tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post1806447021698768247..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: Winter of DiscontentAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-54673669153244065552012-03-04T15:34:47.874-08:002012-03-04T15:34:47.874-08:00You are a lovely guy. :-)You are a lovely guy. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-67173665685701109052012-03-02T22:08:09.770-08:002012-03-02T22:08:09.770-08:00A sign of weakness ( rolls eyes )A sign of weakness ( rolls eyes )anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-62893562883200393792012-02-05T15:36:35.171-08:002012-02-05T15:36:35.171-08:00I'm opposed to capital punishment.I'm opposed to capital punishment.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-51655414360114952802012-02-02T20:00:36.235-08:002012-02-02T20:00:36.235-08:00That's interesting, all right, especially sinc...That's interesting, all right, especially since "kill" in Vietnamese is "ca ca dau" -- literally meaning "cut head"Bob Mackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13452703873713992208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-57926079011202710632012-02-02T16:32:34.326-08:002012-02-02T16:32:34.326-08:00Why not?Why not?anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-17954233270735863692012-02-02T16:02:01.838-08:002012-02-02T16:02:01.838-08:00Bob, absolutely. You will never guess where I saw...Bob, absolutely. You will never guess where I saw the 'national razor.' It was in Vietnam, the war museum in Saigon (the locals still use that name) to be exact. It was a left over from French colonial days.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-53353571638020870782012-02-02T15:58:11.591-08:002012-02-02T15:58:11.591-08:00Salviano, obrigado. :-)Salviano, obrigado. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-18197435931070868492012-02-02T15:56:32.547-08:002012-02-02T15:56:32.547-08:00Nobby, a frightening thought.Nobby, a frightening thought.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-4892725921155304022012-02-02T15:55:28.365-08:002012-02-02T15:55:28.365-08:00Calvin, as I say, a polemicist! Burke and Paine w...Calvin, as I say, a polemicist! Burke and Paine were in agreement over America, and for very good reasons. Paine went off over France. <br /><br />Yes, I wish we had kept clear of them, that the fog was still in the Channel. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-37537509913293730282012-02-02T15:47:51.812-08:002012-02-02T15:47:51.812-08:00Anthony, yes indeed...not about the guillotine, of...Anthony, yes indeed...not about the guillotine, of course!Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-31110435182481906542012-02-02T15:46:00.798-08:002012-02-02T15:46:00.798-08:00Yun Yi, thank you so much.
Actually it was a more...Yun Yi, thank you so much.<br /><br />Actually it was a more recent interlocutor I had in mind, though I do remember our exchanges on the same issue. The thing is, you see, notions like ‘the rights of man’ sound wonderful as abstract principles, a little like a declaration that when we die we should all go to heaven. The reality is that abstract declarations create hell on earth. Who would have thought that movements and parties dedicated to achieving human perfection would be responsible for monstrous crimes, all the way from the Reign of Terror to the Great Leap Forward? It really is worth reading Burke if you have not already done so.<br /><br />Oh, and speaking as a historian, let me assure you that nothing in history is inevitable. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-59449086809340444132012-02-02T12:55:27.260-08:002012-02-02T12:55:27.260-08:00Ah, the French Revolution. Robespierre, the '...Ah, the French Revolution. Robespierre, the 'National Razor' ... in it's modern incarnation, the Khmer Rouge, it gave us the killing fields of Cambodia, where social engineering reached its apogee--over 3 million skulls bleaching in the tropic sun. Liberty, equality, brotherhood ... but only in the grave.Bob Mackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13452703873713992208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-75782076887654499112012-02-01T23:04:08.184-08:002012-02-01T23:04:08.184-08:00G.K. Chesterton: 'Once abolish the God and the...G.K. Chesterton: 'Once abolish the God and the government becomes the God.'Nobbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088033081316289008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-4454019133564696522012-02-01T21:03:28.553-08:002012-02-01T21:03:28.553-08:00I think you're a little hard on Thetford Tom, ...I think you're a little hard on Thetford Tom, Ana. After all, things worked out very well in the 13 Colonies - except for the slaves. But the French are a different clay, and I agree about the odious Rousseau - a thoroughly nasty piece of work.<br /><br />What a pity Britain has been betrayed into linking its fate with those disagreeable continentals. Most unsound.Calvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10640148105202971907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-73515898280077734132012-02-01T19:38:58.041-08:002012-02-01T19:38:58.041-08:00Oh,just bring back the Guillotine! A nation being ...Oh,just bring back the Guillotine! A nation being eroded by culturally alien elements? A series of nations! Western Europe!anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-37036664751015828362012-02-01T17:32:19.470-08:002012-02-01T17:32:19.470-08:00Ana, I love your writing style, even I do not agre...Ana, I love your writing style, even I do not agree with everything in the content. <br /><br />After our "debating" on BC on this topic I do know more about this part of history than before. And I do agree with you on this: French Revolution indeed did extreme damage on French society, especially political wise. The difference between you and me, now I believe, is "perspective": my "positive understanding" on this bloody event was on ideology wise, while you are more concerned about political and social issues. <br />I do think the idea of "right of man" is one of the most important milestone on the history of human knowledge. And FR did help it prevail (though the real credit belong to those great thinkers, esp. English man John Lock). As Charles Van Doren put: "...does advanced knowledge always come at a high price? I think it does, and there is no way to avoid paying that price."<br />You said "Wise countries avoid revolutions." But I do not think FR was inevitable. As I explained before, I consider FR more a consequence than an intentional action (driven by "right of men").Yun Yihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06311104014692132715noreply@blogger.com