Quote of the day

 

"The greatest fool is not the one who cannot read, but the one who thinks that all he reads is truth."

- Ivo Andrić

Meme of the day

 

Meme of the day

 

Here's the story:

"An 18-year-old man killed a 91-year-old Second World War veteran by beating him, then dousing him with gasoline and setting him on fire."

Convergence in Atlas Shrugged

This passage from Any Rand's Atlas Shrugged reminded me of process of convergence described in Corporate Cancer by Vox Day:

My father was an evil man who cared for nothing but business.

He had no time for love, only for money. My brothers and I lived on a different plane. Our aim was not to produce gadgets, but to do good.

We brought a great, new plan into the factory. It was eleven years ago.

We were defeated by the greed, the selfishness and the base, animal nature of men. It was the eternal conflict between spirit and matter, between soul and body. They would not renounce their bodies, which was all we asked of them. I do not remember any of those men. I do not care to remember. . . . The engineers? I believe it was they who started the hemophilia. . . . Yes, that is what I said: the hemophilia—the slow leak—the loss of blood that cannot be stopped. They ran first.

They deserted us, one after another . . . Our plan? We put into practice that noble historical precept: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Everybody in the factory, from charwomen to president, received the same salary—the barest minimum necessary.

Twice a year, we all gathered in a mass meeting, where every person presented his claim for what he believed to be his needs. We voted on every claim, and the will of the majority established every person's need and every person's ability. The income of the factory was distributed accordingly. Rewards were based on need, and penalties on ability. Those whose needs were voted to be the greatest, received the most. Those who had not produced as much as the vote said they could, were fined and had to pay the fines by working overtime without pay.

That was our plan. It was based on the principle of selflessness. It required men to be motivated, not by personal gain, but by love for their brothers."

Until I read this passage I just thought Rand was describing parasites destroying capitalism or some such. But this passage opened my eyes. The book was published in 1957, and is full of constant reminders how proponents of social justice are ruining corporate America.

Sure, Rand is not using the term "social justice", but the descriptions are on point none the less.

Meme of the day

 

Galaxy's Edge Legionnaire

I've recently started reading the latest book under the pen of Nick Cole and Jason Anspach titled Forgotten Ruin. And while I'm having a blast with it, the book couldn't escape the comparisons with Legionnaire, another first in series by Cole & Anspach.

Fisking NYT: I wish there actually was a culture war

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša

I read this article from NYT some time ago, and felt it was in need of fisking. Since I actually know the situation of Slovenian politics I decided to give it a go. The original article will be in italics. My responses will be in bold.

You can find the the original article here:  https://archive.is/jqkDx

A Populist Leader Kicks Off a Culture War, Starting in Museums

Right of the bat we have several problems. Janez Janša is not a populist. I wouldn't mind if he actually was, but he isn't. He still gets called populist a lot because the leftist media in Slovenia knows if they paint him as populist the foreign press will pick it up, and understand Janša = bad. It's not so much a culture war as it is war against lefty nepotism that was possible for the past three decades of Slovenian independence. Considering Janša was one of those who made Slovenian independence reality, the Communists and their descendants hate him with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I'm not exaggerating.