Monday, May 18, 2015

Re: Mind's Eye Freedom Falls

I would support the FAIR TAX as well. I also want to see less money wasted whether it is in the military or anywhere else. Allowing private citizens to decide where their money went might go a long way to getting that money where the "people" want it. Defense would be at the top of my list but I reckon it might not even be on yours. If we were to replace your "Republican party" with "Executive branch" I would agree with you 100% there as well. Even the term "neo liberal" has gone through several changes since the 30's. I think I agree with the definition Democrats hate the most. Kinda "What would Obama do?" -then I would most likely support the opposite. Except killing terrorists; I support him in that. 

 I think with the constant news cycle and instant saturation we could dispense with traditional ways of collecting taxes and do a modern way of "get the money where it needs to be" THe first thing I 'd lower would be politicians perks. They are loaded. 

dj


On Sunday, May 17, 2015 at 1:42:04 PM UTC-5, Allan Heretic wrote:
Everyone needs to pay their FAIR share of taxes based on income.. the special tax breaks for the extremely wealthy need to end..

There are a lot of problems.  Tax avoidance is a major problem. Wasting money on the military is another. The unconstutional patriots act needs to be totally negated and the NSA disassembled. (Seems like that is a program developed by the Republican party to give them absolute control )

There is a lot that needs to be done like bring back constitutional law. We need to escape from  republican dictatorship. . Incidentally the Nazi ruling elite move a lot of their families out of Germany because they saw what was happening. .

تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين
Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Johnson <daj...@gmail.com>
To: Minds Eye <mind...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, 17 May 2015 1:40 PM
Subject: Re: Mind's Eye Freedom Falls

The ability to communicate is important, yes. Sometimes this takes enormous effort, however, and frankly most of us are too busy, too illinformed, too lazy or, I'm sad to say, too stupid to do so. I'm probably at least 3 of those myself hell I probably shouldn't even be allowed to vote. I agree there's very little difference between our choices of government these days. I see things really going to hell fairly soon. High debt, monetary easing, interest rates already practically at 0 and unemployment at record levels despite the lies fed us by our governments. What if China goes bankrupt? Who's going to loan us money? I wouldn't put it past the current administration to just steal from those they think have too much already. Alexander Hamilton would not approve. The Republic would officially be over as, in my mind, it already is unofficially. 

Too many have a cavalier attitude about debt. We are spoiled beyond belief. You say, Neil, that "neo-liberalism" has failed. I submit the enormous prosperity brought on by freer markets since the turn of the 18th century and the wealth this has generated and the inventions and progress flowing from business friendly environs and global trade has been truly fantastic. Has it all been sunshine and roses? Well, no. Those two wars were certainly inconveinant. Breaking up Ma Bell and Standard Oil were neccesary to protect us from the excesses of Capitalism. It is time to protect ourselves from the excesses of Socialism. Actually, I believe it is past time to break up the monopoly the Federal Government has become. I'll take Thatcher in drag over Obama's redistribution tactics any day of the week and Sunday too. 

Along with this excess of prosperity has come lethargy and atrophy. Resting on our laurels as it were. Steadily eroding society's ability to recover on our own. We've become such a Nanny State here in the USA many feel no obligation to provide for their families. We EXPECT the police to protect us, the government to provide us with shelter and food in emergencies(or all the time in some cases) and to always have a doctor available for free when we are sick. This is hugely difficult to achieve in opulent times and impossible when the fecal matter hits the rotary oscillator and blood is running in the streets. This expectation cripples our chances of meaningful recovery. Same with the bank bailouts. Does anyone think they would have loaned so irresponsibly if they thought they'd be covering their own losses? It's going to happen again because we have no accountability. The politicians and bankers that created the sub-prime mortgage mess are still in power for the most part(or soon will be, yes, I mean the Clintons) and richer then ever. I don't begrudge them riches it just chaffs my backside how they got it. Liars and theives. Investing your money, taking calculated risks and winning some and losing others is part of the game. Too many have rigged the system by stacking the deck with favorable regulations, taxes, tariffs and laws. This is crony capitalism and it's what we have and I hate it. In my mind, if government didn't have the massive power and influence they currently have things would be more competitive and therefore more friendly to us consumers. Starve the beast. 

Why are you anti austerity? Should Greece be rewarded, yet again, for their duplicity and mismanagement? I agree that Germany is probably the best of all of us Western countries at productivity. I submit much of their troubles comes from trying to fund other country's cock-ups. That's better then going to war again, certainly, but one would hope some of these other countries would start taking better care of themselves. But really, why should they? 

