Have you ever SEEN some of your fellow/.'ers ? I would have to say they would probably be more used to bacteria, fungi, infection, and parasites than say....the average non-techie;-)
Hmmm... this makes me nervous.. I'm going to be at a convention at the Sheraton Sand Key in FL (just outside of Tampa) next week and plan on getting some waverunning in. Hopefully I wont be dodging projectiles from marine life.
I think they should take the dolphins and put them into the floodwaters of NOLA. Maybe they could do a better job than their police department there!;-)
I know the guy (whom I consider a friend), that designed the filter and switching system for the receiver of this thing.
His name is Raul Valery and teaches audio engineering at Valencia Community College in Orlando, FL (US). He has a masters in "signal processing" from somewhere in Indiana. He also did either some engineering or producing for Dr. Dre back in the day.
He worked for the JPL out west for a while. This guy taught me a lot of what I know about electronics and sound. Although his accent from Argentina was heavy, I would actually look forward to his lectures because I would learn a great deal every time.
Anyway he told me about this probe a while ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember all of the details but he said the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) was under 1%. He also said that the amount of power recieved was measured in mW. There is an automatic switching system so that if it stops receiving signal on channel A, it will immediately switch to channel B. This was because they did not want ANY interruption in the datas tream during planetary a fly-by. Raul was the first human to see close up images of several planets.
Remember that in copyright law there is something called "scope of employment" This means that if you are paid to write code, but end up painting a masterpiece on canvas during company time you still own the copyright to the painting.
Your employer can only own your creative works as long as they are within the scope of your employment, or unless of course you license it to them.
Actually, according to the Betamax case it is perfectly legal to record broadcasts for the purpose of time shifting.
This means if you find an Internet radio station (or a FM/AM) and you record them all day, and then slice the file into individual songs, that is perfectly legal.
Our laws are so logical they are illogical. Gotta love it, eh?
Hate to tell you, but the telephone, sound recording devices, lightbulb, electrical wiring concepts, film and millions of other inventions were all developed in hopes of a patent so that they could profit.
That's the idea - if you create something novel and inventive, you get first right and limited monolopy to exploit it. Read up on Edison and Co and maybe you'll educate yourself on history before making an ignorant statement like that.
Now I do agree that there is a fine line and careful balance needed between fostering innovation in a free market economy and stifiling innovation due to draconion laws.
In most airliners some of the walls and bulkheads are punch out capable. In case of loss of cabin pressure they would rather have part of the bulkhead or wall coming off rather than the entire thing. That could potientially damage the structural integrity of the craft which a simple decompression may not do.
Well a pro pilot friend of mine said that not only would the dosage need to be different for every individual on the plane, but they do not currently have a gas that is able to do this and NOT be extremely flamable!
Actually at this point in time he was the Hebrew God, not the Christian God. This was roughly 5000 years (or so) prior to Christ.
Also when reading the Old Testament one has to remember that it was writen very similar to the Illiad and the Oddessy. Therefore 1) don't take everything literally and 2) Remember these people didn't understand basic concepts such as weather and gravity. They tended to blame everything, negative and positive, on "God/gods etc".
You are applying a very 20th century mindset on a book that was written with anything but.
Before making such an inflamatory (and ignorant) statement you might consider pondering your thoughts first.
The copyright act of 1976 provides for the level of the infringment be elevated to criminal if the threshold of the infringment: "Is willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period."
You are right. It is usually a tort which is civil. These cases I dont beleive are criminal in nature. But copyright infringment can be considered criminal if it reaches a given threshold:
- Willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
There is no theft, just an infringment on the copyright holders exclusive right of distribution. That is a tort which is civil until it reaches the following threshold:
"Willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period."
Actually it isnt always a crime. It is usually a tort until it reaches the threshold of willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
Torts are usually civil, whereas crimes are obviously criminal.
Actually it isn't a crime until it reaches a specificed threshold as set by the US Code. Until then it is considered a "tort" which is a civil offense, NOT a criminal offense.
Criminal infringment is willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
My major in college was the study of the recording industry. I am an audio engineer but have had a couple of law courses focusing on the rec industry.
