Privat eierskap trenger vi ikke

Indregard anmelder en bok om “markedssosialisme”, og skriver:

Markedssosialismen hevder at vi trenger informasjonen som lønns- og prismarkedet gir for å fungere effektivt nok, og at vi derfor må beholde det. Det private eierskapet, derimot, trenger vi ikke.

Dette er en grufull idé. Ikke bare feil, (selvsagt er privat eierskap av bedrifter nødvendig), men ond. Da mener jeg ikke tanken om at privat eierskap i blant kan være skadelig og trenger regulering, men den om at det er noe vi “ikke trenger”. Noe som kaldt kan rasjonaliseres bort, bare man tenker seg fram til en bedre løsning.

Dette er grufullt fordi privat eierskap er mer enn grunnlaget for et velfungerende økonomisk system. Retten til å jobbe sammen i private firmaer uavhengig av statlige komiteer er en menneskelig frihet, på linje med ytringsfrihet og politisk frihet. Det er her menneskelig kreativitet viser seg fra sin aller flotteste side. Å si at vi ikke “trenger” dette er som å si at vi ikke trenger musikk, og derfor kan avskaffe det.

Det er farlig når ideologer setter mennesket under et mikroskop og sier “den biten der, den er overflødig, vi kan erstatte det med denne teorien jeg nettop har tenkt ut”. Som regel er det ingen som hører på dem. Men la oss vise denne ideen nok respekt til å ta den seriøst, bare et øyeblikk: Finnes det noe ondere, noe kaldere enn å se på noe av det som gjør oss til mennesker, trekke på skuldrene og si “dette trenger vi ikke”?

40’s movies marathon – part 33

Why We Fight, Part 1 – Prelude to War / Part 2 – The Nazis Strike (1943, USA) – One of the greatest propaganda movies of all time. It presents a vision of a free, tolerant and compassionate world, where we all share responsibility for each other’s well-being, a world with America in the centre. It’s a vision that has shaped the world ever since, particularly whenever we realize our failure to live up to it. Watched it all, but I’ll skip the next 5(!) parts.

The Human Comedy (1943, USA) – Even the hobos are happy and friendly in this happy American town, where the war teaches a teenage boy Valuable Life Lessons. Watched: 7 minutes.

We Dive at Dawn (1943, UK) – A submarine crew, nice and dull chaps every one of them, prepares for shore leave. And .. I guess I feel asleep there for a moment. Watched: 7 minutes.

Heaven Can Wait (1943, USA) – Don Ameche tells his life story at the gates of Hell to convince Satan that he belongs there. Turns out he was just a moderately bad boy who enjoyed alcohol, women and life in general, and Hell doesn’t take those kind of people any more. Watched it all.

The 7th Victim (1943, USA) – Girl looks for her missing sister. Bad writing, bad actors. Looks good, though. Watched: 5 minutes.

I Was a Fireman (1943, UK) – A tribute to the firemen who worked through the London Blitz. That’s no excuse. Watched: 4 minutes.

Through far marches of acres wild

Yesterday at work I listened to Jethro Tull’s entire 70’s catalogue. I’m not actually a fan, it was just there on my hard drive, and I haven’t used it up yet as work music. By the end of the day, I had written a lot of code, and also picked out my two favorite Tull songs:

Jethro Tull – Acres Wild

Jethro Tull – Crossfire

40’s movies marathon – part 32

Münchhausen (1943, Germany) – Don’t let it be said that Nazi Germany couldn’t be frivolous, when Goebbels commanded them to. An immortal playboy has adventures all over Europe, some of which violate the laws of physics. Holds up well to the Hollywood swashbucklers of the time, except that it’s a bit unfocused. Ferdinand Marian, the evil Jew from Jud Süss, here plays an evil magician who loves power and wants to invade Poland. Huh. This is mostly pure fantasy, though. Watched it all.

The North Star (1943, USA) – A happy family lives in a happy Ukrainian village. It’s just like any American town, and there’s been no genocide or anything. But all is not well: the Nazis, inbetween stealing the blood of Polish children, are gathering forces near the Soviet border. Written by Lillian Hellman, a Stalin apologist, during that brief period in history when this was a big plus in Hollywood. Watched: 8 minutes.

Five Graves to Cairo (1943, USA) – The battle for Africa as a light adventure. A British soldier finds himself behind enemy lines, and pretends to be a German spy. He must discover Rommel’s secret plan for the conquest of Egypt. This is perfect. I love the opening scene: A tank is driving alone across the sand dunes, its crew lying dead against the controls. Watched it all.

The Obama peace prize – attempt 3

Here’s a prediction: This whole thing will resolve itself nicely along partisan lines. Here’s how it will happen.

Step 1 – Upon learning that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Barack Obama, everybody has an honest first reaction. Reactions such as “is this a joke?”, “WTF?!”, and “uh .. why?”

Step 2 – Everybody looks at how everybody else reacted to the news. They notice that some people they hate had the same reaction they did.

Step 3 – This makes some people uncomfortable. This isn’t how the world is supposed to work. They start looking for some way to disagree with the people they hate.

Step 4 – A few pioneers find it in the they’re going too far excuse. As in: “Yes this was strange, but the people who are using this as part of some anti-Obama / anti-Jagland hate campaign are going too far.”

Step 5 – They move from there to “well maybe this kind of makes sense when you think about it”.

Step 6 – This sends the signal for everyone to align themselves into two familiar camps, ie those who think “the critics are going too far, those guys are assholes” vs those who think “the defenders are going too far, those guys are assholes“.

Step 7 – Problem solved. Unease eased. The price: Everybody becomes stupider than they were.

