I'd like to go back (again) to 1955-1965.
There were soooooo many incredible changes going on in every facet of American life.
Knowing what I now know, I'd enjoy it even more.
Posts by Terry
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30If You Could Live In Any Era or Decade What Would It Be?
by minimus ini kind of like the 50’s and early 60’s because of the innocence and “happy days” outlook by that generation.
it seems most people were pretty innocent and real.. would you rather be living in a different era or is this century working for you?
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Terry
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The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Once Upon A Time In ... Hollywood (My review)
by Terry inonce upon a time in... hollywood my review.
i rode my bike through 3-digit temperature and watched quentin tarentino’s new film.the title harkens back to sergio leone’s trilogy titles.. i wanted to see it for personal reasons.
the time span covered is the background to much of my life.
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Terry
I was thinking just yesterday that Hollywood didn't really know what to do with
"hot looking" actresses in the sixties. The roles they got made the specificity interchangeable.
Sharon Tate and Suzy Kendall, for example. -
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The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Terry
Simon:
Often missed in the resentful discussion of the 1% is that most of the tax burden is paid by the wealthy - the great unwashed pay little to nothing and receive handouts. This is the real imbalance in society - allowing people to not work and contribute anything.
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True, that.
Tax "refunds" to people who don't pay tax is a rather mind-boggling ploy, for example.
Ayn Rand was ostracized by her contemporary intellectual community for pointing these things out under the virtue-signaling banner of "Compassion, Altruism, Charity."
The actual argument itself is owned by Academia and modern universitiesare pretty much breeding grounds for wet-behind-the-ears radicalized Marxist dupes and "useful idiots."
Whereas Religion as the opiate of the people is fading, Liberal Marxism has replaced it.
Young people need desperately to associate themselves with a JUST CAUSE and are so vulnerable to manipulation. (I.e. Jehovah's Witnesses and those of us here still licking those wound.)Who makes the most altruistic argument and gains the most virtuous standing is the group who wins. (Until the next and the next).
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The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Terry
"Your opening statement is about the economic "1%" - the wealthiest.
The rest of your post is about the intellectual "1%" - the smartest.
I don't see why there is necessarily a correlation between the two."
Quite right.
In my follow-up posts I added this.
The $$ group can weaponize the I.Q. group toward corrupt ends.
And has. Always.
I lived through the Tobacco era when "scientists" bought and paid for conducted "studies" to thwart other scientists and all the while
the news media sopped up advertiser money.
It is a miracle of political achievement we ever got legislation for seat belts, for drunk driving laws, for bans on smoking, etc.
"Public Interest" is the 'tax' paid by the $$ group to avoid being torn to bits in the streets. -
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The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Terry
Genius can be co-opted by the Billionaire game-riggers.
And it is.
Genius can be weaponized!
The Nazi intelligentsia created amazing weapons for real in WWII.
America and Russia grabbed those Nazi scientists and put them to work.
Pause and reflect.
A pattern through history: the Pope and Michelangelo, Mozart and the Princes,
rich Egos make tools of artists, musicians, scientists, etc.
MONEY trumps genius by co-opting it.Consequently: we can't really make the Conservative Argument that "Hard work makes all the difference." Nope.
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25
The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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25
The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Terry
I can't begin to tell you what I witnessed with my eyes!
In fact, in London and France and Spain, I saw gorgeous parks, monuments, buildings of impossible genius which exist with incredible beauty - BUT - only because tyrants, dictators, self-indulged egos decreed they must be built.
Talk about mixed feelings!
It is an utter waste of time to scream nasty adjectives at the OTHER GUYS and ignore the facts about a corrupt system of good-old-boys (and gals) with cash sewn into their mattresses by lobbyists.
I'm saying there is NO WAY OUT of corruption in politics. Not now. Not ever.
They are much better at this than we are.
They made the rules. They own the power.
"THEY"?
Who are "they?"
Exactly who you think they are.
Replace them with a better and more noble savage reformer?
