Correct, if he allowed himself to be deprived of his freedom of travel, without resisting with all meaningful capabilities, then he now has to CONFESS (read: forcefully) that he committed a crime. This, in the USA and the old common law system is known by some term that sounds roughly like "self incrimination" or "bearing testimony against oneself."
Generally this is frowned upon in the USA but most people have forgotten their rights here. Why should someone be upset when it doesn't even exist in other countries where rights are granted by governments and taken away just as easily? In this place, at one point, people were pretty hard assed about their rights as 'preexisting until waived or surrendered'. Seems they've forgotten about that stuff.
Seems that particular mindset has been socialized away. And now the government thugs have all these sissy morons over a barrel and are busy assfucking them as they feel fit. As Cartman put it... "you better respect that Authoritah!" Or, as I predict will eventually happen, there will eventually be a lash back of such unprecedented violence, when these plebes finally have enough, that living anywhere near a major population center, will be like living in the Warsaw Ghetto back in the Nazi days. And as I've said before, I find myself largely unwilling to even lend a bottle of clean water to these people, who until that point will have wanted to deprive ME of property and peace of mind. I find that I will probably not want any involvement since these people will only discover the value of freedom when the government's wealth and goods redistribution programs run out of other people's wealth to redistribute. As is usual, and was observed in communist places, that usually happens early, and then the governments largely bleed their populaces dry. And in most disarmed places, the populaces never free themselves, except during state sanctioned "revolutions" generally setup to replace one set of tired rulers with a new, hungrier generation of power mongers.
You mean kind of how you must KNOW that hemp/cannabis is the most horrible plant on the planet? After all, accredited scientists have all vetted that belief. Anyone who actually plants some and finds out what it is ACTUALLY used for (besides blunts and joints) is a criminal and spends a lengthy term in prison, both in Evil America and in the Goodly Europe. Such a person, experimenting to verify whether they've been lied to or not, is NOT an actual scientist, right? After all, you know for sure, since accredited scientists vetted that material and told you, while the individual double checking something is a crook, right?
After 10 years of real research (by said accredited scientists) they're discovering what the old "country bumpkins" used to know from experimentation. Hemp/Cannabis tea (or joints) are muscle relaxers but also seem to enhance the human body (pain relief, etc).
But since they weren't scientists, those geniuses from the EU are more correct, aren't they? After all, they're accredited, so until THEY decide that something is beneficial, it is harmful. You'll have to excuse me if I don't buy what you're selling. To quote the old programmer joke... "it is a crock of shit, and smells strongly thereof."
I can give another batch of examples and wear out my keyboard typing, and it would make no difference, you will believe as you're told, and I'll continue to find that the majority belief on almost anything in today's "modern society" is bullshit. Nothing new. Wasn't that an older saying? "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Einstein made his gains through his political connections and his stint at the patent office. Von Braun I can accept. Bell I can accept (you forgot Elijah Gray who got to the patent office late). Darwin... hmmm.. fine.
You leave Tycho Brahe, Newton, Copernicus, Bohr, Tesla (oh wait, he went to America, didn't he?) etc... and yes, most were in Europe, or of European descent, so am I for that matter, but that won't stop me from picking on my own siblings... with all Europeans, they will sooner find out that something CANT be done and give up, rather than find something that might be done and bypass a problem.
I'm not sure why you accredit societies which are oppressive constructs with the successes of a few individuals, who regardless of their merits, did it DESPITE being brainwashed and throttled, not because of.
What I don't see is Europe having used all that talent on the shoulders of which they stand to proclaim their "superiority", to rise above the need to oppress others, and barring that, to oppress their own. Europeans have always been very good at imposing their beliefs down everyone's throats, usually as a means to extract resources. Had the USA not been brought in to help Warburg and Morgan collect their credit lines extended to England (in gold bullion) during WW 1 and 2, perhaps the Germans would've solved the problem of England and Crown Street once and for all. Perhaps if that had occurred, America wouldn't be doing all of the UK's dirty work.
Tell me something... do you lead a stress free life, free of coercions, free of crooks with guns and blue or black uniforms looming over your every action, can you drink or eat whatever you please, and so long as you harm nobody else's person, nobody intrudes into your life? Are you free to live life or are you coerced at every step? Pardon me, but I find that the creations of Europe and Asia remain strong even in America today. Sure, people fought against that crap, and even won a small victory in 1776, which was quickly remedied by pro english / monarchist / federalist thugs in 1791. Since then its been downhill... thank your English luminaries and your Fabian Socialists for that. Between them and the Prussians, they've given us a wonderful world to live in, and America has managed to distill their Fascism and Socialism and turned it into a Leviathan that would've made Hobbes proud. At least in London, with 4 million cameras surveilling the potential criminals... AHEM... population below, they're still "concerned that England might become a police state". Don't get too Orwellian now. And Londoners call Americans stupid? Pot, meet Kettle. Both black.
Actually dogma is defended without being tested. You are correct.
Question for you:
Has anyone on this forum actually looked under the hood before screaming "lie" ?
Perhaps its a misstatement, perhaps its a scam, perhaps its some miracle of a new science. I agree that it most likely IS a fraud. As I have observed, no government would give up the scarcity paradigm without bloodshed, especially if a truly easy, or affordable energy supply were to be available. Such a thing would ruin the political and religious chokeholds of our world, and would make both governments and religions shown for what they are. Frauds used to control men and keep them subservient.
If you've read some of my past posts, you should be fairly familiar with the fact that I hold even greater distaste for religious dogma... but "science" is no longer viewed as "changing" or in a state of flux, it is viewed as absolute and unchanging. That geeks would be so dogmatic is what disturbs me.
It is said that a wise man knows nothing, meaning it is humanly impossible to weigh every issue by doing your own exhaustive verification, this is the precise reason why the scientific method is so usefull.
Know - to have first hand knowledge of something. Sometimes based or called as "experience". Believe - to have second hand knowledge of something, such as academic knowledge of something. Also known as hearsay.
The wise men (a group from which your comment seems to autoexclude you) of Socrates time knew they didn't "know" anything only because most of them sat around theorizing about the world but didn't go out and actually gain first hand knowledge. Of course they didn't "know" anything, because all that they knew they merely 'believed' as they were told by others.
Or the farmer could mistake them for the latest gathering of MS-13 or La Raza gangbangers, (who have come down here to the East Coast now too) which would be VERY bad for his farm, especially if said farmer was white or black.
Having a gun on you, especially a handgun seems more like common sense, as much common sense as actually KNOWING how to use it:) and WHEN to use or WHEN NOT to use it.
