Comments on: Consumerism may yet eat its own tail

By: Bitshifter » Decadent Action Manifesto

Bitshifter » Decadent Action Manifesto — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:12:04 +0000

[…] On that subject, here’s a satirical piece on consumer spending as a revolutionary device entitiled the Decadent Action Manifesto, “We use the simple economic principles of supply and demand with their intrinsic link to inflation to establish our theories. The state must control these factors to run the economy efficiently; throw in the wild card of massive irrational overspending on seemingly random luxury goods and the government is unable to take control. This will lead to hyper inflation and large scale social unrest, leading to the collapse of the monetary system and disintegration of the state apparatus.” […]

By: phil u.

phil u. — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:19:29 +0000

stuey…aye…

(i’m ‘catholicing’ bigtime..just at the moment….intoxicants and all…:)..it being a monday night and all…you have to ease into the week ..eh…?..when running under the strictures of the catholic.work ethic..

and of course it’s a compliment….what’s the alternative..?….the dour/sour begrudging protestant work ethic..?.um..no thanks…the ‘live to work’ mantra never did ring true…:)..too many books to read…and thoughts to think..and ideas to argue..and converations to have…to bother with that nonsense…eh..?

bj said….”…and I certainly hope we can arrange not to take this persons application should he ever submit it)..”

bj..i ‘ve heard tell there’s some people in the auckland greens with minds as closed to diversity as you obviously are…..i’ll introduce you some time…you’ll get on like a house on fire…you could all sit around and make up new rules of exclusion….that’ll get things done..eh..?

btw..what are the current rules of admission to the greens .?.or..in this case..non-admission?….
are the grounds of ‘we just don’t like that person’ enough to get them ‘banned’..?.?
.is there someone in wellington greens who could clear that up…?..ta..

and if say..(just hypothetically speaking..of course) a group of auckland greens decided they didn’t like me…could they stop me from joining the party…?.could they stop me joining in another part of the country…?..could/should i send my application (and a/p..:)?..directly to wellington..?

and what is an effective quorum in that ‘banning’ situation..?….what is the tipping point..?

how many would they have to mass against me.?….to get me declared a non-person…..?…..

and are there any grounds of appeal for an individual… who some others decide they just don’t like the cut of his jib…?..or whatever..?

or will a defendant-in-abstentia kangeroo court do the trick for them…?

mmm?..just wondering..eh..?….

‘cos i’m thinking of becoming active in the ak greens again…and i have a feeling in my bones …that the prospect of me sticking my hand up and going..”..um..what about…?.” again could well have a few of them so un-nerved ..i fell such precipitate action on their part against me just may be contemplated…

that’s why i thought i’d ask…:)

just so i know where i stand…eh…?..if at all…:)

phil(whoar.co.nz)

By: stuey

stuey — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:59:23 +0000

Dear Phil,

I don’t think “Catholic work ethic” is an insult, I think it is a complement.

Practising my catholic work ethic is exactly what I’m doing now, posting on a blog instead of doing some work!

By: stuey

stuey — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:55:15 +0000

Dear Adam,

who are “the people that matter”?

By: Sam Buchanan

Sam Buchanan — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 23:10:40 +0000

Quite. Swift’s’Modest Proposal’ was not some piece of pure fiction, but an extrapolation from the real and hideous conditions of the Irish living under the English landlord system.

As for Mr Smith’s comments on anarchists:”As if the Greens don’t suffer enough from being labelled fanatics, it’s ridiculous that they’d then encourage it by posting links to such utter trash.”

Wasn’t the whole point of putting in the link to the anarchist SNAP! site (http://snap.enzyme.org.nz/) - with its incisive comments on the nature of international copper markets, radical radishes and Fun Ho! toys - a cheap attempt to change the public image of the Greens from being considered fanatics, to that of reasonable, considered and thinking people? After all, anarchists make no bones about rejecting the scurrilous violence of the state and the economic oppression of the capitalist system, while the Greens seem quite ready to work with it. No wonder they are dubbed fanatics.

Mr Frog’s attempt to publicly cosy up to the anarchists is no more likely to fool the masses than ‘Adam Smith’s’ attempts to gain credibility by cribbing the name of a pretty decent and insightful economist.

By: AYoung

AYoung — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 10:12:00 +0000

Um Adam Smith appears to think that eating Irish babies is perfectly reasonable thing to laugh at but cop killing is cold blooded murder…

Would that be right?

By: bjchip

bjchip — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 08:03:11 +0000

Adam - Since you’re not willing to admit that you took something way too seriously and aren’t part of this party (and I certainly hope we can arrange not to take this persons application should he ever submit it), perhaps the time has come to SUGGEST that you take your extraordinary lack of perception away from ours. Frog does just fine by my lights, and I doubt seriously that the rest of the people here would bother with this blog if frog’s posts weren’t relevant and amusing for us. Yours on the other hand, fill a much needed silence.

By: Adam Smith

Adam Smith — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:23:49 +0000

I would argue that the difference between this article and a Swiftian satire is this: Swift’s ‘Modest Proposal’ was just that… a proposal. He did not pick out actual examples - and encourage them. Instead, to demonstrate that logic is often instinctively repugnant (which I would argue makes it illogical, but others may not), he proposed something that, logically, seemed to be a good idea.

Here, if it is to be taken as satire, then I would respectfully suggest that those trying to satirise should not do so using examples of cruel and cold blooded murder. Maybe that’s just me - I don’t really think the taking of life is comical.

If it is not satire (given the content of the rest of the site), then I stand by my belief that it is revolting.

I would also suggest that the blogger of frogblog is probably more in line with anarcho-ecologists than the Greens. I would also suggest that it is rather tragic how many readers - generally ardent Green supporters, have failed to notice the post-election change in frog blog. The writing is poor, as are the things of which the blog discusses. But I think the raison d’être of this blog was far more than to communicate with greenies - it was to influence the media’s portrayal of the Greens. This did once occur. Many times did I read the NZ Herald and recognise lines of argument derived from this blog. Now, this does not occur. The people that matter have noticed. It’s sad that the ardent supporters are so blinded.

By: Luther Blissett

Luther Blissett — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 01:50:36 +0000

Adam? Where for art thou Adam? Or should I say Karen? Or maybe Monty?

By: Brian Boyko

Brian Boyko — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 18:57:38 +0000

I’d like to point out yet another “In America, TV Watches You” moment.

When the economic problems of 2001 took a huge worsening immediately after 9/11, we were told that the patriotic thing to do was to go out to the shopping malls and spend.

America still has a negative net average personal savings.