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An Alternative to Capitalism (if the people knew about it, they would demand it)
Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: "There is no alternative". She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.
I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider. Please click on the following link. It will take you to an essay titled: "Home of the Brave?" which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."~ Albert Einstein
It is possible these warmongers will be be voted in again. America most like war, so it seems? Look who supports Romney ! Is Romney part of the one %.......yes no? Is there anyone out there? Ha! Living in Twilight zone !
Thought you libs loved big government. I guess not when it is not in your favor. Here is your big government in action. This agency was shut down, you would blame the tea party for cutting them, or blame Bush. Can't have it both way folks.
If it is so great, why don't you move there? Seriously. Why stay in this horrible country, who pollutes and steals from the poor and middle class. Go and give the German government 70% of you income.
Not enough. Government is way too big. Cut it in half. No need for all these high paying do nothing jobs anyway
Oh Thom. I listened to the episode on Sirius when you talked about how we should be more like Germany. Their unemployment is low. The BMW union workers make $67 per hour..etc. etc. what you did not reveal is how all these wonderful programs are funded. The middle class, which is $53k to $250k in Germany, pays a 42 percent income tax. The top tier is 45. So do the millionaires pay their fair share. Oh, that is another discussion. Also, did you mention the 19 percent sales tax? Did you mention the 7-19 percent healthcare tax? Let's add this up. 42+19+10 (I will split that healthcare tax with you)= 71 percent tax on the middle class. No thanks. Not interested in my government taking nearly 3/4 of my earned income. No wonder BMW pays $67 per hour. The government steals $47.50 of that for social welfare program funding. So these workers really make $19.50 per hour in take home. Not that great of a pay scale is it? I bet our auto workers in Detroit make more than that. This does not count any union dues that are paid. Interesting you fail to mention the whole story and bash our country. If Europe is so great, why do you live here? Also, I laughed when I heard your commercial for Quicken Loans. I thought the banksters were criminals? Must not be when they are paying you to do a commercial for them.
Obviously, Romney won! <wink>
It’s obvious that the Republicans are on the path to limit the voting rights for many American voters. Just like Paul Weyrich said in 1980: "Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome — good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
The Republicans are winning with the Supreme Court ruling of “Citizens United” and the unlimited, undisclosed money flowing into the election process, the practice of “Caging” which the Republicans still practice in violation of Law, voter suppression in violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Corporate News Media on their side.
We who believe in democracy have a really big fight on our hands, as evidenced by the Occupancy Movement…
I signed Senator Bernie Sanders web site A Petition to Support the Saving American Democracy Amendment: http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=f1c2660f-54b9-4193-86a4-ec2c39342c6c
This is a point I left out lately, cuz it really scares the hell out of me. I have really no clue to what extent this Republican manipulation can effect the election in November? How many voters could they possibly knock off? Could they even win the whole election that way?
Can you spell hypocrite? Whenever they are caught in a lie, they merely tell another lie. Of course they are opposed to voter fraud, unless the fraud helps their preferred candidates. The candidates must understand if the Republicans are good at cheating Democrats, they will use similar methods to fight each other. This is truly a clown show.
Does that mean Romney didn't really squeeze out Santorum? (sorry, couldn't help myself)
Thom,
I've heard you say you read your blogs so I hope you see this and can answe this question. Another thing you've said frequently is that we've lost some half million state public jobs thanks to Republican Governors and Legislators. I can't find those figures anywhere although I'm not surprised. Do you have a source for those figures?
Thanks in advance
sm
Whoa, you truly sound like the personified depression!
Say, why must we have our own army against ourselves, as long as the commander and chief is President Obama? No-no-no, we can't betray ourselves as you do. If Americans vote more progressive, things WILL change. They did NOT -- that was the problem! They voted for Bush and ergo we have to face what we got out of that.
The problem is not the system, it is the voters in the system. They seem to think their votes have no severe consequences. But they have: their votes even kill people!
Why not let only the people who pay the highest taxes vote- they would never vote for lower taxes. This way we can sift out the Patriots from the Moochers. And we can all gang up and blame the voting class for bad conditions. I don't think they could stand up to very many years of blame, if identified as the group who are making bad decisions for the less fortunate.
Or I suggest more and more occasions to vote. If citizens voted on issues as well and there was constant voting taking place, there would be no time to set up capers, put people and blockers in place, and no time to fool around after the polls close.
Shouldn't we always be voting, as a way of life? If there were something to vote on once a month, people might eventually develop a habit and routine of voting, at least sometimes, with drive behind it, like getting a pedicure. I know ladies who would cancel their whole day for a pedicure....
http://youtu.be/zuAj2F54bdo
Thom, you need to watch this video. You'll absolutely love it. Paddy Ashdown talks about how power is shifting in the world... and I think you can guess in what way it is shifting.
I'm going to have to defend Rick Santorum.
