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Forum Post: ... By Any Other Name...

Posted 6 years ago on March 19, 2018, 9:48 a.m. EST by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

The rich don't get and stay rich by doing hard work to pay for what they want and have. They get theirs by having us do hard work to pay for what they have. You can say that's ours and their choices in a "free" market world or that it's a master and slave relationship. Ultimately the wealth produced by the community is distributed in the same way, no matter how we label the system that distributes it.

Only the knuckle dragging conservative base and wide eyed Libertarians could believe all the Trumpeted shit about the economy, the tax cut or anything else the idiots who own the world are saying and doing.

The distribution of wealth is the only meaningful measure of the value of a culture or economy.

..."Workers, innovation, and productivity all suffer when corporations spend their new U.S. tax breaks on stock buybacks." [and/or dividends]...."

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/03/stock-buybacks-hurt-workers-economy-ban.html

Michael Hudson: The History of Neoliberal Economics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZzH8xxCzR0 https://renegadeinc.com/

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47 Comments


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[-] 2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 6 years ago

Neoliberalism is a scourge on our society. The oligarchs get away with it because most Americans can't wrap their heads around what neoliberalism really is. If they could, they would understand that many of their personal problems, both economic and social, stem from this deleterious ideology that harms the majority of people.

Many thanks to people like Michael Hudson and George Monbiot for helping us all learn.

From Monbiot, "Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems," one of the very best articles I've read on neoliberalism and it's consequences on our lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

[-] 2 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 6 years ago

It's been that way for little people since Joseph cornered the grain market in Egypt 4000 years ago. Investor is synonymous with deadly economic cancer. And like Joseph, more and more of today's players are corporatists: those who combine state and corporate power to subjugate populations. Neoliberalism == Corporatism == Fascism.

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 5 years ago

All you say is true and is exacerbated when a government is not looking out for it's people.

Greed seems to be a natural human trait to some degree. In my mind, the government is supposed to protect the people from that very greed, but here and now in America that is not happening and we're heading for a crisis.

See "How the Fed will Trigger the Next Crash" by Stephanie Pomboy. A must read, scary summary of what is going on in our economy that they just don't want to talk about.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/stephanie-pomboy-how-the-fed-will-trigger-the-next-crash-1521737213

"The problem is that nobody is looking at: A) what’s driving that consumer spending, and B) how consumers are funding it. When you go through that kind of detail, you discover that they are buying more because they have to. They are spending more on food, energy, health care, housing, all the nondiscretionary stuff, and relying on credit and dis-saving [to pay for it]. Total retail numbers have done nothing but go down. We’ve seen the biggest increase in food and energy outlays since 2011, accounting for 30% of the increase in consumer spending in the past six months, up from 11% in the two years prior. Consumers have had to draw down whatever savings they amassed after the crisis and run up credit-card debt to keep up with the basic necessities of life."

[-] 1 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

Greed seems to be a natural human trait to some degree. In my mind, the government is supposed to protect the people...

Greed is believed to be universal. It certainly is the rationalization the masters use to loot the community for personal gain. That parasitization is self destructive because it tends to destroy the community we all depend on: even its looters.

Greed may be natural but it interferes with the more basic natural instinct to form communities for the protection and well being of all. Our exploitative ruling elite class of parasites hard sells rationalizing greed and ignores the greater directive of social instinct that says: Thou shalt stick together to live. In that, they put themselves apart from the human race and declare themselves the greatest enemy and threat to survival of the human race. The idiots who rule us don't realize that they're killing the host economy and culture with their stupid greed.

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 5 years ago

I get that greed is a human trait but so are empathy, love, compassion, and generosity. Perhaps Western society is structured in such a way that survival depends on greed. The Protestant work ethic and capitalist economic system that burgeoned from that is all about working and making money and "earning" your way, and accumulating capital is seen as success, which kind of puts people against one another. Sad, really.

[-] 2 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

The Protestant work ethic and capitalist economic system that burgeoned from that is all about working and making money and "earning" your way, and accumulating capital is seen as success, which kind of puts people against one another.

