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Thursday, May 31. 2012

Sowell: ‘Meaningful Work’ - Elites harm low-income people and society by denigrating “menial” work.

Your Tax Dollars at Work… Planned Parenthood Releases Ad Bashing Romney

Can they do that?

CTA Encourages Teachers to Use Classrooms to Promote Political Agenda

Can they do that?

UN update:

Robert Mugabe, and his Zambian sidekick, Michael Sata, have been appointed United Nations international tourism ambassadors in recognition of the promotion and development of tourism.

Re Mormons: Acceptable religious bigotry

How come Obama's drug abuse history isn't worth reporting?

Driscoll: Time Magazine Didn’t Compare Obama to FDR for Nothing

Earth Summit? What Earth Summit?

Barrett Can't Name One Policy He'd Pursue to Create Jobs in Wisconsin

Greece should try Communism

Klaus:

To sum up my simple message: Empirical data are important; scientific discoveries are important; the disclosure of malpractices in the IPCC and other “bastions” of the global-warming debate are important; but we have to take part in the undergoing ideological battle. The subtitle of my five-year-old book is What is Endangered: Climate or Freedom? There is no doubt that it is all about freedom.

The risks of Obama’s contemplated brass knuckles campaign

Unions "protect" workers all the way to the unemployment line.

Colleges' Shady Deals With Banks Stack Big Fees on Students' Aid

Spengler: Lessons from Europe’s Winners and Losers

Chicago's murder rate mirrors war zone, federal data shows

Christians Should "Convert, Pay Tribute, or Leave," Says Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Candidate?

End Handouts for Illegals - The IRS is failing to stop rampant abuse of the child tax credit.

Israeli researchers find American Indians with Jewish genetic markers: report

Barack Obama—Friend of Jews, Scholar of Judaism

Poll: Majority Of Voters Think Legal System Increases Cost Of Health Care

Leavitt: Huge Changes Ahead For Healthcare, ‘Obamacare’ Or Not

Picking seniors’ pockets - AARP doesn’t care about elderly members

Muslim Child-Rape Gangs in Britain

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:22 | Comments (25) | Trackbacks (0)

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Bird Dog: How come Obama's drug abuse history isn't worth reporting?

It has been reported. Obama wrote about it in his autobiography. People have already made up their minds. Perhaps it's the concept of "news" that is confusing you.

#1 Zachriel on 2012-05-31 08:14 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Thomas Sowell: Does anyone imagine that firemen enjoy going into burning homes and buildings to rescue people trapped by the flames? That soldiers going into combat think it is fun?

Sowell is confused on the distinction between meaningfulness and enjoyment, which helps explain a lot of his other comments.

QUOTE:

Thomas Sowell: The lack of realism among many highly educated people has been demonstrated in many ways. When I saw signs in Yellowstone National Park warning visitors not to get too close to a buffalo, I realized that this was a warning that no illiterate farmer of a bygone century would have needed.

That doesn't have to do with being highly educated, but lack of experience with animals. Urban people who visit a wilderness area may be unaware of the dangers involved, especially if they are young and silly.

QUOTE:

Thomas Sowell: At the very least, many intellectuals do not want the poor or the young to have to take “menial” jobs.

"Many"? Most "intellectuals" realize the importance of developing a work ethic, but most don't want their children stuck in dead-end jobs, and hope their children will continue their education. Education is sort of the whole key to the "intellectual" thingy.

#2 Zachriel on 2012-05-31 08:26 (Reply)

I'm curious about your definition of "dead-end jobs". Would flipping hamburgers qualify? That's what the CEO of McDonalds did when he started with the company.

On a different note, how about a janitor? It's an important job and one that is a good job for some and that some actually enjoy.

Maybe a college professor who hands out Bs and As while he collects a six figure salary is a meaningful job.

#2.1 mudbug on 2012-05-31 08:56 (Reply)

I suspect many a professor finds himself in a dead end job. Nothing changes, same routine, unable to break with the salary to make a new start.

#2.1.1 JKB on 2012-05-31 09:15 (Reply)

Yeah, I saw that at UCLA when I commanded a ROTC unit in the early '70s. When they'd had a few snorts of my good stuff, the bitterness really came to the surface. And, these guys preceded the vietnam era crowd that infests these places now.

