It was not all that “hot” a PCE inflatIon number!; the FT Editorial Board is dismayed that the U.S. Supreme Court majority puts its thumb on the scale for neofascists & Julian Sanchez’s trust in...
The tell in Noah's comments is the utter failure, at least in this excerpt to say what the "extremist cause" was that Aaron was willing to die for. My position is simple: It's extremist to support Hamas. It's not at all extremist to support an immediate ceasefire to the devastation which has killed more than 20,000 people, including numerous children. Hamas is awful, of course. But can anyone reasonably say that Israel's response is proportionate? I have friends and family in Israel, and friends in Gaza; Israel's response to the monstrous attack last October has been disastrous for Israel.
Bushnell argued on Reddit that the Oct 7 attack was justified. He argued that "there are no Israeli 'civilians'" (with the scare quotes around "civilians").
I think Israel is committing war crimes in their response. I think Bushnell's death was a tragedy and he was mentally ill, and hence not fully responsible for the awful things he said before killing himself. But let's not pretend he was some kind of hero of humanitarianism. The kinds of people who hold him up as a hero are encouraging more lonely, attention-starved young people who are falling down the rabbit-hole of online extremism to commit similar acts of self-destruction, or worse, to take others out with them in some kind of attack. Stochastic terrorism.
Do you have any factual basis of your opinions? For instance, that Bushnell was mentally ill? He may have been, but it's not facially self-evident to me. Had done other things that indicate mental illness? Was he diagnosed? Are you qualified to diagnose? I'm open to the argument, but you're not offering any data.
Fundamentally I don't believe anyone in a fully healthy state of mind self-immolates. Even if you believe a bunch of kind of loopy stuff about the political situation, a rational mind doesn't conclude, "And therefore the _best_ course of action, the way I can 'raise awareness' and change the world toward more justice, is to _set myself on fire_." But you're welcome to split hairs about that if you want.
I really hate sharing a policy position with the "America Worst" brigade. But on the Gaza war, they are more right than wrong. An Israeli response may have been appropriate, but not *this* response.
Agree on the Jourmanolism point, but I DO wish Biden had used as much executive creativity/political capital trying to squeeze in high-value immigrants and expeditiously process asylum claims as he has student loan forgiveness.
That chart on human demographic transition is so important for students (and many adults) because 1) it clarifies the difference between the levels and the growth rates; 2) It tells us that we've been living in very unusual times since at least the 'hinge of history' (to use your phrase); 3) says that unless the growth rates jumps again, the future may become even more unusual, especially if a future level returns to the level in, say, circa 1800. One has to wonder what that means, especially if we have somehow misunderstood the past.
And you're welcome to recognize that by calling it "splitting hairs" you are failing to engage in the discussion.
FWIW, I'm not at all sure that self-immolation was rational in this case. But, rationally speaking, it has certainly gained a great deal of attention to the cause Aaron apparently believed in, and not all of the attention was negative.
We routinely expect, say, members of the armed forces, to die in working for a greater good. It is not intrinsically irrational to be willing to die in working towards such a goal. From my perspective, if you're willing to acknowledge that members of the armed forces routinely die in the course of their service, then as my father used to say, "We're just arguing price."
The tell in Noah's comments is the utter failure, at least in this excerpt to say what the "extremist cause" was that Aaron was willing to die for. My position is simple: It's extremist to support Hamas. It's not at all extremist to support an immediate ceasefire to the devastation which has killed more than 20,000 people, including numerous children. Hamas is awful, of course. But can anyone reasonably say that Israel's response is proportionate? I have friends and family in Israel, and friends in Gaza; Israel's response to the monstrous attack last October has been disastrous for Israel.
Bushnell argued on Reddit that the Oct 7 attack was justified. He argued that "there are no Israeli 'civilians'" (with the scare quotes around "civilians").
I think Israel is committing war crimes in their response. I think Bushnell's death was a tragedy and he was mentally ill, and hence not fully responsible for the awful things he said before killing himself. But let's not pretend he was some kind of hero of humanitarianism. The kinds of people who hold him up as a hero are encouraging more lonely, attention-starved young people who are falling down the rabbit-hole of online extremism to commit similar acts of self-destruction, or worse, to take others out with them in some kind of attack. Stochastic terrorism.
Do you have any factual basis of your opinions? For instance, that Bushnell was mentally ill? He may have been, but it's not facially self-evident to me. Had done other things that indicate mental illness? Was he diagnosed? Are you qualified to diagnose? I'm open to the argument, but you're not offering any data.
Fundamentally I don't believe anyone in a fully healthy state of mind self-immolates. Even if you believe a bunch of kind of loopy stuff about the political situation, a rational mind doesn't conclude, "And therefore the _best_ course of action, the way I can 'raise awareness' and change the world toward more justice, is to _set myself on fire_." But you're welcome to split hairs about that if you want.
I really hate sharing a policy position with the "America Worst" brigade. But on the Gaza war, they are more right than wrong. An Israeli response may have been appropriate, but not *this* response.
I find no compelling reasons why anyone should subscribe to the NYT anymore.
Insomnia.
Agree on the Jourmanolism point, but I DO wish Biden had used as much executive creativity/political capital trying to squeeze in high-value immigrants and expeditiously process asylum claims as he has student loan forgiveness.
That chart on human demographic transition is so important for students (and many adults) because 1) it clarifies the difference between the levels and the growth rates; 2) It tells us that we've been living in very unusual times since at least the 'hinge of history' (to use your phrase); 3) says that unless the growth rates jumps again, the future may become even more unusual, especially if a future level returns to the level in, say, circa 1800. One has to wonder what that means, especially if we have somehow misunderstood the past.
And you're welcome to recognize that by calling it "splitting hairs" you are failing to engage in the discussion.
FWIW, I'm not at all sure that self-immolation was rational in this case. But, rationally speaking, it has certainly gained a great deal of attention to the cause Aaron apparently believed in, and not all of the attention was negative.
We routinely expect, say, members of the armed forces, to die in working for a greater good. It is not intrinsically irrational to be willing to die in working towards such a goal. From my perspective, if you're willing to acknowledge that members of the armed forces routinely die in the course of their service, then as my father used to say, "We're just arguing price."