The case against Dr. Paul

[dash]

Is it simply to enlighten us with your soliloquies?

Basically? Yes.

Usually the substance of what I write isn't even touched. Rather, I'm personally attacked, or specific key phrases are pulled out of context and subjected to nitpicking scrutiny.

What passes for "debate" isn't anything of the kind. Real debate would require thought and the construction of coherent sentences, strung together to form complete concepts.

Unless people actually read and understand what I write, they're noise, as far as I'm concerned. They're not my target audience anyway. Responding to them would be a waste of my time.

Feel free to put me on your ignore list. In fact, I'd encourage dudalb, Suddenly, WildCat and Corsair to put me on their ignore list.

I'm still waiting for Elizabeth I or whatever to explain precisely how profiting during an economic downturn is immoral.

So easy to just say "That's immoral! You scum!" but when it comes right down to it, I think it's just an expression of envy. Hard work, study, and the ability to engage in introspection got me where I'm at today. Anyone else can do it as well...

-Dave

 

[D'rok]

Basically? Yes.

Usually the substance of what I write isn't even touched. Rather, I'm personally attacked, or specific key phrases are pulled out of context and subjected to nitpicking scrutiny.

What passes for "debate" isn't anything of the kind. Real debate would require thought and the construction of coherent sentences, strung together to form complete concepts.

Unless people actually read and understand what I write, they're noise, as far as I'm concerned. They're not my target audience anyway. Responding to them would be a waste of my time.

Feel free to put me on your ignore list. In fact, I'd encourage dudalb, Suddenly, WildCat and Corsair to put me on their ignore list.

I'm still waiting for Elizabeth I or whatever to explain precisely how profiting during an economic downturn is immoral.

So easy to just say "That's immoral! You scum!" but when it comes right down to it, I think it's just an expression of envy. Hard work, study, and the ability to engage in introspection got me where I'm at today. Anyone else can do it as well...

-Dave

The ignore list is a massive cop-out; it's the one thing I really dislike about this forum.

OTOH, you have now made my boring list.

 

[dash]

What exactly is the point of referring to characters out of Ayn Rand novels? Is this some sort of proof?

I just realized dudalb couldn't possibly have ever read Atlas Shrugged. Me? I've read it. I enjoyed it a lot. I've read The Fountainhead many times. Another book called We The Living, and yet another book which was autobiographical about a young woman attempting to escape Russia during the revolution. I can't remember the name.

I like Ayn Rand's writings, but I dislike how children don't figure into her philosophy. She was close to Greenspan. Oh, how Greenspan sinned...

Anyway I'm sure dudalb couldn't have read Atlas Shrugged. Probably skimmed the Cliff's notes. I mean, there is like a 59 page lecture given by John Galt, I can't imagine any of today's Short Attention Span youth could ever grind through all that. By the time they'd finished the book their Nintendo Callous would have healed...

Moreover comparing someone to John Galt couldn't ever be considered an insult, as dudalb seems to mean it. Dudalb clearly doesn't understand the whole point of the book...and probably relates more to Hank Rearden's parasitic brother, if anyone.

-Dave

 

[dash]

OTOH, you have now made my boring list.

And you just made my ignore list.

-Dave

 

[D'rok]

And you just made my ignore list.

-Dave

The honour is mine. I'm in good company.

 

[dudalb]

And you just made my ignore list.

-Dave

Wow.Before too much longer the whole forum membership will be on dash's ignore list...if he does not do another "I Am Leaving This Forum Forever" High School Drama scene first.

 

[dudalb]

The ignore list is a massive cop-out; it's the one thing I really dislike about this forum.

OTOH, you have now made my boring list.

I see your point, but the ignore list does make it easier to ignore the real jerks on the forum.

 

[dudalb]

I just realized dudalb couldn't possibly have ever read Atlas Shrugged. Me? I've read it. I enjoyed it a lot. I've read The Fountainhead many times. Another book called We The Living, and yet another book which was autobiographical about a young woman attempting to escape Russia during the revolution. I can't remember the name.

I like Ayn Rand's writings, but I dislike how children don't figure into her philosophy. She was close to Greenspan. Oh, how Greenspan sinned...

Anyway I'm sure dudalb couldn't have read Atlas Shrugged. Probably skimmed the Cliff's notes. I mean, there is like a 59 page lecture given by John Galt, I can't imagine any of today's Short Attention Span youth could ever grind through all that. By the time they'd finished the book their Nintendo Callous would have healed...

Moreover comparing someone to John Galt couldn't ever be considered an insult, as dudalb seems to mean it. Dudalb clearly doesn't understand the whole point of the book...and probably relates more to Hank Rearden's parasitic brother, if anyone.

-Dave

Actually I see myself of more as a Ellsworth Toohey type. That guy had some style.

