Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 30, 2024

Let’s hope Santa agrees with Calvin’s values that throwing snowballs at Susie makes him a better person.

“I’m not going to stick to any resolutions, so what’s the point?”

is this where we write down our resolutions? good. I resolve to not stand still.

“Values” are imposed by religion, government—and your parents, Calvin. Throughout history, “free thought” has been discouraged, even punished. Just look what became of Savanarola!

Millions of people have a belief system that says that I should be killed. I’m not willing to say that every system of belief is equally valid.

The only thing we should not tolerate is intolerance.

Calvin’s vocabulary exceeds his elementary schooling by about thirty years.

Turns out the kid’s a libertarian.

Don’t tread on him, right? Unless you’re wearing cleats.

The Paradox of Tolerance:

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.

— Karl Popper

I’m with Hobbes.

Anyone else getting this message:

“We’re sorry, too many people are accessing this website at the same time. We’re working on this problem. Please try again later.“

The problem is too many people, not the managers of the site. Nice of them to apologize on our behalf.

There are belief systems in this world which dictate that it’s perfectly acceptable to marry 9-year old girls, own slaves, and stone people to death. I honestly don’t think those are “equally valid“ sets of values that should be tolerated.

My definitions (and mine alone): (1) Tolerance: you think it’s wrong, but you “allow” others to do it. (2) Acceptance: you acknowledge “that’s how it is” and you don’t pretend otherwise. (3) Approval: Applause!! (really what everyone wants)

I prefer wishing others a ’ new year’ greeting on their BIRTHDAY, since we actually do start our personalized new year on that day.

Make or go shopping for lots of ‘new year’s’ cards to send out instead of birthday cards and your family & friends will be nicely surprised; new year’s cards will be discounted sooner than birthday cards.

How can someone who, on occasion, can make good sense also be SO clueless?

And Calvin, like all relativists, is absolutely sure his value of no-values is absolutely correct. At least Calvin has the excuse of being young and foolish. Adults who can’t see their own contradiction? Not so much.

I knew a six-year-old like that. We put a top on his crib.

AH. Moral subjectivism. Relativism. Situational ethics. All tools used by Narcissists to validate their selfish behavior and hedonism.

Here are the virtues that will guide you to a life of individual dignity and a good society.

Fortitude

Prudence

Temperance

Justice

Faith

Hope

Charity

Leave it to Calvin to promote diversity as a means to behave badly.

The simplest resolution to make is to not make any resolutions.

Calvin’s attitude is quite common in today’s world: “all notions of good and bad are equally valid. Objective reality means nothing. Diversity is more important”.

So, you are saying that the ‘values’ of racism and other such ‘isms’ are okay if that is what someone thinks? If you stand against racism but espouse that free thinking is a must, doesn’t that behoove you to accept the free thinking of others that espouse racism? There have to be some agreed upon values or chaos becomes the rule of law.

I see a degree in Philosophy in Calvin’s future…

Cal has a point in the 3rd panel. Each has had about equal consideration over the centuries, with one occasionally over shadowing the other for a time, but has any ever become a ‘forever’ theme for any society, group, or individual? Has no one ever deviated from their chosen theme, either by action or thought? That’s asking a lot.

I’ve never made a New Year’s resolution. I did make a resolution during 1985 to quit smoking. I’m happy to say that I’ve never smoked ever since.

The Count is giving up smoking and drinking (neither of which The Count does, anyway) and The Count is now adding Refusing to be Victimized by Notions of Virtuous Behavior. Dilly! Dilly!

………that’s good……..right?

The first daily strip of 1995, but now they are running AHEAD of the Sunday strips.

I never have any New Year’s resolutions, if a change is worth making I make it regardless of the time of year.

The golden rule never goes out of style.

The more things change, the more they stay the same……

And today, that little boy is the president elect.

I wouldn’t say “every system of belief is equally valid”. It needs to be based in reality. And, even then, some are objectively better than others.

New Years resolutions are clear evidence that people spend too much time watching TV and worrying about being like everyone else! Happy New Years ! ;-)

Problem solved.

Another day. Another unheeded Watterson observation.

I’m sure Karl Popper would have something to say to that.

In many countries freedom of thought and discourse have been outlawed. Extremist leaders, intent on maintaining status quo, manipulate the sharing of any information. In some countries, women are forbidden to talk to each other and punishment can be stoning.

Not surprisingly Calvin has his own view on moral relativism.

How dare you not tolerate my intolerance!

Sounds like those folks flying the “Don’t Tread on Me Flags”

He’d be a young adult by now in 2024 and his way of thinking good would’ve helped him fit right in.

Popper had a lot of interesting things to say on tolerance such as “We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.” (from “Paradox of tolerance” on WikiPedia)

Long live Nietzsche!

Lad’s got a point.

That relativity is as cryptic as given by Einstein. The warm moisture clouds when they speak is kinda cute. Happy New Year!

I want to thank everyone who posted here in this marvelous sharing of thought and reasoned discourse. Even though there were many points of view, there was obvious respect and care in what was said. Y’all give me hope for humanity this coming year!

It"s the whole repug mantra. People used to laugh at it.