Comments on: Talking about “Cat Person”

By: Tim Turner

Tim Turner — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 03:23:53 +0000

Frog,

I think you’re conflating two different situations. I know this was a big stumbling block for me before I had to admit the libertarian viewpoint was more accurate (at the time) than my own.

Situation 1:
If a person A is attempting to murder person B, then (circumstances permitting, rules of engagement followed, collateral damage kept to a minimum) the police should shoot person A. Any gun-toting libertarian can tell you that. (And I believe libertarians have more gun-toting credentials than conservatives)

Situation 2:
Person A is all by themselves. Nobody else is in any danger, risk of harm, or potential to lose property. Person A commits a social or religious taboo, like promiscuous sex. Police should not shoot person A.

Libertarianism isn’t about endorsing people’s behavior, or liking it, it’s about recognizing that the law is a sacred thing, ultimately enforced by violence, and that a correct law doesn’t adhere to opinions, but to facts and rights. If you aren’t violating someone else’s rights, the law has no right to use violent measures to stop you.

By: Gary D. G.

Gary D. G. — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 20:13:55 +0000

I read “Cat Person” (using the link) thru three times: once yesterday, twice today; I found it a chore/bore. I disliked it even more the second time; the third time I put that section of my brain away, looking desperately for any shred of literary value; I found none. I tried to relate it to my experiences coming back to NY after the service while I was doing my post-grad in the late ’60s.
I thought of all the girls I dated; I never found anyone like this.
While I could never understand a woman’s thought processes (I still can’t after 45 years of marriage: my wife’s or my daughters’) and ‘though the author discusses them (to some degree: figuratively or literarily), I find them so shallow as to be either completely unbelievable or more the musings of a five year old.
She comes across as never having fulfilled one human need, not one; she’s never fulfilled one single pleasure.
The pleasure of a shared meal; sitting across the table from someone and sharing the day’s doings while savoring a good meal.
The pleasure of bodily contact: clothed. The need to be hugged; to feel the pleasure of someone else’s torso against yours: non-sexual.
The pleasure to be held while sitting in someone’s lap: conversely the need/pleasure of holding someone while they sit in your lap.
I pity her; all the moreso if the character has been drawn from the author’s experiences.

By: Frog

Frog — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 15:42:17 +0000

Tim T:
Who would you have the cops shoot other than “only the person involved” ?

By: OKBecky

OKBecky — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 06:52:07 +0000

When you said you hadn’t encountered anyone commenting online who saw the story the way you had, as an indictment of hook-up culture, I remembered that I *had* read about that story online a day or two ago and the interpretation was very much in line with your views. I had to do a search of my online history because I couldn’t remember where I’d found it, LOL. Here it is:

http://www.nationalreview DOT com/article/454624/pervasive-culture-sex-drunkeness-regret

Article by Kyle Smith, December 13, 2017

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 05:06:18 +0000

vanderleun Says:
December 30th, 2017 at 4:05 pm
…New Year’s Resolutions for Leftists
* *
That link led me on to more at Takimag (very addicting) and the commentary at this post, which I agree might be looming in the future (History is a Cyclical thing, after all).
http://takimag.com/article/sex_death_and_secrets_in_dc_steve_sailer/page_2#axzz52nOBlcpN
Kevin Lafayette DrEvil – a day ago
Actually, what I think it will lead to, is companies starting to strictly adhere to “male only” hiring practices, as female employees get terminated.

Think about it. If you do not allow any females in the building, how can anyone in the building ever be accused by any woman?

That is the logical end point of all this in my mind. Body cameras on all the men, archival footage of every man going back their entire life, men following Pence’s lead and never meeting with a woman privately under any circumstance. Men refusing to work or do business where they will have contact with any female.

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Kevin Lafayette DrEvil – a day ago
In fact, I can see chaperoned dating making a comeback. Men now need witnesses to every interaction with a female. Archive those texts/tweets/pics. ALWAYS have at least one witness present. Always be filming and recording so that it is NEVER he said/she said. etc. etc. etc.

By: Tom Murin

Tom Murin — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 04:30:12 +0000

Can’t say that I’m a better person for having read the story. I found it a bit depressing. A young girl craving attention for the most part. A bit harsh on the guy, but then I guess at the end you figure he deserves it. Things that people say via text (or email or internet posts) that they wouldn’t say in person.

By: Tim Turner

Tim Turner — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 04:08:17 +0000

Frog,

It’s not that “victimless crimes” are without consequence – it’s that police shouldn’t pull their guns out to solve a problem that hurts only the person involved.

As the Good Book says “All things are lawful, but not all things edify.”

By: Frog

Frog — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 03:38:27 +0000

Your reference to Libertarians, Tom G, brings to mind their multitudinous “victimless crimes” which are therefore not crimes at all in their book.
Of course all crimes have victims.
Both parties are victims of loveless intimacy in the matter at hand. Is the high point of life the discharge of stored, self-secreted seminal fluid?

By: Tom G

Tom G — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:49:12 +0000

Norm Geras, an honest, thoughtful, yet still socialist blogger, used to interview bloggers (linked here & there), and ask: “is there any belief or position you used to have that you no longer have?”

I used to believe, like most Libertarians, in “responsible promiscuity”.

It’s wrong, tho; not really possible. I was lucky to find that out while still young enough to have a great family.

The hookup culture is bad for both men AND women, not just women (as more feminists are finding out).

The end of the story is only as “cheap” as the whole idea of a hookup. I want you, I need you … to satisfy me … or else you’re a whore.

It’s a powerful, true-feeling, tragic story. Thanks for the link. Not in my usual politics.

By: Frog

Frog — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:06:30 +0000

The land of the young, a very distant country, was created by you and me. I saw it begin in college (class of 1963) and kept my head down. It was the radicals who stood up and agitated for what they believed in; we did not.
We sat on our butts when we should have been doing much, much more. We took care of our own kids, but not the milieu in which they were immersed every day. Why are we now surprised?
As ye sow, so shall ye also reap.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Try that one on, since it probably fits, regardless of your theism or lack thereof.