Slashdot has a short review of Paul Graham's Hackers & Painters.
A comment from ESR: “I wrote the intro for Paul's book and he's a good friend of mine. The reviewer is wrong on one point: Paul's politics are not 'conservative' or 'right-wing'. Like me, he is a libertarian who stands outside the left/right spectrum and wants as little as possible to do with those who inhabit it.”
These are the risks of reading Slashdot.
Posted by jjwiseman at June 08, 2004 02:19 PMIt seems PG posts there as "bugbear." Who knew?
bugbear: I've never been sure myself whether I was liberal or conservative. I think some things I wouldn't dare say out loud in front of a group of liberals, and others I wouldn't dare say out loud in from of a group of conservatives. It's a tossup which category of thoughts is bigger.
Now reading lemonodor is just as risky.
Posted by: rps on June 9, 2004 03:40 AMESR isn't the sharpest knife in the draw politically. But it's good to know that Paul Graham's idiotic opinions on wealth don't show a flaw in his own individual thinking.
As for lemonodor being risky for libertarians, it's just an exercise in personal freedom. Unlike Lisp and the Internet which were paid for by the military.
Posted by: AC Milan on June 9, 2004 04:43 AMHmm, libertarians aren't right-wing? It takes more than just asserting something to make it so.
Posted by: --- on June 9, 2004 11:28 AMFor things one can't say, there's George Carlin. As someone explained in his forum, George's schtick is toeing the line of what's considered decent, then crossing it.
http://www.humorcafe.com/humor/gems/george_carlin.htm
However, it is unlikely he could make such a speech now, since the goal of a modern satirist is to go as far as possible without getting killed.
The lisp usenet community had such a person, who would tell people to commit suicide and liken SGML to a wunderkind who grew up into a raping, murdering XML.
Posted by: Tayssir John Gabbour on June 10, 2004 07:21 AMWhatever. I have great respect for Paul Graham in the domain of Lisp hackery. Judging from the essays that I've read so far, this does not translate to any particularly compelling insight into social, political, or economic philosophy.
Posted by: jam on June 10, 2004 08:26 PMI don't get it. Being reminded that the left-right spectrum isn't a central part of everyone's worldview is bad?
Well, I have certain prejudices that cause me to enjoy mocking both ESR and libertarians. These are the risks of reading lemonodor.
I would like for someone to explain how drug legalization and unlimited immigration fit into the 'right wing' ideology.
Asserting the libertarians are right wing doesn't make it so.