Roger de Hauteville takes a vicious poke at the adolescent immaturity of libertarians like Ron Paul (and some other people I know). FitzJames Stephen would be proud.

Let me save you all some time.

Look, I know it’s amusing talking about Ron Paul! Ron Paul! is a blast. Everybody loves a verbal grenade rolled into excruciatingly dull settings. But politics is supposed to be dull. Politics was interesting in Russia in 1917, in Iran in 1979, in Venezuela last year… well, what I’m trying to tell you is you don’t want to “live in interesting times.”

Now, young persons and people in rent-controlled apartments that work at fair trade coffee shops can afford the luxury of talking about whether the American Civil War was a good idea. If you just got out of college, Ron Paul! is right up your alley. Why talk about today’s silly problems when Ron Paul! is arguing about whether we should abolish the Second Bank of The US? It’s so much more lively to talk about history, because it’s on the shelf and you can find any damn version of it you want to argue over. Real time isn’t indexed yet.

Ron Paul! is captivating to youngins because he’s like the reset button on Halo. You don’t have to live with your decisions in the context of your surroundings. If you charge into a nest of fiat currency economies or Brutes, Elites, and Grunts and get slaughtered, just start over! Instead of having to offer cogent and useful advice on how to move forward in contemporary life, you just mention that contemporary life shouldn’t be that way.

Read the whole rant.

Eishosai Choki (fl. 1780s-1800s), Sunrise at New Year

A bijin (beautiful woman), presumably a courtesan, has risen early to greet the rising sun of the New Year at the waterfront at Fukagawa in Edo. The woman is adjusting the top of her kimono to protect against the chill of the early morning. In the lower-left is a blossoming fukujuso plant, emblematic of the New Year.