Here are some of my brief notes from my copyright law course. Some of this is kind of random, scattered and dissheleved.
BASIC LAWS There are currently 3 types of property in the US: 1) Personal - should be obvious 2) Real - and/buildings 3) "Intellectual"
There are mostly 3 tyes of "Intellectual Properties" 1) Patents - systems, processess, formulas, etc 2) Copyrights - original writings or works of art from an author or artist 3) Trademarks - logo, name, design, slogan 4) Trade Secrets - anything a company uses secretly which is not patented
Trademark conflicts are between businesses and is based on geographic location and which industry it is used in. When courts try trademark cases they base their decision on the objective of "causing the least amount of confusion in rhe market place"
Novelty and inventiveness are required for a patent, but not for a copyright.
Anything that has a minimal degree of creativity meets the threshold for copyright can be copyrighted
A creative work is copyrighted the instant it is put in the form of a tangiable medium.
IDEAS ARE NOT PROTECTED BUT WORKS THAT CONTAIN IDEAS ARE COPYRIGHTABLE.
What can be copyrighted? Literary works, musical works (including lyrics), dramatic works (music too), pantemines, cheorographic works, pictorial, graphic, scupltural work, motion picture, a/v works, animations, sound recordings, archetectual works.
RIGHTS: As the owner of a copyright what rights do you have? - Reproduction - Authorize derivivative works - Distribution - Public Performance - Public Display - Digital Transmission (DMCA)
Copyright litigation: The 3 questions asked by the court: - Who owns the valid copyrigt - Was there unlawful copying by the defendent - Substansiality and/or similarity
REMEDIES: The remedies for a civil copyright infringment are this 1- Injunctions (preliminary and permant) 2- Impoundment and/or destruction 3- Damages (fines/restrictions) damages can be actual (plantiff loss + defendent gains) or statuatory (as defined by law) 4- Court costs and attorney fees
Statuatory damages and court costs/attorney fees are not availble remedies to the plantiff unless the work was registered with the US Copyright Office PRIOR to the infringment by the defendent.
Statury damages can be as low as $200 per infringment for an innocent infringment but as high as $150,000 for a willful infringment.
To have infringment: 1- Plantiff must have ownership of valid copyright 2- Unlawful copying must have taken place 3- Access must be proven; direct (defendent saw/heard copy of work); indirect (access is inferred by wide dissemination) 4- Similarity; 4 types- identical; striking, substantial, insubstantial
Criminal infringment: Willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period. Penalties: $250,000 fines for a person or $500,000 for an entity and/or imprisonment 5 years for first offense, 10 years for second offense.
Constructive knowledge - once a work of art is registered with the USCO it is presumed that the defendent is aware of the copyright.
FAIR USE What is fair use? It is a defense against alleged copyright infringment The courts evaluate 4 elements in defining fair use: - Nature of the work (factual vs fictional) - Nature of the use (commercial vs educational vs private vs public) - Amount and substantiality (using the hook/chorus or verse) - The effect on the commercial market place (more weight has been given to this one recently)
MISC CONCEPTS/IDEAS: There is concept called the idea/expression dichotomy. The expression of the facts can be copyrighted but the facts themselves cannot.
There is a concept called the Merger Doctrine; there
First off these people are not being sued for downloading. They are being sued for distribution (uploading).
There are such things as statuatory damages (usually punitive) vs actual damages. The law provides for this. Statury damages can be as low as $200 per infringment for an innocent infringment but as high as $150,000 for a willful infringment. I would suspect the RIAA is seeking these types of damages, and not actual damages. The damages are different for criminal/commercial infringment.
My major in college was the study of the recording industry. I am an audio engineer but have had a couple of law courses focusing on the rec industry.
I agree with you however I think that the US policies of the last 100 years or so (especially the last 50-75) have caused a lot of our problems.
If we reverted back to George Washington's idea of "trade with all, alliances with none" we would not have a reason for these people to hate us.
Granted we are not the cause for them to hate us in all cases, but a lot of times we are. Some people will hate us regardless of our policies, others will hate us because of our policies. If we make our policies less imperalistic and more libertarian some of the problem goes away.
I agree with you 100% but we get into 'nature vs nurture' somewhat.
