We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

‘Hot-button’ blog articles

I find it fascinating to see which blog posts generate passionate interest and a deluge of comments.

Often it is articles that I expect will shuffle down Samizdata.net’s page largely un-remarked before falling into the archives which turn out to be the ones greeted with clarion calls and angry-villagers-waving-torches, whereas some of what I think are ‘dynamite articles’ generate little more that a subdued murmur and the occasional burp.

28 comments to ‘Hot-button’ blog articles

  • Johan

    hehehe, well, I find all of Samizdata’s blogs very interesting, but sometimes I just have nothing to say or add to it. Keep up the good work though, this site is my lifeline in a country drowned in socialist/communist propaganda all over.

    Glory glory hallelujah
    Glory glory hallelujah
    Samizdata’s truths is marching on…

  • bogart

    i love this place even when the articles drive me nuts! usually the styles and views vary quite a bit, except on iraq I guess, as on that issue is much the same for your contributiors with perry and david rabid and johnaton more moderate maybe. but fpr the most part i think the variety is what makes this blog unusual. cuurnet affairs, politics, sicence, arts, philosophy, humor.

    keep it up!

  • …tipping point. Once you see that little (5) everybody

  • starts to wonder what the fuss is about.

  • A testament to the warp and weft of the blogosphere; diverse and unpredictable.

  • Richard A. Heddleson

    A remarkable post, worthy of more comment than I have time or ability to provide.

  • Tim Haas

    Well, to prove Perry’s point, we must now ensure that this post receives 50 hits, minimum. Are we up for it, ‘zdistas?

  • Tim Haas

    Hits? What the heck am I saying? Comments.

    See, I so want you to be right, I’m making subconscious errors that I then have to correct — thereby doubling my counter impact.

  • Tim Haas

    You know, now that I think about it, Perry didn’t really have a point. Just a small observation, really. Natalie has a point, or at least a hypothesis. Maybe she’s the one I want to be right.

    Tripling my impact!

    I’ll stop now.

  • Elizabeth

    There are often incredible articles I read on Samizdata that I do not comment about. Either there are already incredible, provocative responses and/or I don’t have time to create a clever response of my own.
    Sometimes it is difficult to be witty with Sponge Bob Square Pants and Patrick discussing crabby patties in the background. 🙂

  • blabla

    Speaking of which, did you ever think of making a “best of” list on the side there? Many articles are worthy of a permanent place on the front page, rather than being buried in the annals of history.

  • On my own blog, I often find the lovable “Comments[0]” next to what I consider to be serious posts, but if I talk about beer, or whether I should chat up American girls in Parisian restaurants, I suddenly find “Comments[15]”. I at least like to believe that whether people have something to say in reply and whether they found the original article interesting are not always related.

  • I have discovered a truly remarkable proof of this post, but, unfortunately, the Comment Box is too small to contain it.

  • John F

    “BURP!”

  • I don’t share the meta-context of this article.

  • Meta-context means ‘the framework within which you see and interpret the world’ Scott.

  • Jacob

    I have another hypotesis:
    If one commenter happens to write something really dumb, like, for instance, what a great thing the UN is, then the whole brigade comes charging and you have a lot of comments.

  • What a great thing the UN is. If it did not exist, we would have to invent.

  • Jacob

    No Philip, you couldn’t invent it. Even though you admitted the following in another post:

    “On a personal note, I do like to watch these films. I must be mad.”

    I doubt that your madness is of a sufficient degree to invent the UN.

  • matt

    Obviously the UN is wonderful, but its still not a patch on the EU. Combine the efficiency of the UN with the responsiveness and devolved power structure of the EU, and we could do away with national governments altogether.

    (Said amalgamation to occur only in conformance with established International law. Tony Blair to head new ‘peoples government’ . Ethical foreign policy. Greater investment in Public services. World language est Francaise. Bulldogs neutered. Samizdata to be purchased by the government and run in interests of the Proletariat…)

  • Jacob

    “Ethical foreign policy” ???
    After the UN and EU merge all policy will be internal, except perhaps policy toward Mars.
    That’s a good thing becuse they would have a hard time about the ethical part.

  • The most comments I ever got was when my flat was infested with mice.

    In comparison, hardly anyone ever comments on my politics stuff.

    Probably because my mice were more controversial.

  • Brian

    Blog comments follow a power law distribution, don’t they? The big ones tend to get bigger…

  • Nothing to comment, just didn’t want to be left out…

  • Dave Wolfe

    Here’s my comment, for what it’s worth.

  • CRL

    I just want to help bump it up to 50. 😉

    (I usually find myself commenting or not commenting based on whether someone else has already pretty much covered what I wanted to say. or if I strongly disagree, or if I think something got left out. Otherwise I’m rather more inclined to “cheerleading” than I’d like to be. I’m working on it.)