tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post594448043716584489..comments2023-10-31T05:03:38.910-07:00Comments on Letters from a broad...: Earning admiration in today's worldC. L. Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-90160384508904193242007-10-25T00:48:00.000-07:002007-10-25T00:48:00.000-07:00Hey Wayne!!!I think so too. It's not surprising y...Hey Wayne!!!<BR/><BR/>I think so too. It's not surprising you missed my point if you already think that frugality (demonstrating you can get by on less) is a quality to be admired. That's basically the point.<BR/><BR/>There was some amusing (LDS-interest) discussion in the comments of <A HREF="http://notapostate.blogspot.com/2007/08/where-is-church.html" REL="nofollow">this post</A> about how bragging about frugality is a good response to people who brag about money and connections... :DC. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-90728457159258781562007-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:002007-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:00Forgive me if I missed your whole point. I think ...Forgive me if I missed your whole point. I think that frugality is its own status symbol. <BR/><BR/>There are plenty of people who admire those who have kitchen gardens, use bi-cycles to get around and shop at thrift stores. Even people who can afford to just buy everything are frugal.<BR/><BR/>Great Article about western (U.S.) water conservation In the New York Times Sunday magazine. I would have provided a link but can't figure it out.beatdadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05497471619358149692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-43504250502451952182007-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:002007-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:00Hey MXRacer652!!!L.A. is well known as an extreme ...Hey MXRacer652!!!<BR/><BR/>L.A. is well known as an extreme case of sprawl. I think one of the problems for Americans is that they've never even seen -- much less lived in -- a walkable urban area with interesting character-filled public spaces. So they don't miss what they've never had. If all you know is cookie-cutter, then unfortunately your ideas for improvement start to run in directions like "bigger cookie-cutter"...C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-29335122022283716212007-10-22T06:45:00.000-07:002007-10-22T06:45:00.000-07:00Good post timing, I was in LA & surrounding again ...Good post timing, I was in LA & surrounding again last week, and my boss & I were talking about how the entire place is a characterless shithole. <BR/><BR/>I'd like to think it's a CA thing, but every cookie cutter housing plan is no different, whether they're McMansions or $100k units.<BR/><BR/>Most Americans just don't have taste, period.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-74536559681904597182007-10-22T02:34:00.000-07:002007-10-22T02:34:00.000-07:00Thanks Lynet!!! :DThanks Lynet!!! :DC. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-34016441648345091312007-10-22T00:54:00.000-07:002007-10-22T00:54:00.000-07:00There are some really sharp points in this. Thank...There are some really sharp points in this. Thank you :)Lynethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357023675142716573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-31261107005574171662007-10-19T22:52:00.000-07:002007-10-19T22:52:00.000-07:00Hey Mathmom!!!I don't mean to say that virtue shou...Hey Mathmom!!!<BR/><BR/>I don't mean to say that virtue should be inspired by desire to be admired. Sometimes it is, and sometimes a virtuous person (who is necessarily seeking admiration) is nonetheless admired and inspires virtue in others. I meant that virtue is ideally inspired by the (internal) sentiment that virtuous actions are inherently valuable and useful.<BR/><BR/>It's not surprising I was less than clear, though, since I was trying to make a parallel with personal achievement as well as with wealth status, while making a whole bunch of other points. Actually I'd been planning this essay for months (years, really), and it has taken me this long to get it even as clearly expressed as it is... ;^)C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-29341520617230928632007-10-19T18:39:00.000-07:002007-10-19T18:39:00.000-07:00This is a very interesting article, and I'm still ...This is a very interesting article, and I'm still trying to work out how I feel about it. Some makes very good sense, like encouraging choice of things that are finer instead of bigger. <BR/><BR/>I think I am reading that you say that people choose to be virtuous in order to be admired (I may have misunderstood your argument). I think that it is useful to try to capitalize on the "virtue of the moment" (in this case, conservation) but I don't think that this technique is helpful for the long run. Some of the changes we need to make for survival involve what we choose to do when no one can see us, for instance, and seeking status won't change those choices. Also, who knows what the next status-giving fad will bring? North Carolina's motto, "Esse quam videri" (to be, rather than to seem) has some bearing on this, I think.