How times change

Arouet said:
Yep! He was a favourite of mine back in my university days!



I agree. So many many MANY disagreements on this forum stem from people meaning different things by the same word. This causes us to talk past one another - basically having two separate discussions.
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Arouet, I apologise because I was having a bit of fun there, when I was in a really bad mood (external reasons, not because of the forum!). I actually have a lot of problems with the Enlightenment and especially the French version, and I despise the Jacobins and what they did.

I recently began reading a book (again) I bought about a year ago. I started it, stopped, and then started reading again. It is called "Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith." It is by James Billington, whose credentials really can't be questioned (as in, he is not some rando on the internet). I think you might find it interesting as he really delves into the French Revolution and the various figures involved. (He also discusses the Russian Revolution in the book, but not as in depth, though he is an expert in both. I think he wrote a separate book about Russia.)

Cheers!
 
Doppelgänger said:
Arouet, I apologise because I was having a bit of fun there, when I was in a really bad mood (external reasons, not because of the forum!). I actually have a lot of problems with the Enlightenment and especially the French version, and I despise the Jacobins and what they did.

I recently began reading a book (again) I bought about a year ago. I started it, stopped, and then started reading again. It is called "Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith." It is by James Billington, whose credentials really can't be questioned (as in, he is not some rando on the internet). I think you might find it interesting as he really delves into the French Revolution and the various figures involved. (He also discusses the Russian Revolution in the book, but not as in depth, though he is an expert in both. I think he wrote a separate book about Russia.)

Cheers!
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Read your comment too quickly last night. I see the sarcasm now. I studied a lot about the french revolution back in university, took a few courses on it and wrote many a paper. It's been a long time though... As I recall, though, Voltaire predated the jacobins and I'd be pretty surprised if he'd have been a fan of what they became. I suspect he would have been horrified. The jacobins perverted whatever ideals they started with, IIRC.
 
Vault313 said:
Ok, I'm getting brave here and exposing my ignorance...what is the Deep State?
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Deep State has no formal definition that I know of. The best I could find off-hand is this (admittedly lame) Dickipedia entry:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_within_a_state

Here is an essay about the deep state in action. (WARNING: Country/Region specific..but can be applied elsewhere.)

http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/anatomy-of-the-deep-state/

Hope that helps.

Out of this thread because I have derailed it enough.
 
BTW, if any other questions, please start a new thread or PM me. I feel like it is disrespectful to Typoz to continue talking about politics in a thread where he said he didn't want to talk about, well, politics.

Sorry, Typoz!
 
Doppelgänger said:
BTW, if any other questions, please start a new thread or PM me. I feel like it is disrespectful to Typoz to continue talking about politics in a thread where he said he didn't want to talk about, well, politics.

Sorry, Typoz!
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No apology needed. I don't mind what's discussed in this thread, it started off with me expressing how I felt. Others are welcome to contribute as they see fit.
 
I suppose everyone has their own preferences about what they want to discuss. I joined the site because it seemed there were interesting discussions here about experimental investigations of psi. In fact, as it turns out, that doesn't seem to be the main focus of people's interests. Although if I was a bit more assiduous about encouraging it, probably more discussion along those lines would take place. No doubt the site is what we make of it.
 
Typoz said:
I remember when this forum used to be populated with discussions of universal significance. Nowadays its degenerated into a focus on politics, and a parochial one focussed on a particular region at that. Plus a few enthusiastic expounders of their own pet theories, which are closed to alternative views.

How the **** did we get here?

I guess the simple answer is by driving away those who are interested in what used to be a core focus of this forum.There's room here for a much wider spectrum of ideas than are expressed within the current structure. I guess we all have to bear a portion of responsibility for that.
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Maybe it's because you're such a little baby?

Shut up, Typoz.
 
Doppelgänger said:
BTW, if any other questions, please start a new thread or PM me. I feel like it is disrespectful to Typoz to continue talking about politics in a thread where he said he didn't want to talk about, well, politics.

Sorry, Typoz!
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Thanks Doppelganger! Sorry, wasn't trying to derail the thread, I had no idea what that was. Wish I didn't know now..*sigh*..ignorance is bliss. ;)

Nah, really, I think most people know there is more than what the MSM would like us to believe, they just don't know there's a word for it.
And that is all I'll say about it.
 
Vault313 said:
Nah, really, I think most people know there is more than what the MSM would like us to believe, they just don't know there's a word for it.
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Please - what is MSM?

As an aside, one thing this forum might need is some sort of list of abbreviations. I often see bunches of capital letters (BCL) flying in front of my eyes with absolutely no idea what they mean.
 
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