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Another problem with utilitarianism, or group of problems

I don't regard this as the fundamental problem with utilitarianism, but any competent utilitarian will have to deal with this objection at some point.  And to be fair, many of them do. Although, when I read them closely, I often wonder: when a given utilitarian writes about these questions, are they actually answering them, or are they merely brushing them to the side? Utilitarians tend to challenge the values of earlier, more traditional moral systems.  Take, for instance, how utilitarians deal with with the concept of honor.  Utilitarians tend to reject the idea that honor has intrinsic value.  For a utilitarian such as Jeremy Bentham, the only things that have intrinsic value are pleasure and pain.  Bentham admits to the existence of, and even stresses the importance of what he calls the "pleasures of reputation" and the "sanction of public opinion."  But honor, if it is a coherent concept at all in Bentham's eyes, is only a relative value and not an int...
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"Better Fewer But Better"

There's nothing so pathetic as when Leninists today tell each other "Better fewer but better."  It's so sad.  It's pure cope, for being losers that don't have many friends, and are quickly losing the friends and allies that they do have.  I really think it's essentially pathological.  "Oh, you reject me?  Well that just proves how right I am!"  That kind of pattern of behavior and self-justification and self-delusion does not end well. Build a bigger movement.  Better yet, join a bigger movement.  And then make it even bigger.  Bear in mind that when Lenin said, "Better fewer but better," he was already head of state.  Whenever I see a Leninist loser in America saying "Better fewer but better," I want to say, okay, buddy, take over the state first.  Then you can start saying "Better fewer but better." The truth is, even in Lenin's time, "Better fewer but better" was a terrible strategy, one that turned ...
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  Hegel's radical idea is that, rather than the conditioned being derived from the unconditioned, instead: the unconditioned arises, and can, necessarily only arise out of the conditioned. That is, reason can only arise from unreason; freedom can only arise from unfreedom. 
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  Marxism: an optimism that gradually becomes more and more meaningless. 
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Mottos

1. Anything is better than nothing. 2. Whatever works.  3. Build a bigger movement.
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The commodity form existed long before capitalism.  I think it existed since at least ancient Sumeria. Bronze age Sumerian society was essentially a factory for producing idols.  How can we discount the commodity fetishism of actual , literal fetishes?
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Socialism is the true Libertarianism

  So-called "libertarians are right to assert their rights - to say things like, "So long as it's between consenting adults, people should be able to engage in any kind of sexual activity they want," or "people should be able to do all the recreational drugs they want," and so on.   But they are naive about how to achieve the goal of the kind of free society they imagine. There's an irony here: libertarians often tend to say things like "You can't legislate morality." What's naive about libertarians is that they think that merely by declaring what should be the case - that, for instance, "So long as it's between consenting adults, people should be able to engage in any kind of sexual activity they want," that that's what will happen.  In short, they are trying to legislate morality. In order to establish a libertarian society, it is not enough to imagine, to declare, to wish. To create a free society, one must trans...
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