Exactly! The human race went wrong when we abandoned hunting and gathering for agriculture and civilization. Original sin was leaving the garden: the aboriginal lifestyle that put community above individual. When the leaders, the few, the abomination began to dominate for personal gain, We followed and thus abandoned nature and doomed ourselves to imminent extinction. Without a radical change in direction it's been inevitable since that wrong right turn 10,000 years ago.

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 5 years ago

The Neolithic Revolution. Supposedly when humans became "civilized."

In my opinion, I don't care how smart a group of people is, how much art they can produce, what beautiful writings they create and what the architecture is like. If your society is so unequal that people are suffering then you are barbaric. I never understood in history class how the definition of "civilization" came to be. The hunter gatherers were far more civilized in many ways and we have a lot to learn from indigenous societies, I think.

[-] 1 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

I never understood in history class how the definition of "civilization" came to be

Civilization means ruled by [written or codified] law. Civilized people are obedient to the law, even when it works to their disadvantage relative to a [parasitic] ruling elite class.

Merriam Webster Definition of civil

... skip to third definition

3 a : of, relating to, or based on civil law b : relating to private rights and to remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings c : established by law

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 5 years ago

Right. Being civilized kind of means "accepting" your situation even if it is unfair because it's the "law" even if they are unfair and unjust laws like we have today with Citizens United, low minimum wage, no healthcare for over 40 million, mass imprisonment, ongoing wars, etc.

I guess I'm uncivilized, but better to be uncivilized than sit back and thank the establishment for their crumbs imo.

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 5 years ago

"Civilized" is just a definition. Whether it's desirable or not requires a contextual background. For example, many people say that human lives are priceless and "Thou shalt not kill." How do we account for these people's buying and selling the rigging of judicial judgments then? Don't we have the death penalty? Yes, we do. "All are equal before the Law" but the Pharisees made the Law. No matter what labels the Pharisees "like vipers" have put onto themselves, their deeds speak volumes to all who possess "the Holy Spirit."

Civilizations are anomalies in history. According to the cultists of globalism, it's great that the Asian Long-Horned beetles eat our maple trees; it's great that ballistic missiles can pierce national airspace unchecked and deliver payloads worldwide at a moment's notice ( www.amazon.com is having an erection over this for sure! Drone delivery is just passe and too gay for Trumpanzees who won't pack heat to protect Pan--the next level of superior service beyond Amazon Prime may well be Amazon Roast Beef--aye, Jeff should know Wendy's alright because he's an honorary "Native" New Yorker in a similar way as geoduck's wearing All Black [ it's good that it was "way back" when the policemen weren't profiling "the mooslim terrorists" as much or his Afro and all-black attire could have made him eternal fast ] with a turtleneck sweater and black leather shoes prancing diagonally up the steps of Low Memorial Library behind the bronze statue of "alma mater" in "the Academic Acropolis" ); it's great that pan-antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread out of the hygienic shitholes at near-sonic speeds through jet travel worldwide (yeah, build gates!); it's great that Pakistanis who do not eat pork ally with the Chinese who eat a lot of pork; it's great that Hindus who revere cows live with Pakistanis who eat beef; it's great that Mediterranean fruitflies fly to California as new pioneers to breed; and it's great that property line demarcation by walls and fences be torn down to "integrate" the neighbors. The morality of everything depends on the context.

Cultural contamination can have dire consequences as bad as medical contamination. There were Thirty Years War and Hundred Years War. If we cannot live in peace, we are better off living apart in peace on different sides of a wall. Switzerland being well off is not an anomaly although most landlocked countries stay poor relative to the trading countries. Switzerland grew out of the Peace of Westphalia when most great European powers of the day grew terribly weary of the seemingly eternal multi-generational wars. Switzerland has "walls" alright. Yes, for peace!

