The last blog update, on the New Year party, was lost when I managed to drop the laptop on the floor. Then spent an hour taking it apart, trying to figure out where the hard drive was, before finding it had
fallen out when I dropped it.
This is like having your brain fall out and roll under the bed when you sneeze - an indicator of suboptimal design.
Anyway, short version of the party:
* Drank too much vodka, ate too much fingerfood, talked a lot of politics.
* Why are most of the good people over fifty or under fifteen?
*
I kissed a man and we liked it.
Taste of sixth glass of vodka.
I was so drunk, he didn't mind
Don't mean he's not straight tonight.
Here's a few more things I didn't get around to posting recently....
From shortly before Christmas:
Every few months I try to read Hegel, usually the Shorter Logic, and every time he turns my mind to porridge.
"Rosa Lichtenstein" (Hi there Rosa) argues at vast length that:
(1) Hegel's philosophy is rooted in ancient pseudo-paradoxes (eg. Zeno's Arrow, the Road of Heraclitus), linguistic confusion (the identity theory of predication), and cabalist mystical gibbering.
(2) Marx incorporated his version of Hegelianism into his Socialism - even though it's unnecessary for the movement, and irrelevant to the socioeconomic ideas.
(3) The subsequent marxist greats uncritically continued the error, and so have their followers.
(4) This is a major reason marxism specifically and the left in general have been so ineffective for the last 150 years.
Lichtenstein's ideas are not well received by other socialists, especially as she feels the need to insult those who disagree with her. But it has to be said, she calls on a deep reservoir of learning and close-reading of key texts, while her opponents in general do not.
For what it's worth, I think:
(1) The Dialectic of Nature is grossly under-theorised. Endlessly quoting the Theses on Feuerbach, ABC of Dialectics and a few passages from Lenin's Notebooks doesn't cut it.
(2) A sociological dialectic model with social "forces" and "contradictions" is immensely useful, but doesn't depend on a dialectic of physics.
(3) It's an exaggeration to say the left have achieved nothing for 150 years.
(4) Whatever the reasons for their lack of success, an incorrect ontology isn't high on the list.
In other words, I don't think the dialectic is important. But none of my comrades agree with me, so tonight I try again to read Hegel, in case they're right.
From shortly after Christmas:
A rather lovely day out with C, with eating, drinking, walking, browsing, bitching ... but mostly some very good companionship.
There's a piece of gay slang, not used much now - "Sister". When two gay men are best friends, understand each other's way of thinking, and do most the the things boyfriends do together,
except sex, they're called sisters.
Kind of the opposite of a fuckbuddy - where sex is the only connection, and one (or indeed both) is often straight.
Probably Boxing Day:
An insomniac flick through
Conservapedia's breaking news sections reveals some startling truths, hitherto covered up by the worldwide conspiracy of liberals.
Top Scholars Confirm Truth of Christianity. Translation: One christian academic has a list of other christian academics.
Ann Coulter: My Triumph Over Kwanzaa!. Translation: A columnist no one reads anymore says some rude things about a holiday no one's heard of. No one cares.
"President George W. Bush is being crucified in the public square in spite of his plain decency and goodness". Translation: Voting for Obama is
literally identical with insanity. And planting bombs - but not dropping them.
Probably the 28th:
I'd make a great guttural voice-over artist, but only when I've got a cold. Then my voice starts channelling Orson Welles - just right for movie trailers and beer adverts.
So don't delay, book Kapitano's voice today, before I recover. If you don't mind the odd sniffle in the sales patter.