 

[JEROME DA GNOME]

While we're on the subject, I would counter with a reference from The Fountainhead. The characters I mention above remind me of Ellsworth Toohey in some ways.

Ellsworth understood what he was doing. This is different.

 

[marksman]

Why the hell are you here then? Is it simply to enlighten us with your soliloquies?

Basically? Yes.

Then why ever respond to a post? If your intent is not to engage in dialogue, but instead to engage in rhetorical masturbation, why do it here? Just get yourself a blog and post your musings there.

 

[marksman]

Moreover comparing someone to John Galt couldn't ever be considered an insult, as dudalb seems to mean it.

This assumes that anybody who read Atlas Shrugged could have no response to the book but instant admiration for the John Galt character, which is obviously a false premise.

And for someone who takes umbrage at personal attacks, you certainly seem to have no problem making them yourself. But more troubling is that someone who admires Ayn Rand -- a philosopher who put much stock in Aristotlean logic -- would so glibly and consistently engage in so many fallacies, such as false premises, ad hominem arguments and argument from self-referential authority.

If you truly have read Ayn Rand's works and strive to follow the philosophy set therein, it would behoove you to act with more reason and to set your arguments down in a logical and coherent manner.

You believe responses to your arguments are often personal attacks because people here are childish. But I've reviewed your posts and I find that the main problem is that whatever substance your posts possess is buried under a morass of egoistic self-congratulations, leaving the impression that your point is not to engage in substantive discussion (which you've acknowledged is not something you seek) but rather to make yourself feel smart. And the only proper response to such a post is to respond to the personality because your own posts make your personality the issue.

There have been plenty of threads in these forums where substance gets discussed. When people complain that the thread is degenerating into personal attacks, my experience is that it is because the poster has made his personality the issue rather than the substantive topic.

 

[D'rok]

deleted - not relevant.

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

Marksman: He has a blog. He's just giving us the collected nonwisdom of his performance.

 

[marksman]

I don't understand why the blog is insufficient for him, since he clearly doesn't want discussion and he doesn't certainly can't bear criticism. It appears he only seeks praise. And if that's what he wants, he should restrict himself to the Loose Change and Ron Paul Forums where poorly constructed and unsubstantiated arguments are often praised.

 

[Elizabeth I]

I'm still waiting for Elizabeth I or whatever to explain precisely how profiting during an economic downturn is immoral.

Well, Dash, you didn't say you planned to profit during an economic downturn. Of course that's not immoral. All that requires is an understanding of the market and a little foresight.

You said:

America's bullying days are at an end. The empire is dying. It's on its last legs. The dollar is collapsing. The UK and EU are collapsing as well, but the US is failing first. Don't believe the propaganda that the US consumer is driving the world economy. That's pure fantasy. If the US were to suddenly stop consuming, all the other countries that are producing would start using their own products. We're not driving the world economy, we're holding it back.

Say bye to the American Empire. Let's hope this is the last empire the world will ever know.

I'm ashamed of my country these days. What have we become? We're not the good guys anymore. We're the bad guys. This is a great trajedy. We can't blame the politicians for this one. We're all responsible, because we tacitly OK everything they do. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

But don't worry, justice is coming, and right soon. As Nelson from the Simpsons would say, "Hah hah!"

While I don't agree with your premises, it sounds to me very much like your conclusion is that the United States is shortly to be destroyed. And your reaction, rather than trying to prevent this collapse, or to help your neighbors, or even to warn the republic, is to make money off that collapse.

I think that's immoral. If you truly believe what you wrote, it's like selling tickets to lifeboats on the Titanic.

p.s. And it's "tragedy." And I'm not replying to you again.

Of course, it's just 'cause I'm jealous.

 

[dash]

While I don't agree with your premises, it sounds to me very much like your conclusion is that the United States is shortly to be destroyed. And your reaction, rather than trying to prevent this collapse, or to help your neighbors, or even to warn the republic, is to make money off that collapse.

I think that's immoral. If you truly believe what you wrote, it's like selling tickets to lifeboats on the Titanic.

p.s. And it's "tragedy." And I'm not replying to you again.

Of course, it's just 'cause I'm jealous.

How strange. Here I am, and I've posted explanations of the upcoming economic collapse, here, in this forum, and I've attempted to warn people. I've also made suggestions how individuals lucky enough to read my postings can profit themselves.

Wouldn't you say that qualifies as a moral act? Spreading the information about the impending collapse, so some people can be saved.

Now, think about it. Who should actually have money after the upheaval? Should it be stupid, ignorant people who choose to trust government? Or should it be smart, independent thinkers who can realize the value of my words and act on them. Not just by blindly following any investment advice I happen to give, but to dig into the matter for themselves and verify the truth.

