Originally Posted by Dylan

I'm very, very interested in history. Excuse me if I get a bit techy about stupid, reactionary comparisons.
I can't believe I'm a moderate on the internet... That being said, you've made a few gaping errors, Sarge. I appreciate that you are reasonable enough to see that comparing Bush to Hitler is rediculous.

DDT is harmful to the environment, Sarge. In most third world countries, it is still legal, since it is the cheapest, most feasable way to fight malaria. However, there is no reason for it to be legal in America or the developed world, where malaria has basically become an unknown.

DDT is particularly harmful to predatory birds and aqatic life, and did almost drive the bald eagles to extinction (their population surged about a decade after the stuff was banned, actually leading to overpopulation). It's also fat soluble, and stays in the human body for between 15-20 years. It gets passed on and concentrated as it's consumed by something higher up on the food chain.

This comes from The Lancet.


This comes from wikipedia.


I read Silent Spring a few years ago. I found it to be tedious and repetative, but important nonetheless.

DDT is classified as a strongly possible carcinogen by the EPA. Some studies have observed high occurences of panceatic and liver cancer, as well as glandular abnormalities. However, no acute toxic effects have been found.

Another problem with DDT is that many mosquitos are now resistant, which is the main reason malaria hasn't been completely wiped out.

Have you actually read either of the Kinsey reports, Sarge? Aside from potentially questionable statistical information, I'd hardly say he was advocating sexually predatory behavior, or pedophilia. I think his biggest message was that homosexuality is quite normal. I suppose that you, as a conservative, wouldn't be particularly fond of that, but I happen to think that such a frank discussion was revolutionary and important. Also, he revealed the fact that masturbation doesn't cause hairy palms and the like, and that many women masturbate, which I also consider an important public announcement. Prior to this, women who masturbated were genitally mutilated, or worse, because it was thought that they were diseased. Kinsey was certainly not a founding member of NAMBLA, although he did act questionably with his data on the sexuality of children. He did not collect the data himself, but took data from one man who was most definitely a sexual predator (Statistically questionable indeed). He probably should have turned the bastard in, but I hardly think a single action like this outweighs all of the good that his studies produced for the feminist and the gay rights movements... Which as a conservative, you are probably opposed to, but I most certainly am not.

Thanks for bringing up that point about the times the books were published, and Nietzche. I actually just started reading Nietzche for one of my classes recently, and he was a protofascist.

The Road to Serfdom promoted individuality? Er... No... It promoted class conciousness in the worst way. Also, The Wealth of Nations was a fundamentally liberal text, in the old sense of the word. Without it, there would have never been nothing for socialism to rebel against. It's one of those "you need light to realize that darkness exists" sorts of things.

Anyway... I agree with Sarge on the last point. Comparing Bush to Hitler is just downright ignorant. It shows that you have little conception of history, and it seems like mudslinging. I wish I could find that Daily Show clip where Jon Stewart talks about how stupid it is to compare people to Hitler.