REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

in the spirt of the 4th: Liberty for DUMMIES

POSTED BY: ANTIMASON
UPDATED: Monday, July 12, 2010 14:30
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 3999
PAGE 1 of 2

Saturday, July 3, 2010 1:42 PM

ANTIMASON




a little common sense video of the principles of Liberty, for those of you so far removed from the concepts of freedom as to be proponants of tyranny


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 2:18 PM

FREMDFIRMA



Oh, you mean like you ?

Seriously, having to listen to your my-way-or-the-highway attitude and willingness to bring in the guns of the state when anyone dares disagree makes you even saying this so irony it didn't redline the meter, but flat broke it.

MOST peoples idea of "Liberty" is for them, and those who think, believe, look and act like them, and to hell with everyone else, and you are most certainly no exception to it what with your constant burning desire to force your beliefs on everyone, lacking only the power to do it, and wishing for it quite earnestly.

Even got a name for em, too - Jackals.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DyingLikeAnimals
Quote:

Jackals: "Finally, we have a strong leader ready to put those malcontents in their places! Where do I sign up?" Jackals are like Lemmings and Snakes: they eagerly collaborate with the villain because they think his campaign of terror and genocide are just causes. Whether it's out of hate, fanaticism, or ignorance, they prefer the villain's despotism to a more benevolent regime. Usually they're harmless once the villain is dethroned: their prejudice comes out only when the bad guys are in power.

But then, it ain't us you're trying to convince here - it's you trying to convince YOURSELF.

And dumping some sand into that little plan is, well... obligatory, for someone like me.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 3:03 PM

ANTIMASON


Frem, thats so rediculous

im not forcing my beliefs on anybody. i believe in personal liberty, or as the video calls it, 'self ownership'. what belief of mine am i forcing on you? that concept that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF? GASP!! are you implicity admitting that you arent responsible for yourself?

if you want to be homeless, a coke head, a gambler, or a sexual deviant, i dont give a crap- thats your business(as long as it doesnt infringe on my liberties). im not telling you or anyone else to do anything they dont want to do, except to have the stones to TAKE CARE OF YOUR DAMN SELF! oh how outrageous. yet hardly a word about those who demand the contribution of others, by way of coercion, for their livilihoods

where is your criticism of the people on this board, who hold views which DO FORCE their opinions on the rest of us? wellfarism, redistiribution, the general concepts of collectivism, democracy, and mob rule.. those are positions which REQUIRE FORCE to achieve results. those people on this board who believe the government has authority to equalize results in society are the ones who are the real tyrants. i would think an anarchist could grasp as much


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 3:24 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


My property was stolen by police state death squads, my health was poisoned by psycho Big Brother.

This does not bode well for the rest of the sheeple.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 4:13 PM

KPO

Sometimes you own the libs. Sometimes, the libs own you.


"Your action on behalf of others... is only virtuous when it is derived from voluntary, mutual consent."

It sounds like an advocation for a 'voluntary' tax system...?

"It is not only the most practical and humanitarian foundation for human action, it is also the most ethical."

Really? I can understand the argument for 'ethical', but not practical/humanitarian.

Heads should roll

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 4:44 PM

DREAMTROVE


Antimason has a point.

It seems to me that the libertarians perpetually stand up for liberty here, and the authoritarians shoot them down, and those who defend the authoritarians not only fail to attack them, but attack those who would attack them. I think the term was Jackboot licking? Jes sayin'

Anyway, the property rights video, is this Ayn Rand? It makes sense. I'm sort of new to the concept of property rights, I thought it was about land and copyrighted material for corporations. I have been reading up on it. I agree without he concept, but where is this right derived from, legally speaking? I know it's largely derived from John Locke, but that can't be its legal derivation.

KPO

It is actually the most practical if you think about it long enough. The volunteer power is going to have ownership of its collective agenda on a level the minions won't.


Keep the shiny side up.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 5:07 PM

FREMDFIRMA



What, you two nimrods didn't read the Stop the Traffic thread ?

Hell, I *don't* get along with other Anarchists, cause a damn lot of em are hypocrites, young dumb boneheads who don't realize that smashing something other people might wanna keep is every bit as much the same damn thing as forcing something someone doesn't want down their throat on a pike.

And I am always amused to hear "take care of your damn self" towards the folks robbed blind by taxes, by the folks who most benefit from those tax dollars, or did it not occur to you to check the GAO figures for tax versus spending as relates to red/blue states ?

Yeah, fine - let em "take care of themselves" after you give back all the money taken from em, and all the property bought with it - ah, but then you wouldn't have no excuse to blame them for being robbed into the poorhouse by taxes to prop up the corpies, neh ?

Seriously, gimme something from YOUR mouth, not some tripe bit of propaganda to celebrate an "independance" that was utterly destroyed by Lincoln and his fucking Federalist friends, and yet we hold the most monstrous of our presidents up as some kinda hero ?
Please.

You wanna argue, stand and deliver - specifics, not platitudes, and especially in your case, Antimason, NOT platitudes which happen to be Mutually Freakin Exclusive! - it was that which sparked my ire, do you even READ this stuff before you regurgitate the talking points ?

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 5:43 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Ant, do you believe that the military of this country is legitimate? In other words, if you were all-powerful and had the power to instantly eliminate ALL taxes, would you give the Pentagon a budget of zero dollars?

If you say no, then you are enforcing your beliefs on others who don't share them, and you are doing so at gunpoint.

You don't want your tax dollars going to support "welfarism"? Let's start with the single biggest spender of your tax dollars, and starve the federal beast of its primary weapon: WEAPONS!

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 5:46 PM

SERGEANTX


I wonder if anyone here knows that they guy who made this video was uber-fireflyfan, (the late) Lux Lucre of the old official Fox board.

Perhaps you noticed the "fine hat" reference?

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2004/tle254-20040111.html

SergeantX

"It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 6:34 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


From the video:

"You have the right to seek leaders for yourself but you have no right to impose rulers onto others."


So much for democracy, eh? Ant, do you renounce the idea of democratic elections? After all, if *I* didn't choose the leader YOU sought, then isn't he being IMPOSED upon me?



AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 6:57 PM

FREMDFIRMA



That was kind of a penceworth of my ire, Sarge, but nothin of it, really.

Lux was awesome, I miss that guy.

"Screw you guys, ship!"

-F

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 7:29 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
Ant, do you believe that the military of this country is legitimate? In other words, if you were all-powerful and had the power to instantly eliminate ALL taxes, would you give the Pentagon a budget of zero dollars? If you say no, then you are enforcing your beliefs on others who don't share them, and you are doing so at gunpoint.

You don't want your tax dollars going to support "welfarism"? Let's start with the single biggest spender of your tax dollars, and starve the federal beast of its primary weapon: WEAPONS!



the goal is to minimize the neccessity for government, and to limit its scope. IMO with the Drug War and Healthcare bill, we've essentially given government ownership of our bodies and authority over our lives. its neccessary for the growth of the soul to learn how to be responsible for your actions and the consequences, failure and risk. this is what builds character in a person, the ability to overcome challenges and become self reliant. in a free society, there would be no limits to ones success, based on your talents and work ethic. in that ideal society, the poor would be so by choice. instead, what we're creating now is a society where individual responsibilies are taken from the individual and placed on the collective, and likewise the burdens of the collective are put on the individual. and yet theres still poverty, crime etc. as it is, the government is expected to regulate away all risk and provide some kind of safety net, as a 'right', so big business and the dependent classes assume the government to bail'em all out if things go south.

now in a very localized society, if we wanted subsidized infrastructure we would consent to that, which we do. we generally agree to voluntarily contribute to the military(if indirectly). i dont believe the military should be privatized(although in some ways it is), but roads and infrastructure could be.

i dont pretend to have all the answeres, but i believe in the principles of liberty so much that im faithful there are answeres out there, that dont resort to 'have the government do it'



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 7:34 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
From the video:

"You have the right to seek leaders for yourself but you have no right to impose rulers onto others."


So much for democracy, eh? Ant, do you renounce the idea of democratic elections? After all, if *I* didn't choose the leader YOU sought, then isn't he being IMPOSED upon me?



no, because a leader still has no authority to violate your liberties. you may ask.. what is he 'leading', some kind of private cause or agenda? but unless you consent to the leaders solicitations, what harm is it to you? if i dont have the right to your life liberty or property, nor you to mine, never the less an elected leader, what imposition is it to me? unless however he has an agenda, a special interest, which would violate my liberties. and, you could argue thats the case today, but because government has been given license to violate our liberties. its no longer a servant but a master, clearly



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, July 3, 2010 8:15 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:

Anyway, the property rights video, is this Ayn Rand? It makes sense. I'm sort of new to the concept of property rights, I thought it was about land and copyrighted material for corporations. I have been reading up on it. I agree without he concept, but where is this right derived from, legally speaking? I know it's largely derived from John Locke, but that can't be its legal derivation.



yah. Cicero called it Natural Law, the principles of liberty and the sovereignty of the individual. Adam Smith is another well known classical liberal, besides many of the people we consider our 'founding fathers'. i think they're beautiful concepts personally








NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 1:54 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
Ant, do you believe that the military of this country is legitimate? In other words, if you were all-powerful and had the power to instantly eliminate ALL taxes, would you give the Pentagon a budget of zero dollars? If you say no, then you are enforcing your beliefs on others who don't share them, and you are doing so at gunpoint.

You don't want your tax dollars going to support "welfarism"? Let's start with the single biggest spender of your tax dollars, and starve the federal beast of its primary weapon: WEAPONS!



the goal is to minimize the neccessity for government, and to limit its scope. IMO with the Drug War and Healthcare bill, we've essentially given government ownership of our bodies and authority over our lives. its neccessary for the growth of the soul to learn how to be responsible for your actions and the consequences, failure and risk. this is what builds character in a person, the ability to overcome challenges and become self reliant. in a free society, there would be no limits to ones success, based on your talents and work ethic. in that ideal society, the poor would be so by choice. instead, what we're creating now is a society where individual responsibilies are taken from the individual and placed on the collective, and likewise the burdens of the collective are put on the individual. and yet theres still poverty, crime etc. as it is, the government is expected to regulate away all risk and provide some kind of safety net, as a 'right', so big business and the dependent classes assume the government to bail'em all out if things go south.

now in a very localized society, if we wanted subsidized infrastructure we would consent to that, which we do. we generally agree to voluntarily contribute to the military(if indirectly). i dont believe the military should be privatized(although in some ways it is), but roads and infrastructure could be.

i dont pretend to have all the answeres, but i believe in the principles of liberty so much that im faithful there are answeres out there, that dont resort to 'have the government do it'






In other words, you've got nothing. I don't "voluntarily" agree to any war or weapons taxes, so your point there is moot - by your own definitions (the ones in the video that you seem to take so much to heart), those are being IMPOSED upon me by others, people unelected by me, and therefore non-representative OF me.

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 3:04 AM

DREAMTROVE


Frem

Nah, think it's all good. Antimason posted a video on property rights. I've been watching a few of these lately. It's a good idea to work out what your goals are before you get around to accomplishing them.

The how video I liked the most recently was johns folks on the train track video, which IMHO was awesome. I prefer this to the anecdotal clips of folks yammering.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 4:55 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Yes, Frem. To hell with everyone else.

I'm wondering if you were dropped repeatedly on you head as a child, young adult and continuing on into the present, and that's why you're incapable / unwilling to understand the most basic of concepts.

The very act of forcing one's beliefs onto others is the exact OPPOSITE of liberty. What YOU'RE trying to promote is the logical, inerrant right of the individual to be owned and controlled by the State or group.

Every individual can do with their own lives as they see fit, so far as they do not infringe upon another's life, rights or freedoms through force or fraud. That street goes both ways.

How anyone can't understand and agree with such a basic principle, is down right scary.

