Tags: no_tag on 04-27-2008 -Cached -About Shared by:tony curzon price

more from www.opendemocracy.net

The big point Mr Davey makes is that we would all be happier if we lived frugal, natural community-bound lives. I agree that some of us would. But many of us most definitely would not (I for one). Among the types of human being are those with fierce ambition and restless desires. If you stick them in closed communities they will soon organise the village to wage war on the next one. Thus rose the feudal estates and territorial despotisms of old. So, no, I do not believe in the return to Eden. It is one of humanity’s oldest myths. But it is just that – a myth. Of course, Mr Davey may prove right that the challenge of replacing fossil fuels is one we are unable to meet. If so, at some point, our civilisation will collapse. It will not be fun. Of that I am sure.

Tags: anti-consumerism climate change economy on 12-31-2007 -Cached -About Shared by:tony curzon price

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Unlike Pay Per Post, the company doesn’t waste a lot of time trying to spin their business into something socially acceptable. People pay them to pollute big social sites and get traffic, and they’re ok with being slammed for that. As long as they make money. The whole operation is complete with founder pseudonyms (Ragnar Danneskjold, Vasili Taleniekov), proxied whois records, and a clandestine PayPal Account. The service is bringing in the new year with a new pricing model. In ‘08, Diggs and Stumbles will be increased to $2 per vote. Users will be paid $1 for their votes. You can also earn 20% of the earnings of any friends you refer, and 10% of the cost of advertisements from any advertisers you refer.

Tags: macarthur search on 12-30-2007 -Cached -About Shared by:tony curzon price

more from www.techcrunch.com

“When a sheep is ailing,” said Socrates, “we generally blame the shepherd, and when a horse is vicious, we generally find fault with his rider. In the case of a wife, if she receives instruction in the right way from her husband and yet does badly, perhaps she should bear the blame; but if the husband does not instruct his wife in the right way of doing things, and so finds her ignorant, should he not bear the blame himself? [12] Anyhow, Critobulus, you should tell us the truth, for we are all friends here. Is there anyone to whom you commit more affairs of importance than you commit to your wife?” “There is not.” “Is there anyone with whom you talk less?” “There are few or none, I confess.” [13] “And you married her when she was a mere child and had seen and heard almost nothing?” “Certainly.” “Then it would be far more surprising if she understood what she should say or do than if she made mistakes.” [14] “But what of the husbands who, as you say, have good wives, Socrates? Did they train them themselves?” “There's nothing like investigation. I will introduce Aspasia to you, and she will explain the whole matter to you with more knowledge than I possess. [15] I think that the wife who is a good partner in the household contributes just as much as her husband to its good; because the incomings for the most part are the result of the husband's exertions, but the outgoings are controlled mostly by the wife's dispensation. If both do their part well, the estate is increased; if they act incompetently, it is diminished. [16] If you think you want to know about other branches of knowledge, I fancy I can show you people who acquit themselves creditably in any one of them.”

Tags: aspasia economics feminsim socrates xenophone on 12-16-2007 -Cached -About Shared by:tony curzon price

more from www.perseus.tufts.edu

Liberalism is a paradoxical creed, in the sense that its prescriptions are mainly negative: It is mainly concerned with what the state may not do to its citizens, and what citizens may not do to each other. As Mr. Walzer writes in "Liberalism and the Art of Separation," one of the key essays in the book, "liberalism is a world of walls, and each one creates a new liberty." The wall between church and state is the best known of these, but as Mr. Walzer points out, liberalism is also responsible for erecting walls between the state and the market, between the church and the university, and between public and private life.

Tags: liberalism montpelerin on 12-14-2007 -Cached -About Shared by:tony curzon price

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