That was an interesting statement. We're even more in agreement now. (You were correct in your request, I did not write you off, I write few people off, but I do "let go" and I find that it gives me peace of mind. Change occurs internally, none can be effected externally through force.)
I didn't know you were an adherent (or rather "student") of the Tao. I am not certain the "Tao Te Ching" was "written" by Lao Tzu, but I would think it was certainly paraphrased from what writings he may well have left behind, before taking off on his famous water buffalo journey into the wastes.
His actions and teachings were similar to other prophets of the past who taught similar things, and yet the populace, lacking insight, followed the rulers (*) instead of understanding that the path is something one travels on one's own or with a few others, but rarely en masse.
*note: the rulers rarely wasted time in subverting the teachings of each subsequent prophet after Lao Tzu, once force proved an inadequate means of subjugating those who were on their path to enlightenment. A prime example of this is the council of Nicaea. Another is the council of Laodicea. The prime example in modern day is Confucianism as practiced by the Chinese authorities. What boggles the mind is WHY, and HOW is it that the students of the Tao did not succumb to statism and authoritarianism. Every other system of thought did, but those who adhere to the Tao, did not. Very curious.
I agree with what you say this time. Technically this is what I was advocating, though my approach is mostly one of lack of caring (this is why I sometimes come off as a heartless bastard, especially as of late). I tried agitating, but it simply doesn't work, as I'm sure you'd know, having a far longer history with it than I did (by the sound of it). So I figured that since I already know that liberty isn't exactly a cause that fighting will help, and try simply rubbing it in, by "it", I refer to the massive amount of stupidity or just gullibility required of people to believe that those who rule have their best interests at heart or mind.
That being said, the rulers are not entirely to blame, nor ever have they been. People, in general, don't want any form of liberty, for themselves and even less so for others. Rulers merely capitalize on this very "mass man" desire to be "better off" than others by seeing others downtrodden through the often quoted statement of "pay your fair share" rather than uplift oneself and those around one's presence. Rulers very readily jump in and provide EXACTLY this means of crushing fellow serfs, by giving the "mass man" all the means the mass men as a group will need to keep themselves enslaved, in perpetuity, without any real need to do more than routinely provide them with a few shocks to keep them in line.
Freedom, as a way of life, however, is natural, but also a difficult path (technically the Tao refers to it in several occasions) and requires a certain type of individual to enjoy it and live it fully. To work as a form of common governance, liberty/freedom requires responsibility and the ability to examine one's own actions in the light of reason, which often is an unkind light to one's own more preferable "feel good" light.
That being said, neither Liberty nor Reason nor the Tao Te Ching are things that are going to change the world. The world will have to change itself, or fail, but we're not the ones who can do that. All we can fix or mess up is our own lives.
And after having said all that, let me say that arguing certainly can be a fun, though it was far more enjoyable actually finding a common ground with a few folks out here, you included. I'm slightly surprised, but pleasantly surprised at that. Glad we could come to such an interesting meeting of minds.
Arbitration is fine, but arbitration requires a voluntary group and a third that merely weighs the things in question and renders a decision that both agree to be bound by. Government makes its decision regardless and will sequester or kill anyone who disagrees (after robbing them blind, of course, I believe they call that "confiscation".)
As for your second comment, I'm also in agreement, but remember "rulership" is different than "leadership"... a leader actually serves the group inasmuch as they serve him (they all get to a goal together, they've agreed upon it, and have selected the one most fit to lead that particular task/goal/mission to do so), but a ruler, may or may not exhibit leadership, may or may not be elected, but he is certainly benefiting mostly himself and the group gets the scraps, regardless of the agreement, if even that much. He doesn't have to show this to the group, and in fact most modern ruling groups hide the fact that they RULE rather than lead.
Quick question, who does the government kill? The competition. Always.
Who was the government in Judea? Herod father and later Herod the son. Who was the imperial government there? Rome.
Who tried to kill Jesus? Herod the father when he was young (the flight to Egypt story). Who later tried to entrap Jesus into being nabbed as a rebel or Caesar denier/tax resister? Herod and the Pharisees. Who later conspired to kill and who actually killed Jesus? Bingo, Rome... mostly at the behest of the local government, that being the man's own people. Sort of like the county or state governments escalating his case up to the Supreme Court (or at least a Federal court) and then having the man executed for pissing on some statute or other and really upsetting the status quo (namely the rich Jews were pissed off that the rabble rouser was going to start a revolt, that would lead to an actual revolution instead of the usual revenue inducing bloodshed they were used to... so they had the man removed... resurrection or not, the historic part is likely to have happened in some form or other, betrayals of this type have always occurred when the people were promised a few breadcrumbs from the master's table in exchange for the life of a man who said "work for it and its yours, but YOU have to do it." Seems self starting impulses are about as common in history as they are today.
Hope you enjoyed the paraphrase, I'm not really that hard and set about digging up verse. I got the gist of it, I'm not a rabbi or a priest, so I don't make a habit of rote memorization, no more than any American kid makes a habit of memorizing our own Constitution or even the Declaration of Independence, despite swearing loyalty to said documents upon taking any form of government job or tax/wealth redistribution handout job. But at least your life or health isn't endangered or threatened by my lack of memorization, while it most certainly is by those who take an oath and never deliver on their word.
http://anti-state.com/redford/redford4.html A very nice view of the Bible, one I hadn't looked into since I walked away from the Church. That being said, this fellow seems quite positive that Jesus was intended as a liberator, not as a ham fisted patriarch for a corrupt church (one of which he faced in his day and age) and a totally irreparable construct (government) of which there were equal amounts of samples in his day also.
That link should help you out a bit, if it hasn't been changed, it posts a very good view on what I mentioned... he seems far more apt to quote bible verses which you should enjoy.
