To Paraphrase Gandhi

[swestrup]

Western Civilization: Isn't it about time we had one?

Comments

[ulvain.livejournal.com]

is this an actual street in an actual city, or a montage? Please answer a montage... (distressed)

[labyrinthman.livejournal.com]

That's a 'shop... but I've personally seen streets that look something like that in Houston, Dallas, Philly, DC, LA, and Vegas. :)

And thats just only what I've personally laid eyes on.

We live in a scary world.

[swestrup]

Yeah, its probably a photoshop job, but I can't say for sure. I linked the image to where I got it, you can inquire further there, if you speak Russian...

[electorprince.livejournal.com]

It's a Photoshop. All they did was shrink the original signs; you can see the same light bulbs burned out on all the Taco Bell ones.

[cloquewerk.livejournal.com]

One of the roads leading into Kingston, Ontario, looks really similar to this. I can't remember which one it was... Division maybe. Just off the 401. There is fast food after fast food after fast food restaurant. The whole shebang too, from McDonald's to Taco Bell to East Side Marios or Dennys or one of those.

[dcoombs.livejournal.com]

It's Division St. It's handy if you're driving through and just want to eat *something* dammit. Apart from that it's pretty depressing.

The secret to ending world hunger and creating world peace

[capj.livejournal.com]

I've been reflecting a lot lately that the price of living in a free (individual property rights) civilization is the need for tolerance -- of a certain amount of commercial garishness. As was said, I can get through my life extremely well without Elvis music, for example, but I just have to tolerate that other people like playing it, and if I were to go down to Las Vegas, for example, where individual property rights are more greatly respected (to your own self!, which is key), I would have to tolerate a lot of neon signs and Elvis music coming out of speakers. As Robert J. Sawyer wrote in his recent novel ("Rollback" - which was just serialized in Analog, and may come out soon under a different title), the number one worst-selling diet book in the world is "Losing Weight Slowly Through Eating Less and Exercising More" and similarly, the least popular political answer is tolerance. Tolerance of what? He didn't say, but I would add: tolerance of individual property rights and other peoples' choices and the type of society that develops where these are protected by the government (and everybody). We need a little intolerance of intolerance, but mainly consistent individual property rights.

This is the secret to ending world hunger and creating world peace (the latter is what Sawyer was referring to, I recall now). Countries with individual property rights don't have famines, as do those with governments that violate rather than protect them. In fact the USA feeds itself and most of the rest of the world! The former type of countries tend not to invade other countries, because people with individual property rights will tend not volunteer to fight in aggression, but only in defence, when their stake is threatened. It takes a dictatorial system (which the US is becoming, unfortunately) to be aggressive. Military conscription helps a country be aggressive rather than defensive. Non-isolationism through free trade, not military intervention!

I believe it's necessary for me to publicize that secret to ending world hunger and creating world peace, even if speaking up will annoy the bejeezus out of a lot of people.

What I do is tape a note to my clock radio where I can see it every morning first thing, when I get up, that says "Don't believe advertising!" I think that's a reasonable price to pay for living in a free country -- the customer has power, and therefore great responsibility; THE responsibility, in fact. Another price is that on the job, you have to tolerate your boss bossing you around, and griping about HIS annoying needs.

I have to gently remind you that you have said that you didn't like -- were turned off by -- extreme statements, and this photo is an exaggeration. Maybe only by about 50%, or as much as four times due to the sign reuse.

Re: The secret to ending world hunger and creating world peace

[swestrup]

I did not consider the image to be an extreme statement, but a funny one, and -- hopefully -- one that would cause some thinking and conversation. It seems to have succeeded at that.