4 ms·

I’m not sure what I just read, but it was awesome.

SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
My guess is, an allegory about how the USA could conceivably (but most likely won't) address its problem with mass shootings.
- wodenokoto 4y ago
  By using bows!
  - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
    A bow and silver-tipped arrow is a less-effective silver bullet. but is a) better than nothing, so is useful a a defence against werewolves, and b) also useful as proof of concept that demonstrates that silver bullets would be even better. If there is an analogy, it would be, as in the last para of the article: "(some gun control) is probably not as powerful as a real (effective gun control, like nearly every other developed country has) would be, but it's way easier to make on short notice, or by a single person (US state). Sometimes you need to stop overthinking everything and just try an idea and see if it works." This all supposes that people would see that the idea works, understand something that they did not before, and change their minds; which I find overly charitable as applied to real-world problems. Dogma, propaganda and wilful blindness to facts known already plays a huge role.
- lockhouse 4y ago
  Clearly that town needs more werewolf free zones.
- gwern 4y ago
  No. It's an allegory about housing costs and Georgism. The author has been advocating for Georgism for a while. (You might understandably not know that or the background, but also note the 'smart mixed use' shot, which would make no sense in a gun-control allegory, or describing advocates for land-value tax as a 'few cranks' - clearly not true of gun control advocacy, where that's practically the majority position - the shots at environmental review, willful denial of supply-and-demand, blaming it on people 'moving in', etc.)
  - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
    Ok. It seems to work reasonably well for other subjects too. And the whole "werewolves killing people" thing makes me think more of killings than of housing.
  - AtlasBarfed 4y ago
    Unfortunately, the allegory has a very concrete end result to test: dead werewolves. Housing fixes everything is a lot more difficult to measure outcomes. Also, killing werewolves increases every existing owner's property values, but increasing housing does not, and should, per economics, tend toward devaluing their precious property values.

My guess is, an allegory about how the USA could conceivably (but most likely won't) address its problem with mass shootings.

wodenokoto 4y ago
By using bows!
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
  A bow and silver-tipped arrow is a less-effective silver bullet. but is a) better than nothing, so is useful a a defence against werewolves, and b) also useful as proof of concept that demonstrates that silver bullets would be even better. If there is an analogy, it would be, as in the last para of the article: "(some gun control) is probably not as powerful as a real (effective gun control, like nearly every other developed country has) would be, but it's way easier to make on short notice, or by a single person (US state). Sometimes you need to stop overthinking everything and just try an idea and see if it works." This all supposes that people would see that the idea works, understand something that they did not before, and change their minds; which I find overly charitable as applied to real-world problems. Dogma, propaganda and wilful blindness to facts known already plays a huge role.
lockhouse 4y ago
Clearly that town needs more werewolf free zones.
gwern 4y ago
No. It's an allegory about housing costs and Georgism. The author has been advocating for Georgism for a while. (You might understandably not know that or the background, but also note the 'smart mixed use' shot, which would make no sense in a gun-control allegory, or describing advocates for land-value tax as a 'few cranks' - clearly not true of gun control advocacy, where that's practically the majority position - the shots at environmental review, willful denial of supply-and-demand, blaming it on people 'moving in', etc.)
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
  Ok. It seems to work reasonably well for other subjects too. And the whole "werewolves killing people" thing makes me think more of killings than of housing.
- AtlasBarfed 4y ago
  Unfortunately, the allegory has a very concrete end result to test: dead werewolves. Housing fixes everything is a lot more difficult to measure outcomes. Also, killing werewolves increases every existing owner's property values, but increasing housing does not, and should, per economics, tend toward devaluing their precious property values.