( oh, am I forcing my beliefs on you by saying that ? Grow the hell up. Evolve, even. If ya can. )




NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 5:58 AM

KANEMAN


You big government Liberals are pretty scary. How on earth can you not embrace the idea of liberty? Why you would want to be coddled from cradle to grave is beyond my ability to make sense out of nonsense. Taxes should come from the income of corporations not a tax on an individuals wages. Used for defense of our nation and it's borders. All this redistribution of wealth is insane. Taking from one and giving it to some other is theft...Plain and simple. That this basic premise is lost on half of you here speaks volumes about your character. What right do you have to take stolen property? Why can't you live a self reliant existence? Why do you need handouts and welfare?
Why should a kid in college have his student loan interest subsidized and paid by the kid not in college and working? There is no justice in any off this shit...It is garbage....and that is the plain fucking truth...........Well, it's true.......

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:11 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
The very act of forcing one's beliefs onto others is the exact OPPOSITE of liberty. What YOU'RE trying to promote is the logical, inerrant right of the individual to be owned and controlled by the State or group.


Don't be more of an idiot than you can help, Rappy.

If somebody WANTS a service, damn well paid for it, and voluntarily supports it, even though it is collective, what right do I have to arbitrarily take it from them just cause I disagree with how it's being executed - and does my personal disagreement entitle me, personally, to jam up the works or dismantle something people WANT ?

Case in point, trash collection in my former township - at the point of me being, for a short period of time, the entirety of that City Council when the rest of them bailed out like that.

Now, there's no law or reg or right regarding that which could be considered legit as far as natural law goes, however there is the implied social contract and a general consensus of that specific population that they would rather pay taxes to the township and have the township bargain collectively for the pickup to get a better deal via parleying on economy of scale and a guaranteed market.

Ergo, they wanted it, they preferred to pay the township to procure the best deal and to finance it from their property taxes, so their annoyance was not with the concept but rather the corrupt execution of it.

Now, yeah, sure, you can make a case for shitcanning the whole thing and then making them responsible individually for their own waste disposal, which'd be more costly, inefficient, and then you'd have to deal with the folk who just let it pile up, etc etc yadda yadda...

OR - I could do the job they elected me to do, that they paid me for, and negotiate the best deal possible for them from the perspective of a mutual consent agreement, which I did do, we got a nice bargain on it, and nobody really cared whether the waste was picked up at an exact hour or within a four hour time frame so long as it was gone sometime that day, which allowed a much lower bid and the savings was passed onto them via tax break instead of being pocketed or simply grabbed and chucked at some other budget item.

They got what they wanted, AND got it for less, cause that was what they wanted, what they elected me to DO - and if you really, REALLY wanted to opt out of the waste collection and were a resident of the township, you coulda come to me and asked for that small portion of your taxes back, something I pointed out but nobody took me up on, which prolly had a bit to do with how much cheaper the new system was, and that I gave them BACK the overage instead of simply yanking it for something else.

If you TAKE something from someone, that they paid for, that they wanted, even if you disagree with the how and why and wherefore - that's still YOU, forcing yours on them, it is.

Doesn't matter if you think they're idiots for it, doesn't matter if you think you got a better idea, or that whatever thing they wanted, paid for, and got, should not exist, be available, or what have you - what matters is that is THEIR decision, and while they got no right to be forcing it on you, sure...

You ain't got no right to be TAKING it from them, neither.

And if ya can't grok that concept, that's your problem.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:15 AM

DREAMTROVE


Kaneman

True, but this supposes that the services of a society are available at a fair market value that the people can afford.

A year of college is the acquisition of instruction from people who have an added value because of their prior studies. The value of this could be easily calculated.

A course is typically 15 weeks and 2.5 hours per week, so 37.5 hours total.

A year is two semesters of 12 credit hours each of 3 credit hours per course. So 8 courses total.

The total hours of instruction in a college year is 300 hours.

And instructor teaches a class to a collection of 30 students on average. This means that you are responsible for 1/30 of the total labor that goes in to your 300 hours of instruction.

If the instructor makes $20/hour, and the student is responsible for materials, as is true, and their own living expenses and food, which is also true, and the space for the class and all related administrative expenses is paid mutually by the consent of the class, whose total costs is also easy to calculate.

The total obligation for instruction for one year of college is $200 plus the nominal fee associated with administration of the building.

Consider that the classroom is used for the 14 courses simultaneously over a four month period, and as a well maintained room has a market value of roughly $250. This means that 1/14 of $1000 for each course is divided 30 ways. Ergo, $560/30=$18 per student per year in administration and maintenance fees.

So, College education is worth $218 per year.

Now, when I went to college, the cost was actually $675/semester, which seems high. However, now children are being asked for one quarter million dollars for a product which, in since the advent of the internet, has no real discernible added value.

?

Sure, I could do the same thing for healthcare, but you get my point: Kaneman is absolutely correct, or would be, if goods and services were priced in a manner according to the real providers of goods and services as determined by the free market, that being the market of labor, without a middleman trying to create a second market in the demand for services, or provision of education.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:55 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Frem

You have no god damn clue of what you're talking about.

Trash pick up ? Really? That's how you view this issue ?

It's clear you have a screw loose, and I'm wasting my time here.




NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 8:40 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


I certainly believe in self-ownership. I’m responsible for everything I do and say. But that has nothing to do with ‘property’ it has to do with self-awareness and taking responsibility for myself. Biiig difference, but of course that won’t get through. Ah, well...guess someone should make up a cute cartoon video about SELF-AWARENESS and RESPONSIBILITY, eh?
Quote:

is this Ayn Rand? It makes sense
That kinda says it all.
Quote:

if you want to be homeless...I don’t give a crap
And that completes it. Naturally people choose to be homeless, and they should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they don’t want to. I guess those who don’t have “bootstraps” or had their “bootstraps” taken away from them by the fraud or force of robber barons and corporate slave owners and power-hungry politicians should go BUY some bootstraps to pull themselves up by. Ineedee...

