A Manifesto In Search Of A Name

On the ESPN two-guys-yelling-at-each-other-about-sports program Pardon the Interruption, they have a segment called "What's the Word?" in which the hosts are asked to select the perfect single word to describe various subjects. Let's try one together:

What's the word for a political philosophy centered around promoting maximum individual liberty for all people?

I have to admit, I'm stumped. If we've learned anything this week, it's that the answer is absolutely not "Libertarian."

For years, I've called myself a "small-l libertarian." I used the word libertarian because my political philosophy is based on the belief that an individual's liberty should be limited only by the need to avoid infringing any other individual's liberty. And I used the "small-l" modifier because, as we all know, the big-L Libertarians believe nothing of the sort, they merely want to enable corporations to do whatever they want and could care less about the liberty of anyone who isn't a CEO, though they occasionally pay lip service to some civil liberties issue that's too egregious to get away with ignoring, like the drug war or gay marriage, just to try to distinguish themselves from big-R Republicans.

The latest case in point is Rand Paul, who is such a lover of liberty that he don't think people should be free to buy lunch or ride the bus, let alone have an abortion or get married. By all rights the word "libertarian" should define the exact opposite of nearly every policy position Rand Paul espouses. Yet not only is Rand Paul called a libertarian, but he's called a libertarian precisely because of these positions. "Rand Paul wants to limit people's freedom to marry, limit people's freedom to collectively bargain for better working conditions, wants to eliminate people's freedom to end a pregnancy, and doesn't think it's the government's place to ensure people have the freedom to buy lunch or find a job or use a public building. What a libertarian!"

Reluctantly, I've finally had to admit that the battle has been lost. The Libertarians have defined the word "libertarian" in the public mind, and there's nothing us libertarians can do to change it. But I'm left with the question of how to describe my own beliefs. Now that "libertarian" has been defined to mean "let businesses do whatever they want and screw people over as much as they can," what name do I use for my own liberty-based philosophy?

What's the Word? A political philosophy centered on individual liberty is called _______.

I'm open to suggestions.

2Scott2Review: The Evolution of Everything by Mark Sumner

The Evolution of Everything is not what I expected it to be, but for what it is it's very good.

The book grew out of a series of essays originally published on Daily Kos, which were a mixture of bits on the history of the theory of evolution and examinations of various other subjects using evolution and selection as a lens through which to analyze them. When I learned that this concept would be expanded into a book, and especially when I read the promo blurb for the book, I was expecting a lot more of the latter part of that mixture, with perhaps enough of the former to tie it all together. In the finished form, the book is in fact the reverse: an expanded examination of the development of various aspects of evolutionary theory, with relatively little of the broader examination that I was expecting. Perhaps The Evolution of Evolution would have been a better title.

Throughout the book, the focus is squarely on evolutionary theory, including but not limited to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Sumner dispels the misconception that evolution was an idea that originated with Darwin, and places Darwin's ideas in the larger context of general scientific thought at the time, explaining why the first theories about evolution came about when they did. He covers earlier ideas such as Lamarckian evolution, and traces the development of later misunderstandings of Darwin's ideas, such as eugenics, social Darwinism, and the modern anti-science Creationist fervor. There is comparatively little of the broader application of selection and "survival of the fittest" (a phrase nearly as misused and misunderstood as the word "theory" BTW), and what there is mostly comes out of the original Daily Kos essays. That disappointed me.

Sumner does a very good job of explaining the science so a lay person can easily understand it, without dumbing down the subject matter. The comparison I make in my head is to Michio Kaku's book Hyperspace. Kaku's introduction to string theory is far more technical than The Evolution of Everything, and as a much longer book is able to provide a more in-depth exploration of its subject, but both books find the right balance of making their ideas easily understandable without making the explanation simplistic. This isn't Evolution for Dummies, this is Evolution for the Un- (or Mis-) Informed. I like to think of myself as a scientifically literate person, but I learned a lot from this book, particularly about how various theories related to each other and how other discoveries set the table for evolution and natural selection.

