All I want for Christmas is DOOM

Before I begin, I'd like you to read this piece. Harden your hearts before you read, babies; the story would draw tears from a stone. (Or in my case gusts of troll-like laughter, since my heart is a burnt-out cinder composed of equal parts cynicism and schadenfreude.) It's a fairly long piece, but it's vital grounding for the essay that follows. It's also quite entertaining, if you're of a certain mindset. As Elizabeth's father Mister Bennett said, "With such narratives to hand, who would read novels?"

I'll just wait here and listen to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade while you're busy. That's what villains do, after all: we listen to classical music while we plan our evil plans and plot our evil plots.

...okay, finished? Let us continue then. The essay that follows is unconscionably long, but you know me: I find it hard to explain myself in less than 10,000 words. That's why I had to quit teh Twitters.

The engine of economics is driven by scarcity.

A basic definition of "economics" is given by Thomas Sowell (PBUH, may he live a thousand years), which I paraphrase here: "Economics is a system of allocating scarce resources which have alternate uses." The key word I want to focus on here is scarce. It is not abundance but scarcity that lies at the heart of economics. Scarcity of resources is what makes economics a fundamental property of nature. Scarcity is an inherent, inseparable, eternal property of reality. It is not a problem that can be solved -- it is bound up in the laws of physics that govern the cosmos.

The necessities of life -- water, food, clothing, shelter -- are drawn from scarce resources which have alternate uses and thus require a method of allocation. We generally think of systems like "capitalism" or "communism" when we think of economic systems, and there are others (feudalism, for example). But let's boil down the allocation method to two basic kinds: market-based, where scarce resources are allocated according to supply-and-demand dynamics; and command-based, where a central authority divvies up resources according to some set of (usually arbitrary) rules.

Nearly every variant of market-based and command-based economies has been tried over the centuries, and the market-driven economy has emerged as the best solution we have found so far. It turns out that market-based economies work far better than command-based economies for one simple reason: because of what F. A. Hayek called "the knowledge problem". Hayek's insight was that allocating scarce resources is a very complex business in anything other than a trivially small economy, and there's no way that a centrally-managed economy can hope to understand all the decisions and variables that go into making the production of goods and services possible. There is no way for a centralized body to determine how to allocate scarce resources efficiently across the hugely-complex landscape of a functioning economy. Mis-allocation of resources is almost always the near-term result, with the middle-to-long-term result being economic collapse.

Market-based economies use competition and pricing to guide the allocation of scarce resources. Supply and demand fluctuate, and the marketplace uses pricing of goods and services as a signaling device for both buyers and sellers. If supply is high but demand is low, prices drop and the resources that go into the low-demand item are diverted to a good or service where demand (thus price) is higher. If demand is high but supply is low, prices will rise and prompt competitors to enter the market at a lower price or (if the resource is inherently limited, as with beach-front property) drive more intense competition among buyers.

All of this is Economics 101, and it doesn't matter if you're a red diaper baby Communist or an Ayn-Randian hyper-capitalist, you have no choice but to work under these constraints. You live in a reality constrained by scarce resources that have alternate uses; there is no magical elixir or scientific discovery that will exempt you from it.

The dynamics of scarcity operate on services as well as goods.

There is a notion -- mainly coming from the political left -- that some services operate independently of the market (medical care is the classic example, but there are others). This is untrue. Services are bound by the same scarcity dynamics as anything else. Services rely on the expenditure of the most scarce and precious commodity there is: time. Take away all the supporting resources that go into providing a service to the marketplace, and a producer must still spend time in creating and offering the service, and the consumer must spend time in the consumption of the service. The time spent producing and consuming the service is time that cannot then be spent on something else (economists call this "opportunity cost"). Time is finite (scarce!) and, once spent, is gone forever.

Most importantly, time spent consuming service A cannot be spent twice. Time being finite and there only being one physical self, you can only do one thing at a time (in general and as a rule). If you consume service A at a given point in time, that means you cannot consume service B at the same time. You can consume Service B either before or after, certainly, but not concurrently. And that specific amount of time you spend consuming Service A is gone forever -- there are no refunds when it comes to time.

Also, time is money...but only for some. Many people will spend money to save time; some will spend time to save money. Generally if you are a producer you want your customers to come from the former group, not the latter. One paying customer is worth ten cheapskates. (That's a lesson the content-creators are having to learn the hard way.)

Demand for certain services tends to remain historically constant, while demand for others waxes and wanes with the times. Demand for barbers or hairdressers has remained fairly constant (hair keeps growing during good times and bad), while demand for the services of a blacksmith or a farrier has fallen off quite a bit in the last century or so.

The provision of that broad class of economic activity we call "services" is tightly bound to the supply/demand dynamic, and hence is best-served by the market-based and price-driven system of economics. Tastes can change quickly, trends come and go, consumer preferences shift dramatically...it all happens too fast for command-type economies to function.

In which we apply what we have learned.

So we (finally) get back around to the article I asked you you read. The piece is a long jeremiad about how difficult it is for twentysomething "content creators" to make a living creating YouTube videos and doing podcasts and other sorts of social-media stuff. It would be easy to mock this notion, and indeed mockery is called for (since I believe that shame, judiciously applied, is a good corrective for all manner of social and cultural ills). Plus, it's always good fun to watch the violent car-crash that inevitably ensues when penniless hippies try to run a business that caters to other penniless hippies.

Although the original piece ostensibly deals with the economics of internet content-creation, it actually is a purely emotion-driven cri de coeur at the unfairness of it all. The feels-based economics are "sad", apparently. So it might be useful to apply some actual economics to the argument, and see where that path leads us.

If commerce (getting paid with actual money) is the goal, we must figure out the contours of the demand for her product. We know that there is a demand for her content at zero price, but how much demand is there for her content at some unspecified nonzero price? Is she going to offer the same content to both paid subscribers and non-paying subscribers, or do the folks who pay get premium content of some kind? If a premium service is offered, is the content worth the fee they're paying? Or is she just asking for monetary donations from her fanbase, untethered to any particular piece of content she provides? It's not clear from the article, so all I can do is offer some generalized insight.

Demand always runs in front of supply. You don't eat until you're hungry; you don't think about a winter coat until it starts to get cold outside. The old saying that "seeing comes before wanting" isn't really true; seeing reminds you of wants or needs you already have. You don't buy a winter coat because the manufacturer has kids to feed or a mortgage to pay; you buy the coat because you're cold. In the same way, the manufacturer didn't build his coat factory to satisfy you; he built the coat factory to satisfy anybody's demand for a coat. (And if he guessed wrong about the general demand for coats, he'd go out of business regardless of your particular desire for a coat.)

Scarcity governs the internet content marketplace just as it does any other, but the scarce resource is not hosting resources or bandwidth so much as it is time. The time the producer requires to generate the content, the time a consumer spends finding and viewing or listening to said content. Right now, there is a huge glut in supply -- millions of content-creators producing new videos and podcasts and pictures and artwork and jokes and cartoons and essays and political op-ed, every second of every minute of every day. The demand for this stuff isn't growing nearly as fast. What happens when supply outstrips demand? Prices fall, inevitably.

Right now, the monetary price for amateur internet content is roughly zero. Most content creators satisfy themselves with payment in time -- followers who watch their videos or listen to their podcasts. The creator's payment comes in the form of reputation, recognition, pride, or simple joy in the knowledge that other people are enjoying something they created. However, this doesn't amount to much of a paycheck, and some of this free content is quite expensive to produce. Even if the provider is happy to bear the production costs, the wherewithal to pay those costs must be found, and that wherewithal probably will not come from donations or the patronage of a few kind souls. Internet content-creation is bound by the laws of supply and demand, and that particular market is hopelessly glutted. There is money to be made there, but probably not enough to amount to a living. We call this kind of thing a "hobby", which is an avocation one indulges in as a diversion from a full-time gig that actually pays the bills.

For the day gig that provides a steady paycheck, there's always the job at Chili's or Starbucks or Target or wherever else it is that twentysomethings with no useful job skills go when their dreams have been shattered. It may be embarrassing to have one of your internet followers see you in your work smock at Starbucks, but it'd be even more embarrassing for them to see you at the local welfare office or homeless shelter, or rattling a beggar's cup down on a subway platform. (And I'd argue that doing productive work shouldn't be embarrassing, no matter the job. There is honor in doing a job well, even if it isn't a particularly high-profile job. You're earning your money and providing value to your employer. You're pulling your own freight, and behaving as an adult should. This should be a point of pride, not a humiliation.)

None of this is unfair. I know it seems that way, especially to hothouse flowers who have lived their entire lives being praised and coddled, but there's nothing particularly amiss. It's just the way things are. You tried something, and it didn't work out. Try something else, and something else, and something else again until something works.

Artists tend to hate market-driven economic systems. This isn't a new phenomenon.

Speaking of the way things are....

Artists, historically, tend to loathe market-driven economic systems. It's infuriating to pour your heart and soul into some creative work and then have it land with a thud out amongst the hoi polloi. Many's the misunderstood self-declared genius whose transcendent work of art or music went unseen or unheard because the philistines with all the money couldn't be arsed to open their minds a bit. Famous composers, artists, and writers have produced oceans of bitter invective over their inability to make a living wage off their art. "Pearls before swine" the artist mutters darkly, and off he goes to drink himself to death.

This may explain why so many artists, actors, musicians, and other "creative" types are drawn to socialist or authoritarian economic models. If the dopey bourgeoisie can't be drawn to appreciate a work of art, perhaps they can be compelled to appreciate it by the power of the State! (Or at least be compelled to pay for it.)

Always leave them laughing.

Here's a passage from the linked article that is sublime in its unintentional hilarity:

Money anxiety is a deep and longtime trigger for me. I've almost quit Just Between Us a few times, once after spending hours hysterically crying in my parked car because I wasn't sure how I was going to make rent. My parents couldn't help me financially because they had their own problems. I had already sold some of my old clothing at Crossroads and Buffalo Exchange. Allison's parents offered to lend me money, but I wasn't comfortable taking from them. Finally I borrowed money from a very kind friend who I've since paid back. During that time, I had more than 70,000 Twitter followers.

All the demons are here, babies: triggering, hysterical crying, emotional incontinence, self-pity, casual hipster name-dropping ("Crossroads" and "Buffalo Exchange", like tout le monde should know or care about these places), inability to function as an adult, and deadbeat money-borrowing from long-suffering friends. But the non-sequitur "[d]uring that time, I had more than 70,000 Twitter followers" is what transforms this dreary Millennial catshit into comedy gold.

Posted by: Monty at 08:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Can I be first?

Posted by: V the K at December 21, 2015 08:02 AM (O7MnT)

2 If the dopey bourgeoisie can't be drawn to appreciate a work of art, perhaps they can be compelled to appreciate it by the power of the State! (Or at least be compelled to pay for it.)

Like "Piss Christ" or "Girls" with Lena Dunham.

Posted by: V the K at December 21, 2015 08:04 AM (O7MnT)

3 Hello

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at December 21, 2015 08:06 AM (1ijHg)

4 Print is dead. V-loggers are poor.

Posted by: The Wisdom Of Egon at December 21, 2015 08:07 AM (nbGZj)

5 Doom? Oh I thought this was about the NY Giants?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:09 AM (gf8BH)

6 Ah we has more doom

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 21, 2015 08:09 AM (t2KH5)

7 To sum it up. Control freak State Uber Allers types will screw everything up. Even if they are as 'smart' as AlGore.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 21, 2015 08:09 AM (nGyiN)

8 g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 21, 2015 08:10 AM (ZQfW9)

9 The market can fail but it's self-correcting.

Command economies WILL fail and only correct with herculean effort, usually well past the time to do so, if at all.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 08:13 AM (oVJmc)

10 Doooom, dooooom, doooom
Dooom de dooom, dooom de dooom....

Posted by: Tex Lovera at December 21, 2015 08:13 AM (wtvvX)

11 We know that there is a demand for her content at zero price, but how much demand is there for her content at some unspecified nonzero price?

Zero.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:13 AM (Q1QrS)

12 (Monty's Waltz)

Posted by: Tex Lovera at December 21, 2015 08:14 AM (wtvvX)

13 There is a notion, mainly coming from the political left, that some
services operate independently of the market (medical care is the
classic example, but there are others).

Of course the left thinks that. They are all communists.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 21, 2015 08:14 AM (t2KH5)

14 Magical Cargo Cult theology.

If they keep reciting the mantras of Marx, Skittles and unicorns will surely follow.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 21, 2015 08:15 AM (nGyiN)

15 Rule numero uno:

There is ALWAYS a market. Broken, perhaps. Regulated beyond recognition, even.

But it is still a market.

Posted by: Tex Lovera at December 21, 2015 08:16 AM (wtvvX)

16 I have an idea how Gaby can make money on the internet.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 08:16 AM (fWAjv)

17 Rule numero uno:

There is ALWAYS a market. Broken, perhaps. Regulated beyond recognition, even.

