# Aeschines lived in Japan for eight years! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231 "2005-04-14T03:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/1 "2005-04-14T03:21:09Z")
In case you guys missed it, Aeschines lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS! That apparently entitles him to spout any amount of barely diguised racist (oh wait, it’s not racist- he just hates Islam) bullshit he wants, and then say either A: I lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS!!!111oneOMG B: You are just brainwashed by the PC police Whenever he is called on it. Aeschines lives in a bizarre world where “debate” means “saying whatever wierd stuff comes to his head” and then resorting to such time-worn debate tactics as “my daddy is the vice president of his company, so I know what I’m talking about” and “your just a big wrong doodyhead.” His debate style goes beyond fallacious and in to a strange dark realm where logic falls apart at the hands of his malformed childish ego. His quote-by-quote rebuttles (which he makes second after every post- doesn’t he have a job or something?) can be kind of funny, if they didn’t inspire quite so much nasea. He can reply to ten different quotes in one post, and never actually engange the argument. I’m really baffled as to what sort of joy he gets out of this. It’s like the time I went to New York and a barber said he’d give me a free haircut and ended up shaving my head- he’s got to be getting off on this somewhow. I’ve never met someone who can so so little in so much. Maybe thats just what eight years in Japan does for you. You’ve really got to [read this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=311620&page=1&pp=50) to understand. Although he refers to himself as part of “we the left” (ack! who invited him here!) his real beliefs are somewhat, errrr, strange. He thinks that Japan was better of with feudalism (and I guess he should know, as he was there for eight years), for example. He’s like some kind of freaky Bush-Bashing Pro-Life Ultra-Darwinian Ayn Rand who believes in ghosts. Now for your enjoyment, I’ll include a diverse selection of Aeschines quotes, from which we can glean his immense personal knowledge of subjects ranging from what life was like in the 1950s to the nature of the afterlife. If only we spent eight years in Japan, we too could be worthy to join in these conversations. On social decline and martinis: > [@](#): > > We don’t have that confidence today. We are become, to put it frankly, a sad and wimpy society. We don’t feel the momentum they felt then. We’re afraid of losing what we have. > > Looking at media from the 1950s–books, magazines, records (but not so much movies, which sucked until about 1960)–there really is a whole different vibe to it. Real adulthood. A kind of sophistication that we lack. They drank martinis and watched TV unselfconsciously–it was just the way things were. On the supremacy of the MBA: > [@](#): > > But I’m not cynical about MBA programs because of my good experience at Purdue. These are not PhD programs in which one pursues esoteric, useless research for 6 or more years so that one can write a paper that no one will ever read. No, MBA programs last just 2 years, teach many practical and concrete subjects, and make you put into practice your knowledge as you go though lots of case studies, projects, and teamwork. It’s about as good as education gets. On the attributes of the afterlife: > [@](#): > > The afterlife is not a world “set up” by God. Rather, it is an organic and _real_ world just like our own. On that guy that shot the wounded unarmed Iraqi: > [@](#): > > I feel a lot sorrier for the soldier just doing his duty and probably living in abject fear and misery every day who has to top it all off with this media circus, than for the Islamofascist insurgents, wounded or otherwise. On the primal origin of descrimination against bowties: > [@](#): > > I like bow ties. I can tie a bow tie. I sometimes wear a bow tie. But if I were to show up at an interview wearing a bow tie, I think that would almost completely prevent me from getting a job in today’s climate. They would think, “Hmm, this Aeschines seems competent and nice enough, but if we had to chose between a guy who wears bow ties (which isn’t a totally orthodox thing) and a guy who wears a regular tie, who are we gonna pick? Yeah, why take chances: let’s take a regular tie guy.” > > Yes, it’s that picky. Yes, it’s fricking retarded. But this is due to our primitive primate psychology and ain’t going away anytime soon On America’s electorate: > [@](#): > > I don’t think an “educated electorate” is possible On “Jewdar” > [@](#): > > I for one have extremely poor Jewdar. Unless it’s obvious, a Jewish name won’t seem Jewish to me, and I can rarely tell by appearance. Further, almost all my eperiences with Jews have been positive. Once, however, I lived in a building with a gal who seemed to live up to every possible prejudice against her group: extremely Zionist, racist against African-Americans, taking a rather exclusive attitude toward gentiles, etc. (and she was not religious; it was her identity with the Jewish ethnic group that was very strong). I