October 16, 2003
Gold Enclave of Privileged Capitalists
I'm not sure I can properly categorize this post, so I went for the generic.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you the Gold Enclave of Privileged Capitalists.
Why, ask you? Well, it's sort of a long short story that I'll make even shorter with a few lovely links. The Nickel and Dimed threads on this post are the result of the Nickel and Dimed thread on another blog, where I commented that I thought the assertions made by said blogger were erroneous. This prompted some general dis-ease and, well, name calling by another visitor of the other blog.
It deteriorated from there.
In my post My First Endorsement, I quoted the "other visitor of the other blog," hereafter to be known as "the troll."
It is from these words that reader Harvey decided that I am "a shining example of the Great American Success Story." Amen.
As are we all.
As we sit here today privileged reading and writing blogs from computers (as TheYeti pointed out), most of us from within the United States of America, surely we must realize that we are, indeed, blessed. Most, if not all of us, have functional, working bodies and minds, temperate homes, and access to nutritional food. I recognize and embrace this. We are Americans - lucky citizens of democracy and capitalism, proud purveyors for our families, and generally good people (at least the bloggers who read me).
No troll with its unfounded personal screeches of "oppression" and "racism" can change this.
And so, in dual purpose of recognizing our great individual wealth (spiritual, mental, and material), I present to you again the Gold Enclave of Privileged Capitalists.
Why Gold? The troll's name is JadeGold.
Why Enclave? Because I like the word. Don't confuse it with Autoclave.
I think I've covered Privileged. But if you want more trolly discussion of the word in a negative connotation, feel free to visit any of the trolled blogs.
And Capitalists? Well, I'm guessing most of us are conservatives - economic conservatives. I certainly am. Cha-ching.
I am putting "founding" people in the enclave if I find they have been harrassed by said troll...so I'm going hunting. I'm happy to take joiners, too. E-mail me. I'll have a list of links with the Enclave logo in the left-hand side of my blog. (You can also e-mail me if I have you in here and you think I'm off my rocker and you want to be removed.)
Without further commentary, here are the founding members:
$ - Uh, me (even though it wasn't my blog - that isn't a qualification).
$ - Mister Green, for this post.
$ - Susie of Practical Penumbra (in the Nickel and Dimed original thread)
$ - Ted of Rocket Jones (also in that thread)
$ - TheYeti of Tales From A Yeti Suit for this post
$ - Dean Esmay for being scored in the comments of TheYeti's above-mentioned post.
$ - Steven Taylor of Poliblog for this post.
$ - Robert Prather of Insults Unpunished for this post
$ - North Georgia Dogma for this post.
$ - John Cole for this post
$ - Matthew Yglesias for this post.
$ - Outside the Beltway for this post.
$ - Just One Minute for this post.
I'm not done yet, but I am out of time at lunch, so I'll have to recommence at a later time. If I've missed you, let me know.
Extra special thanks and mention to Jennifer Larson of Jennifer's History and Stuff for the graphic.
And have a good day.
hln
Posted by hln at October 16, 2003 12:30 PM | Housekeeping
If I'm not on the list already, then:
Me!Me!Me! Ooo! Ooo! Pick me!
I'm super-qualified. I've read Atlas Shrugged twice and I even have a gold-colored dollar sign money clip.
And feel free to send JadeMold over. I need a troll. I still haven't gotten one, yet, and I'm starting to feel left out.
Posted by: Harvey at October 16, 2003 01:10 PMCan I put that graphic on my blog????? Pretty please? With a link to your post even?
Posted by: Susie at October 16, 2003 01:17 PMJohn Cole and Matthew Yglesias.
Yeah, there's two peas in a pod. I think inclusion of those two definitely characterizes her as a troll.
Ha! That's like linking Atrios with John Hawkins!
Posted by: TheYeti at October 16, 2003 01:51 PMI feel oppressed by my exclusion.