GIGANTIC difference between “im not telling you or anyone else” and “who hold views”, of course; one’s allowed to hold views, but by all means, don’t tell anyone else about them. If you do, you’re telling others how to think/behave/believe.
Quote:

And I am always amused to hear "take care of your damn self" towards the folks robbed blind by taxes, by the folks who most benefit from those tax dollars, or did it not occur to you to check the GAO figures for tax versus spending as relates to red/blue states ?
Yes, that always makes me grin, too. I looked it up once, and the information I found made me grin, too.
Quote:

Seriously, gimme something from YOUR mouth, not some tripe bit of propaganda to celebrate an "independence
Not possible. Goes directly against the RWA mentality. Some things cannot be changed.
Quote:

platitudes which happen to be Mutually Freakin Exclusive
Haven’t read our “The Authoritarians” lately, have we?
Thanx for telling me who he is, it was quite illuminating. His website starts out “free money
What you need, when you need It” and has has “Free Money”, under which it says “take federal grants for college from Obama stimulus”, “How to Qualify for Grants”, and” Gov. Grant Support Housing, Business, School, Medical Education New and Existing” (which is found in the website www.grantseasy.com. Yup, he’s cool alright, and has a firm grasp on self-ownership.

I love how I’ve been “coddled from cradle to grave” since I’m a liberal; damn, I didn’t know that. Think of all I’ve missed.
Quote:

Trash pick up ? Really? That's how you view this issue?
He has no clue, does he Frem? Bet he can’t extrapolate that and thinks that’s all you’re talking about. My, the lack of imagination is so sad These so-called “libertarians” should have to do without ANY help from the government, except keeping us safe from outside threats...I’d LOVE to watch them try to survive!

They wouldn't of course, without the people to do their dirty work...any more than Rand and her buddies would have survived. Fantasy land is possible to proclaim on the internet; they'd find quite a bit harder in the real world...


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 9:13 AM

KANEMAN


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Kaneman

True, but this supposes that the services of a society are available at a fair market value that the people can afford.

A year of college is the acquisition of instruction from people who have an added value because of their prior studies. The value of this could be easily calculated.

A course is typically 15 weeks and 2.5 hours per week, so 37.5 hours total.

A year is two semesters of 12 credit hours each of 3 credit hours per course. So 8 courses total.

The total hours of instruction in a college year is 300 hours.

And instructor teaches a class to a collection of 30 students on average. This means that you are responsible for 1/30 of the total labor that goes in to your 300 hours of instruction.

If the instructor makes $20/hour, and the student is responsible for materials, as is true, and their own living expenses and food, which is also true, and the space for the class and all related administrative expenses is paid mutually by the consent of the class, whose total costs is also easy to calculate.

The total obligation for instruction for one year of college is $200 plus the nominal fee associated with administration of the building.

Consider that the classroom is used for the 14 courses simultaneously over a four month period, and as a well maintained room has a market value of roughly $250. This means that 1/14 of $1000 for each course is divided 30 ways. Ergo, $560/30=$18 per student per year in administration and maintenance fees.

So, College education is worth $218 per year.

Now, when I went to college, the cost was actually $675/semester, which seems high. However, now children are being asked for one quarter million dollars for a product which, in since the advent of the internet, has no real discernible added value.

?

Sure, I could do the same thing for healthcare, but you get my point: Kaneman is absolutely correct, or would be, if goods and services were priced in a manner according to the real providers of goods and services as determined by the free market, that being the market of labor, without a middleman trying to create a second market in the demand for services, or provision of education.




DT,
I get what you are saying...My point is regardless of the cost of education, If you decide to go to college YOU should pay the cost agreed. Why on earth should the kid not going to college subsidize the loans(Gov. pays interest while in school or grace period)to the kid in school? It is theft plain and simple. Gov. taking the wages of one kid and giving to another.....Unconstitutional in my book. It's the same principle I would use against most Gov. Programs....Tax me for defense. Hell even tax me for Social security(hate it, but it is what it is), however don't tax me just to give someone else a break. CHOOSE to go to school...pay your tab. Simple.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 10:45 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


DT: There are higher rights than ETA "individual" property rights. If you think that is all there is, then that is all you will get. (Or not get, as the corporations have already got it before you.)

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 11:37 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...




No education for everyone, no roads, no buses, no street lights, traffic lights, mail no all the little things we take for granted, no garbage pickup...

Can you imagine the insanity of each town having to vote on what taxes they'll pay for what, then trying to hook up with other towns to coordinate with their buses, roads, schools, steet lights, traffic lights, mail, garbage pickup, etc., etc., etc.? That's some of the "little things" maybe you don't think about...?


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 3:53 PM

FREMDFIRMA



Verily, it is amazing what folks take for granted when they bitch about their property taxes, although given how wasteful and corrupt most township governments are they do gotta right to it.

That's why I spent my own money to print and deliver a copy of the exact proposed budget (which did wind up bein used) to each and every resident, so they know what they were GETTING for that money, along with the adage that if they did have an issue, they could bring it to me and maybe work it out.

S'funny that I gave em little to bitch about, cause even what they paid *ME*, the position bein kind of a token thing, was barely enough to pay my car insurance, so it's not like I was makin mint off it neither.

And the locals around here and that hail-to-the-overlord thing (we have buttons now!) is driving this townships council to a nervous breakdown, just about.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 6:19 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:

No education for everyone, no roads, no buses, no street lights, traffic lights, mail no all the little things we take for granted, no garbage pickup...



You womb to tombers think it's everything or nothing. Gov't services to wipe your ass, or pure anarchy.

Talk about zero imagination. There's a happy in between, where the necessary evil of Gov't ( common defense, roads, utilities ) fall with in its proper function. School breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner ? Free abortions on demand ? Free healthcare ?



You clearly have no concept of what true freedom means.




NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 6:44 PM

DREAMTROVE


Sig

Not a lot of rights that don't come with authority handed to someone. If that handing of authority violates the property rights proposed here, then I can see and inconsistency with accepting that authority in order to have the benefit of further rights.


Niki

The thing is that it really doesn't matter that I have problems with Ayn Rand, some pretty serious ones, because she's perfectly capable of having good ideas, or was, just like any poster here. If Whozit has good ideas, than Ayn Rand can.


Frem

I'm dubious of this old standby argument. Systems of services could be driven by the basic economic engine that everything else is, rather than encapsulating in an overarching authority. You damn well know that the real world cost of maintenance of infrastructure in not a drop in the bucket compared to what they're charging us for it. Hell, if the Universities are milking us in the example above, that's nothing compared to government. A tiny fraction of the pie collected in the name of bridges and roads actually goes to bridges and roads and the like.

