Saturday, October 18, 2008
Random Observations
To ask the perpetually moot question; if humans are “basically” good or evil, is like asking if rainbows are basically red or blue.
They've been "helping the poor" for the last 40 years or more ("they" being the Federal government -- tax money). By now they should be able to claim one of two scenarios; Their "war on poverty" worked and the nearly 7 trillion dollars spent have paid off in virtually eliminating poverty (in which case the programs can be scaled down considerably if not outright eliminated)...or...their project failed and should therefore be discontinued. Instead we get, "we're not doing enough."
"Greed" is always a trait that someone else has.
Hitler killed six million Jews and loved his dog. It does not then follow that loving dogs is a bad thing.
In a another analogy, the fact that America's founding father were holders of slaves – the common practice of the time (as it was in many societies throughout history) – does not somehow reflect poorly upon the concepts of freedom of the press and religion or the separation of powers within government.
"Predatory lending" is like "predatory" sales of swampland. If someone buys cheap swampland, they're stupid. If someone sells it to them, they're guilty of seeking out and finding stupid people.
Racism, like socialism is impractical (some would find the dispassionate nature of this observation offensive. We're supposed to get excited about some injustices). The way to relieve the world of any stupid or evil philosophy one only needs to demonstrate, in practical terms, how useless and counter-productive it is to peoples' self interest.
Overall, its probably preferable to be among "uncaring" or disinterested people who leave you alone than those who use their self-perception as warm and "caring" people to meddle in your every affair and coerce your every action.
The degree to which one is an "anti-war / pacifist" regarding wars involving the United States is typically proportional to the degree of apathy toward other wars where the U.S. is not involved. In the case of "wars of national liberation" (communist coup d' etats) a "pacifist" often becomes remarkably pro-war.
"Multipolar/Multilateral world" actually means an alliance of emerging dictatorships that determine the destiny of humanity – nice going.
"Helping the poor" always sounds nice 'on paper'," In practice it seldom amounts to little more than punishing the rich or, eventually, punishing anyone who opposes "helping the poor."
The Democrats’ economic policies can best be summed up as “trickle-down” taxation. Their rant always begins with a proclamation that “the rich” will be forced to “pay their fair share” (an amount determined by the demagogue and various bureaucratic parasites). It’s never acknowledged that the “rich” already pay the bulk of America’s tax revenue (40% of Americans pay no federal taxes at all). In the end, the call to steal through such punitive tax measures “trickles down” to the middle class and everyone else through eventual higher taxes, higher prices for products and services, reduced employment options, and an overall drag on the economy. For what? So that socialist politics can enact its standard war upon success and achievement. …Pathetic.
Although most socialists would fancy themselves skilled in their insights into the economics of war, their view is ultimately incredibly simplistic...basically, "War requires weapons therefore weapons makers benefit from war, therefore weapons makers cause wars. It's like saying farmers cause hunger.
"Greed" is supposedly what guys in smoke filled rooms process (never people like you or I). Risking one's fortune to produce a product to sell is seen as "greedy," Buying a lottery ticket and risking ten dollars in the hopes of becoming rich is what exactly? Productive enterprise?