I've read the Bible in several different languages and have found incongruencies in all the translations, so if the translations are THIS piss poor with professional and highly paid translators in today's day and age when language is largely standardized (as are the translation tables for most of the mainstream languages) one has to wonder how piss poor the translations were from SPOKEN Aramaic/Hebrew to WRITTEN Greek, and later Written Latin, and yet again Written French/Spanish/Portuguese and finally Written German and English (and no, I don't speak them all, nor read them all). Nevermind those nasty little things like shifting "newspeak" meanings of all the languages in question, which immediately casts the light of doubt on any kind of job translators would've done.
No, in truth the FCC acts as a public opinion damper. Without their protector agencies of the government, large conglomerates would get burned off the face of the Earth by large mobs of angry people they've screwed over. This would be the so called "frontier justice" (i.e. the kind that works for the little guy better than it does for the big guy.)
Government never helps the little guy, never has. Even Yahweh in the Old Testament (this is for you Christians and Jews) tells the people of Israel who asked for a King from God, that he will send them one, who will take their sons as soldiers, their daughters as maids, and tax them 10% and in Yahweh's own words... "and then they shall be slaves."
Interestingly the same can be said for Jesus, but this implies actually READING THE DAMN TEXTS... (my own understanding of them grows daily, and I wouldn't consider me a religious man by any measure of the word, I dare say I have a beef with hierarchical religion and systems of control in general. Leadership is fine in my book, rulership is not, especially coerced rulership.)
"I feel like part of the family." This after a healthy vacation spent with the Bushes as company, I dare say Democraps and Republikrats are not exactly "enemies" any more than us here arguing on slashdot are enemies or even "opponents."
Token resistance and quiet compliance does not an opponent make.
Seriously, if you feel so inclined, take this advice. I can't argue with your all seeing wisdom. I'm done arguing, to each his own (her own?) and good luck to you. With such wisdom guiding you, I can rest assured that you will be FAR more wealthy than any individual that actually looked at the big picture. Thanks for proving my point to me. Who needs physical goods when you've got paper assets. I'm ashamed of my lack of grand insight as you possess.
To see your wisdom in action, I believe you may wish to should head to Zimbabwe, and live as a native, I hear they're doing REALLY WELL with that whole stable paper currency. It's doing marvels for that country.
Could be. I don't much give a damn anymore:) You'll have to excuse me, I'm not really trying to "sway" people or "win debates", I'm mostly rubbing in that the slaves want their slavery more than they even want to live. I find that supremely enjoyable to laugh at. If you don't then that's your thing. Enjoy.
You're mistaken. I was a fast enough and fit enough fighter to beat the thugs that assailed me (second time around.)(I am also generally quite aware of my surroundings, as opposed to the vast masses of "victims" and the victim worshippers who continue to enable those victims to remain victims. First time, however, I was robbed in my own home, and I just happened to live in a disarmament zone, which was supposedly "safe.")
Suffice it to say that my wrongful arrest was corrected, and the cops in question are jobless and have a nasty blemish on their career records. That being said, I had the resources and the willpower to go all the way and return the favor the "boys in blue" did me. More than that, I cannot say without compromising the terms of the agreement reached with the representatives of the city I was living in at the time.
I do not know the circumstances with which you were faced when your eye "was taken" but the fact that you say "taken" rather than "lost", implies to me that you did not exact nearly the heavy price those thugs should've paid for attacking an honest man with the means and training to resist. I believe you were fortunate to only get away with losing one eye, and because of your lack of preparation (be it physical or mental) that gang of thugs walked away to hurt someone else down the road. Also it seems your resistance (if you offered any) was token, for had it truly been lethal and precise (regardless of the weapon of choice, even if just a sword or bare hands), there would be no thugs left to take your eye, either because they would run, or die trying to attack. The last thing on their minds when faced with a truly fearsome individual hell bent on finishing them off, is to steal one's eye, or wallet, or clothes, or virginity for that matter. When you are poorly equipped to survive aggression, there are only two means of survival, awareness/fleetness (both combined, as was my case when robbed in home) or the mere mercy of the aggressors... which as you probably noted, is not something you should bet your "life and limb" upon... though eventually the aggressor runs into someone that won't lay down and the thug's career ends... brutally quick, and rightfully so.
Not really, he's the only actual "republican" so to speak, in the entire party. He'd have to be nominated by the republicans, if they were actually "right wing", instead of just plain authoritarians.
Of course, the humor of Ron Paul, IMHO, is that he's a band aid that would heal the system enough to keep the system from being seen for what it is. Yet another facet of tyranny. A tyranny that has gone unbroken for millenia. I'm actually praying that we get one of the socialist tyrants, because they will be just the amount of pressure needed to collapse the system unto itself. After which, of course, the masters will eat their slaves, while the strong will finally be left to live our own lives as we choose... the slaves will get what they deserve and will get to live their lives in the perpetual safety of slavery that they've always loved and cherished.
I, for one, see no reason to wrest them from those chains. I've never advocated freeing anyone against their will. Personally I think the more slaves there are the better, because they will deplete their food supply faster and thus die off along with those whom they serve and leave the planet for those who can actually live life on it, rather than have it lived FOR them.
Obviously you speak on things of which you have no knowledge. If you had you would be aware of how legal language in the tax code works. Try it some time, and work on it, the Internal Revenue Code is a BIG text and the definitions are at the last portion, not up front, so you misunderstand it if you read it without the definitions ripped out sitting in front of you and being looked up every time you read. But what do I know, I actually read the damn thing.
Speaking of ad-hominem... I don't need to "defeat" you in a debate. That is your issue to deal with, and you will do it alone. I don't see how I take advantage of others, but I'm sure you'll show me how those people who chose to live off food stamps are being ripped off by evil old me. Seriously buddy, you've got a lot of things you should experience before deciding that the path you chose is the only one. I've tried a lot in my years, ephemeral as they may be, and I'm pretty sure of the path I walk. Are you?
I must have missed your point... because...your leftist bias is showing. You may want to chat with your buddies in China, they have job openings for propagandist authority worshippers, and you've so far been able to paint a lovely picture of it all.
