Intrusive advertising is THE cornerstone of capitalism...

Gordon,

I love you, man. We've only met once, but that week in Arkansas definitely ranks high on "Most Fun Weeks of My Life."

But I totally disagree that this is just "parsing of words." Our anti-capitalism society was going on when Ike was in elementary school. The political collusion between politicians & big business has a much longer history than the late 50s. But that's another discussion.

In 1978, after failing at a wide variety of sales jobs and 2 or 3 businesses, I took a fall-back, short-term job as a bus driver in Miami & Miami Beach, while I figured out how to make big money.

Sixteen years later, "big money" showed up and "short-term" ended. I've always had a long runway.

One of my most vivid memories from my 16 years as a county government employee came the first week in training class. The instructor asked the class how much of the system revenue we thought came in through the farebox. Don't remember my answer. Low guess for the class was about 25%.

Answer: 13%.

In other words, taxpayers were financing 87% of the transit system. The people actually using it and benefiting from it were putting up 13%.

I was stunned. But he wasn't done.

Of all those tax dollars, the majority was coming from the federal government. So people in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Bar Harbor, Maine, and Chagrin Falls, Ohio were paying MORE for our transit system than anyone in our local area.

I sat there shaking my head for awhile.

----

Remember the "3 Big Lies"? I know you heard them in the Navy, if not before:

1. "The check is in the mail."
2. "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."
3. "I promise not to ... (redacted)."

We all know the truth. Government is a special interest group that 100% watches out for itself. There is no way on God's green earth to waste money any more efficiently than to give it to government. The performance standard for government agencies is to spend everything they get on whatever they think is a good idea, so they can ask for more. I saw this craziness up close for 16 years. What boggled my mind was that I was seeing the thievery in just one agency in one county in one state in the U.S.

I don't take a second seat to anyone in my disdain for the big corporations. But it is stark raving nuts to demand more government oversight of these corporations. Reminds me of the words of B'rer Rabbit in "Song of the South" when I was 8 years old:

"Please, B'rer Fox, PLEASE, B'rer Fox, PLEASE DON'T THROW ME INTO THAT BRIAR PATCH!!!"

Corporations = B'rer Rabbit
You & I = B'rer Fox
Corporate & Government Collusion = the briar patch

It's government + big corporations

versus

you + me + all the public + all entrepreneurs & small businesses

I believe it is our duty to ourselves & our children & grandchildren to do everything in our power to change what we can. For instance:

1. It's pretty easy to observe that the longer a politician is in office, the worse they get. Solution? Vote for opponents. Get rid of incumbents. I believe this is a good policy for as long as the U.S. exists.

2. Let them know at every turn that they cannot spend money we don't have. That spending policy MUST end in disaster for us.

Enough of us yelling at them together, and voting them out, will make a change.

Less-experienced politicians won't be able to steal as much money from us. That's my plan.

Richard

PS - Lots of acres available up here. Give me a clue what you have in mind, and I can probably make a suggestion.

[GordonJ]

Richard,

I may be wrong, but I see we have a difference of opinion and, I'm thinking, it boils down to this:

YOU have hope.

I think it is too late.

My opinion is this; if we were to somehow replace every single politician and political appointee in the next few years,

swept every incumbent at every level, including the $800,000.00 a year City Manager of Bell, CA,

and everyone appointed to a gov't "job"...

out of office and replaced them with (and go with whatever political leanings you want, all right, all left, all extreme right, all extreme left, centrists)...

it wouldn't make a bit of difference.

And I think there is where we really disagree. You have HOPE for a better tomorrow for your children and future generations via

"Enough of us yelling at them together, and voting them out, will make a change."

I just don't see how.

My HOPE lies in the community of man, in the individual who is part of a bigger picture and working with people and not governments, big business nor special interests groups.

I feel that politics as a vehicle of change is beyond repair.

But I do hold out hope for the individual and the community.

Gordon

[Dien Rice]

Hi,

I wonder if part of the problem is that Obama isn't giving everyone enough "Hope"...

Copywriting and entrepreneurial maestro Joseph Sugarman states a theory is that the US President acts like a "father figure" for people.

When this father figure is weak, we become weak too and lose our confidence...

However, when this father figure is strong, we also become strong too and gain more confidence...

Obama hasn't been looking very confident lately, I'd say. It seems to me that he hasn't looked very strong in the face of the Gulf oil spill (although apparently it's plugged - for now, anyway)...

It seems to me that, when it comes to the President, impressions can become reality - because the impression everyone gets can affect everyone, psychologically...

