The Gamer's Quarter

[Harveyjames]

It tells you not just what's happening in the world, but WHY~

[dhex]

i consider the economist just about the best newsmagazine on earth so i'm curious as to what was really wrong with the article. the ICNC site is interesting, btw:

http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/

the skills and conditions essay is worth a glance:
http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/PDF/AckermanSkillsOrConditions.pdf
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[daphaknee]

Hey guys, I think Rand is really really funny. I have a game I play where I imagine her watching popular pieces of film or musicals or what have you and seeing her head explode in anger and it is beautiful. Seriously, watch any version of Rent this way. It makes it tolerable.

Also!

Greenspan hit it.

But yeah, anyone who takes her too seriously and I am all UGH WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU RAPE IS BAD.

EDIT: THIS IS BOOJIBOY UGH TOO MANY ACCOUNTS.

[seryogin]

I know you're not big on the exile, but this pretty much levels out all the things that I found piss poor about it:

http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=10127&IBLOCK_ID=35&phrase_id=4032
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[dhex]

yeah i mean lol high school angry yearbook staff.

they're basically so far off the mark they're in space, but maybe they're just in love with putin. but to each their own. not that i'm on board with the economist's leaderboards generally. that's why i generally skip the first 15 pages (and not just because i won't be getting an emba in switzerland anytime soon) though i will read lexington (the column) pretty regularly if only to get that weird bbc-esque outsider slant on republicrat shenanigans.

oddly - or perhaps not so oddly - enough, i know plenty of harder-core libertizzles who hate the economist for similar reasons, including their being too wishy-washy about market solutions in some cases. (see above about angry yearbook staff)

so why do people have a hard on for putin? is it merely bush derangement syndrome writ large? that confuses me. i don't like bush at all, but running to hug hillary seems kinda nuts; expanding that out as enemy of my enemy shit is pretty wasteful. but human, no doubt.

for example: chavez is bad news, particularly for his own people. ok. this doesn't mean american anythings should be dicking around in venezeula. if private companies invest in an unstable region they should know full well the tradeoff for getting a jump in a market is that an autocratic fuckface might get all up in that. that's how things work. fuck them for getting fucked, and aside from opening trade with said countries it's really none of our business. let him ruin the country, but for god's sake don't get involved. not our fucking problem.

then again i would be quite happy to see a far more isolationist u.s. foreign policy, outside of even cost and morality issues involved; the world can fuck itself without our help, thank you very much. (this would have to see some kind of increase in immigration quotas and/or tariff reduction/elimination, but sadly i don't see any of this happening anytime soon)
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[seryogin]

I don't think this is about Putin-love. To wit, I don't like Putin, hate Russian tv, which my parents blast every second they're here, but I've never gone for the relentless hype of Putin being Mr. Fascism.

I hate all news magazines, because when I came over here and started reading them, I spotted so much ludicrous shit about Russia that I couldn't read about anything else without wondering what kind of mistakes they're making. And then there were the assumptions that one had to have to read these things. As in, Britain-America, at least in their intentions, are always good, anything that Russia, or any other certified enemy of the Man, is always bad. The thing that irked me most of all were those stories about miserable Russians, how miserably they were doing everything. Now, we certainly had to shoulder the blame for that, we were the ones fucking things up, but what got was that there was a lot of fake pity in these stories, but more obvious was the smugness, the happiness that Russia got its due. And that any kind of Russian nationalism was bad and that Russia was good only in so far that it could, theoretically, resemble America one day. It was impossible to read a sufficiently long news story without hitting those assumptions, and the stories and editorials were always structured in such a way as to enforce assumptions.

Since everything I'd read in Newsweek, Time, NY Times, would smack of this. I went back to reading Russian magazines and newspapers. Yet, I couldn't. After reading them for a month, I noticed that they were filled with as many obvious biases, things that I never noticed before. And, well, I couldn't have it both ways. I couldn't bitch about the hypocrisy on the English language world, while praising the Russian press. So I had to jettison that too.