Regarding profit... why should a man (or woman for that matter) not profit by his (or her) actions? Is it a crime to actually get a good outcome from one's work? In your world it is. Its okay, government taxation ensures that only those who step outside their boundaries actually achieve any form of actual "profit". That is a given since 'income' is legally translated as 'profit' and since your entire 'income' is taxable, that must mean your time is "worthless" because all your salary is 'profit':) Amazing? Not really. Its the way the collectivist/socialist (and at this point hybridized fascist) taxation system works. Your entire salary is based on the fact that your time is worthless so you're actually having a total income because your work is actually "worthless".
Cheers buddy. You already have what you advocate, you just can't recognize it.
Heh heh... yep, exactly the fun part, you've said it, as I watched it. And before you tell me "law enforcement is for safety"... this is no different than how the bureau of labor has actually shown that, for example, cops die on the job, at the rate of 2.5/100000 (from all causes, generally negligence and stupidity, not actual violence) while private sector individuals who don't have the backing of heavy weapons, legislative fiat and the authority to kill innocents without having the burden of proof (i.e. everyone who ISNT cop or government) has a MUCH higher rate of "on the job, for any reason" death rate. 147/100000 for the fishing industry in the US alone. I won't even quote trucking for you, which I did for awhile. A lot deadlier jobs than being a cop or even fireman.
Amusing? Perplexing? Not really. The likelyhood of being shot in the US is smaller than in many other places, but the likelyhood that a self defense shooting will be put in the "crimes involving a firearm" category is 100%, but that is no surprise, since aggressive shootings (cop initiated, cop carried out, cop gets off innocent) are generally the norm, whenever cops are involved during the "crime".
True, they've replaced those with tasers now, but it seems that the cops are the typical thugs who would otherwise have roamed the streets unable to actually do anything productive or intelligent, and thus begun a life of crime and had it end at the hands of someone ready to stop crime against themselves.
As for the currency (not to be mistaken with "money" which is always a substance of commodity, something that people will value regardless of what is printed on its face (gold, oil, ammo, etc), and currency is not, currency is merely an alias, given strength by government fiat and government guns pointed at those trading, currency has the following meaning "current as money", but it IS NOT money.) I've played the markets for some time now, so regardless of what wikipedia says this week, I've watched the actual day traders (many of whom I know) lose their shirts trying to bank on shifts in the CHF. Day traders gamble with their lunch moneys anyways, but that's aside from the fact that the CHF used to move against the USD and Euro/Pound at the same rate gold itself did. This was fun to watch because you could tell what is worthwhile and stable (solid foundation concept) and what is not (legislative fiat, promises of governments, control systems designed by those who were subject to and completely beholden to existing control systems made by others of their like circumstances. The concept is no similar than trying to dig yourself out of a concrete well... the only way to dig is DOWN, and down there is only water and the depths of the well, freedom is up, and unreachable through digging.)
The more curious thing that the Suisse should worry themselves with is this. Why are the movers and shakers moving their valuables OUT of Europe? I'm not talking about politicians, I'm talking about the real players, the big names who are the boogeymen/messiahs of the money world. It's curious to me, but I doubt others would be watching.
But I'm not sure posting it here will make a difference. Still thus, I will have a clear conscience... how did that fellow say it?
It went something like this:
"I'm not saying this because I feel responsible, YOU are responsible, I am doing this merely to be able to know that *your blood is OFF my hands*, how you live or die is not entirely up to you!"
If Ron Paul loses, it will do what is needed to prove our government is corrupt. If Ron Paul wins, he will merely give us a chance to spend another 100 years under a corrupt, slowly encroaching government. Frankly, I'm not sure if Ron Paul would get much good done anyways (short of mucking up the Federal Reserve) since the system is legislatively geared towards absolute takeover and will continue to swing that way unless Ron "wins" the presidency and actually rescinds every presidential directive (PD) and executive order (EO) that has been passed to date. The list is comprehensive and begins with such small abuses as George Washington's cancelling of Guy Fawkes day (replaced with elections, because GFDay offended the Catholics up north or some such excuse) all the way up to Jimmy Carter's founding of FEMA through presidential wriggling. This whole chain of events actually resembles what the detective sees in V for Vendetta when visiting Lark Hill.
"That's why I went to Lark Hill last night..." "I had to see it." "I suddenly had this feeling, that everything was connected. It's like I could see the whole thing, one long chain of events, that stretched back, before Lark Hill. I felt like I could see everything that had happened, and everything that was going to happen. It was like a perfect pattern, laid down in front of me. And I realized we are all a part of it, and we're all trapped by it."
The same is true of what has been going on in our world.
Political parties aren't teams... they're FAN CLUBS!
I.E. You're rooting for either the home team (incumbents) or the visitors (newcomer) to win. They're on "your team", but they are actually the football players, while you're merely turning out to put money in their coffers (just like real fans do, buying all that stuff and going to all the games.) This is fine and dandy, but the fools need to realize that the team winning is merely a way of living life without actually living it. The difference between WATCHING the NFL Cup, and PLAYING in the NFL cup is no difference than the schmuck criticizing a JV team without having even been on a middle school football team. There are those who live through others (fans, political voters) and those who actually live via the means of others (sports figures, political rulers, pretend representatives, etc.)
You must've never worked with hard core "republicans" or even "mild core liberals"... both are adamant in views. Difference? If an equal set of experiences is shared, objectively, by two people, they are MORE likely to swing right wing anarchist (libertarian?) rather than left wing totalitarian or right wing totalitarian. The experiences I speak of are simple. Wrongful arrest within a year or two of being robbed without the police showing up. Top it off with a police officer and later judge saying "nope, cops aren't supposed to protect you, cops aren't even supposed to be on time or actually SHOW UP... and so says even the Supreme Court! Public peace means cops have to show up and arrest whoever disturbs the peace, so if you are murdered quietly, cops just clean up the mess and pretend to care. Tough tamales son! And no, no tax refund for you, we stole that fair and square!!"
