It's complicated. In The Graysonian Ethic, I have a chapter called "Failure is an option", and come to roughly 3 major conclusions:
1. failure is an option, and it sucks. No matter how smart you are, no matter how talented you are, no matter what your fundamental aptitude, if you do not put in the work you will fail.
2. Sometimes failure is an option through no fault of your own and you have to figure out what you are going to do about it.
3. Failure is an option. Sometimes it is an option worth taking, if failing today means winning tomorrow. It is very important that you are making a conscious decision to fail rather than just allowing it to happen using strategy as an excuse for not trying.
1. failure is an option, and it sucks. No matter how smart you are, no matter how talented you are, no matter what your fundamental aptitude, if you do not put in the work you will fail.
2. Sometimes failure is an option through no fault of your own and you have to figure out what you are going to do about it.
3. Failure is an option. Sometimes it is an option worth taking, if failing today means winning tomorrow. It is very important that you are making a conscious decision to fail rather than just allowing it to happen using strategy as an excuse for not trying.
Throughout the 1980s, China remained engaged in armed conflicts with both Vietnam and the Soviet Union, particularly along disputed border regions. These confrontations included significant skirmishes that continued into the late 80s. In some cases, what that looked like was artillery barrages hitting population centers. In more recent years, tensions with India have persisted, culminating in deadly clashes in 2020 during the Galwan Valley incident, where both sides suffered fatalities.
There's also been significant tension or territorial encroachments with other neighbors such as Japan, South Korea, Bhutan, Nepal, Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. There's some minor political tension with Mongolia.
You could argue that none of the things I mentioned were actual wars, but you could make the same argument against many of the things America was involved with. Troop movements into Iraq are considered wars on the top line, but military buildups around Taiwan are not considered wars on the bottom line. Peacekeeping operations are considered wars on the top line, but Chinese military operations against pirates were not. China also participated in UN missions in the 2020s just like America did, notably in South Sudan, Mali, and Lebanon. It's tough to say America is at war when they're on UN missions but China is not.
Moreover, as we've seen in Ukraine, the United States ends up getting dragged into conflicts through their de facto role as policemen of the world, and when they start to act as if they might stop the entire world screams in terror. Even China relies on the American military to keep shipping lanes safe or they could not remain a global manufacturing superpower like they are.
Interestingly, the war between Vietnam and China occurred because Communist Russia-backed Communist Vietnam invaded the Communist China-backed Communist Cambodia. Interestingly, this really is a story that goes back long before Marx or even the modern era, since Asia's politics reside in long memories.
And don't get me wrong -- as a Canadian, I have a genetic allergic reaction to defending US militarism, but we can't pretend China is actually a good comparison.
There's also been significant tension or territorial encroachments with other neighbors such as Japan, South Korea, Bhutan, Nepal, Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. There's some minor political tension with Mongolia.
You could argue that none of the things I mentioned were actual wars, but you could make the same argument against many of the things America was involved with. Troop movements into Iraq are considered wars on the top line, but military buildups around Taiwan are not considered wars on the bottom line. Peacekeeping operations are considered wars on the top line, but Chinese military operations against pirates were not. China also participated in UN missions in the 2020s just like America did, notably in South Sudan, Mali, and Lebanon. It's tough to say America is at war when they're on UN missions but China is not.
Moreover, as we've seen in Ukraine, the United States ends up getting dragged into conflicts through their de facto role as policemen of the world, and when they start to act as if they might stop the entire world screams in terror. Even China relies on the American military to keep shipping lanes safe or they could not remain a global manufacturing superpower like they are.
Interestingly, the war between Vietnam and China occurred because Communist Russia-backed Communist Vietnam invaded the Communist China-backed Communist Cambodia. Interestingly, this really is a story that goes back long before Marx or even the modern era, since Asia's politics reside in long memories.
And don't get me wrong -- as a Canadian, I have a genetic allergic reaction to defending US militarism, but we can't pretend China is actually a good comparison.
I ended up being an honorary Boomer because I bought a house in a depressed region and house prices have at least doubled since then.
And you know what? If house prices were to go down 3/4 and I lose a bunch of equity, I'm not even mad. I want housing to be cheap because you need a place to live. Of course everything is going to be super expensive when people need $1,500 just to rent a one bedroom apartment.
