Originally Posted by roachboy

well, i dont think that the thread jumped the shark because filtherton pointed out that one of the central metaphors tossed about by neo-liberal types--the boot-strap bidness---makes no sense. not only is it incoherent in itself, but it's even more so in how it's used: you know, as the cliche that replaces having to actually think about the social world, which enables all that complexity to get collapsed onto individual gumption and other such nonsense. it's of a piece with all the boats floating atop and even playing field and other such meaningless or close-to meaningless bits of 18th century political economy pollyanna-dom.