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It's too bad that Scott Adams has no idea what he's talking about. What makes him think that A: The youth of today agree with how things are going B: They are

It's too bad that Scott Adams has no idea what he's talking about. What makes him think that A: The youth of today agree with how things are going B: They are NOT trying to change things C: The people in charge ARE NOT trying to maintain the status quo. It's not so simple as just using a gun or muscle is it? We have laws, ones to do with economics and even criminality that can keep the youths marginalized. The older generation run the companies that pick and choose who to hire. In general, the real power of society is with the old. I don't even see the middle-class (and old) majority having much sway over the rich who control politics in so many senses. Business interests have squelched a lot of progress for the current and last generation. I find that Adams is pretty aloof to these sorts of ideas. He also seems to be recommending a revolution of sorts. "Society's founding geniuses engineered a social system that encourages the young people who have guns to shoot at each other instead of robbing old people. Forgive me for calling that awesome." I'm not sure if this is a racially motivated statement. It's also interesting how he uses "smarts" as a term when "manipulation" and "control" would do better to describe the way society works. I'm guessing he's a hard-core Rand follower. Great.

astine 16y ago
When he talks about "young people with guns" I think that he is talking about the US military. I don't know if I agree with him, but I'm positive his statements aren't racially motivated. I'm also positive that this has nothing to do with Randianism.
m0nty 16y ago
The key quotation from this piece is "the most important function of human language is to protect the smart from the strong". He's talking (in a very tongue-in-cheek manner) about how ethics very often override self-interest. Seriously, I think you're over-analyzing.
lvecsey 16y ago
That quote or statement just shows that an individual living a "thug life" or succumbing to the tremendous peer pressure of youth basically is completely out of touch with the larger mechanics at play, such as congressional decisions and corporatocracy. "One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country." That's a quote dug up from a (spam?) comment, article or forwarding at reddit. I agree about the manipulation and control terminology, to a point. Perhaps some people consider that "smarts" but mostly I reserve "smarts" to be a term for people sort of half way in and half way out of the system. It's a compromise of sorts to be nimble and not get run over. The cumulative effect of that might still be bad, though.

astine 16y ago

When he talks about "young people with guns" I think that he is talking about the US military. I don't know if I agree with him, but I'm positive his statements aren't racially motivated. I'm also positive that this has nothing to do with Randianism.

m0nty 16y ago

The key quotation from this piece is "the most important function of human language is to protect the smart from the strong". He's talking (in a very tongue-in-cheek manner) about how ethics very often override self-interest. Seriously, I think you're over-analyzing.

lvecsey 16y ago

That quote or statement just shows that an individual living a "thug life" or succumbing to the tremendous peer pressure of youth basically is completely out of touch with the larger mechanics at play, such as congressional decisions and corporatocracy. "One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country." That's a quote dug up from a (spam?) comment, article or forwarding at reddit. I agree about the manipulation and control terminology, to a point. Perhaps some people consider that "smarts" but mostly I reserve "smarts" to be a term for people sort of half way in and half way out of the system. It's a compromise of sorts to be nimble and not get run over. The cumulative effect of that might still be bad, though.