#2.1.1.1 BillH on 2012-05-31 10:23 (Reply)

Googling "meaningful work" is very interesting. Ironically, the first three links are to a self-styled intellectual, Thomas Sowell. The fourth is to Psychology Today, certainly written by a "highly educated" person—a PhD and assistant professor no less. Certainly, nothing less than an egghead. Here's what he writes:

QUOTE:

Michael F. Steger, Ph.D: Three men are found smashing boulders with iron hammers. When asked what they are doing, the first man says, "Breaking big rocks into little rocks." The second man says, "Feeding my family." The third man says, "Building a cathedral."

Today's column focuses on the third man, the one who saw each hammer blow as contributing to the construction of a cathedral, a home for human dreams and sacred aspirations. To many of us who study and consult in occupational and organizational contexts, we would call what this third man does meaningful work.

What an egghead. He'll probably get run over by a buffalo one day.

#2.1.2 Zachriel on 2012-05-31 11:11 (Reply)

Most people are the #2 slot. "Feeding my family". Maybe not so different from building the cathedral, meaning-wise.

I don't know if Mr. Steger claims the facility, but I'm skeptical he or any bunch of eggheads is competent to determine whether or not work is "meaningful" to the worker.

And why must it be Chock Full 'O Meaning?

For a lot of people I know, a job is and will forever remain a necessary evil that is endured for the sake of casual fly fishing, and that won't change until you can get a job fly fishing, casually.

#2.1.2.1 T.K. Tortch on 2012-05-31 12:09 (Reply)

Sorry but you it takes a special level of education to think you can approach a large animal and not provoke a defensive response. Okay, 3 yr olds might do it as well.

I knew a woman once who was doing her Master's thesis on Monk seals. She was out on the remote islands with a group of the other seal muggers, I mean, researchers doing tagging. They throw a net over and jump on top of a seal basking in the sun and give it a force piercing. Well, she was astride this lovely creature when it got its head around and bit her. She related to me, that at that point she realized, hey, this is a wild animal. Apparently, it being an animal of no domestic value and they being in the idyllic, though bird poop covered, wild wasn't enough to make the connection. I didn't have the heart to tell her that if you jumped on the friendliest dog known to man like that, he'd bite your a.. just like the seal did.

#2.2 JKB on 2012-05-31 09:33 (Reply)

Sowell is confused on the distinction between meaningfulness and enjoyment, which helps explain a lot of his other comments.

Well Zach, why don't you tell us what the distinction is, in the context of "meaningful work", why it matters, and how Mr. Sowell's confusion over the matter has misdirected him.

You could go further and tell us if you know what "meaningful work" is.

I guess that would be for yourself. Might also be interesting to know how you can tell whether somebody else's job is "meaningful".

#2.3 T.K. Tortch on 2012-05-31 11:34 (Reply)

Thought Steger's comment explained the difference. Meaningfulness is what people attach to things, and people vary. However, most people—even "intellectuals"—consider saving lives, such as a firefighter, to be meaningful.

#2.3.1 Zachriel on 2012-05-31 11:51 (Reply)

Zach, you seem to be buying into the conventional wisdon on this subject. I recently watched a video with the guy from "Dirty Jobs" talking about meaningful work in this way. Take a listen and tell me he is not correct.

http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.html I tried to hyperling this but kept getting kicked out by the spam filter.

#2.4 BrianInWisconsin on 2012-05-31 12:40 (Reply)

BrianinWisconsin: you seem to be buying into the conventional wisdon on this subject.

You would have to define the conventional wisdom in order to respond. The video is 20 minutes long, but let's go with the assumption that he considers dirty jobs to be important and essential, and therefore meaningful.

Not sure why the story of the three rock smashers hasn't clarified our position. Meaningfulness is subjective. The reason why Sowell missed the mark was because he was saying "intellectuals" or "highly educated" people don't think firefighting is meaningful, and that is generally not the case.

On the other hand, a factory worker might want their child to have a better life and see education as the key to that better future, while an intellectual might expect their children to take up the family business, which means higher education.

Sure, some people think manual work is not meaningful, but it's not just intellectuals or the educated who think so.

#2.4.1 Zachriel on 2012-05-31 19:15 (Reply)

Zac, the point of the video was that the speaker was surprised at the level of happiness and job satisfaction he found among the dirty jobs labor force. You would have picked that up in the first few minutes, about the time it took you to respond to this post. Sorry to have wasted your time.

#2.4.1.1 BrianInWisconsin on 2012-05-31 22:41 (Reply)

BrianInWisconsin: the point of the video was that the speaker was surprised at the level of happiness and job satisfaction he found among the dirty jobs labor force.

