by Norm 49 Replies latest jw friends
plm-The point I was trying to make is that we are fortunate to live in a place where we are free to leave a situation(job,school,etc...) where we feel manipulated or otherwise uncomfortable.I realize personal situations may sometimes prohibit this,but our government does not.
We ride and never worry about the fall
I guess that's just the cowboy in us all
Cello,
I am suspicious of all big organizations, including: big business, governement, religion, trade unions, and large media organizations.
We have three branches of government, two parties, and a free press. These opposing forces don't always work, but they are a decent attempt to reduce corruption. We have laws to protect us against big business and big trade unions. The laws don't always work, but they are better than no controls at all.
You did not respond to my particular remarks about business, so I assume that you concede that perhaps you were mistaken on these particular points in your zeal to labaste business.
plmkrzy,
I believe Cowboy's post was more directed at cellomould's
post than yours. The comment cowboy was making about
being "free to leave" is directed towards the U.S.
posters that are unhappy in this country. Being free to
leave is a right we have in this country. I think
sometimes you get so caught up in trying to be the most
active poster all the time, your posts get skipped over
by alot of readers here because its obvious your posting
before you know the entire story. You haven't been here
very long, so maybe for once you should shut-up and
try to learn something. When I see your posts, all I see
is blah!blah!blah!
Cello,
When you actually have a real job, come back and post on work
standards in this country.Are you not still in school?
fodeja,
If you didnt have pride in your own country
you wouldn't keep making threads and posts about
why you personally think the U.S. isn't the country
it's proud citizens believe it to be.
I am proud to live in this country. I dont need to
travel to the Middle East or Africa to know I would
rather not live there. I do watch the news. I would
love to see one woman on this forum say she would rather
live in Afganistan than the United States. Or maybe
even a man perhaps? Since the September 11th attack on
the United States, I have seen more and more bashing
of our country on this forum and in the chatroom. I wonder
if those planes would have crashed into your country if
your people would have fought back, or laid down and took
it in the ass and asked for the United States to come
their rescue.
Norm,
The US has the misfortune of being a World Power, and as such it is far more likely to come under scrutiny.
Scrutiny and accuracy though, do not necessarily always travel together; this thread is evidence of that also!
IW
Sorry Larc,
I wasn't really addressing your post directly at all, as you can see. I just had some comments to share.
But as you said, balance is important. You can't attempt to replace ALL business with government or vice-versa. So I am not advocating blindly increasing the size of the government.
Sure the government can be smaller, and still more personally involved with individuals. Why not?
Can you think of ways to accomplish this rather than simply trusting the government because it's 'less involved' or 'smaller'?
And as another example of corporate power, take creditors.
Your whole life can be fucked just because some stupid data jock hits the wrong key and mixes your name with someone else's credit history.
Do you have any idea how profitable it is to sell credit? They are raping people every day to get a bigger piece of the pie. And you damn Americans (me included ) trust these people more than your own government?
I know no one is arguing that. And I understand you are leery of anything big with huge self-interests, Larc. Well said.
fun discussion,
cellomould
"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
How many percent of Americans do own a passport? In Norway it's close to 100%, just to take one example.
And in Norway, Kent, how far do you have to travel to enter another country? Is it as far as, say, Oklahoma is from my home? Or Louisiana? How about New Mexico? To get to another country, do you have to travel as far as I do to get to Colorado?
I believe you would enter another country making a drive as far as from Dallas to Houston, my friend. We don't have to have passports for that kind of travel.
COMF
Cello,
Do I know a way to make the Federal Government smaller? You bet I do. Push more of the decision making and the taxes down to the State, County, and City level. It might not change the total size of government overall, but it would make government more flexible and more in touch with the people. People would have a more powerful voice in government as well. Look at one aspect of this. The Feds collect a lot of tax money, then states and cities bid on projects to get that money back into their community. Now, wouldn't it be more efficient to lower Federal taxes, increase local taxes and cut out the Feds, and eliminate some jobs in Washington? By the way, this is a concept that successful businesses learned about 20 years ago.
I am not sure of your comments on credit, credit fraud, and the high cost of credit. Could you run that by me again?
