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Unbanning Trolls: A town hall discussion
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2006 Nov 1, 4:13am 14,944 views 158 comments
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'iconoclast' literally means 'one who breaks icons' from the Greek, i think... referring originally to the movement against icon worship or idolatry that sprung up in eastern churches etc. (i'm willing to be corrected on the finer historical detail by anyone who wants to google it.) it now means anyone who is 'contrarian', i suppose, or breaks with commonly held ideas or traditions. 'postmodernism' was described concisely but perhaps too narrrowly by lyotard as 'an incredulity towards grand metanarratives', which is a philosophical form of iconoclasm by defn. i suppose i am a postmodern socia1ist iconoclast, altho in my circle that's more or less mainstream... sociology ruins you for any good work, sigh
Randy H
2006 Nov 2, 11:18pm
DS
I'd call myself a neomodern contrarian amongst iconoclasts. Or is that an iconoclast trapped amongst neoregressive postmodernists?
Randy H
2006 Nov 2, 11:24pm
CR
I agree that wages are strengthening. This is supported by national, state and Bay Area data. The Bay Area real wages have grown the past couple quarters stronger than any time since 2002.
However, that follows a long period of *falling* median real wages. And the key word here is median
You well know the old joke: Bill Gates walks into a bar and by average salary everyone is instantly a millionaire. But the median salary doesn't budge.
The FT had a full page opinion piece yesterday with lots of data, charts and fact references regarding the US' languishing middle class income. The fact his those private equity firms you're talking about enrich only the top 15% (I'm being very generous). Meanwhile the rest are left working harder for less of the pie. Rising productivity. Rising GDP, corporate profits, global share. Falling real wages.
These are the fundamentals that will deflate the housing bubble; here and elsewhere. But it won't be any 50% correction in 6 months like some folks continually insist. It will probably take longer and be less pronounced.
I’d call myself a neomodern contrarian amongst iconoclasts.
i'd say so...
Or is that an iconoclast trapped amongst neoregressive postmodernists?
what about unreconstructed apologists for anarchic libertarianism...
You well know the old joke: Bill Gates walks into a bar and by average salary everyone is instantly a millionaire. But the median salary doesn’t budge.
that's
wow, managed to trash an entry just from the keyboard...
You well know the old joke: Bill Gates walks into a bar and by average salary everyone is instantly a millionaire. But the median salary doesn’t budge.
that’s a good one -- i was only just thinking the boring old line about a statistician drowning in a lake of average depth 4"...
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Removing the bans on former and current "Trolls" has been proposed and discussed a couple times recently. We've had calls to ban "Confused Renter" (CR), who may or may not be one in the same with Marina Prime, Face Reality, etc. -- the infamous Troll who was banned repeatedly.
But, during discussions Peter P said:
and SQT said:
I understand the arguments both make, which are essentially we should do what is best for the blog. At one point, when the bubble itself was a debatable idea, Trolls like MP/FR/CR detracted from the blog's quality. Now, their "always goes up" claims are laughable, almost enjoyable.
My own opinion is that we should do what is best for the blog, the same as Peter P and SQT. Maybe the daily "Look at this Marina Condo that went for 20% over asking!" doesn't really detract from our community after all. Maybe how we react (or don't react) is better for us in the long run than just filtering those comments out.
--
This is a discussion. Everyone's opinion is welcome and encouraged, especially our quiet lurkers.
--Randy H