People make choices that affect their lives and have consequences of these choices, positive or negative.
My great uncle was raised in a shack in Mississippi with dirt for floors (he is white). However he went to school and acceled at science and math. Well after high school he was given a scholarship to college etc and went on to get a BS in chemistry, specifically biochem.
He got hired by Buckeye/Procter and Gamble and now he is retired and lives in his million dollar home just up the road from where he grew up because his name is on the patent for the absorbancy factor of playtex pads, and pampers diapers. There is a factory in Perry, FL built entirely on the process that he designed. (every time I see him I joke that he is the smartest man to ever come out of Mississippi)
That is one example of class mobility.
Another example is some more of my family that had 5 kids and they were millionaires. Well, only one of the 5 kids is making a good living on their own while the parents are still supporting the other 4 as grown adults.
I think a lot of it depends on the person and how they were raised. People CAN do things in this country to change their economic status. That is what is great about it. OR they can wallow in their poverty and do nothing. That is THEIR choice. However it pisses me off when people choose to do nothing about it and my tax dollars pay them not to work (but that is another subject entirely).
I am a libertarian and will make my way on my own with only a minimal amount of help from my family. If I can do it anyone can do it. I am a "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" kind of guy. However I must also admit that my parents took me to feed the homeless in our city once a month for 12+ years where we lived. That has given me an interesting perspective on things.
Your post reminds me of a couple of songs. One is by the Offspring called "Way down the line". I find some truth in this song but I think absolutes are not always the best course of action. Some people really do have problems that they can't overcome; others can but choose not to. Here are some excerpts:
Nothing changes because its all the same the world you get is the one you give away it all just happens way down the line
an angry man gets drunk and beats his kids, the same way his drunken father did...
17 Jenny is pregnent, young as a mom when she had her, her daughter is never going to have a dad, the same old way that Jenny never had
and all the things you learn when you're a kid, you'll fuck up just like your parents did.. it all just happens way down the line
welfare moms have kids on welfare
fat parents have fat kids too (poster edit - yeah this is the case for me)
it all just happens way down the line
******************** Theen there is a song from Everlast which has a line in it that says:
"you know where you end, but it usually depends on where you start"
I appreciate your comments being rational, logical, and intelligent even though I do not really agree with all of them. It is better than some emotional 'rich vs poor' drivel that some others have posted. For that I applaud you.
Regarding your "ultimate irony" comment it is an unfortunate fact that war breeds innovation. Currently we are seeing the fruits of that innovation from the Cold War. I am sure you know the history of ARPA/DARPA and the development of the Net etc. When war happens the military (and private contractors) conduct a lot of R&D and thus in the post-war eras the commercial spin-offs are most often beneficial to society at large. I am well aware that the current space program and many of the tecnological advances today would not have been possible without the "profitless" effort of the government during these 'times of war'.
However private (and public) corporations give a fair amount of research dollars to institutions of higher learning. I have read and heard, although I cannot back it up, that the majority of drug research in the US is conducted by institutions which get grants from the drug companies themselves. Let's pretend for a moment that these institutions are all private. If this were the case, R&D would continue regardless of the government's presence or war time status in the private sector. War tends to accelerate the rate and urgency of this so the growth of our technological knowledge would obviously not be as fast paced in the private sector than in a war-time military sector.
My dad and several of my friends worked in the airline industry for 20-30 years. The only thing I have to say about the airlines is that they never should have been regulated to begin with. Yes the change is painful (my dad is currently worried about losing his retirement pension if Delta goes under) but this "bubble" would've never existed if the airlines hadn't have been deregulated. It doesn't make sense for an industry to be regulated like that so they had to cut it off somehow once there was signifigant growth but as I said, it should've never been regulated to being with.
At this point however I see that your knowledge and understandings of economics is probably greater than mine. Therefore I am not going to comment on anything else in your post as I have nothing to back it up with.
Actually free markets enable class mobility. With a highly regulated market, it makes it harder for smaller and sole proprietorships to cut through all of the regulations and start-up. Big business likes big government because they can buy laws. We are seeing this situation play out currently.