Numero uno: TNSTAAFL

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:18 AM (Q1QrS)

18 Ok, look. I've only started the first article linked.

But those youtube success stories . . . well here's my failure story. I have self published books up on Amazon that don't sell, even at 99 cents, even free. yet my books have been picked up by pirates.

Who pirates a book that doesn't sell at 99 cents?

Ok, I'll try to slog through the rest of that wall of text. But first. . . Ima gonna need a coffee refill and a tranquilizer.

Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 08:19 AM (cIFg4)

19 Math may be hard, but it is also rewarding.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez (rock salt and fire-hook at the ready !) at December 21, 2015 08:20 AM (erRNA)

20 I have a high profile hobby I hoped to parlay into a pile of cash and can't quit my day job. Pity me. *sobs into $8 skinny half caff mocha latte*

Posted by: Not a Kardashian at December 21, 2015 08:20 AM (GgxVX)

21 Doom!

I had a scarcity of patience this morning, given I got the truck stuck then unstuck...

Nice point about scarcity, of course what do we call it when government gets in the business of enforced (energy) scarcity because of religion?

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:21 AM (g8Hfr)

22 Obama is pulling the race card on Trump over at Drudge. That means they are deathly afraid of him.

Posted by: The Great White Scotsman at December 21, 2015 08:22 AM (iONHu)

23 Imagine if I were paid by the word count of each post I made here #AtTheHQ Monty?

Maet calculated I have written war and peace multiple times.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:22 AM (g8Hfr)

24 They need to get a real job.

Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2015 08:22 AM (sj3Ax)

25 Well I shall scoot and sling some more words in Scrivener. Got almost 1,500 down yesterday.

Then mail off three items I sold on eBay. Thanks to the Horde, your support is awesome.
https://youtu.be/cGDdFuDwTZ8

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 21, 2015 08:23 AM (nGyiN)

26 Well I always thought I should be paid for my comments here. Just my two cents worth.

Posted by: freaked at December 21, 2015 08:23 AM (BO/km)

27 When you think that medical care operates outside the market concept, you wind up with the current system we have: no reflection of real costs, stifled supply, and a massive regulatory burden.

IE, a manufactured 'crisis' that requires more interference by the same people who caused it to 'fix' it.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 08:24 AM (oVJmc)

28 IE, a manufactured 'crisis' that requires more interference by the same people who caused it to 'fix' it.

Government in a nutshell.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:25 AM (Q1QrS)

29 Well I always thought I should be paid for my comments here. Just my two cents worth.
Posted by: freaked at December 21, 2015 08:23 AM (BO/km)

you don't get paid per comment? er never mind..forget I mentioned it

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:27 AM (gf8BH)

30 'This is making me sad,' she said as she took stock of her future job options at a Starbucks in Sherman Oaks. 'I have to do YouTube at this point. Shit. I have to succeed.'
----

Today success is measured in followers or likes.

#WASTF

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 08:27 AM (fWAjv)

31 Having been there before, retail work is the antithesis of dignity. Imagine having to treat someone as if they were always right, just because some salesman who went bankrupt and died penniless coined a motto that most likely helped drive his business empire into the ground.

The abuse from customers is a grinding constant that wears on your self-worth, the Machiavellian coworkers all jostling for a way into management creates a paranoid environment, and the managers themselves who treat you as a completely disposable cog in an a vast and heartless machine certainly don't help matters along.

Now all of this abuse might be even be bearable, except for the fact that minimum wage can not afford an independent standard of living, even if you work 40 hours per week (you won't, thanks to Obamacare), and even if you live in a car. Are you willing to work two jobs, or even three, and still always be behind? If not, you'll either be living with your parents or on public assistance while working. And how degrading is that?

I went through years of it thanks to living in an area that Obama's glorious recovery forgot (known in some circles as "The United States"), and it nearly drove me out of my mind. A friend helped me get a job with a small tech company, and I put all that over a thousand miles behind me. Still, sometimes at night, I'm back behind that counter and some welfare bum is yelling at me because he can't put hot food from the deli on his EBT card.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 08:29 AM (J+mig)

32 When you think that medical care operates outside the market concept, you wind up with the current system we have: no reflection of real costs, stifled supply, and a massive regulatory burden.

Leftists spout pablum like, "Health Care should not be a for-profit industry."

I always respond, "The hell it shouldn't. Health Care should be enormously profitable. Profitable industries draw the best and the brightest people, because they want to make money. Profitable industries are the most innovative; so we would get more lifesaving drugs and treatments. Profitable industries are the most competitive, which brings down costs."

They don't respond, um, well to that.

Posted by: V the K at December 21, 2015 08:29 AM (O7MnT)

33 My favorite bit from the article...

Some of us are able to maintain relative purity by minimizing our cost of living.

Uh sweetie, living within your means is not about purity it's about fiscal sanity.

If you didn't have issue with it on your Campbellian climb to heroism you wouldn't whine about it.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:29 AM (g8Hfr)

34 Well off to my real job where people pay me to do actual stuff.

Posted by: freaked at December 21, 2015 08:30 AM (BO/km)

35 29 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:27 AM (gf8BH)

Out getting paid by Israel is seasonal NGU..

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:31 AM (g8Hfr)

36 Florida Moonbat Is Putting Up Gay Pride Themed Festivus Poles In State Capitols

Right after the airing of grievances, we can meet up for the feats of strength.

Weasel Zippers

Gives pole dancing a whole new meaning I guess?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:31 AM (gf8BH)

37 Half way through and Ima gonna say it again.

"The Art of Asking : How I learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help" by Amanda Palmer.

Just to be clear, this is the art of begging and mooching.

Somebody had an article about 'crowd funding' yesterday or the day before. I'm not even going to try and look it up.

Now back to the written words of DOOM.

Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 08:32 AM (cIFg4)

38 Not that it did any good, but I figured this out more than 20 years ago. Since I wasn't exactly getting rich in the paper-and-ink writing game, I started talking to people who were setting up webzines and singing the praises of Online Content.

Then I found out they paid less -- much less -- and the time and effort involved on my part (researching, writing, photography) didn't diminish at all. They were supposedly making Teh Big Bucks from ad revenue, but were not passing any of it along. Just like my print publishers.

Nothing changes. Some make money, some (including some pretty talented people) don't. Most of the magazines I worked for disappeared, shot down by competition from the Web. Most of the websites that I could have worked for vanished, too.

And some of my print work began showing up on the Internet. I wasn't paid for that, but someone was.

I could go on, and write as long and whiny a screed as the one Monty linked to. But I'm not being paid to do that.

Posted by: MrScribbler at December 21, 2015 08:32 AM (z/vax)

39 One of my daughter's high school friends graduated with a BS in Molecular Biology from Enormous State University last May.

She decided AFTER graduating that she didn't enjoy Molecular Biology, and she's now waiting tables at a chain restaurant, and thinking she wants to go back to school to become a journalism major.

Sometimes the best lessons are taught by your stupid, stupid, stupid friends....

Posted by: Tex Lovera at December 21, 2015 08:32 AM (wtvvX)

40 39 Posted by: Tex Lovera at December 21, 2015 08:32 AM (wtvvX)

Indeed, I have been at my happiest broke and with money and my most miserable with money and with money....

People should be smarter than me and figure out whether or not they like their major before they render it a 30,000 buck plus hobby.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:35 AM (g8Hfr)

41 Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 08:19 AM (cIFg4)

Let Oregon Muse know about your book for the Sunday Book Thread. The Horde is good about supporting the writers among us.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 21, 2015 08:35 AM (GDulk)

42 Maybe if they were doing some tutorials or something, and then offering a line of more in-depth tutorials, for money, in their videos, then I could respect it. Art? Comedy? Nah. Starve! Teach me to paint a picture, teach me to tell a joke, show me how to program a gunfight in 3D space and do those things to save me time and effort and money, and you'll do just fine girls. Otherwise, quit the whining and go get a real job.

Posted by: goon at December 21, 2015 08:37 AM (gy5kE)

43 I stopped reading when I got to the phrase "YouTube Economy".

I always considered that the inevitable end result of the internet was 7 billion people, each with their own blog or YouTube channel, each with one viewer/subscriber.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 08:37 AM (NeFrd)

44 Okay then, from here on out I am charging for my comments.

You won't get more or better content, but you will have the confidence that you aren't reading the comments of a smelly hippy.

Posted by: blaster at December 21, 2015 08:37 AM (KAjP9)

45 I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

I've got an appt. for an injection in my neck & won't be feeling good for a week.

Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2015 08:38 AM (sj3Ax)

46 45 Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2015 08:38 AM (sj3Ax)

Ow, do get better Carol...

Ms 10077 fell on the ice this morning and is in pain as well.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:39 AM (g8Hfr)

47 The high highs and low lows leave me reeling-some 27 year old
---------------------
Obviously your parents let you down probably several times at a very fast rate of speed

Posted by: , Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:40 AM (voOPb)

48 Hey Morons, let's be careful out there, ice, injections, valu-rite

Posted by: , Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:41 AM (voOPb)

49 Half way through and Ima gonna say it again.

"The Art of Asking : How I learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help" by Amanda Palmer.

Just to be clear, this is the art of begging and mooching.

"How I Wore Out My FYNQ Rubber Stamp" by rickb223.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:41 AM (Q1QrS)

50
@39-....to become a journalism major.

Maybe she should get a paper route first and see if that journalism thing sticks with her.

Posted by: Case, Mors Semper Tyrannis at December 21, 2015 08:41 AM (HSAmh)

51 test

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:41 AM (voOPb)

52
I'm in the doom for Vol,
Simply because it's Star Trek.
Funny, but it's sci-fi dreck,
I'm in the doom for Vol.

NOW PAY ME!

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:42 AM (uRmWf)

53 Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 08:37 AM (NeFr

Is that an evil laugh?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:42 AM (voOPb)

54 Nothings from Nowheresville making nothing vending nothing to other nothings looking for something.

Just the sort of nihilistic soul vampires who look forward to the destruction of America. To relive the tedium.

Posted by: Half a league, onward at December 21, 2015 08:42 AM (KSP4V)

55 She decided AFTER graduating that she didn't enjoy Molecular Biology, and she's now waiting tables at a chain restaurant, and thinking she wants to go back to school to become a journalism major.

Why? She has a degree. That's all that matters.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:42 AM (Q1QrS)

56 Sven,
My neck has been a mess since 1999. This doctor's injections help, but make it worse for a week.

I hope Mrs. 10007 is okay.

Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2015 08:43 AM (sj3Ax)

57 NOW PAY ME!
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:42 AM (uRmWf

Come over on the 24th, I'm preparing smoked salmon and cornish game hens.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:43 AM (voOPb)

58 SOON

Posted by: Doom Kitty/SMOD 2016 at December 21, 2015 08:44 AM (XkVXQ)

59 56 Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2015 08:43 AM (sj3Ax)

Sorry to hear your neck's been in pain since 1999...

she's most likely fine, hurt her shoulder and her hip...

Wife has many fine qualities, they come at a cost of bearing the grace of a 3 legged gazelle.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:44 AM (g8Hfr)

60 58 SOON
Posted by: Doom Kitty/SMOD 2016 at December 21, 2015 08:44 AM (XkVXQ)

Promises, promises, promises.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:45 AM (voOPb)

61 I am going to call it a day Morons. Have fun.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 21, 2015 08:45 AM (t2KH5)

62 57 Come over on the 24th, I'm preparing smoked salmon and cornish game hens.
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:43 AM (voOPb)

Old and busted = We shall overcome.
New hotness = We shall come over.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:46 AM (uRmWf)

63 @39-....to become a journalism major.

There's gold in them thar shills . . .

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:47 AM (uRmWf)

64 Old and busted = We shall overcome.
New hotness = We shall come over.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:46 AM (uRmWf)

YAY!!!!!!!
MH does happy dance
Oh i better not, i'm not much more graceful than Mrs. Sven

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:47 AM (voOPb)

65 Tex she won't make a living at journalism either. Leaving aside print, which you can mentallypicture as being akin to a dying camel in the desert, the number of jobs available is dwarfed by the number of 'J School' grads, to the point that waiting tables -honest work- likely pays as much or more than most journalism gigs. To put it to her more plainly, the number of journalists who are making the 7 figure salaries in broadcast arena is less than the number of players on her high school football team. probably a lot less. Lots of women and men make good livings as tailors, barbers/hairdressers and small shop retailers. I personally know a lady who has been a hairdresser for 30 years now, owns her own salon and has a very nice house and autos etc, -her husband is an electrician. Not a whiff of college between them and they do well.

Posted by: Put that kid back where it came from or So Help Me at December 21, 2015 08:48 AM (HPNqc)

66 I love how the Youtuber concludes "there is a flawed distribution of wealth" because she isn't making money. The entire economic system is at fault because she is working in a low-reward part of the economy.

