Thanks, Nancy. This helps explain Trump's Greenland fixation. All these men, with all the money in the world. Making and ruling their own worlds. Invulnerable. Shameless. All of them pulling Trump's strings. He listens to them. But he's invulnerable— a dim, demented, shameless, psychotic king, feared by everyone. Especially Republicans.
This is scary.
Possible tags: Praxis Makes Perfect • Praxis of Evil • Praxis Shrugged
Ironically, in the 1980s "praxis" emerged as a leftie idea. It was a favored term of performance studies, which was itself often less about traditional performance than theory BUT determined to be active—hence, praxis—in the world.
Right, I was going to say -- the leftist "theory-versus-praxis" model is all I can think about when I see the word "praxis," which makes it a really funny word to be used by the plutocrat class.
The very, very funny thing is that whenever someone references capital-T Theory, it takes me a minute to realize they're referring to Marxist ideas and not the bougie corporate clothing store...
Reading about these Guys and their obsessions makes my skin crawl.
Also, this German speaker would like to point out that Praxis (capitalized, because German noun) means simply "practice." As in a doctor's office. And as such is an absolutely mundane piece of everyday vocabulary. I still lived in the US when small-p praxis was cool among the intellectual lefties. I laughed then; I laugh now.
"Lacks emotional energy." How about big dick energy. Don't they wish. Dr. Leonard Zelig: "I worked with Freud in Vienna. We broke over the concept of penis envy. Freud felt that it should be limited to women."
I wonder what monarch in history they look up to who wasn't a murderer.
"Give me liberty or give me death," said anti-monarchist Patrick Henry, enslaver of up to 80 people at any one time.
Just so you know, "In Marxian theory, praxis is the essential, dialectical unity of theory and practice, a cycle of reflective action and action-based reflection to transform the world, not just interpret it, moving from lived [as opposed to?] experience to critical thought and back to concrete, revolutionary activity to overcome oppression and build a more just society. It emphasizes that genuine understanding comes from changing reality, where theory guides action and action refines theory, distinguishing humans as purposeful creators." Zzzzzzzzzzzzz ....
Fascinating breakdown of the Praxis naming disaster! I've seen the same patern with clients who insist on classical names without realizng how saturated they are. Your point about emotional energy in naming really hits home. I once had a founder fight me on a name because it 'felt profound' even though nobody could remember it the next day. Overused doesn't mean timeless, it jsut means lazy.
Now it makes sense! All these rich dumbfucks think they're leading a romantic rebellion against the mean schoolteacher empire. "The final act of the padawan before joining the order is to make his own praxis."
As so often, a very interesting post, which I saw just in time to mention in a post of my own, where I finished - after reading this - with how a liberal rather than a libertarian political economy seems to be more fully grounded in the world as it actually is.
And in an echo of the Torment Nexus meme, Praxis was the name of the Klingon moon that exploded, thus setting off the events of the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country...
Ah, Greenland! Whenever these Masters of the Universe get there, they'll have to be importing oil or gas (or coal) until they can get their wind (and perhaps tide) power going. Then they might be energy-independent. In the meantime, they will also need food, which will have to come from somewhere else. More imports. Maybe, just maybe, with enough cheap energy, they can grow their own food in vast artificially lit, artificially warmed and artificially fertilised buildings. These will have to be built, along with actual shelter for the MotU. (I gather it's cold there.) More imports. And what about metals and other things from the ground. I don't think they are going to be self-sufficient for a long while, which is not even considering how the metals have to be processed and manufactured. I'm just guessing more and more imports. Now all of these things will require labourers who will have to be housed and fed too, and hence the imports keep multiplying. Maybe the MotU will develop robots to eventually do all of these and many other tasks, so that they can send the labourers away, but someone has to make the robots first. And there will still need to be a bunch of people to supervise and repair the robots.
So the MotU are going to live in a private fantasy-world in Greenland so they don't have to pay fair taxes or follow pesky regulations, but I just think they will be pouring much more of their own money into importing things while trying to develop their own self-sufficiency with masses of cheap labour until their robots are ready.
Finally, what are they going to actually do in Greenland? I can't imagine that hunting seals or kayaking amid icebergs or wandering across the ice cap (Mind the crevasse!) is going to keep them entertained for long, so it's back to hot spas or binge-watching or fancy foods in heated buildings. But, in reality, the MotU could do all that back in real civilisation without having to go to all the trouble of building a costly new civilisation for themselves.
Open question: is Ayn Rand actually a bad novelist? Or is this just received wisdom based on distaste for her big-name readers? (Or "readers" -- e.g., QB Aaron Rodgers hawking "Atlas Shrugged" in interviews, only to later admt he'd never actually read it.) Everyone whose opinions on novels I trust who's actually read "The Fountainhead" thinks it's a good book, and that would definitely be a left-of-center group. Freddie frickin' deBoer is a fan, apparently.
I suppose her fiction is perfectly fine if you don't mind one-dimensional characters and sermons disguised as dialogue. (Yes, I've read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.)
“faith-based investing” made me laugh out loud.
Isn't all investing faith based?
Thanks, Nancy. This helps explain Trump's Greenland fixation. All these men, with all the money in the world. Making and ruling their own worlds. Invulnerable. Shameless. All of them pulling Trump's strings. He listens to them. But he's invulnerable— a dim, demented, shameless, psychotic king, feared by everyone. Especially Republicans.
This is scary.
