John Rawls has died...

Since I'm new to this whole blogging thing, there's no reason for you to know that I am a bonafido Poli-Sci geek.

As such, I note the passing of a Poli-Sci icon with a twinge of regret...

Social Justice According to Rawls:

1st Principle:"Each individual has a right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with the same liberty for others."

2nd Principle: Social and economic inequalities are just only to the extent that they serve to promote the well-being of the least advantaged.

 John Rawls' philosophies on Justice and Society were ones which I could never really espouse. Rather, they were theories that I wished were supportable. I found myself wondering how Rawls interacted with--and felt about--a reality so very different than the one of which he wrote.

Rawls had a game theory which you are welcome to try now if you like...

You, the individual, are going to get to make up the rules for a society in which you you will then live out your life....Cool, huh? Any rules you want, Baby.

...But there's a catch...(saw that one coming a mile away, didn'tcha?)...You are making these rules from behind The Veil of Ignorance...No, no...Rawls is not calling you ignorant...that's MY job...This Veil precludes you from knowing what position you will hold in this new society...Kinda like being a screenwriter *and* a castmember for Planet of the Apes without knowing if you're to be playing a human or an Ape, capiche?

So, go ahead and make the rule that all comely blonde waifs must obey and serve lonely, socially inept single-oids who live in their parents' basement...Just understand that in the new society you may very well find yourself sporting a thong, schleping Mai-tais and wishing you'd been born a red-head--or never born at all...

Now, Rawls' thing was that he believed that individuals in the Original Position (that's you, behind the Veil...not some Biblical Kamasutra take-off...) would always make rules wherein the least among society would enjoy the greatest protection. A very astute chakmat on Hobbes' ideas and those of Utilitarianism (and many others, but damn people, I ain't writing a book here...go pull my old school papers, or better yet, go read up on your Social Contract Theory--It Rocks).

Back in those Halcyon school-daze when feeling smug, I would string along the Rawls set until I'd maneuvered them into position for my one-line response to Rawlsian principles:

"Vegas, Babe."

See, having been around the block a time or two, it's been my oservation that individuals (yours truly not excepted) are possessed of an alarming degree of "not-me-ism" Whether large scale or small scale, the human race is hardwired to roll them bones, take those chances and damn yer eyes, Baby needs a new pair of shoes...I don't for a minute buy that Huey, Dewey or Louis plunked into the Original Position are going to hesitate for more than a blink before setting up what they perceive to be a weighted deck of rules...Oh there may be funny business "three-wishes" type loophole wriggling...but most folks, most of the time are going to "G.F.I. to coin an eighty-ism...

And this, in the context of Rawls, always made me a little sad...Here he had crafted and envisioned a system for rulesmanship that was FAIR, Dammit...or at least as fair as he thought people could really be...and we, pathetic co-habitors of his society and reality couldn't even rise to that moderate level. I wonder if he watched Survivor ...Perhaps that was what finally did his ailing heart in...

In any case, I sincerely hope that Mr. Rawls has gone onto a better place...In fact, I like to think that at the end of a bright tunnel of light, some spirit guide announced, "You find yourself in the Original Position..." and that Mr. Rawls just smiled...

Common sense in DC

Sent to me via email. Is it actual-factual? No time to go digging so we'll leave it at, "I sure hope so", and go off with a grin...

Here's a statement issued when Texas Congressman Dick Armey was asked if he'd been in President Clinton's shoes would he have resigned.

 ?...

Perspective is a good thing. It's always gratifying to know that, no matter what the new low to which you've managed to sink in the workplace, some job 'opportunities' register firmly on the 'dog has heard a strange noise' tilt-of-the-head-o-meter...

International
Pizza Hut - General Mgr.- Serbia

International Pizza Hut- General Mgr.-Serbia

 If you find yourself eyeballing this job with interest, let me assure you--I can't get out of your way fast enough...All you, Babe...I wish that ravaged country every possible success in restabilization and the healing of wave after wave of atrocity and fascism...

