a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
nota999's profile
nota999

x 2

stats
following: 2
followed tags: 15
followed domains: 0
badges given: 0 of 0
hubskier for: 3431 days

recent comments, posts, and shares:
nota999  ·  3429 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are your favorite RSS feeds?

It depends on what you're into. I could link you to some of the feeds I follow, but if you find world news to be boring and generic then it won't be that exciting.

nota999  ·  3429 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How do you feel about underlining in your books?

For me, it depends on what I'm reading and why. If I'm just reading something for fun, I don't really underline it. However, if I'm reading something to learn and improve myself I mark quite a bit.

nota999  ·  3429 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Which is the best MOOC that have you attended?

I'm struggling to find it again, but I once took a MOOC on the history of Architecture that was absolutely fascinating.

I think it might have been this one but the actual link to the course is dead.

Russia historically has close ties to Serbia, which would explain their reluctance to acknowledge Serbian involvement in a Genocide.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: China's Stock Market Crash, Explained

I doubt we'd see any significant regime change with the path that China is on right now. Generally political systems are fairly stable when either on the more authoritarian or the more democratic side. It's in the middle where instability is most prevalent (called an anocracy). I'd expect that only if China starts to reform its political system to be more democratic that we'd see significant unrest calling for a regime change, and China is currently reluctant to do so.

However, as Youwei notes in "The End of Reform in China" (Foreign Affairs May/June 2015), China is starting to run out of areas it can reform without becoming less authoritarian.

    [M]ost easy reforms have already been launched. Revamping agriculture, encouraging entrepreneurship, promoting trade, tweaking social security—all these have created new benefits and beneficiaries while imposing few costs on established interests. What is left are the harder changes, such as removing state monopolies in critical sectors of the economy, privatizing land, giving the National People’s Congress power over fiscal issues, and establishing an independent court system. Moving forward with these could begin to threaten the hold of the Chinese Communist Party on power, something that the regime is unwilling to tolerate.
nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: At what point did you look in the mirror, and see yourself as an adult?

I'm having the weird experience of having my first grown-up job right now (I'm nearly 19) field managing a campaign for mayor in my city. It's a weird experience, but it's definitely changing the way I see myself.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I don't know how to find new content anymore

I agree with the suggestion of feedly. It's a great site, and it's where I'm getting my news from right now (because I can't trust reddit to post from reputable sites)

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Entrepreneurship Has a Gender Problem, But It's Not What You Think

It confused me too, as that's what I expected the gender problem to be. That being said, I felt like it'd be a bit dishonest to post the article without the full title.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How can I begin the self study of Philosophy?

Before anything else, learn some basic logic and critical thinking. It makes finding the argument of a passage, as well as its strengths and weaknesses significantly easier. Patrick J. Hurley's "A Concise Introduction to Logic" is the book I used, and if you get an older edition you can get it for really cheap.

After that, it really depends on what you want out of philosophy. It's a really big subject, so it'd be hard to give you a good reading list without knowing what exactly interests you. There's philosophy of science, medicine, history, religion, etc., political philosophy, and basically every other combination of an academic subject + philosophy, and more.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: China's Stock Market Crash, Explained

Foreign Affairs at least talked about it a bit in their recent issue on China. Without going back and rereading the article itself, Zhiwu Chen's "China's Dangerous Debt" talks about China's economic problem.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What book has impacted you the most?

It's such a fast read, and it's a great introduction to Marxist thought. However, it should not be taken as the foundational text of Marxism. It's a platform written for a particular political party. That said, it's still a great piece of work.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What book has impacted you the most?

Both the Communist Manifesto and the Dao De Jing had major influences on me. The Manifesto was what started me on the path to leftist politics, and the Dao De Jing impacted the way I act in day to day life by helping me stop stressing about small things that are outside of my control.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Do you agree with the Supreme Court Ruling?

Absolutely 100% agree with the ruling. As a gay man myself, the idea that simply because I love another man instead of a woman I shouldn't be entitled to marry and enjoy the benefits thereof has always seemed to fly in the face of the 14th amendment. I'm glad the court agreed.

nota999  ·  3430 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are Hubski's Political Views?

I'm far left of a Marxist bend, but I'm not well read in leftism to specifically say things like "I'm a Luxemburgist" or things like that.