Slashdot has this link to a german magazine (link is to english translation) which is reporting that the EU is set to lift all export restrictions on encryption software. The U.S. is traditionally against this, and is reportedly upset by the decision.
I'm very interested in the EU, but unsure how to get more information. I guess traveling is one good way. Seems to me like they (the EU government(s)) are much more clued in than the US, but people are always telling me that freedoms are much greater here. I'm not sure, but the Netherlands and Switzerland (to name two) seem much more open. (Although I've never been to either place, so my opinion probably isn't worth much.) Simply comparing the percentage of the population incarcerated between the US and the EU (or Russia, or China, or South Africa) would lead one to believe that either a) US citizens are somehow a priori more likely to commit criminal acts, or b) the US has less freedom. What's the deal?
Most of our incarcerated are the poor, and the greater percentage of those, black. I will entertain, at least briefly, any idea that comes into my head and this one is that perhaps it isn't that we have less freedom here but more than we know what to do with, and in some cases this leads some of us into activities that are doomed to fail, and thus finds us incarcerated, in effect, for enjoying too much the freedoms bestowed upon us. Discipline is the only true freedom any of us need to attain. (from the Prayers and Meanderings of Brother Slim.)
Yes, I think this is a reasonable argument. And possibly the case. At the very least, 'freedom' is not defined well enough in my first post. I guess I was trying to be a little provocative. Incarceration rates most likely do not equate directly with a country's level of internal freedom (well, unless you are incarcerated in which case it probably seems to directly correspond.) Perhaps there are even some who would equate a high incarceration rate with more freedom. Although we should probably call this 'safety' and not 'freedom'. In any case, I definitely believe in the larger point about self-discipline being the only real freedom. But isn't self discipline best (only?) cultivated in an atmosphere of freedom? in an atmosphere where you can take your freedom too far? From my perspective, I see a lot of people willing to trade a little freedom for a little safety, and I think our country is the worse for it. But, honestly, I might do the same thing if my situation were different. Your stories from NOLA, Jim, have really reminded me of a different kind of world. I don't think I've ever been there exactly, but I remember living in New Haven Connecticut in the summer of '89 when Crack and drug gangs were really out of control there, and it seemed like every day in the paper we would read about someone else being shot. Like just standing on the corner and getting shot dead. The world can really impinge on your intellectual ideals. Still, even with all this, the problem remains that our incarceration rates are much higher than anywhere else in the world. This might result in a certain level of safety, but can it really stem from the fact that we are more free?
>> "But isn't self discipline best (only?) cultivated in an atmosphere of freedom? in an atmosphere where you can take your freedom too far?"
i would think you would need alot of self discipline in a situation that lacked freedom in order to maintain your sanity or your dignity or whatever else it is that you hold dear. so where it may bear full fruit in fertile soils, a struggle to survive in harsher climes might make the juices taste that much sweeter.
"Everybody knows freedom;
You'll find it inside your head.
Everybody knows Jesus;
You'll meet Him when you are dead."
Butthole Surfers
I think this is true.
For me the self discipline question is conceived almost, it seems, in a vacuum. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the environment, I feel a certainty that I personally make less than advantageous use of the little self discipline I have. I guess I'm just looking at the freedom/self discipline question in the sense that if I reflect on days of happiness, contentment, peace of mind, or whatever we choose to call that feeling that we're running smoothly on all cylinders, I think that these good feelings have less to do with external factors and more to do with a self discipline not only of daily matters wherein we are living up to our potentials, making good use of class time so to speak, but also that ever more elusive discipline of the mind. That part of us than can look out the window, see the horrors of the world, feel it, and then watch as out of the blue a Wilson's Warbler passes in front of it all and off to who knows where, and think, what a wonderful world it is.
