Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Alligator Alcatraz

Leftist environmentalists are bringing suit to block the construction of a detention center for illegal aliens in the heart of the Everglades. This should interest Sarasota resident and fellow philosopher Elliott Ruffin Crozat who paid me a visit over the last three days. You can imagine the 'orgy' of philosophizing that took place, both peripatetically (hiking in the Superstitions), aquatically (in the pool and hot tub) and automotively (as we meandered down to see Brian Bosse in Green Valley south of Tucson via the scenic route with a stop at the Tom Mix Monument on SR 79 south of Florence and before Oracle Junction.)
 
We thereby honored Aristotle, Thales, Mix, and Kerouac. Here is Crozat looking cool as a cucumber after a five hour ankle-busting hike in 100 degree Fahrenheit weather. Hot, sunny, dry.  Just the way we like it in these parts.
 
May be an image of 1 person and jeep
 
And here is your humble correspondent:
 
May be an image of 1 person and jeep
 
What hypocrites these hate-America leftist scumbags are! Not a peep out of them re: the environmental damage to our beautiful deserts caused by their support of wide-open illegal immigration. The environmental impact on the Everglades will be minimal. The 'gators will see to that!
 
Here, along with many other arguments,  is my Environmental Argument against illegal immigration:
 
The Environmental Argument. Although there are 'green' conservatives, concern for the natural environment, and its preservation and protection from industrial exploitation, is more a liberal than a conservative issue. (By the way, I'm a 'green' conservative.) So liberals ought to be concerned about the environmental degradation caused by hordes of illegals crossing the border. It is not just that they degrade the lands they physically cross, it is that people whose main concern is economic survival are not likely to be concerned about environmental protection. They are unlikely to become Sierra Club members or to make contributions to the Nature Conservancy. Love of nature comes more easily to middle class white collar workers for whom nature is a scene of recreation than for those who must wrest a livelihood from it by hard toil.
And you are still a Democrat? WTF are you thinking? ARE you thinking?

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Bill Vallicella

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11 responses to “Alligator Alcatraz”

  1. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    Bill, we did indeed engage in much philosophizing, taking our time and enjoying our leisure, covering a range of topics with little concern for the ticking of the clock. I’m reminded of a passage from Theaetetus (172c – 172e) in which the philosopher is distinguished from the lawyer:
    “Socrates: But, Theodorus, argument after argument, [172c] a greater one after a lesser, is overtaking us.
    Theodorus: Well, Socrates, we have plenty of leisure, have we not? …
    Socrates: Those who have knocked about in courts and the like from their youth up seem to me, when compared with those who have been brought up in philosophy [172d] and similar pursuits, to be as slaves in breeding compared with freemen.
    Theodorus: In what way is this the case?
    Socrates: In this way: the latter always have that which you just spoke of, leisure, and they talk at their leisure in peace; just as we are now taking up argument after argument, already beginning a third, so can they, if as in our case, the new one pleases them better than that in which they are engaged; and they do not care at all whether their talk is long or short, if only they attain the truth. But the men of the other sort are always in a hurry—for the water flowing through the water-clock urges them on— [172e] …”
    https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0172%3Atext%3DTheaet.%3Apage%3D172

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  2. Vito B. Caiati Avatar
    Vito B. Caiati

    Bill,
    These photos of you and Eliot are great. Thank you for sharing them with us. I have to say that I am impressed that, given your age, you can walk five miles on desert trails in 100 degree heat, no matter how dry it is. Summer is my great enemy, but here on the East coast it comes with a heavy dose of humidity, and perhaps that makes all the difference.
    Vito

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  3. BV Avatar
    BV

    Thank you, gentlemen.
    Elliot: the book Brian recommended over lunch, and was drawing from as he spoke, is excellent, inexpensive, and available via Amazon. Richard Susskind, *How To Think About AI.*

    Reply
  4. BV Avatar
    BV

    Elliot,
    I continue to mull over the topics we discussed, and will blog some of them at my leisure, as per the Plato quotation.

    Reply
  5. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    Thanks, Bill. I’ll try to get a copy of Susskind’s book. Here are two books that have helped me with some philosophical questions about AI. Both are available via Amazon:
    Mark Coeckelbergh, *AI Ethics* (MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series)
    Erik J. Larson, *The Myth of Artificial Intelligence: Why Computers Can’t Think the Way We Do*
    I look forward to reading any blog posts you might write about the topics we discussed.

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  6. BV Avatar
    BV

    Elliot,
    I plan to blog Susskind’s excellent book. Thanks for your recommendations. You and I got lucky weather-wise. The days we spent together were the last dry days. The monsoon has arrived, although the humidity is nothing like Florida’s.
    Heraclitus the Obscure of Ephesus: “A dry soul is best.” Don’t ask me what it means.

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  7. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    Vito,
    Bill handled the trail with aplomb and completed the trek with energy to spare. Impressive!
    Bill,
    I wonder if Heraclitus was referring to seriousness, composure, and intelligence rather than their opposites. Supposedly, Heraclitus had a serious and melancholic cast of mind.

    Reply
  8. BV Avatar
    BV

    That’s a likely reading, Elliot.
    The photos you sent me are not now displaying above at my end. How about at yours?

    Reply
  9. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    Bill,
    The photos are not displaying on my laptop, but they are showing on my smartphone. Odd.

    Reply
  10. BV Avatar
    BV

    Elliot,
    You will recall that the photos were taken with your smartphone. When you viewed them on your phone, was this via access to my blog? Or was it because they are stored on your phone and thus accessed locally? I trust my meaning is clear.
    I have had this problem before. Someone sends me by e-mail photos which I post on my blog. They show up for a time — you will recall that Vito saw them — and then a few days later they no longer show up. Is this a bug or feature of (some) smartphone cameras?

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  11. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    Bill, I viewed the photos on my phone via access to your blog.
    When I access your blog on my laptop, I can’t see the photos in your blog post, but when I access your blog on my phone, I can see the photos in your post.
    I don’t know what the explanation is for this state of affairs. Bug or feature?

    Reply

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