I'm actually happy some righties are arguing with the vast leftist zone that is NY... but IMHO, the East Coast is LOST. Collectivists have conquered the East Coast almost 50 years ago, with a solid and resounding victory. Whether they call themselves "new republicans" or "liberals" or "neo-conservatives", they're all collectivists (people who believe the collective entity has ALL the rights and the individual members have NO rights if an argument arises, course these are also the same people who get upset when THEY are the organs the collective sacrifices on the "greater good" altar, but that's cosmic justice if I ever heard it.)
The concern I would have is that Switzerland is being quietly "de-Suissed."
What is that, you say? Yep, they're losing their GOLD (nationally) and their GUNS (likewise, nationally).
Here's how. Back in the year 2000, one of the last stable (popular) currency on the face of the planet, the Suisse Franc, was taken off its Gold backing, and as I understand it, is now a free floating paper currency, subject to inflation like the rest of them. In other words, expect to see the bank panics of the West, FINALLY affect Switzerland. Was this advertised? No, at the time major articles were running about an election and other trash talking. This article was buried on the back pages of a financial news website and didn't even make it to print. Why do you ask? As always, the REAL news is on the back page, or elsewhere. To find out the entire news, one has to piece together the puzzle from its disparate pieces, rather than read it all in one clean article on the front page (where it belongs.) Instead we are spoonfed the latest front page news about Britney's nipples and boob job, and O.J.'s continued search "foh da real killah."
On the gun issue, likewise, several UN dogs of work have gone through the Suisse finding "hard evidence" that their citizen milita should be disarmed (two Suisse men shot themselves and their whole families, and we all know it isn't the fact that they had issues, oh no, its the fact that they were armed that caused them to kill the group. Forget that bigger mass murders were committed with gasoline and matches, that just skews the needed statistics.)
That the Suisse legislature would be doing things without bringing it up to each Canton and their citizenry doesn't surprise me. The Suisse have gone from among the fiercest mercenaries in Europe to a pretty complacent populace that, like the rest of the world's well off, is living off the legacies of better men and women than themselves. And when the wolf comes huffing and puffing, he won't need to. Even the mighty Suisse (who had a relatively more effective and useful Constitution than even the "united States of America") will open the door and let the wolf in, rather than force the wolf to actually FIGHT to get in. No surprise. Give up your sound money, and your means of defense, and much like the rest, you're dogmeat when push comes to shove. It will be slower for the Suisse, just like it was slower for the North Americans than it was for the rest of Europe, but when the dust clears, "subjects they shall be!"
Why rob people (which is a risky business when robbing men and women) when they can raise people as zombies, so they bravely volunteer themselves into servitude via taxation and voting for fixed choices. Top that off with voluntarily putting their young through zombification processes known as "free public schooling" (which isn't free but the zombies don't know that, so don't tell'em.)
I am very patient with that... know why? I bring something from the ancient times with me.
They used to call it a book, very amazing stuff these books, they could display their information and maintain storage even during magnetic interference or EMP blasts, though still quite vulnerable to heat and acid based attacks.
I seem to recall they enforced some plan to put internet kiosks in mud hut villages.
Guess being able to hack the database and change ownership of the brick house will be harder to do with a tried and tracked intel chip:) They're really afraid that the next generation of good hackers will not speak english well, if at all, and will likely not be speaking Hebrew or Yiddish anymore either.
Yep, we've already lost the programming market, with the exceptions of missile guidance systems and voting machines and people tracking software (need something to run those future gulags for the unemployed, eh?)
As far as I recall, my friends overseas are beginning to shop in America, and many are no longer coming here looking for jobs. Gifted geeks too, but they're staying there, wonder why.
That performance or control over the OS isn't what drives adoption, but instead, it is bloat. Ubuntu could be claimed to be less bloated than RHEL and SUSE (both of which drip with bloat), but overall, I was surprised that among corporate offices and IT places that do Linux, not many are really using Gentoo or LFS or some such OS with a higher degree of control over what goes into the final installs, etc.
Oh well, guess its best to be among the few, than among the many.
It would be far too difficult to read up or make a comment, instead of meta modding. Joyful stuff. Keep it coming, after all, nothing I've said is false, so why respond when dissent can be silenced by vote:)
Indeed, but "the nation as a whole" includes that tiny minority that has the forward looking ability to actually live their lives in a healthy manner. For those of us that do so, watching the rest get their "come uppance" is satisfying, if at times saddening.
Those who clamor for a free lunch and lose their souls in the bargain deserve exactly that. Can't force people to free themselves of unnecessary burdens, you can only make the knowledge, info, and examples available. Regardless of how deep they are buried under the status quo, there are other, far more successful examples than even my own. As the prophets have stated, let those who have eyes see, those who have ears hear... not hard to do, really.
Life is to be lived, dangers mitigated, opportunities capitalized on, and fears overcome. The vast majority of any nation get exactly what they wish for. Slavery... ahem... *safety*.
I see it with some of my former friends from school. They put up with girlfriend abuse as easily as they do with government abuse. Politicians lie consistently, and they still put up with it, girlfriends cheat on 'em and they still take them back. They deserve the outcomes (rulers who pretend to be representatives or bad cases of syphilis) because they consistently enable those outcomes. As for me, I minimize my exposure to these individuals and refuse to further associate myself with them. It really is that simple. If we're intended to be friends or associates again, the universe brings them to my door once they've changed. So far, the stupid have remained so, and have fought tooth and nail to enable those who would oppress them. Who am I to deny them their just deserts?
Rewarding poor standards of honesty, in any relationship, results in abuse. Paying for it (taxation, buying expensive presents, etc) is tantamount to being irrevocably stupid. Not ignorant, but plain stupid.
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That is some damn funny stuff man! Keep it coming.
That was an interesting statement. We're even more in agreement now. (You were correct in your request, I did not write you off, I write few people off, but I do "let go" and I find that it gives me peace of mind. Change occurs internally, none can be effected externally through force.)
