tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post217583164613994950..comments2024-03-29T03:19:09.227-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: ANTIQUINGRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-61899722543662037922017-03-01T16:29:54.931-05:002017-03-01T16:29:54.931-05:00I'm not going to remember thus for Friday, so ...I'm not going to remember thus for Friday, so permit me (or not) to hijack the thread: I renewed my membership in the Union of Concerned Scientists. (They claimed that I was a member, but I have no recollection of ever joining. The ruse, if that's what it was, worked.) Then I contributed another $5 to Our Revolution, almost apropos of the discussion on whether the bureaucratic apparatus of the Democratic party is worth nudging toward middle-of-the-road social democracy. F Lengyelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16870219925438756983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-18002617667972551592017-03-01T10:52:33.967-05:002017-03-01T10:52:33.967-05:00the mystery series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...the mystery series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovejoy_(novel_series)<br /><br />(the TV show wasn't half bad)David Auerbachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612242467208247588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-70281466161672208532017-03-01T10:23:53.453-05:002017-03-01T10:23:53.453-05:00Indeed. Many years ago I bought a 3rd edition of ... Indeed. Many years ago I bought a 3rd edition of Kant's First Critique for a song. But I gave it to a friend who read the draft of my first book on Kant, as a thank you.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-80846627165052638392017-03-01T09:43:52.294-05:002017-03-01T09:43:52.294-05:00On the other hand, you might have been able to spo...On the other hand, you might have been able to spot, say, a first edition of Kant's Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics in a general antique store. My father-in-law, a renown Ornithologist, has picked up valuable paintings of birds for just the value of the frame.Aardvarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11542829906846611402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-34439248451640651072017-02-28T13:30:11.694-05:002017-02-28T13:30:11.694-05:00I have no doubt that sword in hand (to use your me...I have no doubt that sword in hand (to use your metaphor), you are an opponent to be feared in a debate of ideas, but these characters, the mainstream Democrats, are not going to challenge you to a duel of ideas, face to face, person against person, one gentleman against another (I do not mean to sound sexist), but twenty of them will hit you from behind when you're looking the other way and then when you're on the ground and complain in the name of fairness, it's your word against that of twenty respectable pillars of society, who will point out in the most reasonable tone of voice that someone has to be crazy to accuse such distinguished pillars of society of fighting dirty. If at that point you can convince the usual passive on-lookers that the pillars of society fight very dirty, you may win. Sincere (no irony) good wishes. s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-81422126320308042732017-02-28T10:27:23.508-05:002017-02-28T10:27:23.508-05:00No disagreement with the point made here.
I would...No disagreement with the point made here.<br /><br />I would also like to add that in addition to bureaucratic inertia and the myriad of state regulations protecting and maintaining the two party system - and the Commission on Presidential Debates (an extension of the power of the two major parties), there are further and more structural, in nature, institutional supports of the two party system: the Electoral College, single member districts, and plurality elections. Each of these alone makes it rational for a voter to disregard her first preference and vote for the lesser of two evils.<br /><br />We can see the impact of these factors over time. As I have mentioned, the only instance of a third party displacing a major party, at the federal level, was during the 1850s when the Republicans displaced the utterly fractured Whigs, an example that is sui generis. The most successful (at the state level) third party was the People's Party (albeit racist). In 1894 it enjoyed roughly (warning: this is off the top of my head) 40% support in about 25 states. By 1896 it was folded into the Democratic Party at the national level and essentially disappeared afterwards.<br /><br />When Theodore Roosevelt lost the Republican nomination to Howard Taff in a bid to capture the presidency for a 3rd term, he formed the Progressive Party and won 88 electoral votes, the most by any 3rd party (and lost to Woodrow Wilson who won 435.) And of course, there was Ross Perot, who in 1992 won 19% of the vote and got zero electoral votes. Worse, his inveighing against NAFTA had no effect at all despite his broad popular support.<br /><br />The bottom line is that a revolutionary social movement would be required to dismantle the two party structure and make 3rd party efforts worthwhile. Short of that, Bernie's approach seems sensible: take over the Democratic Party, election by election, in shot-gun fashion, from the school board on up to the presidency, all the while building a revolutionary movement.Jerry Fresiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17566575038825699112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-80019279295410457342017-02-28T09:39:44.340-05:002017-02-28T09:39:44.340-05:00Amen.Amen.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01601151117159492920noreply@blogger.com