General News Thread

[Saiga]

I managed three. Then I started to wonder when the inevitable "Well then, Black people were just looted from Africa so it's all good" comment was going to happen. Not yet, but give it five minuets on Fox.

I'm pretty solid on the don't take things which don't belong to you side, whether it's other peoples property, rights, or lives.

I'm not going to read the article because I'm at work but ... Property rights are kind of smoke and mirrors right? Like I find it pretty hard to argue in favour with them when historically property was gained either through proximity or force.

[Mattias]

Eh, I'm not thinking much about land-property, more about possessions-property. Less get off my lawn and more don't slash you're neighbours tires.


Basically don't do anything you wouldn't want done to you.

[Saiga]

Yeah but it's kind of the same principle with any kind of property, even though land is the most obvious one.

Ownership as a concept is pretty hard to defend. Even if you made something, you did so with materials that came from elsewhere. If you bought it, you bought it from whoever made it/acquired it from somewhere else etc.

[Kamera]

damn and here i thought all the stuff i buy magically appears in the local market shelves

[OverMaster]

damn and here i thought all the stuff i buy magically appears in the local market shelves

Actually, it does, but you still have to pay the elves and brownies who made it.

[Kamera]

nah, the sweatshop worker elves and brownies don't get paid, santa claus hoard all the moneys

[Twelveseal]

Congrats, you just made me think of the Elves from Dungeons and Discourse... except for them all being Objectivists as a rebellion against Santa's authoritarian Communist dictatorship.

That setting... oi.

[Kamera]

No

[Twelveseal]

Yup, it's a thing.

Spoiler:

Relevant page.

[Kamera]

What the fuck

[Twelveseal]

Inorite? It's an interesting read, but it's really skewed in perspective and super weird.

Series is Dresden Codak. YMMV.

Also, it's a sci-fi.

Oh, there's also an actual game based off the Dungeons and Discourse strips, and of the same name.

[SpoonyViking]

Huh. Your link didn't show for me, Twelve. I wonder if my browser is blocking something?

Anyway, one important thing to keep in mind is that Osterweil's book is about looting as a form of communal action - specifically, protesting injustices -, not merely individual one; so not so much "slashing your neighbour's tire" and similar.

Basically don't do anything you wouldn't want done to you.

How does that apply to an institution? More importantly, how does that apply to an institution which has repeatedly evaded accountability throughout history, such as, say, the US police?

[Twelveseal]

Here, try this one, Spoony.

[Dullahan]

the original dungeons & discourse conceit from the comic had nothing to it beyond a highly concentrated dose of I Understood That Reference [philosophy undergrad edition] so it's quite impressive someone managed to build a system out of it

[Twelveseal]

No kidding. Hell, there's only two DnDis comics, iirc, but there's like, 5 editions of the game.

I think this is the current version.

[SpoonyViking]

Here, try this one, Spoony.

Oh, *that* comic.
Anyway, thanks!

[Leftovers]

Time to trigger Lvl. That said, I'm curious what people's views on this are. It's an abridged interview by NPR with the author of In Defense of Looting. I'm curious about what you folks think of the reasoning therein.

[Twelveseal]

Lol. Yes, that comic.

In more sober news, the L.A.P.D. shot another black man yesterday. It's understandable, somewhat, as the man resisted arrest and was armed... except that he dropped the gun before they shot him. In fact, they didn't know he was armed until he tossed the gun.

Also, for those of us who are poor in the US, the payroll tax delay begins now... just expect to have to pay it back in January as-of now.

Edit: Nice Sig use, Left XD

[LegalLoliLover]

Also, please don't steal my book promoting it. Actually, someone, please tell me how lucrative it is to sell Che Guevara T-shirts and "limited edition" Communist Manifesto books.

[Kamera]

this but unironically