10 Comments

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.

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I find no compelling reasons why anyone should subscribe to the NYT anymore.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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