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]

Samizdata slogan of the day

We shall know what we go to Mars for, only after we get there. You might as well ask Columbus why he wasted his time discovering America when he could have been improving the methods of Spanish sheep-farming. It is lucky that the U.S. government like Queen Isabella is willing to pay for the ships.
– Freeman Dyson, letter to his parents, 19 May 1958

though it is a pity the US and other governments also crowd out private space business alternatives

Samizdata slogan of the day

Sir Humphrey: “Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now when it’s worked so well?”

Jim Hacker: “That’s all ancient history, surely.”

Sir Humphrey: “Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing [the EEC] up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn’t work. Now that we’re inside we can make a complete pig’s breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased, it’s just like old times.”

Yes, Minister, British comedy series

Samizdata slogan of the day

Hear a speech declaring a holy war and, I assure you, your ears should catch the clink of evil’s scales and the dragging of its monstrous tail over the purity of the language.
– Dr Cruces, head tutor of the Guild of Assassins in Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Samizdata slogan of the day

THIS is a tragedy, too. What makes the Columbia‘s loss more striking than the deaths of train passengers is that space exploration is forward-looking, not just part of ordinary life, and such a loss is a setback to something important, and noble. It’s not that astronauts’ lives are worth more than those of anyone else; it’s what they do, and what it stands for.

Glenn Reynolds yesterday

Samizdata slogan of the day

If money does not matter to you, you do not have much imagination
– Tania Emery

Samizdata slogan of the day

A little anti-fascist sentiment brought to you by Samizdata.net

Sic semper tyrannis

Samizdata slogan of the day

“I hate Uncle Sam – I’m so over older men.”
– Jack (Sean Hayes) in Will and Grace, discussing his income tax situation.

Samizdata slogan of the day

“…it rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we buy that assumption then it is for the state — not for parents, the community, the religious institutions or teachers — to decide who shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in our society. That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”
– Ronald Reagan in Human Events, February 1979

(Quote via Nolo Consentire)

Samizdata slogan of the day

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong
– W. S. Churchill

Samizdata slogan of the day

Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer. You have only to persevere to save yourselves
– W. S. Churchill

Samizdata slogan of the day

It is certainly true that modern civilization has created environmental problems, but the key enviromental issue is addressed in this one question. Is our technology’s ability to solve environmental problems advancing faster than are the environmental problems themselves?
Michael Jennings

Samizdata slogan of the day

You may find me one day dead in a ditch somewhere. But by God, you’ll find me in a pile of brass.
– Trooper M. Padgett