Peace is often the handmaiden of prosperity and sometimes walls keep the peace. Most peoples have desire for and strive towards their own prosperity so if we could stop their backsliding into discord and wars, we have served them well. Over time, peace leads to prosperity which often brings happiness to the less wealthy people ( there's a wealth saturation effect though so a carefree pickup-and-go millionaire can be happier than a billionaire who is required to schedule days in advance an entourage of bodyguards and bullet-proofed motorcade to dine at a fancy Manhattan restaurant; neighborhood becomes important because if everyone around is a millionaire, there tends to be very little incentive to rob the next millionaire neighbor; wives were millionaire-wealth to their husbands in most traditional societies after "purchasing" them.)

"Blessed are the peacemakers."

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

Civilizations are anomalies in history

Wrong!

This world has been Filled COMPLETELY from the beginning of time with civilizations!

The anomaly - would be civilizations that grow and thrive in peace health and prosperity for every citizen in excess of 200 years before they fall and are replaced with the next civilization, any civilization good or bad that exceeds 200 years of existence is rare, exceedingly rare are the civilizations that are good to EVERY citizen!

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 5 years ago

Yeah, any civilization must be civil in order to be called a civilization. People in a civilization live together peacefully.

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

Rationalization. That's the key right. But I wonder if they even need to rationalize it to themselves...they don't have a conscience or they are capable of switching it off to operate in the interest of only the self. Is this greed or self protection gone awry??. Don't these men seem to share some of the same psychology of mass shooters? Narcissism is caused by deep wounds of abuse. So on the spectrum of self protection...theirs has moved to aggression, subserviating others, even killing. And yes they are killing the host economy but I think that is the idea ...burn ...annihilate ...destroy? And what the heck are we going to do. We need to stop promoting their ravaged mindset in business, education, and work places. They aren't type A...they have severe psychological disorders. Their actions are only ever in their own interest. And when we can recognize this in people and see manipulation and showboating ...and start to foster more compassionate individuals to lead us...this country will begin to heal from this sickness. Inside every Narcissist is a terrified little boy. They look like they can lead...but they don't know what they are doing...their only strategy is threat minimization. Kill before being killed ...and they see threat everywhere they look...all that confidence is a facade they delegate but they clearly aren't problem solvers...and they are easily manipulated despite appearances by people.who.kiss their ass and become toadies. If they get rattled enough watch out..that is when the (crazy) revenge and killing starts. Heil Hitler...Stalin ring a bell?

As well as corporations are psycopathic entities without conscience. Until we eliminate the right of personhood they will continue to dominate and foster narcissism in society. For example coke is destroying the palm forests and probably will cause orangutan extinction...the only motive is profit at all cost and who of a ceo is going to go along with this obviously not someone who has morals and conscience. By their very nature the way corporatiins and stocks and hedge funds operate with nothing to force them to feel a single thing...or to disband them when they get morally way over the line....our entire economy is fostering people who can scorch the earth. Scorched earth policy. Profits at all cost...we must move.to.ammend corporate personhood and bring back a charter which can be disbanded.

[-] 1 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

The paper people are the most dangerous of the psychopaths, because they're immortal.

[-] 2 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

I also think we need to begin adressing the roots of male narcissism. It begins with abuse and far too many men it would seem ( 1 in 6) just what is reported are experiencing sexual abuse without getting any counseling or help. It has just become this norm in society. It is incredibly destructive to society...coming out in corporate greed, shootings, domestic violence. All of these numbers coincide. Not all abuse victims become this...but clearly a percentage are and they need intervention. We can no longer ignore the fundamental male crisis hidden in the folds and fabric of our society... child abuse needs to be stopped and children need better protection. This is the result of ignoring it for far too long. While many support systems exist for women who have been abused ...very few exist for men. Especially in a country where masculinity seems to always be on trial. It just seems extreme to me the way men seem always to be examining eachother for any signs of feminine qualities or " weakness"...always sitting on some sexuality stand on trial their prowess and masculinity in question. It is odd to me as a woman. I never have to walk around fearing i may be demonstrating masculine qualities. Humans are meant to have both qualities...it gives us balance. To even admit abuse has happened is their greatest fear and nightmare and no wonder. They relief they need goes unrequited. Their pain turns on others.

[-] 2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

Don't forget the Women who identify with & support their abusers. Like the Women of the GOP.

There is a lot of deep seated mental illness to be addressed.