You would think that the editors in the news room of one of our nations three commercial stations would have been embarrased to show such ignorance, but not channel 10, they used a clip from the story throughout the day as a promo for the evening news!
You would think that after nearly 20 years (of which I have verifiable experience) of lies and bullshit, nobody in either the eastern or western world would still believe the bullshit that spews from Tee Vee... yet you all fail to amaze me that you take Tee Vee seriously.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. When all your input and knowledge comes from "sanctioned" sources, going out and actually verifying something for yourself is actually kind of antithetical to society, isn't it?
Finally, maybe the physicists will eventually manage to get nuclear fusion going. The research is expensive (10 billion or so for ITER), but cheap compared to oil wars in the Middle East. For the cost of one Iraq war, you can build a lot of research reactors.
Probably why it isn't getting done. It takes a lot of money to keep the inflation machine, and the Iraqi war is a good justification to keep printing. Sustainable energy resources would be a very bad thing for the bankers and the government, neither of which wants the people to be independent or free.
In the end it comes down to the people wanting it badly enough to get it done regardless of the roadblocks to real progress that both "conservatives" and "progressives" are eager to put in their way.
I strongly DOUBT that if a limitless source of energy had been discovered and successfully exploited, that the media would cover it. The discoverer would be dead or hired by the government, and his discovery would vanish like a mirage in the desert. Free energy of any sort would not just upset the ideas of thermodynamics, but would shake up the governing structures of the world. Most governments retain power over their subjects (ahem: "citizens") by denying them access to resources. They oppress others by killing them for their access to energy and resources.
The design is either a flawed one, with limitations (catalyst, etc) or it is a fraud. That being said, I have more of a beef with the absolute knee jerk "it isn't possible" mentality, than with the actual article. Something like this would've been shut off long before it ever got to the mainstream Joe Six Pack (heretofore J6P). That's why I don't think whatever they're presenting is entirely accurate.
I guess the concept of "metaphor" or "similar example" just really doesn't ring well with the engineering crowd.
Well, like I said, I'm not declaring anything impossible. And no, the airconditioning thing was merely an example of "they didn't know enough, despite being well schooled in the formulas they were spitting out" (which, ironically is what school is best at training people to do, most other skills are learned on the job anyways.)
Even the idea of antimatter or neutrinos or quantum mechanics were considered "impossible" some time ago. There is simply too much we do not grasp completely yet, despite all the formulas and appraisals we make. Declaring a dogma to be absolutely true is something we should've left to the Christians and Muslims of the world. They always "know" and they are "always right". Scientists were supposed to be open minded, at some point, they even were. Today science is simply the newest dogma.
I remember the rule was simple. Until you can absolutely, in every case, and without fail, prove that something is false, it isn't. Just as until you can prove that something is true, without fail, in all scenarios imaginable... it isn't absolutely true.
As a result, perhaps you should cool your jets buddy. Your grasp is fine, but you're not teaching me something I haven't done. You're teaching me a fine example from your textbook or from the wikipedia. Get out there and get your hands dirty. Get into a few close calls. You'll find that field experience trumps what you read in books and learn in class any day.
At that point you'll find yourself much more open to possibilities. Besides, they're still basing the engine on the internal combustion principle, when there are at least ten other things they COULD apply to, that would build a far cheaper vehicle, with FAR less points of failure, easier construction and easier maintenance.
Oh it gives us an energy surplus, but a lot of it is wasted. If we got as much energy out of petroleum as it contains, we wouldn't be blowing barrels upon barrels to extract, transport, refine and transport enough fuel just for something so little as ONE tractor trailer to go 1000 miles. Let us be serious... motors should've been permitted to evolve, and to pretend they don't is to be remarkably ignorant. I recall a little reading I did years ago that stated that about 150 years or so, an energy revolution occurs. The last one was petroleum fuels used for combustion. I don't think nuclear is the next one, since it isn't as easy to use as petroleum was, nor as wood and coal before then. Therefore, something else is around the bend. I think the problem is that most people are arguing how it cannot be done, not about how it MIGHT be done.
This seems to be a European thing. With them, it always cannot be done, and it never gets done. Short of socialism and scarcity, and nasty close wound cities that smell of sewage and garbage, there is little else that they've accomplished. I should know, I lived there in my childhood, and I've revisited recently. With them, all things can still not be done. Nothing new. I expected more of Americans, however, since this place was the residence of the "can do" attitude. Seems that "can't be done" is the new Western attitude in general. Pity.
Then again, your argument is similar to the one called "if you pay 100 bucks to travel to work and home each day, pay 10 bucks for lunch and get paid 120 bucks each day... how DARE you say that you're not making any money??" (Hint, your net take home is 120-110=10 bucks. Therefore you ARE making money. Just because so much is wasted in the process does not mean you aren't making money.)
An idea that i'd like to present is that, for the most part, even the oil system we have today, depends on burning more resources than it pulls out, but the costs are largely hidden from the consumer. The "energy" industry of today is largely the same thing. This shit we're burning today had to come from somewhere. Call it resources, call it a zit in the earth or magic beans, but the question is... how much energy is burned up moving this stuff around, refining it, marketing it, selling it, etc. I bet if you did the math like some have, you'd notice that liquid fuel extraction (petroleum based) you'd discover that a lot of it is wasted merely to further extract MORE of it. All in all, its a losing game either way. Perhaps less energy should be wasted debunking things based only on mere assumptions, and actually figuring something new out.
For a bunch of "geeks" and "science nerds" I'm seeing a lot of bullshit and very little science. If you don't have solutions, why don't you get together with someone who can think and come up with a few? Can't hurt, seeing as to how science has been reduced to verifying predominant dogmas and outright rejecting any other possibilities.
Strangely, if your dogmas were to be followed, quantum mechanics would've been an outright pipe dream. Strangely, as far as our current means go, this stuff has proven pretty eye opening, if nothing else.
Question to ask is: if we've been hoodwinked into believing so much other shit before, even by our teachers, from the world being flat, to flies manifesting on rotten meat, to the various other propagandas of our age... what else have we been lied to or mislead about? Instead of immediately debunking things based on preaching, perhaps a second look at "HOW" something might be done, would be eye opening, would it not? Almost like the arguments that free markets don't work, when a truly free market has rarely existed because governments have been quick to destroy them, lest people gain some measure of autonomy through exchanges of value based on consent, rather than lies, misinformation and government coercion and controls.
