Jon FD
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jonfd.bsky.social
Jon FD
@jonfd.bsky.social
250 followers 910 following 110 posts
Some guy. Dad, spouse, programmer, ex-physicist. He/him.
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jonfd.bsky.social
Wow, it's great to come back to that blog post. It's an interesting read 20 years on.
The thing that makes capitalism good, apparently, is not that it generates wealth more efficiently than other known economic engines. No, the thing that makes capitalism good is that, by forcing people to live precarious lives, it causes them to live in fear of losing everything and therefore to adopt - as fearful people will - a cowed and subservient posture: in a word, they behave 'conservatively'. Of course, crouching to protect themselves and their loved ones from the eternal lash of risk precisely won't preserve these workers from risk. But the point isn't to induce a society-wide conformist crouch by way of making the workers safe and happy. The point is to induce a society-wide conformist crouch. Period. A solid foundation is hereby laid for a desirable social order. Let's call this position (what would be an evocative name?) 'dark satanic millian liberalism': the ethico-political theory that says laissez faire capitalism is good if and only if under capitalism the masses are forced to work in environments that break their will to want to 'jump across the big top', i.e. behave in a self-assertive, celebratorily individualist manner. Ergo, a dark satanic millian liberal will tend to oppose capitalism to the degree that, say, Virginia Postrel turns out to be right about capitalism ushering in a bright new age of individual liberty, in which people try new things for the sheer joy of realizing themselves, etc., etc.
October 24, 2024 at 1:44 AM
jonfd.bsky.social
I’m not that new, but I was proud of this picture (even though the head is a little blurry).
A small butterfly on a wet car roof. It’s wings are folded upwards and we see one wing from the side. The wing is gray, with black and white markings in an irregular line. At the end of the wing are two small red-orange spots. The head and antennae are blurry in the photo. Apple’s photo app helpfully tells me that this is a gray hairstreak butterfly.
October 18, 2024 at 12:46 AM
jonfd.bsky.social
Meme image: What a terrible day to have eyes
September 13, 2024 at 3:24 AM
jonfd.bsky.social
@nytimes.com Jesus fucking christ, part the 100,000
Screenshot of a headline from the New York Times, reading “Vice President Kamala Harris was often derided as out of her depth. Now, she could lead the Democratic ticket.”
July 21, 2024 at 11:05 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
Remarkable moment: none of the teams that would currently qualify for the National League wild card are below .500.
Screenshot showing the standings for the Major League Baseball National League wild card. The teams that would currently qualify for the wild card are Atlanta (.564 win percentage), St. Louis (.519), San Diego (.518), and the New York Mets (.500).
June 27, 2024 at 6:01 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
Screenshot of the skeet this is replying to with 34 likes.
May 30, 2024 at 11:41 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
Willing to celebrate it again.

goldinauctions.com/ItemImages/0...
Bryce Harper jersey for the Washington Nationals, showing number 34.
May 30, 2024 at 11:29 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
I’m very pleased with my fugly lattice pie.
An unbaked pie with a top crust made of randomly sized strips of pastry, haphazardly arranged into something like a lattice.
May 18, 2024 at 5:51 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
it’s true but I can’t like it
Screenshot of skeet “Jack almost certainly has a specific hatred of Sexy ALF” with 69 likes
May 10, 2024 at 12:25 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
Ken White: it’s definitely RICO
February 28, 2024 at 3:17 AM
jonfd.bsky.social
Box boops boops Boops boops. Sparus boops, boops Box vulgaris! But Boops canariensis on.
Screenshot from Wikipedia. Binomial name Boops boops (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms: Boops canariensis Valenciennes 1839 Box boops (Linnaeus, 1758) Box vulgaris Valenciennes 1830 Sparus boops Linnaeus, 1758
December 29, 2023 at 5:27 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
I was gonna say!
A rotary dial phone with its handset placed into an acoustic coupler modem. The modem is yellow and has red “POWER” and green “CARRIER” lights illuminated.
December 21, 2023 at 3:19 PM
jonfd.bsky.social
Courtesy of the 16 year old, who did not identify it - I think this is a rainbow lorikeet. 🪶 🦚
A multicolored bird in a tree in Australia.
September 13, 2023 at 12:06 AM