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, expecting people to seek virtue for virtue's sake hasn't exactly given great results. However, it is still what I expect from myself and what I am teaching my children.mathmomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07887205622583099966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-36676001801190303902007-10-19T05:05:00.000-07:002007-10-19T05:05:00.000-07:00That's the spirit!!! ;^)That's the spirit!!! ;^)C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-45655135810507761602007-10-19T04:54:00.000-07:002007-10-19T04:54:00.000-07:00I agree & would love to follow your suggestions wh...I agree & would love to follow your suggestions when I win the next HUGE lottery. :)Freckle Face Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13324960438835000817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-52826175943314307822007-10-19T02:50:00.000-07:002007-10-19T02:50:00.000-07:00Hey Aerin!!!It's true each person has a lot of com...Hey Aerin!!!<BR/><BR/>It's true each person has a lot of complex decisions to make even after choosing to make planning for the future a priority. That's one reason to reject simplistic sound-byte thinking (such as the fall of communism demonstrating that the most extreme form of unregulated capitalism must be the best).<BR/><BR/>Hey John!!!<BR/><BR/>I'm not a huge fan of choosing wealth as a goal, but I wouldn't begrudge people some luxury -- and even the pleasure of being snobbish about it -- if it's not wasteful. If being a chocolate conisseur is the "in" thing, then good. I don't want to eat a bar of 80% cacao either ;^) but to each his own. It's actually possible to buy 80% cacao gourmet chocolate with the stamp of approval from a "fair trade" organization on it (eg. purchased from farmers' organizations that assure a living wage and sustainable farming techniques). If that's how you're showing off your class, then more power to you.<BR/><BR/>Regarding S.U.V.s: I don't have a link handy, but I've seen research that shows that -- counterintuitively -- they're less safe statistically than many smaller cars <I>even for their own drivers and passengers</I>. A sporty small car typically has better handling, so even though the sporty car is the loser if the two have a head-on collision, a more common collision scenario is that the sporty car is able to maneuver out of danger while the S.U.V. ends up careening into something bigger, such as another S.U.V. So everyone is less safe with those things on the road.C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-87023366093353348522007-10-18T17:09:00.000-07:002007-10-18T17:09:00.000-07:00I like where your head's at. I don't disagree wit...I like where your head's at. I don't disagree with capitalism at all; in fact, I thrive because I work in an industry that supports it.<BR/><BR/>I also like your ideas on finer versus bigger. It used to be (or so it seems to me) that people had some "class" in the way that they presented their best. You brought out that great old bottle of wine to celebrate something. It seems now that a whole county's worth of ecology has to suffer in order to celebrate a sweet sixteen.<BR/><BR/>There is also, I believe, a ludicrous obsession with luxury lately. <I>Everyone</I>, it seems, is a connoisseur. Even about chocolate. Now the chocolate percentage has to be printed on the front of a fine chocolate in order to sell. I don't want to measure the chocolate, I just want to f***ing <I>eat</I> the chocolate! It'll taste good because I looked for what I like, not because it's 80% cacao (which I think is horrendously bitter, but I'm deviating from the point). <BR/><BR/>I think that disparity today comes in a large way from waste, and like you said, luxury by numbers. We really don't need to use up so much just because we can.<BR/><BR/>Aerin:<BR/>Speaking of SUV's and safety, I read somewhere that SUV's are safer for the <I>driver</I>, but not necessarily for the operator of a <I>compact</I> that collides with it. The glut of SUV's has raised the bar of safety (almost literally) because you have to have an SUV to survive a collision with one.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15624261037800893086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-26309952458046019212007-10-18T09:03:00.000-07:002007-10-18T09:03:00.000-07:00I agree. This middle of the way philosphy doesn't...I agree. This middle of the way philosphy doesn't seem to go to unreasonable extremes - providing for the typical downsides to communism or unregulated capitalism. <BR/><BR/>What's sad is that some of these philosphies (in the past) were automatically labeled and dismissed by politicians and pundits. It's unfortunate, because I think people listened to the sound bytes instead of really thinking about what they value.<BR/><BR/>With that said, safety and education are also important factors in status - particularly when children are involved. Both are in the eye of the beholder - is an SUV really safer than a sedan? Who gets to decide this? Does a parent put their child "at risk" by driving something like other than an SUV because it's better for the environment? <BR/><BR/>I think it all depends on choices - do you stay in the city where the education may not be as good (if you don't live in France :))? Do you move to the suburbs where you have to drive everywhere but the schools are better? <BR/><BR/>Not that I'm a big fan of tax cuts or rebates for everything, but it seems like recently that's been the US government's way of encouraging citizens to make better, more sustainable choices. I think the more of that, the better.Aerinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142518259771067132noreply@blogger.com