Try figuring out how it COULD be done, rather than bitching about something we all were taught in high school. By the way, I still remember my mathematics professor telling me that that there were no numbers other than positive and negative. Guess her education was weaker than mine and when I asked her about the posible results of radicals from negative roots, she turned pale white, having a kid explain to her how that stuff should work in front of her class. Yeah, that kind of shit is what makes me not believe that teachers, professors and doctors know it all. Most only know what they've been TOLD to know, and believe only what they've been TOLD to believe.
A guy that went by Teilhard de Chardin, long ago, said something to the effect of "in the cosmos, only the fantastic has a chance of being real."
Given that everything we once took to be science fiction or "tools of the devil" are now things we take for granted every day, perhaps the idea that energy is easier to extract than we've been taught by our establishment, may well not be as "unpossible" as we've been taught to believe. Frankly, I've seen entirely too many things in my life to think that its all as simple and cut and dry as school would have us believe.
That is why I simply said, if I see a working sample, or if I am asked to witness such a thing, I will gladly maintain an open mind. Why? I've seen too much weird shit in my life, survived lots of weird shit, and delved in places where I was told not to.
Actually when I first got into extreme overclocking for gaming back in the Athlon Slot A and Celeron A days, I remember that we were told that peltiers were the way to go and were only going to move as much heat as they consumed power. Someone even derided an article I wrote mentioning that small Airconditioner was the way to go for extreme cooling. When companies such as Asetek picked it up and made their VapoChill case, the "all knowing" geeks screamed that it was against all the laws of conservation of energy if a 10-50 watt AC unit could move 200 watts of heat... it was 'unpossible' they screamed.
Strangely, having built and designed air conditioning units for some time, and having done a LOT of installations, I have a few ideas on how the laws of physics can be exploited to use LESS energy to accomplish a job that normally requires MORE energy. Air Conditioning is only one of the visible uses of compression and decompression as well as radiation of heat in order to transfer heat for a much smaller energy cost than the standard peltier technology once used for "extreme cooling" in computers.
Refrigeration technology is OLD and works admirably well. Until I see a proof and more than just a "not possible" debunking, I will remain skeptical of the claim and of its eager debunkers. Just my 10 cents.
You disagree then, that the only winners are the guys actually selling the game the Reds and the others play?
If I were to call to notice the real winners of every world war, of every major upheaval or conflict, it would be those who financed it, not those who played to "beat the other team". If I were to choose the winning side in any conflict, I would become a banker or marry into a banking family, not go fight for some army. Fighting for armies or on teams is a feel good thing. There are no real winnings, no real victories to be had. Short of running the world's money supply and scamming the stupid and gullible out of their life savings, there is really no other 'winning side' since all other sides work for the money men as well.
Do I call them evil? Nope. Brilliant? Yes. Do I admire brilliance when I see it? Yes. Regardless of the evils they inflict, it isn't as if they FORCED the worm and hook down the fish's throat. Stupid little fishy grabbed the bait of its own free will.
They're right, however, I mean look... the Fabian Socialists have implemented Communism the way the Reds never could dream of. I mean damn, look at the USA, its a communist or semi communist oligarchy, little different than the USSR. Government controls and owns all, if you disagree, try not paying "ye pithy taxes" and see how quickly the ninja masked thugs descent upon your home.
Granted, most Americans today are fat, lazy and slow. (A trait I shared with my fellows for some time before cleaning up my diet and my attitude.) They worship the victim, without realizing that oftentimes, the victim DESERVES what it gets. Almost like the fish thing... "those poor fishies, being tricked by evil anglers"... nobody stops to think "good for evolution, that fish was stupid enough to go for an EARTHWORM that was miraculously swimming in the middle of a LAKE?? Good thing that stupid fish never got to breed, IMHO."
Which tells me only one thing... no matter who wins in what game... the Reds or Blue team or Green team... the ultimate winner is the guy who made and sold the game. He gets rewarded by feeling good and making a bundle. Same thing in real life.
Thanks for correcting my mistaken assumption that someone out there elects these guys too (still more than willing to believe there's a small group on Crown Street that actually "elects" them in the same way they elect the crucial members of the US Congress too, and in the same way they permit the Queen to "run the show" so long as she runs it the way they tell her to.)
And if people weren't kept in a complete vacuum of thought that the public schools enforce, perhaps they wouldn't NEED to vote for crooks to redistribute other people's wealth, or depend on other crooks to lord over them. And if they didn't try to harm others (rich or poor notwithstanding) then they wouldn't need self appointed "der ubermensch" to come think for them and prevent their folly.
Besides, its not like the House of Lords prevented England from turning into an overt police state in the last 15 years. So throwing a pittance to the shackled masses isn't exactly what I call "benevolent"... I call it "saying nice doggie until you find a big enough rock." I mean, England is small enough that they can't hide without fleeing the shores, should a revolution start. Thus, the Lords have to do something to make them look friendly to the masses, should the masses finally wake up to reality and do as Mencken suggested, and "spit on their hands, hoist the black flag, and start slitting throats." Why else do you think there would be so damn many cameras in London, yet they always fail to protect civilians... what other purpose would such a panopticon serve? Though that DOES explain why some woman in England could go to prison for a 3 years for possessing a mere 12 rounds of.38 Special, and not even a gun to shoot them off with. They've disarmed the populace out of fear of revolution, not fear of murder or "populist knee jerk" programs.
Thankfully the english are more cowed than their fellow socialists in America and even Europe. They're great at subjugating other cultures (as was proven by their rape of the new world and of asia and some of africa) but they're miserable at being anything but obedient subjects. The English, however, don't even need to be brainwashed by force anymore, they brainwash themselves. Its a great time to have a fancy title in England and be worshipped by the masses.
As for their wondrous achievements, I wonder if they were achieved the same way as dictators from certain communist dictatorships received degrees from Harvard or Yale or even, "gasp" your vaunted Oxford. One has to wonder how the wife of Nicolae Ceausescu, who, from all accounts never got into middle school, somehow became a PHD in chemistry while visiting "the west"?? I'm fairly sure the dictators were equally as qualified as the Lords in England, but the question is, who qualified them, and for what purpose? Lording over a nation comprised mostly of Proud Chavs doesn't exactly make them worthy of respect.
"...And now we need someone else to vote for us and validate us, otherwise we'll be shown for the rotten crooks we are, and people will stop wanting to partake of our poison fruit. Wait... was that my outside voice? "
Won't happen on youtube, but it would not be the first time that such scumbags would've had an instance of parapraxis of some sort.
Not only that, but the issue at hand isn't just crappy software, or cheap hardware, the issue is that the laptops and desktops used by the "representatives" are truly representative of their base. Built on ignorance.
