Blogcritics: Comments on How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World

Comment by Dave Nalle

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 02:08:11 EST

The other saw the economic policies dominated by wingnut ideologues that plunged the nation into deep recession, Um, but Thatcher pulled England out of a recession and launched one of the few strong and enduring economies in Europe. It's one thing to rant, but that claim just flies in the face of all fact. Dave

Comment by Jordan Lacey

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 23:45:45 EST

Ive just read the book, and in all Im happy people like Fracis Wheen are out there. If you like him its worth reading Thomas Franks "One Market Under God" another illuminating attack on the wank of modern economics. As a sympathiser with postmodern critique and healing approaches that do not meet the rigour of the double blind method I consider Wheens excessive intelligence and martyr like defence of the values of the enlightement cause him to miss some vital trends in modern Western society. With the demise of Christianity, people are looking for a new spiritual framework in which to place the experience of life. Reason is incapable of providing this for the vast majority of humanity. The best it can manage is the coldness of materialistic determinism or the silent scream of existentialism. Any attempt to take Reason into this domain (i.e. what the bleep do we know, the tao of physics) is dismissed. Irrational outlooks on life are a manifestation of this basic human need and the masters of Reason, including Wheen himself would be wise to start showing some compassion towards this need rather than ridiculing it. Otherwise 'snake oil merchants' really will capture the popular imagination and the so called dark age will be upon us.

Comment by Dave Nalle

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 01:50:46 EST

>>Visit the elementary school library and look through the books. Are the books you remember vividly still on the shelves? Why not?<< And while you're at it, look at the pablum they've replaced your favorite books with. I was absolutely horrified when I went to my daughter's school library some years ago - not long before I took her out of public school - and found that their edition of the Brothers Grimm had all the stories changed to saccharine happy endings. Dave

Comment by gonzo marx

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:47:46 EST

the Library bit is excellent...also check in with the local school librarians... spam yer congressmen and senators...every day send em porn links too did i say that out loud? ooops Excelsior!

Comment by Bennett Dawson

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:54:57 EST

With a few of us willing to speak out, facing this storm of insanity becomes possible. Think global (blog global) and act local. Attend your town's selectboard and planning comission meetings. It's only an hour or two less of TV crap, or the great book that will be there when you get home. Ask questions. Make them explain their decisions, or anything else you don't quite understand. Visit the elementary school library and look through the books. Are the books you remember vividly still on the shelves? Why not? Make o list of the ten books that gave you the most pleasure and inspiration as a child and DEMAND that the library have them available for todays youngsters. Now, what else can we do? I think about this stuff, and am acting on my ideas.

Comment by gonzo marx

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 18:39:23 EST

oh boy..this is a GOOD one.. i tend to agree with the base assessments here..even if i disagree with some of the details take "supply side economics" as opposed to the "law of supply AND demand" note the difference..one Postulates both sides of the Equation the other Postulates the "trickle down" Theory.. any student of Algebra or Calculus can clearly state the inherent Fallacy...but that didn't stop the rise in popularity of the "trickle down" Theory during the 80's , which can be Argued lead directly to the dot com bubble of the 90's add in a heap of unAdulterated Greed to the Equattion and you get your Enron and Worldcom ad nauseum... but hell..i am currently an electronic technician by trade...i fix things...no amount of Opinion, spin, wishful thinking, or mystical awareness can make a piece of equipment work when it is broken...on the contrary..Knowledge and Logic coupled with some amount of physical skill is required to make it work again... Robert A. Heinlein wrote.. "What are the facts? Again and again and again - what are the FACTS? Shun wishfull thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" - what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future, facts are your single clue. Get the facts!" ineffable Words of Wisdom indeed...this baseline Postulate lead to the "Age of Reason" which our American Founding Fathers were disciples of and from which our Constitution and Declaration of Independance were created.. and yet, Antonin Scalia...a Supreme Court Justice...sitting on the bench for the current "Ten Commandments" case up in front of the Supreme Court stated on the record: "our Laws come from God" welcome to the Second Dark Age me?..i have a Candle here...and a soapbox...i'm gonna hold that Light up high..and shout as much as i can how about you? Excelsior!

Comment by Dave Nalle

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 17:06:18 EST

>>Sadly, the reality-based community has lost control of the world. << Some might say that those who insist on calling themselves the 'reality based community' haven't lost control of the world, but have lost touch with reality. When reason no longer drives their positions, and when emotion and irrationality take over, they're not the 'reality based community' anymore and that passes on to someone else who does still value truth. There may have been a time when liberals had a grip on reality, but that's long gone. Just look at the way thye're behaving in Congress these days or at their choice of arch-fantasist Howard Dean to head the DNC. This doesn't mean that the religious conservatives have more of a grip on reality, but religion isn't the only route to looniness and irrationality. These days those who still hold to reason are somewhere in the forgotten middle of the political spectrum. Dave

Comment by DrPat

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 18:14:26 EST

I missed your post when it first came around - fortunately, it was cited by Tony Dalmyn. Thanks for the strong overview of the author's rants!

Comment by Bryce Eddings

Mon, 22 Nov 2004 22:19:28 EST

Listed on Advance