I didn't know you were an adherent (or rather "student") of the Tao. I am not certain the "Tao Te Ching" was "written" by Lao Tzu, but I would think it was certainly paraphrased from what writings he may well have left behind, before taking off on his famous water buffalo journey into the wastes.
His actions and teachings were similar to other prophets of the past who taught similar things, and yet the populace, lacking insight, followed the rulers (*) instead of understanding that the path is something one travels on one's own or with a few others, but rarely en masse.
*note: the rulers rarely wasted time in subverting the teachings of each subsequent prophet after Lao Tzu, once force proved an inadequate means of subjugating those who were on their path to enlightenment. A prime example of this is the council of Nicaea. Another is the council of Laodicea. The prime example in modern day is Confucianism as practiced by the Chinese authorities. What boggles the mind is WHY, and HOW is it that the students of the Tao did not succumb to statism and authoritarianism. Every other system of thought did, but those who adhere to the Tao, did not. Very curious.
I agree with what you say this time. Technically this is what I was advocating, though my approach is mostly one of lack of caring (this is why I sometimes come off as a heartless bastard, especially as of late). I tried agitating, but it simply doesn't work, as I'm sure you'd know, having a far longer history with it than I did (by the sound of it). So I figured that since I already know that liberty isn't exactly a cause that fighting will help, and try simply rubbing it in, by "it", I refer to the massive amount of stupidity or just gullibility required of people to believe that those who rule have their best interests at heart or mind.
That being said, the rulers are not entirely to blame, nor ever have they been. People, in general, don't want any form of liberty, for themselves and even less so for others. Rulers merely capitalize on this very "mass man" desire to be "better off" than others by seeing others downtrodden through the often quoted statement of "pay your fair share" rather than uplift oneself and those around one's presence. Rulers very readily jump in and provide EXACTLY this means of crushing fellow serfs, by giving the "mass man" all the means the mass men as a group will need to keep themselves enslaved, in perpetuity, without any real need to do more than routinely provide them with a few shocks to keep them in line.
Freedom, as a way of life, however, is natural, but also a difficult path (technically the Tao refers to it in several occasions) and requires a certain type of individual to enjoy it and live it fully. To work as a form of common governance, liberty/freedom requires responsibility and the ability to examine one's own actions in the light of reason, which often is an unkind light to one's own more preferable "feel good" light.
That being said, neither Liberty nor Reason nor the Tao Te Ching are things that are going to change the world. The world will have to change itself, or fail, but we're not the ones who can do that. All we can fix or mess up is our own lives.
And after having said all that, let me say that arguing certainly can be a fun, though it was far more enjoyable actually finding a common ground with a few folks out here, you included. I'm slightly surprised, but pleasantly surprised at that. Glad we could come to such an interesting meeting of minds.
Arbitration is fine, but arbitration requires a voluntary group and a third that merely weighs the things in question and renders a decision that both agree to be bound by. Government makes its decision regardless and will sequester or kill anyone who disagrees (after robbing them blind, of course, I believe they call that "confiscation".)
As for your second comment, I'm also in agreement, but remember "rulership" is different than "leadership"... a leader actually serves the group inasmuch as they serve him (they all get to a goal together, they've agreed upon it, and have selected the one most fit to lead that particular task/goal/mission to do so), but a ruler, may or may not exhibit leadership, may or may not be elected, but he is certainly benefiting mostly himself and the group gets the scraps, regardless of the agreement, if even that much. He doesn't have to show this to the group, and in fact most modern ruling groups hide the fact that they RULE rather than lead.
Not Catholic, thankfully, but have family members of all denominations, I've sampled 'the fruit' of the tree and found it deeply lacking.
I.E. by their fruits I knew them, and I didn't like what I found out.
Quick question, who does the government kill? The competition. Always.
Who was the government in Judea? Herod father and later Herod the son. Who was the imperial government there? Rome.
Who tried to kill Jesus? Herod the father when he was young (the flight to Egypt story). Who later tried to entrap Jesus into being nabbed as a rebel or Caesar denier/tax resister? Herod and the Pharisees. Who later conspired to kill and who actually killed Jesus? Bingo, Rome... mostly at the behest of the local government, that being the man's own people. Sort of like the county or state governments escalating his case up to the Supreme Court (or at least a Federal court) and then having the man executed for pissing on some statute or other and really upsetting the status quo (namely the rich Jews were pissed off that the rabble rouser was going to start a revolt, that would lead to an actual revolution instead of the usual revenue inducing bloodshed they were used to... so they had the man removed... resurrection or not, the historic part is likely to have happened in some form or other, betrayals of this type have always occurred when the people were promised a few breadcrumbs from the master's table in exchange for the life of a man who said "work for it and its yours, but YOU have to do it." Seems self starting impulses are about as common in history as they are today.
Hope you enjoyed the paraphrase, I'm not really that hard and set about digging up verse. I got the gist of it, I'm not a rabbi or a priest, so I don't make a habit of rote memorization, no more than any American kid makes a habit of memorizing our own Constitution or even the Declaration of Independence, despite swearing loyalty to said documents upon taking any form of government job or tax/wealth redistribution handout job. But at least your life or health isn't endangered or threatened by my lack of memorization, while it most certainly is by those who take an oath and never deliver on their word.
http://anti-state.com/redford/redford4.html A very nice view of the Bible, one I hadn't looked into since I walked away from the Church. That being said, this fellow seems quite positive that Jesus was intended as a liberator, not as a ham fisted patriarch for a corrupt church (one of which he faced in his day and age) and a totally irreparable construct (government) of which there were equal amounts of samples in his day also.
That link should help you out a bit, if it hasn't been changed, it posts a very good view on what I mentioned... he seems far more apt to quote bible verses which you should enjoy.
