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]
|
The kind of health warning I like I got this via Pajamas TV. Well, it’s Friday:
“Warning: This segment contains graphic images of Matt Damon discussing tax policy.”
And the footage of Damon sharing his profound thoughts on the “upper class” etc is not for people of a nervous disposition.
Let’s not forget that magnificent movie and its treatment of Damon, Team America.
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
Actors are a lot like rock stars……..and as Homer Simpson once said:
“Rock stars … is there anything they don’t know?”
Too much of PJTV seems put together for people who like mindlessly rooting for Team GOP like its a sporting allegiance. Do I agree with Matt Damon on politics? Not in the slightest. I really don’t give a crap what he thinks about political issues actually. But gleefully hovering over every pause and hesitation because he can’t fluidly articulate himself on the subject is meanspirited and lame. Yes I know that the left likes doing this kind of crap too. But people who embrace party branded politics and root root root for the home team on the right are just as much of a problem as the folks on the left-wing folks who do this. Like similar partisan types on the left the PJTV guys seem much more interested in playing ‘gotcha’ verbally zinging the enemy and winning in the glibness stakes than progressing the political debate in a positive direction.
While the clip you cite is PJTV ‘Alfonzo Rachel’ monolog, the original footage is courtesy of Reason.com.
It was originated by Reason as an attack piece, but sadly, the footage missed its mark because the interviewer, charismatic though she undoubtedly is (I can watch the original reason.com video time and time again, and remain enthralled), did a lousy job and failed to lead Damon into an ambush. I’m not much of a fan of ambush journalism, but I would have liked to see that particular attempt succeed.
Are PJTV a bunch of GOP cheerleaders? Yeah, a bunch of the time, because their particular aim is to take the GOP as it is, and transform it into a GOP that you and I, Richard, might look more favorably upon. Don’t write those guys off as totally naive idologues. I’d say that while Whittle and Reynolds may not be perfect libertarians, a GOP whose policies are modified to satisfy people like Whittle and Reynolds would be a more acceptable party to people like me (and probably you).
Sure, PJTV also has people like Steven Green and Roger Simon who are far too socon for my tastes, but let’s not purge them until PJTV has helped us shrink Leviathan somewhat.
Richard? ugh – brainfart.
I meant Jay.
Since I’m having to post an erratum, I think I need to add that while you, and I, don’t see politics as a baseball (or football match), much of the public does.
Consequently (and sadly) the road to political power (even if it’s the power to dismantle the state) is achieved by scoring points at the opposition’s expense. I don’t like the fact that soaring rhetoric and incisive logic don’t work on the vast multitudes, but it doesn’t. Any group of people attempting to acquire political power in a representative democracy have to accept that, and adopt strategies that recognize this reality.
Jay Thomas, you are really are being a bit priggish here, if you don’t mind my saying so. Outside the rarified halls of academe, there happens to be a struggle to put important ideas into the mass culture, and whether we like it or not, Hollywood, or what’s left of it, is part of that.
Damon, like others of his ilk, are part of a culture that has lost sight of basic facts of reality. Whatever the agenda of PJTV, the fact is that their targets mostly deserve it. A bit “meanspirited”? Well, not as meanspirited or as unpleasant as smearing anyone who argues for smaller government as a “terrorist”, which is the sort of crap from elected politicians in the US last week.
So Jay, in response to your comment, I am going to continue enjoying it when an advocate for big government and the failed ideas of the past gets a bit of a bang on the head. Apart from anything else, it’s good for morale.
Believe me, ideas have to be pushed on various levels, ranging from cool dispassionate debate right through to the more knockabout stuff. No need for us to be sanctimonious.
Indeed, not to be misunderestimated.