was surprised because I had thought that such attitudes were not real, were merely the what prejudiced people said existed. On the Palastinians: > [@](#): > > Arafat was a terrorist scumbag. > > I also have no sympathy for his cause. While I think the whole Zionist program was a mistake, I don’t see any need there for a Palastinian state. They’re Arabs after all, and wouldn’t they be just as at home in Jordon? > > But those poeple just seem totally hooked on violence and their own pathetic little cause. Bleh. On a divided America: > [@](#): > > The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds On the supernatural: > [@](#): > > And yes, it’s already been proven that ghosts exist, so it is also possible On the intellegence of the Japanese, who he lived with for eight years: > [@](#): > > So, IQ tests say that a particular, easy-to-identify and extremely homogeneous ethnic group, the Japanese, is on average more “intelligent” than the rest of the planet. I’ve lived with that group and just haven’t seen it. That’s one reason I doubt that g means much. On why women get abortions: > [@](#): > > A. People, mainly women, who need a cause, get into the whole feminism, my-body-my-body! screeching, and find a purpose in life in the whole sick business. > > B. Worse, yet closely related to A, the people who find meaning in the evil of abortion itself. A woman is not truly a woman or a feminist until she’s had one, etc. I disagree with the conservatives and the religious right on almost everything else, but they’ve got this pegged absolutely correctly. It is a deep evil, a shame on our culture and country. On the unexpected results of gay marriage: > [@](#): > > And this is intertwined in another reality: the fact that this debate ends up being not about sexuality at all. For the right of two gay men to marry implies that two straight men could also marry–for whatever reason. On space travel: > [@](#): > > I have little doubt that one day we will invent the technology to travel faster than light. > > My fear, however, is that the technology will be so powerful we might end up blowing the entire planet to kingdom come. > > My guess is that the technology will involve folding space, as in the book Dune. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/2 "2005-04-14T03:35:16Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > On the unexpected results of gay marriage: > And this is intertwined in another reality: the fact that this debate ends up being not about sexuality at all. For the right of two gay men to marry implies that two straight men could also marry–for whatever reason. I have no idea who or what you’re on about here, so I have no actual opinion on anything you’ve said, but the above caught my eye. Thanks for posting it - I hadn’t seen it before and now I will have the giggles all night as I try to puzzle it out. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/3 "2005-04-14T03:43:00Z")
Here are some more. It’s kind of fun, the more I read, the more I kind of like the guy for being so kooky, but now his attitudes towards women are skeeving me out: On thirteen year olds: > [@](#): > > That’s the thing: it is OK, biologically speaking, for 13-year-olds to become parents. Peope used to get married at that age. On anal sex: > [@](#): > > Let’s see, a hole without any natural lube–unless you consider diarrhea a lubricant. No sir, a simple twat suits me just fine. On Islam: > [@](#): > > As for Islam itself, the less said the better. Wait a few thousand more years, and this virus too will be purged from the mind of man… On overweight women: > [@](#): > > Let’s be plain about another thing, however: truly obese women (and men) are gross-looking and typically get to do the hog bounce only with another hog. Personally speaking, women who walk around dripping lipids and complaining about how shallow men are because they don’t dig the flab are clueless self-kidders. On Japanese women: > [@](#): > > Try Japan, where you’ll find the most self-centered, pampered, and insulated-from-reality gals on the planet. It is the feminine dark side writ large. On what men want: > [@](#): > > Good looks and a personality that matches their own. What they don’t want, generally, is a woman taller than they, much higher in caste, much higher in age and experience. In short, they don’t want a woman who is _above_ them, or more dominant. They also don’t look to women to be providers, though economic reality means that most women have to work outside the home these days. (But it’s an _issue_ when the woman makes more than the man, for dominance reasons.) ---
**Author:** ![ninetypercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/4 "2005-04-14T03:45:17Z")
Those are some very reasonable replies!! ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/5 "2005-04-14T04:07:00Z")
Where are you getting all of these quotes from? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/6 "2005-04-14T04:08:32Z")
**Aeschines** is completely wrong, and I can prove it very simply: I’ve been in Japan for TEN years. End of discussion. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/7 "2005-04-14T04:38:58Z")
Well, I was in South Korea for six years, AND I vacationed in Japan, so my argument must be supreme! _Ilbonin sagigun wae da!_ ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/8 "2005-04-14T04:41:54Z")