The girl, and I refer to her this way because she is obviously wildly immature, has no self-awareness at all. Sadly for her, life teaches us all the lessons we need and, especially if you're thick, the lessons come hard.

Posted by: MTF at December 21, 2015 08:48 AM (TxJGV)

67 64 Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:47 AM (voOPb)

I meant in spirit, but I depreciate it with all cromulence.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:48 AM (uRmWf)

68 Money anxiety is a deep and longtime trigger for me. I've almost quit Just Between Us a few times, once after spending hours hysterically crying in my parked car because I wasn't sure how I was going to make rent. My parents couldn't help me financially because they had their own problems. I had already sold some of my old clothing at Crossroads and Buffalo Exchange. Allison's parents offered to lend me money, but I wasn't comfortable taking from them. Finally I borrowed money from a very kind friend who I've since paid back. During that time, I had more than 70,000 Twitter followers.
------

Dumb _ _ _ _

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:49 AM (voOPb)

69
I meant in spirit, but I depreciate it with all cromulence.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:48 AM (uRmWf

Someday Sefton you and I, you and I!!!!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:50 AM (voOPb)

70 President Obama said in a radio interview airing on Monday that Donald J. Trump, a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, is exploiting the resentment and anxieties of working-class men to boost his campaign. Mr. Obama also argued that some of the scorn directed at him personally stems from the fact that he is the first African-American to hold the White House.

What a putz

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:50 AM (gf8BH)

71 Monty,

I shout BS on your white male, patriarchal oppressive thoughts on economics.

Capitalism is all about the MAN sticking it to the little people.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 08:51 AM (LXJ1e)

72 70 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:50 AM (gf8BH)

Mocha Messiah gave us permission to disagree with SOME of his policies.

I hate him with every fiber of my being.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:51 AM (g8Hfr)

73 What a putz
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:50 AM

My, my. You are generous this morning. Who are you and what did you do with the real NGU?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:52 AM (voOPb)

74 71 Posted by:Making America Great Again at December 21, 2015 08:51 AM (LXJ1e)

Morning Yector, how's the Xe doing this AM?

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:52 AM (g8Hfr)

75 But on the bright side, there are still a few, very few, good young people out there (courtesy of yesterday's football thread):

http://tinyurl.com/pjk8t78

People probably recognize her too, but that doesn't stop her from doing her job!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 08:53 AM (ftVQq)

76
Someday Sefton you and I, you and I!!!!
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:50 AM (voOPb)

Please, Jane! Not in front of the men!

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:53 AM (uRmWf)

77 Allison's parents offered to lend me money, but I wasn't comfortable taking from them. Finally I borrowed money from a very kind friend who I've since paid back. During that time, I had more than 70,000 Twitter followers.

Hmmmmm. 70,000. GoFundMe at a buck each......
Hmmmmm. Not too shabby.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:53 AM (Q1QrS)

78 " inability to function as an adult, and deadbeat money-borrowing from long-suffering friends. "

Ya, I'm so vain I think that comment is aimed at me.
Ok, I was always made to feel guilty and presume that is aimed at me.

I've taken the ideal of duty, honor, and self reliance to an extreme and live like a miser because I was always taught that people would recognize my good qualities and I could be proud of my work. What I got was screwed by the money grubbers who paid me minimum while keeping the big money for themselves (There is a story about Steve Jobs and the sale of the first hard drive. Jobs told Woz that he only got Six hundred for it, and split the six while he actually got a grand.)

I've never had one of those good jobs because I was too proud and noble to suck ass to get it. I spent my entire life taking the job that someone else had just quit from because those were the only jobs I could get.

Ya, I get that scarcity economic point well, because I have lived it my whole life a baby boomer competing with other baby boomers for scarce employment. You ain't tellin' me nothin I don't already know.

And for the frosting on the cup cake, my book was on the book thread, and I am grateful for the thirty or so Morons who bought it. Thank you very much.
I was raised to never brag, and always be humble because my parents didn't want me to get 'the big head'.

This whole rant is because this DOOM post pisses me off big time. There are a lot of us ordinary average people out here struggling, playing by the rules, and getting hosed for it, and I don't need the gratuitous insults.

Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 08:53 AM (cIFg4)

79 Promises, promises, promises.

I have convinced SMOD that your planet is indeed worthy of his sweet destructive mercy.

Posted by: Doom Kitty at December 21, 2015 08:53 AM (NF2Bf)

80 Hey Monty,

No offense but you've been dooming for YEARS. You're not even a grateful broken clock. Please go live the apocalypse.

Posted by: Hiawatha Jones at December 21, 2015 08:54 AM (m3JHJ)

81 71 Capitalism is all about the MAN sticking it to the little people.
Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 08:51 AM (LXJ1e)

MAN = Marxist Atheist Nihilists

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 08:54 AM (uRmWf)

82 The Pentagon is considering more aggressive cyberattacks on the Islamic States computers in an effort to decrease its propaganda on social media and prevent potential terror attacks, according to a published report.

??? And that just occurred to them? Boy I guess ya got to get up pretty early in the AM to fool these guys? Top Men!

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:54 AM (gf8BH)

83 "She decided AFTER graduating that she didn't enjoy Molecular Biology, and she's now waiting tables at a chain restaurant, and thinking she wants to go back to school to become a journalism major."

Indentured servitude, here I come!

She should be looknig for a man. I mean she brings so much into a relationship, with all that student debt, what lucky man wouldn't to hitch his wagon to that.

Posted by: The Reaper at December 21, 2015 08:54 AM (XgfBI)

84 'That's kind of a no-brainer. If somebody is loading guns and ammunition into a house, I think it's a good idea to call 911. Do it,' Sanders said.
----

Nothing could go wrong

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 08:55 AM (fWAjv)

85 My, my. You are generous this morning. Who are you and what did you do with the real NGU?
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 08:52 AM (voOPb)

I got up at 3 AM to take wife and daughter to Airport...I'm a tad beat already

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:56 AM (gf8BH)

86 Yup. It's the same economics course hundreds of thousands of teenagers who spent their paper-route money to buy a guitar and become a rock star had to go through: get a real job because you simply aren't that unique or talented.

Posted by: Snoodling World Champion 1997 at December 21, 2015 08:56 AM (k9qR4)

87 78 Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 08:53 AM (cIFg4)

Unless, and until the United States gets back in the business of maximizing business we are all going to be dancing on \the rich effete liberal Rich's strings.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:56 AM (g8Hfr)

88 Hello Darkness, my old friend.

Posted by: Grump928(C) says Free Soothie! with purchase of equal or greater value commenter at December 21, 2015 08:56 AM (rwI+c)

89 Mocha Messiah gave us permission to disagree with SOME of his policies.

I hate him with every fiber of my being.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 08:51 AM (g8Hfr)

Policies like easy immigration and citizenship for a million plus Syrian "refugees", or easy immigration and citizenship for a million plus young "disaffected" muz males with beards from the Middle East.
That's a policy discussion we really need to have!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 08:56 AM (ftVQq)

90 70 President Obama said in a radio interview airing on Monday that Donald J. Trump, a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, is ~~exploiting the~~ riding a wave of the widespread resentment and anxieties of working-class men to boost his campaign.

FIFY President Dipshit. This is what elections are about, addressing the failures of the current office-holder and promising to fix it. We call it "politics".

Posted by: MTF at December 21, 2015 08:57 AM (TxJGV)

91 Shorter version of Monty:

Keep your day job.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 08:57 AM (NeFrd)

92 Or more likely 7 billion Go Fund Me pages, each with exactly one and only one $5 donor.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 08:59 AM (NeFrd)

93 ah doom

good cuppa morning coffee, raining not snowing

on the porch admiring a bare red berried tree with droplets adhered to each ending branch, catching the dawning light as if covered with millions of Christmas lights.

its happy and peaceful. then....Monty.

LOL

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:00 AM (F+xWX)

94 Harden your hearts before you read, babies; the story would draw tears from a stone.

I can't do tears today. I'm just going to be happy I am done shopping, done wrapping and now all I have to do is bake and enjoy family...

Posted by: Lea at December 21, 2015 09:00 AM (lIU4e)

95
Has anyone bothered to post a reply to the article?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 09:00 AM (uRmWf)

96 You know, what I have been craving is the Lt Kije suite by Prokofiev. Great winter/Christmas music and ironically, a good lesson in the Great State in charge of all the things.

YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URrbQFL8IGc

Like the John Williams score for Star Wars, this piece lives beyond its original purpose.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 21, 2015 09:01 AM (MIKMs)

97 Oh wait that was a joke! Ok, better.

Posted by: Lea at December 21, 2015 09:01 AM (lIU4e)

98 Getting ready for a 2 day hoops tournament starting this afternoon. For some reason our company is only covering the Girls games, which will be streamed Live on "ESPNw", a sports site for female fans/athletes. A side effect of that is that "my" spot on the broadcast is going to be taken by a female co-worker. I'll just be running the camera/rig, etc., not appearing on air. So, if you're in the mood for high school hoops and shaky camerawork, log into ESPNw around 2:30.

Posted by: Lincolntf at December 21, 2015 09:01 AM (2cS/G)

99 92 Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 08:59 AM (NeFrd)

Heh, Jharles Chonson's little cult didn't even get him 10 grand on his "Please Fund Enable My Cheetoh Addiction" drive a few months back...

Wonder if he misses the 4 grand a month glory days?

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:01 AM (g8Hfr)

100 President Obama says Black Lives Matter, the controversial protest movement currently stoking anti-cop hatred in America, is still a force for good.

Cock sucking SOB commie asshole

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:01 AM (gf8BH)

101 damn strike that

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (g8Hfr)

102 Now I've gone an embarrassed my self and have to change my name again.

I apologize for my immature emotional childish outburst.

May you all have a nice holiday.

Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (cIFg4)

103 Mr. Obama also argued that some of the scorn directed at him personally stems from the fact that he is the first African-American to hold the White House.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:50 AM

No Obama, you thin skinned, truculent, perpetually aggrieved man child. It is because you have risen to power due solely to your skin color and political persuasion with absolutely no consideration of your demonstrated lack of skills and ability to perform the most elementary executive functions.

Nothing you have 'accomplished' has been measured, weighed and judged without the thumbs of affirmative action and political correctness on the scale.

That you stupid, lazy ingrate is the epitome of racism.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (60Vyp)

104 So Krauthammer is going to carry concealed firearm because Trump threatened journalists in some backhanded remark about Putin?

Why am I picturing Dr. Loveless in Wild Wild West with a Gatling gun on his wheelchair?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (NeFrd)

105 First the Progressives came for the Jewish dentists, and I said nothing for I am not a Jewish dentist....

http://bit.ly/1YvXH3h

Fucking amazing. Remember: Major Hassan got the thumbs up from these asswipes.

Posted by: MTF at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (TxJGV)

106 Only for you, Monty. Only for you would I have read that narcissistic claptrap at that link.

Posted by: m at December 21, 2015 09:03 AM (d4uu4)

107
Leftists spout pablum like, "Health Care should not be a for-profit industry."

I always respond, "The hell it shouldn't. Health Care should be enormously profitable. Profitable industries draw the best and the brightest people, because they want to make money. Profitable industries are the most innovative; so we would get more lifesaving drugs and treatments. Profitable industries are the most competitive, which brings down costs."

They don't respond, um, well to that.
Posted by: V the K at December 21, 2015 08:29 AM (O7MnT)

It's funny they don't get this. Then turn around and say teachers should be paid more to attract better teachers.

Uh....

Posted by: blindside1973 at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (Hh9wy)

108 President Obama said in a radio interview airing on Monday that Donald
J. Trump, a leading contender for the Republican presidential
nomination, is exploiting the resentment and anxieties of working-class
men to boost his campaign.

Ah, I see. Listening to someone is 'exploiting them.'

How about 'exploiting' race hatred and government dependence, Gaylord?

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (oVJmc)

109 102 Posted by: Tuor Medraut at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (cIFg4)

Nothing childish about it, it sucks having dishonourable asshats win....

They are about to elect a new population because they know the current population is about to unelect them.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (g8Hfr)

110 ...now all I have to do is bake and enjoy family...

Posted by: Lea

******

Phrasing, young lady, phrasing.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (NeFrd)

111 No one understands basic micro economics anymore. It seems neither taught nor learned.

Reference the debate on minimum wages. I have tried to explain to my state legislators over and over the effect it has on people whose productivity is below that rate. They don't believe it, despite the real evidence.

When I say, OK, if $15 feels good, wouldn't $20 or $100 pr hour feel even better? Then the mental gears begin to grind to a halt.