I will illustrate what they are NOT, instead:
My personal work, and travel abroad laptop, contains CAD software, email RECEIVING software, video watching software, instant messaging software and secure delete software. It does not contain, services, weatherbug type stuff, spyware or other things that should NOT be running on a system that might get stolen or broken into while I'm out sampling the local night life in some third world country.
Does my system contain sensitive info? Depends what you call sensitive. Is it hard to get to? You betcha. Are the federales in the USA (or government agents in ANY country for that matter) as careful with THEIR client info (namely that of their respective people or informants abroad?) All evidence points to the contrary. Trust the government if you wish for a not so swift, painful death at the hands of whomever they willingly or unwittingly sell you out to. As for me, I value my health and wealth enough not to leave my data lying around for others to partake of.
Not because I worry that I will be hacked or my clients will sue me... no, I do this out of RESPECT for those with whom I've done business or with whom I've exchanged information. I respect them enough NOT to sell their info or treat them like trash. As a result, they return the favor. And if they do not, they won't long remain on my contact list. I make it a point not to associate with the stupid or the insane. I safeguard even my tavern mates' information, not because it is financially valuable, but because I respect those individuals and would not subject them to undue privacy violations (other than what the DHS and other spy in the sky types will subject them to regardless of their guilt or innocence in any particular subject). Respect is one of those things that is not valued as much in this world, even if it, along with TRUST are still the most valuable and among the few things one should consider "assets".
Do the government goons and politicians in various countries respect those whose information they access on their computing equipment? Apparently, the answer is not exactly one that encourages me to wish to associate with these individuals, regardless of how much money they make or what titles they are bestowed with.
You know what amuses me here? The fact that you're splitting the wrong hairs, and that the minutia is what the masses are directly involved in, and not a single damn one who has looked up has remained the same. How many actually bother to look up and start thinking, is another story. Not unexpected, but one has to ask any particular individual about their views on an issue, that individual would feel fairly informed about one or two, and not care about most. Then when asked why they take a stand on that certain issue, what would they say? Because it is important to them and they've bothered to (by accident or intentionally) research the topic. The reality is wholly different as they will, if prodded hard enough, notify the interviewer that their knowledge on the subject is gleaned from the newspaper or their local church "leader" or their "political representative" or their Tee Vee. Wait!! Did I hear that right? They got their input on something they find to be VERY important to them, ONLY from a few misguided quacks? They never actually researched the subject?? How come??
What seems to me to be unusual (from my own point of view) is the lack of understanding of the world around them, yet the absolute certainty with which the various willing members of the "masses" claim to know how everything works. For the most part they've rarely dared to actually step outside ANY boundaries whatsoever, physical or mental, yet they know for sure what does and does not work. However, this "knowing" exhibited by the masses is not "knowing" any more than a guy who reads a book can "know" how to climb a mountain or hunt down a deer. Knowing is based on one's own experience and understanding, the term "believing" is what the vast masses do when told to believe a certain way or think a certain way. They are told to do something, and they unquestioningly, fearfully and dutifully, obey. Nothing wrong with that, except the fact that they are UPSET by this fact and by its very predictable outcomes.
I call insanity on this. Only the insane does something repeatedly, with repeatedly predictable results, and then gets upset that the results are always the same unwanted ones. The masses are upset, they're mad, they're hell bent on being treated fairly or honestly, but never bother to learn WHY it is that they get the unwanted results each time they appoint someone else to think for them... oh wait, that must be it, they keep asking others to do their thinking for them. Crap, I think I upset them again bringing up that sore issue to the surface again. Tough.
You've proven my point far beyond my wildest dreams (actually my wildest dreams don't really have much to do with this particular point:)
Joking aside, however, just because progress has benefitted certain people, does not make their willing and unwilling pawns any more intelligent, or wise, or smart, or anything but what they are. Just because progress can be achieved with 99% enslaved labor, does not mean it cannot be done equally as well (if not better) by those who participate by mutual agreement.
To put it in a more easily understood concept... even if orgasm (progress) can be achieved through RAPE, or consensual sex, or masturbation, that does not make RAPE a necessary thing to achieve orgasm, nor does it say that the guy who masturbates isn't achieving orgasms. Does that make any one of those three conditions the only right way to reach orgasm? Same thing with your vaunted progress.
There is more than one way to get to a desired goal, and just because a vast mass of the populace is incapable of seeing the forest for the trees, and just because a few profit from the stupidity of the many does NOT in any way make the few evil, or the many any less stupid.
I was stating an observation, not saying that the masses should awaken. Personally I am not wanting to save anyone. Those who will save themselves will do it without my help. The masses, in fact, deserve EXACTLY the kind of progress they are in the process of "receiving". I'm just enjoying the show. Don't mistake me for someone who still cares.
I think the bankers, the priests and the politicians have already figured out how to turn stupidity into free energy. Witness, for example, the boundlessly stupid as they sign up to fight politicians wars, religionists jihads, to man priests' inquisitions or run on the endless, profitless treadmill of the serf/employee rat race, and witness this set of examples through history. From tithes, to taxes, to "donations" to traffic tickets and drug enforcement, the boundlessly stupid have always eagerly jumped onto the bandwagon of the strong willed and obeyed without a single qualm, always finding quite creative and intelligent ways to justify what it was they were doing... usually via such imaginative excuses such as "just doing my job" or "its the law" or "the priests told me God said it, therefore it must be true" or perhaps "if the nice man on Tee Vee said it, how dare you question it?"
Man's stupidity is already being harnessed... we're just too caught up in the minutia to notice it.
Yeah, I find that if they want to be afraid, why not setup a vaporware business to cater to their whims?
Oh crap, the TSA beat me to it!! Dammit!
P.T. Barnum was right on his analyses of the sucker... "one born every minute and two to take care of him," and "nobody ever went broke betting on human stupidity."
As a result, I am shortly going to be announcing my new "Remain Safely Stupid, (tm)" product line. We harness the power of human stupidity for profit.
It will be absolutely nothing more than a box filled with paperwork. After filling out said paperwork, the client is guaranteed paper "rights" to be "free" and "protected" with said freedoms and protections guaranteed by the pieces of paper, and through no action or knowledge of his own. The client thus receives all the benefits without any of the actual risks of actually BEING free, or the hardships of actually BEING safe. Some have derided my product lines as "security theater" or "vaporware" but they are merely upset because I beat them to market with such a brilliant idea.