Posted by: hans at October 16, 2003 02:02 PMDoes this qualify me? 'Cause although I'm not a hardcore libertarian, I certainly agree that we live in a very privileged country, and I damn sure wanna keep my privileges.
Posted by: Courtney at October 16, 2003 02:11 PMShe fits the perfect definition of a troll, and it's obvious she thrives off the attention and brings nothing to the table. If you would like to ban her, she posts from two IP's.
141.156.134.64 and 198.77.68.4
Posted by: TheYeti at October 16, 2003 02:13 PMOooooh, goodie! I walk by a car dealership on my way home from the train station. Maybe I can parlay my status as a Privileged Capitalist into a free new 'Vette!
Posted by: Mr. Green at October 16, 2003 02:18 PMI feel so guilty. Oh wait, that was a strawman, wasn't it? Or isn't feeling guilty one of our inalienable rights? Or something... mmmm... pizza...
Posted by: Ted (the easily distracted) at October 16, 2003 02:24 PMChirp!
Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 16, 2003 03:50 PM138.88.179.193
Another IP address. It seems she hasn't quite got the message. I'm just going to start changing her comments to praise of me.
I have a copy of Atlas Shrugged...
I've read the Illuminatus! trilogy and the Public Works trilogy (Sewer, Gas & Electric).
Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 16, 2003 11:19 PMHmm, two of those are from Verizon.net, and the third from the aptly-named orc.com. Heh.
You might report the Verizon IP's to abuse@verizon.net. They may be in violation of their AUP-actually, they're probably not. But if enough people report the same IP, Verizon will have to take notice.
Posted by: Victor at October 17, 2003 07:19 AMOooh, even better. orc.com is Operational Research Consultants, which probably means she's posting from work--almost certainly a violation of company policy.
I'm not suggesting anything, because I post from work sometimes, but still.
Posted by: Victor at October 17, 2003 07:22 AMDoes membership in the Gold Enclave offer reduced course fees at the golf course of my choice? God Bless America!
Posted by: Texas T-Bone at October 17, 2003 09:02 AMNope - just gives you a nice pretty link on my site, occasional visitation, and the recognition that, if you've been trolled, you're probably more sane and solid than even YOU thought you were.
hln
Posted by: hln at October 17, 2003 09:44 AMWell, well--how interestin'! I just got a visitor from orc.com (and a more appropriate origin would be impossible to find!) It stayed 18 and a half minutes and viewed 8 pages. Didn't leave any droppings, yet, though....
According to the comment thread on Mr. Green's blog it has a wife, so I guess that means it's either male or a lesbian ("not that there's anything wrong with that")....
Posted by: Susie at October 17, 2003 02:02 PMI dislike trolling as much as the next guy, but isn't reporting them to their ISP/employer a bit radical?
Besides that, trolls feed on this sort of attention. I doubt much amuses J. Gold more than watching his IP addresses get traded around and knowing folks are watching logs to see if he's even read their sites.
Posted by: hans at October 17, 2003 03:14 PMHans, I sometimes post comments on blogs from work. I hope you don't care...I see you do the same ;)
I agree. Do not feed. Let it insult you. Its only attack is ad hominem. I've seen no facts. It gets its thrills on angering you and awaiting your response because it believe you WILL respond.
hln
Posted by: hln at October 17, 2003 03:18 PMI dislike trolling as much as the next guy, but isn't reporting them to their ISP/employer a bit radical?
Maybe, but it's a weapon at your disposal. You can read about a troll infestation at one of my rat forums right here and chuckle at the reactions of the trolls when they realized we had their IP's.
Posted by: Victor at October 17, 2003 09:28 PMJadeGold is indeed a troll of the highest order.
I tried (lord, did I try) to be civil, but he/she ended up getting banned in about a week's time.
I still wouldn't be surprised if he/she wasn't an alias for Mac Diva.
Posted by: Ricky at October 27, 2003 10:23 AM