Posted by: Sanfranpsycho at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (Vv/Pc)

112 good paper at NBER on causes of rising college tuition

http://www.nber.org/chapters/c13711.pdf

short answer: federal subsidies

imagine

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:05 AM (2Wmrt)

113 111 Posted by: Sanfranpsycho at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (Vv/Pc)

We were taught basic econ in the 8th grade in home economics....

they nuked that class for grievance studies.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:06 AM (g8Hfr)

114 First the Progressives came for the Jewish dentists, and I said nothing for I am not a Jewish dentist....

http://bit.ly/1YvXH3h

Fucking amazing. Remember: Major Hassan got the thumbs up from these asswipes.
Posted by: MTF at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (TxJGV)

Yeah I'd be careful putting to much stock in that story...something sounds a tad off.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:06 AM (gf8BH)

115 Starving artist complains about being a starving artist, just like every other starving artist in history.

Listen Sugartits, successful people hustle. That's the only way to become successful. You have to constantly improve, constantly look for new ways to make money, and you have to be willing to do what it takes. 90,000 Instagram followers? So what? What can they do for you?

High art has always been a side job. Successful artists tend to find the commercial applications of their skills and make a living doing that. Or they marry well. Either way, they aren't likely to make a living with whatever painting they're currently working on.

Want to be successful? Learn to be a saleswoman. Sales has this bed reputation, but the reality is every is selling something. Sales is just the art of convincing the potential customer that the value of a product is higher than the cost. Even if that product is you. Look at all your work out there and ask yourself, "How does this help me convince someone else to pay money for my services?" If it doesn't... STOP DOING IT! Focus on what does work. If Buzzfeed won't pay for your work, then tell them to take a hike. If your Instagram followers won't hit the tip jar then maybe they aren't worth all the effort. Figure out who is, and what they want.

But stop whining.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at December 21, 2015 09:07 AM (fC9RO)

116 I forgot to mention I got that link on the Jewish dentist from Iowahawk. Thanks for everything Iowahawk, and I'm happy you aren't leaving the internet.

Posted by: MTF at December 21, 2015 09:07 AM (TxJGV)

117 my kid's getting basic econ in 9th grade

supplemented by Sowell at home

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:07 AM (2Wmrt)

118 Doom. God bless us, everyone.

Posted by: dfbaskwill at December 21, 2015 09:08 AM (zllbf)

119 Doom. God bless us, everyone.

May I have some more, sir?
--Oliver

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 09:08 AM (Q1QrS)

120 Where non-H2B folks see Doom, I see opportunity!
I'm a scarce resource...cheap labor!

Posted by: scrood H2B at December 21, 2015 09:09 AM (3b9U4)

121 "In the long run, we're all dead." Keynes

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:09 AM (2Wmrt)

122 I got up at 3 AM to take wife and daughter to Airport...I'm a tad beat already
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 08:56 AM (gf8BH

To the correct airport? IIRC you almost went to the wrong one?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:10 AM (voOPb)

123 tell the young'uns, "in the event of a gold rush, be the one who sells the shovels"

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:10 AM (2Wmrt)

124 my kid's getting basic econ in 9th grade

supplemented by Sowell at home

Got it at 9 or 10. Had regulars on weekly lawn cuttings and snow shovelings.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 09:10 AM (Q1QrS)

125 "In the long run, we're all dead." Keynes

*****

Yeah, well SCREW YOU right back!

Posted by: Keynes' grandkids at December 21, 2015 09:11 AM (NeFrd)

126 104 So Krauthammer is going to carry concealed firearm because Trump threatened journalists in some backhanded remark about Putin?

Why am I picturing Dr. Loveless in Wild Wild West with a Gatling gun on his wheelchair?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 09:02 AM (NeFrd)

Good luck Chuck. Don't forget you're in DC so let me know how that works out for ya.

*works a block away. See him pretty frequently.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:11 AM (fWAjv)

127 115 Posted by: Colorado Alex at December 21, 2015 09:07 AM (fC9RO)

If I had 90,000 people following me on whatever platform, you can bet your sweet ass I'd be figuring out all the angles I could to make a buck off of them. Legally and honestly, but hey, business is business.

This worthless female is only worthless because of the malediction/indoctrination she that's been pumped into her brain for all of her, what, 21 years of life.

Too bad. They'll never wake up because they lack the fundamental ability to REASON. It's been whipped out of them by the Bill Ayerses of this world.

Crime against humanity, really.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 09:12 AM (uRmWf)

128 To the correct airport? IIRC you almost went to the wrong one?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:10 AM (voOPb)
---------------------------------------------------

I've done that. The spousal unit was sleepy at 4 am (imagine that) and told me "Newark", so I went there. Wrong.

Posted by: MTF at December 21, 2015 09:12 AM (TxJGV)

129 Wow that article is a must read! Thanks Monty!

Posted by: Draki at December 21, 2015 09:13 AM (sCOy8)

130 You could have found out how many followers Tardersauce has and contrasted that to the 70,000. :-)

Posted by: critic at December 21, 2015 09:13 AM (CzhL0)

131 127 Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 09:12 AM (uRmWf)

Obama makes sense when you realize Billy Ayers dreams of killing us all.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:13 AM (g8Hfr)

132 Phrasing, young lady, phrasing.
Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (NeFrd)

Cute.

Now that I've skimmed the beginning of the article (because my brain is not quite ready for so many words this morning, at least until I've had more coffee), is this not internet economy issues part 2? I have a website! That means I will have money!

Not without a business plan that actually involves turning a profit. Or an IPO.

Posted by: Lea at December 21, 2015 09:13 AM (lIU4e)

133 117 my kid's getting basic econ in 9th grade

supplemented by Sowell at home
Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:07 AM (2Wmrt)

Also give them a healthy dose of Milton Friedman, Carl Popper, Friedrich Hayek and Eric Hoffer.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 09:13 AM (uRmWf)

134 Reference the debate on minimum wages. I have tried to explain to my state legislators over and over the effect it has on people whose productivity is below that rate. They don't believe it, despite the real evidence.

-----------

Many of them, particularly the liberals, find the problem very counter-intuitive. The minimum wage causes employers to treat the low-end of the workforce as if workers are too *scarce*, even though in reality there are plenty of low end workers in most cases. Why? Because the floor wage is $15/hr, and the existing pool is only worth $8/hr (or whatever). The number of people in the low-end pool who are actually worth $15/hr is relatively small, ergo employers behave as if they are operating in a scarcity-driven labor environment -- which means that they invest in automation, they put the brakes on growth, and they try to squeeze more productivity out of the existing workforce.

The minimum wage is bad because it imposes an artificial scarcity dynamic on a marketplace that is not actually experiencing a labor-scarcity problem. It hurts employers due to the costs it imposes, but it hurts the low-end workers even worse because it renders them invisible and all but unemployable.

The left frames the question as whether a low-end worker should be getting $15/hr or $8/hr, but the real question is whether they should get $15/hr or $8/hr or $0/hr. The real minimum wage, as Thomas Sowell has pointed out many times, is zero. $8/hr isn't as good as $15/hr, but it's a damned sight better than zero.

Posted by: Monty at December 21, 2015 09:14 AM (svTzG)

135 They are about to elect a new population because they know the current population is about to unelect them.
Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:04 AM (g8Hfr)

An excellent sermon yesterday. Our pastor got pretty emotional about the problems of this world. Yet, reminded us, that God is so in charge. Everything works out to His plan. Comforted by my faith in Jesus.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:14 AM (voOPb)

136 my kid's getting basic econ in 9th grade

supplemented by Sowell at home

My best econ was in college, taught by a business guy. Probably isn't offered anymore.

Posted by: Colin at December 21, 2015 09:14 AM (T3Tpd)

137 be competitive or, as most artists did throughout the ages, cultivate a patron.

is there a kickstarter style page for artists? ought there be?

taking Montys point of view: so what, set one up. that service is scarce, even if bad art is not.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:14 AM (F+xWX)

138 Brilliant! Hope you got paid for this. /s

Posted by: wyntre at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (fv8rS)

139 To the correct airport? IIRC you almost went to the wrong one?
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:10 AM (voOPb)

I NEVER go to the wrong Airport...My wife told me the wrong Airport, but being the anal asshole I am, I noticed she was wrong printing the tickets out last night. LOL

Tomorrow early AM I have to take daughter #2 to the NY Airport. No rest for the weary

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (gf8BH)

140 "Keynes' grandkids"

ha, well, Keynes was a gay fella

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (2Wmrt)

141 Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:05 AM (2Wmrt)

That concept was one of the two important bits of information I got from reading Ron Paul's book. The other is that I could never vote for him, because beyond that point his worldview becomes incredibly naive at best.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (GDulk)

142 So Krauthammer is going to carry concealed firearm because Trump threatened journalists in some backhanded remark about Putin?

Sounds like Kraut's TDS has driven him Full Drama Queen.

Why am I picturing Dr. Loveless in Wild Wild West with a Gatling gun on his wheelchair?

There's only one Miquelito Loveless and Michael Dunn is his prophet.

(Just watched WWW (the series) yesterday, including the last Loveless episode.)

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (oVJmc)

143 Good luck Chuck. Don't forget you're in DC so let me know how that works out for ya.

*works a block away. See him pretty frequently.
Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:11 AM (fWAjv

David "F*cking" Gregory as his bodyguard. I hear he has accessories to the evil assault weapons.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:17 AM (voOPb)

144 When it comes to the minimum wage, the left always argues the value of people. It's not about people; it's about the value of the job that needs to be performed and the pool of people that can perform it.

Cleaning toilets - hundreds of thousands of people, hence low pay.

Neurosurgeons - perhaps a few hundred people, hence high pay.

But, "living wage!!!! eleventy!!!!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 09:18 AM (uRmWf)

145 Tomorrow early AM I have to take daughter #2 to the NY Airport. No rest for the weary
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (gf8BH

Good luck with that NGU

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:18 AM (voOPb)

146 ever read Hayek? it's grown-up prose

the fehppersnappers take the Sowell just fine

completely agreed on the on-the-job learning

I also tax my kids' earnings -- they hate that

there's no way else to learn it, though, you have to feel the truth of some things in your bones

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:18 AM (2Wmrt)

147 "Keynes' grandkids"

ha, well, Keynes was a gay fella

****

Fine then. Nick updated.

Posted by: Keynes' gay grandkids at December 21, 2015 09:20 AM (NeFrd)

148 Tomorrow early AM I have to take daughter #2 to the NY Airport. No rest for the weary
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:15 AM (gf8BH

Good luck with that NGU
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 09:18 AM (voOPb)

Well it will be 4:30 in the AM, so I doubt I will have much trouble other than getting up

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:20 AM (gf8BH)

149 Posted by: Colorado Alex at December 21, 2015 09:07 AM (fC9RO)

That's why I wish I'd taken Marketing as my degree instead of art. Art is easy to get individual classes for, and I'd work on it anyway, while marketing is vital for sales (and those are sort of necessary) and much harder to get classes in. Now I no longer have the patience for tests and "stupid stuff" so going back to college seems unlikely.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 21, 2015 09:21 AM (GDulk)

150 It's not about people; it's about the value of the job that needs to be performed and the pool of people that can perform it.

Exactly the flaw in the 'CEO Pay Gap' issue as well.

Plenty of workers can do entry level, but very few of them can run the whole company.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:21 AM (oVJmc)

151 I hope teachers are still holding stock-picking contests in junior high -- that was a good exercise

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:21 AM (2Wmrt)

152 Dreary millennial catshit, indeed.

Posted by: Chupacabra at December 21, 2015 09:22 AM (XiVKO)

153 i can run a whole company

into the ground.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:22 AM (F+xWX)

154 *flushes toilet*
*skips hand washing*
I'm back!

Posted by: Hillary Redham Clinton at December 21, 2015 09:22 AM (7v/r5)

155 This is also prior to the darling little nothing discovering that on Snapchat, or one of the other online video chatting set-ups, 'names on a screen' will send her cash monies through yet another app, to watch her spread her legs and giggle coquettishly as she inserts various objects into her mystery hole for her 'paying customers'.

Ain't life in the modern world grand?

Posted by: Camera Dentata at December 21, 2015 09:23 AM (KSP4V)

156 but, you know, i know that.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:23 AM (F+xWX)

157 years ago a good friend of mine told me the secret of selling his hand-made art:

come from a rich family

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:23 AM (2Wmrt)

158 Right now, the monetary price for amateur internet content is roughly zero.

If elected, I will triple that!

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 09:23 AM (yddCj)

159 But, "living wage!!!! eleventy!!!!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at December 21, 2015 09:18 AM (uRmWf)

In another venue, we're seeing this play out in the SJW arena, e.g.,
"BLACK Lives Matter", not "ALL Lives Matter"
based on the premise that I'm so unique I deserve extra special treatment (even though I'm robbing a 7/11) and you don't (even though you're working an honest job).