Oh PLEASE!! -
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The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Terry
Those who are effective have little time to spend simply complaining. Since they generally have the money to do so - they resort to Lawsuits to redress grievances.
Lawsuits are the fangs and claws of today's species of apex 1%.
The "great masses of unwashed" non-geniuses are manipulated into whining, playing victim Ineffectively. They are "steered" toward fake community leaders with hidden agendas.
The answer to inequality by political means is a one-step-forward two-steps-backward deal with the devil.
Political parties seek to "own" underprivileged groups by promising things and making boogeymen scarecrows appear in the alternative camp.
ELITES on both sides have grudging contempt for the underclass while pretending to love them and have their best interests at heart.
This is where sociopath leadership shines. The charisma of "Great" religious and Political figures is legendary.
"He's no saint, but he's our hero."
I've lived 72 years from Truman to Trump and I've watched how this game is played.
When has it ever not been a choice between the "Lesser of two evils"?
When you choose - you get exactly this: evil.
Smiling, charming, empathetic sociopath evil beset on all sides by the other side.
We are chumps. Our only genuine choice is either Revolution (which fills the streets with blood) or dropping out and fending for ourselves.
We are those hominids at the start of Kubrick's 2001.
The bone of contention is grappled, gnawed and bludgeoning us to this very moment. -
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The One Per Cent (1%) - Is it a Phenomenon of Nature itself? Is it Fair? Is it our enemy?
by Terry inopen discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
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Terry
Open Discussion
The Rich and Powerful VS the struggling poor.
The 1% we all hear about...
Is it FAIR that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?
____(Let's make a survey)
Humans are physically among the most vulnerable species and yet people
and human society is at the apex of the food chain.
Why?
Human ingenuity throughout history has produced discoveries and technologies
made by a tiny minority: (GENIUS minority) by which the rest (non-genius) have benefited.
___Brace yourself for a shocking fact statistic:
Only approximately 1% of the people in the world have an IQ of 135 or over.
Genius or near-genius IQ is considered to begin around 140 to 145. Less than 1/4 of 1 percent falls into this category. (Average I.Q. is 100).
Is College the answer?Note: Being formally educated is quite different from being a genius!
739 out of the total 2,473 billionaires in the world didn’t go to college.Genius is born and not made. Stop and take a deep breath.
What chance do the rest of us have?____
Genius is not FAIR in terms of the rest of the population.
It just "IS"what it IS.
Examples:
Michael Faraday
Faraday worked in a London bookshop, with no formal education.
And yet --
He was a genuine experimental genius and is considered one of the most influential scientists of all time for his experiments and discoveries regarding electricity and magnetism.
Faraday approached London's best scientist at the time, Humphrey Davies, and asked to work with him as an assistant. Davy kicked him out.
Faraday returned again and again until - well - you guessed it. He was given a chance.
The result?
Faraday invented the electric motor, the electric generator, the Bunsen burner, electrolysis and electroplating. He discovered electromagnetic induction; he discovered benzene;
he figured out the shape of magnetic fields, discovered metallic nano-particles
(thought to be the birth of nano-science) and something complicated about chlorine.
Basically, he was a natural born science machine.Year later, Humphrey Davy was asked what his greatest discovery had been.
He replied: "Michael Faraday!"
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William Hershel was only educated as a cello player and organist.
He didn't own a telescope.
He had no training as an astronomer. And yet - ?
He taught himself to grind lenses and built a magnificent telescope and began studying the heavens. On his own, he discovered a tiny shift in the path of a teeny light in the sky. A new planet.
How odd!
He simply willed himself to succeed at astronomy.______
Srinivasa Ramanujan
An uneducated, poverty-stricken boy in India, Ramanujan was a real-life Good Will Hunting.
He taught himself math, and turned out to be one of the greatest math geniuses to come along in the last few centuries.
His parents gave him a math textbook on advanced trigonometry around age 11.
"Ya think yer so smart? Well, take this and don't come back until ..."