Now I'm going to make every author cringe: This is a rather short book. (CRINGE!) I know authors hate it when readers complain about books being "too short," because writing a book is an equally trying process whether the finished product is 200 pages or 400 pages, and because authors are trying to produce quality not quantity, and it's a bit gutting to expend that much effort trying to make a book engaging and interesting and entertaining and informative, and then for someone to slam it based on page count. All I can say is, try to see it as a compliment: if the book wasn't engaging and interesting and entertaining and informative, I wouldn't give a shit about there not being enough of it. Part of it is also based on my expectations: After the background on natural selection is finished, just when I'm thinking that the book is finally going to get to the Everything part, it ends. So don't blame me for complaining about the page count, blame the marketing people who made up covers for The Evolution of Everything and then used them to bind The Evolution of Evolution. 

Final Grade: I'm really conflicted about what to put for a grade. I'll put it this way: As an introduction/explanation of evolution and natural selection, this book is a solid A-; better as an introduction I think, a bit thin on detail for someone already familiar with the subject. And I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, The Evolution of Everything Else.

WWE Smackdown 2010-05-14 - Not-Quite-Liveblog

I basically did this last week, except I didn't post it live. I'm about 20 minutes behind to start, I'll catch up as we get commercial breaks. Whenever I have a thought, I'll post it.

- Oh, great, we open with ANOTHER rerun of the Drew McIntyre - Matt Hardy beatdown. Was that only last week? Cause I've already seen this video package at least six times.

- Smackdown is in Buffalo, New York. I haven't had any buffalo wings in a while. Mmmmm, buffao wings.

- Christian and Kofi know each other's wrestling styles because they were both in the 27-man MITB clusterfuck? Great insight there, (whiever is yelling in the ear of) Todd.

- Scott Norwood callout by Striker. I guess I should have expected that. Have I mentioned that Matt Striker is the best thing on commentary since JBL?

- BTW, spellcheck of earlier thought:

• Kofi = Kori, Kodiak, Sofie, Sofia, Korrie.
• MITB = MITE, MITT, MITZI, MITTY.
• Clusterfuck = clustered, clusters, cluster, lackluster.
• Spellcheck = spell check, spell-check, spellbound, spellbinder, spelldown.
• Whiever = whoever. :)

- So does this count as an Intercontinental Title reign for Kofi?

- So I guess the whole "Teddy long on probation" thing is still going on, even if Vince can't be arsed to show up on Smackdown.

- Christian-Kofi was a good back-and-forth match, I thought. Somehow it just wasn't as good as it was trying to be.

- Shad Gaspard vs. Jesse Guyver? This should be just as good!

- Ah, they're rerunning the clip with Rey's family and Eddie Guerrero's son Dominic.

- And now rerunning Edge-Orton from RAW. Feels like that was six months ago because of how many times I've seen the clip.

- MVP-JTG? There-s so much going on in that team - the utter failure to do anything with MVP, the uselessness of breaking up Crime Time just to stick JTG in another team, the incongruity between MVP's life redemption background and JTG's role in a team called Crime Time. So much to unpack in that team.

- Wow, Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft still exist! And they're called the Dude Busters now. Lots of ECW folks showing up on TV lately.

- Ooohhhh! Our Savior is on! Everybody put your hands to the screen - ten minutes ago. Unless you're on DVR like me.

- These twenty-minute Swagger promos are interesting, not sure it's getting him more heat but he has the mic skills to pull off 20 minutes in the ring alone and still keep it interesting. Also like the tactic of taking a commercial break in the middle of the promo to make it seem even longer.

- Did I mention before that I have absolutely zero interest in heel authority figures? Plus, I thought she resigned as GM of Raw?

- I would be shocked if this was actually the first 2-on-1 Women's Title defense.