Yes, many of the workers consider them so. Look again at the example of the stone smashers.

Now consider a farmer. He wants his son to take over the family business. So what does he do? He teaches the kid the job, including the dirty jobs, then he sends him to agricultural college, then maybe an MBA, because today's farm is not your grandfather's farm.

Let's return to the original point. Sowell sets up a strawman by taking the most extreme views within a group as representative of the group.

#2.4.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2012-06-01 07:10 (Reply)

Re: AARP

Thankfully, there are many competing organizations such as the American Seniors Assn. It's Pro Second Amendment - pro Constitution, really - anti Obammacare, pro Tea Party, etc. (http://www.americanseniors.org/index.php/home)

#3 mudbug on 2012-05-31 09:00 (Reply)

Planned Parenthood - making life possible for slutty poor girls since 1966

#4 JKB on 2012-05-31 09:09 (Reply)

Zach reminds me of some commenters at the late lamented Don Surber blog--deliberately obtuse and full of talking points.
What we're complaining about, Zach, is that the media may report something about The Won, but eschew the full-bore colonoscopy they perform on Republicans. Capish?

CTA--They can, they will, and the CA gummint won't bat an eye.

It's OK to bash Mormons, because they won't bash back. This is soooooooooo tolerant.

Brass-knuckle campaigning, or why is Obama liked: Is he likeable? Not to me, but that's OK. My take on the question is--is he liked, or is it that people want to like him, think they should like him, or just deny that they don't like him?

Jewish gene found in American Indians? Proof positive that Jews can't take over the world!

AARP--They don't have my interests at heart. I got signed up, but I learned. Old dogs DO learn new tricks, or to identify those who would trick them.

#5 Sam L. on 2012-05-31 10:08 (Reply)

With all due respect SamL, your first line needs correcting:

Zach reminds me of some commenters at the late lamented Don Surber blog--deliberately obtuse and full of talking points themselves.

#5.1 BillH on 2012-05-31 12:35 (Reply)

Zach=daveyboy?

Rule #1. Never feed the troll.
Rule #2. Find the scroll keys on your keyboard and use them.

#5.2 Agent Cooper on 2012-05-31 13:31 (Reply)

Zach: get a life, get a job, research, research, research. You have potential.

#6 jma on 2012-05-31 13:31 (Reply)

JKB ... Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger back in the twenties or thirties. It was fully functional and acting as a birth control provider when I was in college in the last half of the 1940s. I know because I took advantage of their services when I was in college, and I graduated in 1951. I think you may be suffering from the common illness we all have in thinking the world began the day we were born, and it was perfect then and we want it to stay just that way.

Naturally, it won't.

Marianne

#7 Marianne Matthews on 2012-05-31 15:57 (Reply)

Marianne, I actually stole that line from an up an coming comedienne. The girl who did the Ivy League Hustle (I went to Princeton, B...) video. I don't know why she picked 1966.

I just thought it was a very clear observation. She also said the Germans call the Pill, the anti-baby pill. I like that, very to the point. As in, Obamacare requires religious organizations to provide free anti-baby medications and treatments.

#7.1 JKB on 2012-05-31 22:54 (Reply)

As far as Muslim child rape gangs are concerned, it's not even surprising. After all, their "instruction manual", otherwise known as the Koran, tells them that they can do anything they want to to 'Infidels' [that's everyone who isn't a practicing Muslim, folks, like you and me] to get back on the good side of faithful Muslims. How do we know this? The Koran, and Mohammed, tells us so. If you don't believe me, look it up. And before you mention "moderate Muslims," I've been waiting since 2004 for some moderate Muslims to surface and protest against their more violent brethren, as members of the Western religions sometimes do to their more extreme religious brethren. So far, none have showed up.

Marianne

#8 Marianne Matthews on 2012-05-31 16:08 (Reply)

Thank you, Marianne. I believe the issue here that goes unstated is the arrival of "post-Christianity" in Europe. I have been laboring this point to death.The Brits abandoned Christianity. Just remember what paradise is in Islam. And love in Islam? It's not exactly C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves. Don't even get me started. This whole thing just reeks of moral bankruptcy. And isn't it interesting how this hasn't gotten any play over here?

#8.1 citizenofliberty on 2012-05-31 17:12 (Reply)

Agent Cooper, could also be mounties.

#9 Sam L. on 2012-05-31 23:59 (Reply)

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Thursday, May 31. 2012

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