Thursday morning roundup

Wait, there are serious intellectuals who thought that the British Empire was all cupcakes and rainbows? Why doesn't it surprise me that Niall Ferguson is one of them.

I've heard similar sentiments--to those expressed by this poor guy waiting for his VA benefits--from a number of people:

'I'll tell you the truth. I never believed in mental illness,' says D'heron, a city firefighter and former Army reservist. 'Never. I always thought that you suck it up; deal with it. And then this.'

Can we just skip that step and everyone acknowledge that mental illness is real, without having to go through it or have a family member who does?

This piece on surveillance makes valid points but fails to convincingly make its main point. Yes, bureaucracy is annoying; yes, being snared by the tax code is annoying (I, too, had to go through a lot of hassle to prove to Massachusetts that I'd moved). Yes, suspicion can build out of nothing but starter suspicion. But can't you see that no one's watching for irrelevant bits of information that you are nonetheless concerned may be used against you?

I can also identify with frustration with existing systems:

These programmers, who often describe themselves as hackers, are experts at examining complex systems and finding ways to make them work better. They tend to think about society as just another complex system in need of optimization, and this sometimes leads them to conclusions starkly at odds with conventional wisdom.

And appreciate the pull of the rabble-rousers, like I appreciate the role of PETA even as I roll my eyes at some of its antics. But as you take your head out of your ass, you may start to appreciate why uprooting an entire system to fix its flaws is not always constructive. Then again, I'm not a hacking genius.

Yup, I've told you how little time I have for these people:

Classic excusatarians: Well-off Americans who resist moving to plant-based diets because impoverished 3rd world people lack similar choices.
— Vegan (@vegan) June 11, 2013

It's really the silliest thing ever to argue against doing something that's better for people, because not everyone has the privilege to do it.

Not that this rant against anti-feminist trolls isn't valid in and of itself, but it made me think of having to defend plant-based eating, too.

This quote resonates--it's how I would characterize my job and what I like about it.