Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I Could Not Have Begged for a Better Opponent

I Could Not Have Begged for a Better Opponent

Joe Huffman emailed me early this morning:
You have to read this.

My take is here.
Here's the comment that so flummoxed Joe:
The difference in this debate is that I have been arguing on the basis of what I believe to be true, and doing my best to explain why I believe it. Kevin, by way of contrast, claims to be able to literally ‘prove’ his case beyond any doubt whatsoever by recourse to detailed statistical data. To underline the point, he even posed the extraordinarily conceited (some would say delusional) question "why isn’t being right good enough for us?"! That’s why ‘correlation, causation and all that’ are a far greater problem for him than they are for me – a ‘reasonable doubt’ does tend to counteract the assertion that something has been literally ‘proved’.

My own view (and note that I don’t claim to be able to prove it) is that Brazil and Mexico are not more like the UK largely for one very simple reason – a greater rate of poverty.
By all means, please do read all the way to the end of the comment thread.

Here's what I just left in James' comment moderation pile:
Thank you so much James, for being such a STERLING stereotype for your side:

"The difference in this debate is that I have been arguing on the basis of what I believe to be true, and doing my best to explain why I believe it. Kevin, by way of contrast, claims to be able to literally ‘prove’ his case beyond any doubt whatsoever by recourse to detailed statistical data."

In other words, "My mind is made up. You can't confuse me with facts!"

I happen to be very, very busy this week, but I hope to have another rebuttal post up on or by Saturday, again using your own words and "detailed statistical data," plus a whole lot of comparitive examples.

I could not have begged for a better opponent.
I have to take enjoyment out of this. The only other option would be to tear my hair out from frustration!

See today's Quote of the Day, too. It makes much clear.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.