Well, here's a little story about that. There's a road here that crosses the river. There are lots of them. Anyway, the bridge on it was not sufficient to support the fire truck, and as a result, a house burned down, one of four across the river. The state came down, and they took a look, and said "well, we only pay for it if there are at least four houses." well, having been as they didn't stop the fire, there was now only three of them houses left, so the state said "We will build your bridge, and just bill you directly for it."

Well next was a matter of how much. Someone bothered to ask ahead of time. 15 million dollars. So, the local guys got together, then designed and built a bridge that was all made out of wood by strong enough to support the fire truck, and it cost them $53,000. I dare say it's actually quite and engineering feat.

So, yeah, I'd much rather just pay for it out of pocket. I don't need to pay for a bunch of corrupt administrators to snort coke off the butts of hookers, and I really don't need to pay them to hire more jackboots. Ya know, if you really want to nip authoritarianism in the bud, you should look to trimming their budget and responsibilities. Or rationalizations for their existence, that being what it is.

I don't actually join in the whining, I have no problem with giving welfare, though I refuse to receive it, because I think it's not good for folk, or society, I think there are probably people who need it. However, I do recognize that for those cases, these are just more rationalizations for the continued existence of the giant killing machine, and the amount of actual assistance which goes to the actual poor is so pathetic that we could easily do it out of pocket as a charity, and cut things by more than 99%. If we did it ourselves by working, such as providing actual food and housing or actual services as volunteers, we could cut that cost another 99% vs. the crooked corporations that govt. often hires to do this stuff.

I did a whole big analysis of Social Security for the RPUSA proposal back in '04. Over two thirds of dollars go to the one third of recipients who are independently wealthy. The efficiency with which dollars come out of this system is about 3-6 cents on the dollar compared to what goes in, vs. any normal annuity. If we killed the portion of that which is welfare to the rich, we would be down to one or two pennies on the dollar. If you look where the money really goes, which is that the fund gets regularly raped by the various presidents to fund the war machine. We're talking less than a penny on the dollar actually needed to provide that much needed assistance the poor.

As long as govt. has a rationale for existance, its going to stay, and its going to maintain control over whatever portion of life you ask for assistance in, no matter how poorly they do their job at helping, and no matter how easily we could replace them. And they'll keep overcharging for doing it badly until we obviate their assistance.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, July 4, 2010 8:01 PM

FREMDFIRMA


You forgot option three, DT.

Hire the evil overlord and send him in to clean up the mess, which is what the former township did, although it was something close to fortunate accident since some of the folk behind that were, as most folk are, only wanting to shift the power and income from the corruption into their pockets instead of someone elses...

And they didn't quite realize I really *meant* that shit till it was too late, at which point they more or less riled up a lynch mob and chased me right on outta town, not that I wasn't leaving anyway since me and the Fremgirl were callin it quits between us at the time.

Twas a learning experience, and I say unto you again, if you really wanna stick it to someone, be it an individual or a community - find out what they really want, what they clamor for and in their heart of hearts want...

AND THEN GIVE IT TO THEM, give it to em good and hard!

So, every time I hear these folks decrying all and demanding to be tossed back on their own devices, I get just a little snicker out of how they'd REALLY react if someone went ahead and did it.

Story you should read - The Life and Times of Multivac
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=111
Read all the way to the end, and consider the fact that they probably LYNCHED that poor bastard.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, July 5, 2010 3:50 AM

KANEMAN


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:


No education for everyone, no roads, no buses, no street lights, traffic lights, mail no all the little things we take for granted, no garbage pickup...

Can you imagine the insanity of each town having to vote on what taxes they'll pay for what, then trying to hook up with other towns to coordinate with their buses, roads, schools, steet lights, traffic lights, mail, garbage pickup, etc., etc., etc.? That's some of the "little things" maybe you don't think about...?


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off





It happens everyday. Local governments can do everything cheaper, better and faster. They can adjust taxes and distribution of taxes in a more efficient manner. I usually am referring to Federal taxation when speaking out against taxation. I have nothing against a local community deciding to tax the pants off of each other. See, I believe that all communities are different and have their own needs. One glove does not fit all, and that is the problem when the feds taxes us to pay for the department of education. Don't you think that the people of a particular state can come up with a curriculum for their children? We did before 1971. And you know what...we had the smartest children on the planet in math and science. Where do we stand now? after years of a monstrous bureaucracy dictating.

When you wrote no education, no garbage pick-up etc...you lost me. No one here is saying that at all....just pay for it your self. If you go to college take out the loans and pay them off when you get a shiny new job. What right do have expecting others to pay for you?

In case this post is to civil compared to my usual interactions with you....eat shit you big government whore.....

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, July 5, 2010 7:29 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Quote:

just pay for it your self
Yeah, that would really work. As I said:
Quote:

Can you imagine the insanity of each town having to vote on what taxes they'll pay for what, then trying to hook up with other towns to coordinate with their buses, roads, schools, steet lights, traffic lights, mail, garbage pickup, etc., etc., etc.?
Try paying for everything government provides "by yourself" and watch the results; would be amusing, if not insane.

By the way, thanx for the quote. You really have a narrow focus; how about going after some others, too, so I can get some jucy ones?


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off



”Niki--condescending arrogant fat old bi-polar hag....You are an asshole...one does not need a sockpuppet to tell you to fuck off"...”eat shit you big government whore.....” ...sayeth Kane


...Remember, remember, the ugliest members...