- I almost wish I wasn't spoiled on this match so I could experience the true shock and horror of Layla as Women's Champion. At least they mentioned her last name. She's also the second Diva Search winner to win a title.

- And now I'm caught up live.

- Rey Mysterio is wearing sleeves but no shirt.

- Rey-Punk was good again, but it's starting to get worn. I hope Judgement Day is their last match for a while.

WWE Smackdown livebloggish thoughts - 2010-05-07

I'm watching Smackdown (almost) live for the first time in a few months. After this awful week, particularly today, particularly today from 4:15 to 6:15, I could use some entertainment and some levity. Can Smackdown provide some? Let's find out...

- Geez, how often do they change the Smackdown theme music? About as often as I watch Smackdown, it seems.

- Matt Hardy shaved the sides of his head so he looks like RVD now. I wonder if that's intentional.

- "You heard what Teddy Long said!" Damned skippy! T.Lo is the man! "Josh, I gotta roll." Always the best, now the only, General Manager in WWE. What ever happened with the whole probation storyline? Did that just go away when Vince didn't feel like showing up on Smackdown anymore?

- Luke Gallows wrestles in camouflage pants and a tank top. Another who looks less like a wrestler than does any NXT rookie.

- So at whatever the hell they're calling Judgement Day now they're going to have the match I originally thought they were having at whatever the hell they're calling Backlash now: join the SES vs. shave Punk's head. I'm obviously rooting for Punk, but I'm not optimistic.

- Ever since he turned heel, every single time Punk talks, it's golden. Fucking awesome, every time.

- A Michelle McCool match. This makes me glad I'm not quite live yet - I can fast forward through this.

- Dolph Ziggler's face is the color of Sheamus. The rest of his body is the color of HHH. And my disinterest in Dolph is greater than the sum total of my disinterest in HHH and my disinterest in Sheamus.

- Holy shit! A Prince Nana call-out on Smackdown! And they didn't edit it out! I love Matt Striker on commentary, he's the best they've had since JBL. Like how he calls it the World's Heavyweight Championship like Gorilla Monsoon used to.

- Ziggler-Kofi was surprisingly entertaining, considering Dolph Ziggler was in the match.

- Now they re-run the video package they just ran an hour ago, which itself is just a re-run of the end of last week's Smackdown. People wonder, how can WWE put on five hours of television every week? Cause an hour or two of it is reruns and recaps.

- And now I'm caught up live, can't fast forward through the commercials.

- Cody Rhodes has another ridiculous fake tan. Christian too. What is it with wrestlers and comically awful tans? Trust me, that's not what made Hulk Hogan as popular as he was.

- It occurs to me that this is really more of a liveblog. If only I had posted it at 8:30 and updated it with each bullet. Oh, well. Maybe the next time I watch something live.

- Christian and Kofi are fighting for the Intercontinental Championship, meanwhile Jack Swagger is WHC. I'm really pulling for Big Show in that match, but again I'm not optimistic.

- Oh, Joy. Another video package. Followed by an ad for the Wrestlemania DVD, which is essentially another video package. Then after the commercial break, it's time to rerun the Drew McIntyre firing from the beginning of the show. It's video packages all the way down.

- "When I was taking on the world and winning, where was Big Show?" Um, back then, Big Show was WWE Champion. Don't think you've got him beat there, kid.

- Why are commentators always surprised when people come down to join them on commentary? You'd think the third chair and third headset would be a clue.

- I've always liked face Big Show. He's a very likable, charismatic guy, when they let him be. He was great on commentary tonight.

- I love how, after Big Show chokeslams Swagger through the table, the referee runs over, waving his arms for him to stop. One, Swagger is twice your size, and Big Show is twice his size, so WTF do you expect to do to stop them? Two, dude, Swagger is already lying insensate amid the ruins of a table, and Big Show is already walking away. You're just a bit late with your exhortation for them to stop fighting.

- God, that title looks so small when Big Show is holding it. I remember when Rey Mysterio wore that belt, it was basically full-torso body armor. When Big Show holds it it looks like a trinket.