My posts are a filtering process. If you think I'm immoral and stupid, you fail the test. You get to remain poor in the future. If you learn from what I post, you stand to benefit.

Your concept of morality is immature, to say the least.

I would not lift a finger to preserve the corrupt system the US has become. It's not the US the founding fathers envisioned. It's not a constitutional republic anymore. Why shouldn't I be happy about its impending demise?

-Dave

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

Now, think about it. Who should actually have money after the upheaval? Should it be stupid, ignorant people who choose to trust government? Or should it be smart, independent thinkers who can realize the value of my words and act on them. Not just by blindly following any investment advice I happen to give, but to dig into the matter for themselves and verify the truth.

*cough*

My posts are a filtering process. If you think I'm immoral and stupid, you fail the test. You get to remain poor in the future. If you learn from what I post, you stand to benefit.

I would not lift a finger to preserve the corrupt system the US has become. It's not the US the founding fathers envisioned. It's not a constitutional republic anymore. Why shouldn't I be happy about its impending demise?

-Dave

1) You know, the founding fathers said that uh.. you're supposed to fight it, not let it collapse. Er, nevermind, must be wrong founding fathers.

2) The fact it's 232 years old? No, that's not it. Cant' be.

3) ... no comment.

 

[dash]

The Coming Golden Age

I wish people could share the joy I experience when I think of the future, just a few short years away. Life after the collapse of the US empire will be so much better than it is now. It's like the difference between life in East Germany vs life in West Germany. East Germany stagnated, there was no development, poverty was everywhere. Then the Soviet Empire fell, and after a bit of turmoil free market economics has started to take off.

East Germany now starts exploding in prosperity.

Only right now the whole world is like East Germany, compared to the near future.

I see it everywhere. I see it in the P2P filesharing like bittorent. I see it in youtube, in google's access to all human knowledge (ongoing). Here is a song I like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59-3i7EvBu8

Think of the world we're heading towards. Copyright and patent law are becoming irrelevant. We've been conditioned to believe they benefit society by rewarding innovation. Instead, they reward trolls who endlessly profit on work their grandfathers did. Or trolls that just managed to patent some obvious item first (ala software patents). Society loses out bigtime.

When does Mickey Mouse pass into the public domain? It's been close to 100 years, isn't that enough? What about The Beatles music -- they made it 40 years ago, and someone is still collecting $$$ on it. Isn't it time it passes into public ownership?

Videogames -- you can't legally sell a pacman game without paying someone a royalty. Ridiculous! Companies that innovated made their money, regardless of copyright and patents. Copyright and patents are just a legal monopoly, that effectively can be renewed endlessly.

This is isn't fair, not by any means. People make that decision when they download copyrighted material, over whatever medium they can. Napster created 40 million downloaders, it taught them they can get music for free. 40 million people cannot be made criminals. Society has to adapt. The RIAA and MPAA are jokes, their efforts pathetic. They can't stem the tide.

The world is moving on. Warfare is out of style. Free markets, free exchange of knowledge are the way of the future. Commercial TV is not. You'll be able to get whatever videos you want, for free, real time, over the internet, no commercials. There's no stopping it. The giant propaganda machine of the traditional media is going away. Good riddance!

Don't fear the future. Embrace it. Life is good.

-Dave

 

[Suddenly]

So, in the golden age when all intellectual property protections gone, why are people going to spend time and money to create property worth having? Hobbyists are fine and such, but...

Some of the controls need refined and rethought, but when we dump them completely I fear I will miss out on Grand Theft Auto 5, and this cannot stand... plus I'm almost done with a book and if I'm going to get stiffed on this deal by the coming golden age I'm not going to sweat the editing, so if you could give me a heads up.

Not to mention research into new drugs... a small side effect.

So easy to just say "That's immoral! You scum!" but when it comes right down to it, I think it's just an expression of envy. Hard work, study, and the ability to engage in introspection got me where I'm at today. Anyone else can do it as well...

-Dave

A college dropout computer programmer with a messianic complex? What exactly do I study for this?

I know I've been an abject failure my whole life, but why you rub in that I've never lived up to the standard of a college dropout that used to be in middle management and has time to advocate physics theories dictated to people in trailers based on the present lack of flying cars?

I'm green with envy.

 

[Corsair 115]

As much as I try to avoid having to read dudalb, Suddenly, WildCat + Corsair's postings (their names being in my ignore list) I unfortunately have to see some of their wisdom when other people quote them.

Well, darn, I guess this means you'll never see my reply to your post touting the big 2% change in the U.S.-Canadian dollar exchange rate as if it was something monumental and extraordinary.

I'd actually go and find similar large changes in exchange rates (both in favour and against the U.S. dollar), but since you are apparently unwilling to engage in a discussion where someone takes a position contrary to your own, I guess you've spared me the trouble.

Someone quote post #978 so he'll see it.