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

Yes but the women are hurting mostly themselves. So they aren't as much of a concern. Being with Trump is self abuse clearly. And they aren't responsible for the behaviors of others ( the men they are with) ..though society certainly does love to place that responsibility on us...women are not the concierge service of society. We aren't responsible for the behaviors and emotions of others. We are separate people from "our men". And for those that find themselves in that situation it is a mind fuck I'm sure...choice blindness, repeated family dynamics of childhood...we all want to say it is about money... in both cases I don't think it is. It all stems from prior abusive dynamics. Both Trump and Melania...appear to have trauma issues playing out... "The Human Magnet Syndrome" good resource. Just because she is beautiful does not make her confident. And the realization would not be immediate. Narcissists are great at hiding their issues in the beginning. She is nearing the point when she will have no choice but to seperate from him...I'm sure she is attempting to figure this out at this point. Perhaps she can break this idea of female loyalty by leaving him and saying a first lady has no obligation to tolerate indecency or to support his slip into madness. That would be interesting.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

Yes but the women are hurting mostly themselves. So they aren't as much of a concern.

I think you misunderstood me. By women of the GOP, I mean those who are office holders. They hurt more than just themselves when they identify with and support their Male Randian Abusers & their programs that attack the health and prosperity of the general population.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

A reply I sent off to Gabby Giffords:

Tougher Gun Laws are all fine and dandy - BUT - they are not enough alone - Assault Weapons and Bump Stocks and extended (high capacity) magazines HAVE to be BANNED. I believe in the rights of the public to own a weapon for hunting even just for target shooting and skeet shooting and even for personal home defense (yes there are monsters who walk our streets and good people should be able to defend themselves their families and their homes) - BUT - No ONE needs to be able to shoot more than 5 bullets before they need to reload!

Will there always be individuals who snap and attempt to kill others, even random strangers? There always has been - but isn't that something society needs to address with mental health programs? No not after a person snaps (well - not JUST for when an individual snaps) - but a mental health program that begins in our schools from pre-school all of the way through 12 grade and on through higher education and all through our working society!

Why is our society so violent and getting more violent each year? Trickle Down Economics and those who have engineered it and implemented it! Nothing gets past the event horizon of the Blackhole of the beneficiaries of WEALTH CARE economics - the wealthy few will take all that they can get a hold of and still want more = THAT is WHERE OUR CIVILIZATION is BEING DESTROYED, from the very top, through ownership of government its actions and policies/programs by the wealthy few! They have created a toxic environment (toxic stress - check it out) for the general population, where good paying (living wage) jobs are disappearing (a lot being shipped off shore) and so shrinking the self sufficient of the middle class and expanding the numbers of the working POOR! THIS IS WHERE THE GROWING INSTABILITY OF OUR SOCIETY IS COMING FROM & WITH IT THE GROWING VIOLENCE !

Want less violent crime in our country (in Our WORLD) ? Then you best get to work pushing Health & Prosperity for ALL !

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

Personally I fear the corporate oligarchy. One day the second amendment may come in handy ...we don't really know how bad it could get. China has forced organ donations. I don't trust our goveration anymore. But I also don't think people should fear public places...so it is tricky. I'm sure our founding fathers couldn't envision these mass killers. In response to life beating them down...they have barely lived. They are very young so I'm still going to argue that they are suffering from sexual trauma and some kind of abuse. I'm not saying that we begin to screen children for this either. I think that would be counterintuitive...I propose we educate parents and teachers and even therapists on trauma symptoms...as well as make coming forward to get help less horrifying for men. We need a cultural shift and recognition of just how frequently this happens. And to educate the public about trauma and repressed memory. We also guard female teens and children far more than boys around peers and older teens ...but boys are equally as vulnerable not just to adults but to older kids as well as peers. Lord of the flies was made for a reason. At any rate all children need to be educated against being groomed, manipulation, and how to keep themselves safe...intuition, stop people pleasing, self protection, and being able to tell safe adults if it does happen. Given the statistics we are obviously failing here. I just feel in my gut these men were violated and having a meltdown in specific response to it. I truly believe killers are made and not born. And so obvious is it to me I just can't believe we continue to hear the news (and their own parents) say over and over " we can't know why they did this, we can't know what was in their heads"....I disagree. And if you are a parent whose child committed mass murder and suicide seemingly out of nowhere...that should be one of your top thoughts. The very reason it failed to occur to you to ask...is the very reason you never saw it ( your brain couldn't handle the idea of contemplating something this devestating) I also think those responsible for violating them need to be held for their part as responsible parties in the killings and brought to justice. If I were the FBI...I wouldn't rest until they were found. These boys made a choice to kill...for sure...but who gave them the push...who broke them? I'm sure a lot of people will say it doesn't, but I think it matters... They were children when it happened and we cant think they should have been equipped to process such violation.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