I've read the Bible in several different languages and have found incongruencies in all the translations, so if the translations are THIS piss poor with professional and highly paid translators in today's day and age when language is largely standardized (as are the translation tables for most of the mainstream languages) one has to wonder how piss poor the translations were from SPOKEN Aramaic/Hebrew to WRITTEN Greek, and later Written Latin, and yet again Written French/Spanish/Portuguese and finally Written German and English (and no, I don't speak them all, nor read them all). Nevermind those nasty little things like shifting "newspeak" meanings of all the languages in question, which immediately casts the light of doubt on any kind of job translators would've done.
No, in truth the FCC acts as a public opinion damper. Without their protector agencies of the government, large conglomerates would get burned off the face of the Earth by large mobs of angry people they've screwed over. This would be the so called "frontier justice" (i.e. the kind that works for the little guy better than it does for the big guy.)
Government never helps the little guy, never has. Even Yahweh in the Old Testament (this is for you Christians and Jews) tells the people of Israel who asked for a King from God, that he will send them one, who will take their sons as soldiers, their daughters as maids, and tax them 10% and in Yahweh's own words... "and then they shall be slaves."
Interestingly the same can be said for Jesus, but this implies actually READING THE DAMN TEXTS... (my own understanding of them grows daily, and I wouldn't consider me a religious man by any measure of the word, I dare say I have a beef with hierarchical religion and systems of control in general. Leadership is fine in my book, rulership is not, especially coerced rulership.)
"I feel like part of the family." This after a healthy vacation spent with the Bushes as company, I dare say Democraps and Republikrats are not exactly "enemies" any more than us here arguing on slashdot are enemies or even "opponents."
Token resistance and quiet compliance does not an opponent make.
Seriously, if you feel so inclined, take this advice. I can't argue with your all seeing wisdom. I'm done arguing, to each his own (her own?) and good luck to you. With such wisdom guiding you, I can rest assured that you will be FAR more wealthy than any individual that actually looked at the big picture. Thanks for proving my point to me. Who needs physical goods when you've got paper assets. I'm ashamed of my lack of grand insight as you possess.
To see your wisdom in action, I believe you may wish to should head to Zimbabwe, and live as a native, I hear they're doing REALLY WELL with that whole stable paper currency. It's doing marvels for that country.
Could be. I don't much give a damn anymore :) You'll have to excuse me, I'm not really trying to "sway" people or "win debates", I'm mostly rubbing in that the slaves want their slavery more than they even want to live. I find that supremely enjoyable to laugh at. If you don't then that's your thing. Enjoy.
You're mistaken. I was a fast enough and fit enough fighter to beat the thugs that assailed me (second time around.)(I am also generally quite aware of my surroundings, as opposed to the vast masses of "victims" and the victim worshippers who continue to enable those victims to remain victims. First time, however, I was robbed in my own home, and I just happened to live in a disarmament zone, which was supposedly "safe.")
Suffice it to say that my wrongful arrest was corrected, and the cops in question are jobless and have a nasty blemish on their career records. That being said, I had the resources and the willpower to go all the way and return the favor the "boys in blue" did me. More than that, I cannot say without compromising the terms of the agreement reached with the representatives of the city I was living in at the time.
I do not know the circumstances with which you were faced when your eye "was taken" but the fact that you say "taken" rather than "lost", implies to me that you did not exact nearly the heavy price those thugs should've paid for attacking an honest man with the means and training to resist. I believe you were fortunate to only get away with losing one eye, and because of your lack of preparation (be it physical or mental) that gang of thugs walked away to hurt someone else down the road. Also it seems your resistance (if you offered any) was token, for had it truly been lethal and precise (regardless of the weapon of choice, even if just a sword or bare hands), there would be no thugs left to take your eye, either because they would run, or die trying to attack. The last thing on their minds when faced with a truly fearsome individual hell bent on finishing them off, is to steal one's eye, or wallet, or clothes, or virginity for that matter. When you are poorly equipped to survive aggression, there are only two means of survival, awareness/fleetness (both combined, as was my case when robbed in home) or the mere mercy of the aggressors... which as you probably noted, is not something you should bet your "life and limb" upon... though eventually the aggressor runs into someone that won't lay down and the thug's career ends... brutally quick, and rightfully so.
Not really, he's the only actual "republican" so to speak, in the entire party. He'd have to be nominated by the republicans, if they were actually "right wing", instead of just plain authoritarians.
Of course, the humor of Ron Paul, IMHO, is that he's a band aid that would heal the system enough to keep the system from being seen for what it is. Yet another facet of tyranny. A tyranny that has gone unbroken for millenia. I'm actually praying that we get one of the socialist tyrants, because they will be just the amount of pressure needed to collapse the system unto itself. After which, of course, the masters will eat their slaves, while the strong will finally be left to live our own lives as we choose... the slaves will get what they deserve and will get to live their lives in the perpetual safety of slavery that they've always loved and cherished.
I, for one, see no reason to wrest them from those chains. I've never advocated freeing anyone against their will. Personally I think the more slaves there are the better, because they will deplete their food supply faster and thus die off along with those whom they serve and leave the planet for those who can actually live life on it, rather than have it lived FOR them.
Obviously you speak on things of which you have no knowledge. If you had you would be aware of how legal language in the tax code works. Try it some time, and work on it, the Internal Revenue Code is a BIG text and the definitions are at the last portion, not up front, so you misunderstand it if you read it without the definitions ripped out sitting in front of you and being looked up every time you read. But what do I know, I actually read the damn thing.
Speaking of ad-hominem... I don't need to "defeat" you in a debate. That is your issue to deal with, and you will do it alone. I don't see how I take advantage of others, but I'm sure you'll show me how those people who chose to live off food stamps are being ripped off by evil old me. Seriously buddy, you've got a lot of things you should experience before deciding that the path you chose is the only one. I've tried a lot in my years, ephemeral as they may be, and I'm pretty sure of the path I walk. Are you?
I must have missed your point... because...your leftist bias is showing. You may want to chat with your buddies in China, they have job openings for propagandist authority worshippers, and you've so far been able to paint a lovely picture of it all.