Pretty much accurate, as far as we know


It’s October, and time for my favorite bittorrent search query: s01e01.

The first speck of gold – or possibly fool’s gold – to fall out of the dirt this year is Hungry Beast, on ABC in Australia.

It’s investigative journalism, satire, and half-serious opinions about half-serious issues. They try too hard to be stylish, but the first two episodes have been interesting and/or enjoyable, when it isn’t irritating and confusing.

The premise is to give 19 media newbies half an hour to “tell us something we don’t know”. The producer calls it “a show made by people who don’t watch TV for those who still do”.

The first episode jumps from interviewing the family of a soldier who has died in Afghanistan to a debate over whether pandas are an evolutionary dead end and should be allowed to go extinct. So .. that’s something you won’t see anywhere else.

They also play a wonderful practical joke on the Australian media, by tricking journalists into reporting a fake study from a fake research institute about how gullible Australians are. Here it is:

So will this work or devolve into self-parody? I hold both options open, and will keep watching to find out.

The Obama peace prize – attempt 2

While the world scratches its heads, and the Obama administration tries to find a way to diffuse the bomb the Nobel Committee has thorbjorned at them, and I and many other Norwegians will try to pretend that we’re Swedes for the next couple of months, some Norwegian pundits are cautiously positive, praising the choice as risky and bold.

Okay. Yes, this is a “bold” choice. And it will be interesting to see what effect it might have.

It would also be bold and interesting if Thorbjørn Jagland were to deliver the prize while wearing a pointy hat that said “Hogwarts Sorting Hat” on it. What would happen? Let’s find out!

But it would be stupid. And people would laugh and/or hide their faces in embarassment. And if someone were to say that it isn’t stupid, that it’s actually risky and bold, we would look at them and realize that there’s a disconnect between them and the world most people live in.

So we might want to do something about that disconnect. Or .. we could just pretend this never happened. I’m leaning towards the second alternative.

Btw, my favorite reaction to the Obama peace prize came from a comment on John Scalzi’s blog:

“All you Hugo aspirants better hope he doesn’t have something cooking for NaNoWriMo.”

Nihil smashit de profundis baluba Maaquqia

I blant kjøper jeg en bok kun fordi jeg liker tittelen. Det var tilfellet med Barneregjeringen av Aleksander Melli. En gutt i dress stirrer alvorlig ut av forsiden. Dette må jeg finne ut hva er for noe! At det er en ungdomsbok i pocketutgave gjør valget enda lettere: Barn og ungdom lar seg (i motsetning til voksne) vanskelig lure til å lese bøker de ikke liker.

Barneregjeringen er et realityshow hvor en gruppe barn skal danne sin egen regjering på en øy i Oslofjorden. Barna utgjør et norsk mikrokosmos sett gjennom et reality-filter, med både humørløse venstreradikalere, nyhetsnerder og rosajenter – og en kødd som gjør alt for å trolle de seriøse barna.

I bakgrunnen svever Bob Håp, en overfølsom kjendis som forsøker å være en slags moderne Diogenes. Han vil vekke samfunnet ved bruk av veslevoksne barn, reality-TV og sjokkerende stunts.

Barna former partier, holder valg, og vedtar lover for minisamfunnet sitt. Det blir mye miljøekstremisme og skråsikre fordømmelser av voksensamfunnet her. Men Melli har et blandet forhold til redde-verden-syndromet, og ønsker også å si noe mer – om demokrati, rettsstaten og hva som er virkelig, hva som er sant.

Dette er bra, og til tider stort, med ekko av Lord of the Flies men også The Prisoner. Aller mest liker jeg de delene hvor jeg ikke er sikker på hva Melli ønsker å si. Her er han på sitt mest tankevekkende.

40’s movies marathon – part 31

Memphis Belle (1944, USA) – We follow a group of bombers to Germany and back again. There’s no dialogue, just a hard voice that describes the combat footage we’re seeing. It’s poetry, beautiful in a cold and intense way. Watched it all.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943, USA) – The most extravagant war movie in the marathon yet, with an extravagant overture, extravagant fonts, and extravagant colors. It almost lasts longer than it takes to read the damn book. Everybody who sees this movie will know that they’ve taken part in a Serious Cultural Event. Watched: 14 minutes.

The Saint Meets the Tiger (1943, UK) – A man is stabbed on Simon Templar’s doorstep, making a cryptic accusation as he dies. Sheesh. Watched: 5 minutes.

Kings Row (1942, USA) – All the happy children are playing happy games in their happy little town. Watched: 9 minutes. Judging from IMDB reviews I’ve completely misunderstood this movie. Oops.

The Song of Bernadette (1943, USA) – Lourdes is full of dull, sick and serious people. They’re about to be cured of one of these. Watched: 11 minutes.

The Ape Man (1943, USA) – The sound on this VHS rip is so bad that I can’t hear a word they’re saying. It all sounds like the parents in Peanuts. But from what I can tell this is really, really bad. Watched: 5 minutes, then fast forwarded to see the ape man, of which there appears to be two: An ape, and Bela Lugosi in a gigantic beard.

An in-depth analysis of the significance of the Barack Obama peace prize

Well this is awkward.

Eh.

I .. uh.

Okay, look – I’m not really Norwegian. Did I say I was? I’m from .. Sweden. Yes, Sweden. Or Denmark. Never mind where. I don’t know this “Torbjørn Jagland” of whom you speak. Never heard of him. Or this “Nobel Committee”. Oslo, you say? Yes I’ve heard of Oslo. Somewhere near Iceland?

I need to go .. and .. do that thing now. Yes. In that city where I live, which isn’t Oslo.