I don’t agree with some of what **Aeschines** posts, but I really don’t see what’s so kooky or pitworthy about these replies of his that you’re pulling up. Seriously – I was reading your list of examples and kept waiting for the point. Am I missing something? Is this your way of dealing with boredom? Do you have a secret crush on him? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/9 "2005-04-14T04:51:13Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Well, I was in South Korea for six years, AND I vacationed in Japan, so my argument must be supreme! > > _Ilbonin sagigun wae da!_ Well, I’ve been watching Japanese anime porn for half my life… ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/10 "2005-04-14T05:00:14Z")
**The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds** Oh, _that_ war would be over in about 10 seconds. The “Advanced Minds” are too scared of guns to own one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/11 "2005-04-14T05:06:10Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > He thinks that Japan was better of with feudalism (and I guess he should know, as he was there for eight years), for example. Dude! Japan was _totally_ better when it was feudal! There were, like, samurai and ninjas and shit! Ninjas kick ass! They could totally flip out and, like, kill everyone in the room! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/12 "2005-04-14T05:08:22Z")
Isn’t he the one who said that voting for Bush was a sign of a mental disorder…and he was serious, it wasn’t hyperbole? ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/13 "2005-04-14T05:23:28Z")
I support a goverment that advocates the use of ninjas. Who else will protect us from pirates? Pirates _fucking hate_ ninjas! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zetafunction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/57b2e6/32.png) [@zetafunction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zetafunction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/14 "2005-04-14T05:28:07Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > **The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds** > > Oh, _that_ war would be over in about 10 seconds. The “Advanced Minds” are too scared of guns to own one. > > 😃 Too bad they invented the atomic bomb. Go away, anti-intellectual fundie. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/15 "2005-04-14T05:38:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Dude! Japan was _totally_ better when it was feudal! There were, like, samurai and ninjas and shit! Ninjas kick ass! They could totally flip out and, like, kill everyone in the room! [Linkety link.](http://www.realultimatepower.net/) I got so pumped up after posting this that I headbutted my dog and we both thought it was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/16 "2005-04-14T05:43:30Z")
> [@zetafunction](#): > > Too bad they invented the atomic bomb. > > Go away, anti-intellectual fundie. Judging from your other posts, I’m wondering exactly why I’m supposed to give a rat’s ass what you think. But just so you can mark your calendar: April 28th. Get yourself some Viagra, a pair of tweezers and an electron microscope and maybe you can have yourself a little jerk-off fest on that day. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/17 "2005-04-14T05:52:40Z")
My Pit thread inspried a Great Debates thread which inspired a Pit thread. I’m rather impressed. 🆒 I took a geology class a few semesters ago that was taught by a professor who frequently visited Japan. He tried to teach us Japanese in addition to geology. ---
**Author:** ![zetafunction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/57b2e6/32.png) [@zetafunction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zetafunction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/18 "2005-04-14T06:42:42Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > Judging from your other posts, I’m wondering exactly why I’m supposed to give a rat’s ass what you think. > > But just so you can mark your calendar: April 28th. Get yourself some Viagra, a pair of tweezers and an electron microscope and maybe you can have yourself a little jerk-off fest on that day. What in the hell are you babbling about? ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/19 "2005-04-14T07:22:16Z")
Fuck - that was funny, even sven. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231/20 "2005-04-14T07:28:46Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > I don’t agree with some of what **Aeschines** posts, but I really don’t see what’s so kooky or pitworthy about these replies of his that you’re pulling up. Seriously – I was reading your list of examples and kept waiting for the point. Am I missing something? Is this your way of dealing with boredom? Do you have a secret crush on him? I didn’t get it either… but I assumed it was just because I only have 3 years of Japan experience. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aeschines-lived-in-japan-for-eight-years/299231.md?page=2)