Author: Robert Henry Durrett
Date: 06:40:23 09/08/98
Go up one level in this thread
On September 08, 1998 at 02:28:48, Bruce Moreland wrote: <snip> to*tal*i*tar*i*an*ism (noun) >> >>First appeared 1926 >> >> 1 : centralized control by an autocratic authority >> >> 2 : the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an >>absolute state authority > >If I recall, you said that the idea of banning someone for an unspecified period >was totalitarian. > >I think this is an odd use of this word, which is an incredibly strong word. I >was merely asking you to reflect upon this word selection, in the hopes that you >would agree that this wasn't the right word, and would choose another. > >bruce Yup! That's what is was when I was a child at home. It was to*tal*i*tar*i*an*ism (noun) all right. But I just didn't know the right word for it. If I did something really bad, I got spanked for it. My parent was an "absolute authority," and I learned to accept that. She often said "there is no democracy in this household." "You either behave or you get spanked." We were never allowed to debate the issue. We were never given a chance to vote on it either. If we were bad, and we knew what would happen: spank! spank! spank! It's that simple. Of course, she did not chop our heads off, either. [Of course, that was before we learned how to play chess. After that, we were never bad.]
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.