Corrupt Government
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Title: American Eulogy
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URL Source: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article25970.html
Published: Jan 31, 2011
Author: James_Quinn
Post Date: 2011-01-31 20:35:46 by Capitalist Eric
Keywords: None
Views: 54759
Comments: 75
The Founding Fathers described the kind of country they were shaping on July 4, 1776 with the most well known sentence in the English language: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - Declaration of Independence In 1776, America was an idea born of noble intentions. An idea that every citizen had the opportunity to succeed, prosper and achieve based upon their hard work and abilities. The government did not provide advantages or a safety net for its citizens. People were free to succeed or fail based upon their own merits. America had a frontier spirit because it was still a frontier. Individual effort, intellect and willingness to sweat allowed you to move up the socio-economic ladder. The government provided a National Defense, and very little else. In 1794, the country had a population of 4.4 million and a GDP of $310 million. Government spending totaled $7.1 million, or 2.3% of GDP, and was split between Defense and interest on the Revolutionary War debt. Today, Federal Government spending totals $3.7 trillion, or 25% of GDP. James Truslow Adams in his 1931 Epic of America described the America that once existed in reality, but only exists as a phantom today: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, also too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” “The American Dream that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class.” - James Truslow Adams -Epic of America His assessment of the American Dream was made in 1931. He saw signs that the American Dream had begun to die. He was right. The American Dream began to develop a terminal illness in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve and the passage of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, creating a permanent income tax. Song of the Century Sing us a song of the century At the outset of the last century America was still a vital, free, growing country on the rise. The song of the century began as a joyous ballad and ended as a funeral dirge. The creation of a Central Bank, which could create inflation on demand, and allowing politicians the ability to buy votes through pork spending, paid for with ever increasing taxation, have sucked the life out of the American Dream. According to the Federal Reserve's own website, their mandates were clear. Below are those mandates and an assessment of their success. Conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. Supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers. Maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets. “On Thursday [the 18th], at about 11 o’clock in the morning, the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the United States to a tune of $550 billion being drawn out in a matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help. They pumped $105 billion into the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts, and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn’t be further panic and there. And that’s what actually happened. If they had not done that their estimation was that by two o’clock that afternoon, $5.5 trillion would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed. Now we talked at that time about what would have happened if that happened. It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it.” Providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation's payments system. To strengthen U.S. standing in the world economy. TUNISIA ALGERIA EGYPT The Federal Reserve has not been alone in killing the American Dream. Politicians since 1913 have done their part in suffocating the dream. The tax code consisted of 400 pages in 1913 and tax rates ranged from 1% to 7%. In less than a century politicians of both parties have carved out 70,000 pages of payoffs, entitlements, and bribes for their contributors and constituents. Tax rates now range from 10% to 35%. Those 70,000 pages of rules, regulations and tax breaks do not benefit the average middle class American. They benefit those who had the money and power to buy off a Congressman. The Federal Reserve and the US Tax Code bastardized the American Dream, created barriers to economic advancement, and supported the accumulation of wealth and power by a select few. The ruling elite have used their power and control over the media to convince the majority of Americans that the American Dream is about accumulating material possessions with debt. The American Dream no longer meant attaining the fullest measure of your capabilities, but living in the biggest McMansion, driving the nicest BMW, watching the biggest TV and wearing the latest fashions, all acquired with debt. America is dying. Mass Hysteria Red alert is the color of panic Hysteria, mass hysteria! Green Day captures the essence of America since the turn of the century. The country has been in the throes of mass hysteria since 9/11. The once independent, self sufficient individualists that populated this country have become dependent, government reliant, quivering shadows of the frontiersmen that created this country. In the name of safety and security, the American people have allowed their government to accumulate complete control over every aspect of our lives. Only a country in the grip of mass hysteria would allow their leaders to run the National Debt from $5.8 trillion to $14.1 trillion in less than 10 years. Only a country in the clutches of mass hysteria could believe they could get rich by trading internet stocks and houses to a greater fool. Only a country seized by mass hysteria would allow its leaders to promote democracy at the point of a cruise missile as we continue to fight $3 trillion wars in the Middle East, while nearly tripling the amount spent on Defense to more than $1 trillion per year. If you had told someone on September 10, 2001 that ten years later America would be running $1.5 trillion annual deficits, fighting two wars of choice in countries that despise our presence, and had not only not addressed the $100 billion of unfunded welfare liabilities but added billions more with Medicare D and Obamacare, they would have thought you were a crazy doomster predicting the end of the world. They would have put you away in a padded cell if you had further predicted that politicians would cut taxes three separate times, that the Wall Street banks that leveraged themselves 40 to 1 and destroyed the financial system were handed $2 trillion of taxpayer funds so they could pay themselves multi-million dollar bonuses, and that the Federal Reserve would triple its balance sheet to $2.45 trillion by running its printing presses at hyper-speed and handing the money to those same Wall Street Mega-Banks. What caused the mass hysteria that has destroyed the soul of America? Was it just the madness of crowds? Or was it something more sinister? True sounds of maniacal laughter Whenever an act doesn't make sense and seems irrational, you need to ask yourself, “who benefits?” Who has benefited from the hysteria? The answer is in plain sight. The moneyed interests benefited. The military industrial complex benefited. The Federal Government bureaucracy benefited. Wall Street bankers benefited. Mega-corporations and their CEOs benefited. The top 1% ruling elite gained more wealth and more power. They created the mass hysteria with the assistance of their corporate owned mainstream media and completed their pillaging of the middle class with the cooperation of regulators, rating agencies and their ultimate weapon, the privately owned Federal Reserve bank, that has enriched its owners while impoverishing those whose only aspiration was to do an honest day’s work, raise their families, and live in relative comfort, safety, and happiness. I Don't Wanna Live In The Modern World I don't wanna live in the modern world! I am a nation without bureaucratic lies I want to take a ride to the great divide The modern world in no way resembles the world James Truslow Adams wrote so passionately about in 1931. Green Day's version of bureaucratic lies, high definition TVs for the poor, contempt for those who use their minds, and a debt flooded system that is falling apart is an accurate assessment of America today. The modern world is ruled by the few with wealth and power, sustained by government. The misinformation and propaganda dished out by the mainstream media creates a smokescreen that obscures who wields the true power in this country. The corporate mainstream media has done such a good job spreading the Big Lie that a vast number of Americans actually admire and worship the ultra-rich. Most Americans still believe the fairy tale of the American Dream, that no matter how humble your beginnings, everyone has a fair chance to become rich in America. The truth is that the wealthy ruling class owns the country. The top 1% control 43% of the financial wealth of the nation. The top 10% control 83% of the financial wealth of the nation. There is a misperception that the ultra-rich earn their wealth. The facts show otherwise. In 2008, only 19% of the income reported by the 13,480 individuals or families making over $10 million came from wages and salaries. Remember the financial crisis of 2008-2009 that wiped out 7 million jobs, cut the value of many homes in half, and required a taxpayer bailout of Wall Street? According to research done by economist Edward Wolff, “there has been an “astounding” 36.1% drop in the wealth (marketable assets) of the median household since the peak of the housing bubble in 2007. By contrast, the wealth of the top 1% of households dropped by far less: just 11.1%. So as of April 2010, it looks like the wealth distribution is even more unequal than it was in 2007.” Source: William Domhoff The bottom 90% own less than 19% of stocks and mutual funds in the country. Reality is that the 10% richest Americans own the country. The top 1% control 50% of the investment assets and only 5% of the total debt in the country. The bottom 90% control 12% of the investment assets and are burdened with 73% of the total debt. You can clearly see that the Wall Street bailout and the current Federal Reserve QE2 plan to boost stock prices have only benefited the top 10% richest Americans. What is good for Wall Street is not good for Main Street. The American middle class has been lured into debt by the purveyors of debt, the ultra-rich elite who control the financial industry. The further into debt the bottom 90% descend, the greater the enrichment of the ruling class. This is why Wall Street shysters, political hacks and the corporate mainstream media have urged Americans to whip out those credit cards and “Save America” by spending money they don't have, again. It is reminiscent of President Bush's heartfelt plea to the American public to defeat terrorism by buying a GM car with 0% down. The propaganda that is constantly pounded into the brains of Americans about “death taxes” and the rich paying more than their fair share of taxes is part of the Big Lie perpetrated by the powerful ruling class. The “huge” issue of estate tax impacts only the few thousand richest Americans. According to a study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, only 1.6% of Americans receive $100,000 or more in inheritance. Another 1.1% receive $50,000 to $100,000. On the other hand, 91.9% receive nothing (Kotlikoff & Gokhale, 2000). The richest families in the country provide the funding for the mainstream media propaganda needed to eliminate estate taxes. Figure 6: Share of income paid as tax, including local and state tax Source: Citizens for Tax Justice (2010a). The lies about the ultra-rich paying more than their fair share of taxes are refuted in the graph above. The top 1% actually pays a lower percentage of their income than the next 9%. The tax code isn't 70,000 pages for nothing. The ultra-rich have used their wealth to great advantage by having loopholes and tax dodges inserted into the tax code by their bought off congressmen. The average American can't afford high powered tax specialists and lawyers to help them stash their wealth in off-shore tax havens in the Caribbean and Switzerland. The consistent theme in America today is that the middle class gets screwed and the ultra-rich ruling class accumulates more wealth and power. The Death of America “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” - John Adams Two hundred and thirty five years ago, our Founding Fathers declared that we all had the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights have been restricted and bastardized over two centuries. Liberties have been severely restricted as your government tracks you through your social security number, is able to monitor your phone and internet communications, and regulates your education, healthcare, business, and a thousand other daily activities. The right to happiness was based upon James Treslow Adams' view that we were free to attain “the fullest stature of which they are innately capable”. The happiness of becoming a success through your individual exertion, intelligence and efforts has been subverted by the happiness of material goods acquired through the use of debt, peddled by the ruling class. The American Dream where every person had the opportunity to live a richer and fuller life began to die in 1913. Every generation born in this country had an excellent chance to live a better life than their parents. Relentless progress was the American way. I have three teenage sons. Based on the actions of this country's ruling oligarchy, I doubt that my sons will live a richer and fuller life than myself. The debts are too extreme, the military overreach too excessive, the looting by the financial class too great, the political corruption too extensive, and the opportunities too few. The dream of a social order where everyone could rise to the highest level of their capabilities regardless of their birth has been systematically squashed. With 66% of households making less than $65,000 and college costs out of reach for 80% of Americans without incurring crushing levels of debt, the chances for most Americans to climb the social ladder through educational advancement are nil. Even if they do graduate from college, the CEOs in corporate America, who “earn” 300 times the average worker, have outsourced their jobs to China and India. The ruling class provides their children with private schooling and necessary preparation to keep their place in the social order. Wealth begets wealth. The elite send their kids to the elite Ivy League schools and use their connections with their fellow ruling elite to get them jobs on Wall Street, the prestigious connected corporations or government jobs in Washington DC. The wealth of the few has erected barriers to advancement of the many. America has progressively become a stratified class oriented society that has begun to spiral downward as the ruling class has gone too far. The revolutions flaring across the globe are occurring because the ruling class went too far and took too much. The ruling class in America should take note. They have shattered the American Dream and the retribution from those who have been swindled will be unexpected and violent.
It sings like American Eulogy
The dawn of my love and conspiracy
Forgotten hope and the class of 13
Tell me a story into that goodnight
Sing us a song for me - American Eulogy - Green Day 
Elevated to the point of static
Beating into the hearts of the fanatics
And the neighborhood's a loaded gun
Idle thought lead to full-throttle screaming
And the welfare is asphyxiating
Mass confusion is all the new age and it's creating a feeding ground for the bottom feeders of hysteria
Mass hysteria!
Mass hysteria!
Mass hysteria! - American Eulogy - Green Day 
And the deaf-mute is misleading the choir
The punch-line is a natural disaster
And it's sung by the unemployed
Fight fire with a riot
The class war is hanging on a wire because the martyr is a compulsive liar
When he said “it's just a bunch of niggers throwing gas into the ....” - American Eulogy - Green Day
I don't wanna live in the modern world!
I don't wanna live in the modern world!
I don't wanna live in the modern world!
Deny the allegation as it's written (***** lies!)
Beyond the “up to date” and the neo-gentrified
The high definition for the low resident
Where the value of your mind is not held in contempt
I can hear the sound of a beating heart
That bleeds beyond a system that's falling apart
With money to burn on a minimum wage
I don't give a shit about the modern age - American Eulogy - Green Day 
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#24. To: lucysmom (#20)
(Edited)
But the system is at fault in a very different way than you and Godwin believe. The closest things we have to a free market in America (beyond the illegal drug trade) is probably the computer software and computer services sectors. They are thriving because there are low barriers to entry and few regulations. The furthest thing we have to a free market is financial services, which is heavily regulated and where government has socialized risk for the largest companies like Goldman Sacs, while allowing them to keep whatever profits they earn. It's perverse. The computer software and service sector is constantly changing and refreshing itself with new technologies, new business models, and new companies willing to challenge whoever is on top at any given moment. The result is new and better products and services at cheaper prices. Companies don't get to stay on top very long. Where is the HUGE problem in America today? Financial services. Who is at fault? Government.
My parents never went to Church. But, in junior high my mom tried to force me to go to Lutheran catechism. It was sooo boring. After a few months of fighting with me every Saturday morning, she just gave up. She never tried it with my two younger sisters.
Was I assigning blame? I was stating - and it seems you contradict yourself in agreeing with me - that the current economic system in America - whatever the cause - is a failure. It was you jwpegler, who accused me of being "jealous and or hateful" towards the rich because they got theirs in this economy you yourself blames for not being good. How can you justify an economic system where the top 1% saw lopsided economic wealth gains while the bottom 99% saw a reduction in wages and or stagnation? How is that good? How is that defendable? 1% controlling 4/5th (or more) of the nation's wealth is on par with the economic disparity found in the old USSR. How is that defendable? If that is capitalism than it can be said that it is no better than communism in spreading the wealth around. PS: This govt is out to get the rich nonsense. The rich are not in fear of govt. They own it.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Where is the HUGE problem in America today? Financial services. Who is at fault? Government. Blaming government for the consequences of one's misdeeds a pretty childish thing to do. It makes me wonder why the sleazy practices that result in government regulation aren't the target of free marketeers wrath. I don't think software and financial services can be compared as you suggest. Vaporware could be the equivalent to a Bernie Madoff or an ENRON, I guess, but it strikes me as very weak. Software development is just that, the development of an idea to create a product that can be marketed. Its creative, it produces some "thing". Financial services may find new ways to push paper around but it doesn't actually create any new "thing".
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
The excuses on defending this capitalist system remind me of the arguments Marxists used to explain why the USSR was not really a Marxist nation. They did not follow Marxism exactly, it was not pure enough, etc. That is jwpegler argument. despite having lower regulations and lower taxes than any time before in modern memory we had a collapse of the economy on great depression levels. Their argument is that despite the deep cuts and deep deregulations they were not deep enough. In other words - no different than the self serving arguments by Marxist ideologues used in their defense.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
You don't make any distinction of how people got the money. That's the problem. In the 1990s, Bill Gates provided products that people wanted to buy. As a result, he became the richest man in the world, but he also gave his employees a piece of the action and Microsoft created 10,000 millionaire employees. So what did the government do? They viciously attacked Gates and Microsoft during the last year of the Clinton administration. This is very different than Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sacs who f*cked everything up and then ran to the government to bail his dirty ass out. So, what did the government do? They bailed his dirty ass out and helped Blankfein amass a net worth of almost $450 million. Something is very wrong here. You're not going to find very many here that support the kind crony capitalism that we've seen over the 20 years since Bob Rubin (of Goldman Sacs) became Clinton's Secretary of the Treasury. But we do support real capitalism where people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs can start businesses in their garages, build products and services that people want, WIN against huge established companies like IBM, and make a ton of money if they succeed. We support this because THIS is what moves our economic condition forward. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Boeing, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and countless others are the people who created our prosperous and relatively leisurely society. We cannot lose this.
A federal judge has determined that Microsoft holds a monopoly in computer operating systems, strongly criticizing the company in a decisive statement that could signal the outcome of the landmark antitrust case. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-232565.html#ixzz1CjhdQuta
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Did God bestow Bill Gates with his operating system? Did the operating system exist from the very moment the earth was created? Did Gates find it under a rock somewhere? Did he inherit it from his daddy? In the 1970s IBM had a real monopoly in the computer business. In the 1980s, two guys in their garage named Paul Allen and Bill Gates managed to dislodge IBM from their preeminent position. It's the greatest true David and Goliath story the world has ever seen. They later beat Apple in the market for modern graphical operating systems. Since then Apple, Google, Facebook and many others have dislodged Microsoft from their preeminent position, which is why Microsoft's stock has been stagnant for 10 years while Apple's has gone up over 3,000%. This is how real capitalism works. People compete to improve our lives. The people who can compete best, win. But they usually don't win for long because there is always someone younger, smarter, and not as tied to status quo who will compete against you and maybe kick your butt. Government involvement harms this process to our detriment.
Government involvement harms this process to our detriment. So the socialist shit-bag is still trying to push his agenda, eh? Idiot. Your points are all valid. Teaching the realities of life to a socialist like go56 or gooberwinson is like trying to teach Shakespeare to a monkey...
"There will be no more money when the U.S. dollar has no value, until that time we can keep printing more." -- go65, LF's answer to Ben Bernanke --
Pretty much, yea. Gates approached Seattle Computer Products. There, programmer Tim Paterson had developed a variant of CP/M-80, intended as an internal product for testing SCP's new 16-bit Intel 8086 CPU card for the S-100 bus. The system was initially named "QDOS" (Quick and Dirty Operating System), before being made commercially available as 86-DOS. Microsoft purchased 86-DOS, allegedly for $50,000. This became Microsoft Disk Operating System, MS-DOS, introduced in 1981.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Wasn't that because complaints were made by Microsoft's competitors? I know that AOL/Netscape won an antitrust lawsuit against MS.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Steve Jobs lifted the gui from Xerox's Alto. Which proves that neither Steve Jobs nor Bill Gates developed their products in a vacuum. They took to a new level what already existed.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
No wonder your able to embrace Capitalism in the form that you do, you missed out on ethical training.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Nor is it anymore sustainable than Communism was. As an aside: When the Soviet Union fell apart I thought that was the end of the "red scare", but it seems like that old boogie man was too useful to dispose of.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Wasn't that because complaints were made by Microsoft's competitors? Yes, companies who contributed large amounts of money to Clinton's campaigns, including Google, pressured him to do something. Guess what? There are anti- trust complaints against Google now too. It's the way it works. I know that AOL/Netscape won an antitrust lawsuit against MS. It amounted to nothing -- about $750 million in damages. These types of suits are filed all of the time. Again, it's the way it works. The big point here is that the market works. IBM was on top. They were dislodged by Microsoft. Microsoft was dislodged by Apple and Google. Someone will dislodge Apple and Google too. It's the way it works unless government starts subsidizing their favorites, like Goldman Sacs, which is what we all should be fighting against.
Explain that to your president. He can't get it into is head communism is a dead end. Ask him why he wants to drag us down that road.
Well, [war's] got to do something for attention, his multiple personalities aren't speaking to him any more, and his imaginary friends keep finding excuses not to come over.
Thanks for proving my point.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Oh I've been to a lot of Churches. When I was in elementary school, the neighbor lady ran a Baptist Summer Bible Camp. I went for the cookies. For a few months in junior high I went to Lutheran Catechism. While I was in the Air Force I went to a Pentecostal Church a few times to see what it was like. I was married to a Greek for 17 years and my 14 year old and 9 year old daughters are Greek Orthodox. My current wife and our 3 year old daughter are Catholic. I even went to all three of my daughter's baptisms. But I still don't go to church. It's not for me.
You have no point. You never do. You just throw dust in the air to hide the substanceless of your 'core values'.
Well, [war's] got to do something for attention, his multiple personalities aren't speaking to him any more, and his imaginary friends keep finding excuses not to come over.
You and I agree on this, but maybe in a different way. When the Soviet Union fell, some conservatives like Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul started clamoring for the troops to come home. This alarmed the neo-cons because they knew that the very diverse GOP coalition was only held together by the Cold War. So during the 1990s, the neo-cons started pounding the drums against "Red" China, which in many ways are more capitalistic than we are. 9/11 saved the neo-cons. Islamic extremists were now the focus of evil in the world. Unfortunately for the neo-cons, the Islamists don't have a country, army, nuclear weapons and certainly don't enslave half of the world like the Communists actually did. 9/11 is not working any more, so the neo-cons are beating the drums against the Chinese again. It's pitiful.
You neglect to base your calculations on the fact that the market can be driven by irrationality. That is why a business that is "too big to fail" is dangerous.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
No. I assert that a government driven by irrationality is much more destructive than a bunch of people acting irrationally on their own behalf, because an irrational government can implement policies that forces the rest of us to behave irrationally.
The market is irrational.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Individuals are irrational. The market creates progress from the irrationality of billions of people. See: Chaos theory, Spontaneous order and Emergent behavior
I think because of certain American experiences like the Cold War, a segment of the population raised on the fear of the Red Menace has done enormous damage to itself and to our country because they became ideologically driven rather than rationally driven. This was born from 2 bastard ideas that animated people from the 50s on up. 1) since Communism is bad, everything associated with its opposite is thus good. So communism was govt intrusive so that means the best system was to be for limited govt which morphed into hatred of govt which morphed into not wanting any govt even in terms of oversights or doing public works. 2) The second root for this line of right wing thinking has to do with the culture wars/civil rights battles of the period. Since the Federal govt took the lead in desegregation of schools, ending Jim Crow and pushing through reforms people of a provincial origin (to be polite and not call them racist rubes) saw a new reason to hate the power of the govt even when doing good because to them equal rights was not good and in fact evil (by that I mean there were groups who think race mixing was against the Bible). So over time these 2 roots of the modern conservative movement morphed into this ideological way of thinking to the point where you will notice if a even a pop singer says anything that contradicts their ideology they call or a fatwa on them. The proof of this is that when Teddy Roosevelt was doing his progressive reforms, even those who did not agree to them did not call Teddy Commie because there was no Cold War brainwashing back then.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Spontaneous order is also used as a synonym for any emergent behavior of which self-interested spontaneous order is just an instance. Okay, be spontaneous, don't plan, and thrive. It would be odd indeed if man had this brain capable of thought and the desire to figure things and relationships out and then choose to eschew planning. Human beings came first and then government. Government is itself an example of a system which has evolved through spontaneous order. Certainly the cave man never planned government as it exists right now in the US. Just because human beings have the capacity to think and be intentional doesn't make the order they've created any less valid than a plant figuring through trail and error where it grows best. Human consciousness and relatively long lifespan probably does, however, make human individuals less willing than a plant to offer themselves and those they love up as a sacrifice to the trial and error process if they can figure out how to avoid it.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Wow. I find this bit of commentary an amazing example of how someone can just decide that life is completely different from observable and measurable reality, and then insist that their delusions are true, and that reality is untrue. Let's take this bit by bit... Hmmm... NOTHING gets by you, that's for sure... (((rolling eyes))) Complete horse-shit. Government evolves as a necessity to handle those things that the private individual cannot. That would be things like military affairs, maintaining a legal system, and so on. "Government is like fire: a useful servant and a fearful master." George Washingtion-- Another "obviosity" that you really nailed... (((wink-wink, nudge- nudge))) Nice comparison. You're saying that a human being is equal to a plant. Of course, a human is sentient, while a plant has no sentience. A plant does not think or feel, plan, have instincts, and is incapable of "figuring through trail and error where it grows best." A truly absurd comparison, that anyone capable of critical thought would see right through. What a laugh. Wow... MORE rampant stupidity... Human beings are constantly willing to risk their future (and their offspring) in ventures that may result in failure... It's called "business." It's called "entrepreneurship." It's called "life." And I have yet to see (or even hear of) a plant "offer themselves and those they love" for anything. Again, plants have no sentience, thus no capability to offer anything. Nor have I heard of a plant "love" another. You should really put the bong away, and get some help... "There will be no more money when the U.S. dollar has no value, until that time we can keep printing more." -- go65, LF's answer to Ben Bernanke -- We always like cool X-rays, right? Its comforting to see that you got the point - well at least half.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
IIRC,they had inside help. IBM was looking for a new operating system,and Bill Gates mother was on the board there. I am GUESSING she gave him insider information about the OS search,and that led him to buy it from the guy that invented it.
"I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago." (Sarah Palin,Dec 2009) ************************************ DID Palin say or write these things or not? (Me) I don't know or F ing care. (Mad Dog posted on 2009-12-26 16:36:33 ET,post # 105 http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=5510&Disp=114#C114)
You are as kooky as Godwin. No wonder why America is failing. Gates' mother was on the board of the United Way. So was John Aikers, the failed IBM CEO. She was NOT in IBM's board. So, you think that Gates' mom and the CEO of IBM conspired to help her 20 year old kid decimate a 300,000 person company from his garage? Is that what you really think? WOW, she must have been a really good lay for the CEO of IBM to do this.
The real story is that IBM was set to buy Digital Research's operating system, which at that time was the leader in the nascent PC market. Digital Research snubbed their nose at IBM. They were out of business in a couple of years. IBM was left in a lurch with Apple selling all kinds of PCs and IBM having no story. As a result, Microsoft was able to negotiate a deal with IBM where Microsoft could sell the same operating system to other companies. This is how Compaq and other PC companies were born. This is how IBM became toast. This is old, old history.
What's import is what came next. Xerox was one of the true innovators in the computer industry. They invented the graphical user interface. They invented the Mouse. Xerox executives laughed at the mouse and cancelled all of this research. Apple and IBM used Xerox's published research to create new operating systems. Apple created a closed system with it's own hardware (the Mac). Microsoft created a system to sell to any hardware company. Microsoft dominated for a while because the executives of both IBM and Apple just didn't get it. Microsoft is not doing well now because their executives didn't get it when it came to the Web and Mobility. This is the way capitalism works. It's always changing. No one is on top for too long.
Microsoft really irritates thee crap out of people with their arrogance in how they comport themselves on the web. For example, they insist the IE8 default to the Bing search to be a bug. You can try switching the built in search in the browser's top bars all you want, it will always revert to Bing. The 'Genuine Windows' game is a pain too. Anyone who has had to call support for a mistake that shackled or mistook real software for counterfeit know what I mean. I don't like Microsoft and always do a duel boot set-up with Linux. I need MS software for some things, but try to stay in the faster, safer and easier to use Linux as much as I can.
Right, and if you buy and Android smart phone, you are required to sign up for a Google account, whether you want one or not. Oh, if your company uses the most popular email system in the world (Microsoft Exchange) it basically doesn't work (or barely works sometimes) with Android. Don't blame Microsoft because Blackberry and iPhone work fine with Exchange. Does Google irritate the crap out of you too or are you just an anti-Microsoft bigot?
LOL. Google is a pain in the butt, but I was focusing on one scoundrel corporation at a time. ;-D My biggest beef with Google is the privacy issue and their growing lack of support for net neutrality. I also don't much like their vaulted browser very much either.
Microsoft never pushed the government to bash its competitors. Google on the other hand was a leading proponent of the Silicon Valley clique that got the Clinton administration to go after Microsoft. Today, Google is acting worse than Microsoft ever did. People are going after them. You shall reap what you sow. Google's CEO (Eric Schmidt) spent an entire career losing to Microsoft and bashing Microsoft at Sun and Novell. His hatred of Microsoft has festered over a couple of decades.
By AMIR EFRATI Google Inc. accused rival Microsoft Corp. of copying its Internet search results, the latest salvo in the ongoing rivalry between the two technology behemoths. Google made the claim Tuesday after releasing the results of a test it carried out purporting to show how Google's results for search terms were copied weeks later by Microsoft's Bing search engine. Amit Singhal, who helps oversee Google's search engine algorithm, called Bing's behavior "cheating." In response, Harry Shum, a Microsoft corporate vice president, wrote in a blog post that Google's claims were misleading and amounted to a "spy-novelesque stunt to generate extreme outliers." But Mr. Shum and another Microsoft executive stopped short of denying Google's claim. The verbal volleys are the latest in the ongoing rivalry between Microsoft and Google, which for years have battled on multiple fronts including online advertising and Web browsing, among other things. Google soon will also introduce to the market laptops and other devices running on the Chrome operating system, a direct attack on Microsoft's longstanding Windows franchise. In its claim Tuesday, which was first published on a tech blog called Search Engine Land, Google said it ran a "sting" by altering its results algorithm in order to see whether Bing would do the same. For example, Google changed its algorithm to show a link to the website for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. if users searched for "mbzrxpgjys." Later, the same result showed up on Bing, Google said. It found such copying in about seven to nine out of 100 different search queries it tested, according to the blog post. Late Tuesday, Google's Mr. Singhal posted a detailed post on the company's official blog describing how the company came to the conclusion that Bing was copying the Google search engine, adding that he wanted to see that practice stop. Google wants to compete with "algorithms built on core innovation, and not on recycled search results from a competitor," he wrote. Stefan Weitz, director of the Bing search engine at Microsoft, said in an interview the company studies how certain users interact with Google in order to improve Bing. It does this by looking at "clickstream data," or information that users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer or the Bing search toolbar voluntarily share with the company. The data Microsoft receives is anonymous, meaning it's not tied to specific users, Mr. Weitz said. But Mr. Weitz added such data is just one of more than 1,000 "signals" that Bing uses for its own search results algorithm. That's the reason why Google only found a handful of alleged copies, he said. "Competitors are all trying to see what the best ideas are out there," Mr. Weitz said. Google in the past has been accused by some technology observers of copying Bing's user interface, including its home page, a left-hand navigation bar on the results page, and the look of its image search feature, among other things. Google didn't immediately respond to requests for comment about whether it copies Bing. In terms of revenue, Google has more than three-quarters of the U.S. search-advertising market, with Bing and Yahoo Inc. holding much of the rest, according to online marketing firm Efficient Frontier. Judging by how well Google developed their evidence regardibg this chapter if the war of the search engine, I would say Microsoft behaves just as badly as Google whom I sure an not going to defend anymore than I would microsoft.
Yada, yada, yaha.... Unlike you, I do use Google Chrome because it's the fastest and most compliant browser on the market. Otherwise, I could care less about what Google does or says.
I prefer Opera, and don't see where Chrome is any faster. I also prefer an older version of Opera and in Chrome, one cannot control the update function.
I've haven't used Opera. Firefox is painfully bloated and slow. IE hasn't kept up with the standards, but IE9 will make a lot of progress because Microsoft had a big wake up call about a year ago and is finally on- board with internet standards. I've been using Chrome for quite a long time. I think its great. But I might switch to IE9 when it comes out. We'll see.
Comments (65 - 75) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latestit is the system that is at fault, not the people
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#25. To: lucysmom (#23)
It was my parents that took me to church and sent me to a private Lutheran school
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#26. To: jwpegler, lucysmom (#24)
(Edited)
Who is at fault? Government.
#27. To: jwpegler (#24)
The computer software and service sector is constantly changing and refreshing itself with new technologies, new business models, and new companies willing to challenge whoever is on top at any given moment. The result is new and better products and services at cheaper prices. Companies don't get to stay on top very long.
#28. To: lucysmom, jwpegler (#27)
#29. To: Godwinson (#26)
(Edited)
How can you justify an economic system where the top 1%
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#30. To: jwpegler (#29)
In the 1990s, Bill Gates provided products that people wanted to buy.
#31. To: jwpegler (#29)
#32. To: Godwinson, capitalist eric, sneakypete (#30)
(Edited)
A federal judge has determined that Microsoft holds a monopoly in computer operating systems, strongly criticizing the company in a decisive statement that could signal the outcome of the landmark antitrust case.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#33. To: jwpegler (#32)
This is how real capitalism works. People compete to improve our lives. The people who can compete best, win. But they usually don't win for long because there is always someone younger, smarter, and not as tied to status quo who will compete against you and maybe kick your butt.
#34. To: jwpegler (#32)
Did Gates find it under a rock somewhere?
#35. To: jwpegler (#29)
So what did the government do? They viciously attacked Gates and Microsoft during the last year of the Clinton administration.
#36. To: Godwinson, jwpegler (#34)
Did Gates find it under a rock somewhere?
#37. To: jwpegler (#25)
My parents never went to Church.
#38. To: Godwinson (#26)
How can you justify an economic system where the top 1% saw lopsided economic wealth gains while the bottom 99% saw a reduction in wages and or stagnation? How is that good? How is that defendable?
#39. To: lucysmom (#35)
(Edited)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#40. To: lucysmom (#38)
As an aside: When the Soviet Union fell apart I thought that was the end of the "red scare", but it seems like that old boogie man was too useful to dispose of.
#41. To: Rudgear (#40)
Explain that to your president. He can't get it into is head communism is a dead end. Ask him why he wants to drag us down that road.
#42. To: lucysmom (#37)
No wonder your able to embrace Capitalism in the form that you do, you missed out on ethical training.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#43. To: lucysmom (#41)
#44. To: lucysmom (#38)
(Edited)
When the Soviet Union fell apart I thought that was the end of the "red scare", but it seems like that old boogie man was too useful to dispose of.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#45. To: jwpegler, lucysmom (#39)
The big point here is that the market works. IBM was on top. They were dislodged by Microsoft. Microsoft was dislodged by Apple and Google. Someone will dislodge Apple and Google too.
#46. To: Godwinson (#45)
(Edited)
You neglect to base your calculations on the fact that the market can be driven by irrationality.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#47. To: Godwinson (#45)
You neglect to base your calculations on the fact that the market can be driven by irrationality. That is why a business that is "too big to fail" is dangerous.
#48. To: lucysmom (#47)
(Edited)
The market is irrational.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#49. To: lucysmom, jwpegler (#47)
#50. To: jwpegler (#48)
Spontaneous order is the spontaneous emergence of order out of seeming chaos; the emergence of various kinds of social order from a combination of self-interested individuals who are not intentionally trying to create order through planning. The evolution of life on Earth, language, and a free market economy have all been proposed as examples of systems which evolved through spontaneous order.[1] Naturalists often point to the inherent "watch-like" precision of uncultivated ecosystems and to the universe itself as ultimate examples of this phenomenon.
#51. To: lucysmom (#50)
Human beings came first and then government. Government is itself an example of a system which has evolved through spontaneous order. Certainly the cave man never planned government as it exists right now in the US. Just because human beings have the capacity to think and be intentional doesn't make the order they've created any less valid than a plant figuring through trail and error where it grows best. Human consciousness and relatively long lifespan probably does, however, make human individuals less willing than a plant to offer themselves and those they love up as a sacrifice to the trial and error process if they can figure out how to avoid it.
Human beings came first and then government.
Government is itself an example of a system which has evolved through spontaneous order.
Certainly the cave man never planned government as it exists right now in the US.
Just because human beings have the capacity to think and be intentional doesn't make the order they've created any less valid than a plant figuring through trail and error where it grows best.
Human consciousness and relatively long lifespan probably does, however, make human individuals less willing than a plant to offer themselves and those they love up as a sacrifice to the trial and error process if they can figure out how to avoid it.
Here's one of our own American Socialist,
"godwinson," resident socialist goober.
#52. To: Capitalist Eric (#51)
You should really put the bong away, and get some help...
#53. To: jwpegler (#32)
In the 1980s, two guys in their garage named Paul Allen and Bill Gates managed to dislodge IBM from their preeminent position. It's the greatest true David and Goliath story the world has ever seen.
#54. To: sneakypete (#53)
(Edited)
IIRC,they had inside help. IBM was looking for a new operating system,and Bill Gates mother was on the board there. I am GUESSING she gave him insider information about the OS search,and that led him to buy it from the guy that invented it.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#55. To: sneakypete (#53)
(Edited)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#56. To: sneakypete (#53)
(Edited)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#57. To: jwpegler (#56)
#58. To: Ferret Mike (#57)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#59. To: jwpegler (#58)
#60. To: Ferret Mike (#59)
(Edited)
Google is a pain in the butt, but I was focusing on one scoundrel corporation at a time
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#61. To: jwpegler (#60)
Google Accuses Microsoft's Bing of 'Cheating' .
#62. To: Ferret Mike (#61)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#63. To: jwpegler (#62)
#64. To: Ferret Mike (#63)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
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