Slashdot Mirror
Correct, if he allowed himself to be deprived of his freedom of travel, without resisting with all meaningful capabilities, then he now has to CONFESS (read: forcefully) that he committed a crime. This, in the USA and the old common law system is known by some term that sounds roughly like "self incrimination" or "bearing testimony against oneself."
Generally this is frowned upon in the USA but most people have forgotten their rights here. Why should someone be upset when it doesn't even exist in other countries where rights are granted by governments and taken away just as easily? In this place, at one point, people were pretty hard assed about their rights as 'preexisting until waived or surrendered'. Seems they've forgotten about that stuff.
Seems that particular mindset has been socialized away. And now the government thugs have all these sissy morons over a barrel and are busy assfucking them as they feel fit. As Cartman put it... "you better respect that Authoritah!" Or, as I predict will eventually happen, there will eventually be a lash back of such unprecedented violence, when these plebes finally have enough, that living anywhere near a major population center, will be like living in the Warsaw Ghetto back in the Nazi days. And as I've said before, I find myself largely unwilling to even lend a bottle of clean water to these people, who until that point will have wanted to deprive ME of property and peace of mind. I find that I will probably not want any involvement since these people will only discover the value of freedom when the government's wealth and goods redistribution programs run out of other people's wealth to redistribute. As is usual, and was observed in communist places, that usually happens early, and then the governments largely bleed their populaces dry. And in most disarmed places, the populaces never free themselves, except during state sanctioned "revolutions" generally setup to replace one set of tired rulers with a new, hungrier generation of power mongers.
You mean kind of how you must KNOW that hemp/cannabis is the most horrible plant on the planet? After all, accredited scientists have all vetted that belief. Anyone who actually plants some and finds out what it is ACTUALLY used for (besides blunts and joints) is a criminal and spends a lengthy term in prison, both in Evil America and in the Goodly Europe. Such a person, experimenting to verify whether they've been lied to or not, is NOT an actual scientist, right? After all, you know for sure, since accredited scientists vetted that material and told you, while the individual double checking something is a crook, right?
After 10 years of real research (by said accredited scientists) they're discovering what the old "country bumpkins" used to know from experimentation. Hemp/Cannabis tea (or joints) are muscle relaxers but also seem to enhance the human body (pain relief, etc).
But since they weren't scientists, those geniuses from the EU are more correct, aren't they? After all, they're accredited, so until THEY decide that something is beneficial, it is harmful. You'll have to excuse me if I don't buy what you're selling. To quote the old programmer joke... "it is a crock of shit, and smells strongly thereof."
I can give another batch of examples and wear out my keyboard typing, and it would make no difference, you will believe as you're told, and I'll continue to find that the majority belief on almost anything in today's "modern society" is bullshit. Nothing new. Wasn't that an older saying? "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Einstein made his gains through his political connections and his stint at the patent office.
Von Braun I can accept.
Bell I can accept (you forgot Elijah Gray who got to the patent office late).
Darwin... hmmm.. fine.
You leave Tycho Brahe, Newton, Copernicus, Bohr, Tesla (oh wait, he went to America, didn't he?) etc... and yes, most were in Europe, or of European descent, so am I for that matter, but that won't stop me from picking on my own siblings... with all Europeans, they will sooner find out that something CANT be done and give up, rather than find something that might be done and bypass a problem.
I'm not sure why you accredit societies which are oppressive constructs with the successes of a few individuals, who regardless of their merits, did it DESPITE being brainwashed and throttled, not because of.
What I don't see is Europe having used all that talent on the shoulders of which they stand to proclaim their "superiority", to rise above the need to oppress others, and barring that, to oppress their own. Europeans have always been very good at imposing their beliefs down everyone's throats, usually as a means to extract resources. Had the USA not been brought in to help Warburg and Morgan collect their credit lines extended to England (in gold bullion) during WW 1 and 2, perhaps the Germans would've solved the problem of England and Crown Street once and for all. Perhaps if that had occurred, America wouldn't be doing all of the UK's dirty work.
Tell me something... do you lead a stress free life, free of coercions, free of crooks with guns and blue or black uniforms looming over your every action, can you drink or eat whatever you please, and so long as you harm nobody else's person, nobody intrudes into your life? Are you free to live life or are you coerced at every step? Pardon me, but I find that the creations of Europe and Asia remain strong even in America today. Sure, people fought against that crap, and even won a small victory in 1776, which was quickly remedied by pro english / monarchist / federalist thugs in 1791. Since then its been downhill... thank your English luminaries and your Fabian Socialists for that. Between them and the Prussians, they've given us a wonderful world to live in, and America has managed to distill their Fascism and Socialism and turned it into a Leviathan that would've made Hobbes proud. At least in London, with 4 million cameras surveilling the potential criminals... AHEM... population below, they're still "concerned that England might become a police state". Don't get too Orwellian now. And Londoners call Americans stupid? Pot, meet Kettle. Both black.
Springfield, Colt, Kimber or something more exotic?
Nice gun by the way.
Actually dogma is defended without being tested. You are correct.
Question for you:
Has anyone on this forum actually looked under the hood before screaming "lie" ?
Perhaps its a misstatement, perhaps its a scam, perhaps its some miracle of a new science. I agree that it most likely IS a fraud. As I have observed, no government would give up the scarcity paradigm without bloodshed, especially if a truly easy, or affordable energy supply were to be available. Such a thing would ruin the political and religious chokeholds of our world, and would make both governments and religions shown for what they are. Frauds used to control men and keep them subservient.
If you've read some of my past posts, you should be fairly familiar with the fact that I hold even greater distaste for religious dogma... but "science" is no longer viewed as "changing" or in a state of flux, it is viewed as absolute and unchanging. That geeks would be so dogmatic is what disturbs me.
It is said that a wise man knows nothing, meaning it is humanly impossible to weigh every issue by doing your own exhaustive verification, this is the precise reason why the scientific method is so usefull.
Know - to have first hand knowledge of something. Sometimes based or called as "experience".
Believe - to have second hand knowledge of something, such as academic knowledge of something. Also known as hearsay.
The wise men (a group from which your comment seems to autoexclude you) of Socrates time knew they didn't "know" anything only because most of them sat around theorizing about the world but didn't go out and actually gain first hand knowledge. Of course they didn't "know" anything, because all that they knew they merely 'believed' as they were told by others.
Slashdot continues to not surprise me.
Or the farmer could mistake them for the latest gathering of MS-13 or La Raza gangbangers, (who have come down here to the East Coast now too) which would be VERY bad for his farm, especially if said farmer was white or black.
:) and WHEN to use or WHEN NOT to use it.