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 09:24 AM (ftVQq)

160 I'm taking what they're giving
cuz I'm working for a living

/huey lewis

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:25 AM (F+xWX)

161 to Lefty, scarcity is only a function of banning things

like guns

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:25 AM (2Wmrt)

162 Did Hillary put the toilet seat back down when she was done?

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 21, 2015 09:26 AM (GdFQh)

163 161 Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:25 AM (2Wmrt)

or coal, or soon electricity, or honest wages related to economic activity generated...

Donks *love* scarcity.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:27 AM (g8Hfr)

164 Urk. Speaking of day jobs...

gotta go.

Endeavor to persevere.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 21, 2015 09:28 AM (NeFrd)

165 let's imagine a crazy scenario

say the USA has a huge underclass of low-skill low-literacy obese people from broken families with zero work ethic

you're the Rich Person Who Makes Rules

what do you do?

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:29 AM (2Wmrt)

166 It's cute that they think they should get paid for their hobbies.

If you haven't made money at it in three years, it's a hobby.

The second worst advice high school career counselors gave--behind "go to college"--was, and is, "do what you love."

No.

Do what pays the fucking bills: Do what you're good at that pays the fucking bills!!

Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 09:29 AM (fQ/0p)

167 Geez, Hillary, light a match.

Posted by: Martin O'Malley's Innner Dialogue at December 21, 2015 09:29 AM (oVJmc)

168 "do what you're good at that pays the fucking bills"

first you have to be good at the something that pays the fucking bills

then you do it

then you get to have fun

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:30 AM (2Wmrt)

169 Donks *love* scarcity.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:27 AM (g8Hfr)

Scarcity requires, nay demands, a big government solution for equitable re-distribution.
For example, we have a scarcity of muz in this country, yet there's a surplus in the ME so...

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 09:31 AM (ftVQq)

170 Finally I borrowed money from a very kind friend who I've since paid back.

With what? Oh, yes, the oldest transaction in the world...

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 09:31 AM (9mTYi)

171 and it often turns out that doing what you're good at, and that makes money, is actually

kinda fun

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:31 AM (2Wmrt)

172 She decided AFTER graduating that she didn't enjoy Molecular Biology, and she's now waiting tables at a chain restaurant, and thinking she wants to go back to school to become a journalism major.Posted by: Tex Lovera at December 21, 2015 08:32 AM (wtvvX)

Senior year in college one of my friends started talking about changing his major from business to art, and adding 2 (ish) years onto the total. My response was 'are you a crazy person?'.

He went ahead and graduated.

Posted by: Lea at December 21, 2015 09:32 AM (lIU4e)

173 which is what I'm going to do, bbl

Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:32 AM (2Wmrt)

174 Awwwww DAMMIT!

Lindsey is quitting the race

There goes the dream Kasich/Graham ticket

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:32 AM (fWAjv)

175 Awwwww DAMMIT!

Lindsey is quitting the race

I'm actually shocked. I didn't think he'd get out before SC.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:33 AM (oVJmc)

176 Varney fox business reports Miss Linsdsay just dropped out of the pres race. he added 'unconfirmed' though

Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:33 AM (qSIlh)

177 174
Awwwww DAMMIT!

Lindsey is quitting the race

There goes the dream Kasich/Graham ticket

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:32 AM (fWAjv)
i'm still trying to figure out how after all these years.....only this year he made a big deal out of his air force career.....

Posted by: phoenixgirl, i was born a rebel at December 21, 2015 09:34 AM (0O7c5)

178 177 Posted by: phoenixgirl, i was born a rebel at December 21, 2015 09:34 AM (0O7c5)

I'm pretty sure Ogabe and HILLARY! having political careers along with "The Bern" means we are in a post nobility America.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:35 AM (g8Hfr)

179 All the comments boil down too is everyone talking their book.

Why can't we have a ... each to his needs, each to his abilities?

Because I'm not pretty and people would let me starve to death if I didn't do something useful. That's why.

And God is good with that. God says he made me useful so I and others should make use of me. :-)

Posted by: critic at December 21, 2015 09:35 AM (HSAmh)

180 Maybe the new wisdom has come down that Graham, rather than stealing from the Not-Jeb candidate, steals from the establishment candidate instead, and they've told him to get out of the way.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:35 AM (oVJmc)

181 If you want to make money, you have to grind. Especially when you're first starting.

Do they think people like Louis CK got where they are organically? No, he worked his ass off making nothing for years while he refined what he does. Many, many, comedians do the same; it's what's called "paying your dues".

To wit, I give not one wet fart about your problems. If you don't want to do it, don't. If you want to make money, find a way to monetize. If you want to make a living on it, do it 60-80 hours a week. Musicians make very little from their actual music, most of it is from merch.

A lefty friend and I have been considering starting up a podcast, but we're under no illusions that we'd make a living doing it. The payday for me is maybe helping out a few people or meeting some interesting folks.

Millennials have some serious problems with realistic expectations, unfortunately.

Posted by: Chupacabra at December 21, 2015 09:36 AM (XiVKO)

182 180 Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:35 AM (oVJmc)

Heh *if* the establishment somehow gets Yeb the nom I suspect they will get ~ 14% of Election 16.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:36 AM (g8Hfr)

183 I'm still reading the Fusion article.

But can I point something out? The way you make money in the youtube game is not by clicks. Clicks are for losers. You make it by pullking a FemFreq and setting up a kickstarter to....liberate idiots from their money.

I've considered setting up a competing kickstarter focused on an anti-Sarkeesian project just to see how many 4-chan people I could rake over the coals. Even if I only raised 100k, (a small fraction of the Sarkeesian ~~project~~ scam. It's enough to augment my income for several years.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at December 21, 2015 09:36 AM (tM4uk)

184 alternatively, do what you're mildly scared of.

you're motivated to master that.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:37 AM (F+xWX)

185 We are in the rhyme year of 1776. Ryan is Lord North.

Posted by: Coming at December 21, 2015 09:37 AM (HSAmh)

186 Lindsay Graham suspended his campaign. I saw it on Twitter.

I thought Huck would be next. He's reduced his staff.

Posted by: Carol at December 21, 2015 09:38 AM (sj3Ax)

187 181 Posted by: Chupacabra at December 21, 2015 09:36 AM (XiVKO)

The deadliest phrase in any language is an unearned *I am owed*....

and unfortunately it seems to be the mother's milk of Geneation Tippy Cup...

everyone thinks they *deserve* a banker's lifestyle.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:38 AM (g8Hfr)

188 Varney fox business reports Miss Linsdsay just dropped out of the pres race. he added 'unconfirmed' though
Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:33 AM (qSIlh)

She was in the race?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:39 AM (gf8BH)

189 Obama is pulling the race card on Trump over at Drudge. That means they are deathly afraid of him.

Posted by: The Great White Scotsman at December 21, 2015 08:22 AM (iONHu)

Good. I want to see how high his poll numbers go as a result. This will be a nice test case to demonstrate how sick of the race card people have become and how much power it has left.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at December 21, 2015 09:40 AM (gjLib)

190 Millennials have some serious problems with realistic expectations, unfortunately.

It's the "everyone gets a trophy" generation.

Show up, get a trophy.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 09:40 AM (Q1QrS)

191 I wonder if the irony is lost on Maet that his gracious host suffers from the exact same problems, and complains about them in the same way, as the author he ridicules.

Posted by: Rex at December 21, 2015 09:41 AM (d4ZzM)

192 It's probably been said already but.....

the Vlogger's guide to success:

1. Put out free content.
2. ????
3. Success!

Posted by: Dave C at December 21, 2015 09:41 AM (HltPS)

193 Oh Lord, Lindsey, why, the Nation needs you so!

;-(

Posted by: peacelovewoodstock at December 21, 2015 09:42 AM (X+HRW)

194 Just upgraded my daughter for her flights to and from Florida...hell it's the Holiday season and all.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:42 AM (gf8BH)

195 191 Posted by: Rex at December 21, 2015 09:41 AM (d4ZzM)

Considering this is *Monty* probably not...

In the end Ace is not expecting "loans" of 70 grand...

if Ace were *all* about the Bass the bass the bass no treble he'd have changed the site long ago.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:43 AM (g8Hfr)

196 >>>Trump, a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, is [exploiting the] *riding a wave of the* widespread resentment and anxieties of working-class men to boost his campaign

Nice. Trump should borrow that from you.

Posted by: m at December 21, 2015 09:43 AM (d4uu4)

197 oh noez, Miss Lindsey is OUT!!!!

who do I vote for now?!!!!

LOL

Posted by: @votermom at December 21, 2015 09:43 AM (cbfNE)

198 Santorum on Varney right now, sounds incoherent. Obama answering a question without a prepared answer comes to mind.

Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:43 AM (qSIlh)

199 Show up, get a trophy

====

here's your sign

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (F+xWX)

200 192 Posted by: Dave C at December 21, 2015 09:41 AM (HltPS)

everyone knows the key to mad talent free scratch is having six autobios penned for you....

//Bronko Bama

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (g8Hfr)

201 I just read the opening three paragraphs. What is Monty going on about?

Posted by: StrawMan at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (6hLK2)

202 everyone thinks they *deserve* a banker's lifestyle.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:38 AM (g8Hfr)

I coulda' been a contender

Posted by: T Malloy at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (ftVQq)

203 Lindsay Graham suspended his campaign. I saw it on Twitter.
I thought Huck would be next. He's reduced his staff.
Posted by: Carol

Lindsey has a reduced staff. Lindsey has a reduced staff.

http://tinyurl.com/guke6uh

Posted by: BBC at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (FkBIv)

204 My company just paid me a Christmas bonus for all of the commenting I do here. They're smarter than I thought.

Posted by: Fritz at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (UzPAd)

205 CNN Breaking has that Ms Lindsey is dropping out as well.

If you can't trust CNN, who can you trust?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (ptqRm)

206 203 Posted by: BBC at December 21, 2015 09:44 AM (FkBIv)

if you were trying to get your staff to grow looking at Juan Queeg's ass it'd be a reduction as well.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:45 AM (g8Hfr)

207 The product of these fine young lesbian attention whores has intrinsic worth that is separate from any demand for that product.

They have the right to be paid according to that worth. So yes, the vulgar bourgeoisie should be compelled to pay that price.

"Male vs female masturbation". Now that is high art, I tell you!

Posted by: Karl Marx at December 21, 2015 09:45 AM (9vLZK)

208 Meant Monty, not Maet.

Posted by: Rex at December 21, 2015 09:45 AM (d4ZzM)

209 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:42 AM (gf8BH)

Good on you NGU!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (ftVQq)

210 Youtube is tough coz no affiliate links or ads allowed.
So either find your own sponsors and include paid endorsements in the videos itself or use it to get hired as actor / pr person / etc.

Posted by: @votermom at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (cbfNE)

211 I don't see any Doom here.

Having 70,000 followers is not the same thing as creating something people would pay for.

Regarding "living wage:" I've got a handicapped kid who desperately wants a job. She's not worth $10 an hour. She will never support herself. She would be thrilled with $3-5 an hour. But the rules don't allow that - so she probably will not get a job anytime soon.

About 20 of her friends are in the same boat. They would love to work, contribute, socialize and earn 10-20 hours a week. There used to be more jobs - but at the current wages no employer can really afford to be just a charity.

She volunteers, she goes to the gym, she does chores around the house for cash, she takes classes and she does arts/crafts projects.

But she wants desperately to do something the mom and dad aren't involved in and that would make her feel like a contributing member of society.

Thanks Democrats!

Ditto for all the teenagers who can't find work!

Making life better one stupid rule at a time. Way to go!

Posted by: Jade Sea at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (frIeR)

212 If Lindsey is gone then who will bomb the world?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (FkBIv)

213 208 Posted by: Rex at December 21, 2015 09:45 AM (d4ZzM)

It's ok...Monty is Maet, Maet is Ace, and Ace bans himself...

these things happen

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (g8Hfr)

214 so the utility of being a spoiler in the SC primary is no longer operative? interesting

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:47 AM (F+xWX)

215 Fox has the Graham news as well now.

Good. One less worthless, pointless establishment hack to gum up the works.

I love it when the splitter strategy backfires. Had it coming, they did.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, down with Eph 6:12-13 at December 21, 2015 09:47 AM (9krrF)

216 Obama is pulling the race card on Trump over at Drudge. That means they are deathly afraid of him.

Posted by: The Great White Scotsman

Or it means that JEF is using his primary gag yet again.

""When you have a hammer........"

Posted by: Blue Hen at December 21, 2015 09:47 AM (326rv)

217 Youtube is tough coz no affiliate links or ads allowed.
So either find your own sponsors and include paid endorsements in the videos itself or use it to get hired as actor / pr person / etc.

Whaaaaa??? Damn near every video says "Content will start in xx seconds" or "After ad plays".