So now I don't read magazines at all, unless they have titles like Military History, WWII Review or Anime Insider on them. And if I have to look at the news, I'll make sure it's someone I can trust, like Justin Raimondo (that was a joke hex, though I like that no matter how things change, you can always count on him to say the same thing and make the same analogies every week).

As for that article you linked, nowhere does it mention tha Otpor in Yugoslavia was a Western funded operation and all they got in the was Yugoslavia being split yet again. This time into two even more shitty and pathetic countries and even more marginalization for the Serbs. I can't think of a single non-violent revolution (or violent one for that matter) in the last fifteen years that actually made a country better off. That's just one of the omissions that got me.

edit: isn't non-violent protest a joke anyway? In the sense that it's designed to provoke a violent reaction in the other side, so then you can claim the moral high-ground?
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[Dracko]

Hippies squatting my daily commute and being loud is still a form of violent harassment.

Gandhi didn't do shit except spit all over his son and let Nehru do all the real work.

[dhex]

you had me scared for a second there with that raimondo thing bro. justin was easily one of the most argumentative people i've ever met online.

[Dracko]

[dhex]

i think we expect a little too much from our saints when we're young a little too little when we're old (to be nice and middle of the road about it).

(at least you're not on the gandhi was trained by the blavatskies as part of the international conspiracy against humanity tip. and yes that's a real tip, as it were.)

[seryogin]

Man, I wrote a whole post with links and images that make fun of Estonia and now the internets ate it. I guess I'll just say that I don't like them and have many compelling reasons for continuing to do so. Such as,




It's great to be an SS veteran in Estonia, because I get full veteran's benefits and get lionized by the press as a freedom and get this good-ol' monument to myself, all the while bitching about Russian "fascism" whilst I enjoy my government denying it's Russian population - a third of the country - citizenship because they're illegal immigrants... " or were two generations ago. You know, this is the type of stuff that - were it done in Germany - would launch the careers of dozens of tendentious "moral" essayists and filmmakers. Yet, if the Baltic states do it then - hell why not - they get into the EU and NATO and get praised for being freedoms-are-us by the likes of Dick Cheney.

Oh, wells.

Anyway, the non-violent stuff worked for Estonia, because the commies were going down anyway. That stuff didn't fly too well on Stalin's watch, though.
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[Scratchmonkey]

To be fair, the Estonian Occupation Museum is pretty down on both the Germans and the Russians.

[seryogin]

I guess, but, then again, their denials of the Nazi stuff have always struck me as perfunctory.

Case in point, one my relatives was booted out of her house in Estonia because she was an ethnic Russian and hence an "occupier" during that "non-violent" revolution. This was an 80-year-old woman and a WWII veteran anti-aircraft gunner. They didn't like her because the amount of planes she shot down qualifed her as "hero of a Soviet Union," which meant various perks. She had to come to Moscow and thank god my grandfather and the veteran's committee helped her out. I can understand being bitter about Russians, but kicking 80-year old women out on their asses into the snow kinda sacrifices the high-ground a bit, don't it?

And then there were the other stories I've heard. Like my high-school chemistry teacher telling me a biking trip he took across the USSR. He stopped with his friends in some Estonian town and while his friends were taking pisses in the bathroom, he was guarding their bikes and stuff. A guy came by and asked him what he was doing and he explained and the guy laughed and said, "You don't have to do that here. We don't any Russian scum in this town." My teacher recalled this story to demonstrate how that Russia needs more civic virtue, because had stolen something from somebody on that day, I forget the occasion. I didn't take it that way. It just made the Estonians sound like a bunch of assholes.

And then there were the stories that my father told me. He was drinking in a bar while on a review of the Baltic countries. And he was talking to some guy, who seemed perfectly rational for first five minutes, though after he found out that my father was in the communist party, he went into a long screed, saying that the "I'd soak all you commies with gas and torch you. The Germans didn't kill enough of your rotten yid kind."

This was in the fucking capital. He later asked someone to explain this vicious hate to him and the man said that the it was "because the Soviet government is run by Jews." And didn't elaborate. This type of stuff is self-evident, apparently.

I have dozens more stories like this.

If these types of anecdotes don't qualify as evidence, then, well, I don't know what to say.