Ramanujan entered college at age 13 and flunked out. Yeah. FLUNKED.
You see, he was only interested in MATH. (Forget that other stuff.)
College would have hindered the boy! Conformity is the enemy of genius.He was busy inventing new theorems which he mailed off to various famous heads of Math departments around the world. They ignored him because - well -- this kid is a teenager.
Finally, Thomas Hardy at Cambridge invited him to come work at the University. Ramanujan refused. Today, his formulas have found uses in everything from string theory to crystallography.
Ramanujan died at age 32.
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GENIUS just isn’t fair. It just HAPPENS...and happens naturally.
A "freak of nature."
Sort of X-Men style weirdness - eh? Freaks of nature._____
The 1% may not be FAIR - but it is a fact of Nature itself
Go out in any schoolyard. Let the kids select who they want on their team as team mates.
Will it be fair?In Baseball, Football, Soccer, Basketball we insist that the BEST players be hired rather than the lesser talents. Is this FAIR??
Maybe not - but it is MOST EFFECTIVE to take advantage of it.
No one would argue that short players with fewer skills be put on the Celtics basketball team just to be "Fair".
Winning is the result that is sought. The ability to win is the paramount standard----not FAIRNESS.
Should we be angry at the nature of Nature that survival and competition is really all about (not equality but) achievement? Ability? Talent?Business is competition. Business is often a Zero Sum Game of "I win -You Lose."
UNFAIR competition is what galls all of us. But then, wouldn't you expect clever geniuses to seek every possible advantage? How about the Sociopath Genius? Eh?Fascination with predatory Capitalism may well be fascination with Nature itself disguised as a scourge.
Why should the Lion get to be the King of the Jungle?
Should the animals complain, riot, petition?
Actually ...Nature itself is a battleground of constant complaint, petition, struggle and survival by wit, talent, instinct, and natural insight.
Any collective (human or lesser beasts) clusters around WINNERS so the weak have a chance for survival.
What are "HEROES" anyway?
What are "CELEBRITIES" anyway?
Isn't this our animal instincts creeping into everyday life in a twisted expression of "ADMIRATION of THE WINNERS" as Apex 1%?_____
Everybody begins life at the starting line in a race to success.
Question: Should we HOLD BACK the swift, the talented, the genius?
Shouldn't we give a 'head start" to minorities, under-achievers, people of color, females, physically challenged, and different-gendered?
IT WOULD BE MORE FAIR - right?
Of course!BUT ...
DOES IT DO ANY GOOD as to "equality" of outcome?
I watched an interview with one of the Poker Geniuses of all time, Doyle Brunson.
He was asked how much "luck" there was in his game.
He smiled and replied, "None, luck is for suckers! It is a skill. The best players will---time after time--end up with the money. Look at the tournaments.
Everybody starts with the exact same amount of money. Within a day or two it is no coincidence the better players remain."
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Conclusion?
Making an enemy of the 1% is making an enemy of talent, an enemy of genius, and the producers of discovery, invention, and technological advancement.
Maybe ...just maybe ... tampering with Nature is a sign of good intention but a self-inflicted wound!
EFFECTIVE people always seem to win out over ineffective people.
Do I hear a loud “DUH!” ??WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?
Arguing “Fairness” may be a stupid argument.
Or - it may not. Should we refocus on changing something else instead?
Here's what I think.
I think Political Correctness is how the rest of us are gamed by those who would
disunite society for their own agenda.
If we are made to see the "other" side as our enemy - we are too emotional to get smart and be effective.
I believe our Political Systems have been gamed by sociopath geniuses and the corruption is down to the root. Lackeys get elected by an uniformed and manipulated electorate who keep believing the same old slogans, lies, promises, while being inflamed against some STRAW MAN enemy.
Politicians have NO solutions and even if they did - there is no functioning / non-corrupt conduit to deliver such solutions.
The Powerful are the 1% because Nature won't have it any other way.
We may as well get angry at circles for not having square edges.
WHAT DO YOU think?
