On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 18:12:32 -0600, "HeyBub" <heybub@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Robert wrote:
>> On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 07:49:07 -0600, "HeyBub" <heybub@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>>> Robert wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Am I the only one who noticed that the global warming debate in CLC
>>>> ended when a big cold front hit the central US? :-)
>>>
>>> What debate? There was proselytizing vs greed (I'm on the greed
>>> side).
>>
>> You are saying Scientists are not altruistic? I'm shocked ...
>> shocked, I tell you. Who would sell his soul for $100K per year?
>> Maybe them contractors, but not college educated SCIENTISTS.
>
>No, it's a "mass movement" of the Eric Hoffer variety:
>
>"The history of every millennial movement starts out quietly enough. At
>first only those who have heard voices or received messages by moonbeam
come
>stumbling in through the tent flap. Shortly they are followed by
academics
>who have finally found someone who understands their theories and will
>popularize them. Then, as the crowd swells, come the curious, lost,
>desperate, and heartbroken. Soon follow the peddlers who sell peanuts,
>popcorn, and crackerjacks to the rapt crowd; then the pickpockets,
>hangers-on, con artists, and small-time grifters. In the latter stages
come
>the political entrepreneurs, demagogues always on the lookout for
ready-made
>crowds ripe for the leading. Finally come the lawyers, regulators, and
>venture capitalists to turn it all into an industry. Too bad George
Monbiot
>didn't see which one Al Gore would turn out to be."
>
>http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/01/balis_smog_of_selfdelusion.php
Thanks for the reminder of Eric Hoffer's intelligent writing and insights.
He did not go
to elementary or high school due to blindness, which abated when he was a
teen. He spent
his life as a longshoreman until he was discovered by New York
intelligencia. His central
thesis was that mass movements are rooted in self-hatred, self-doubt, and
insecurity.
He may have been talking about failed programmers who know only scripting
languages.
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