Political Irony

7 Comments

1. starluna wrote:

   Damn liberals. Why don’t they let them put apostrophes anywhere they want. It’s apostrophe oppression, I tell you. Next thing you’ll know, they’ll be demanding the proper use of commas, syntax, and even demanding the capitalization of the president’s name. Even (gasp) the black presidents! It’s a slippery slope that can only end with the imposition of cogent logic. Stop the jackbooted grammar thugs before it’s too late.

   Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 5:27 pm | Permalink
2. Sammy wrote:

   Not only is the apostrophe incorrect, the word “gets” would never have one, unless there happens to be someone whose name is Get. “Get” isn’t a noun, so there is no possessive. So it can’t be a simple typo, but a moron who wrote it.

   Of course, it could be ACORN’s fault.

   Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 6:00 pm | Permalink
3. Thought Dancer wrote:

   Starluna. Um… did you spot you’re own missing apostrophe? (I wonder if it’s intentional.)

   I’m wondering if political irony needs to develop an education theme, not just a health one. So much of the health care debate is occurring simply because of our education (and our celebration of anti-intellectualism).

   I’ve been saying for a while that the country is, in effect, doomed. Not because of corruption–that’s the symptom. But because of our refusal to think and to expect thoughtfulness in others.

   Somewhere along the way, when we chucked out good manners as pretentious and inefficient, we ended up chucking out sensitivity to others, including an expectation that we all think. And until we build that back into our society–not merely our educational system–we will remain a first world country with far too many third world features. (And, yes, I fear we will have to become a third world country before we realize the mistakes we’ve made. And before you say it can’t happen, here’s one example: ancient Egypt, modern Egypt.)

   Friday, September 25, 2009 at 4:37 am | Permalink
4. Thought Dancer wrote:

   (And, of course, once I start spotting apostrophes, they start appearing in places I don’t want them. Sorry: you’re should be your.)

   Friday, September 25, 2009 at 4:37 am | Permalink
5. starluna wrote:

   Where? I hate it when I misplace apostrophes. But clearly I have not had enough coffee this morning.

   Friday, September 25, 2009 at 6:57 am | Permalink
6. Iron Knee wrote:

   Thought Dancer, there are many examples of “first world” countries backsliding into anti-intellectualism. You mention Egypt, but what about the Greeks and Romans? Probably the most frightening example is the Khmer civilization in Cambodia that created massive and beautiful temples and cities such as Angkor Wat in the 12th century, but eventually turned into the violently anti-intellectual Khmer Rouge.

   I lived in England in the late 80s, and it was obvious that the same thing had happened there. I had a position at a large university, and the jobs there that the students wanted (and which paid the most) were things like stockbrokers, bankers, and lawyers. Professions that actually created something or did real work paid little or nothing. Computer programmers, even those with advanced degrees, were considered (and paid) little more than secretaries or clerks. One of my students was a brilliant programmer, but in order to get any interesting work he had to move to the US.

   I have watched with apprehension how the same thing has started happening here in this country, with large amounts of money being made by people who manipulate money (day traders, hedge fund managers), along with the restructuring of our tax system to benefit those same money manipulators. We all understand that the more you tax something the more you discourage it, so why is it that wage earners are taxed the most here?

   Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:48 am | Permalink
7. Thought Dancer wrote:

   Starluna. The second time you used “presidents”. The following word “name” is implied, and the possessive should have been “president’s” even though you were next following it with a period.

   IronKnee. Yes, true. And I worked in England briefly during the mid 80’s: I know what you mean (especially given that I have an English major). But I figured that the Egypt example would be the most immediately telling. Everyone knows about the Pyramids, many know about the Great Library, and everyone can see what’s happening there now.

   And yes, in the main, the tax system discourages production to earn money. Also, we’ve been trained to think that we can’t understand the tax code (not surprising), so we can’t do anything to force the incentive system to change. (We need to change the education system, so we aren’t cowed into thinking that we’re too dumb to evaluate and debate our laws and our taxes.)

   I had hopes when Obama came in that he would change that incentive system: I was cheering every time I heard about money being spent to improve infrastructure, build long term productive businesses (green energy), and such. And he’s putting money and prestige behind those changes. Building a green care is not just a hippy dream now: now, it’s a viable business.

   But we’ve gotten so bogged down with health care that I fear that these deeply needed changes to our economic incentive system just won’t happen: especially if Obama burns out all his political capital and fails.

   At this point, we need to win the health care debate not just for health care, but for all the change that are needed.

   Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 7:09 am | Permalink