[ SECRET POST #3184 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3184 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[cards against humanity]


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03.
[Star Trek: The Next Generation]


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04.
[Spongebob Squarepants, Squidward]


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05.
[Quantum Vibe]


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06. [whoa huge]

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07.
[Until Dawn]


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08.
[Turn]


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09.
[Valhalla Rising/Mads Mikkelsen]


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10.
[Person of Interest]


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11.
[Mark Millar]









Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #455.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. http://i.imgur.com/ihrl3gT.jpg
[Quantum Vibe]

[(Anonymous)]

If they were capable of subtlety and appreciating nuance, would they be Libertarians, tho?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I nearly sporfled my drink. TU anon. X-D

[(Anonymous)]

lol

[dreemyweird]

I am impressed by how cringeworthy this panel alone is. This is astounding. I don't know the context, I don't know the comic, I haven't even read Atlas Shrugged (though heard enough about it to not want to read it), but I looked at this panel and got a toothache.

Also, is there some specific particularly cringeworthy Western subset of Libertarian literature? I mean, Libertarianism is basically anything from anarchy to laissez-faire advocates. That's a pretty broad category of writers and thinkers.

[(Anonymous)]

Also, is there some specific particularly cringeworthy Western subset of Libertarian literature?

Yeah. It's tricky, because libertarianism can mean all of those things, but in usage - and especially in American usage - it's a much more specific ideological package. With still a certain amount of range (between Randian Objectivism and an almost hippie-ish emphasis on freedom and self-reliance, for instance) but still much more coherent and specific.

[dreemyweird]

I suspected something of the sort. Thanks for the clarification!

OP

[(Anonymous)]

No idea, but the website in question tends to produce a lot of Libertarian comics, some of which are more absurdly done than others, and they all essentially propagandize the gold = good, individualism = TEH BEST!!!111onone, and GUBBAMINT BAAAAAAAAAHD party line.

I have seen maybe exactly one Libertarian who realized that civil liberties make them good common-causers with the moderate left; the rest of them basically gulped down the Ayn Rand Kool-Aid a long time ago.

[feotakahari]

Hmm . . . Is John Ringo a Libertarian or a Republican? He's pretty much what I think of when I think of bad Libertarian writers. They're the folks who write exactly three types of characters:

1): Rude, crude jerks whose sole motivation is personal gain. They rarely lie or manipulate others, and that's supposed to make them sympathetic. They're the protagonists.

2): Manipulative shits who claim power over others to exploit them. They pretend to care for everyone and want to help everyone, but they really only care about themselves. These are the antagonists

3): People who actually want to work together and help others. Every single one of them is stupid and gullible and doesn't realize the bad guys are exploiting them. They tend to be the only pacifists in the story.

[(Anonymous)]

I think Ringo's just a conservative.

The ur-text of libertarian fiction - actually, the ur-text of libertarian fiction is always going to be Atlas Shrugged, but the ur-text of modern science fiction oriented libertarian fiction is definitely L. Neil Smith's The Probability Broach.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

... which itself caricatures the real-world into some kind of ill-defined statist dystopia whose prime directive seems to be interfering in people's lives as much as possible.

No coincidence the same website also produced that book as a comic.

[raspberryrain]

The USA is pretty libertarian to begin with, so someone who identifies as "Libertarian" in the USA is often a little goofy.

Several years ago, the cartoonist Barry Deutsch did this cartoon about the "24 types of libertarian": http://leftycartoons.com/2010/06/29/the-24-types-of-libertarian/

Looking it up just now, I noticed there are at least three different attempts to counter it, made by various "libertarians" and right-wingers, which just take his art and add new words. I just found one being advertised as a mousepad, which seems unethical. Reading those can give you an idea how different political groups in the USA see each other, but it's pretty frightening how bad the caricatures get.

Um, OK, I'll link this "response," which gives an idea how "anti-government" "libertarians" see, well, everybody else:
http://jimbovard.com/blog/2010/07/12/davi-barker-a-libertarian-rebuttal-24-types-of-authoritarian/

[dethtoll]

The amount of effort Libertarians put into worshipping Ayn Rand is really really funny, because she wasn't a big fan of libertarianism, decrying it as little better than anarchism.

Personally, I dislike both. Libertarianism is a pipe dream, and Ayn Rand is the Sociopath Fairy.

[(Anonymous)]

I get the impression that Ayn Rand dislikes anyone who isn't Ayn Rand.

[dethtoll]

Hence she's the Sociopath Fairy.

[(Anonymous)]

Aaargh, looks like the art took a nosedive, too. Darn it, I had such high hopes for this series...

[(Anonymous)]

I don't even know what this comic is, and that is one of the cringiest things I have ever seen.

You can just tell the next fifty or so pages are going to be nothing but author soapboxing.

[feotakahari]

Someone ought to introduce these writers to the concept of ketman: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2004/08/the_captive_mind_now.html

[(Anonymous)]

This is a really bizarre post for several reasons

But mostly, are you saying that ketman is a good thing which these writers should do

[feotakahari]

I'm saying they should learn how to write characters who practice ketman in totalitarian societies, rather than characters who broadcast their defiance in ways that would get them executed in a real dictatorship.

[(Anonymous)]

If they were in an actual totalitarian society like they think they are, they'd shit themselves.

[(Anonymous)]

Libertarians should just stop writing

[feotakahari]

Corey Doctorow hasn't done anything too bad, has he?