All in all a good show, minus the reruns, video packages, and divas match. Maybe I'm being generous because the last wrestling shows I saw were Impact and NXT, but wev. I liked it. I'm glad I decided to watch Smackdown tonight, I needed some entertainment after today. Maybe I'll even watch it again next week.

WWE NXT thoughts - 2010-05-04

An obstacle course? Seriously? I've been saying since they started that these stupid "challenges" every week have basically turned NXT into the Diva Search. But look at what the "obstacles" are on the "obstacle course" -

• Monkey bars - This is actually one of the more sensible obstacles. Pretty standard obstacle course obstacle, though you'll have to explain to me what monkey bars ability has to do with with either wrestling or being a WWE performer (different skillsets that sometimes don't overlap as much as you'd hope).
• Climb a rope ladder and ring a bell - Rope ladders are also often an obstacle course standard, though this rope ladder looked particularly insubstantial, especially when a 260-pound man is trying to climb it.
• Run up the arena steps - Okay, run up stairs, pretty normal.
• Drink a soda - Um, what? This is officially the dumbest thing they've asked the rookies to do, surpassing the American Gladiators q-tip fighting and hawking programs in the stands. Making the wrestlers drink a soda quickly is not a skill they need to wrestle well, not a skill they need to do all the other things involved in being a WWE performer, and is incredibly boring to watch. The only saving grace here was the absurdity of having Referee Charles Robinson there to officiate the wrestlers trying to chug a soda, but that wasn't enough to make this entertaining.
• Run down the arena steps - Not quite the challenge of running up the steps, but okay, they have to get back down to the ring somehow.
• Juggle for five seconds - What? Aside from all previous arguments about what any of this has to do with being a WWE performer, the obstacle course is a race. You're trying to finish it quickly. You're trying to beat the times of the other competitors. How exactly do you juggle for five seconds in less time than someone else? This was completely nonsensical, almost enough to be dumber than the drinking, but I still call that one dumber because at least the juggling only lasted for five seconds.
• Spin around a bat - Um, what? I don't get what this has to do with anything, plus some people spun more times than others.
• Push an equipment cart up the ramp - This only makes sense by comparison when it immediately follows the drink, juggling, and bat.

So there you go, an obstacle course, only half of which is comically nonsensical. And we had to watch this obstacle course eight times. They got rid of a show with Christian, William Regal, and Yoshi Tatsu and replaced it with this.

- I really don't get what they're doing with Bryan Danielson. Well, I get it, but I don't get it. They've turned him into Colin Delaney. They can't have him win NXT if he's 0-20. Well, they can do whatever they want, but I think this whole "Daniel Bryan losing streak" was a much better idea in people's heads that it's turning into in reality. I just hope when they finally give him a win it's not some weak rollup against The Miz.

- I actually kind of like Michael Tarver's character. I know we'll probably never see him on TV again after next week, but he does unwarranted arrogance well. I also liked how, at the end of his match with Daniel Bryan, when he finally won a match, he looked completely dumbfounded for a few seconds. Like he had no idea what the hell had just happened, he was so unfamiliar with winning matches. And his [nXt] t-shirt: Genius.

- All of a sudden out of the blue Justin Gabriel has a beef with David Otunga. um, okay. This show really is incredibly random.

- I'll say this for the NXT Rookies: They all wrestle in wrestling tights. So they start off looking more like real wrestlers than people like John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels, K-Kwik, Johnny Nitro, Great Khali, Carlito & Primo, etc. None of them even wear long tights. I'm old-school, I appreciate people who wrestle in wrestling tights.

TNA Impact thoughts - 2010-05-03

So I watched TNA Impact for the second week in a row. First time that's happened, ever. Maybe they really are doing something right.