:) Amazing? Not really. Its the way the collectivist/socialist (and at this point hybridized fascist) taxation system works. Your entire salary is based on the fact that your time is worthless so you're actually having a total income because your work is actually "worthless".
Regarding profit... why should a man (or woman for that matter) not profit by his (or her) actions? Is it a crime to actually get a good outcome from one's work? In your world it is. Its okay, government taxation ensures that only those who step outside their boundaries actually achieve any form of actual "profit". That is a given since 'income' is legally translated as 'profit' and since your entire 'income' is taxable, that must mean your time is "worthless" because all your salary is 'profit'
Cheers buddy. You already have what you advocate, you just can't recognize it.
Heh heh... yep, exactly the fun part, you've said it, as I watched it. And before you tell me "law enforcement is for safety"... this is no different than how the bureau of labor has actually shown that, for example, cops die on the job, at the rate of 2.5/100000 (from all causes, generally negligence and stupidity, not actual violence) while private sector individuals who don't have the backing of heavy weapons, legislative fiat and the authority to kill innocents without having the burden of proof (i.e. everyone who ISNT cop or government) has a MUCH higher rate of "on the job, for any reason" death rate. 147/100000 for the fishing industry in the US alone. I won't even quote trucking for you, which I did for awhile. A lot deadlier jobs than being a cop or even fireman.
Amusing? Perplexing? Not really. The likelyhood of being shot in the US is smaller than in many other places, but the likelyhood that a self defense shooting will be put in the "crimes involving a firearm" category is 100%, but that is no surprise, since aggressive shootings (cop initiated, cop carried out, cop gets off innocent) are generally the norm, whenever cops are involved during the "crime".
True, they've replaced those with tasers now, but it seems that the cops are the typical thugs who would otherwise have roamed the streets unable to actually do anything productive or intelligent, and thus begun a life of crime and had it end at the hands of someone ready to stop crime against themselves.
As for the currency (not to be mistaken with "money" which is always a substance of commodity, something that people will value regardless of what is printed on its face (gold, oil, ammo, etc), and currency is not, currency is merely an alias, given strength by government fiat and government guns pointed at those trading, currency has the following meaning "current as money", but it IS NOT money.) I've played the markets for some time now, so regardless of what wikipedia says this week, I've watched the actual day traders (many of whom I know) lose their shirts trying to bank on shifts in the CHF. Day traders gamble with their lunch moneys anyways, but that's aside from the fact that the CHF used to move against the USD and Euro/Pound at the same rate gold itself did. This was fun to watch because you could tell what is worthwhile and stable (solid foundation concept) and what is not (legislative fiat, promises of governments, control systems designed by those who were subject to and completely beholden to existing control systems made by others of their like circumstances. The concept is no similar than trying to dig yourself out of a concrete well... the only way to dig is DOWN, and down there is only water and the depths of the well, freedom is up, and unreachable through digging.)
The more curious thing that the Suisse should worry themselves with is this. Why are the movers and shakers moving their valuables OUT of Europe? I'm not talking about politicians, I'm talking about the real players, the big names who are the boogeymen/messiahs of the money world. It's curious to me, but I doubt others would be watching.
But I'm not sure posting it here will make a difference. Still thus, I will have a clear conscience... how did that fellow say it?
It went something like this:
"I'm not saying this because I feel responsible, YOU are responsible, I am doing this merely to be able to know that *your blood is OFF my hands*, how you live or die is not entirely up to you!"
If Ron Paul loses, it will do what is needed to prove our government is corrupt. If Ron Paul wins, he will merely give us a chance to spend another 100 years under a corrupt, slowly encroaching government. Frankly, I'm not sure if Ron Paul would get much good done anyways (short of mucking up the Federal Reserve) since the system is legislatively geared towards absolute takeover and will continue to swing that way unless Ron "wins" the presidency and actually rescinds every presidential directive (PD) and executive order (EO) that has been passed to date. The list is comprehensive and begins with such small abuses as George Washington's cancelling of Guy Fawkes day (replaced with elections, because GFDay offended the Catholics up north or some such excuse) all the way up to Jimmy Carter's founding of FEMA through presidential wriggling. This whole chain of events actually resembles what the detective sees in V for Vendetta when visiting Lark Hill.
"That's why I went to Lark Hill last night..." "I had to see it." "I suddenly had this feeling, that everything was connected. It's like I could see the whole thing, one long chain of events, that stretched back, before Lark Hill. I felt like I could see everything that had happened, and everything that was going to happen. It was like a perfect pattern, laid down in front of me. And I realized we are all a part of it, and we're all trapped by it."
The same is true of what has been going on in our world.
Political parties aren't teams... they're FAN CLUBS!
I.E. You're rooting for either the home team (incumbents) or the visitors (newcomer) to win. They're on "your team", but they are actually the football players, while you're merely turning out to put money in their coffers (just like real fans do, buying all that stuff and going to all the games.) This is fine and dandy, but the fools need to realize that the team winning is merely a way of living life without actually living it. The difference between WATCHING the NFL Cup, and PLAYING in the NFL cup is no difference than the schmuck criticizing a JV team without having even been on a middle school football team. There are those who live through others (fans, political voters) and those who actually live via the means of others (sports figures, political rulers, pretend representatives, etc.)
Hope that helps.
I should have, yes, but this sounded better and rolled off the keyboard so smoothly, I couldn't resist :)
You must've never worked with hard core "republicans" or even "mild core liberals"... both are adamant in views. Difference? If an equal set of experiences is shared, objectively, by two people, they are MORE likely to swing right wing anarchist (libertarian?) rather than left wing totalitarian or right wing totalitarian. The experiences I speak of are simple. Wrongful arrest within a year or two of being robbed without the police showing up. Top it off with a police officer and later judge saying "nope, cops aren't supposed to protect you, cops aren't even supposed to be on time or actually SHOW UP... and so says even the Supreme Court! Public peace means cops have to show up and arrest whoever disturbs the peace, so if you are murdered quietly, cops just clean up the mess and pretend to care. Tough tamales son! And no, no tax refund for you, we stole that fair and square!!"