Possible tags: Praxis Makes Perfect • Praxis of Evil • Praxis Shrugged
Ironically, in the 1980s "praxis" emerged as a leftie idea. It was a favored term of performance studies, which was itself often less about traditional performance than theory BUT determined to be active—hence, praxis—in the world.
I vaguely recall that one faction of the SDS in the ’60s was called the “praxis axis”.
So as you and others point out, earlier than then 1980s.
Right, I was going to say -- the leftist "theory-versus-praxis" model is all I can think about when I see the word "praxis," which makes it a really funny word to be used by the plutocrat class.
The very, very funny thing is that whenever someone references capital-T Theory, it takes me a minute to realize they're referring to Marxist ideas and not the bougie corporate clothing store...
Reading about these Guys and their obsessions makes my skin crawl.
Also, this German speaker would like to point out that Praxis (capitalized, because German noun) means simply "practice." As in a doctor's office. And as such is an absolutely mundane piece of everyday vocabulary. I still lived in the US when small-p praxis was cool among the intellectual lefties. I laughed then; I laugh now.
"Lacks emotional energy." How about big dick energy. Don't they wish. Dr. Leonard Zelig: "I worked with Freud in Vienna. We broke over the concept of penis envy. Freud felt that it should be limited to women."
I wonder what monarch in history they look up to who wasn't a murderer.
"Give me liberty or give me death," said anti-monarchist Patrick Henry, enslaver of up to 80 people at any one time.
Just so you know, "In Marxian theory, praxis is the essential, dialectical unity of theory and practice, a cycle of reflective action and action-based reflection to transform the world, not just interpret it, moving from lived [as opposed to?] experience to critical thought and back to concrete, revolutionary activity to overcome oppression and build a more just society. It emphasizes that genuine understanding comes from changing reality, where theory guides action and action refines theory, distinguishing humans as purposeful creators." Zzzzzzzzzzzzz ....
Fascinating breakdown of the Praxis naming disaster! I've seen the same patern with clients who insist on classical names without realizng how saturated they are. Your point about emotional energy in naming really hits home. I once had a founder fight me on a name because it 'felt profound' even though nobody could remember it the next day. Overused doesn't mean timeless, it jsut means lazy.
Now it makes sense! All these rich dumbfucks think they're leading a romantic rebellion against the mean schoolteacher empire. "The final act of the padawan before joining the order is to make his own praxis."
As so often, a very interesting post, which I saw just in time to mention in a post of my own, where I finished - after reading this - with how a liberal rather than a libertarian political economy seems to be more fully grounded in the world as it actually is.
Praxis is impractical?
https://substack.com/inbox/post/185431572
Lest we forget Dazzler's "Praxis" booty shorts in X-Terminators #1 (2023) written by Leah Williams
We did not forget. We never knew. Thanks!
Very popular word in the psychotherapy world, as well, probably because it sounds both esoteric and engaged.
"Esoteric and engaged" -- hah!
And in an echo of the Torment Nexus meme, Praxis was the name of the Klingon moon that exploded, thus setting off the events of the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country...
I will never make up for my ignorance of Star Trek (and Star Wars) lore.
As a nerd of Stars both Trek and Wars, let me just encourage you by affirming that in these cases, Ignorance is Bliss.
At least as of today I'm caught up on Torment Nexus.
Ah, Greenland! Whenever these Masters of the Universe get there, they'll have to be importing oil or gas (or coal) until they can get their wind (and perhaps tide) power going. Then they might be energy-independent. In the meantime, they will also need food, which will have to come from somewhere else. More imports. Maybe, just maybe, with enough cheap energy, they can grow their own food in vast artificially lit, artificially warmed and artificially fertilised buildings. These will have to be built, along with actual shelter for the MotU. (I gather it's cold there.) More imports. And what about metals and other things from the ground. I don't think they are going to be self-sufficient for a long while, which is not even considering how the metals have to be processed and manufactured. I'm just guessing more and more imports. Now all of these things will require labourers who will have to be housed and fed too, and hence the imports keep multiplying. Maybe the MotU will develop robots to eventually do all of these and many other tasks, so that they can send the labourers away, but someone has to make the robots first. And there will still need to be a bunch of people to supervise and repair the robots.
So the MotU are going to live in a private fantasy-world in Greenland so they don't have to pay fair taxes or follow pesky regulations, but I just think they will be pouring much more of their own money into importing things while trying to develop their own self-sufficiency with masses of cheap labour until their robots are ready.
Finally, what are they going to actually do in Greenland? I can't imagine that hunting seals or kayaking amid icebergs or wandering across the ice cap (Mind the crevasse!) is going to keep them entertained for long, so it's back to hot spas or binge-watching or fancy foods in heated buildings. But, in reality, the MotU could do all that back in real civilisation without having to go to all the trouble of building a costly new civilisation for themselves.
Open question: is Ayn Rand actually a bad novelist? Or is this just received wisdom based on distaste for her big-name readers? (Or "readers" -- e.g., QB Aaron Rodgers hawking "Atlas Shrugged" in interviews, only to later admt he'd never actually read it.) Everyone whose opinions on novels I trust who's actually read "The Fountainhead" thinks it's a good book, and that would definitely be a left-of-center group. Freddie frickin' deBoer is a fan, apparently.
I suppose her fiction is perfectly fine if you don't mind one-dimensional characters and sermons disguised as dialogue. (Yes, I've read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.)
Ha! I will admit she is not quite my cup of tea, to put it mildly. But then again, neither is Tolkien!
I read “The Fountainhead”. I am an Architect. The book is laughably bad, both as a story and as a description of Architecture.