Meanwhile, I'm putting the odds of peace and a piece-a-pizza pie ala Western-style 'Franchissemente' (yeah, I made that up-it's freaking 3:30AM...piss off) at slim to none...

Perhaps better envisioned as an offshoot of the burgeoning Serbian arms trade? Hmmn? (The life expectancy of this new hire couldn't be too much worse).

Serbian Arms Trade Story. One of a whole bunch...

How much for those armaments, again? ..."Regular price. Four bucks, four bucks, four bucks, four bucks." Oh wait, I know...We could run a "smugglers special"--with a stuffed crust, 'natch...

Duly Noted: About >20% of one's coworkers who are responsible for appx <92.7% of staggering workloads created by the miasmas of conflict and incompetance that roll off of them in clouds. These dangerously self-important motherfuckers should be publically flogged as an explicit warning to the up-and-comers.

The other 78% of one's coworkers--the ones who don't have any real purpose but occasionally bring snacks and generally refrain from regaling you with their latest work-romance drama--are insipid, certainly...but Hey, Man--someone's gotta plan the office X-mas party...and sponsor the office needy family...and chronical every freaking childbirth/anniversary/wart-removal for en mass email publication (rife with grotesquesly primitive clipart) in the 'weekly happenings' newsletter...

If you're doin' the math, that leaves a whopping <2% of marginally likeable coworkers in the old office pool. Of course, these folks are equally swamped and despondant--so actually catching any hangtime between your insane schedule and theirs is a laughable folly. This is the Land of the Lost...A land where Friday signals "only two more working days til Monday" and you look forward to the weekend--so you can work in your sweats...

Hell--I'm just cranky cause my quince jelly didn't gel Quince Jelly

On the up side...each and every one of my lids sealed tight with a satisfying 'sssssnnnnick!'

Siiigh...I could just concede defeat and pretend I really wanted to make Quince syrup (no-I do not know what for...icecream, perhaps? lambchops?)...But my naturally perverse and stubborn streak is not falling for that little taint of revisionism. This was a JELLY MAKING exercise, Dammit! And Jelly we shall have.

Enter the Patron Saints of the hapless 'back to basics' citygirl--the mid-western and north-eastern University Extension Websites (any of 'em--and they are legion--trust me on this)...

What the authors sometimes lack in detail (How the fuck am *I* supposed to know which of the thirty things that could go wrong with saurkraut actually *caused* the biological weapons depot in my basement?! Dammit, people--work with me here) they make up for in warm, home-economically charged hopeful rhetoric...There is no ultimate failure skulking through those hallowed servers...Only a mild clucking of tongues and an abundant optimism that you, too, are capable of putting up food without later populating entire hospital wards...

Case in point: Domestic Goddesses of North Dakota

I am counting on the cyber fairy godmothers of NDSU to get me through this bad jelly scenario...We'll see. The aformentioned optimism of the Heartland is often matched by the short attention span and impatience of yours truly. Bad jelly karma, that.

Of course--not attempting to multitask computational chores in MSProject while simultaneously 'constantly stirring'/'precisely timing' boiling fruit and sugar would likely go a long way to success in the jelly department... Hey, man...only so many hours in the day, and for the time being, the evil overlords keep sending $$...every two weeks like clockwork...Bam. And whilst they giveth with the one hand, they idly point in the general direction of the weeping, teeth-gnashing recently out-on-their ass pink-slippers. "So good to see your utilization up. Hope that trend continues", they chirp..."We'd hate to see you go", they purr.

Point taken, oh subtle ones...but while we're on the subject, could you have at least made a point to cut loose some of the toadying slackers who don't actually do anything? Or did the memo read, "In furtherance of our advanced field stress-tests, be prepared to chart subject's reactions as you fire 2/3rds of her project team but retain that one human paperweight who constantly overbills and calls in for mental health reasons the morning of client reviews"?...Just asking...

All site evidence to the contrary, there are no belltowers and highpowered rifles looming in my near future...

When pushed to the outer limits, I tend to hunker down; bunker in with something uplifting. something like...Kittens...performing kittens--Oh yeah, Baby. That's the good stuff: Getcher Hot Kitten Action Here...