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 09:48 AM (Q1QrS)

218 Chaturbate.

Posted by: Camera Dentata at December 21, 2015 09:48 AM (KSP4V)

219 I have NEVER seen a sitting President, especially a 2nd term one, actually get down and dirty in politics like this scumbag..No class at all

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM (gf8BH)

220 Sorry for being so gripey earlier, that ain't usually my way and I don't like to be like that.

A lot of millenials (and GenXers still) are between a rock and a hard place. They can't support themselves with the few jobs they can get in this economy, it's being increasingly revealed that the old classic "go to college and you'll qualify for better work" was basically just a lie to run people through the Leftist indoctrination system.

Many of them stay with their hobbies because they pay almost as much as the "real" jobs they can get, and being self-employed and failing is actually better for your morale than being put out as a target for the dregs of society to vent their frustrations on (IE, the day to day life of the service worker).

It's a really shitty time to be a young man without any trades training, but you can't get that anywhere for love or money, because we get all of those from other countries now with our "guest worker" visa programs.

I'm a lucky man because I was able to get out of that trap, but it's not nearly as easy as the "get a better job, you layabout" type would like to imagine. This country's changed, and not for the the better. Old truisms about "work hard to get ahead" are starting to go the way they did in Europe, and we're headed towards their kind of structural malaise if we don't start creating opportunity again.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM (HalrA)

221 Or use youtube as just part of your entire web presence. My kd likes to watch these pair of expat bloggers in Korea. They do videos but they also do subscription to their blog and the usual ads/ gear / etc.
They also go on tours in the US and sell tickets to that.

Posted by: @votermom at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM (cbfNE)

222 Making life better one stupid rule at a time. Way to go!

Posted by: Jade Sea at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (frIeR)
How could you possibly survive if a beneficent government was not there to assist you 2/7/365 by regulating your life, your liberties, your healthcare, and your ability to work?

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM (ftVQq)

223 What has always struck me as funny in Femynysm is their refusal to lobby for male sex industry workers to make as much as the dames...

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM (g8Hfr)

224 years ago a good friend of mine told me the secret of selling his hand-made art:

come from a rich family
Posted by: Feh at December 21, 2015 09:23 AM (2Wmrt)

Or be insanely talented and work like a stevedore at that.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 09:51 AM (kXoT0)

225 Youtube is tough coz no affiliate links or ads allowed.

News to me. I get those damn ads over the vid every time I watch one these days. Not to mention the ones that play beforehand. Don't get me started about Red.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, down with Eph 6:12-13 at December 21, 2015 09:51 AM (9krrF)

226 McCain has a Sad about Graham dropping out, as per the hot blonde and the guy on fox news

Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:51 AM (qSIlh)

227 Still no name in the Vegas car attack

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (gf8BH)

228 >>>
everyone thinks they *deserve* a banker's lifestyle.<<<

Well,
you've got to dress the part to get recognition; top hat, spats,
walking cane, and monocle. And never pass up an opportunity to
mercilessly beat street dwellers with your cane.

Posted by: Fritz at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (UzPAd)

229 oh noez, Miss Lindsey is OUT!!!!

Well, in a sense.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (oVJmc)

230 226 Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:51 AM (qSIlh)

I haz a sadz the Smaht Party ran Juan Queeg in '08

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (g8Hfr)

231 Remember that non-story of the girl burnt to death.

Hush hush hush.

Won't be hearing any more about it.

BREAKING: 17 Black Thugs Arrested for Burning White Girl Alive

http://tinyurl.com/gqmr5t8

The FBI has rounded up 17 black gang members that we in connection with the murder of Jessica Chambers in Mississippi. She was a white 19 year old girl that had disappeared from a gas station while she was filling up her car with gas; her body was found burning just a few miles from the station. They thugs doused her with gasoline and then burned her alive.

Burn in hell fuckers.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (fWAjv)

232 she's now waiting tables at a chain restaurant, and thinking she wants to go back to school to become a journalism major

It usually works the other way around. She's already in the top 10% for journalism graduates.

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (9mTYi)

233 re 225: no ads on youtube? You mean those things that say you can skip this in four seconds are part of the entertainment?

Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (qSIlh)

234 As for the molecular biology chick, she probably realized that she was going to need a doctorate to have any sort of career and didn't have what it takes to go that far. If waiting tables and dealing with petulant customers doesn't convince her to figure out her career path, then nothing will.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (kXoT0)

235 I'm only half-snarking about the MAN keeping us down.

Those in power continually try to write and rewrite the rules to keep them on top. Featherbedding, back scratching and brown nosing are all activities that counter free market principals.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (LXJ1e)

236 Ok,

Having the finished the article one things jumps to mind.
If Buzzfeed chick is so valuable to buzzfeed why doesn't she negotiate a better salary?

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (tM4uk)

237 Meanwhile there is the world of Barack Obama, who knows an exploiter of resentment and anxieties when he sees one:

"President Obama said in a radio interview airing on Monday that Donald J. Trump, a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, is exploiting the resentment and anxieties of working-class men to boost his campaign."

Posted by: the littl shyning man at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (U6f54)

238 228 Posted by: Fritz at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (UzPAd)

Heh, if only life were so easy and fun...

//Uncle Pennybags

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (g8Hfr)

239 223
What has always struck me as funny in Femynysm is their refusal to lobby
for male sex industry workers to make as much as the dames...

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM (g8Hfr)

We should try to figure out how to make a movement out of this.
1. Get a cause Realism of objectives optional.2. Imitate Jesse Jackson.3. ?????4. PROFIT!

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (HalrA)

240
Thanks Democrats!

Ditto for all the teenagers who can't find work!

Making life better one stupid rule at a time. Way to go!

Posted by: Jade Sea

God bless yours and her friends. I have been to many a fast food restaurant where handicapped kids are employed, I'm sure, for minimum wage. Usually they are busing tables and cleaning the beverage areas. I thought, at 15 dollars an hour, these kids are out of work because they will just make those duties part of the cashier/fry cook/bugger flippers job.

Posted by: Bruce at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (8ikIW)

241 So a skunk goes to a wise man.
Wise guy: So you want to know why everything you touch smells like shit?
Skunk: No, I want to know if I am white, or am I black.
Wise guy: Oh that's easy. Just figure out if it was affirmative action or white privilege that put you in the white house.

Posted by: Big Ben at December 21, 2015 09:54 AM (GV+E/)

242 The artists' complaint gets at the one criticism of capitalism that has
only gained more teeth as time goes on - that it kills culture and
replaces it with commodities. An unfortunate side effect of our
enlightened rational civilization is that we can't value anything that
we can't attach a price to. It doesn't seem to be so great for the
traditional family either, especially if you see the modern left as a
direct result of its success.

Posted by: a phoenician sailor at December 21, 2015 09:54 AM (7Cte4)

243 Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:52 AM (fWAjv)

probably a good thing we are mostly a peaceable people...

for now.

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 09:55 AM (ftVQq)

244 Posted by: Brother Cavil, down with Eph 6:12-13 at December 21, 2015 09:51 AM (9krrF)

hah. you're right - they do have ads, just not affiliate links.
so why can't the vlogger in Monty's story get revenue I wonder?

Posted by: @votermom at December 21, 2015 09:55 AM (cbfNE)

245 I have NEVER seen a sitting President, especially a
2nd term one, actually get down and dirty in politics like this
scumbag..No class at all

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 21, 2015 09:49 AM

He's President Historic First, after all!

It's what we get for electing an unqualified, work-averse, America-hating racist fool. And re-electing him.

Monty's comment about the Entitled, preening Internet Hipsters ("I know it seems that way, especially to hothouse flowers who have lived their entire lives being praised and coddled....") applies equally to Choom Boy. He didn't build it, he didn't earn it, but became Preezy by Divine Right and because it was owed to him. Just ask him.

Posted by: MrScribbler at December 21, 2015 09:55 AM (z/vax)

246 "President Obama said in a radio interview airing on
Monday that Donald J. Trump, a leading contender for the Republican
presidential nomination, is exploiting the resentment and anxieties of
working-class men to boost his campaign."

Posted by: the littl shyning man at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (U6f54)

Wonder if he means those working-class men that can no longer find work?

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 09:57 AM (ftVQq)

247 Jeb! has a sad about Lindsay, too, and fox just ran a little vid of Lindsay himself, we ran a campaign we can be proud of etc. Maybe he wants to take five minutes and write a thank you note to everyone who supported him.

Posted by: Mallflower at December 21, 2015 09:57 AM (qSIlh)

248 Good morning Horde. It's DOOM for Christmas! Good to see you Monty.

Read the content, now to go read the comments.

Posted by: tbodie at December 21, 2015 09:57 AM (hJ+K2)

249 I'm only half-snarking about the MAN keeping us down.

Those in power continually try to write and rewrite the rules to keep them on top. Featherbedding, back scratching and brown nosing are all activities that counter free market principals.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 09:53 AM (LXJ1e)

And in time, if those activities go unchecked long enough, get us to being the other type of economy, a planned economy where the political class only allows things to operate for their benefit, and that of their cronies.

Some shorthand to get things straight.

Free market + private ownership = Capitalism.

Planned economics + state ownership = Communism.
Free market + state ownership = Divide by Zero Error, Can Not Exit
Planned economics + "regulated" private ownership = Fascism.
And that's where we are again.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 09:57 AM (HalrA)

250 Ads pay by clickthroughs, so that would not help them.No, they need coercion to give them their due. From each according to xir abilities, and if their only abilites are attention whoring and masturbation documentaries, who are we to judge?

Posted by: Karl Marx at December 21, 2015 09:58 AM (9vLZK)

251 240 - "bugger flippers"?

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at December 21, 2015 09:58 AM (gjLib)

252 Posted by: @votermom at December 21, 2015 09:55 AM (cbfNE)

AdSense is to the point where turning it on basically nets you a few pennies for every 1000 clicks you get.
Meaning even if every one of her subscribers *clicked* the ad, she's still only net about a dollar.
AdSense isn't immune to market forces either, and right now the supply of people using it far outstrips demand.

Also, (my mind is still processing this, sorry long baby vomit filled morning)

Anyway, also, As Mr. Wondeful often says "The IRS has a word for this: a hobby"
if you're paying a production crew merely hoping for money you've got it backwards.

I'm grateful someone (I'm assuming CBD) pays for our domain and what not for CJN because the hobby is worth it to them, but if they didn't we'd be on a basic cnj.wordpress.com address knowing that hobbies are discretionary income, not investment.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at December 21, 2015 09:59 AM (tM4uk)

253 Ok, so they're not charged with her murder but other activities.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 21, 2015 09:59 AM (fWAjv)

254 it kills culture and replaces it with commodities

===

its an old complaint. Marx then Heidegger to now. Heidegger had the better of it, in my opinion, since he saw a different kind of solution. he's disfavored and difficult though.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 09:59 AM (F+xWX)

255 Gilmore moves up!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at December 21, 2015 09:59 AM (FkBIv)

256 The lure and the trap of current journalism is this:

You see very dumb, not very attractive, and totally unethical people on the national nightly news reading from cue cards. These people make several million dollars a year and fly around on corporate jets. One mentally says to oneself--hey, I could do that just as well and so decides to be a journalist without taking into account that the 200-300 jobs like that already are filled by people who have no intention of leaving and their successors are anxiously waiting in the wings.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 10:00 AM (kXoT0)

257 IMO, that link is an outlier. She seems to be marketing herself and finding out that there's a whole lot of supply and not much demand.

What's missing is that old-fashioned thingy called "value." If the money or time I expend doesn't benefit me in some way, I've wasted both.

Of course, silly me invested many years in doing something that once was valued, before the government decided to dispose of it.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 21, 2015 10:00 AM (LUgeY)

258 Remember RoboCop "I'll buy that for a dollar!" tagline?

Look, if you can't get someone to pay a dollar to buy what you're selling--you need to get better at sales or sell something else.*

How many billions have been made selling an app for $0.99?
Or a few more "boosts" or an "item" for a free game for $0.99?

Ramit Sethi say he gives away 90% of his content, but says the stuff worth having, the 10%, you have to pay for.

Twitch has the option to buy a subscription to the gamer's channel.

There's three different ways, right there, that--if they wanted to make money--they could make money.

That these guys--who have some talent for attracting eyeballs--can't figure out how to make their viewers WANT to pay is their problem, not the markets.

*Everybody is in sales; everybody is a salesman--you're either selling a product or selling your time.

Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 10:00 AM (fQ/0p)

259 "We were taught basic econ in the 8th grade in home economics....
they nuked that class for grievance studies.
Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin"

Which really sums up the root of a lot of the problems we're having right now - and why things will probably get worse before they get better.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez (rock salt and fire-hook at the ready !) at December 21, 2015 10:01 AM (erRNA)

260 Here's what ticks me off about the omnibus vote.

Remember when the Dems took the House and Senate in 2008? Basically they took Bush to the woodshed for two years.

Now a large portion of that was the knowledge that Bush was a compromiser, but it'd be nice to have a bit of ruthless go getters for leadership.

Instead we get a video about how they ended the gridlock in Washington.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 10:02 AM (LXJ1e)

261 Oschisms is so old......

"How old is he?"

