-- In [email protected], "Ann" <awoelflebater@...> wrote:
> --- In [email protected], "PaliGap" <compost1uk@> wrote:
> >
> > Browsing in the high-falutin' section of
> > my local book shop today I came across this:
> > 
> > "Assholes: A Theory" by philosopher Aaron James
> > http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4884
> > 
> > Sounds like fun. (But alas it's cheaper online so my
> > local shop may loose out).

> Don't be a cheap A-hole and buy it from your local book
> store. I mean, surely you can afford to spend an extra
> $5-$10 to support the little independent.

Well I'm a poor, poor man Ann, but yes, I know. Guilt felt! 
Except this isn't a little independent, but a national chain
(http://www.waterstones.com/). They have the blood of little
independents on their hands! And also, they sell the book
online themselves cheaper than on the street (but not as
cheap as Amazon). Perhaps I would do right by buying from
the latter and giving the difference to my local cat charity,
or to David Lynch's thing?

The thing is though - I spent a happy hour browsing the 
books, and if I generalised my action ("if I and everyone
else did this...") then probably I would lose that option.

So you need not appeal to my self-respect so much as to 
my self-interest?

By comparison Arjuna's dilemma looks like a walk in the
park. I only went in for a coffee.

> > (BTW what's the difference between an asshole and an
> > arsehole? Does one get published, and the other not? Or
> > are we, as so often, divided by our common language?)
> > 
> > From a review on Amazon:
> > 
> > "James classifies a-holes by type, including the boorish
> > a-hole (Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore), the smug a-hole
> > (Richard Dawkins, Larry Summers), the a-hole boss (Naomi
> > Campbell), the presidential a-hole (Hugo Chavez), the reckless
> > a-hole (Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld), the self-aggrandizing
> > a-hole (Ralph Nader), the cable news a-hole (Neil Cavuto,
> > Keith Olbermann), and the delusional a-hole (Kanye West,
> > Wall Street bankers). James covers the spectrum from liberals
> > to conservatives in his search for a-holes and applies his
> > test with, I think, a nonpartisan outlook."
> > 
> > Also looking promising and about my tribe:
> > "How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and
> > the Quantum Revival"
> >
>

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