I agree that our individual freedoms are being eroded away with time by the government. We have inalieble rights which are not given to us by the government, but rather secured by it. Thus having a smaller government doesn't allow it to be used as a tool by the wealthy to swing things in their favor.
In this country, the US, it is not the government's job to protect people from different classes.
Do you realize that our most transformative era in US history was when the government took a lazie-faire attitude? This allowed the industrial revolution. Granted there were signifigant abuses that came about during that time period, horrible working conditions, child labor, pathetic wages, etc. However the people began to form unions which was the counter balence. The government had no place. Honestly any basic college economics course will explain that the market always attempts to equalize under free conditions. Imposing artificial restrictions tend to foul the system and prohibit the attempt of equalization. The misnomer of "price-gouging" comes to mind.
If you really believe everything you just posted then you have indeed fallen into the trap and mental illness of modern day liberalism. You have been listening to people cry this dogma of self helplessness for way too long and apparently have succumbed to the class warfare farce.
So I say, pull your brain from your bleeding heart and make some intelligent statements which are not an us vs them, good vs evil, right vs wrong scenario. How about some basic proven economics, social sciences, and most importantly logical and rational thought?
Personally I am not conservative or liberal but embrace libertarianism. I also find classical liberalism interesting. And if you must know I am living below the poverty line at the moment (just graduated college) but I am in business for myself and within 5-10 years will be earning above average income. The government, local, state, federal, is making it harder and harder for me to operate without an attorney, tax consultant, accountant, etc due to the sheer mass of regulations that must be followed. This is what I mean by class mobility.
Slashdot Mirror
Uhhh.... I wouldn't admit if I had microscopic living things swimming around in my colon searching for something to procreate with...
:-(
;-)
The next logical question is "how did these little things get in there"? which is a question I don't want answered!
Remember the first sign of HIV is often times a pounding sensation in the ass
"uncomfortable to many techies"?
/.'ers ? I would have to say they would probably be more used to bacteria, fungi, infection, and parasites than say....the average non-techie ;-)
HA!
Have you ever SEEN some of your fellow
How in the hell is this "informative"?
:-)
You sir, are an arrogant and uneducated ass.
Hmmm... this makes me nervous.. I'm going to be at a convention at the Sheraton Sand Key in FL (just outside of Tampa) next week and plan on getting some waverunning in. Hopefully I wont be dodging projectiles from marine life.
;-)
I think they should take the dolphins and put them into the floodwaters of NOLA. Maybe they could do a better job than their police department there!
I know the guy (whom I consider a friend), that designed the filter and switching system for the receiver of this thing.
His name is Raul Valery and teaches audio engineering at Valencia Community College in Orlando, FL (US). He has a masters in "signal processing" from somewhere in Indiana. He also did either some engineering or producing for Dr. Dre back in the day.
He worked for the JPL out west for a while. This guy taught me a lot of what I know about electronics and sound. Although his accent from Argentina was heavy, I would actually look forward to his lectures because I would learn a great deal every time.
Anyway he told me about this probe a while ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember all of the details but he said the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) was under 1%. He also said that the amount of power recieved was measured in mW. There is an automatic switching system so that if it stops receiving signal on channel A, it will immediately switch to channel B. This was because they did not want ANY interruption in the datas tream during planetary a fly-by. Raul was the first human to see close up images of several planets.
Remember that in copyright law there is something called "scope of employment" This means that if you are paid to write code, but end up painting a masterpiece on canvas during company time you still own the copyright to the painting.
Your employer can only own your creative works as long as they are within the scope of your employment, or unless of course you license it to them.
Actually, according to the Betamax case it is perfectly legal to record broadcasts for the purpose of time shifting.
This means if you find an Internet radio station (or a FM/AM) and you record them all day, and then slice the file into individual songs, that is perfectly legal.
Our laws are so logical they are illogical. Gotta love it, eh?
Hate to tell you, but the telephone, sound recording devices, lightbulb, electrical wiring concepts, film and millions of other inventions were all developed in hopes of a patent so that they could profit.
That's the idea - if you create something novel and inventive, you get first right and limited monolopy to exploit it. Read up on Edison and Co and maybe you'll educate yourself on history before making an ignorant statement like that.