Oschisms is so old, he remembers when the GOP money men were appalled by BLANK'S stance on immigration.

"Gene, I think the answer's Scott Walker."

Posted by: Oschisms in a rented suit, with a skinny microphone at December 21, 2015 10:03 AM (ZsN9X)

262 251
240 - "bugger flippers"?

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse

Damn cold and cold medicine.

Posted by: Bruce at December 21, 2015 10:03 AM (8ikIW)

263 fast food restaurant where handicapped kids are employed, I'm sure, for minimum wage.

Every notice how it's just one non-illegal? Anyways, I'm sure they employed thru "programs". You know, rafts of administrators, semi-governmental agencies, etc.

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 10:03 AM (9mTYi)

264 Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 10:00 AM (fQ/0p)

But their talent extends only to getting people to care for 4 minutes at a time while they're getting high.

Consider the example of the chick who got the E! show in the article. E! doesn't have a high bar to hit. (Or in TV By the Numbers terms, the cancelation bear is really really slow.)

But she couldn't hack it on there. No one actually wanted to tune in to her bullshit. They watch a few minute in between tokes or shots, but can't be troubled with actually being there for a show.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at December 21, 2015 10:03 AM (tM4uk)

265 One mentally says to oneself--hey, I could do that just as well and so decides to be a journalist without taking into account that the 200-300 jobs like that already are filled by people who have no intention of leaving and their successors are anxiously waiting in the wings.

One just needs to make sure their "successors" all have "timely" "accidents".

Writers, there's your thriller of the week.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 10:04 AM (Q1QrS)

266 From each according to xir abilities, and if their only abilites are attention whoring and masturbation documentaries, who are we to judge?
Posted by: Karl Marx at December 21, 2015 09:58 AM (9vLZK)

Your forgot body fluid A-R-T, especially the performance art sub-genre. How in the blankety heck did it become artistic to use as your medium the very materials which society spends good money to safely dispose? I have often thought that these artists smearing this and that deserve to get deathly ill for their antics.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 10:05 AM (kXoT0)

267 And seriously, if Hickok45 doesn't have his own show on the Outdoor Channel, nobody on the Youtubez should.

Posted by: Chupacabra at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (XiVKO)

268 One just needs to make sure their "successors" all have "timely" "accidents".

Writers, there's your thriller of the week.
Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 10:04 AM (Q1QrS)

Yeah, how many movies and TV episodes have been devoted to killing or otherwise the obnoxious anchor so their backup can succeed them?

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (kXoT0)

269 Jeb! has a sad about Lindsay, too

It's tough being the front-runner again!

Posted by: Jeb! at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (9mTYi)

270 Writers, there's your thriller of the week.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 10:04 AM (Q1QrS)

Maybe "our" Anna could run with that!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (ftVQq)

271 Of course, silly me invested many years in doing something that once was valued, before the government decided to dispose of it.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 21, 2015 10:00 AM

Dittos. Took me a long to realize it wasn't going to work out. Everyone doesn't win the lottery, even when you think the odds are in your favor.

Posted by: MrScribbler at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (z/vax)

272 I think Monty was actually listening to Rimsky-Korsakov's Schadenfreude while we were reading...

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 10:08 AM (9mTYi)

273 Think it is bad now?

Robots are on the horizon.

Anyway, with so many barriers to market reforms in place it is difficult to see how we can restore markets to their rightful position without first enduring a massive upheaval.

Posted by: eman at December 21, 2015 10:08 AM (MQEz6)

274 267 Posted by: Chupacabra at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (XiVKO)

Quite, Hickock 45 does just fine BUT Princess Depends needs perspective about "followers" transitioning into "cash."

I have had as many as 3,000 tweeps...

I must have lost my twitter check.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 10:08 AM (g8Hfr)

275 Dittos. Took me a long to realize it wasn't going to work out. Everyone doesn't win the lottery, even when you think the odds are in your favor.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 10:10 AM (Q1QrS)

276 I have often thought that these artists smearing this and that deserve to get deathly ill for their antics.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 10:05 AM (kXoT0)

Amen to that. Art is a scam. You convince someone that something worthless is priceless by aping the vacuous language of people pretending that their Art Appreciation degrees give them some kind of rarified special quality that the common man doesn't have. That person then buy the object for hundreds on the penny, to signal that yes, they do indeed have that rarified quality. "Can't you tell? Of course I see what the artist saw. You don't? Phillistine!"

Nobody has the guts to be the kid who asks why the Emperor is naked.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 10:10 AM (HalrA)

277 Nood dump

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 10:11 AM (Q1QrS)

278 As for Graham dropping out, the better question is why did he drop in?

Seriously, what made the squishy little germ think he had what it takes to be POTUS?

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes now franchising Lulu Snackbars at December 21, 2015 10:12 AM (kXoT0)

279 Instead of Doom, which I know is your regular title, this should have been titled Schadenfraude. Of note, she noted the Dunning Kruger effect, and later noted how the irony was not lost on her for leaving family time on Thanksgiving to shoot a video about spending more time with family on Thanksgiving.

The essay on economics was on point. Life is a struggle. The more people try to avoid that general point, the more they prove it.

Posted by: Nutsy the Buzzard at December 21, 2015 10:12 AM (+s5bL)

280 Robots are on the horizon

====

maybe it'll lead to a spiritual revival, since that's one job a robot can't do. I mean, can you imagine a Pope C3PO? no.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 10:13 AM (F+xWX)

281 280 Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 10:13 AM (F+xWX)

I dunno, I couldn't imagine a Pope Karl Marx until recently...

I think C-3PO is more masculine than the current guy.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 10:14 AM (g8Hfr)

282 maybe it'll lead to a spiritual revival, since that's one job a robot can't do. I mean, can you imagine a Pope C3PO? no.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 21, 2015 10:13 AM (F+xWX)

The Ewoks certainly could, though.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 10:15 AM (HalrA)

283 The Market is brutally honest. It tends to not hand out participation trophies.

Modern twits know that deep down. Heck, it ain't really a new thing.

These folks thirst for any system that hides their mediocrity and even better rewards them for it. So yeah, ready for Hillary, or Bernie.

Posted by: eman at December 21, 2015 10:16 AM (MQEz6)

284 I like how the metric of "success" is subscribers.

No. A click to subscribe means nothing.

How many of those subscribers actually watch your content all the way through?

I'd be surprised if it's higher than 30%.

So, these guys don't even have a good handle on even who their potential customers are, let alone who of that subset would pay.

Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 10:16 AM (fQ/0p)

285 IF there is an entire free-market, capitalist venture out there, it is art.

There is very little, bordering on no, government regulation of the market. Especially as compared to manufacturing, health care, finance and real estate.

What does this free market in art produce? What does it value the most? Just type in "expensive modern art" in Google and feast your eyes on free market capitalism.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 10:16 AM (LXJ1e)

286 Amen to that. Art is a scam. You convince someone that something worthless is priceless by aping the vacuous language of people pretending that their Art Appreciation degrees give them some kind of rarified special quality that the common man doesn't have. That person then buy the object for hundreds on the penny, to signal that yes, they do indeed have that rarified quality. "Can't you tell? Of course I see what the artist saw. You don't? Phillistine!"

Nobody has the guts to be the kid who asks why the Emperor is naked.
Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 10:10 AM (HalrA)

---------

Read my 285.

Art is about as free market as you can get?

Yet it is a scam.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 10:19 AM (LXJ1e)

287 Glad I got the AoS Platinum. I was told that with $100 and the Platinum card(?) I can comment all the time, any time.

Posted by: Soona at December 21, 2015 10:19 AM (Fmupd)

288 It is, after all, called the "Youtube Economy", not the "Content Provider Economy". Youtube is the Levi Strauss of this Gold Rush.

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 10:19 AM (9mTYi)

289 I got an Idea for a short story.

Central thesis is a unscientific guy finds a working time machine/teleporter out in the boonies somewhere.

He uses it to bust top ten wanted criminals out of the hokeys, then sells tips back to LE for the reward money.

I wish I could write.

Posted by: Tim in Illinios Old and Unimproved but reduced in Price. at December 21, 2015 10:21 AM (WVsWD)

290 It would be interesting to get this girl's take on immigration.

She wants a coutier job but hasn't heard back.

Will she connect the dots? Will she have an epiphany?

I'd like to see the video of that.

Posted by: Karl Marx at December 21, 2015 10:22 AM (9vLZK)

291 There's a guy I know who put a a whine on GoFundMe about how he couldn't pay his bills . . . and people actually gave him money!!!

Blows my mind: 1) that he would stoop to begging like that publicly, and 2) that people actually gave him money.

Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 10:22 AM (fQ/0p)

292 286 Posted by: Make America Derpocrat Again at December 21, 2015 10:19 AM (LXJ1e)

Art is free market, ART is a scam....

the entire hoi polloi couture culture about it is a scam...

This has been a fight since at least the Renaissance and most likely you can make the argument going back to Babylon....

"patronage" is demonized BUT it has been largely replaced by some hive "patronage" of "art theorists" who marvel at P*ss Christ...

I am gladdened every time I read the wail of starving artists and my Grinch like heart shrinks six sizes every yule when they cry.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at December 21, 2015 10:22 AM (g8Hfr)

293 courier

Posted by: Karl Marx at December 21, 2015 10:23 AM (9vLZK)

294 I like how the metric of "success" is subscribers.

No. A click to subscribe means nothing.

Umm, would you mind keeping it down a bit? We're busy cutting checks of half a penny to our highest producers..

Posted by: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube at December 21, 2015 10:23 AM (9mTYi)

295 Poor BenK. Dump's been up a while but everyone's still here.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, down with Eph 6:12-13 at December 21, 2015 10:24 AM (9krrF)

296 The artists' complaint gets at the one criticism of capitalism that has only gained more teeth as time goes on - that it kills culture and replaces it with commodities.

-----

Which is a silly argument in all kinds of ways. Socialism produces lots of misery but little art of note. "Culture" is in the eye of the beholder. I prefer Beethoven to Nicky Minaj...but many don't. I consider Jackson Pollock to be an artistic fraud...but many don't. I find Scorsese's "Raging Bull" to be overrated, and I think Orwell's "The Magnificent Ambersons" is better than "Citizen Kane"...but many don't.

Art *is* a commodity. Bach wrote a lot of church music for use in liturgical services (that was in fact his main job), and though much of it is sublime, he didn't create it for pure esthetic enjoyment. It was written for a specific reason, and he was paid for doing it. Michelangelo took on the Sistine Chapel job not because he wanted to, but because he needed the money the pope was offering (and he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter).

The notion that art exists (or should exist) outside the confines of the enclosing culture is a fairly modern one (starting around the early 1800's), and a notion that hasn't worn very well. I think part of the reason more "great art" isn't being created these days (assuming that's really true; I'm not sure it is) is that there's simply a glut of stuff on the market. Artists are out there pounding out all kinds of art and throwing the work into the mix, and the demand for all that art isn't keeping up with the production side. Supply is outstripping demand.

Posted by: Monty at December 21, 2015 10:26 AM (svTzG)

297 Poor BenK. Dump's been up a while but everyone's still here.

Is he asking for money?

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 10:27 AM (9mTYi)

298
Small quibble about time.

You CANNOT "save" time, you can only spend less of it in any given situation.

Posted by: irongrampa at December 21, 2015 10:31 AM (jeCnD)

299 Sigh. I meant "Welles" not "Orwell". Yeesh.

Posted by: Monty at December 21, 2015 10:31 AM (svTzG)

300
Art is about as free market as you can get?

Yet it is a scam. Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 10:19 AM (LXJ1e)

In short? Yes.

Do I think they should legally be prohibited from selling something for whatever some clueless maroon somewhere will pay for it? No.

But I also reserve the right to make a value judgment and say that they're no-talent fakers and snake oil peddlers who prey on people looking for something to be a snob about.

Then again, the people looking for something to be a snob about also deserve it.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 10:31 AM (HalrA)

301 Perhaps the government can artificially reduce supply? Requirre a license in order to be a vlogger. Like for physicians and eyebrow weavers. Generates revenue for the government and helps struggling body fluid artistes.

Posted by: Karl Marx at December 21, 2015 10:31 AM (9vLZK)

302 Socialism produces lots of misery but little art of note.

We do have our little Obama "O" symbol, though, which has beautified countless Priuses.

Posted by: t-bird at December 21, 2015 10:32 AM (J3phO)

303 197 oh noez, Miss Lindsey is OUT!!!!

who do I vote for now?!!!!

LOL
Posted by: @votermom at December 21, 2

I knew he was a quitter

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian, Bamboozled by love at December 21, 2015 10:38 AM (voOPb)

304 >>>>>Posted by: Chupacabra at December 21, 2015 10:06 AM (XiVKO)

Quite, Hickock 45 does just fine BUT Princess Depends needs perspective about "followers" transitioning into "cash."