" we can't know why they did this, we can't know what was in their heads"....I disagree.

I agree - that is why I feel that mental health education programs in school as well as education for parents as issues arise are of paramount importance. Teachers have a tough job - but - I think mental health has been neglected in our educational system as well as throughout our society for far too long.

Bullying (I believe) creates some broken people/children - some of which then end up acting out violently up to and including going after their schoolmates with guns. Schools need to be proactive in stopping bullying.

We live in a very toxic society and it is the very wealthy who have driven the toxic stress. Squeezing life's blood from workers to put in massive amounts of overtime because the wealthy do not want to expand their workforce so that needs (business needs) can be met in a 40 hour work week. This also goes to stagnant wages (actually shrinking wages as they do not keep pace with inflation) as employees are driven by need to work those massive overtime hours just to keep a roof over their heads, and not just one parent working massive amounts of hours per week - BUT - both parents (in families that have both parents in the same house) - Toxic Stress on the whole family - common throughout a major portion of the population ='s a very ill society.

[-] 0 points by grapes (5232) 5 years ago

Our public schools may simply be the "dust bins" where societal problems manifest themselves due to our having universal compulsory K-12 public education. School systems have already been overloaded with meeting many unmet societal needs. I'm therefore reluctant to pile on more without laying out additional resources.

Our society doesn't try to avoid the societal problems when they are still small. It opts for tackling them when they become impossible to ignore, mostly in the universal dust bins of public schools. The U.S. is as stupid as trying to fix the collision-mangled cars at the junkyard rather than installing more visible and better placed road name signs, lane markings, dedicated left-turning lanes, fixing the many potholes ( how many times must a pothole be hit before it's filled in by the wind? ), outlawing overly bright blue LED headlights, etc. to avoid car crashes. Our moronic people minimize these "socialist" spending in favor of more "privatized" spending on insurance and fixing the mangled cars. This is why we use road salt to rust cars' undercarriages fast. Guess why there's a famous U.S. brand with the golden touch? Rusted mufflers turn into gold and create jobs! This is a part of the secret for achieving the high U.S. GDP. State-mandated property and casualty damages, and wars and terrorism promote what our economists call "Growth" and what many political leaders strive for with blurry vision. If growth for growth's sake were so great, just blow up and knock down most of the buildings and infrastructure and rebuild for brand new ones. In the U.S., that's actually what happens to the rich and Perenially New neighborhoods because everything, regardless of rich or poor, breaks down in time.

There are chains of causes and effects. Interventions can be effective at many of them. The earlier ones tend to be easier and less costly. For example, when two children kicked and threw rocks in my car's path, I stopped and took them to meet with their parents. One kid seemed to be shaken answering to his mother ( "It was Gina's idea. She made me do it." ) so he might stop doing that in the future. However, the girl whom he had blamed for egging him on was likely to be unrepentant because her father was saying, "Kids do things like that." We have some very idiotic people among us alright, unfit to be parents, better candidates for deportations to countries where people just walk on foot and don't need or wear watches ( I'm sure that there are still "White" countries fitting the bill, even for these "White" pricks -- skin color which arises from melanocytes doesn't affect the sense of touch although it can protect against UV-induced accelerated aging of the skin -- "White" women here generally have started "pruning" by age 30; fret not, physical beauty diminishes with age but wisdom and inner beauty grow with age for the select few who do socratic self examinations; I've personally benefited from the protective decisiveness and wisdom of my Grandmas { sorry, men tend to die younger than women so men as a group in advanced old age is much smaller; Grand Matriarchies can arise in advanced old age and reign for a very long time as long as the women in those select societies [ e.g., Queens Elisabeth I & II and Victoria of the British Empire/U.K. ] can inherit power and properties -- that's why I can recall the family "curse" and the vices of members passed down through the Moms who were better-still-alive storytellers. } ) People are sometimes killed or injured when rocks are thrown in front of their moving vehicles. I've measured before how fast I could throw a lump of clay as hard as I could. Cars at highway speeds can easily beat that ( even with just a kid not throwing at but dropping a rock in front of them. ) Yes, Virginia, there is an eagle's claw.

