In The Flux
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关于文化、艺术与技术的信息流
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经常技术控,忍不住会时评,日常好奇心,文化观察员,吐槽苦手,综合解闷方案。
会的太杂了,真不好意思。
艺术我爱之深,恨之切

#不是新闻 #Whisper #Haiku
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I don't understand, what's there in this video for those 20k people to dislike?
#archive #opinion
The Future of the American Idea
November 2007
Atlantic Monthly
by David Foster Wallace

Are some things still worth dying for? Is the American idea* one such thing? Are you up for a thought experiment? What if we chose to regard the 2,973 innocents killed in the atrocities of 9/11 not as victims but as democratic martyrs, “sacrifices on the altar of freedom”?* In other words, what if we decided that a certain baseline vulnerability to terrorism is part of the price of the American idea? And, thus, that ours is a generation of Americans called to make great sacrifices in order to preserve our democratic way of life—sacrifices not just of our soldiers and money but of our personal safety and comfort?

In still other words, what if we chose to accept the fact that every few years, despite all reasonable precautions, some hundreds or thousands of us may die in the sort of ghastly terrorist attack that a democratic republic cannot 100-percent protect itself from without subverting the very principles that make it worth protecting?

Is this thought experiment monstrous? Would it be monstrous to refer to the 40,000-plus domestic highway deaths we accept each year because the mobility and autonomy of the car are evidently worth that high price? Is monstrousness why no serious public figure now will speak of the delusory trade-off of liberty for safety that Ben Franklin warned about more than 200 years ago? What exactly has changed between Franklin’s time and ours? Why now can we not have a serious national conversation about sacrifice, the inevitability of sacrifice—either of (a) some portion of safety or (b) some portion of the rights and protections that make the American idea so incalculably precious?

In the absence of such a conversation, can we trust our elected leaders to value and protect the American idea as they act to secure the homeland? What are the effects on the American idea of Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Patriot Acts I and II, warrantless surveillance, Executive Order 13233, corporate contractors performing military functions, the Military Commissions Act, NSPD 51, etc., etc.? Assume for a moment that some of these measures really have helped make our persons and property safer—are they worth it? Where and when was the public debate on whether they’re worth it? Was there no such debate because we’re not capable of having or demanding one? Why not? Have we actually become so selfish and scared that we don’t even want to consider whether some things trump safety? What kind of future does that augur?

FOOTNOTES:
1. Given the strict Gramm-Rudmanewque space limit here, let’s just please all agree that we generally know what this term connotes—an open society, consent of the governed, enumerated powers, Federalist 10, pluralism, due process, transparency … the whole democratic roil.

2. (This phrase is Lincoln’s, more or less)
#whisper #opinion

最近偶然看到Homeschooler翁君的故事,联想到之前很多公众号分享的某某回到乡下爆改住房的报道。这些报道都花了大量的笔墨描写他们那种生活的表面细节:去了多少国家,养了几条狗,种了多少蔬菜,当然少不了房子长什么样等等;但是却没有谈到(或者仅是一笔带过)前因后果和支撑这种生活的基础:他们家庭、教育背景,做了什么努力甚至牺牲,他们的工作等等是什么样的。
因此,sadly,这些文字只能算是porn。
https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1252515684149575680

俄罗斯今日 批评 英国媒体双标
几个问题可以思考一下:
1. 两边的疫情是否是一样的?
2. 两边的应对举措是否是一样的?
3. 两边一样的举措对各自的疫情与公民的影响是否是一样的?
4. 批评是否可以来自内部?

最后,完美政府已经不存在了应该已经是共识了吧。当然,“说我不行,你也不咋地”这种比差心态就更没有帮助了。
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#whisper
在B站上看话剧,有弹幕说:“竟然背下来了?”