I have always been amazed by how willing people are to accept that the know-it-alls might really know it all. Mr. Gage - I hope your unmasking of the duplicity of the Clever People is resonant! It is refreshing to me...
"By ‘supportive environment,’ Jebb means that smiling, hostile environment in which unelected busybodies impose their pettifoggery upon the rest of us." This was my favorite sentence, until I happily encountered, "Professor, kindly assist me with this crossword puzzle: seven letters…a phrasal verb… vulgar slang… rhymes with ‘duck cough.’ Any clues? It’s on the tip of my tongue." I can't choose. Am saving both.
Jan 22, 2023·edited Jan 22, 2023Liked by Christopher Gage
Hah! Being born in an, now ex-communist country, means you grew up surrounded by Nosey Parkers. NPs are the majority here. And if you are slighly emphatic, you have to live in a horror movie called "The Land of Apa(r)t(ch)hick Zombie Snitches".
The hardness of the situation called for us to turn to alcohol much sooner than 16, ahhah... just joking, nah, seriously.
So, with that said, you can imagine the state of affairs here now. It is the "Land of Cognitively Disonant Zombie Snitches - Clottiditis attack sequel" with a CBDC sequel in the fucking making.
On a serious note, the attack on individual free will is coming from a mind set which does not believe in the premise of free will, so has no ethical qualms about advocating Nudge Culture.
‘She told The Times: “We all like to think we’re rational, intelligent, educated people who make informed choices the whole time, and [yet] we undervalue the impact of the environment.’
‘because our choices are automatic and not a conscious deliberate act’
Students of The 4th Way Gurdjieff type studies would agree with this premise. But to turn that premise into an instrument of bureaucratic control, policy implementation or even just that kind of patronizing pronouncement of Professor Busy Body, is tyranny. Totalitarian Tiptoe.
I don't eat cake. I have my own reasons for doing so. But it never would have occurred to me to forbid other people from eating it.
That woman who wants to foster a "supportive environment" obviously has a self-control problem. She wants to foist responsibility for it on others, because she can't say no to cake.
Cigarette smoke contains a resin that sticks to everything, so if you're even around a smoker, when you go home you have to burn your clothes and wash your hair. To me this is analogous to carrying around a spray bottle of skunk essence and squirting innocent bystanders. I had an interesting debate recently with someone who holds the opposing view, that the bystanders could simply not go to places where they would get squirted with skunk. An interesting opportunity for me to re-examine my principles.
In my younger days I went to bars, admittedly by my own choice. In the 90s, they were starting to talk about banning smoking in public places. But before that became law in my small Wyoming town, most of the bars banned smoking voluntarily— because non-smokers stopped going.
Mr. Gage, I remember George Carlin saying, "When fascism comes to America, it will wear a smiley face."
Ronald Reagan, "the most dangerous words in the English language, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
I have always been amazed by how willing people are to accept that the know-it-alls might really know it all. Mr. Gage - I hope your unmasking of the duplicity of the Clever People is resonant! It is refreshing to me...
"By ‘supportive environment,’ Jebb means that smiling, hostile environment in which unelected busybodies impose their pettifoggery upon the rest of us." This was my favorite sentence, until I happily encountered, "Professor, kindly assist me with this crossword puzzle: seven letters…a phrasal verb… vulgar slang… rhymes with ‘duck cough.’ Any clues? It’s on the tip of my tongue." I can't choose. Am saving both.
Hah! Being born in an, now ex-communist country, means you grew up surrounded by Nosey Parkers. NPs are the majority here. And if you are slighly emphatic, you have to live in a horror movie called "The Land of Apa(r)t(ch)hick Zombie Snitches".
The hardness of the situation called for us to turn to alcohol much sooner than 16, ahhah... just joking, nah, seriously.
So, with that said, you can imagine the state of affairs here now. It is the "Land of Cognitively Disonant Zombie Snitches - Clottiditis attack sequel" with a CBDC sequel in the fucking making.
Cheers mate, thanks for the chuckle
Another comical, yet horribly serious, and ever more important read.
I hope you had some cake today, Mr. Gage. I sure will.
Guardian reading, sushi eating philosophy student 🤣
On a serious note, the attack on individual free will is coming from a mind set which does not believe in the premise of free will, so has no ethical qualms about advocating Nudge Culture.
‘She told The Times: “We all like to think we’re rational, intelligent, educated people who make informed choices the whole time, and [yet] we undervalue the impact of the environment.’
‘because our choices are automatic and not a conscious deliberate act’
Students of The 4th Way Gurdjieff type studies would agree with this premise. But to turn that premise into an instrument of bureaucratic control, policy implementation or even just that kind of patronizing pronouncement of Professor Busy Body, is tyranny. Totalitarian Tiptoe.
Great piece, thank you.
I don't eat cake. I have my own reasons for doing so. But it never would have occurred to me to forbid other people from eating it.
That woman who wants to foster a "supportive environment" obviously has a self-control problem. She wants to foist responsibility for it on others, because she can't say no to cake.
Cigarette smoke contains a resin that sticks to everything, so if you're even around a smoker, when you go home you have to burn your clothes and wash your hair. To me this is analogous to carrying around a spray bottle of skunk essence and squirting innocent bystanders. I had an interesting debate recently with someone who holds the opposing view, that the bystanders could simply not go to places where they would get squirted with skunk. An interesting opportunity for me to re-examine my principles.
In my younger days I went to bars, admittedly by my own choice. In the 90s, they were starting to talk about banning smoking in public places. But before that became law in my small Wyoming town, most of the bars banned smoking voluntarily— because non-smokers stopped going.