And you know what? If house prices were to go down 3/4 and I lose a bunch of equity, I'm not even mad. I want housing to be cheap because you need a place to live. Of course everything is going to be super expensive when people need $1,500 just to rent a one bedroom apartment.
The novel I'm working on right now is that a future where AI is more deeply integrated into us through neural implants.
Many of the AI based subplots are about the dangers a non malicious AI can pose, including the risks of having this frictionless access to a thing that can generate simulacra of virtually anything or anyone you want. Without a powerful ideological innoculation against addiction, many people could end up in the opium den in their own minds.
If you lose a loved one, would a mostly accurate simulation work to calm the pain of loss, or would the mistakes in the simulation just make you feel it more? Would you ever leave your simulation if that's where all your loved ones remained? And what sort of inoculation would you require to not fall into a trap like that?
Many of the AI based subplots are about the dangers a non malicious AI can pose, including the risks of having this frictionless access to a thing that can generate simulacra of virtually anything or anyone you want. Without a powerful ideological innoculation against addiction, many people could end up in the opium den in their own minds.
If you lose a loved one, would a mostly accurate simulation work to calm the pain of loss, or would the mistakes in the simulation just make you feel it more? Would you ever leave your simulation if that's where all your loved ones remained? And what sort of inoculation would you require to not fall into a trap like that?
It says attempted in one article but implies he succeeded in the other. Which is it? Did he fail successfully?
After the fall of our civilization due to our distance from God, I strongly suspect that the next St. Augustine will be writing about how we need to not glorify the past, and that it as abominations like creeper milk that led to its destruction, as an affront to God's natural law.
Creeper milk will be culturally considered the same way the carved penises that point to the local brothel in Pompei are considered today: an absurd and childish sign of the decadence of the fallen civilization.
Creeper milk will be culturally considered the same way the carved penises that point to the local brothel in Pompei are considered today: an absurd and childish sign of the decadence of the fallen civilization.
I compare what Trump is doing to the famous story of JCPenney. JCPenney was a mall slop store, and their core business model relied on pretending that all of their clothes were on sale when in reality that was just their normal price.
One CEO came in, and wanted to change the business model to low prices everyday. In my opinion, that was a good business move. Much bigger companies than JCPenney so have succeeded on low prices everyday, including Walmart and Target.
The problem is, there existing customer base expected fake sales and when they didn't see them they stopped coming. The result of this was a huge drop in sales.
A lot of advertisers take this to be evidence that you shouldn't make changes like that, and the return back and the ensuing recovery in sales is taken as an example of returning to normal after a bad decision.
The thing is, JCPenney still went out of business because that business model might have been making the money in the moment but it wasn't sustainable in the market that exists now. They needed to eat dirt for a few quarters and rebuild their customer base with people who weren't tricked by fake sales.
In the same way, it is entirely likely that high tariffs on countries like China will cause a major global recession. However, it's still the right thing to do. If the West wants to have things like labor law and environment regulation and reduction of carbon footprint they can't just keep on using China as a picture of Dorian Gray to cast all of our sins upon so we look like we're getting better by just getting them to do it for us.
Unfortunately, the two processes that are going on here don't act at the same speed. It takes seconds for an importer to call China and cancel their order, and it takes a couple quarters for that to burn its way through the economy. It takes years for a factory to be built, and after that it takes more years for it to get up to speed, to produce things at a profit, and to probably integrate into The national economy. Therefore, this really is an example of short-term pain hoping for longer-term game. Unfortunately, it's also an article of faith that it might actually work.
The idea that you can misread scary looking signs to be worse than they are is by no means a new one. In the epic of gilgamesh, the oldest story we have written down, has Gilgamesh and enkidu approached Humaba in the great cedar forest, and Gilgamesh had dreams that terrified him, but enkidu reassured him that they were actually signs of his ultimate victory, and he did ultimately prevail. Of course, in the same story and could do later interpreted his own dreams as a portent of his death and Gilgamesh tried to convince him that maybe the dreams meant something else but they did not, which shows that sometimes bad signs are just bad.
One CEO came in, and wanted to change the business model to low prices everyday. In my opinion, that was a good business move. Much bigger companies than JCPenney so have succeeded on low prices everyday, including Walmart and Target.
The problem is, there existing customer base expected fake sales and when they didn't see them they stopped coming. The result of this was a huge drop in sales.
