You know what peeves me? I mean, besides libertarianism, orange stuff that claims to be “cheese,” misplaced punctuations, and the inability to drop a draft diary into a group queue so that my betters can edit it for me? Besides those things, what really peeves me is that there is not a user here with the name Little Ann.
More on this in a second, but first, the obligatory word from our betters who could help me edit if I could save to the Top Comments queue sponsors:
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Eight years ago today, I became yet another minion here at the Great Orange Satan. It was primary season, of course, and although I’d lurked a bit here and commented on other sites, I didn’t have one home when it came to politics. But I really wanted to talk politics all day long so I finally decided to join the site.
My first choice of username was “Little Ann” and I really wanted that name, but nope. That username was taken.
Fine. I’ll be “BoiseChick” instead. Nope, that’s also taken, they said.
I tried a few other variations that I can’t recall now, then I finally tried “BoiseBlue” and voila! Here I am.
I jumped right into commenting, then several months later wondered who these users were that had already taken the names that I had wanted. So I ran a search, and what did I find? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
THERE IS NO ONE HERE WHO GOES BY LITTLE ANN.
Or BoiseChick, for that matter. But I’m mostly annoyed that they said Little Ann was taken when it was, in fact, not.
But for good or ill, I’ve been BoiseBlue for exactly eight years now, and while it’s not my favorite moniker, it has stuck and even a few people IRL call me “BB” on occasion. It’s just another nickname I have. My first nickname will always be “Little Ann” (which is itself also just a variation of another nickname), and BB will be another nickname that will stay with me until one night in the future when I get really drunk and flame out over circumcisions or chemtrails or GODDAMNIT WHY DON’T YOU LIKE MY EFFIN’ CANDIDATE, YOU INGRATE!
Rest assured that if that ever happens, I will return as Little Ann.
Now, on to the important stuff!
Submitted by me:
From akadjian’s diary, this comment by the author is a great outline of how to talk to people about the “free market”:
“So here’s how to reach people you never thought you could reach. Talk about what happens when companies exist solely for shareholder profit. This idea, btw, is relatively new. It started in the ‘70s. And Jack Welch — yeah, that Jack Welch — even called this the dumbest idea in the world.
I think people get that laissez-faire capitalism is a problem. Or at least, as you mention, they’re starting to get this. They see the inequality and the poverty it creates. We absolutely need to keep this up. The next step though is to help them envision what better alternatives might look like. Because otherwise, corporate special interests will just continue to sell them on this idea that “freeing” the markets will somehow solve everything.
Arguing with people does no good. They dig in. You dig in. No one learns anything. One of the things you can do, however, is to ask them how a “free” market would solve something. One thing I like to do is ask them if they agree with monopolies. No one does. We’ve all learned monopolies are bad. Then I ask them how a “free” market would break-up a monopoly. They can’t tell you. Because it can’t. Or, how would a “free” market prevent child labor. It wouldn’t. Or human trafficking. It doesn’t. What markets do is put a price on things. They don’t solve social issues. And, when incentives are wrong, they can lead to horrible results — what we’re seeing with economic inequality.
Clearly then, we create markets. And we can do it in any way we want.
Then I start asking these types of questions. What would companies look like if they were run for the public good? What if companies had democratic checks and balances? What if companies existed for other purposes than providing “returns” to primarily a small group of wealthy investors? What if we, the people, could revoke a corporate charter if companies behaved badly?
I’m often accused of being “nice” in my discussions. Nice has nothing to do with it. This is simply how you teach people. You have to find ways of opening their minds and leading them to better beliefs about what markets can be. “
From Scoop8282’s diary, this comment by Centurion made me laugh:
You missed the worst of the bunch, which would be Huckabee. Huck seems like the kind of boss that would put limitations on your personal life. Like, he would have plants in bars in the city and if you are spotted drinking, he’d demote you to a fate worse than being fired.
No joke, I’d love to work with Rand Paul, but only because it would be an adventure every day. Like, one day we’re just doing paperwork, and the next I’m getting a phone call to drive a random package to Tijuana.
Top Mojo: