tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post3759217470238846860..comments2023-08-12T03:31:24.561-07:00Comments on postpostochlophobist: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-14947289244693107792011-12-13T14:48:10.944-08:002011-12-13T14:48:10.944-08:00Damn it is hard to make comments on this blog.Damn it is hard to make comments on this blog.Ochlophobist https://www.blogger.com/profile/13751003558600087713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-32463995177979635942011-12-13T14:47:53.118-08:002011-12-13T14:47:53.118-08:00If one wanted to play this game out, you could vie...If one wanted to play this game out, you could view our military interests which antagonize the Russians as acts which merit tribute they pay. Putin finds very useful the social sentiments those antagonisms kindle, even though both players know that the game is simple posturing on both sides. And both the Chinese and the U.S. benefit economically from increased militarization in the region, so perhaps the answer to your question is in the affirmative.<br /><br />I think perhaps a society without obligation is a caricature seeking read on the "end" that anarchists like Graeber seek. Perhaps a society with more equitable/egalitarian obligations.Ochlophobist https://www.blogger.com/profile/13751003558600087713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-74759379842889431752011-12-13T14:06:27.471-08:002011-12-13T14:06:27.471-08:00I would see his point except that there is quite a...I would see his point except that there is quite a divergence hidden under the phrase "apart from China": they hold as much as the next two governments put together. The #1 holder is the Fed, by a huge margin. #6 is Brazil, and #7 are the various Caribbean banking interests. I don't think the Russians (#9) are getting much military occupation from us either.<br /><br />The more obvious issue is that defense (at least when the Republicans are in office) is one big permanent Keynesian stimulus package, particularly so as operations and procurement have come to dominate the defense budget (and that's not even counting wars). It's pretty obvious from the curve that operations money is mostly going in the end to the oil companies; procurement, well, most of that is going to big weapons programs these days, which presumably means that a lot of that is going for instance to third-world electronics manufacture. The Japanese probably figure largely in this one, but one can just as well look at it as the Japanese using us as mercenaries to protect them from the Chinese. OK, so those Chinese: are they paying us to protect the Japanese from themselves?<br /><br />His theories about debt are interesting, but I'm not sure what you do in a society without obligation, and that's ultimately where his attack on morality leads.C. Wingatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13335513246185768918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-28377747992470347882011-12-12T12:44:57.313-08:002011-12-12T12:44:57.313-08:00Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was thinking more of your meta...Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was thinking more of your metanarrative of The Left, which, from my perspective, tends to lump things together conveniently. As I say this I realize that the same could be said of my view of the right, but, in the end, I am right and you are wrong.<br /><br />I think it makes sense that anarchists and various groups of hardcore libertarians would "sound alike" on the question of the relationship between militarization and what libertarians would call "crony capitalism" and real anarchists would call "capitalism." But in the end I would rather hear an anarchist say these things because I am slightly more confident that they don't want to get rid of finance incesting militarism simply so that they can get back to more down home ways of enslaving their inferiors.Ochlophobist https://www.blogger.com/profile/13751003558600087713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-56153745548046440242011-12-12T12:29:28.330-08:002011-12-12T12:29:28.330-08:00Yes, I think a member of a set is the set. You can...Yes, I think a member of a set is the set. You can shelve your butthurt, as there is no way you didn't know what I meant.Aristonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05941177388074392732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-69730883248572354742011-12-12T11:03:39.552-08:002011-12-12T11:03:39.552-08:00Yes, David Graeber, an anarchist of the post Seatt...Yes, David Graeber, an anarchist of the post Seattle variety, now epitomizes The Left.Ochlophobist https://www.blogger.com/profile/13751003558600087713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6519837413200053629.post-56188865412029840812011-12-12T10:55:35.032-08:002011-12-12T10:55:35.032-08:00So the Left has caught up to the Austro-Libertaria...So the Left has caught up to the Austro-Libertarians circa 1983, now?<br /><br />Just kidding. A bit. <br /><br />This is why it is patently absurd when people talk of being "called" on our debts; they are backed by overwhelming superiority in state-to-state warfare.Aristonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05941177388074392732noreply@blogger.com