Hearing Jesus mentioned in the same sentence with Butthole Surfers reminds me of Austin, TX., which is just one of the places I never saw the Butthole Surfers perform, but during one of my many stints of unemployment there I was accosted by a man who said he was led by Jesus to the porch I was slacking on and he felt he was supposed to hire me as his apprentice, as a carpet installer. I did not want to rule anything out at the time so I went with this man and layed down carpet for a period of three or four weeks. One day he would, instructed by Christ, chant like a TV Indian, and on another day he might devise a plan to convert the sun's energy directly into usable power without the aid of solar panels or batteries or anything like that. This solar energy plan was going to make him rich rich rich and with the proceeds he would build a hugely impressive Christian compound on the side of a hill overlooking Lake Travis, which he thought looked very much like the Sea of Galilee. When we weren't laying carpet he would have me lead him through the libraries of the University of Texas, where I formerly studied and at this time carried on in the capacity of honorary student/hanger-on. His was a unique sort of Christ-based research and he would let himself be led by the Spirit through the stacks until he found the missing link of information for his solar plan. I distinctly remember this book of German architecture he found (written in German no less), which provided for him that missing link. I stood beside him as his fingers traveled over the pages of German text until he found a picture of a round window which, of course!, was the key to the whole plan. He was really onto something now and he swore me to secrecy because, and he really put it this way, if this plan got into the wrong hands it could change the course of history. I think you can probably understand why I stayed with this guy for those three or four weeks, a period that at the time was for me considered long-term employment. This guy was a magical mystery tour. What would he come up with next? Driving to and from jobs with the Lord as his navigator he would allow his progress to be swayed by the Spirit, making lefts and rights with a whimful yet spirtually guided glee, which is a fun idea, and was similar to the way I was leading my own life. Not only that, but it took a lot of time off the work clock. One day he took me to his home where I met his wife who was seated at a table piled high with unpaid bills. She expressed to her husband that there were certain matters that needed taking care of and wondered what was he going to do about it. He became angry and told his wife she needed to get her mind out of the gutter of worldy matters and back into the bible. Later that week he accused me of betraying his trust, he just came out with it as I got into his truck one morning--"I know you've been telling people about the solar plan." I denied it at first but later admitted to being in a relationship with one of those modern type girls who expect you talk to them about things going on in your life, but I had not given her any details, I lied. Of course I told her everything. I was in love. Things just kept on deteriorating after that and one day, the day before I quit actually, we sat in his truck together and prayed for my soul. My part of the praying was repeating after him some words I had learned long ago in the Methodist church of my earlier youth. He prodded me to ad lib some, get into the spirit of my spiritual reawakening but I'm really to shy for all that. After my conversion he was pretty pumped up and told me not to expect to go on feeling as high as I was feeling at that moment, that there would be a let down but don't let it worry me. The next day when I called to tell him I was quitting he seemed ok with that but was more curious about my spirtitual condition. I told him I was feeling fine.
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I'm very interested in the EU, but unsure how to get more information. I guess traveling is one good way. Seems to me like they (the EU government(s)) are much more clued in than the US, but people are always telling me that freedoms are much greater here. I'm not sure, but the Netherlands and Switzerland (to name two) seem much more open. (Although I've never been to either place, so my opinion probably isn't worth much.) Simply comparing the percentage of the population incarcerated between the US and the EU (or Russia, or China, or South Africa) would lead one to believe that either a) US citizens are somehow a priori more likely to commit criminal acts, or b) the US has less freedom. What's the deal?
- jim 5-23-2000 5:52 pm
Most of our incarcerated are the poor, and the greater percentage of those, black. I will entertain, at least briefly, any idea that comes into my head and this one is that perhaps it isn't that we have less freedom here but more than we know what to do with, and in some cases this leads some of us into activities that are doomed to fail, and thus finds us incarcerated, in effect, for enjoying too much the freedoms bestowed upon us. Discipline is the only true freedom any of us need to attain. (from the Prayers and Meanderings of Brother Slim.)
- jimlouis 5-23-2000 9:55 pm
Yes, I think this is a reasonable argument. And possibly the case. At the very least, 'freedom' is not defined well enough in my first post. I guess I was trying to be a little provocative. Incarceration rates most likely do not equate directly with a country's level of internal freedom (well, unless you are incarcerated in which case it probably seems to directly correspond.) Perhaps there are even some who would equate a high incarceration rate with more freedom. Although we should probably call this 'safety' and not 'freedom'. In any case, I definitely believe in the larger point about self-discipline being the only real freedom. But isn't self discipline best (only?) cultivated in an atmosphere of freedom? in an atmosphere where you can take your freedom too far? From my perspective, I see a lot of people willing to trade a little freedom for a little safety, and I think our country is the worse for it. But, honestly, I might do the same thing if my situation were different. Your stories from NOLA, Jim, have really reminded me of a different kind of world. I don't think I've ever been there exactly, but I remember living in New Haven Connecticut in the summer of '89 when Crack and drug gangs were really out of control there, and it seemed like every day in the paper we would read about someone else being shot. Like just standing on the corner and getting shot dead. The world can really impinge on your intellectual ideals. Still, even with all this, the problem remains that our incarceration rates are much higher than anywhere else in the world. This might result in a certain level of safety, but can it really stem from the fact that we are more free?
