Posts by FirstInLine

208

To the Defenders of George Bush and the War in Iraq

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

would you be willing, if possible, to volunteer to fight in iraq?.

are you encouraging your children or grandchildren to volunteer and fight?.

please list your names below.

FirstInLine

i know communism would and will PROBABLY not work.

The communists and the capitalists were instantly at odds with one another. Both firmly believed that their own side was right. Over the course of the 20th century both sides rose to great power militarily speaking at least. The capitalists enjoyed decade after decade of prosperity though, and the communists never achieved any measure of success with respect to the standard of living promised by Karl Marx.

Now at the dawn of the 21st century communists are no longer feared or hated. They are pitied and laughed at. The communists are the laughing stock of the world community. Im not certain but I believe their are only 4 nations that still practice communism: China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba.

The most powerful of the 4 is China. Proud, large, most populated nation on earth. Well maybe not so proud. The Chinese have become so desparate that they have reduced themselves to the exact primal fear that inspires communism. That fear is being a slave to "robber barrons" that get rich and live well off the toil of slave type workers.

They are the lowest paid workers on the planet worth investing money for the equipment on. They are a joke. Foriegn investors seeking cheap labor to cushion their receding profit margins have set up shop in China. They have a MASSIVE labor pool willing to work for practically nothing. Had they simply gone along with social labor practices such as unionization and democracy they would live in a prosperous, comfortable economy. Instead they work as slaves for western capitalists that knew long ago capitalism works.

Chinese Farmers who after taxes make $7 a year (48$ before the 80+% tax rate to pay for chinese weapons), leave the rural areas and move to the city seeking work in factories (that is also where SARS came from). But they only drive down their wages further in doing so. We have a vast labor pool from which we can satisfy our western consumer desire of more and more widgets for decades to come without losing anything in the process. The arrangements made with the Chinese government send most of the profits to the foriegn investors. Sad, pathetic and laughable. Let that be a lesson to anyone who thinks communism can defeat the radical ambition that capitalism breeds. Capitalism has made desparate slaves out of communists.

If you want to practice communism, live in a free market democracy, buy a farm, and make some good friends. Other than that, forget about it.

208

To the Defenders of George Bush and the War in Iraq

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

would you be willing, if possible, to volunteer to fight in iraq?.

are you encouraging your children or grandchildren to volunteer and fight?.

please list your names below.

FirstInLine

very much like in john lennons song IMAGINE.

I think I am going to write a Song Called "Pipe Dream" based on John Lennon's Imagination. I have been a John Lennon critic for years. He is anything but realistic. I am not saying he is a bad guy but he offers no solution to any problem. "Give peace a chance" he says. That's not going to work when someone is spraying bullets at you. And if you are going to tell me I am oversimplifying his messages then go listen to the other words, he admits it himself that he has no plan. "ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE."

You see. That all we need to do. The next time Germany, Austria and Japan team up and conquer Europe and the Pacific we Just have to say Hey!! GIVE PEACE A CHANCE GUYS Comeone chillout, smoke some weed with us dude, kick back and party

208

To the Defenders of George Bush and the War in Iraq

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

would you be willing, if possible, to volunteer to fight in iraq?.

are you encouraging your children or grandchildren to volunteer and fight?.

please list your names below.

FirstInLine

Realist,

i communism there would be (strictly speaking) no private posessions and no money. everything would be owned by the community. there would be no private companies etc.

Ok I think I understand what you are saying. I didn't realize you had such lofty ideals. Ok you are envisioning a system of government imposed rationing.

This is even more bureuacratic and inefficient than the system I described in my previous response but I will humor you for a moment and show you how what you are proposing becomes even more restrictive in terms of product variety or is actually a money system and you dont realize it.

I think what you are envisioning is a system in which the government simply pays you in products instead of giving you the money to buy the products. This is whay you meant by no money.

One way of doing this would be to set up distribution centers and then people take what they need. The problem is people will take more than they need. So you would have to ration out how things are distributed. You would say some one has credit for recieving "xyz" or "abc" but not both because they dont have credit for it. Credit would be based on what? Work? So they are being paid for their work? There must be a medium in which credit is established from their job to the store. Whatever you decide to call it, this is money.

You might also want to get more bureaucratic and have the government deliver your needs at your place of work so you dont need the money. This creates inefficiency. Shipping is costly. This cost does not overcome the benefit of not having money. The other problem is not everyone wants the same thing.

Some people like to use hair gel. Some people dont. Some people like rice. Some dont. Some people..... You see what I mean. You have to have money because money is more efficient then any complex bureaucracy established to replace it. You are also leaving out the problem of corruption that bureaucracy creates.