I was just thinking about his channel when reading that. He does some nice work.

and hell of a shot.

Posted by: Dave C at December 21, 2015 10:38 AM (HltPS)

305 "do what you're good at that pays the fucking bills"

first you have to be good at the something that pays the fucking bills

then you do it

then you get to have fun
==========
And being good at something sounds a lot like work. Years and years and years of work.

But 30 years of television and movies have all taught them one thing: You're supposed to be rich, rich, rich by 30. And it won't be hard at all.

Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 10:39 AM (fQ/0p)

306 But 30 years of television and movies have all
taught them one thing: You're supposed to be rich, rich, rich by 30. And
it won't be hard at all.

Posted by: RoyalOil at December 21, 2015 10:39 AM (fQ/0p)

The problem isn't so much the expectation built up by movies and TV, it's the received wisdom from all of the teachers, parents, etc. that goes along the vein of "go to college, you can get a great job". Then when you actually do that, you find out that higher education is the modern Ponzi scheme.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 10:41 AM (HalrA)

307 Well my point is that, in perhaps the freest market on the planet, the high end stuff is crap.

Yet somehow we are to believe that a free market will produce the greatest good, when the one verifiable example of it doesn't.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at December 21, 2015 10:43 AM (LXJ1e)

308 " red diaper baby Communist or an Ayn-Randian hyper-capitalist, you have no choice but to work under these constraints"

Econ 101 lays out some basics, but back in the 70's in my state school Econ 101 class, I asked the teacher ... isn't this Marxism you are teaching? He said yes.

Supply and demand is important, but so is the government under which it operates. Scarcity is not much of an issue for Americans when it comes to the most basic necessities, as our welfare class has food, housing and health care provided at levels about equal to Mexico's "middle class".

The market of scarcity in China means a lot of hard working peasants suffer, while in America those that chose a work free life (with Michelle's encouragement) can have all the basics, including high speed internet. Both have aspects of supply and demand, but the government parameters make the difference, and the culture sometimes determines the government. Millennials need to learn about our founders' ideas, as much as about scarcity.

It took Amazon about 20 years to make a profit as they counted on stock market players and cheap money to last that long, driving competition out of business by flooding the market. Market share was gained not by finding a scarcity, but by surviving the dot com wars and federal reserve banks manipulating money. Hard for competitors to survive when a company can sell a product at a loss for 20 years.

Posted by: Illiniwek at December 21, 2015 10:50 AM (5Gpe2)

309
When one's chosen endeavor is to be a partner in a clapping and barking seal act, how is it that one can be surprised that there are so many clapping and barking seals acts?

Witness the justified comedowns of Colbert and whoever took over for Stewart on The Daily Show. Sucks to be you guys!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 21, 2015 10:53 AM (BK3ZS)

310
11 We know that there is a demand for her content at zero price, but how much demand is there for her content at some unspecified nonzero price?

Zero.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 21, 2015 08:13 AM (Q1QrS)

Compute the first derivative of THAT demand v supply curve.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 21, 2015 10:55 AM (BK3ZS)

311
I've almost quit Just Between Us a few times, once after spending hours
hysterically crying in my parked car because I wasn't sure how I was
going to make rent.

Errr, sweetheart. There's ALWAYS a way for a moderately attractive woman sitting in a car to make rent.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 21, 2015 10:58 AM (OMTVG)

312 Millennials need to learn about our founders' ideas, as much as about scarcity.

Posted by: Illiniwek at December 21, 2015 10:50 AM (5Gpe2)

That's also the truth, and they certainly as hell don't teach either subject worth a shit in public schools anymore.

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 11:05 AM (HalrA)

313 >>>212 If Lindsey is gone then who will bomb the world?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at December 21, 2015 09:46 AM (FkBIv)

hahahahaha

Posted by: m at December 21, 2015 11:07 AM (d4uu4)

314 Of course, if people learned about scarcity, they might learn a bit about how commodities worked. They might realize that labor is a a commodity, and that the Left's infinite immigration creates an artificial glut of product against a relatively static demand. As demand for labor continues to get outpaced by supply, prices fall. The cronies win, everyday people lose, but the idiots still keep going "Diversity! More diversity!"

Posted by: Cato the Rebel Without a Party at December 21, 2015 11:07 AM (HalrA)

315 I do a little work for a hobbyist website producing video content where I play a game and narrate my strategic choices. In this particular hobby, 99% of all strategy content is produced for and hosted by websites that retail product and supplies for the game -- the websites don't produce the product themselves, they are all simply dealers, so their content side is necessary to differentiate themselves from other dealers and attract customers. The content is certainly worth *something* to them, though I doubt anybody has a good method to quantify it. And for that reason, "celebrity" within the game is actually the driving factor in how much your content is worth, assuming a minimum level of competence -- which isn't that high at the most popular sites, because their editors will fix everything to make their pet celebrity look smart.

Anyhow, I'll spend 3-6 hours on Sunday night making videos and an article to go with them, and earn the equivalent of $35 (paid in what is basically scrip, of a sort). In 3 hours of doing electronic document filing for one of my lawyer gigs, I'll pull in about $400. Producing the game video requires quite a bit more thought than document processing, and the written content to accompany the video is more tightly-crafted than any legal writing I'll have to do all year outside of an appellate brief. I am easily in the top 10% of that hobby's content producers when it comes to writing ability. But my possession of a credential that lets me file documents with a bar number attached to them is worth 10x more than my creative efforts. And that's fine, because I have enough money not to give a shit, it's the cost to me in TIME to produce it that determines whether I'll keep doing that or not.

The linked author's problem is in not accepting the truth that producing art is a luxury. Art is a field for people who have either a large surplus of money or a large surplus of time -- in other words, art is for the financially secure and/or the hippie with no time commitments, responsibilities, or material expectations.

I watched a guy on YouTube alot named Darksyde Phil who was a high-level fighting-game player, and now plays and sarcastically narrates dozens of video games for thousands of hours over the course of each year. Last I heard, he was collecting a disability check of some sort. That's the perfect person to produce that kind of content: crapload of free time, no financial worries, not expecting much reward.

Posted by: cjw at December 21, 2015 11:16 AM (UJ59J)

316
O Man, how long will you love what is futile and seek what is false?

BTW the original sin was pride.
Thesekids love their egos more than they love eating.

Posted by: simplemind at December 21, 2015 11:18 AM (JTwsP)

317 Nice Econ 101, Monty. One quibble:

I wish economists would quit referring to "the market" as if it were a sentient being. The market does not "use" information to allocate resources and set prices. That makes it sound like the central authority you correctly state cannot possibly know enough to efficiently control markets. You are right to equate market behavior to a natural law. That's a wonderful comparison, actually. "The market" is just the label we put on how things inevitably work, just like the "laws" of physics are simply descriptions of the way things are.
The reason I quibble over this semantic point is that it leads to confusion among our already confused citizens about what a market economy is. People accustomed to thinking that someone is always in charge of everything will apply that assumption to economics when they hear that "the market" uses information to allocate resources. They will probably want to know where to send a letter so that they can complain to "the market".

I used to teach evolution to college students. Always ran into the same sort of muddled thinking. "Evolution" does not manipulate ecosystems and the organisms in it to push them toward some preconceived goal. Evolution is not a thing. Evolution simply is the name we give to what happens when natural selection takes place in trillions of ways every second of every day. Kind of like market transactions that take place among people.

Posted by: Cornfed at December 21, 2015 11:24 AM (t6xeo)

318 A kid in my small town made social media work for him, but with a different approach. He started not by amusing his watchers/readers but by offering things they might be able to use. Music he liked to work out to, for example--that's the only one I remember, he's a jock, I'm not. When he had 100,000 followers he said Hmmm, what can I do with this? At that point he put up a web-page, asked his mother to mock-up a few T-shirts, and asked his followers, Would you buy this? How would you make it better? What would you charge? I'm assuming the purchase became more of a group effort.

Long story short, he made six figures his first year--his junior year in high school. (I did say he was a kid.) I think it worked because his model was customer oriented, not adulate-me oriented. His ambition is to take over Nike. I wouldn't bet against him.

Posted by: Wenda (sic) at December 21, 2015 11:27 AM (9FXah)

319 She decided AFTER graduating that she didn't enjoy Molecular Biology, and she's now waiting tables at a chain restaurant, and thinking she wants to go back to school to become a journalism major.

When I was in the newspaper biz, editors and publishers wanted to hire anyone with a degree in anything but journalism--the rationale being to employ someone who had at least learned something.

Hell, I've seen newspapers hire people with GEDs over j-school grads.

Posted by: jwpaine, otherized for your protection at December 21, 2015 11:32 AM (wKcQA)

320 "doing productive work shouldn't be embarrassing, no matter the job. There is honor in doing a job well, even if it isn't a particularly high-profile job. You're earning your money and providing value to your employer. You're pulling your own freight, and behaving as an adult should. This should be a point of pride"

Needs saying loud and often

Posted by: Khorek at December 21, 2015 11:34 AM (nGWNP)

321 265:One just needs to make sure their "successors" all have "timely" "accidents".

Writers, there's your thriller of the week.

It's been done. I think it's called AX, about a man who applies for a job and proceeds to kill all the other applicants. It's by Donald Westlake, who was a very funny writer.

Posted by: Wenda (sic) at December 21, 2015 11:36 AM (9FXah)

322 OK, OK, I'm sorry I didn't buy more Amazon stuff through this blog.

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at December 21, 2015 11:57 AM (4KoRb)

323 Also, this wasn't very doomy you know.

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at December 21, 2015 11:58 AM (4KoRb)

324 BRAVO!

Posted by: Da Funk at December 21, 2015 12:24 PM (2JT9C)

325 Old promise: Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.

New promise: Everyone will be famous and rich.

Posted by: shibumi who is awash in existential dread at December 21, 2015 12:39 PM (9JJgN)

326 I am late to the party but I LOVE YOU MONTY!!!

Posted by: madamemayhem at December 21, 2015 01:00 PM (WPm3x)

327 It doesn't matter if your Rich or Poor....it's always nice to have money.

Posted by: Paladin at December 21, 2015 01:01 PM (ycm4Q)

328 Good to know the 20 pairs of sox I bought for Christmas are funding Blue Origin.

Posted by: Man from Wazzustan at December 21, 2015 01:03 PM (FtrY1)

329 Use that portal, somewhere an Ewok is shivering, locked in a cage, miserably pounding a keyboard to bring you the truth the First Order doesn't want you to hear.

Posted by: Man from Wazzustan at December 21, 2015 01:08 PM (FtrY1)

330 Before I begin, I'd like you to read this piece. Harden your hearts before you read, babies; the story would draw tears from a stone.

That piece was some of the most annoying self-righteous, inane whining I have heard in a long time.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at December 21, 2015 01:32 PM (zc3Db)

331 Before I begin, I'd like you to read this piece. Harden your hearts before you read, babies; the story would draw tears from a stone. (Or, in my case, gusts of troll-like laughter, since my heart is a burnt-out cinder composed of equal parts cynicism and schadenfreude.)

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Monty, your writing have been missed.

Posted by: Paul L Carter at December 21, 2015 02:02 PM (hfn+m)

332 I'm an artist myself, and I agree with everything you say, Monty. The problem with art today is that there is no attempt to involve the audience in the work (other than as a target of a harangue). Art today is basically masturbation--sex with someone the artist truly loves and respects.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 21, 2015 02:57 PM (B8JRQ)

333 Find something to pay the bills first, but finding the time to do creative stuff is the hard part. I have art projects I'd like to do but time is fleeting. That the government should pay me isn't in my blood, but I know governments have done that for centuries. Many a classic composers and artists received compensations.

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2015 03:51 PM (k0xxN)

334 I'm sure everyone else has said this, but I don't care enough to do a cursory search; that said: this could use more doom.

Posted by: somejoe at December 22, 2015 02:05 AM (vlgjM)

335 "Artists, historically, tend to loathe market-driven economic systems."

Dude, CAPITALISTS hate market-driven systems. BUSINESS OWNERS hate them too. EVERYONE, once they get their grubby little mitts on a bit of What's Mine, cries out for regulations, restrictions, cartels, price-fixing, and anything else that keeps someone younger, hungrier, and smarter from coming up and stealing their cheese.

This is why we have state-mandate licenses for barbers and beauticians. Why we have zoning demanding that suburban lots not be smaller than an acre or a half-acre (depending on where you live). Why Steve Jobs worked with Google and other tech firms to keep from poaching each others' engineers. Why Steve Jobs and the New York book publishers agreed to price-fix the cost of ebooks.

Why U2 demands that Ireland spend more money on the poor while they bank their shillings in the Netherlands.

Why should artists be any different?

Posted by: Uma Thurman's Feet at December 22, 2015 01:57 PM (m6umY)

Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.0442 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.0163 seconds, 344 records returned.
Page size 204 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.