Comf,
I was thinking the same thing. I just looked at my globe sitting next to me. The U.S. is larger than all of Europe combined. We need a passport only if we are going over seas. We don't need one for Mexico or Canada. People in Europe need one if they are driving for more than a few hours.
That makes a lot of sense, actually, Larc. Thanks for adding your comments on how things could be done more efficiently.
It seems people don't give a crap about local government at the moment. Except when it comes to the ticky tack things like 'a gym shouldn't operate in Westwood village, it's against the ideals of the founders'. (Westwood village, by the way, is where UCLA is located.) People need to care more about what issues affect them AND their neighbors.
(the JWs for example sadly think they show their care about their neighbors by leaving tracts under their door mats )
I used to wonder (as a JW of course) why so many non-JWs were politically apathetic. Even at an institution of higher learning, this is a problem. And this is even when the issues DO directly affect the students.
And about the credit card companies, I was just saying that they completely own you and I. What if you never have used credit cards? Even worse. Then you don't have a credit record and you don't count more than buzzard food.
One of the major credit reporting agencies mixed me up with my father recently. It was a pain in the ass to correct this problem, as I am named after him. I was denied an apartment (I had already moved in actually, so I was forced to leave) because my father's bankruptcy of many years ago appeared on my record. This was simply some bozo not doing his job properly, but I got shafted for it.
I told the shmuck at the leasing firm 'hey, this is obviously not mine and you know it; look at my age. How could I go bankrupt as a minor?' My contention was that this is just as bad as mixing me up with some random person.
And of course, he instantly switched gears 'well, you are a student and you don't have a real job with dependable income'. What a fucking prick! [>:(]
No, they don't give a shit about you either.
So I was not talking about fraud earlier; sorry if I confused you. It's that our welfare depends on not being on a corporate 'blacklist'.
But you know what's so stupid about their crediting methods?
They make more money off of you if you make late payments, and they know it. They charge you interest on those late fees. It adds up. You are their favored customers, their cash cows, if you fall into the 'delinquent' category. But they treat you like turkeyshit anyway in order that you become more heavily dependent on credit.
Okay, I have vented enough... some one else comment now...
cellomould
"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
Ring who ever you are.
Cowboy is more then capable of speaking for himself and already has.
As far as how much I post. I never keep track. When I went to the stats and looked, I was shocked myself. But in the very short time you've been here you certainly do keep track. You think i'm busy trying to post more then anyone else? Whatever.. sorry to bore everyone. I'm not on vacation any longer so no body will have to deal with having to skip over my reply's. I guess I should thank you for bringing this to my attention as every one else has been to polite to. Maybe I should have spent more time in the chat room. Oh but then I guess it would be empty all the time if I did.
I'll now shut up.
plmkrzy,
I believe Cowboy's post was more directed at cellomould's
post than yours. The comment cowboy was making about
being "free to leave" is directed towards the U.S.
posters that are unhappy in this country. Being free to
leave is a right we have in this country. I think
sometimes you get so caught up in trying to be the most
active poster all the time, your posts get skipped over
by alot of readers here because its obvious your posting
before you know the entire story. You haven't been here
very long, so maybe for once you should shut-up and
try to learn something. When I see your posts, all I see
is blah!blah!blah!
"The fellow that agrees with everything you say is either a fool or he is getting ready to skin you."
- Kin Hubbard
by the way,
With all our problems, business, not government or religion has lead to the highest standard of living, ever.This is hardly arguable. Let me try to argue anyhow.
"The government has done nothing to improve the standard of living in the United States. Look at social security! It takes money from people who need it most, i.e. wealthy taxpayers, and gives it to peope who need it the least, i.e. dumb broke old farts. Not to mention all the legal precedents against trusts, monopolies, and oligopolies. Talk about unfair!
And religion has done equally poorly! I would have to say that the homeless problem is entirely due to church handouts on Sunday mornings! If you cease to feed them donuts, they cease to exist! (I know, because I used to have a roach problem.) And I almost forgot to mention Alcoholics Anonymous. More people attend that than church services. Shameless!
Business, on the other hand, has given everyone in America equal access to the pie everyone wants: DEBT"
cello's alter ego
"I stand corrected"
cello's astonished superego, id, karma, or whatever you call it.
"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