208

To the Defenders of George Bush and the War in Iraq

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

would you be willing, if possible, to volunteer to fight in iraq?.

are you encouraging your children or grandchildren to volunteer and fight?.

please list your names below.

FirstInLine

i communism there would be (strictly speaking) no private posessions and no money.

Im sorry but this isnt true. Communism is an economic system and there is money in that system. The money is used to aquire personal possessions. There are no private businesses or industries. They are all government owned and operated.

why should this system put restraints on creativity?

That being the case there is no need for competition because they are non-profit. Introducing competing versions of the same products creates unnecessary inefficiency. Efficiency is the holy grail in communism. Therefore you end up with very little variety in communism. Why would you put out products that are less popular then other products if you had no incentive to do so? Putting out different products of the same products means you have to spend additional money to develop something that you already have. You have to pay engineers to do the same thing over and over. You have to pay engineers to build altered manufacturing equipment to build a slightly different product. Why would you do that? What incentive would the government have to do that? The people already have one version of the product.

In capitalism we have a similar philosophy in corporations. Corporations are efficient because they eliminate management positions of several companies and consolidate them. This raises the profit margin. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s we had massive companies called trusts. They monopolized the market and eliminated their competition. Among the many characteristics they had was diabolical efficiency. They violated the capitalist doctrines of competion and free market though so the government put a stop to them.

Why cant communist nations simply import products to increase variety? Well they can, but as I already stated Communist nations must avoid importing capitalist products. Capitalist consumer products are vastly superior. That being the case communist products are not consumed by capitalists because they suck. The problem this creates is communist nations would end up bleeding off all their money to capitalist countries and their poducts would go almost completely unused. At some point the system breaks.

In case you wonder why communist products suck I will explain.

There are several reasons communist products suck. Here is the first reason. In communism you always have shortages. This is because worker productivity falls over time. There is no punishment or reward for your work ethic. No one is motivated to put out the effort so most people don't. This leads to shortages because people stop pulling there weight. One person can't make a difference. The ones that are pulling there weight are eventually pulled down by the ones that aren't. They realize the futility of working hard. This creates a very poor work force that snowballs into despair.

The second reason communist products suck has already been mentioned. It is because there is no incentive to improve existing products. Improvement requires money for Research and Development. Since very few endeavors are worthwhile there is very little R&D in consumer products. In reality since communism and capitalism are diametrically opposed they are constantly seeking newer and better weapons. This money for R&D which would be essentially wasted on consumer products is eagerly put into use on Military projects, which are the most useless products of all for an economy. The only benefit military projects provide is advancing technologies that may have civilian applications but in communism civilian applications are only done on an as NEEDED basis. Playstation II is not needed in communism. Nor is a flat plasma HDTV. The Lord of the Rings and its special effects arent much of a use either. Creativity DOES exist in communism. But it is limited by money.

The ultimate difference between the two systems is that in capitalism people need to be responsible for themselves. They can get fired from their jobs and lose their homes. They can feel as though they are underachieving and seek to better themselves. In communism people are not responsible for their own prosperity they depend on everyone else much more than they depend on themselves.

It is true that in capitalism we depend on everyone else to make the system work but our system works because the individual feels the effect of his failure much more than the community.

20

Scary pictures

by Surfacing in

i remember as a kid being freaked out by two pictures.

one was of the demons floating away leaving their screaming wives and babies during the flood, and the other was the collage with the gas mask guy and the kid holding his hands over his ears and the dead guy with the chopsticks.... .

oh yes, did i mention that i wasn't allowed to watch the care bears movie as a kid because of the "frightening and demonic" scenes?

FirstInLine

and the other was the collage with the gas mask guy and the kid holding his hands over his ears and the dead guy with the chopsticks....

Every time I saw that collage as a child it conjured up powerful but esoteric emotions. It was the gas mask that really frieghtened me and the kid with his hands over his ears. It demonized the world. That book, IMO, ironically is one of the most demon saturated books I ever read. The people all have this demon possesed look. Now I have found that it is full of occult messages. I get the same feeling from seeing occult art work and literature as I do from that ...Paradise... but. Some paradise.

It was very dark and dreary. It was cold and otherworldly. The propaganda was so blatant that you could hardly imagine how any rational person could take it seriously.

I remember the image of the Catholic cleric ( a CARDINAL?!?!??!) blessing the sacrament on one side of the page and then standing in front of an infantry battalion with a wildly pleased look on his face giving an order to go forward (into combat). Not without full GI JOE flashes and pops. I mean it was so over the top you could hardly believe they thought they could get away with it.

34

life after death

by Sookie in

i'm new to this forum and was born and raised as one of jehovah's witnesses.

my family left the religion when i was around 15-years-old.

i am now in my late 20s.

FirstInLine

Sookie,

Hi, welcome to the board. I am not quite sure what exactly it is you are asking for.