Now I do agree that there is a fine line and careful balance needed between fostering innovation in a free market economy and stifiling innovation due to draconion laws.
In most airliners some of the walls and bulkheads are punch out capable. In case of loss of cabin pressure they would rather have part of the bulkhead or wall coming off rather than the entire thing. That could potientially damage the structural integrity of the craft which a simple decompression may not do.
Well a pro pilot friend of mine said that not only would the dosage need to be different for every individual on the plane, but they do not currently have a gas that is able to do this and NOT be extremely flamable!
Actually at this point in time he was the Hebrew God, not the Christian God. This was roughly 5000 years (or so) prior to Christ.
Also when reading the Old Testament one has to remember that it was writen very similar to the Illiad and the Oddessy. Therefore 1) don't take everything literally and 2) Remember these people didn't understand basic concepts such as weather and gravity. They tended to blame everything, negative and positive, on "God/gods etc".
You are applying a very 20th century mindset on a book that was written with anything but.
Before making such an inflamatory (and ignorant) statement you might consider pondering your thoughts first.
The copyright act of 1976 provides for the level of the infringment be elevated to criminal if the threshold of the infringment:
"Is willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period."
You are right. It is usually a tort which is civil. These cases I dont beleive are criminal in nature. But copyright infringment can be considered criminal if it reaches a given threshold:
- Willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
Actually this isn't a crime against real or personal property. It is a tort (civil) against intellectual property.
A crime against personal property is if I shoplift it from the store.
Actually that isn't a legal defense.
There is no theft, just an infringment on the copyright holders exclusive right of distribution. That is a tort which is civil until it reaches the following threshold:
"Willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period."
Actually it isnt always a crime. It is usually a tort until it reaches the threshold of willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
Torts are usually civil, whereas crimes are obviously criminal.
Actually it isn't a crime until it reaches a specificed threshold as set by the US Code. Until then it is considered a "tort" which is a civil offense, NOT a criminal offense.
Criminal infringment is willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
My major in college was the study of the recording industry. I am an audio engineer but have had a couple of law courses focusing on the rec industry.
Here are some of my brief notes from my copyright law course. Some of this is kind of random, scattered and dissheleved.
BASIC LAWS
There are currently 3 types of property in the US:
1) Personal - should be obvious 2) Real - and/buildings 3) "Intellectual"
There are mostly 3 tyes of "Intellectual Properties"
1) Patents - systems, processess, formulas, etc 2) Copyrights - original writings or works of art from an author or artist 3) Trademarks - logo, name, design, slogan 4) Trade Secrets - anything a company uses secretly which is not patented
Trademark conflicts are between businesses and is based on geographic location and which industry it is used in. When courts try trademark cases they base their decision on the objective of "causing the least amount of confusion in rhe market place"
Novelty and inventiveness are required for a patent, but not for a copyright.
Anything that has a minimal degree of creativity meets the threshold for copyright can be copyrighted
A creative work is copyrighted the instant it is put in the form of a tangiable medium.
IDEAS ARE NOT PROTECTED BUT WORKS THAT CONTAIN IDEAS ARE COPYRIGHTABLE.
What can be copyrighted?
Literary works, musical works (including lyrics), dramatic works (music too), pantemines, cheorographic works, pictorial, graphic, scupltural work, motion picture, a/v works, animations, sound recordings, archetectual works.
RIGHTS:
As the owner of a copyright what rights do you have?
- Reproduction - Authorize derivivative works - Distribution - Public Performance - Public Display
- Digital Transmission (DMCA)
Copyright litigation:
The 3 questions asked by the court:
- Who owns the valid copyrigt - Was there unlawful copying by the defendent - Substansiality and/or similarity
REMEDIES:
The remedies for a civil copyright infringment are this
1- Injunctions (preliminary and permant) 2- Impoundment and/or destruction 3- Damages (fines/restrictions) damages can be actual (plantiff loss + defendent gains) or statuatory (as defined by law) 4- Court costs and attorney fees
Statuatory damages and court costs/attorney fees are not availble remedies to the plantiff unless the work was registered with the US Copyright Office PRIOR to the infringment by the defendent.
