Comments on: Rising Sea Levels Lift All Skeptics http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/ Conservatism for punks. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:57:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.9 by: ToddSeavey.com » Blog Archive » Book Selection of the Month: “The Death of Common Sense” by Philip K. Howard http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/#comment-17 Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:47:52 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/#comment-17 [...] I was recently pleased to discover a book that, while far more focused on practical, unphilosophical matters, does as much to angry up the blood and make one want to burn Washington, DC to the ground as radical philosophical screed: Philip K. Howard’s The Death of Common Sense, published in 1994 at the peak of Gingrich-era anti-government sentiment (and the start of the Republican Congress, replaced by the Democrats last month after twelve frustrating years).  It’s a marvelous collection of infuriating anecdotes about the stupid results of government regulations, about one per page, starting off with the story of how New York City elevator regulations prevented Mother Teresa from opening a homeless shelter here (and still we leap to government regulations as the only imaginable solution for problems like climate change, to use the topic of this month’s Debate at Lolita Bar as an example). [...] […] I was recently pleased to discover a book that, while far more focused on practical, unphilosophical matters, does as much to angry up the blood and make one want to burn Washington, DC to the ground as radical philosophical screed: Philip K. Howard’s The Death of Common Sense, published in 1994 at the peak of Gingrich-era anti-government sentiment (and the start of the Republican Congress, replaced by the Democrats last month after twelve frustrating years).  It’s a marvelous collection of infuriating anecdotes about the stupid results of government regulations, about one per page, starting off with the story of how New York City elevator regulations prevented Mother Teresa from opening a homeless shelter here (and still we leap to government regulations as the only imaginable solution for problems like climate change, to use the topic of this month’s Debate at Lolita Bar as an example). […]

]]> by: Brain http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/#comment-12 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:15:37 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/#comment-12 Yes, but you won a moral victory, in presenting better arguments. And you were articulate enough to merit a further invitation to argue the matter elsewhere. Yes, but you won a moral victory, in presenting better arguments. And you were articulate enough to merit a further invitation to argue the matter elsewhere.

]]> by: Chuck Blake http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/#comment-11 Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:44:22 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2007/02/10/rising-sea-levels-lift-all-skeptics/#comment-11 Sadly, of course, I lost the vote at the Lolita Bar debate. My charismatic and distinguished counterparts, Michael Crichton, Richard Lindzen, and Phillip Stott won an almost identically titled debate about whether global warming is a crisis. Links to the transcripts of that are here: http://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/Event.aspx?Event=12 Intelligence Squared has the interesting policy of taking a vote both before and after the debate. Sadly, of course, I lost the vote at the Lolita Bar debate. My charismatic and distinguished counterparts, Michael Crichton, Richard Lindzen, and Phillip Stott won an almost identically titled debate about whether global warming is a crisis. Links to the transcripts of that are here:

http://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/Event.aspx?Event=12

Intelligence Squared has the interesting policy of taking a vote both before and after the debate.

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