As long as it's your essential liberty and not mine you're giving up you can disbelieve it. You sometimes have to read between the lines to fully understand things. Early to bed and early to rise assures you get your proper rest, and it's what you do with the time after you rise and before you go to bed that has the greatest effect on making you wealthy and wise, and can be beneficial to your health in addition to getting proper rest. Wise? It has more than one meaning, take care that the desired form is the one attributed to you.
I do believe in competition, it's a necessary part of life and learning. Without it we wouldn't even have stone tools. Probably what you really mean is you don't believe in profit, right? Life isn't fair, nor is it free. With a growing world population it will only become less fair as there is only so much of everything to go around, and you will find that competition will only increase. Survival of the fittest will always prevail in the end. I'm surprised you don't accept that as fact as the Left tends to lean heavily toward Darwinian theory. Elitist/Capitalist propaganda? You find nothing desirable that is outside your means of possession? It's not something that is curable, and is instead only something that one rationally recognizes is beyond reach, without diminishing the desire. Sort of like being told you need medical care that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, without which your life expectancy would only be a few months. I would spend the next few months getting everything in order for my passing as I would immediately rationalize that I lacked the means to receive the treatment.
okay: "they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" why do they not deserve them? who is he to judge who deserves anything? but i digress . . . first off, what is liberty? if unregulated capital oppresses one -- through unsafe working conditions, low wages, unfair hours, the company store -- then surely that is not liberty, which surely can be achieved only by not giving of one's labor? and if an unregulated society has no assurances for the unemployed, whether they are disabled or merely seeking liberty from the oppression of capital, then there is no safety -- unless, of course, one works [see above] perhaps the quote might mean that one should not surrender their rights, their very liberty, in order to obtain a paycheck? libertarianism will be a step backward, to the working conditions of the industrial revolution we need to move forward . . .
neither -- while it is probable that we needed competition in the past, i am not so sure that it is desirable at this stage of our development, and has in fact been at the heart of many of modern society's ills no, actually -- however i admit that it has taken me 49 years to realize that . . . [cured]
oh, as regards the "left" and darwin, perhaps you might want to read: http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/mutaidcontents.html
and on work, an old acquaintance of mine: http://www.primitivism.com/abolition.htm above i called bob black a libertarian, which was perhaps unfair -- but he was at some point published by loompanics, and i occasionally make the mistake of judging a person by the company they keep . . . i should also add that that even though i may believe this stuff, i do not advocate it per se, preferring a "fine-tuning" of the system to revolution this is yet another problem i have with the current crop of libertarians/tea persons/whatever . . .
Few things that come to mind. Fortress america as proposed by right -winger Pat Buchanan might be a good idea at this point in time. We are hurting badly and need to resort to some radical solutions. This we can do by stopping the wars and using our military to help with disasters-fire fighting ,flood cleanup,securing our borders,ect right here. Stop all foreign aid ,except disaster-type aid. We need ,of course ,to keep our military strong-there are bad people that would do us harm.Then we need to institute laws,regulations and oversight on wall street and big business to ensure that what has occurred and is occurring will never happen again. Hone the systems to well-oiled machines,as it were--understandable,predictable,fair systems that won't be susceptable to wild disruptive swings by slick operators that can ruin our whole economy,not to mention the lives of millions. CEO's DO NOT under any circumstances deserve 40 million dollars or more when people are starving and jobless. Nobody does. Stop military give-aways to all other countries-eg=saudi arabia,columbia,israel,et al. Stop the nation building in the middle east and elsewhere and let those that wish to live their particular way, do so. It's apparent that these forays into other countries are to benefit huge business conglomerates at the expense of us all,but particularly our young that get maimed,killed and separated from all they hold dear. Institute very large tariffs on businesses that move overseas and seemingly care more about personal gain than having concern for our country and the citizens herein. Make it hurt. Make it unreasonable to move elsewhere. That,they would understand. If people want jobs -and most do-and are expected to get jobs to preclude living off the government-how in hell can they/we get them if they are non existant? If people could get living wage jobs,welfare,food stamps or all other similiar programs would shrink to cover only those most in need. We've sort of-kind of -a little bit-started to wean ourselve off oil. Pick up the pace on the alternatives. Term limits. Aren't we all tired of the same fuckers in office year after year after year ,butting heads endlessly while this country gets sucked dry of wealth,good will,courtesy,respect and the ability to just have a chance to have a decent life,a decent job and some kind of stability? This goverment should also be a well-oiled machine that functions for us all ,regardless of who is in office/s. So yeah-term limits and the pay should be equal to the average pay of working people ,which would induce those in office to try to help raise the standard of living for us all. Money out of elections! If, as I've heard my whole life,the people own the air waves,then TV and radio owners should be forced to carry political debates for absolutely ZERO DOLLARS. When people spend millions and millions to get in office and are also financed by big business--we get what we've got. Now. The amount of socialism I want that would be good for this country would be socialized medicine and socialized education. Crank out more doctors ,cover everyone to eliminate the worry of amount of dollars=amount of care.And let EVERYONE proceed thru an education system as far as they can possibly go. No telling what amazing ideas might come from the millions of those who never get a chance to get an education. This is what I see and what I think might help. We heal ourselves and our country--hopefully people would be happier,healthier and THEN-AND ONLY THEN,do we re-engage with the world as a strong ,peacefull,mercifull and respected nation once more.
sure, fortress america -- stretching from the islands of the arctic ocean to tierra del fuego originally, that's what america meant
The U.S. Federal government is (has?) turning/turned into the worlds largest insurance company. What makes Obama a Socialist? The fact that he is now the head of that company.