I know how a responsible mother dealt with childhood stealing. She brought the young offender kid to apologize face-to-face and return the stolen item to the person from whom it had been stolen. It worked.

Believe it or not, Howard Stern is now the North Star of guidance but Pence might turn out worse than Trump. Wow!

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

Our public schools may simply be the "dust bins" where societal problems manifest themselves due to our having universal compulsory K-12 public education. School systems have already been overloaded with meeting many unmet societal needs.

  • WRONG

Our Public School System is central to the health of our society and has been starved of resources for decades. We need to start properly funding our educational system and give the teachers (as well as the children) the support they need!

The parents of children have largely been removed from supporting our/their school system by being forced to work massive amounts of hours at 1 or several jobs (if they can be found) just to keep a roof over their heads, just to come home from work fall over for a couple of hours and then go back to work. Society needs to end overtime work & rotating shifts as well as ending the 24 hour 7 day a week work requirement, a healthy society needs a society that operates on the same hours (where ever possible), so that families can be families again - this means a 40 hour work week at a minimum living wage (at the very least)!

Mental Health programs are NOT just for our children - they are for OUR WHOLE SOCIETY! We live in a seriously mentally ill society - and that has to change!

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 5 years ago

As the duplicitous Rus Chinese ( who keep slaves not just across the Yalu River despite their national anthem "March of the Volunteers" ) say in Malevolencia : 鲜花插在牛粪上。If one needs the organic fertilizer, one puts up with the stink. valar dohaeris

In the Korean Conflict, the Valkyries conducted to Valhalla the volunteers who charged a machine-gun nest till it's silenced due to its running out of bullets, the trigger-finger cramping up, or the tired gunner falling asleep, and the ones who crawled into cannons and plugged them up with their own bodies.

Odin loves to greet and welcome all the great leaders in person to the great feast at Valhalla. Even now decades later, for Odin's honored guests, we can probably still fulfill his desire with more Stalin and Mao ( both murdered many millions of their own people through their man-made "natural famines/disasters" -- the Irish were also targets of the English during the Potato Famine of the nineteenth century; here's why our slave-owning-derived Electoral College has a good reason to exist -- even the less populous states have two U.S. Senators to represent them so they cannot simply be ignored politically in the case of famine/disaster relief or other matters -- I say, fuck slavery but we do need to take care of our little-brother-and-sister states, despite their choices being rather repugnant at times. ) Over there in Valhalla they can meet Mao's son, too. Somehow, I doubt that Eric and Donald Jr. would make it there on their own.

It must be Heaven-like for Christians ( e.g., we'll meet some of our war-dead children [ now our war-dead dogs, too, thanks to Pope Francis! ] ) and Paradise-like for Muslims ( e.g., the Valkyrie maidens will serve us; the ancient Romans had vestal virgins for their gods and goddesses. ) @1:07 Atheists fare the worst, no doubt about it.

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

As an ironic side note vulnerability is attractive to women ...funny women desire that quality male society seems lately intent on stamping out...

[-] 0 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

people who use the term "neoliberalism" are a scourge on our society....

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 5 years ago

"Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems" brilliant article by George Monbiot.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

Of course, factsrfun, I know you prefer to keep your head in the sand and to maintain the sad status quo, but others can read and learn.

[-] 1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

Here's a starting point beautiful, I think it matters who wins elections, what do you think? Do you think it matters who wins?

