like. Please advise. Reinhard is the more dynamic and interesting of the two principle characters. Yang is a lot of people's favorite, but I have an intense dislike of the put upon super tactician archetype, although I like him far more than I do Zhuge Liang whom he takes very heavy inspiration from. Reuntal and Oberstein are always interesting to watch, Rebelo, Mecklinger, and Bittenfield do a lot with little screen time. Dusty has some of the funniest scenes in the show
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 04:49
|
|
|
Carthag Tuek posted:ah yeah sediment! The trouble with a wine that has been cellared that long is that you need to decant it a significant time ahead of drinking it to let it breathe - 12 - 24 hours. It will transform from bland to something truly amazing with some oxygen contact.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 07:32
|
|
|
Gaius Marius posted:Reinhard is the more dynamic and interesting of the two principle characters. Yang is a lot of people's favorite, but I have an intense dislike of the put upon super tactician archetype, although I like him far more than I do Zhuge Liang whom he takes very heavy inspiration from. Reuntal and Oberstein are always interesting to watch, Rebelo, Mecklinger, and Bittenfield do a lot with little screen time. Dusty has some of the funniest scenes in the show which one is space napoleon
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 08:41
|
|
|
christmas boots posted:which one is space napoleon Reinhard, but he's also Space Alexander and it's an open question if the social and political changes he's affected are going to last past his early death given he's effectively shown that the entire universe can be united under a single man through a combination of Luck, Skill, and Wit and has also ruined the entrenched aristocracy in favor of people like him, skilled, ambitious, and unattached the previous order; whether the New Empire lasts or dies in the cradle like the Qin or Alexander's Empire is unknown.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 08:57
|
|
|
slothrop posted:The trouble with a wine that has been cellared that long is that you need to decant it a significant time ahead of drinking it to let it breathe - 12 - 24 hours. It will transform from bland to something truly amazing with some oxygen contact. Not necessarily true with very old bottles and certain less tannic varietals. Sometimes there's just nothing left to "open," and in the case of the wine vinegaring nothing will fix it
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 10:35
|
|
|
I appreciate that no one on this page has bothered to engage with Charlesthehammer.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 10:44
|
|
|
Yang is better sorry
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 10:52
|
|
|
Yang is a lazy alcoholic who basically just wants to be left alone so I really relate to him (except I'm a standard dubiously talented midwit and not a tactical genius)
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 10:59
|
|
|
Ghost Leviathan posted:Authoritarianism literally has no defined meaning, beyond maybe 'Leaders the American government doesn't like'. There are entire books about authoritarianism trying to define it and they are always vague and nonsensical and say nothing. That's a rather weird claim. I mean, sure, there's no such thing as "authoritarianism" as a discrete ideology, but the same could be said about democracy. Rather, authoritarianism is a set of features that can be found in varying degrees in different states/institutions/ideologies. I could confidently state that the Hungarian government is more authoritarian than the Swedish government, and the vast majority of people reading this will know exactly what I mean.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 13:14
|
|
|
Silly Newbie posted:I appreciate that no one on this page has bothered to engage with Charlesthehammer. But you took the time despite not being very bright and that’s precious. Also people did in fact so you didn’t do a great job but your learning and that’s important
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 15:02
|
|
|
To bring the discussion about democracy/authoritarianism on the terrain of history, some might have noticed the recent history spat about Sparta. (See e.g. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/22/sparta-popular-culture-united-states-military-bad-history/ ) I don't think it's an anachronism or nonsense to describe Sparta as "proto-Fascist" or "more authoritarian than its neighbours", because it's pretty clear that the Spartan system was considered cruel and unusually heavy-handed even by its contemporaries. We can make these judgments even if we don't have a clear and well-defined idea of what "authoritarianism" is, because it's ultimately a concept that describes concrete political and ideological arrangements that are always more messy than some perfect analytic definition of the word. I really don't think all those people attempting to speak about a phenomenon like authoritarianism end up speaking nonsense just because they aren't up to the task of providing a watertight definition that settles the matter once and for all. Also yeah my favourite LoGH character remains Oberstein, dude is proper complicated and knows his Machiavelli inside out, especially the parts about virtue in politics that most people never read.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 15:03
|
|
|
Mr. Sunshine posted:That's a rather weird claim. I mean, sure, there's no such thing as "authoritarianism" as a discrete ideology, but the same could be said about democracy. Rather, authoritarianism is a set of features that can be found in varying degrees in different states/institutions/ideologies. I could confidently state that the Hungarian government is more authoritarian than the Swedish government, and the vast majority of people reading this will know exactly what I mean. People do treat it as an ideology tho. Hell peoplenin this thread seem to legit believe it’s as solid a thought as democracy. Which is pretty well defined in the big picture but a lot more varied in the details
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 15:04
|
|
|
CharlestheHammer posted:Hell peoplenin this thread seem to legit believe it’s as solid a thought as democracy. Which is pretty well defined in the big picture but a lot more varied in the details I mean, yes? I'd argue that democracy is also a set of features rather than a discrete ideology. A state can be more or less democratic while still adhering to some other overarching ideology.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 16:21
|
|
|
Take the political philosophy to D&D, thanks. I think we're done here.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2023 17:51
|
|
|
Nessus posted:I actually did start watching LOGH recently. I am uncertain which handsome anime man is the Correct one to Like. Please advise. Since you have not chosen a favorite, one will be assigned to you. Your favorite character is now: Wolfgang Mittermeier. Have a nice day.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2023 09:10
|
|
|
There's over 360 pages, so likely this has been mentioned before, but on the off chance it hasn't: In the bible, Exodus 34:30, the Vulgate translation stated: Ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies ejus. Qui videbant faciem Moses esse cornuta. This basically means that Moses (after experiencing God) returned to the Hebrews with his face (unknowingly) radiating a divine light. However, because of translation foolishness, cornatum in Latin can be translated as either 'shining' or 'horned'. This has lead to a number of early representations of Moses in Europe with him having weird protrubances on his head.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 05:53
|
|
|
A classic among mistranslations!
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 07:40
|
|
|
I feel like it's one of those things they figured out was probably a mistranslation a lot of times but kept going with it because the artists were having fun.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 07:42
|
|
|
imo moses couldve avoided a lot of trouble by using a hairstyle like chun li from street fighter or philippe profile picture above
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 07:51
|
|
|
Samovar posted:There's over 360 pages, so likely this has been mentioned before, but on the off chance it hasn't: This why idiots think jews have horns? Yes that's a real thing, it's dumber than it sounds even
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 14:56
|
|
|
I think that was at least used to justify the superstition that Jews had horns. But even by that logic it doesn't really work because if Jews in general had horns you'd think the Bible would mention it more often seeing as like 90% of the people in the Bible are Jewish.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 15:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 07:23 |
|
|
FreudianSlippers posted:like 90% of the people in the Bible are Jewish. After the judges got through with them anyway.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2023 15:12
|
|