Statury damages can be as low as $200 per infringment for an innocent infringment but as high as $150,000 for a willful infringment.
To have infringment:
1- Plantiff must have ownership of valid copyright 2- Unlawful copying must have taken place 3- Access must be proven; direct (defendent saw/heard copy of work); indirect (access is inferred by wide dissemination) 4- Similarity; 4 types- identical; striking, substantial, insubstantial
Criminal infringment:
Willful infringment for commercial advantage or private financial gain by the sale of 10 or more copies or retail value of $2,500 or more within a 6 month period.
Penalties: $250,000 fines for a person or $500,000 for an entity and/or imprisonment 5 years for first offense, 10 years for second offense.
Constructive knowledge - once a work of art is registered with the USCO it is presumed that the defendent is aware of the copyright.
FAIR USE
What is fair use? It is a defense against alleged copyright infringment
The courts evaluate 4 elements in defining fair use:
- Nature of the work (factual vs fictional) - Nature of the use (commercial vs educational vs private vs public) - Amount and substantiality (using the hook/chorus or verse) - The effect on the commercial market place (more weight has been given to this one recently)
MISC CONCEPTS/IDEAS:
There is concept called the idea/expression dichotomy. The expression of the facts can be copyrighted but the facts themselves cannot.
There is a concept called the Merger Doctrine; there
First off these people are not being sued for downloading. They are being sued for distribution (uploading).
There are such things as statuatory damages (usually punitive) vs actual damages. The law provides for this. Statury damages can be as low as $200 per infringment for an innocent infringment but as high as $150,000 for a willful infringment. I would suspect the RIAA is seeking these types of damages, and not actual damages. The damages are different for criminal/commercial infringment.
My major in college was the study of the recording industry. I am an audio engineer but have had a couple of law courses focusing on the rec industry.
I agree with you however I think that the US policies of the last 100 years or so (especially the last 50-75) have caused a lot of our problems.
If we reverted back to George Washington's idea of "trade with all, alliances with none" we would not have a reason for these people to hate us.
Granted we are not the cause for them to hate us in all cases, but a lot of times we are. Some people will hate us regardless of our policies, others will hate us because of our policies. If we make our policies less imperalistic and more libertarian some of the problem goes away.
I was going to give you a decent legit response, but I have decided not to waste my time.
Personally, I don't think you are capable of higher thought on the order of being able to comprehend some of these basic concepts.
Feel free to go wallow in your self misery and defetist mindset. Why do I have a feeling my tax dollars will be wasted on you in the future?
I agree with you 100% but we get into 'nature vs nurture' somewhat.
People make choices that affect their lives and have consequences of these choices, positive or negative.
My great uncle was raised in a shack in Mississippi with dirt for floors (he is white). However he went to school and acceled at science and math. Well after high school he was given a scholarship to college etc and went on to get a BS in chemistry, specifically biochem.
He got hired by Buckeye/Procter and Gamble and now he is retired and lives in his million dollar home just up the road from where he grew up because his name is on the patent for the absorbancy factor of playtex pads, and pampers diapers. There is a factory in Perry, FL built entirely on the process that he designed. (every time I see him I joke that he is the smartest man to ever come out of Mississippi)
That is one example of class mobility.
Another example is some more of my family that had 5 kids and they were millionaires. Well, only one of the 5 kids is making a good living on their own while the parents are still supporting the other 4 as grown adults.
I think a lot of it depends on the person and how they were raised. People CAN do things in this country to change their economic status. That is what is great about it. OR they can wallow in their poverty and do nothing. That is THEIR choice. However it pisses me off when people choose to do nothing about it and my tax dollars pay them not to work (but that is another subject entirely).
I am a libertarian and will make my way on my own with only a minimal amount of help from my family. If I can do it anyone can do it. I am a "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" kind of guy. However I must also admit that my parents took me to feed the homeless in our city once a month for 12+ years where we lived. That has given me an interesting perspective on things.