[-] 1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

like I said....

you claim now to support Bernie, but in 2015, in 2016 never did you post in his support, not until he lost did you speak up, people that refuse to do the hard work of making sure we have good nominees are responsible for state we are in, why don't you remove your head from your butt and look at the world for a change....

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 5 years ago

"Not until he lost, did you speak up". Not sure what planet you are on....

[-] 2 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

neither is he

[-] 1 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

Ultimately the wealth produced by the community is distributed in the same way, no matter how we label the system that distributes it.

Or the system of parasitism that steals it ... by any other name.

[-] 1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

oh and in case you haven't heard the rich are too damn rich...

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

I agree would seem better to term it neo-liberatarianism. Ayn Randism.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

Funny thing about Randian's - they can't live by it - it's for everyone else - because when the chips fall, when the shit hits the fan, "THEY" want the public to BAIL THEM OUT ! But HEY fuck everyone else - right? - because no-one else is Them.

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

So true and actually when you think about it Randian PTB are regulating the common man quite heavily...fico, surveillance, spying on consumers in their very homes and private spaces. The interest in deregulation is only for themselves...privatizing profits and publicsizing debt. Monsanto is dumping pesticides all over creation contaminating drinking water and it is deemed legal and allowable if only a few fetuses die or kids come down with cancer...meanwhile make sure you get a permit to paint your front door. It is quite backwards. And in so many ways we do pick up for their irresponsible activity...while they make us jump through the new corporate bureacracy...where they want the consumer reliant and in chains...the pesticide maker also makes cancer drugs...that is a fact. So next up? Rented oxygen after they destroy the air...and currently ...Water wars. They also steal resources and sell them back to us. Is that a free and fair market? Make an honest fair living...does deregulation include allowing a company to hold a knife to my throat and force me to buy the product they stole from us?

[-] 1 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

it all comes down to self interest before community well being. in fact, the ruling elite parasites are no longer humans within the human community. they are parasites that place themselves outside the host ... in their heads that is; when the idiots finally kill the host they will die with the rest of US!

[-] 1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

the rich see themselves as providing everything to their workers and they feel they pay all the tax so also they feel like they give all the social services, much as monarchs did before them, they think they are manficiantly generous in all they give America...

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 5 years ago

Not even to mention designed failure of products and data rights management ( drm is a fancy term for tech product self destruct codes)

[-] -1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

everytime I hear the term it seems somebody is getting ready to talk about how the Dems aren't good enough instead of how the GOP is completely unacceptable and we end up losing the real picture...

BTW I agree the Dems aren't good enough but I don't have to resort to pseudo intellectualism to say so.

[-] 1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

When I came to this site 7 years ago I came with a simple message, kill the GOP before it kills us all, there was a lot of support for that thought at first but those that wanted to defeat the GOP were slowly ran off, all but me, where do you stand? Do you think it's time we started working on defeating the GOP?

[-] 3 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 5 years ago

The GOP does appear to be the most stalwart of the contemporary champions of the ruling elite parasites. When we knock them down another will come to the fore. Yeah! Take out the GOP. But don't stop there. The Dems led by Shillary are already a close second.

The fight won't end until social instinct and the common good displace greed and self interest as our prime motivation.

[-] 2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 5 years ago

Yeah! Take out the GOP. But don't stop there. The Dems led by Shillary are already a close second.

& there you find his blind-spot!

[-] -1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

Have you given thanks to Trump for saving you from Hillary today?

[-] 0 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

so you prefer to place the knife in the back? have you thought perhaps we might need to rally forces? at least you don't pull out the Nader lie that "there is no difference" anymore but you are hardly convincing in your desire to kill the GOP or willingness to make the necessary alliances to do so, you sound as though you still feel there is a third way, the path that leads to more GOP victory.

[-] -1 points by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ 5 years ago

I understand you haven't been here long but i have laid out a detailed process of how the entire ladder of power would be brought down by removing one of its legs. The Green supporters on here saw that as a threat to their egos and attacked that thought.

[-] 1 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 6 years ago

We'll have a hard time getting there from here!