Having a gun on you, especially a handgun seems more like common sense, as much common sense as actually KNOWING how to use it
You would think that the editors in the news room of one of our nations three commercial stations would have been embarrased to show such ignorance, but not channel 10, they used a clip from the story throughout the day as a promo for the evening news!
You would think that after nearly 20 years (of which I have verifiable experience) of lies and bullshit, nobody in either the eastern or western world would still believe the bullshit that spews from Tee Vee... yet you all fail to amaze me that you take Tee Vee seriously.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. When all your input and knowledge comes from "sanctioned" sources, going out and actually verifying something for yourself is actually kind of antithetical to society, isn't it?
Finally, maybe the physicists will eventually manage to get nuclear fusion going. The research is expensive (10 billion or so for ITER), but cheap compared to oil wars in the Middle East. For the cost of one Iraq war, you can build a lot of research reactors.
Probably why it isn't getting done. It takes a lot of money to keep the inflation machine, and the Iraqi war is a good justification to keep printing. Sustainable energy resources would be a very bad thing for the bankers and the government, neither of which wants the people to be independent or free.
In the end it comes down to the people wanting it badly enough to get it done regardless of the roadblocks to real progress that both "conservatives" and "progressives" are eager to put in their way.
I strongly DOUBT that if a limitless source of energy had been discovered and successfully exploited, that the media would cover it. The discoverer would be dead or hired by the government, and his discovery would vanish like a mirage in the desert. Free energy of any sort would not just upset the ideas of thermodynamics, but would shake up the governing structures of the world. Most governments retain power over their subjects (ahem: "citizens") by denying them access to resources. They oppress others by killing them for their access to energy and resources.
The design is either a flawed one, with limitations (catalyst, etc) or it is a fraud. That being said, I have more of a beef with the absolute knee jerk "it isn't possible" mentality, than with the actual article. Something like this would've been shut off long before it ever got to the mainstream Joe Six Pack (heretofore J6P). That's why I don't think whatever they're presenting is entirely accurate.
I guess the concept of "metaphor" or "similar example" just really doesn't ring well with the engineering crowd.
Well, like I said, I'm not declaring anything impossible. And no, the airconditioning thing was merely an example of "they didn't know enough, despite being well schooled in the formulas they were spitting out" (which, ironically is what school is best at training people to do, most other skills are learned on the job anyways.)
Even the idea of antimatter or neutrinos or quantum mechanics were considered "impossible" some time ago. There is simply too much we do not grasp completely yet, despite all the formulas and appraisals we make. Declaring a dogma to be absolutely true is something we should've left to the Christians and Muslims of the world. They always "know" and they are "always right". Scientists were supposed to be open minded, at some point, they even were. Today science is simply the newest dogma.
I remember the rule was simple. Until you can absolutely, in every case, and without fail, prove that something is false, it isn't. Just as until you can prove that something is true, without fail, in all scenarios imaginable... it isn't absolutely true.
As a result, perhaps you should cool your jets buddy. Your grasp is fine, but you're not teaching me something I haven't done. You're teaching me a fine example from your textbook or from the wikipedia. Get out there and get your hands dirty. Get into a few close calls. You'll find that field experience trumps what you read in books and learn in class any day.
At that point you'll find yourself much more open to possibilities. Besides, they're still basing the engine on the internal combustion principle, when there are at least ten other things they COULD apply to, that would build a far cheaper vehicle, with FAR less points of failure, easier construction and easier maintenance.
Oh it gives us an energy surplus, but a lot of it is wasted. If we got as much energy out of petroleum as it contains, we wouldn't be blowing barrels upon barrels to extract, transport, refine and transport enough fuel just for something so little as ONE tractor trailer to go 1000 miles. Let us be serious... motors should've been permitted to evolve, and to pretend they don't is to be remarkably ignorant. I recall a little reading I did years ago that stated that about 150 years or so, an energy revolution occurs. The last one was petroleum fuels used for combustion. I don't think nuclear is the next one, since it isn't as easy to use as petroleum was, nor as wood and coal before then. Therefore, something else is around the bend. I think the problem is that most people are arguing how it cannot be done, not about how it MIGHT be done.
This seems to be a European thing. With them, it always cannot be done, and it never gets done. Short of socialism and scarcity, and nasty close wound cities that smell of sewage and garbage, there is little else that they've accomplished. I should know, I lived there in my childhood, and I've revisited recently. With them, all things can still not be done. Nothing new. I expected more of Americans, however, since this place was the residence of the "can do" attitude. Seems that "can't be done" is the new Western attitude in general. Pity.
Then again, your argument is similar to the one called "if you pay 100 bucks to travel to work and home each day, pay 10 bucks for lunch and get paid 120 bucks each day... how DARE you say that you're not making any money??" (Hint, your net take home is 120-110=10 bucks. Therefore you ARE making money. Just because so much is wasted in the process does not mean you aren't making money.)
An idea that i'd like to present is that, for the most part, even the oil system we have today, depends on burning more resources than it pulls out, but the costs are largely hidden from the consumer. The "energy" industry of today is largely the same thing. This shit we're burning today had to come from somewhere. Call it resources, call it a zit in the earth or magic beans, but the question is... how much energy is burned up moving this stuff around, refining it, marketing it, selling it, etc. I bet if you did the math like some have, you'd notice that liquid fuel extraction (petroleum based) you'd discover that a lot of it is wasted merely to further extract MORE of it. All in all, its a losing game either way. Perhaps less energy should be wasted debunking things based only on mere assumptions, and actually figuring something new out.
For a bunch of "geeks" and "science nerds" I'm seeing a lot of bullshit and very little science. If you don't have solutions, why don't you get together with someone who can think and come up with a few? Can't hurt, seeing as to how science has been reduced to verifying predominant dogmas and outright rejecting any other possibilities.
Strangely, if your dogmas were to be followed, quantum mechanics would've been an outright pipe dream. Strangely, as far as our current means go, this stuff has proven pretty eye opening, if nothing else.
Question to ask is: if we've been hoodwinked into believing so much other shit before, even by our teachers, from the world being flat, to flies manifesting on rotten meat, to the various other propagandas of our age... what else have we been lied to or mislead about? Instead of immediately debunking things based on preaching, perhaps a second look at "HOW" something might be done, would be eye opening, would it not? Almost like the arguments that free markets don't work, when a truly free market has rarely existed because governments have been quick to destroy them, lest people gain some measure of autonomy through exchanges of value based on consent, rather than lies, misinformation and government coercion and controls.