A lot of advertisers take this to be evidence that you shouldn't make changes like that, and the return back and the ensuing recovery in sales is taken as an example of returning to normal after a bad decision.
The thing is, JCPenney still went out of business because that business model might have been making the money in the moment but it wasn't sustainable in the market that exists now. They needed to eat dirt for a few quarters and rebuild their customer base with people who weren't tricked by fake sales.
In the same way, it is entirely likely that high tariffs on countries like China will cause a major global recession. However, it's still the right thing to do. If the West wants to have things like labor law and environment regulation and reduction of carbon footprint they can't just keep on using China as a picture of Dorian Gray to cast all of our sins upon so we look like we're getting better by just getting them to do it for us.
Unfortunately, the two processes that are going on here don't act at the same speed. It takes seconds for an importer to call China and cancel their order, and it takes a couple quarters for that to burn its way through the economy. It takes years for a factory to be built, and after that it takes more years for it to get up to speed, to produce things at a profit, and to probably integrate into The national economy. Therefore, this really is an example of short-term pain hoping for longer-term game. Unfortunately, it's also an article of faith that it might actually work.
The idea that you can misread scary looking signs to be worse than they are is by no means a new one. In the epic of gilgamesh, the oldest story we have written down, has Gilgamesh and enkidu approached Humaba in the great cedar forest, and Gilgamesh had dreams that terrified him, but enkidu reassured him that they were actually signs of his ultimate victory, and he did ultimately prevail. Of course, in the same story and could do later interpreted his own dreams as a portent of his death and Gilgamesh tried to convince him that maybe the dreams meant something else but they did not, which shows that sometimes bad signs are just bad.
Takei is the same guy who said actions taken by the allies in a war against the literal third Reich were "fascist".
His takes would be taken out of a quarter gumball machine for being too worthless.
His takes would be taken out of a quarter gumball machine for being too worthless.
You know, I feel like one of the points of anything like the Olympics is to show what humanity is capable of, and whoever that was, that's pretty darn impressive.
There are so many individual movements there that I have never been able to do at any age and likely would not have been able to with any amount of training.
There are so many individual movements there that I have never been able to do at any age and likely would not have been able to with any amount of training.
One pet peeve I have is those devices that claim not to be vape pens, they claim that there's no vapor and that it's just flavored air.
Here's the problem: how exactly do you think air becomes flavored? Either a small amount of the chemical flavoring vaporizes under the mild vacuum when you suck on it, or small amount of chemical flavoring atomizes which is effectively the same thing for the purposes that they're talking about.
The key thing here is that flavor ends up in suspension, and then you inhale and it ends up in your mouth and down your throat and into your lungs.
Here's the problem: how exactly do you think air becomes flavored? Either a small amount of the chemical flavoring vaporizes under the mild vacuum when you suck on it, or small amount of chemical flavoring atomizes which is effectively the same thing for the purposes that they're talking about.
The key thing here is that flavor ends up in suspension, and then you inhale and it ends up in your mouth and down your throat and into your lungs.
"it's rude not to"
Yeah and it's also rude to ask for 50%.
You want 50% tip, the level of service I expect is black butler levels. Like the anime. "Sir, I used my demonic powers of hell to defeat your enemies." Ok you get 50%.
Yeah and it's also rude to ask for 50%.
You want 50% tip, the level of service I expect is black butler levels. Like the anime. "Sir, I used my demonic powers of hell to defeat your enemies." Ok you get 50%.
You'd listen to that more than most other windows startup sounds because windows 9x was as stable as that hot ex-girlfriend you had once and try not to think about anymore.
Ironically, it was quite the opposite that led to the rise of the national socialism. All the sexual liberation had people going "Holy shit we need some nazis because this shit is bananas"
Seems to me the root problem is the hollowing out of culture, and that's not something that you can legislate into existence.
If culture is failing then if it isn't social media it'll be something else. Culture and ideology must be stronger than the things that would tear it down, and we've got a fairly weak culture at the moment.
Effectively, if the dam is leaking, it's because we needed to build a better dam and it might be time to get to work before we all drown.
If culture is failing then if it isn't social media it'll be something else. Culture and ideology must be stronger than the things that would tear it down, and we've got a fairly weak culture at the moment.
Effectively, if the dam is leaking, it's because we needed to build a better dam and it might be time to get to work before we all drown.