I think the first thing you need to realize is that no one knows what happens when we die. It is hands down, the greatest mystery of the ages. No one knows.

The Egyptians thought that in order to survive in the after life your body must stay intact and recognizable so as you are aware they performed the most elaborate burial procedures of any culture that has ever existed.

Religions primarily break down into two categories:

Afterlife religions and power/war religions.

Christianity was formed as an afterlife religion. In the middle ages it was used for power/war but the religion itself was still afterlife.

Buddhism/hinduism/sihkism are an afterlife religion. Virtually the same with their intents. Hinduism has some particularly violent offshoots that were power/war. sihkism has spawned some terrorist organizations but that is primarily due to persecution.

Islam was started as an afterlife religion and had the same journey as Christianity. It is still an afterlife religion.

Judaism originally was a power/war religion and actually still is today although it is not used in the traditional power/war way by most of its followers. It is the most succesfull power/war religion of all time. The oddity of Judaism is that the followers havent really fought in well over 2000 years but still believe in it and believe that god will intervene and make them the winners.

Greek/Roman, Aztec (and Norse to a smaller extent) mythology were power/war religions of the most traditional sense and purpose. Very violent bloodlust rituals intended to barbarize and desensitize their warriors.

Celtic mythology evolved from afterlife to power/war, primarily due to increasing contact with Roman forces.

As time goes by power/war religions are formed less and less. This is because humans learn. Power/War religions are formed to raise morale of the military. They are promised that if they worship their God(s) and fight hard enough for the ruler (usually divine) their gods will come to their aid and give them a major advantage. The problem is word gets out that other power/war religions exist. And they never win through divine intervention either.

However, people still die and no one still knows what happens. So this still makes a good basis for a religion.

The winner is afterlife. Afterlife religions are slightly more credible so we can eliminate the power/war religions as most of the world has.

I think the best way to start off in thinking about the afterlife is to study human beings and the universe. These are the two key elements in forming a belief in the afterlife.

If you study the universe and nature, more than likely you will realize there is a master creator to everything. If you study humans you might realize that humans show supernatural traits and are of divine origin or in other words were specifically created by the creator.

Based on these observations you are left with the question of the ages. Is there an afterlife? If you believe that god created the universe and specifically man you can ask yourself why would god create humans with so much potential and capacity but only allow them a very short life span?

If you cant think of a good reason for this you might consider believing in an afterlife -- which would be an extension of life.

Just when you finally figure out how to live, you die.

208

To the Defenders of George Bush and the War in Iraq

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

would you be willing, if possible, to volunteer to fight in iraq?.

are you encouraging your children or grandchildren to volunteer and fight?.

please list your names below.

FirstInLine

Realist,

I think you may be confusing communism with socialism.

In communism all businesses and industries are owned and controlled by the government. There is usually only one version of everything. One midsized SUV (if the government thinks SUVs are ok), one brand of cola (or possibly even one flavor carbonated beverage), a lack of imports to avoid a trade decifit since foreigners dont want your worthless commie crap products, a complete lack of power to the individual because no one has the money to organize and team up. This last problem inevitable leads to a totalitarian government. Communism may not be a totalitarian, Mao, Stalin system but it always leads to one based on social and economic forces.

I think you need to check out socialism. Socialism has some of the fundamental flaws of communism which cause a stagnant economy and a lack of foriegn investment but dont lead to totalitariansm and do allow privately owned businesses and competition, along with differing economic classes, which are a necessary evil.

208

To the Defenders of George Bush and the War in Iraq

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

would you be willing, if possible, to volunteer to fight in iraq?.

are you encouraging your children or grandchildren to volunteer and fight?.

please list your names below.

FirstInLine

I am trying to get in as a mercenary in Iraq. But I dont agree with Bush and dont think we should have gone in. And as a mercenary I would believe in getting paid, not the cause. I wouldnt go to fight as a part of Military forces.

I think if the media was allowed to show the more graphic war footage and its aftermath people would be less likely to seek violence before being drawn into it.

14

I thought this was pretty cool...

by FirstInLine in

about 4 days ago i am leaving my driveway to go to the gym.

its about 11:30 pm.

i have a long driveway that two other houses share.

FirstInLine

thats something professor chaos would do.

17

You aren't what you eat

by Simon in

for those of you who watch what you eat... here's the final word on nutrition and health.

it's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies:the japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the british or americans.mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the british or americans.the japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the british or americans.italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the british or americans.germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the british or americans.. conclusion: .

eat and drink what you like; speaking english is apparently what kills you.

FirstInLine

If you get good exercise, and use supplementation, especially syntrax guggulbolic, large amounts of fat won't hurt you. Stress, sleep and pollution are larger factors in adverse health conditions.