- jim 5-25-2000 4:10 am
>> "But isn't self discipline best (only?) cultivated in an atmosphere of freedom? in an atmosphere where you can take your freedom too far?"
i would think you would need alot of self discipline in a situation that lacked freedom in order to maintain your sanity or your dignity or whatever else it is that you hold dear. so where it may bear full fruit in fertile soils, a struggle to survive in harsher climes might make the juices taste that much sweeter.
- dave 5-25-2000 10:05 pm
"Everybody knows freedom;
You'll find it inside your head.
Everybody knows Jesus;
You'll meet Him when you are dead."
Butthole Surfers
- alex 5-25-2000 10:48 pm
I think this is true.
- jimlouis 5-26-2000 2:38 am
For me the self discipline question is conceived almost, it seems, in a vacuum. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the environment, I feel a certainty that I personally make less than advantageous use of the little self discipline I have. I guess I'm just looking at the freedom/self discipline question in the sense that if I reflect on days of happiness, contentment, peace of mind, or whatever we choose to call that feeling that we're running smoothly on all cylinders, I think that these good feelings have less to do with external factors and more to do with a self discipline not only of daily matters wherein we are living up to our potentials, making good use of class time so to speak, but also that ever more elusive discipline of the mind. That part of us than can look out the window, see the horrors of the world, feel it, and then watch as out of the blue a Wilson's Warbler passes in front of it all and off to who knows where, and think, what a wonderful world it is.
- jimlouis 5-26-2000 3:04 am
Hearing Jesus mentioned in the same sentence with Butthole Surfers reminds me of Austin, TX., which is just one of the places I never saw the Butthole Surfers perform, but during one of my many stints of unemployment there I was accosted by a man who said he was led by Jesus to the porch I was slacking on and he felt he was supposed to hire me as his apprentice, as a carpet installer. I did not want to rule anything out at the time so I went with this man and layed down carpet for a period of three or four weeks. One day he would, instructed by Christ, chant like a TV Indian, and on another day he might devise a plan to convert the sun's energy directly into usable power without the aid of solar panels or batteries or anything like that. This solar energy plan was going to make him rich rich rich and with the proceeds he would build a hugely impressive Christian compound on the side of a hill overlooking Lake Travis, which he thought looked very much like the Sea of Galilee. When we weren't laying carpet he would have me lead him through the libraries of the University of Texas, where I formerly studied and at this time carried on in the capacity of honorary student/hanger-on. His was a unique sort of Christ-based research and he would let himself be led by the Spirit through the stacks until he found the missing link of information for his solar plan. I distinctly remember this book of German architecture he found (written in German no less), which provided for him that missing link. I stood beside him as his fingers traveled over the pages of German text until he found a picture of a round window which, of course!, was the key to the whole plan. He was really onto something now and he swore me to secrecy because, and he really put it this way, if this plan got into the wrong hands it could change the course of history. I think you can probably understand why I stayed with this guy for those three or four weeks, a period that at the time was for me considered long-term employment. This guy was a magical mystery tour. What would he come up with next? Driving to and from jobs with the Lord as his navigator he would allow his progress to be swayed by the Spirit, making lefts and rights with a whimful yet spirtually guided glee, which is a fun idea, and was similar to the way I was leading my own life. Not only that, but it took a lot of time off the work clock. One day he took me to his home where I met his wife who was seated at a table piled high with unpaid bills. She expressed to her husband that there were certain matters that needed taking care of and wondered what was he going to do about it. He became angry and told his wife she needed to get her mind out of the gutter of worldy matters and back into the bible. Later that week he accused me of betraying his trust, he just came out with it as I got into his truck one morning--"I know you've been telling people about the solar plan." I denied it at first but later admitted to being in a relationship with one of those modern type girls who expect you talk to them about things going on in your life, but I had not given her any details, I lied. Of course I told her everything. I was in love. Things just kept on deteriorating after that and one day, the day before I quit actually, we sat in his truck together and prayed for my soul. My part of the praying was repeating after him some words I had learned long ago in the Methodist church of my earlier youth. He prodded me to ad lib some, get into the spirit of my spiritual reawakening but I'm really to shy for all that. After my conversion he was pretty pumped up and told me not to expect to go on feeling as high as I was feeling at that moment, that there would be a let down but don't let it worry me. The next day when I called to tell him I was quitting he seemed ok with that but was more curious about my spirtitual condition. I told him I was feeling fine.
- jimlouis 5-26-2000 4:16 am