I've heard the recording several times now in which he seems to say "black people's lives". What it sounds like to me, though, is that he started to say "lives", realized he left out the word "people's" and started over.
The initial /b/ comes from starting with the mouth closed. (The same thing happened in an episode of Star Trek. The entire crew was intoxicated by something transmissible from person to person, including Data, the android. Someone expressed surprise at this and Data said, "If you prick me, do I not ... [b]leak?") It's also possible that the /b/ was really the /p/ from "people's" and he accidentally skipped over the intervening sounds. Trust me, both are quite possible.
Another reason people have misinterpreted Santorum's utterance is that we think of a long i as one phoneme, but it's a combination of /ah/ and /ee/. If you stop talking in the middle of it, all you get is the /ah/. So Santorum got out
"[b]lah--" before he went back to redo the phrase "people's lives".
[comment moved to the daily post]
I agree with LegacyCost. If we just throw up our hands and say, "what's the use?", nothing will EVER change. We have a lot of really bright people on our side, and we need to get them all together and find a way to overturn Citizens United. And if we can't, we need to get the really bright people that are with us and find a way to USE Citizens United to OUR benefit. Don't get me wrong, I don't have the answer; but if our founders did it, WE can do it!
By the way, as a jazz musician I never buy musical sheet notes.
Why?
If I want to play a title from a music book with a band, I either have to tell them, "Go and buy the book" -- or I have to buy more than one. Nobody would do this. Many copyright laws are useless.
If the New York Times finally wakes up, this makes me a bit more optimistic. Last summer I really had the feeling we had lost the fight. I heard Americans nothing but blaming Obama -- everybody sounded like FOXnews. Meanwhile the mood obviously has changed.
America has been downgraded to a developing country by Republican voters. This is terrible, but we have to forgive them and start anew. We need a decent majority for the years after 2012, so we can take America back to the First World. Above all this means EDUCATION, for any upgrading starts in our heads. We have the choice to downgrade ourselves ahead to Third World standard. Just listen to the teaparty talk: This is Third World standard. You wanna go there Americans? Do away with human rights, union rights, free media, high-quality public infrastructure? This would mean do away with First World issues and values indeed.
Over the next four years we have to start a major education offensive. The fact that we have these crazy teaparty hicks in Iowa unveils our lack of education. Or let me describe it as already being kissed by Third World standard.
The idea "corporations are people" -- a relativization of human rights -- already is Third World standard. Thanks God many Americans are beginning to see this.
On this malicious "Corporations are people" idiocy: Anybody who defends this idea is a misanthropist and not more humane than a cannibal! Any natural person is being protected by the Constitution -- within or outside corporations. These persons don't need extra protection while acting within their corporations. If they claim to have those rights TWICE, this sounds fishy to me. They obviously try to fraud humanity -- defining down the idea of human rights. They're ridiculing, flat-out insulting the idea of humanism. This is war. Not with weapons, just with words. But I know why my tone gets harsher these days: I am fighting these malicious crazies for the idea of human rights!
Human rights have been defined, to end cruelty against human beings. A corporation has no feelings. You can't torture a corporation. You can't hurt a corporation's feelings. You cannot put it into prison. Corporations are dead, like this laptop I'm typing on. This laptop doesn't need any protection by the Constitution and same goes for any corporation. This doesn't leave the people who own corporations unprotected: They're already protected as natural persons and don't need protection twice!
The idea "corporations are people" is a fraud on humanity -- created by minds who despise and question humanity!
You're most welcome 2950-10k. Would that more could understand and act upon these truths.
1%ers like Mitt Romney think poverty is just one of those relative considerations. They share a numb view that poverty here in the United States would be considered a decent standard of living in most third world countries. Somehow in their little worlds this helps mask and even justifys the economic terror they callously inflict.
In their minds it's OK that Tiny Tim can't afford proper medical attention....because he still has a little food and a leaky roof over his head and that's better than a refugee camp in Africa. Nevermind that his father is working long hours to make guys like Mitt EMBARRASSINGLY RICH!
The New York Times article helps.....truth in reporting is always a good thing!
"The man who wrongly assumes every human right is secondary to his profit, those who oppose all reform will do well to remember that RUIN is inevitable if our national life brings us nothing better than swollen fortunes for the few" TR
The battle is definitely an uphill one but to throw up our collective hands and accept the state of America today is not the answer. The many need to confront the few with the moral deficiency of their approach to governance. Corporations must be reined in and THE PEOPLE need democracy restored ...not sold to the highest bidder.
Keep tellin' it!
Elioflight, I totally agree with your sentiment, the working class generates directly and indirectly much of the unearned wealth the overpaid 1%ers think they're entitled to possess and hoard. A more progressive tax system would be one way to recycle this illgotten wealth back into the society that actually worked hard to create it.
Hey, thanks for the kind words a while back.....you're a kindred spirit.