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July 3rd, 2009

johnpowell said :

You need a custom avatar. Throw some ideas my way I will make some. Allie will have to approve of them. She does that.

May 29th, 2009

augustlan said :

10K of well-deserved lurve! Congrats.

May 28th, 2009

PnL said :

Congrats on the 10K :)

May 26th, 2009

daloon said :

Hey! Congratulations on 10K lurve!

February 23rd, 2009

cprevite said :

You can’t leave. You’re one of the most insightful and intelligent people here.

If you stay, I’ll give you a cookie.

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Questions

• March 7th, 2008

  How do we fix Fluther?

  Great Question (7)

Answers

• 1 month ago

  Why do they (terrorists) hate us (americans)?

  The thing about cheap oil is that, in the end, we’re going to pay for it no matter what. We didn’t pay for it with dollars, so we’re going to pay for it with lives.
  Great Answer (0)
• 1 month ago

  Why do they (terrorists) hate us (americans)?

  You can suggest that we simply know better than the people who live there. Whether or not it’s true, the people who live there are likely to disagree with it; and if we try to impose our will on them, even if we do it for their own good because we know better than they do, they are likely to resist it. Since they can’t resist it with a standing army, they use their resources as efficiently as they can. And actually, it’s not irrelevant, because it goes to the heart of the matter. It’s a criticism of your viewpoint, which seems to be that we’re rich, we’re powerful, we get to do whatever we like, and if anyone objects to it, it’s because they’re jealous of our riches and our power—not because we might be misusing our riches and our power. And it’s delightfully ironic that someone who makes such a godawful fuss about freedom and how important it is is so blithe about dictating to other people what they must do, to the point of an armed invasion of their country if they disagree, and so baffled at their resistance, that he has to make up myths like “they hate us because we’re free and prosperous!” Or at least it would be delightful, if it weren’t such a common delusion.
  Great Answer (2)
• 1 month ago

  Why do they (terrorists) hate us (americans)?

  No, I don’t think it needs to be proven. I think it needs to be their perception. And again, I think that with Abu Ghraib and torture extreme interrogation techniques on our side of the balance sheet, it’s not quite so obvious even from here that our presence there represents help. And the opinion that matters isn’t yours or mine—it’s the potential and actual terrorists’. (For someone who claims to hate political correctness, it’s odd that you shy away from calling a thing by its proper name when using a defanged euphemism makes it easier to support your point of view.) “They hate you because you’re prettier than they are” is the same rationale as “they hate us because we’re more prosperous than they are” or “they hate us because we are free and they aren’t.” It allows you to absolve yourself of any responsibility—sure, we’re free! we’re prosperous! the hate is entirely because of their jealousy, because our motives and actions are unimpeachable! But in fact, our prosperity is one of the things that has enabled us to treat the Middle East so badly—they don’t hate us because of our prosperity directly, but they hate us because of what our prosperity has allowed us (and required us, in the name of cheap oil) to do to them.
  Great Answer (3)
• 1 month ago

  Why do they (terrorists) hate us (americans)?

  I don’t think “relativism” describes my position at all. I think when you hit people, they hit back. I think when you force them to do what you think is right, they resent it. I think when people feel powerless and manipulated, they look for ways to lash out, and sometimes they find them. I think the right to self determination is vitally important, which means that people get to determine for themselves how they want to live. And I think if a more powerful nation spent a century doing to the US what we’ve been doing to the countries in the Middle East for the past century, we’d react in much the same ways, for much the same reasons. That’s not relativism; that’s doing unto others as I want done unto me. “They hate you because you’re prettier than they are” is what a stupid parent tells a spoiled child. Generally, they don’t; they hate the child because the child is an arrogant snot who thinks his or her looks justify treating other children as inferior. It’s a comforting lie, and it allows the parent and the child to absolve themselves of all responsibility for contributing to the situation. It’s a crying shame that you can’t, or more likely won’t, see that.
  Great Answer (3)
• 1 month ago

  Why do they (terrorists) hate us (americans)?

  @Noel_S_Leitmotiv: If you have nothing to say in response, then the appropriate thing to do is to concede the argument or remain silent.
  Great Answer (0)

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