Try figuring out how it COULD be done, rather than bitching about something we all were taught in high school. By the way, I still remember my mathematics professor telling me that that there were no numbers other than positive and negative. Guess her education was weaker than mine and when I asked her about the posible results of radicals from negative roots, she turned pale white, having a kid explain to her how that stuff should work in front of her class. Yeah, that kind of shit is what makes me not believe that teachers, professors and doctors know it all. Most only know what they've been TOLD to know, and believe only what they've been TOLD to believe.
A guy that went by Teilhard de Chardin, long ago, said something to the effect of "in the cosmos, only the fantastic has a chance of being real."
Given that everything we once took to be science fiction or "tools of the devil" are now things we take for granted every day, perhaps the idea that energy is easier to extract than we've been taught by our establishment, may well not be as "unpossible" as we've been taught to believe. Frankly, I've seen entirely too many things in my life to think that its all as simple and cut and dry as school would have us believe.
That is why I simply said, if I see a working sample, or if I am asked to witness such a thing, I will gladly maintain an open mind. Why? I've seen too much weird shit in my life, survived lots of weird shit, and delved in places where I was told not to.
Actually when I first got into extreme overclocking for gaming back in the Athlon Slot A and Celeron A days, I remember that we were told that peltiers were the way to go and were only going to move as much heat as they consumed power. Someone even derided an article I wrote mentioning that small Airconditioner was the way to go for extreme cooling. When companies such as Asetek picked it up and made their VapoChill case, the "all knowing" geeks screamed that it was against all the laws of conservation of energy if a 10-50 watt AC unit could move 200 watts of heat... it was 'unpossible' they screamed.
Strangely, having built and designed air conditioning units for some time, and having done a LOT of installations, I have a few ideas on how the laws of physics can be exploited to use LESS energy to accomplish a job that normally requires MORE energy. Air Conditioning is only one of the visible uses of compression and decompression as well as radiation of heat in order to transfer heat for a much smaller energy cost than the standard peltier technology once used for "extreme cooling" in computers.
Refrigeration technology is OLD and works admirably well. Until I see a proof and more than just a "not possible" debunking, I will remain skeptical of the claim and of its eager debunkers. Just my 10 cents.
You disagree then, that the only winners are the guys actually selling the game the Reds and the others play?
If I were to call to notice the real winners of every world war, of every major upheaval or conflict, it would be those who financed it, not those who played to "beat the other team". If I were to choose the winning side in any conflict, I would become a banker or marry into a banking family, not go fight for some army. Fighting for armies or on teams is a feel good thing. There are no real winnings, no real victories to be had. Short of running the world's money supply and scamming the stupid and gullible out of their life savings, there is really no other 'winning side' since all other sides work for the money men as well.
Do I call them evil? Nope. Brilliant? Yes. Do I admire brilliance when I see it? Yes. Regardless of the evils they inflict, it isn't as if they FORCED the worm and hook down the fish's throat. Stupid little fishy grabbed the bait of its own free will.
They're right, however, I mean look... the Fabian Socialists have implemented Communism the way the Reds never could dream of. I mean damn, look at the USA, its a communist or semi communist oligarchy, little different than the USSR. Government controls and owns all, if you disagree, try not paying "ye pithy taxes" and see how quickly the ninja masked thugs descent upon your home.
Granted, most Americans today are fat, lazy and slow. (A trait I shared with my fellows for some time before cleaning up my diet and my attitude.) They worship the victim, without realizing that oftentimes, the victim DESERVES what it gets. Almost like the fish thing... "those poor fishies, being tricked by evil anglers"... nobody stops to think "good for evolution, that fish was stupid enough to go for an EARTHWORM that was miraculously swimming in the middle of a LAKE?? Good thing that stupid fish never got to breed, IMHO."
Which tells me only one thing... no matter who wins in what game... the Reds or Blue team or Green team... the ultimate winner is the guy who made and sold the game. He gets rewarded by feeling good and making a bundle. Same thing in real life.
Thanks for correcting my mistaken assumption that someone out there elects these guys too (still more than willing to believe there's a small group on Crown Street that actually "elects" them in the same way they elect the crucial members of the US Congress too, and in the same way they permit the Queen to "run the show" so long as she runs it the way they tell her to.)
.38 Special, and not even a gun to shoot them off with. They've disarmed the populace out of fear of revolution, not fear of murder or "populist knee jerk" programs.
And if people weren't kept in a complete vacuum of thought that the public schools enforce, perhaps they wouldn't NEED to vote for crooks to redistribute other people's wealth, or depend on other crooks to lord over them. And if they didn't try to harm others (rich or poor notwithstanding) then they wouldn't need self appointed "der ubermensch" to come think for them and prevent their folly.
Besides, its not like the House of Lords prevented England from turning into an overt police state in the last 15 years. So throwing a pittance to the shackled masses isn't exactly what I call "benevolent"... I call it "saying nice doggie until you find a big enough rock." I mean, England is small enough that they can't hide without fleeing the shores, should a revolution start. Thus, the Lords have to do something to make them look friendly to the masses, should the masses finally wake up to reality and do as Mencken suggested, and "spit on their hands, hoist the black flag, and start slitting throats." Why else do you think there would be so damn many cameras in London, yet they always fail to protect civilians... what other purpose would such a panopticon serve? Though that DOES explain why some woman in England could go to prison for a 3 years for possessing a mere 12 rounds of
Thankfully the english are more cowed than their fellow socialists in America and even Europe. They're great at subjugating other cultures (as was proven by their rape of the new world and of asia and some of africa) but they're miserable at being anything but obedient subjects. The English, however, don't even need to be brainwashed by force anymore, they brainwash themselves. Its a great time to have a fancy title in England and be worshipped by the masses.
As for their wondrous achievements, I wonder if they were achieved the same way as dictators from certain communist dictatorships received degrees from Harvard or Yale or even, "gasp" your vaunted Oxford. One has to wonder how the wife of Nicolae Ceausescu, who, from all accounts never got into middle school, somehow became a PHD in chemistry while visiting "the west"?? I'm fairly sure the dictators were equally as qualified as the Lords in England, but the question is, who qualified them, and for what purpose? Lording over a nation comprised mostly of Proud Chavs doesn't exactly make them worthy of respect.
"...And now we need someone else to vote for us and validate us, otherwise we'll be shown for the rotten crooks we are, and people will stop wanting to partake of our poison fruit. Wait... was that my outside voice? "
Won't happen on youtube, but it would not be the first time that such scumbags would've had an instance of parapraxis of some sort.
I smell profit potential growing.
Have you done a 1.2.3.4 Profit! flowchart? It helps visualize things.