I doubt that they're like that anymore, though. They're more Euro-suck-ups than anything, but I'm pretty sure that they're keeping hick nationalism burning under the veneer of groveling.
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[Scratchmonkey]

Yeah, it's always very difficult to overcome anecdotal prejudice on a nationalistic/tribal level.

[dhex]

too bad the internets ate the rest.

is their "we're nords" campaign still going?
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[seryogin]

I didn't know you liked tribal bigotry so much, mike! Allow me to oblige then. Though I don't think I care enough to be sufficiently vicious about it. Here's a solution by one Kirill Pankratov. His article, titled "Always Somebody's Bitch," should tell you all you need to know about his views on the Baltics. For the rest of us, though, here you are. Totally unfair and filled with omissions, but enjoyable if you like indulging in Russian nationalism now and then.

[dhex]

[seryogin]

Clicking into this I had a premonition. I kind of knew you were going to dredge up that photo. Don't ask me to explain why.

I guess I have to apologize for that guy now. But there's enough room in the world for him too, I guess. The thing that bothers me, though, is -- not that someone would dress like that, or that he happens to be of my peoples -- but that somebody posted that picture on the internets. I mean, surely that was posted as revenge for some misdeed. I have plenty of embarrassing photos myself ( gaudy Wu Ware buttondown shirt, bandana, rings and chains; my breakdancing crew looking like we'd just got off the train from Comptongrad to New Jack City), but I'd never show them to anyone (before you accuse me of being a wigger, I'll point out that I was into breakdancing because it made me and my friends the center of attention at school dances, and while I sometimes pined for a chocolatey complexion that would allow me to use the word "nigga" with impunity, I was also very much a Russian nationalist and therefore hated all non-palefaces, kind off.... like that guy... and the social sanctioning and very real physical violence that went with being a wigger meant that I kept my diction level high, and, well, I liked good breakdancing songs and that's all they ever were to me, for spiritual strength I'd always turned to J-pop).

Perhaps that photo is out of context. But then I can't imagine a context that could've brought that photo into existence that wouldn't 've already 've been fucked to begin with. Putin gets outed as a fascist, but making Russia stable enough for stuff like this is a much more serious crime.

I guess, you win this one, mike, but I'll be back.
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[dhex]

[seryogin]

Low blow... I know you've been saving those things to hit me with again.

Man, mike, you're really hurting me now. I know you've pushed the Russians as guidos thing before and I do believe my denials are solid = Mike's experience comes mostly from Russian-Americans who are indeed as loathsome as Brooklyn's other tribes (he also compared Japs to Texans which wasn't COOL AT ALL; I am fairly liberal when it comes to these things, but there are certain lines which you may not cross if we are to remain on amicable terms, Mr. Hexler). These photographs are certainly damning, though I think my point still stands.

In the interests of fairness, I was going to post some photos of American hicks and wiggers, though I think readers will be familiar enough with them already. Though I'm unwilling to let this snide assault on my motherland slide, without delivering at least some kind of blow against the West. So let's get some chavs in here:










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[Dracko]

dhex, I watched that interview and was with it for the first hour. The second hour deals with stuff I'm sure is interesting, but I simply do not get. And Hyatt's site leaves me a bit sceptical. Care to provide some insights?

Also, oh God, chavs. I used to live in a neighbourhood full of them.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Swimmy]

I wish I knew how to breakdance, just because.

(No, seriously.)
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

[Harveyjames]

[dhex]

so chavs are pattern-coordinated white trash frat boys?

[Redeye]

[Harveyjames]

[dhex]

dude he's russian - even the most mild-mannered are so racist it makes the kkk feel like slackers. they're all like but we've got these robes and homeboy is like quoting some poet you'd never heard of and dropping all sorts of eugenicist stuff in some fancy meter that these hillbillies ain't never heard of. also they're drunk at 9 am and got in a bunch of fishing to boot which is a little too much for american hillbillies. this may or may not be why they're all into all that "teh joooooooooooos fucked up our great nation of pokemons."

on the other hand eastern europeans are fun to drink with if you can handle the mood swings. (they are much like middle aged women in that regard)

[seryogin]

What the fuck, mike. Didja haveta go n' describe me in that first paragraph? Last time I get drunk around you, believe you me.