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, July 5, 2010 1:47 PM

ANTIMASON


hey Niki- when you see a homeless person on the street, do you take them into your home? have you before? what about taken one to get a meal, apply for a job? maybe, youve even chosen a homeless person to subsidize an education for, to help them get a leg up. if so, thats an admirable thing and i applaud that.. thats real charity. there was a time in this country, before the wellfare state, when private charities, churches, and non-profit organisations(.. and you know, the family, friends) peformed these functions and roles for society. and believe it or not, the sky didnt fall

the governmet has since crowded out the natural order, and in an attempt to be everything to everyone, has failed at acheiving any of its original objectives. the New Deal didnt prevent this recession, and SS been robbed blind- theres no safety net there. what about the war on poverty? any leftist around here will say the poor and getting poorer and the rich richer. how about medicare/medicaid? they apparently werent successfull, or we wouldnt have needed the Obama dem healthcare bill. and what of education? no matter how much money we throw at it, the results just get worse! and yet.. theres never any acknowledgement from the statist doo-gooders that, while well intentioned, there attempts at central planning have failed! all this spending, and what do we have to show for it but trillions in deficits, a weak economy, and a perpetual loss of liberty. im not an anarchist, i like civilization. but as Auraptor mentioned earlier, there is a happy-medium between anarchy, and a top down, big brother esque tryanny. id say we're closing in on one extreme and not the other.. and its not going to be pretty

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, July 5, 2010 5:47 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by kaneman:
Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Kaneman

True, but this supposes that the services of a society are available at a fair market value that the people can afford.

A year of college is the acquisition of instruction from people who have an added value because of their prior studies. The value of this could be easily calculated.

A course is typically 15 weeks and 2.5 hours per week, so 37.5 hours total.

A year is two semesters of 12 credit hours each of 3 credit hours per course. So 8 courses total.

The total hours of instruction in a college year is 300 hours.

And instructor teaches a class to a collection of 30 students on average. This means that you are responsible for 1/30 of the total labor that goes in to your 300 hours of instruction.

If the instructor makes $20/hour, and the student is responsible for materials, as is true, and their own living expenses and food, which is also true, and the space for the class and all related administrative expenses is paid mutually by the consent of the class, whose total costs is also easy to calculate.

The total obligation for instruction for one year of college is $200 plus the nominal fee associated with administration of the building.

Consider that the classroom is used for the 14 courses simultaneously over a four month period, and as a well maintained room has a market value of roughly $250. This means that 1/14 of $1000 for each course is divided 30 ways. Ergo, $560/30=$18 per student per year in administration and maintenance fees.

So, College education is worth $218 per year.

Now, when I went to college, the cost was actually $675/semester, which seems high. However, now children are being asked for one quarter million dollars for a product which, in since the advent of the internet, has no real discernible added value.

?

Sure, I could do the same thing for healthcare, but you get my point: Kaneman is absolutely correct, or would be, if goods and services were priced in a manner according to the real providers of goods and services as determined by the free market, that being the market of labor, without a middleman trying to create a second market in the demand for services, or provision of education.




DT,
I get what you are saying...My point is regardless of the cost of education, If you decide to go to college YOU should pay the cost agreed. Why on earth should the kid not going to college subsidize the loans(Gov. pays interest while in school or grace period)to the kid in school? It is theft plain and simple. Gov. taking the wages of one kid and giving to another.....Unconstitutional in my book. It's the same principle I would use against most Gov. Programs....Tax me for defense. Hell even tax me for Social security(hate it, but it is what it is), however don't tax me just to give someone else a break. CHOOSE to go to school...pay your tab. Simple.





Why do you give in so easily on defense? WHY? I am capable of defending myself, my family, my property - WHY should I be robbed by the biggest spender of our national wealth, simply because YOU say that's a legitimate waste of MY money?

Aren't all of you on the right, and all of you so-called "libertarians" really just looking for an excuse to rob the left, redistribute MY wealth into your corporate military friends' bank accounts?

I chose to go to school. I paid my way while working one full-time job and another weekend job.

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, July 5, 2010 7:27 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:


the goal is to minimize the neccessity for government, and to limit its scope. IMO with the Drug War and Healthcare bill, we've essentially given government ownership of our bodies and authority over our lives. its neccessary for the growth of the soul to learn how to be responsible for your actions and the consequences, failure and risk. this is what builds character in a person, the ability to overcome challenges and become self reliant.


So you're born with a severe disability, mental health and no family to pay, do you just kind of die in the gutter or wander the streets? Not everyone is born equal, no matter how much you want to believe it.

Quote:

in a free society, there would be no limits to ones success, based on your talents and work ethic. in that ideal society, the poor would be so by choice.

who the hell wants to be poor by choice???? How many poor people come from great wealth and have managed to tunnel their way down the depths of despair. Poor people exist and have always existed, but they exist more in societies where there is no welfare net, and no state funded education and healthcare. In other words, in those sorts of societies, you start off in the shit and you stay there.


Quote:

instead, what we're creating now is a society where individual responsibilies are taken from the individual and placed on the collective, and likewise the burdens of the collective are put on the individual.

Really? I don't see that. I see that more and more stuff is dumped on the individual (at least it is here) and less services are provided at low cost or free. But then we've bought the myth of user pays over here. I do see that more and more people have less and less family and friend supports, they rely on themselves to battle through lives and actually have fewer resourses than their parents and grandparents have. It's the cult of the individual that is causing us grief, not some mythical push for collectivisation.

Quote:

as it is, the government is expected to regulate away all risk and provide some kind of safety net, as a 'right', so big business and the dependent classes assume the government to bail'em all out if things go south.

I'm all for limits to power, INCLUDING the power of corporations to create GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS. That was business, not government stuffing up, unless you count government standing back impotently while the finance industry carries out immoral practices. Why shouldn't businesses be subject to laws of practice which protect consumers?

Quote:

now in a very localized society, if we wanted subsidized infrastructure we would consent to that, which we do.

If you were a small society, but you are not. You are part of a large, complex country which is interconnected inextricably to a large complex world and this needs to be acknowledged in any form of system.

Quote:

we generally agree to voluntarily contribute to the military(if indirectly).

Really? You tick an optional box on some tax form. Wow, I didn't realise that.





NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 1:31 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Magons: THANK YOU for that! That was beautiful, and you said it far better than I ever could.

As to those "voluntary" military expenditures, I'd like to say right up front that I *DON'T* consent to funding the military. That money is taken from me essentially at gunpoint. If we're "ticking boxes" for what we want our tax money to fund, Ant can send 100% of his to his beloved military overlords, and I'll choose to send mine elsewhere, where it can do some actual good in the world, instead of simply contributing to the misery index by bombing more poor people.