Here's an old post I wrote on this topic (back in 2000)...

http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2002

And here's an article on this topic from the Telegraph (a British newspaper), about Obama's impression of "impotence"...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/c...lame-duck.html

I also read another article which points out that Obama's tone has changed...

The article said: The "Yes we can" chutzpah was gone. It's more: "Perhaps we can't before the next election."

The point is - this could be one of the big sources of a feeling of hopelessness... We need a "father figure" who radiates confidence, to give the nation confidence too.

Obama seems to have lost his confidence.

Best wishes,

Dien

Dien...

I agree. I saw this coming back in Jan. I made this vid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1jxVr9hDic

Cheers.

-- TW

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by -TW

Dien...

I agree. I saw this coming back in Jan. I made this vid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1jxVr9hDic

Hi TW,

That's not exactly what I mean, but, anyway...

If the president is like a "father figure", then we tend to follow the president's "vibes".

When the president looks out of touch and overwhelmed - as Obama seems to be lately - it doesn't help the country's confidence! And people get pessimistic about the future...

Best wishes,

Dien

My vid makes somewhat the same point.

He's becoming a well-meaning, but ultimately ineffective + incompetent president -- which is similar to what Carter became.

-- TW

Dien:
The article said: The "Yes we can" chutzpah was gone. It's more: "Perhaps we can't before the next election."

The point is - this could be one of the big sources of a feeling of hopelessness... We need a "father figure" who radiates confidence, to give the nation confidence too.

Reality:
1. Obama has passed health care, the biggest government take-over in US history, a socialist dream for a hundred years ... despite more than 50% opposition of the American public. No other president ever did anything remotely close to this. Incredible achievement for Obama & the lefties.

2. Obama has passed a trillion-dollar stimulus bill, for which our children and grandchildren will be paying their whole lives, despite overwhelming opposition of the US public.

3. Obama has passed the financial reform act, giving incredible power to government, without so much as a word about two of the biggest sources of the financial problems - government agencies Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. The fine print in this bill may be big government's biggest win of all.

Obama has changed this country more in 18 months than any president in history in that period of time ... IMO, it's not even close. He has created the socialist state that he had in mind when he started.

Hopeless? You gotta be kidding me. He's ecstatic, and he wants more.


TW:
He's becoming a well-meaning, but ultimately ineffective + incompetent president -- which is similar to what Carter became.

The truth is exactly the opposite. He's very effective, very competent, and very evil.

On the plus side, a lot of the American public is now mobilized against the socialists, which gives hope for the future.

Richard Dennis

[Ankesh]

Originally Posted by Richard Dennis

Obama has changed this country more in 18 months than any president in history in that period of time ... IMO, it's not even close. He has created the socialist state

Not discussing Obama's politics. Discussing political bents and happiness levels.

Here is a list of top 10 happiest countries in the world:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/wor...lup-table.html

Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, and Australia.

Whats the common denominator?

Overwhelmingly they're socialist democracies. Big governments. High taxes. Cheap or free health and education.

82% people in Denmark think they are thriving. Compared to 57% of people in USA. (India is doing very very poorly...)

As one commenter on Reddit jests:

High taxes and socialism will make everything awful! You don't want to end up like Scandinavia, do you?

Being of a libertarian bent, I hate high taxes and government involvement. But seems like overall, the population is happier when their basic necessities are taken care of by the government.

Seems like - if we take Maslow's hierarchy - the bottom layers of the pyramid should be guaranteed by the government to make people happier. The bottom parts should not be left to merit.

Is there a way to provide the bottom needs to everyone without raising taxes and increasing the size of the governments? I'm not sure... your thoughts?

Ankesh,

THAT is the argument you want to make?

That people are happier with less freedom, less money, and more government?

Do you really believe that?

If so ... wow.

Richard

Ankesh,
I think you are misreading this poll. The majority of Americans reject the "my government owes me" mentality. Europeans may be happy with their socialism but Americans are not. The further we move away from a Democratic Republic and get closer to socialism the less happy as a nation we are. I always hear how Americans can't export their idea of democracy and expect the rest of the world to be happy with it. I would say the same for European socialism. You can't bring it to America and expect the average American to be happy with it. That's what we have with liberal America, European socialism. Just my thoughts.

Also, America was the top of the list when it came to personal freedoms. I don't think we are even in the top ten now. The further away we get from a Democratic Republic and the closer we get to European socialism the less personal freedoms we have. I prefer the personal struggles and more personal freedoms. Again, just my thoughts.

Scott S.