- The first thing they do in the show is announce the show is moving back to Thursday, starting next week. So the new Monday Night War didn't quite last as long as the last one did. At least TNA threw in the towel quickly rather than run their company into the ground trying to compete with WWE. Though it's another reason why I think they should move Smackdown back to Thursdays. Nobody watches that show on Fridays, not only would more people watch in Thursday but they could knock TNA off of their night again.

- Speaking of which, still with the WWE rings? Ric Flair called his WWE ring his most prized possession, live on TNA TV. Meanwhile Bryan Danielson can't even call himself Bryan Danielson. Do folks like RVD and Jeff Hardy agree that a WWE Hall of Fame ring would be their most prized posession? Cause anyone who agrees with Ric Flair should be trying to get a WWE ring, not wasting their time in TNA.

- Black Naitch was pretty cool overall. Though I did notice, when Hogan came out and beat everyone up (did the former world champion just get taken out by one punch from a 60-year-old man?) and made about fifteen matches pitting all the brawlers against each other, Jay Lethal was left without a match, and indeed he didn't even appear on the rest of the show.

- Brian Kendrick is in TNA now? Still with that funky jacket he was using as The Brian Kendrick towards the end of his WWE run. Is he another who is with TNA primarily to get away from WWE's drug testing? That's at least three.

- TNA did something WWE was never able to do - they made Ken Kennedy promos boring. Even when he couldn't stay healthy for two weeks in a row, Kennedy's promos were always entertaining in WWE.

- Just when a fairly entertaining three-way tag match gets going, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall come out to interrupt. Because the Dudleys weren't slow and awkward enough already. I was momentarily glad to see the MCMG beat them down, until they promptly got beat down themselves.

- Overall, there were more people I didn't recognize on the show this week, which I think is good. It's not good when the show is entirely WWE rejects, they need to mix in TNA guys, which they did this week.

TNA Impact thoughts - 2010-04-26

Just watched this week's Impact cause I was curious to see RVD as champion, and I had some thoughts.

- The show opens with an RVD promo where he explains that the reason he's not with WWE is because of their Wellness Policy. We're apparently supposed to boo WWE because of this, and cheer TNA because they let the wrestlers drug it up, I guess by the same logic that makes CM Punk a hated heel because he doesn't abuse addictive substances. (A Punk-RVD feud would be EPIC, BTW.) My main reaction is that I'm surprised the Wellness Policy actually works / has enough teeth that it would be a reason for someone to avoid WWE. Maybe WWE folks aren't on as many drugs as I thought.

- WTF is with everyone fighting over their WWE Hall of Fame rings? If TNA TV were to involve WWE HOF rings at all, you'd think it'd just be to throw them in the gutter and exclaim "These ain't worth shit, now I'm in TNA!" If WWE HOF rings are so prized, why am I watching TNA instead of watching the future WWE HOFers on Raw?

- So Ric Flair has stolen JBL's gimmick as a "wrestling god"? And holy crap he got old in the last two years. He even flubbed his promo a few times.

- It's still weird to me that Hulk Hogan isn't using Hulk Hogan's theme, or even some TNA bastardization of Hulk Hogan's theme like they did with Christian, Booker T, Dudley Boys, etc.

- Speaking of which, how many people in TNA right now are WWE rejects? I don't think there were more than a handful of men's wrestlers on the entire show who weren't former WWE talent, and the vast majority of them are involuntarily not WWE employees. I guess that's why the ended the TNA Originals vs. carpetbaggers storyline - not enough originals left.

- All of that said, the show is markedly better than it used to be, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. I actually watched the whole thing, and didn't spend the whole time lamenting what a disaster the show was, like I usually do with TNA. But I'm not going to be a regular TNA viewer, I'm a WWE viewer. It took putting Hulk Hogan in charge and giving RVD the title just to get me to watch TNA on DVR five days later. Whatever TNA fans were enjoying about TNA for the last several years was not something that attracted me, so now that TNA has changed to get me to upgrade my opinion to "not a total disaster," are TNA fans still entertained? I obviously can't judge that, but I wonder.