Not only that, but the issue at hand isn't just crappy software, or cheap hardware, the issue is that the laptops and desktops used by the "representatives" are truly representative of their base. Built on ignorance.
I will illustrate what they are NOT, instead:
My personal work, and travel abroad laptop, contains CAD software, email RECEIVING software, video watching software, instant messaging software and secure delete software. It does not contain, services, weatherbug type stuff, spyware or other things that should NOT be running on a system that might get stolen or broken into while I'm out sampling the local night life in some third world country.
Does my system contain sensitive info? Depends what you call sensitive. Is it hard to get to? You betcha. Are the federales in the USA (or government agents in ANY country for that matter) as careful with THEIR client info (namely that of their respective people or informants abroad?) All evidence points to the contrary. Trust the government if you wish for a not so swift, painful death at the hands of whomever they willingly or unwittingly sell you out to. As for me, I value my health and wealth enough not to leave my data lying around for others to partake of.
Not because I worry that I will be hacked or my clients will sue me... no, I do this out of RESPECT for those with whom I've done business or with whom I've exchanged information. I respect them enough NOT to sell their info or treat them like trash. As a result, they return the favor. And if they do not, they won't long remain on my contact list. I make it a point not to associate with the stupid or the insane. I safeguard even my tavern mates' information, not because it is financially valuable, but because I respect those individuals and would not subject them to undue privacy violations (other than what the DHS and other spy in the sky types will subject them to regardless of their guilt or innocence in any particular subject). Respect is one of those things that is not valued as much in this world, even if it, along with TRUST are still the most valuable and among the few things one should consider "assets".
Do the government goons and politicians in various countries respect those whose information they access on their computing equipment? Apparently, the answer is not exactly one that encourages me to wish to associate with these individuals, regardless of how much money they make or what titles they are bestowed with.
You know what amuses me here? The fact that you're splitting the wrong hairs, and that the minutia is what the masses are directly involved in, and not a single damn one who has looked up has remained the same. How many actually bother to look up and start thinking, is another story. Not unexpected, but one has to ask any particular individual about their views on an issue, that individual would feel fairly informed about one or two, and not care about most. Then when asked why they take a stand on that certain issue, what would they say? Because it is important to them and they've bothered to (by accident or intentionally) research the topic. The reality is wholly different as they will, if prodded hard enough, notify the interviewer that their knowledge on the subject is gleaned from the newspaper or their local church "leader" or their "political representative" or their Tee Vee. Wait!! Did I hear that right? They got their input on something they find to be VERY important to them, ONLY from a few misguided quacks? They never actually researched the subject?? How come??
What seems to me to be unusual (from my own point of view) is the lack of understanding of the world around them, yet the absolute certainty with which the various willing members of the "masses" claim to know how everything works. For the most part they've rarely dared to actually step outside ANY boundaries whatsoever, physical or mental, yet they know for sure what does and does not work. However, this "knowing" exhibited by the masses is not "knowing" any more than a guy who reads a book can "know" how to climb a mountain or hunt down a deer. Knowing is based on one's own experience and understanding, the term "believing" is what the vast masses do when told to believe a certain way or think a certain way. They are told to do something, and they unquestioningly, fearfully and dutifully, obey. Nothing wrong with that, except the fact that they are UPSET by this fact and by its very predictable outcomes.
I call insanity on this. Only the insane does something repeatedly, with repeatedly predictable results, and then gets upset that the results are always the same unwanted ones. The masses are upset, they're mad, they're hell bent on being treated fairly or honestly, but never bother to learn WHY it is that they get the unwanted results each time they appoint someone else to think for them... oh wait, that must be it, they keep asking others to do their thinking for them. Crap, I think I upset them again bringing up that sore issue to the surface again. Tough.
You've proven my point far beyond my wildest dreams (actually my wildest dreams don't really have much to do with this particular point :)
Joking aside, however, just because progress has benefitted certain people, does not make their willing and unwilling pawns any more intelligent, or wise, or smart, or anything but what they are. Just because progress can be achieved with 99% enslaved labor, does not mean it cannot be done equally as well (if not better) by those who participate by mutual agreement.
To put it in a more easily understood concept... even if orgasm (progress) can be achieved through RAPE, or consensual sex, or masturbation, that does not make RAPE a necessary thing to achieve orgasm, nor does it say that the guy who masturbates isn't achieving orgasms. Does that make any one of those three conditions the only right way to reach orgasm? Same thing with your vaunted progress.
There is more than one way to get to a desired goal, and just because a vast mass of the populace is incapable of seeing the forest for the trees, and just because a few profit from the stupidity of the many does NOT in any way make the few evil, or the many any less stupid.
I was stating an observation, not saying that the masses should awaken. Personally I am not wanting to save anyone. Those who will save themselves will do it without my help. The masses, in fact, deserve EXACTLY the kind of progress they are in the process of "receiving". I'm just enjoying the show. Don't mistake me for someone who still cares.
I think the bankers, the priests and the politicians have already figured out how to turn stupidity into free energy. Witness, for example, the boundlessly stupid as they sign up to fight politicians wars, religionists jihads, to man priests' inquisitions or run on the endless, profitless treadmill of the serf/employee rat race, and witness this set of examples through history. From tithes, to taxes, to "donations" to traffic tickets and drug enforcement, the boundlessly stupid have always eagerly jumped onto the bandwagon of the strong willed and obeyed without a single qualm, always finding quite creative and intelligent ways to justify what it was they were doing... usually via such imaginative excuses such as "just doing my job" or "its the law" or "the priests told me God said it, therefore it must be true" or perhaps "if the nice man on Tee Vee said it, how dare you question it?"
Man's stupidity is already being harnessed... we're just too caught up in the minutia to notice it.
Yeah, I find that if they want to be afraid, why not setup a vaporware business to cater to their whims?
Oh crap, the TSA beat me to it!! Dammit!
P.T. Barnum was right on his analyses of the sucker... "one born every minute and two to take care of him," and "nobody ever went broke betting on human stupidity."
As a result, I am shortly going to be announcing my new "Remain Safely Stupid, (tm)" product line. We harness the power of human stupidity for profit.
It will be absolutely nothing more than a box filled with paperwork. After filling out said paperwork, the client is guaranteed paper "rights" to be "free" and "protected" with said freedoms and protections guaranteed by the pieces of paper, and through no action or knowledge of his own. The client thus receives all the benefits without any of the actual risks of actually BEING free, or the hardships of actually BEING safe. Some have derided my product lines as "security theater" or "vaporware" but they are merely upset because I beat them to market with such a brilliant idea.
Patents pending.