I’ve always been jealous of that because I was the exact opposite upon being exposed to Calculus. But I suppose there’s virtue in figuring out what you’re not good at too!

The solution is easy, but it’s not what you suggested. The problem is at the point of production, not consumption. The personal-ethical choice to use or not use a certain kind of bag does not stanch the flow of plastic production, nor the ecological harm that goes with it. Choices of consumption themselves don’t…

My world is apparently people missing my point by a country mile.

I don’t disagree with any of that, I don’t think. I’m just kinda baffled by this notion of a person proudly proclaiming their ignorance on a given topic, and then using that ignorance as a reason for a thing not to be newsworthy, as if their ignorance is the final cause of an item’s newsworthiness.

Earnest question for the people that are broadcasting that they’ve never heard of this until now: What is your world like, where the only newsworthy things are things about which you’re already aware?

This is another example that leads me to conclude that Lenin was right - the masses will not spontaneously organize, and will not, unless formed into a party by the vanguard, cohere into a movement that will achieve victory.

Related to this excellent piece: http://lbo-news.com/2015/08/15/doe…

This comment, while nicely worded, seems to miss the point of the article entirely. You might be better served by taking your interlocutors more seriously, rather than employing them to take a class (that you presumably teach?), especially when you commit many of the same errors and fallacies for which you chide them.

You seem really upset about this. Why do you suppose that is?

I’m not looking for a conversation; I’m looking to tell you that your understanding of political spectra, ideology, and social movements is childish.

So because something is generalizable, a specific iteration of that thing should never be discussed? Huh?

Hahaha “landscape of ideology.” The spectrum is whatever I think it is in my brain at any given time! Good dead god, you’re dumb.

This is a really good post, and I think you’re right that there is a fundamental and qualitative difference between economic inequality generally and racial inequality. I think it’s absolutely true that addressing the former does not necessarily address the latter. But is it nevertheless fair to say that the two are…

“the” spectrum - as if there’s only one. Though, from what you’ve written, that’s probably true; the only spectrum you use seems to exist only in your head.

I see this a lot - this “things aren’t as simple as black and white.” So, OK, what are the criteria by which we are supposed to categorize, rank, and assess the candidates?

Why is this making you so angry?

I admire your willingness to jump into the fray whenever Gizmodo veers into politics or public policy.

I love them both. I'm an academic so I have thousands of books in my office with my weird marginalia and I love them. I also have thousands of ebooks and I love that I can take them anywhere to read. Annotation is the big thing holding me back from a full transition

Goddamn, but grad students are insufferable.

“Learn” and citing Breitbart...