real national healthcare is not particularly radical most of the so-called "first world" already has it while i'm not crazy about what has been passed i'm not so much of a neanderthal that i think the idea is in itself wrong [apologies to neanderthals for comparing them to teabaggers]
lib·er·ty (lbr-t) 1. a. The condition of being free from restriction or control. b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing. c. The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor. See Synonyms at freedom. 2. Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control. 3. A right or immunity to engage in certain actions without control or interference: the liberties protected by the Bill of Rights. Ben's words are open to individual interpretation (a freedom). I think he is saying that if I am willing to let a dictator, or in our case, a socialist government talk me out of a freedom (i.e. Patriot Act) in return for so-called safety (alleged protection from alleged terrorists), then I've been hoodwinked. I didn't think it through and instead I caved and actually gave up both. As a result I deserve neither. Our federal government has become masterful at the use of fear. And the art of using fear to control the population and get whatever power the government is seeking belongs to both parties. Democrat, Republican, most all of them use it. And most of the time it's a lie. So if I do a knee-jerk, automatic belief of the lie just because the Democrat/Republican president is telling it, then I'm not thinking for myself. I'm not using reason. I'm just one of the millions of sheep in this country screaming for the government to protect me from the fantasy boogeymen. As a result of my unreasoned emotional response to their lie, I deserver whatever I'm going to get. This country deserves the BS we are getting. That's the best you can do? Bitterness against capitalism. That's so easy you must have known the answer before you clicked on submit. If you are unfortunate enough to work for such an entity. Go get another job. Quit. Move. Leave. You are still free to do so. A company like that would be it's own worst enemy. The competition (which you do not believe in) would eat them alive with better working conditions and much more productive employees. The only oppressive entity in this country that has no competition and is allowed to thrive is the federal government. With unthinking idiots rubber stamping it's every oppressive, intrusive move in the name of safety, and (false) humanitarianism the fed is stripping us of our freedoms one at a time. It's working. You don't even know how not free you are. An example: Which country is the worlds biggest human rights abuser? It's the same country that has more people per capita in prison than any other country. And a very large percentage are in prison not for violent crimes or crimes against property. They are there as a result of a special-interest induced War on Drugs, which would more correctly be named War on American Citizens. The feds masterful use of fear started that war, and, even though most citizens want it ended, they are not about to give up such a profitable tool. Police, Lawyers, Judges, Jails, Prisons are all part of a huge multi-billion dollar industry that would be greatly diminished without this bullshit war. The war didn't start with Nixon. It started with Henry Anslinger and William Randolph Hearst. They used fear of blacks and browns high on pot raping white women as the lie to push the first laws through. Why would you ever trust our government? Why would you ever willingly give yourself over to such a corrupt, evil entity for a few entitlements bought with money ripped from someone else's hands and call it humane? Call it just. Demand more. And ridicule those that are tired of the government intruding into our lives and forcing us, at the point of a gun and the threat of prison, to do it's bidding? And evidently your bidding. Are you that helpless? You must have other people forced to support you? Or are you that cynical? Knowing the government is corrupt yet as long as you get yours it's OK? Land of the free, home of the brave. Bullshit. My family, on both sides, have given blood for this country. I spent 3 years in the Marine Corps. But this is not what we sacrificed for. The idea of liberty and the ability to pursue happiness on our terms is what we gave blood for. This forced faux-humanitarian, faux-safety providing, empire-building, snooping in our emails and listening to our telephone calls federal government must change.
this is the basic flaw in your thinking your terms are not my terms, they may not be anyone else's terms either you're going to have to grow up some day, realize that you are part of a society, and that we don't all think like you, and that we don't all want what you want but that we do all need one another, unless we want to go back to living in caves
Well you are sort of on the right track. We don't need to make the country a fortress though. And using the military for anything within our borders is a very bad idea. Way too tempting for the power addicts in Washington to turn that military against us. I agree we need to stop wars of conquest and empire building. We need to resist this lie that we are going to nation build and make everyone over into democracies. If they want democracy, let them choose to make their country a democracy. We are very wrong to be shoving it down their throats. And we are making lots of enemies doing so. Then you started on socialism. Well, friend, socialism is just a form of slavery and is created and enforced by a strong federal government. Just the opposite of what we need. We don't need a federal government that can't fix itself fixing health care or anything else. What we need is for the federal government to get out of the way and let us fix ourselves. We need to get past this thinking that the fed has the answer to everything. The fed doesn't. It makes things worse not better.
The solution could be to elect ONLY Doctors and Nurses to political office, and then they could have a "real" job, providing the nation with health care. Then and only then might you be able to "honestly" call it government provided health care. I don't think you need worry that Nancy Pelosi or Barney Frank will be reading your post, and I doubt they would even take offense to your comparison, they've each likely been called much worse.
My terms as long as they don't infringe on anyone else's life. Your terms are to force me to live my life based on your terms. See you don't even comprehend what I'm saying. I don't want to force you, or anyone else, to live on my terms. I just want the freedom to conduct my own life the way I see fit. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Live how you see fit. We should all be able to do so. We don't have to live in a cave to be free. But you demand that I conform my life to your superior idea of humanity. That is not freedom, that's slavery, that's what dictators do. Sorry, but I don't feel you are qualified to run my life. Go run, ruin, your own.
I see, so you don't say anything about my solution to your big, bad evil company with it's squalid working conditions. Because it shows how little you think for yourself. Jut keep spewing the progressive dogma, let them tell you what to think. Takes less effort that way and you can feel so superior. How simplistic you are.
nancy pelosi and barney frank teabaggers? i suppose this must be some attempt at humor, but i don't get it i think the barney frank reference must be part of your suppressed desires coming out [so to speak] as homophobia? not sure where pelosi fits in though...
i suppose you blame those who die in coal mining disasters for not quitting too? are you going to do the dangerous work? is it okay that workers die to make executives rich?