Your post reminds me of a couple of songs. One is by the Offspring called "Way down the line". I find some truth in this song but I think absolutes
are not always the best course of action. Some people really do have problems that they can't overcome; others can but choose not to. Here are some excerpts:
Nothing changes because its all the same
the world you get is the one you give away
it all just happens way down the line
an angry man gets drunk and beats his kids, the same way his drunken father did...
17 Jenny is pregnent, young as a mom when she had her, her daughter is never going to have a dad, the same old way that Jenny never had
and all the things you learn when you're a kid, you'll fuck up just like your parents did.. it all just happens way down the line
welfare moms have kids on welfare
fat parents have fat kids too (poster edit - yeah this is the case for me)
it all just happens way down the line
********************
Theen there is a song from Everlast which has a line in it that says:
"you know where you end, but it usually depends on where you start"
********************
I appreciate your comments being rational, logical, and intelligent even though I do not really agree with all of them. It is better than some emotional 'rich vs poor' drivel that some others have posted. For that I applaud you.
Regarding your "ultimate irony" comment it is an unfortunate fact that war breeds innovation. Currently we are seeing the fruits of that innovation from the Cold War. I am sure you know the history of ARPA/DARPA and the development of the Net etc. When war happens the military (and private contractors) conduct a lot of R&D and thus in the post-war eras the commercial spin-offs are most often beneficial to society at large. I am well aware that the current space program and many of the tecnological advances today would not have been possible without the "profitless" effort of the government during these 'times of war'.
However private (and public) corporations give a fair amount of research dollars to institutions of higher learning. I have read and heard, although I cannot back it up, that the majority of drug research in the US is conducted by institutions which get grants from the drug companies themselves. Let's pretend for a moment that these institutions are all private. If this were the case, R&D would continue regardless of the government's presence or war time status in the private sector. War tends to accelerate the rate and urgency of this so the growth of our technological knowledge would obviously not be as fast paced in the private sector than in a war-time military sector.
My dad and several of my friends worked in the airline industry for 20-30 years. The only thing I have to say about the airlines is that they never should have been regulated to begin with. Yes the change is painful (my dad is currently worried about losing his retirement pension if Delta goes under) but this "bubble" would've never existed if the airlines hadn't have been deregulated. It doesn't make sense for an industry to be regulated like that so they had to cut it off somehow once there was signifigant growth but as I said, it should've never been regulated to being with.
At this point however I see that your knowledge and understandings of economics is probably greater than mine. Therefore I am not going to comment on anything else in your post as I have nothing to back it up with.
"You've got nailed!"
Actually free markets enable class mobility. With a highly regulated market, it makes it harder for smaller and sole proprietorships to cut through all of the regulations and start-up. Big business likes big government because they can buy laws. We are seeing this situation play out currently.
I agree that our individual freedoms are being eroded away with time by the government. We have inalieble rights which are not given to us by the government, but rather secured by it. Thus having a smaller government doesn't allow it to be used as a tool by the wealthy to swing things in their favor.
In this country, the US, it is not the government's job to protect people from different classes.
Do you realize that our most transformative era in US history was when the government took a lazie-faire attitude? This allowed the industrial revolution. Granted there were signifigant abuses that came about during that time period, horrible working conditions, child labor, pathetic wages, etc. However the people began to form unions which was the counter balence. The government had no place. Honestly any basic college economics course will explain that the market always attempts to equalize under free conditions. Imposing artificial restrictions tend to foul the system and prohibit the attempt of equalization. The misnomer of "price-gouging" comes to mind.
If you really believe everything you just posted then you have indeed fallen into the trap and mental illness of modern day liberalism. You have been listening to people cry this dogma of self helplessness for way too long and apparently have succumbed to the class warfare farce.
So I say, pull your brain from your bleeding heart and make some intelligent statements which are not an us vs them, good vs evil, right vs wrong scenario. How about some basic proven economics, social sciences, and most importantly logical and rational thought?
Personally I am not conservative or liberal but embrace libertarianism. I also find classical liberalism interesting. And if you must know I am living below the poverty line at the moment (just graduated college) but I am in business for myself and within 5-10 years will be earning above average income. The government, local, state, federal, is making it harder and harder for me to operate without an attorney, tax consultant, accountant, etc due to the sheer mass of regulations that must be followed. This is what I mean by class mobility.