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 2:18 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

So you're born with a severe disability, mental health and no family to pay, do you just kind of die in the gutter or wander the streets? Not everyone is born equal, no matter how much you want to believe it.
Nope, you're supposed to die. That's what Anti said:
Quote:

the governmet (sic) has since crowded out the natural order


And yanno what I say to than, Anti?

Thank god!

Since when are humankind's crowning achievements primitive, fang-and-claw "natural",?

Well, YOU may want a dummy's liberty, but I prefer something more intelligent.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:08 AM

DREAMTROVE


Frem,

Good point. Of course I grow my food, mix up my own healthcare, educate myself, and am thinking making my own transportation, but then, a lot of people arent. We need a slower transition.

I was only proposing getting rid of Govt, not the free market, but I think both will have to move to smaller and smaller forms as a transition, until the giant megacorporation and megastate are gone, or at least have lost their authority. And recognizing that in that goal, we only have the power to influence the smallest possible power units, so the new independent power units will have to be created by us, and try to divorce themselves from the larger power units as much as possible.

As far as "be careful what you wish for," some people's goals interfere with your own survival and independence, but if you lay out new track that looks to *them* like more glory and power while affect you and everyone else *less* then you just flip the switch and let that NWO train sail on to the station that *it* thinks it has been headed towards all along. 'cause when I watched John's video, that's the first thing that occurred: What happens directly after the video ends? All the NWO guys are there, in the crowd, and the train was their only trick?

There's a Taoist saying that it takes one stone to stop a river, I've posted that a couple times. But the point is that any number of stones placed in direct opposition to an oncoming flood of a raging river will at best stall it for a short period of time, and at worst all come flying back in your direction when the damn bursts. But one stone, placed at the proper juncture would cause the river to alter its flow.

I'll take a look at the Asimov

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:13 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

but I think both will have to move to smaller and smaller forms as a transition, until the giant megacorporation and megastate are gone, or at least have lost their authority.
OMeffingG, DT. Well, keep dreaming.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 10:14 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Anti – ha ha. Ironically, I HAVE given food to homeless families. On the other hand, I thought you were in favor of people having “liberty”, and I always made sure to carry money when I walked in SF, and gave some to each homeless person I passed. Shouldn’t they be “free” to spend that money however THEY wish? If they are starving, shouldn't they be able to CHOOSE what to eat, or should I be telling them what they can and can't eat? Or does that go against your principles? You really think individual charity to the poor is going to gain them a better standard of living, higher education, etc.?How about people starving overseas who need homes, education, etc.—is it wrong to donate to a charity (one you know spends the majority of its money on actual charity), rather than fly over there to help them? I sponsor a child, a wolf, and give to several charities...I guess that’s not the same to you as PERSONALLY feeding them.

Charities, eh? First off, in times like these, donations to charities are way down, so their ability to help people is also down. Second, when those were big portions of charity, people were generally under the rule of entities which didn’t support giving, so all the people lived however the entity chose. Third, all the types of charity you mentioned couldn’t possibly help the volume of homeless and poor we have these days. Fourth, some religions REQUIRED a tithe, so if you were part of that religion, you were essentially being “taxed” against your will, much s the government does now. Fifth, remember debtor prisons? That was one solution back then, should we return to same? And lastly, those are YOUR solutions; haven’t I the right to choose a different solution, such as government programs?

As to the poor getting poorer, the rich getting richer, Dumbya did more to enhance that than any other administration I know of. To say those “programs” have anything to do with programs to help the poor is disingenuous. The rest of your political arguments I’ll agree to disagree with; I’ve gone over how “trickle down” doesn’t work and the other things held up as proof giving the rich more helps the poor. Social Security wouldn’t be in the fix it’s in now if the government hadn’t been raiding it all along. DT said it beautifully: “If you look where the money really goes, which is that the fund gets regularly raped by the various presidents to fund the war machine” Where would Social Security ACTUALLY be if it had been allowed to do what it was supposed to do?

I’m so sick of the parroting of “statist”, it has no meaning anymore. As to programs not working; tell that to all the poor people who are now alive, who would otherwise have died, African-Americans who now have jobs and educationand all the children in school who would otherwise not have an education. “There (sic) efforts" have accomplished a LOT, despite your not wanting to acknowledge it.

Black-and-white thinking never got anyone anywhere. What “happy medium” do you propose, aside from letting everyone pull themselves up by their bootstraps while you live decently? Sure, some can fight against where they were born and get ahead, but that's no reason to say everyone can, given what they start out with.

“Choose to go to school and pay for it” is asinine. Rich people can go to school; those who just survive by scraping by can’t. That’s a return to the old ways where the rich perpetuate the government and nobody else has a chance. Which, apparently from your way of thinking, is how it should be.

Why the hell should I agree with being taxed for defense? So companies can overcharge for military materielle and kill people with my taxes?? I thought we were supposed to choose for ourselves; if I choose to have my taxes used in a different way than you do, i.e., to help our OWN people, how is that right? (Oops, I see I'm only the most recent to bring that up.)

Many people have said the equivalent of "A society is ultimately judged by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members.". Among them:

Mahatma Ghandi who said, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."

Churchill said that you measure the degree of civilisation of a society by how it treats its weakest members.

Truman said a society will be judged by how it treats its weakest members.

"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest." ~ Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

Personally, I like Warren Buffet’s longer take on it, which is very apropos: "Let's say that it was 24 hours before you were born, and a genie appeared and said, 'What I'm going to do is let you set the rules of the society into which you will be born. You can set the economic rules and the social rules, and whatever rules you set will apply during your lifetime and your children's lifetimes.' And you'll say, 'Well, that's nice, but what's the catch?' And the genie says, 'Here's the catch. You don't know if you're going to be born rich or poor, white or black, male or female, able-bodied or infirm, intelligent or retarded.'

There are many, many more; the basic concept being that how we treat the needy represents our culture’s moral fiber. Given it’s been said by some pretty hefty people throughout history, I’ll go with that, thank you, not “I got mine, fuck you”.