As for the guy, perhaps it's just the camera angle or the pose, but he looks like no Russian that I've ever seen. I mean, I've never seen anyone dress like that in Russia... though I haven't been back in five years and I hear from my sources that things have changed completely, perhaps this has become commonplace.
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[Redeye]

[dhex]

[Harveyjames]

I was watching Koyaanisqatsi on Youtube and it made me think about how Ayn Rand loved the New York skyline because it was a testament to the will of man, which got me thinking how if there's one thing that unites us on this forum besides videogames, it's that we all think Ayn Rand is a bitch. You know we're quite lucky to all have something in common like that.

[daphaknee]

harvey james i cant pick my livejournal icon of atlas giving himself head in this reply
im kind of sad
kind of

but yeah you're right

[enjoy all monsters]

[Dracko]

Also, no Irish person should ever use it. That's simply degrading to them.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[kirkjerk]

[dhex]

sidetrack: a friend made me watch koyaanisqatsi a long while back at like 5 in the morning. him and his wife at the time were all like oh man this is so depressing and, shit, i thought it was a testament to the human spirit and just how natural our supposed "unnatural" ways are. it was three kinds of uplifting.

edit: just as a sidenote, peoples personal lives and their artistic/philosophical lives should probably be measured with some caution. there has been many a philanderer and cheat who has done the world great good.
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[daphaknee]

different generations experience the movie differently, its really neat to read reviews of it over the course of the years

[seryogin]

If Rand must be judged for anything, it's for being a shitty writer.

To quote one of the my favorite critics, "If you had to cut the bigots from a list of great 20th century writers you'd end up with no list."
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[dhex]

[daphaknee]

i saw the other two!!

everyone lets just watch baraka!

[Harveyjames]

I didn't like Powasqatsi, probably because they'd got a different cinematographer by that point so it's not really all that great to look at. I only saw clips of the last one but it looked like it was made in one of those movie-maker programs that they released for the Mega-CD.

[Lestrade]

I don't mean to butt in, but I wanted to tell you guys that I'm simultaneously reading The Fountainhead while playing Bioshock. Whoaaaaaaa!!

[kirkjerk]

[Harveyjames]

OH SNAP

[dhex]

[Lestrade]

Someone lent it to me, so I'm trying to see what all the fuss is about.

[elvis.shrugged]

Okay, I'm driving this topic back to Rand, just because.

I read The Fountainhead in 9th grade. I then read every bit of Rand I could, over the course of a few months--all her other fiction, outside of a play, and most of her non-fiction. I liked it. The cardboard cut-out characters and simplistic plotlines, though stupid now, had a pull then.

Nowadays I laugh at Rand. She was a nut. Her only "theories" that made any sense were those pertaining to economics and politics--even then, they're just hacked-up bits of libertarianism. Most of the time, her novels miss the point. The Fountainhead has that rape bit, which disturbs me on far too many levels. But on some rare instances, like the part in Atlas Shrugged when John Galt vows to stop the motor of the world, that's when I get what Rand was saying. There's just enough good to outweigh the bad in her novels, I think.

But even as I laugh at Rand and her belief system, there's still an appeal. I haven't touched one of the novels in a few years, and honestly I'm not sure I'd want to pull one from my bookshelf any time soon. I think why I like her in retrospect is because she introduced me to libertarianism--to free-market economics and the horrors of a state gone mad. I read reason because of Ayn Rand. Maybe she was the means to an end, for me?

I regard hardcore Objectivists (though I've only met the more docile kind, myself) the same as die-hard Communists, socialists or any other philosophical extreme: too nutty to take seriously. I mean, raping women is Heroic? What the fuck!

[Harveyjames]

You're actually making me want to read Atlas Shrugged.... I'm pretty good at taking the good parts of artists while ignoring the more unsavory parts of their ideologies (see: Michael Jackson).

[Dracko]

Don't do it, Harvey!
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[extrabastardformula]

Harvey, please put that talent to use on the works of awesome talent like Ike Turner, not Ayn Rand.


Please.
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