Well, why don't you show us lowly plebs your superior literary ability then?
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword: Welcome to Pen Island
Aaron Sullivan
John Nguyen
...
Leo Barnes
Where did the mighty /Polacks/ go. For I once only see with my own eyes, Nos postulo ut adduceret chaos retro
Nicholas Hall
So I guess I'll do a layman's primer on humor.
Every subject can be viewed in two universal perspectives. The lens of conceit, and the lens of humility. To make a humorous statement examine the subject from both perspectives and expose a hidden truth, one that is true within both perspectives. Humor is important for being able to broadcast into conversations where communication has broken down. Humor must be universal to be an effective meme. It needs to make both the humble and the conceited chuckle to form a harp-string that reaches the great masses between them.
Ian Stewart
I brought some random books from /pdfs/. Does anyone know of any non-kike'd ways to learn poetry?
Caleb Thomas
Can you give/find an example of this?
Jaxson Watson
I disagree with you. I do not think that humor must be universal to be effective, and I also am of the opinion that universally funny humor is impossible. The best humor is always an "inside joke" in one way or another. Essentially everyone that knows who/why the butt of the joke is the butt of the joke is "in on it" while everyone that doesn't know/is the butt of the joke will not find it humorous.
And, yes, every joke has a butt.
Brody Baker
Study the style of poetry you are interested in by reading poetry of that style.
Jeremiah Price
gamers,
tonight
we game!
Eli Baker
Machiavelli has been defamed unjustly by modernity. Niccolo Machiavelli, son of Bernardo Machiavelli, served as Florence’s second chancellor and secretary to the Ten of War, the body in charge of the city-state’s defense, during a political tempest. This specific political tempest arose thanks to a societal phenomenon that won’t be unfamiliar to us nowadays: a merchant banking elite, the Medici, had entrenched themselves in the government of a republic and indirectly usurped legislative and judicial power by placing hired golems into the legislature. The Medici were run out of the city ten years after a once-corrupt senator, Bartolomeo Scala, risked his life by writing a dialogue, dedicated directly to the Medici, that argued that just and commonly held laws should be used to resist monarchy and tyranny. In this dialogue, Bernardo Machiavelli outlines a realistic psychology of power that shows why laws should rule even the best leaders: “All too often we see how immoderate desires dominate those who hold the reins of power,” so they turn human affairs into an endless battle for precedence, reputation, and riches. This work, it is believed, contributed significantly to the propagation of ideas that turned revolutionary and led to the forced removal of the Medici from Florence and an experimental revival of the rule of law.
Although best known for his work, The Prince, and the political amorality it espouses, Machiavelli held deeply virtuous views of government. For example, during the entire 18-year period of the Medici’s exile, the Florentine republic’s collapse and the Medici’s coup to regain power, he never stopped insisting that without the rule of law, human life is far worse than that of beasts. In his Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli states that monarchies and republics alike “have need of being regulated by law. For a prince who can do whatever he wants is crazy, while a people who can do whatever it wants is not wise.” Let us consider the radical departure of his sentiment from the elitist bastardization of his ideas. He did not agree with the view that the demos is too dim to govern. Rather, he held that self-governing peoples—whether or not they are “shackled by laws”—are less likely to judge crazily than princes or elites. Unlike other democrats and populists, however, he said that republics needed king Luke laws to check democracy’s signature disease: civil divisions that turn to extreme partisanship. In this wise warning against the threat of factions, Machiavelli reveals himself to be of likemind with the United States’ founding fathers, who can be seen in the Federalist Papers to warn that factions may destroy the young republic.
I feel that the following passage from the publication Lapham’s Quarterly illustrates his views well:
“Florence’s anti-Medici republic died young because it’s conflict-regulating laws were not strong enough. But what kinds of laws keep healthy tumults from becoming poisonous? Those that guarantee equal opportunity to take part in government and hold public posts regardless of party, wealth, or connections. Machiavelli had nothing but contempt for established elites who claimed they were more qualified to govern republics than non-elite citizens. Likewise, his notion of republican justice forbade persecuting individuals just because they were upper-class. If the more ‘popular’ party in a republic refused to share authority with worthy men from backgrounds it branded as elite, these men would have reasonable cause to complain and destabilize the republic. Punishment or reward based on group affiliation rather than individual deeds and qualities undermines the rule of law. When that happens, the republic’s ruin is only a matter of time.”
As Plato said, one who claims their political knowledge is superior to the laws, “such a person must be called a tyrant”.