Magons covered Buffet’s version perfectly: “Poor people exist and have always existed, but they exist more in societies where there is no welfare net, and no state funded education and healthcare. In other words, in those sorts of societies, you start off in the shit and you stay there.” Again, to me that is nothing but the “moral” equivalent of “I got mine, fuck you”. I agree completely with “It's the cult of the individual that is causing us grief".

Sig made an excellent point as well with “Since when are humankind's crowning achievements primitive, fang-and-claw "natural"?” By your choice, we’d be no better than animals...so much for evolution.

As to “move to smaller and smaller forms as a transition, until the giant megacorporation and megastate are gone, or at least have lost their authority”, that is the height of naivete, or self-delusion. Population has made for, as others have noted, a complex society. There’s no way it can realistically go backwards to “smaller”, nor do the vast majority of people WANT it to. They couldn’t survive; civilization couldn’t survive.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 2:33 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

As to the poor getting poorer, the rich getting richer, Dumbya did more to enhance that than any other administration I know of.


Yup. He oversaw the biggest widening in the gap between the haves and the have-nots this country has seen since 1929.

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 2:38 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


It still floors me that nobody ever questions the right's constant whining about EVERY expenditure by the government, EXCEPT for their endless wars.

It seems the right suffers from a mental disorder. Call it a Military-Industrial Complex... ;)

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 2:39 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!



There were fewer poor people during W's 8 years, as more people moved up the social ladder.

The Rich got richer because that's what they do. Make smart choices, continue to work hard, it pays off.

Those who make poor choices, spend their $$ unwisely, continue down the same path....

It's really no big surprise.




NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:18 PM

KPO

Sometimes you own the libs. Sometimes, the libs own you.


Quote:

My point is regardless of the cost of education, If you decide to go to college YOU should pay the cost agreed. Why on earth should the kid not going to college subsidize the loans(Gov. pays interest while in school or grace period)to the kid in school? It is theft plain and simple. Gov. taking the wages of one kid and giving to another.....Unconstitutional in my book. It's the same principle I would use against most Gov. Programs....Tax me for defense. Hell even tax me for Social security(hate it, but it is what it is), however don't tax me just to give someone else a break. CHOOSE to go to school...pay your tab. Simple.


What about the revenue we get from taxing corporations, can we use that to subsidise higher education? After all businesses benefit from a society (and labour pool) where higher education is within reach of every smart individual.

Heads should roll

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:32 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:

There were fewer poor people during W's 8 years, as more people moved up the social ladder.

The Rich got richer because that's what they do. Make smart choices, continue to work hard, it pays off.

Those who make poor choices, spend their $$ unwisely, continue down the same path....

It's really no big surprise.





You're lying again. No big surprise there.

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:33 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


KPO: That would be nice, IF we actually taxed corporations the way we're supposed to.

AURaptor's Greatest Hits:

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 20:32 To AnthonyT:
Go fuck yourself.
On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you.

Friday, May 28, 2010 - 18:26 To President Obama:
Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar.
Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.
... go fuck yourself, Mr. President.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:38 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:

You're lying again. It's really no big surprise.



One must lie once in order to lie " again ".

You've confused me w/ someone else. Might be you're looking in the mirror.






NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:40 PM

DREAMTROVE


I have to say the W years were good to me economically. Obama years also. I'm not sure if there's a logic to this.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 3:45 PM

KIRKULES


Quote:

Originally posted by kpo:

What about the revenue we get from taxing corporations, can we use that to subsidise higher education? After all businesses benefit from a society (and labour pool) where higher education is within reach of every smart individual.

Heads should roll


I wish someone would explain to me exactly how corporations pay taxes. Corporations sell produces that include all of their operating costs in the price. You buy the product, you pay the tax. If you only tax certain corporations like with sin taxes then you are just passing the tax burden to a smaller group of people. Those groups most effected by sin taxes are usually those in society least able to handle the burden. A broad based consumption tax is the only fair way of realistically collecting the revenue needed to get us out of the hole we've dug ourselves.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 4:13 PM

BYTEMITE


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
I have to say the W years were good to me economically. Obama years also. I'm not sure if there's a logic to this.



Preparation and stable financial foundation?

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 4:26 PM

HKCAVALIER


Quote:

Originally posted by Kirkules:
I wish someone would explain to me exactly how corporations pay taxes. Corporations sell produces that include all of their operating costs in the price. You buy the product, you pay the tax. If you only tax certain corporations like with sin taxes then you are just passing the tax burden to a smaller group of people. Those groups most effected by sin taxes are usually those in society least able to handle the burden. A broad based consumption tax is the only fair way of realistically collecting the revenue needed to get us out of the hole we've dug ourselves.

This argument has always struck me as the very height of irony. Here y'all are defending the "free market" and then you straight up admit that there's nothing free about, that corporations set prices and people have no recourse but to pay up. You admit that there is no curb whatsoever, no "self correcting invisible hand" to keep corporations functioning within their means. No, they will always screw over the little guy no matter what we do and the little guy will have no recourse, so we better just keep paying tribute to our corporate rulers. It's hilarious that you guys don't catch yourselves when you give the game away like that.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
Is Elon Musk Nuts?
Sun, November 24, 2024 10:59 - 422 posts
Elections; 2024
Sun, November 24, 2024 10:58 - 4797 posts
Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
Sun, November 24, 2024 09:50 - 7496 posts
The Islamic Way Of War
Sun, November 24, 2024 08:51 - 41 posts
Favourite Novels Of All Time?
Sun, November 24, 2024 08:40 - 44 posts
Russia to quit International Space Station
Sun, November 24, 2024 08:05 - 10 posts
human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
Sun, November 24, 2024 08:03 - 946 posts
Russia should never interfere in any other nation's internal politics, meanwhile the USA and IMF is helping kill Venezuela
Sun, November 24, 2024 07:48 - 103 posts
Japanese Culture, S.Korea movies are now outselling American entertainment products
Sun, November 24, 2024 07:24 - 51 posts
The parallel internet is coming
Sun, November 24, 2024 06:04 - 180 posts
Giant UFOs caught on videotape
Sun, November 24, 2024 05:43 - 8 posts
California on the road to Venezuela
Sun, November 24, 2024 05:41 - 26 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL