Comments by "Ōkami-san" (@mweibleii) on "Thom Hartmann Program"
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technatezin RE: "You can still sell for a profit by selling goods of dubious quality and still remain in business by selling something of expected average quality to the customer."
And?
Microsoft was one of the largest companies in the world, they marketed Zune, it was of 'dubious value', some people bought it, most decided they wanted an iPod. That's competition in a free market (or at least close to one). They we have Apple and a thriving smart phone market.
If the Government was "selling" Zune (providing a 'free' MP3 player as a public service) then we'd still have Zune. Apple probably would have went out of business and there'd be no iPhone and possibly no smart phone market.
See the difference? This is why Government school monopolies are bad for society. Which is why our Government Schools are being replaced by Charter and Private Schools. Which is GOOD for society.
Sadly, thanks to Government School monopolies, for 100 years, we have no idea of all the great pedagogical ideas that just never happened due to unfair Government monopolization of this market. However, in a free market, good Government Schools (of which there must be some) can compete and if they truly provide value, then people will pay for those services.
Hypothetical aside, I've personally worked in a Medical School that removed human anatomy laboratories. Why? Because they said the MD's didn't need that training. Because Government regulatory capture ensures AMA rent-seeking status, only Government approved medical schools can issue licences. Thus, without competition, students just think getting an MD and having no anatomy is fair value. Not that they care, they just want the MD. This is some serious 'dubious value' here. You do understand medical error is the #2 killer of Americans? You'll likely die of it. You can thank Government School monopoly and Government enforced regulatory capture and rent-seeking. The fact is, in the REAL world, the objective world, this is happening.
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@celestialmorpho I sent my daughter to an extremely small private school. K to 6 was a total of 32 students.
The pros: teachers know students attributes extremely well, all the kids know one another, music teacher was very good, kids naturally took in leadership roles, most kids were quite engaged.
The Cons: Small number of kids could lead to some sense of bullying as there are only so many "best friends" to go around. Although the school did have some strategies in place, if a bully was dominating, that is an issue. Sports teams was not a thing, instead kids did swimming at a university pool, played tennis, and had competitions with other small schools.
Overall: Graduating kids have a very good reputation for taking initiative, being better at music (being able to play and read sheet music for multiple instruments), and generally being good natured. The biggest drawbacks were if you wanted team sports and some bullying around having a best friend.
Compared with better funded public schools, small private schools (which also get some public funding incidentally), are probably better in many ways. But, I can see that it also comes down to the teachers. Probably small schools attract and keep good teachers and don't have the resources to put up with bad teachers – and get rid of them. So, that's also worth thinking about.
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@celestialmorpho
In addition: private vs public
My feeling is, having 8 years more experience, that is not necessary for public institutions to be horrible and it's not natural for private institutions to be superior. What I think is that both are so-so, and that over time private institutions that are so-so often go bankrupt. Where as public institutions don't. This means that the people who work in public institutions can engage is "politics" and get promoted while not providing value. Hence the term: "Institutionalised". But, this probably happens at very large companies too. Because they're nearly too big to fail (many secure government contracts – Amazon for example).
Thus, one factor that probably helps society is having poorly run private institutions go bankrupt.
However, there's another issue at play, and that's the fact that private, public, and society are not separate and overlap in both positive and negative ways. Sometimes public money goes to competent people at public institutions. And sometimes private institutions get the inside track or act devious or just get lucky. Also, people themselves are a player. People are supposed to act as a check on poorly functioning public institutions. But they don't seem to care. I recently volunteered at a new private school (that gets a lot of public money) and it seemed that ONLY me and two other people where there. No one comes to these meetings. But "society" requires that members of society get involved and do these things. Yet they don't want to.
Any thoughts or questions?
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elvenbread191 What do you mean 'eliminate manufacturing'? Firstly, me being able to buy a made in Japan car is my business. GM in the USA may or may not like my choice, but that's on me. Secondly, suppose one day 3D printing comes along and eliminated 85% need for mass manufacturing. Are you going to suggest we'd be worse off? Think about how the tractor put 85% of farm hands out of work, were we worse off? Yes, it may eliminate millions of jobs - so what? That's a good thing. Imagine all the doctors put out of work when we cure cancer. Again, this is a GOOD thing.
I think you'll falling for a number of talking points. If I own a business, and I want to build my items in China, that's my decision, There's no 'WE' shipping manufacturing overseas. There's individuals. Those jobs are gone, and good riddance. The problem is the fact people are looking FOR a job, instead of looking to create a job.
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BramSLI1 The 1950s was much LOWER regulation, less rules, wages were generally running higher than minimum wage, and while labor had rights, it was nothing like today. Also, the 70s were not all that prosperous (inflation was bad) and at the end of the 1960s we were at war, again, not that great for a lot of people.
As an example, the AMA did not have near the monopoly on Rx they do now.There was no Drug War. Regulations to open a business were low. There was no Department of Energy, Department of Education, Homeland Security, TSA, and etc... they simply didn't exist. You didn't need a licence to cut hair, or sell flowers, or etc.. all of these have either come into existence or massively expanded.They are strangling our economy. Also, there was no such thing as Too Big To Fail. All of these problems were and are being created BY the government. Or government hand in glove with various crony capitalistic corporations.
I remember listening to an interview of a Russian who immigrated to the USA in the 1960s and he said he was dumb struck with how everyone wanted to start a business. It was as if every single person he met had and idea and was giving it a go. Compare that with today.
The ONLY way we're getting more jobs is if we're allowed to create them.
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BramSLI1 Which is a very very very inefficient means to fund research and one of the reasons we make such slow progress. For example, I've seen liars write great grants and get awarded hundreds of millions of dollars, up to a billion dollars if you count infrastructure, and have next to nothing - sometimes even going backwards, then before all that tax money was blown through. Anyone with half a brain would know a politician, some of whom think the earth is 6000 years old, others who have degrees in social sciences or are lawyers - are completely clueless as to who to fund or how to equitably allocate research funding. When left up to the Scientists themselves, they fund their colleagues projects, In short, you are again, clueless. Further, because resources are directed towards some projects, those same resources (including human talent) are not used in more efficient and beneficial manner. Many of the institutions today, are worse than they were in the 1980s in terms of organization. The Public ones are the worse of the lot, crammed to the rim with crony-bootlickers. Which is why you don't see your standard of living rising as quickly as it should given the massive gains in productive capacity. If you think you're going to pin the loss of your standard of living on a few corporate CEOs, you're smoking crank with your crack. The biggest more corrupt corporation in our country is the US Federal Government.
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silat13 It's not a monopoly, if it were a monopoly then the solution would be to break up the monopoly. Although, in general, monopolies benefit the buyer and are usually bad only for the competitor. History shows monopolies generally align with a low cost point to keep competition from entering the market. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of Progressive magic thinking. Never mind that everything the State has touched turns to shit: See Public Welfare ghettos. Government schools with their 1 in 5 functionally illiterate graduation rate, the NSA and it's spying on Citizens, the never ending wars the State continues to lose year after year, the FDA regulated pink slime or the Central Bank bailing out the top 0.01% to the tune of trillions and etc...
Don't worry, by the time the FCC is done, you'll be paying much MUCH more and getting a much slower, much more regulated internet with a Logon ID and daily limit - you know, for the Good of the Commons. Would want you using more than your fair-share of the Commons. Thank you Progressives, another industry you've destroyed. The LAST tiny bit of freedom snuffed out thanks to our Central Planning Progressive Socialists.
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ckildegaard There's no need for the FCC, simply use contract law to deal with companies that slow speeds to certain websites. If you sign a contract with Provider X that says they will not slow down speeds, and they do, then they get sued. It's that simple.
But don't worry, the FCC "protecting" you from something that isn't happening but might, maybe, could, someday, happen - is just the camels nose under tent. We'll pay more for a slower internet and eventually require an internet ID to logon to the internet. The Government will continue to regulate every aspect of the internet until programmers are required a State licence and to open an internet site will requite a licence. You know, so your State Nanny can protect you from something that might happen one day.
And thus, you Regressive Socialists will have destroyed the last free-market left on Earth. By the Gods it sucks having to live in a country with pathetic people who need a Nanny. Oh well, to anyone out there who isn't in need of a Nanny, my suggestion is to become one. Because there's plenty of American's who need looking after.
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silat13 Libertarians are for a limited government. It's what the USA was founded on. The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution are to protect us FROM government. The US Constitution is to protect FROM government.
LIMITED government, not no government. Libertarians want a Government, just a small one. Libertarians support: sound free market money, ending labor tax, support contract law and laws that protect private property. All of which requite a small amount of government.
In the past, because the US government was limited, Americans were forced to work WITH one another. Not so in modern America where the US Government is now the largest single entity in human history. The US Government can be used AGAINST other Americans - even, as in this case, just because 'maybe' a company 'could', 'maybe' one day slow speeds to a site, even though this has never been a problem in the USA.
Yes, humans work best together with a non-violent social structure. Which is why we need LIMITED government. Because the humans who work in Government, are the one's with the most power to use violence against innocent humans. We need protected against them - the ones working in Government, the most. Contract law and competition will deal with corporations.
ONLY a Public Official can strangle an innocent man to death for trying to break up a fight. ONLY the Government can tell you who you can legally marry. The US Government is the largest polluter in the history of humanity, it uses the most of our limited energy, it spends trillions of dollars killing people in phony wars and has been doing so since the 1950s. The US government just bailed out the richest 0.1% and you keep blaming the Koch brothers? What planet do you live on??? The US Government has killed over a million people in Asian and the ME, and you keep blaming the Koch brothers? You are a State-bot. You worship the State just like a religious fundamentalist worships their religious institution. The POTUS is your Pope. Our Senators are your Bishops. The State is your religion.
Don't worry, we're getting more government, and unless you're a Regulator or in the top 0.1%, then your life will probably get worse.
Note: The Koch brothers might make a good boogeyman story for children or Progressive Socialists, but in the real world they provide hundreds of thousands of people with good paying jobs and have absolutely nothing to do with why 1 in 5 Government school graduates are functional illiterates. Oh, and it doesn't matter who you vote in as POTUS, this isn't going to alter the fact that 1 in 7 Americans are illiterate, 1 in 5 Government school graduates are functionally illiterate and of those that can read, most do so at the level of a 7th grader. Vote in for whomever you like, it's not going to change this fact.
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The AMA started out regulating medicine for "The Good of Society" because maybe, just maybe someone would sell someone else medicine that wasn't what they claimed. While we could have used contract law to deal with this, we instead gave the AMA a monopoly over Rx. This then meant only State licensed practitioners could prescribe Rx.
What was the fallout of government having this power?
1) Today over 450,000 Americans are killed by medical error each year, up from 80,000 in 1990.
2) Our prisons are filled with millions of non-violent drug dealers. Some for selling marijuana which is now legal in many States.
3) Our cities are littered with drug gang ghettos.
4) Heroin derivatives make up the drug of choice for middle class America, even though it's not legal to take recreationally, most easily get a Rx script for their drug of choice turning Physicians into drug pushers and Pharama into pain-pill manufacturers.
5) Tens of millions of students waste their lives hoping to get into a limited spot to become a Rent-Seeker in the medical field.
6) Medicine is now way over priced and falling in quality year in and year out. The MD qualification today is barely worth the paper it's printed on.
You think the FCC is going to stop here? No way. The will do what all Government agencies do, grow and this means more regulation (to keep us safe from one another) and over time all of this will become normal, eventually we'll need to pay an Internet Tax (for the Good of Society) and this will require a Log-On ID (issued by the State when you pay your fee).
When this happens, and it will, remember it was demagogues like Thom the Progressive Social Justice Warrior that killed off the last true Free Market in the world: The Internet. It may take 10 years, but our Internet Tax and ID is coming. Then you'll need a State Licence and State permission to build a website. The biggest players like Google, will buy off Government and be nearly impossible to compete against.
You'll see.
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ckildegaard Like I said, in the USSA the new norm, one could say "The American Way" isn't to deal with social problems (or in this case, total lack of any problem) using free-markets and freedom, but to turn to the use of State violence to solve any and every perceived potential social problem (or, in this case, total lack of a problem).
Like I said, IF this problem would have arisen, and by all account it wouldn't have ever occurred, it could have been easily solved using contract law and free-markets. But this isn't what Americans want. No, that would require thinking and maybe getting involved in the markets. Nope. Americans, with their collective 6th grade reading comprehension, want a State Nanny to solve any existing or potentially existing problems.
Talk about pathetic.
Don't worry, soon we'll have an Internet Tax, regulatory capture, rent-seeking and slower internet. You'll log onto your Government managed slow-net with your Government issued ID to slowly visit Government licensed websites that have been approved and issued a permit by the State.
If you ever wonder why nations rise, peak and then collapse, just look in the mirror for your answer. It's because of people like you. I was recently reading a novel written in the late 1800s in Japan about Japan's golden age, and there you were. A whiny little 17th century Japanese peasant too worried about their own shadow and more than happy to give more power to their Lord to protect them from non-existent danger. Well, let tell you how it ends, not too good for the little functionally illiterate piss-in-his-pants at his own shadow peasant.
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ckildegaard The AMA is given State privilege to licence practitioners. What? You think YOU are allowed to practice without AMA approval?!? Give me a break. The AMA has a Government granted near-monopoly on medicine. Yes, it's a Private fraternity. AND? Welcome to Fascist America where private interests use the State to control the hyper-regulated markets. Which is exactly what will happen to the Internet. It's called regulatory capture, licencing schemes and rent-seeking.
Don't worry, there'll come a day when you'll need a State Internet ID "For the Good of Society" to log on to the Internet. And you'll of course be required to pay an Internet Tax. And, to ensure you don't use up too much of "The Commons" / aka: use too much internet, your access will be measured and limited "For the Good of Society". Oh, and to develop software you'll need a degree and licence from a University. You know, for the "Good of Society" and to keep you safe from some non-danger, like a webpage that doesn't load.
The State and the Corporate interest that own it, have wanted to regulate the Internet since it became such a large FREE MARKET. The Progressives just gave it to them. They just gave the last free-market over to the State.
Don't worry, the State will destroy the free-market internet with millions and millions of regulations just as it has destroyed medicine, education, finance - everything. And when it does, remember today. The day you whined you wanted the FCC to protect you from the big scary 'free-market'.
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Expect the FCC to regulate the Internet the way the FDA regulates boiled in ammonia, snout, foot, ear, tail, skin and other off cuts colored and sold as Human "food". The Internet we enjoy today is a (nearly) free-market - which is why it's so great. The FCC Government regulated Internet of tomorrow will be a functionally illiterate pink slime welfare ghetto.
Oh, and if you think Government regulation comes cheap - think again. Once the Internet becomes part of the so-called "Commons" we will have an internet tax. Eventually, we will need an official State internet log-on ID. Much like the FCC 'regulates' what's legal to show on TV or legal to hear on the radio - that's going to happen to the Internet. Oh, and no more live-game streams or other innovative ideas. No torrents. No freedom to open up a website not needing a State issued licence. Nope, that's using up too much of the "Commons" and is taking away from the functionally illiterate Progressives' share of The Commons.
So, thank you Progressives (Social Regressives) you've just destroyed the last shred of somewhat free-markets left in the world. Just like everything else your ilk touches from Education to caring for the poor. You literally turn everything you touch into the Public welfare ghettos. There goes the last chance humanity had at (nearly) Government free communication.
Good on you.
Oh, and do enjoy your shitty Netflicks and old FCC approved re-runs. It pretty much cost us all our only free space/free-market/freedom we had left.
Progressive Socialism: Regulating your life, so you don't have to.
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For anyone who wants to know the real story and not the BS fairytale / State-worship the Regressive Socialists sold us: http://www.techpolicydaily.com/internet/caused-web-slow-down-comcast-twc-verizon/
Excerpt:
"Network analyst George Ou offered his perspective of what had happened: “Cogent purchased on the order of 1 terabit of capacity from Comcast and got 4 terabits from Comcast. When I say ‘purchased’, I mean bartered. Then they turned around and sold 100 terabits of capacity to [their] own customers. That’s why Cogent customers are suffering slow performance. Then they demanded 8x the bandwidth from Comcast at no extra cost and when Comcast refused, they blamed their slow service on Comcast.”
Note 1: As I stated, all of this COULD have been handled quick, legally, and with no need of violence using voluntarily agreed to contract law.
Note 2: If the CONgress, POTUS or the FCC were honest, then they'd also see no need for more Government regulation. But, this isn't about providing service - this is about voting buying off a largely Government schooled and functionally illiterate voting public (DoED found the average reading comprehension is 7-8th grade in the USSA) by O-blah-ma and other crooked politicians and is a power grab by the FCC so that middle and upper management can gun for high paid positions at Comcast dealing with FCC regulation - that they themselves are rapidly creating by the thousands and thousands of pages as you read this. Not only will we get to pay for the FCC, but we'll get to pay more for Internet access as the ISP providers will be required to waste more time on useless FCC made-up-red-tape.
Note 3: For any recent Government schooled graduate, an 'excerpt' is a short extract from the writing cited.
Note 4: Expect more Regulatory Capture, and now Rent Seeking on the parts of the big players as people in the FCC begin to use their State-given power as leverage over various businesses and those businesses fight back.
And thus Progressive Socialism will come full circle as the State Fascism it, in reality, already is.
Don't worry, we're getting slower, more expensive internet and we'll need a State licence and log-on ID in order to access it. You know "For the Good of Society".
Again, thank you Regressives, you're doing such a wonderful job destroying Civil Society.
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ckildegaard I provided actual evidence that no ISP provider was slowing Netflicks or any other site - yet, this doesn't matter to the State-bots. Nope. MAYBE, an ISP provider might, could, possibly will one day slow speeds AND even though this can be addressed without using the State (through contract law) our Regressive Socialists instead demand that the State (which was purposely LIMITED by the founders of the nation) expand it's size and scope even larger.... just in case.
You Regressives made the same argument in support of the decades long War on Terror. We all have to get used to the TSA, The Patriot Act, the NSA spying, the never-ending-trillion dollars wasted on Warfare - all because maybe a "Terrorist" might, could, possibly one day kill more Americans. Never mind 480,000 needlessly die every single year due to Medical Error.
Don't worry, you're in luck. Almost everyone in society thinks just you. Religious kooks who cling to their security blanket, be it their Sky-Daddy and/or their State-Nanny.
So, we get to lose yet more Civil Rights and Personal Privacy and live in a Police State where never ending Wars and bailing out the top 0.01% by the Progressive Central Bank is the norm.
My advice to you is to pay your taxes, get used to the lower standard of living and keep pulling the magic voting lever to the right or left.
Enjoy your weekend.
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In the minds of our so-called Progressive Socialists, State violence IS Progress. That's how demented these people are. They're insane. Even when provided evidence their insane delusions are just that - delusions, they still demand more State expansion and more intrusion into our lives. They will never stop until every single aspect of our lives are controlled and regulated for by the State. It's in their DNA. It's what they are.
Thus we get to live with Internet Nanny-Overlords at the FCC deciding which websites are "Legal" and have met all the FCC "Standards" and "Guidelines" and are deemed fit for Public Display just as the FCC does for television and radio.
You know, "For the Good of Society". Because in Progressive's mind, voluntarism and free-markets equals to BAD, whereas State violence and regulation equals to GOOD.
So, one day we'll see that any images, words, or ideas not-approved by the FCC / Government will be cause to revoke your Government Issued Internet ID. Exactly as the FCC controls what we hear or see via radio, tv, film, etc.... they will do this to the internet.
Then we can all live in our Progressive Socialist Paradise where the Government Regulates every single aspect of our lives, from who we can legally marry, to which herbs we can legally smoke to what ideas we can legally access to read, to which video games we're allowed to play.
Don't color out of the lines, or the FCC/Government will remove your State issued Internet ID access and if you dare to use the Internet without using your NSA issued State-Internet-ID then you get to go to jail with the other 10s of millions of Americans who committed non-violent thought crimes or dared to smoke a fricken weed.
Welcome to the Progressive State's of America.
So, again, a BIG THANK YOU Progressives for helping to destroy the last free-market in the world. All because MAYBE an ISP might, maybe, could one day, slow your God damn speed to shitty FCC approved re-runs from the 1970s. Jesus H Christ you people suck. You destroy everything you touch.
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ckildegaard
You just watch as the FCC guts the Internet. The people at the FCC couldn't give two flying shits about 'Protecting the Internet'. What a childish simpleton thing to suggest. The people running the FCC are like people anywhere else. They want power and more of it. And you Regressives just handed these sociopaths the Internet.
FACT #1) There was NO problem with the internet.
Thus, the FCC isn't protecting shit - because there was nothing wrong with the internet. But don't worry, now that the FCC has the power to 'Regulate' the internet it will not stop until it regulates the Internet just as it does TV, radio and any other form of communication.
So, again, THANK YOU REGRESSIVES for destroying the last Free-Market left on earth. You should be happy with yourselves - given how much you hate free-markets, aka: free people.
FACT #2) There is NO evidence ISP were slowing internet speeds. Actually, the opposite, the evidence shows ISPs were NOT slowing speeds - exactly the opposite of your deluded fantasy land where FCC and Government violence 'for the good of society' comes and 'saves' the day by regulating the hell out of everything.
FACT #3) YOU little State-bots are the ones who live in a fantasy land.
Even when the State outright lies us into a trillion(S) dollar Phony war that is loses year after year, guts our civil liberties with the Orwellian named Patriot Act and bails out the richest 0.1% - there you Regressives are, first in line to wave your stupid flags like the Religious State-bot kooks you are! I feel sorry for you. You must really think the world is such a horrible place that only a Police State can give you the 'freedom' you want. That's sad. Really sad.
Yup, the free-market Internet had to go all because one day, somewhere, just maybe, someday, someone might, could, maybe do slow the internet like the big bad free-market boogey man that lives under your bed.
You Regressive Socialists destroy everything you touch. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. And now you've just handed over the Internet to the Government - and destroyed the last vestige of free communication and free-markets left to human society. Which is exactly what you wanted because you hate free-markets. Regressive Socialists are positively repulsive.
Like I said, you will see. Watch across the next 10-15 years as the FCC guts the Internet. As it stands, the Internet is pretty much done for. It'll become another Government Hyper-regulated stagnate market where you'll be required to have a State-issued NSA Log-On ID and fill in forms and pay fees to open a FCC approved website. You'll need to 'demonstrate there's a need for such a website' (which is common for many business licences) and if you publish something that tarnishes the FCC or the Government, you'll have your ID revoked.
You just wait and see.
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ckildegaard
I posted a link showing that ISP were not purposely slowing the internet. The empirical evidence is staring at you in the face.
The very fact that this information was available to the FCC showing they were not needed at all, AND yet these people running the FCC still (happily) accepted a new and powerful (profitable) role 'Regulating' the Internet - should at least give you pause for thought.
You do understand the State you worship is spending $600 billion dollars this year alone, fighting and losing a way it made-up? You do understand that 1 in 5 Government schooled Americans have a reading comprehension at the 6th grade level? (which explains a lot)
Anyway, being a State-bot, you cannot question your God. It's simply impossible.
So, you should instead try and image how frustrating it is for people like me, to have to be surrounded by 49.99% Theo-bot imbeciles and with the other 49.99% being State-bot imbeciles. As much as I cannot stand Religious superstition, I'll take it over State-worship any damn day of the week. State-bots have murdered 100s of millions of humans across the last 100 years.
Enjoy the FCC 'regulated' Internet along with the loss of freedom to interact freely with others in a free-market open space. That's what 6th grade level Idiocracy wanted, so that's what we get, because maybe, someday, possibly Shit-flicks may slow a little. And it only cost of our last free-market left on earth. You Regressives should be proud.
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Keith Voltaire
1) I find it interesting you claim that as societies become more complex, that more central force is required. I on the other hand think exactly the opposite is true. As societies become complex, it becomes harder for central authorities to model and manage said complex societies - which is why, as States become more 'socialistic' they simultaneously lose more liberty and privacy. It's one of the reasons we all must lose our right to privacy as the State's central planners attempt to model our behaviours. As this fails (and it always does) the State then restricts our behaviours. All of which is happening currently.
I have a tea cup sitting next to me. You don't need to see it, other than to know it's mine - I own it. How much is it worth to me? How can the State discover this? It can't. The ONLY way anyone, perhaps even me, can determine the value of my tea cup is if I'm allowed to trade it for a sound currency.
Thus, a free society with sound money is the most efficient means to maintain (and develop) a complex society. Not a central authority.
2) RE: The State (as defined by Max Weber, see Princeton University: .http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Monopoly_on_the_legitimate_use_of_physical_force.html)
*The monopoly on legitimate violence (German: Gewaltmonopol des Staates) is the definition of the state expounded by Max Weber in Politics as a Vocation, which has been predominant in philosophy of law and political philosophy in the twentieth century.
It defines a single entity, the state, exercising authority on violence over a given territory, as territory was also deemed by Weber to be a characteristic of state. Importantly, such a monopoly must occur via a process of legitimation, wherein a claim is laid to legitimise the state's use of violence.*
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Anyone can legally use violence in defence against aggression. ONLY the State can initiate force against an innocent person. Examples of State violence include income tax (labor tax) and drug laws. The first one is used to force workers to pay to maintain value of the State's fiat paper. When Chinese buy 30 year T-bonds - they're buying labor from children not yet born, let alone given a vote - which makes a mockery of democracy. When Rx monopoly was given to the AMA, it initiated the legal use of force against everyone attempting to take ownership of their own body - this small act of violence of the State has ended up in the largest prison population in history as well as hellishly violent inner cities that would make bootleggers look like angles, not to mention ruined healthcare. Currently 480,000 Americans die each year due to medical error. Up from 90,000 in 1990.
Violence doesn't work in ANY society. Larger State is a return to the jungle. Government is ANTI-society. It's a return to might makes right.
The State is by definition immoral. Public institutions are based on violence. Private enterprise on the other hand is virtuous. Because the ONLY way a private group of people can interact with you is by your voluntarily agreeing to do so. Apple Inc is the largest corporation in the world, yet you feel no fear at telling them to piss off and buying Samsung. Try that with a police officer or the IRS. You'll quickly see the difference between Private and Public.
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vedant varma LOL
Most people agree with all politicians, that's WHY they're politicians.
Politician: Free education for everyone, housing for the poor, drugs off the street and a turkey in every pot.
Electorate: Yay, we want that.
Reality: Government schools graduate functional illiterates in the USA at a rate of 1 in 5. Further, the average reading level in the USA for an adult is grade 6, those going to University is grade 7. Housing for the poor is welfare ghettos filled with violence and crime. Drugs are worse than ever and laws against them ushered in the prison industrial complex. FDA approves boiled in ammonia off cuts of snout, hooves, ear, ground together with bone meal and wood pulp with food coloring (pink slime look it up) but makes raw organic milk illegal and raids farms with guns.
Yes, I do agree with you, most people probably agree with Bernie Sanders. And? So what? They agree with most Politicians - it's why they're elected. They're bullshit artists. Bernie Sanders is no exception.
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vedant varma Greece is a socialist state.
As for Norway, it's an oil rich nation. Can 'socialism' work well while oil profits are rolling in? Sure. But only because non-oil rich nations have to pay for the oil and in exchange produce goods and services Norwegians enjoy. It's why the Norwegians use the Krone. Which is something to think about. Norwegians are so 'socialist' that they refused to joy the Euro and share their wealth.
Thus, "Socialism" doesn't even work in Norway. Norway is really Nationalist. If Norwegians really felt 'Socialism' was so wonderful, they'd share their wealth with the other Scandinavian countries. Something you may want to consider.
Oh, Norway (like the other Scandinavian countries) also doesn't have a State mandated minimum wage. My questions are:
1) Is NOT having a minimum wage "Socialistic"? You just gave Norway as an example of so-called "Socialism:, they don't have a minimum wage.
2) So, given Norway was your example, you'd also like to eliminate the minimum wage in the USA?
Yes, Norway does have a really great educational system. If we were to model ours on theirs, most Government schools would be shut down as inadequate and most Government school teachers would have to be fired as they wouldn't have the qualifications nor the aptitude to be a teacher. Are you in favor of firing 99% of the public school teachers in the USA? IF Bernie wasn't just a bullshitter, he'd say as much. Is he going to? No. DO you have any idea what the Teacher's Unions would do to him? If not out-right put a hit on him. So, no, don't expect Bernie to say anything other than we need to give more money to a failing system.
Note: Japanese spends less PER Student than the USA. Having a smaller or larger population has nothing to do with it. We spend about 20% more per student with MUCH LOWER outcomes (See: The 1 in 5 functional illiteracy rates of students who graduate from a Government "High" schools). Yes, Norway spends more, and they can afford to, they have a lot of oil.
Lastly, Norway is nothing like the USA in terms of people. They don't have the huge Government welfare ghettos. They don't have the massive regulations - in most ways, they're freer Capitalists than Americans. So are Japanese. While both Japan (where I've lived) and Norway are nothing like the USA socially. What works there does not work in the USA.
As an example: Japanese save a ton of money NOT having a Police State. Japanese kids can walk through any area of any city with no fear of being harmed. It's NORMAL in Japan to see school kids walking home. Japan has a ton of trains and this saves them a ton of money. The cities are close to one another. They work very hard and are very honest people. Japanese sit their iPhone on a table to 'save' their seat and go buy coffee knowing their phone will still be there.
No, the example from Europe that best represents the USA is Greece.
As for Bernie, he's no different than Obama - just full of bullshit. If he wasn't, he'd have attacked the Teacher's Unions decades ago as this is the single biggest problem in the USA. He'd have attacked regulations in the USA as this is the second largest problem. He doesn't, because he knows he'll be kicked out of office the next day. So, like any other politician, he bullshits the public with airy fairy "Socialism" and other magic thinking nonsense.
There's no magic bullet. Electing a person as a Civil Servant, POTUS or otherwise, is NOT going to fix anything. We need LESS public servants and more personal freedom - particularity monetary freedom and freedom to trade (free trade). We also need freedom FROM Government schools (see: Charter Schools).
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boutchie06 People like Bernie are the reason we're in the mess we are in. Outside of electing God herself, no politician is going to give you what you want.
No one.
1) Manufacturing
Bernie isn't going to stop the jobs from going to China, because Americans WANT their cheap throwaways made in China or other cheap nations. Putting up a tariff may mean you pay $2000 for an iPhone, and then Americans stop buying as many smart phones. It doesn't mean Apple will open a plant here to make phones. That is asinine.
Those kinds of jobs are NOT coming back. It's that simple. Has Bernie made this clear to you?
2) Education
Government has a near-monopoly on education. Our $100 billion a year DoED itself has released statistics showing 1 in 5 of its own graduates are functionally illiterate after 12 YEARS of 'education'. The average reading level of a college freshman is 7th grade. The average reading level of an American adult is 6th grade. Has Bernie made it clear that we need Charter Schools and to end Teacher's Unions? No.
We could go on, but why bother? What you really like about Bernie is he treats you like children. He tells you what you want to hear. He blames the right people using simple analogy that simple minded people like to hear. Usually slips a 'Government is failing the middle class' and then it's yes yes yes, I agree, yes.
Re: Anime all day. I'd love to watch Anime, at least part of the day. But, I'm too busy to do that.
Re: Big Pharma. LOL. Yeah, that's what 'Big Pharma" does with it's time and money? Hahaha... lay off the Alex Jones. That aside, do you have ANY idea how much time and effort and money it costs to bring a drug to market? No. You don't. I do agree pharmaceuticals seem to be morphing into pill pushers, working with many AMA licensed GPs.
8 Years ago half of you were waving your flags for Hillary. What happened? She didn't turn out to be a 'Real' Progressive. Speaking of which, how'd Obama turn out? Or what about Bill 'I like raping my interns' Clinton? He signed deregulation into Law - he Progressive enough? You're no different than the Religious Conservatives who voting that idiot Bush I and II into office. Exactly the same. Haha... they'll probably vote for that idiot with the toupee. Good ole' 6th grader America.
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