Comments on: Daily Hackery http://www.juliansanchez.com/2008/04/07/daily-hackery/ Just another geek in the geek kingdom Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:48:39 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Julian Sanchez http://www.juliansanchez.com/2008/04/07/daily-hackery/comment-page-1/#comment-4280 Julian Sanchez Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:12:14 +0000 http://www.juliansanchez.com/?p=2326#comment-4280 I don't think it's perfectly parallel here. Presumably we're all a good deal less sanguine than Obama about the power or competence of government to achieve various Great Things. But look, I don't think it should be remotely controversial to say that you need orders of magnitude more faith in the power of government to advocate invading and occupying an ethnically and religiously divided country halfway around the world, with the intent of turning it into a functioning democracy. Basically, there are two versions here of the "Government can do X, but not Y" position here. I think they're both wrong, but only Goldfarb's is actually ridiculous. I don’t think it’s perfectly parallel here. Presumably we’re all a good deal less sanguine than Obama about the power or competence of government to achieve various Great Things. But look, I don’t think it should be remotely controversial to say that you need orders of magnitude more faith in the power of government to advocate invading and occupying an ethnically and religiously divided country halfway around the world, with the intent of turning it into a functioning democracy.

Basically, there are two versions here of the “Government can do X, but not Y” position here. I think they’re both wrong, but only Goldfarb’s is actually ridiculous.

]]> By: Micha Ghertner http://www.juliansanchez.com/2008/04/07/daily-hackery/comment-page-1/#comment-4279 Micha Ghertner Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:28:20 +0000 http://www.juliansanchez.com/?p=2326#comment-4279 John, Isn't this just a function of all political hypocrisy claims made by one ideology against its mirror opposite? Any time a Republican says to a Democrat, or a Democrat says to a Republican, or a Socialist says to a Capitalist, or a... something along the lines of: "You believe in A but not B, and yet A and B are both causally connected or sufficiently similar in some really important way, so therefore you are being a hypocrite", the accused usually ignores the original charge of hypocrisy and instead rejoinders with his own charge, "But you believe in B but not A, yet A and B are both causally connected or sufficiently similar in some really important way, so therefore you are the one being a hypocrite, not me." John,

Isn’t this just a function of all political hypocrisy claims made by one ideology against its mirror opposite?

Any time a Republican says to a Democrat, or a Democrat says to a Republican, or a Socialist says to a Capitalist, or a… something along the lines of:

“You believe in A but not B, and yet A and B are both causally connected or sufficiently similar in some really important way, so therefore you are being a hypocrite”,

the accused usually ignores the original charge of hypocrisy and instead rejoinders with his own charge,

“But you believe in B but not A, yet A and B are both causally connected or sufficiently similar in some really important way, so therefore you are the one being a hypocrite, not me.”

]]> By: John Markley http://www.juliansanchez.com/2008/04/07/daily-hackery/comment-page-1/#comment-4271 John Markley Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:38:33 +0000 http://www.juliansanchez.com/?p=2326#comment-4271 Goldfarb remarks, "Again, Obama believes government can do anything...except secure victory, stability, and democracy in Iraq." This is hardly a new insight on my part, but it's amusing how he (rightly) faults Obama for his faith in the state to solve all sorts of problems at home, in a peaceful and prosperous country- and then immediately expresses his own faith in that same state to solve all sorts of even bigger problems in an impoverished, violence-wracked foreign culture on the other side of the planet. A lot of ideologies require some degree of doublethink to accept, but it's not usually this blatant. It's a miracle that the cognitive dissonance hasn't caused some sort of Scannersesque cranial explosion yet. Goldfarb remarks,
“Again, Obama believes government can do anything…except secure victory, stability, and democracy in Iraq.”

This is hardly a new insight on my part, but it’s amusing how he (rightly) faults Obama for his faith in the state to solve all sorts of problems at home, in a peaceful and prosperous country- and then immediately expresses his own faith in that same state to solve all sorts of even bigger problems in an impoverished, violence-wracked foreign culture on the other side of the planet. A lot of ideologies require some degree of doublethink to accept, but it’s not usually this blatant. It’s a miracle that the cognitive dissonance hasn’t caused some sort of Scannersesque cranial explosion yet.

]]>