Posts by Stephen Judd
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Oh yeah, apropos both the fun and the misery: does everyone know about the Rat Park?
Huge explanatory power there. Miserable rats need to have druggie fun. Rats aren't people of course, but it's very tempting to draw some conclusions all the same.
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I think being drunk (and stoned) is fun too (though not both at the same time).
But... I feel the fun doesn't necessarily refute the notion that the roots of abuse lie in unhappiness. I don't feel the need for excessive fun of this kind when things are going swimmingly. Bottled fun is fun no matter what state you're in, but it's an easier kind of one when you're in a bad one.
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Countries with less untrammelled capitalism, like several in northern Europe, have less of these problems
Testify!
Although I don't know about Northern Europe. Have you been drinking with Scandinavians? Not quite as bad as Russians, but definitely the type to squash the cap when you open the vodka bottle. Cause you won't be needing it any more.
But anyway, as I was wandering at lunchtime I was thinking along very similar lines. The desire for oblivion is a desire for relief from the pain caused by capitalism. (Obviously, on the Soviet experience, you can substitute state communism as well).
When we deregulated the licensing laws, the idea was that we would somehow adopt the marvelous drinking habits of Southern Europe, ie with food and bonhomie, and even if we would drink a lot, it would be like the French who supposedly don't binge and puke and fight all over the place but merely fall asleep decorously after dinner. Yet this didn't happen, and people have started asking whether it's a fundamental part of our Anglo-Celtic heritage or our pioneering masculine roots or something.
Perhaps it isn't Anglo-Celtic habits per se. Perhaps it's the alienating effect of capitalism and the Protestant work ethic, the consequent loosening of social bonds and the depressing knowledge that your worth is measured by your pay and your possessions. UK-style binging is spreading to the young people around the Mediterranean, I hear -- maybe the decline of the siesta and the ability to eat lunch with your Mum and the spread of multinational technocrat work culture are to blame as much as the allure of Anglophone license.
I would love to know whether anyone has looked at this seriously. If there is a connection, then we could set the health and drug policy lobbyists on to increasing human happiness by creating a more humane society as the prevention for binging.
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I have to agree with Shay. I don't think many people would switch either.
For me, our binging to oblivion culture has deep roots and the substance abuse problem is the symptom of systemic unhappiness.
But anyway, I do see a big "harm reduction" coming from cutting organised crime out of the market. I also see some benefits in allowing pipes, bongs, resin, etc -- the less tar people ingest, the better.
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Geoff: it is important to tease out the cause and effect here. Depressed and unsuccessful students turn to substance abuse. Students with poor self-discipline don't know when to stop (I should know). I don't doubt your observation, but I'd be cautious about your conclusion.
The manslaughter vs murder analogy simply doesn't fit. Both crimes result in unlawful death. In the cannabis vs alcohol comparison, we are talking about different outcomes: degrees of harm. If you can marshall a demonstration that there isn't a significant difference in outcomes, then that argument will fail. But I don't see anything else particularly wrong with it.
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they are worth $12billion less
It's how business journos report things, but it's a tendentious and misleading way of putting it, based on taking the last sales and multiplying out by the number of shares on issue.
A tiny minority of the shares on issue changed hands at a lower price. Also, for everyone who sold at that price, someone bought -- and those buyers presumably think they got a deal.
If you announce that you were mounting a takeover for a listed company, immediately the asking price rises, showing that "value" or "worth" are not necessarily reflected in the last sale price.
Stock pickers of the Buffet variety specialise in buying things that are "undervalued" -- that is, in identifying discrepancies between the current trading price and what they believe the company is in fact worth if everyone could see what they see.
Equating last sale price, and value, is problematic.
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richard: I felt very clever for spotting the Moniac reference, and then re-reading I discovered my edition of MM actually has a front note which explicitly credits the Moniac as the inspiration for the Glooper.
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Point of information Samuel: those "folk instruments" appear to be part of a musical automaton controlled like a player piano.
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For re-reading, I too am a Pratchett fiend. I am always amazed at how new jokes pop out that I never noticed on the earlier reads.
But I must put in a good word for Flann O'Brien. My copy of The Third Policeman is wearing out from use. And this year I finally located At Swim Two Birds and hope soon to own an edition of my own.
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I agree with the stereotype-haters, but I ask you, can you extend your tolerance to Australians (so racist, apparently) and Americans (stupid though lovable)? 'Cause you should.