I'm actually happy some righties are arguing with the vast leftist zone that is NY... but IMHO, the East Coast is LOST. Collectivists have conquered the East Coast almost 50 years ago, with a solid and resounding victory. Whether they call themselves "new republicans" or "liberals" or "neo-conservatives", they're all collectivists (people who believe the collective entity has ALL the rights and the individual members have NO rights if an argument arises, course these are also the same people who get upset when THEY are the organs the collective sacrifices on the "greater good" altar, but that's cosmic justice if I ever heard it.)
The concern I would have is that Switzerland is being quietly "de-Suissed."
What is that, you say? Yep, they're losing their GOLD (nationally) and their GUNS (likewise, nationally).
Here's how. Back in the year 2000, one of the last stable (popular) currency on the face of the planet, the Suisse Franc, was taken off its Gold backing, and as I understand it, is now a free floating paper currency, subject to inflation like the rest of them. In other words, expect to see the bank panics of the West, FINALLY affect Switzerland. Was this advertised? No, at the time major articles were running about an election and other trash talking. This article was buried on the back pages of a financial news website and didn't even make it to print. Why do you ask? As always, the REAL news is on the back page, or elsewhere. To find out the entire news, one has to piece together the puzzle from its disparate pieces, rather than read it all in one clean article on the front page (where it belongs.) Instead we are spoonfed the latest front page news about Britney's nipples and boob job, and O.J.'s continued search "foh da real killah."
On the gun issue, likewise, several UN dogs of work have gone through the Suisse finding "hard evidence" that their citizen milita should be disarmed (two Suisse men shot themselves and their whole families, and we all know it isn't the fact that they had issues, oh no, its the fact that they were armed that caused them to kill the group. Forget that bigger mass murders were committed with gasoline and matches, that just skews the needed statistics.)
That the Suisse legislature would be doing things without bringing it up to each Canton and their citizenry doesn't surprise me. The Suisse have gone from among the fiercest mercenaries in Europe to a pretty complacent populace that, like the rest of the world's well off, is living off the legacies of better men and women than themselves. And when the wolf comes huffing and puffing, he won't need to. Even the mighty Suisse (who had a relatively more effective and useful Constitution than even the "united States of America") will open the door and let the wolf in, rather than force the wolf to actually FIGHT to get in. No surprise. Give up your sound money, and your means of defense, and much like the rest, you're dogmeat when push comes to shove. It will be slower for the Suisse, just like it was slower for the North Americans than it was for the rest of Europe, but when the dust clears, "subjects they shall be!"
Why rob people (which is a risky business when robbing men and women) when they can raise people as zombies, so they bravely volunteer themselves into servitude via taxation and voting for fixed choices. Top that off with voluntarily putting their young through zombification processes known as "free public schooling" (which isn't free but the zombies don't know that, so don't tell'em.)
I am very patient with that... know why? I bring something from the ancient times with me.
They used to call it a book, very amazing stuff these books, they could display their information and maintain storage even during magnetic interference or EMP blasts, though still quite vulnerable to heat and acid based attacks.
I seem to recall they enforced some plan to put internet kiosks in mud hut villages.
:) They're really afraid that the next generation of good hackers will not speak english well, if at all, and will likely not be speaking Hebrew or Yiddish anymore either.
Guess being able to hack the database and change ownership of the brick house will be harder to do with a tried and tracked intel chip
Yep, we've already lost the programming market, with the exceptions of missile guidance systems and voting machines and people tracking software (need something to run those future gulags for the unemployed, eh?)
As far as I recall, my friends overseas are beginning to shop in America, and many are no longer coming here looking for jobs. Gifted geeks too, but they're staying there, wonder why.
That performance or control over the OS isn't what drives adoption, but instead, it is bloat. Ubuntu could be claimed to be less bloated than RHEL and SUSE (both of which drip with bloat), but overall, I was surprised that among corporate offices and IT places that do Linux, not many are really using Gentoo or LFS or some such OS with a higher degree of control over what goes into the final installs, etc.
Oh well, guess its best to be among the few, than among the many.
It would be far too difficult to read up or make a comment, instead of meta modding. Joyful stuff. Keep it coming, after all, nothing I've said is false, so why respond when dissent can be silenced by vote :)
Indeed, but "the nation as a whole" includes that tiny minority that has the forward looking ability to actually live their lives in a healthy manner. For those of us that do so, watching the rest get their "come uppance" is satisfying, if at times saddening.
Those who clamor for a free lunch and lose their souls in the bargain deserve exactly that. Can't force people to free themselves of unnecessary burdens, you can only make the knowledge, info, and examples available. Regardless of how deep they are buried under the status quo, there are other, far more successful examples than even my own. As the prophets have stated, let those who have eyes see, those who have ears hear... not hard to do, really.
Life is to be lived, dangers mitigated, opportunities capitalized on, and fears overcome. The vast majority of any nation get exactly what they wish for. Slavery... ahem... *safety*.
I see it with some of my former friends from school. They put up with girlfriend abuse as easily as they do with government abuse. Politicians lie consistently, and they still put up with it, girlfriends cheat on 'em and they still take them back. They deserve the outcomes (rulers who pretend to be representatives or bad cases of syphilis) because they consistently enable those outcomes. As for me, I minimize my exposure to these individuals and refuse to further associate myself with them. It really is that simple. If we're intended to be friends or associates again, the universe brings them to my door once they've changed. So far, the stupid have remained so, and have fought tooth and nail to enable those who would oppress them. Who am I to deny them their just deserts?
Rewarding poor standards of honesty, in any relationship, results in abuse. Paying for it (taxation, buying expensive presents, etc) is tantamount to being irrevocably stupid. Not ignorant, but plain stupid.