So I thought I’d share some of the wonderful stories I’ve read and hope you enjoy them as well. Many of them have what I would consider to be very accepting and respectful of homosexual, transgender, and other, shall we say, “demographically less common” (literally, appearing less often in the population) categorizations of individuals. However you should like to say it.
This one is probably going to be entirely fanfiction, but don’t let that stop you. It’s pretty amazing stuff here.
In case you needed a second opinion that basic income has something for everyone.
A new study shows that people are happier in countries whose governments have strong social policies. Turns out a high tax rate doesn’t matter as much when you, you know, get things from it. I skimmed the paper they linked to, and it’s important to note that the positive relationships seem to stem, if not exclusively, then most heavily from increased welfare spending, not necessarily overall government consumption in the economy. Since that is the focus of this article (basic income being pretty obviously a form of welfare) that is where I would like to direct your attention. Those more knowledgable or less time-restricted than I might find other conclusions in the text; I would love to hear about them.
So if you’re somehow still on the fence or in denial that a basic income policy is useful, there goes one counter-argument. However bloated and inefficient you believe the government to be, the end result is happiness.
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(Because Dragonball Z references aren’t the least bit dated.)
So Lockheed Martin is quite enthusiastic about their ideas for nuclear fusion research, and with good reason. If they really have the breakthrough they describe, nuclear fusion could be just a decade away. Finally, clean (certainly no less clean than coal or oil or fission), renewable energy that can be pulled from some of the most abundant materials on the planet. And once the first step is done, it’s only a matter of time before aneutronic fusion (fusion that doesn’t produce as much irradiating neutrons) is nigh-commonplace.
But I wouldn’t be writing about it on a critical blog if I didn’t have a caveat to discuss, and it’s this:
There hasn’t been a “breakthrough” until we have a working prototype.
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I must admit to a bit of hyperbole here. Of course the wealthy matter. It’s true that they invest the money, and they do in fact buy expensive things and lots of them (go look up just how many celebrities buy a massive lot for their family compounds–and all the surrounding lots plus houses that sit empty, for privacy).
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Looking back through many (admittedly subject-oriented and therefore somewhat biased by necessity) lists of quotations on the subject of work reveals an interesting trend: until roundabout the mid-twentieth-century, one of the most consistent predictions about the future of Western Culture included a diminishing work-week.
Before and After are my paired anime review articles, one after episode 1 and one after the final episode, possibly of a season but more likely after an entire series, or if drop it. Look back here after a few months for my final opinion!
Chaika the Coffin Princess was one of my favorite series from a couple of seasons ago, with an interesting mystery plot, fun characters, and car references out the wazoo. Season 2, Avenging Battle, is airing now, and I’m already back in.
There is a considerable body of philosophy–such as it is–that begins with the assumption that any form of government seizure of personal wealth is morally wrong and is a violation of rights. This might bring to mind the libertarian movement, but I want to specifically state right now that I in no manner intend to disparage libertarianism. I believe there is a great deal to learn from that philosophy, though like every philosophical framework I have encountered, it is perhaps not as strictly catholic (read: universal) as they might assume.
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Today I read a very interesting article about basic income by libertarian philosopher and essayist Matt Zwolinski, writing for the Cato Unbound journal. I know nothing else about him or his writings, and he hasn’t the slightest idea I exist and I encourage you not to assign any praise or condemnation for my ideas to him. I just read his article.
Thought I’d share a tip regarding one of my pet peeves, often found in fanfiction but not exclusively so. It’s this: eyes, though spherical, should never be replaced by orbs. I’ll give you an example:
“His emerald green orbs shone like gemstones.”
First of all, unless he’s holding a two or more spherical pieces of chromium-doped beryl, this sentence is wrong at best and jarringly so at worst. For one thing, only part of the eye (the iris) is colored green. The rest is, in a healthy eye, white sclera. The exception is for alien or otherwise non-baseline-human characters which might actually have eyes that are fully colored. Otherwise you get into purple prose.
Purple prose, for the uninitiated, is what happens when you decide that language is good for its own sake and not a means of communication. That isn’t to say that phraseology cannot be used to good effect: Adams and Wolfe and Michener and Stross and Rajaniemi wouldn’t be nearly as interesting as they are without their particular patterns and choice of vocabulary (in order: humorous, grandfatherly, didactic, technical, and WOAH).
However, I draw the line when I stop being able to understand who is talking, what they’re talking about, or what any of it has to do with anything else. The biggest offenders I have encountered (based on what little I could stomach) are Hawthorne and Pynchon. The Scarlet Letter, if my high-school memory does not deceive me, goes on for a while about trees before it settles into anything approaching the plot. Gravity’s Rainbow is so frustratingly thick that I can hardly call it literature. Much of the first few pages is dedicated to bananas and the preparation thereof–at least, that’s what I remember; it’s difficult to learn anything from that pile of vocabu-vomit–even though the story is about spies in World War II-era England, going after the V2.
The point of all this is: unless you’re good enough with the rules to know when and how to break them, stick with simple words in simple sentences. This is true of many things–for example, for my fellow My Little Pony fans, there is “lavender unicorn syndrome”. Lavender she may be, but just call her by her name. Pronouns are acceptable.
Call things what they are. If you’re referring to a character’s eyes as orbs, they should be holding them in their hand and playing peek-a-boo with themselves.
Corrective Bloggening 