One good thing about Obama giving Saudi Arabia and Israel and various other "so-called" friendly nations the finger and trying to cozy up to "Death to America!" Iran is that it should be a wake up call to them. Hey SA, maybe when we ask you nicely to drill for more oil you shoud accomodate us for a few months to help us over the hump. Hey Israel, maybe you shouldn't steal our military secrets. Payback is a bitch; especially when it's served cold. 

On Sun, May 17, 2015 at 2:51 AM, <allan...@gmail.com> wrote:
It is very good to read your input again Neil..  still want to see a cricket match. And i have not forgotten. .   But it will take some planning before hand as i have to make travel  and lodging  reservations. 

تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين
Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others

-----Original Message-----
From: archytas <nwt...@gmail.com>
To: mind...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sun, 17 May 2015 8:24 AM
Subject: Mind's Eye Freedom Falls

We used to be able to think that if we obeyed the law, "they" would leave us alone..  I doubt this was ever true.  When the "social contract" is broken the idea is that we revolt.  The threat of this revolt is supposed to control those in power.  "Mob rule" has changed over the years and we have great fear of revolution and perhaps now view it in terms of the famous Russian curse 'may you live in interesting times'.  Molly framed this in terms of 'cops and robbers' - the largely black protests about their treatment by cops and the Establishment - yet seen as riots against police violence.  This situation is complex, not least because most of us want protection against so many of the people the police take action against.  Tony gets a lot of this right in his question about whether you want to call cops or a mob.  Writ larger than this we have seen the old Soviet empire collapse and the Arab springs.  Democracy and transitional economics have not worked even though many 'braved the bullets' and we have seen elections.  The election situation is close to that in Germany when the Nazis and Communists were putting themselves up for election with the express intent of having no more elections - think the Muslim Brotherhood and the situation in Iran.

I think we should be overthrowing government.  Yet I hardly want the 'interesting times' many in the Middle East are suffering or the riots in Baltimore or those in the UK, which spread like wildfire after the shooting of Mark Duggan.  I want an end to the state terrorism that has long existed in "empire".  There are only 22 countries (out of about 180) that Britain did not invade in empire days, the US having almost caught up on this list of shame.  Yet I also don't want to live under foreign jackboots or Sharia Law.

In recent UK elections I voted Green.  I would have voted for the Scottish National Party, given the chance, but I live in England.  This is because the SNP is a Scandinavian-style social democratic  and anti-austerity party.  Our Labour Party in now an anachronism and fit only for dissolution.  I had no real vote for anything I would support and our first-past-the-post system is a paradigm in decadent decay - to the extent Britain feels increasingly fascist.  I say this having lived and worked in the old Soviet block best described as the USSR (four words four lies) and Middle Eastern terror states (best described by an old Iraqi friend disgusted by Saddam, but who said 'at least he keeps the Mullahs off our backs).  Political choice in the UK and US is really no choice at all - we essentially "choose" one form of neo-liberalism or the other.  This is really not unlike the "choice" in Soviet or third-world voting systems where there is a one-party state.  Karl Popper said it mattered much less who we elect and much more what control we have over those who get in power.  We have lost a great deal of this control.  Blair was elected here on our democratic urges, yet became Thatcher in drag and a disgusting war criminal.  I even suspect Thatcher would have kept us out of Iraq and Afghanistan.  Of course, we never got to vote as a public about the wars since WW2,that have claimed more than 25 million and have many more living in "interesting times".

Now, many living in these interesting times are trying to flee them and we face massive immigration pressures from countries freed from the Soviet yolk and various dictatorships we have deposed.  There is other blow-back too.  Francis mentioned the 'rough beast' of WB Yeats the other day and I now dream of something vile to come - the the dream content is empty of what this will be.  I think this content may be empty because it is played out in the main media theatre that flows past our eyes.  We are hands-on in almost nothing these days, as clueless as undergraduates in the theatre of corrupt higher education.  Hardly any literature tries to deal with the reality - there is no Belassario producing anything other than government propaganda.

We are living in an Emperor's New Clothes age.  I defy anyone to read and understand company accounts and what is passed in front of us government statistics.  It takes me days to find killer entries in the accounts of even disasters like Tesco and even then one can only find the money trail to a £250 million hole that is really £6.4 billion one.  I can vouch that we are being lied to on the economy and could argue this on the quants, but there is almost no point in a society where most are innumerate.  Much business accounting and economics is expressed like this:

1. The Conservatives won a majority in the election.
2. Forget this 'majority' is 37% of those eligible to vote.
3. Forget that 10 million we not registered to vote ("majority" down to 20%)
4. Lots more forgetting that votes only matter in 14% of our constituencies and only 20% of people in them ...

The "majority" is achieved by influencing perhaps as few of 5% of the total population.

Freedom has fallen because we are not capable of rational discussion.  Answer - lets educate everyone to be capable of rational discussion - a great Catch 22 as we are obviously no good at education.  Arghh! 




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