I understand your point and you understand mine. We just disagree. And that's not likely to change, even if I learn complex derivatives (not likely):)
Just a couple of things though:
"I would think that more countries would be moving away from fiat currency in that case. Oh wait, it's the other way around. I wonder why." Come on!? What kind of a argument is that? The whole world is polluting the environment, like there is no tomorrow. The whole world is sick from eating either way too much or way too little. The whole world is building weapons arsenals, enough to wipe us out many times over. The whole world is using Windows on their computers, for crying out loud! The whole world can be dead wrong and you know it.
"Economists far wiser than I have argued against it, with good reason." I'm not an economist, but I do try to be critical of what I read. There is an influential economics school, arguing for some form of gold standard, called "The Austrian School". I'm sure you know about it. Ron Paul is very much an adherent to their ideas. Me too.
Do you know that the price of basic goods relative to gold is pretty much stable since ancient times? That fact was not in my (and probably yours) university textbooks. I wonder why? In ancient Sumeria, in Roman times, in Renaissance Europe, a loaf of bread was worth about as much gold as now. Vagaries of randomness indeed...
I think you are missing the point. If gold is not enough, there are other precious commodities, metals, diamonds, whatever... The important thing is that the currency should be stable, because it has real value. And why do you need wast amounts of currency to expand? Money is the blood of the economy - too much is as dangerous as too little.
Yes, Switzerland is a small country, so what? Even this small country has issued (and backed with gold) more currency than its economy strictly needs. There are more franks abroad than in Switzerland, because it is a highly sought currency for short-term investment.
"Artificially pinning your currency to a physical commodity"? What is artificial about it? It used to be the norm worldwide. And it worked.
Ron Paul is right about a lot of things, maybe not everything, but certainly about the economy.
THE most stable currency in the world is issued by a small, landlocked, mountainous country, called Switzerland. Heard of it? It is one of the richest countries in the world, one of the most democratic, free and peaceful societies in history. And, surprise-surprise, its currency backed by gold. Gee, those Swiss really don't understand economics! Some bankers they are, still keeping the old gold standard in this modern age!
I'd take gold-backed Swiss Franks over your "trust-backed" currency any day. When you follow the barrel of oil price increase in dollars, check the price in Swiss franks.
> I knew for at least a year beforehand. What am I, Nostradamus?
Most everyone outside the US were Nostradamuses, too. I remember laughing to Colin Powell's address to the U.N. Security Council about Iraqy WMD in February 2003. I felt sorry for the guy! It was obvious that he himself did not believe the bullshit coming out of his mouth! How the other members of the Council could keep a straight face is beyond me.
Give it up Derek, it's pointless. Wise-ass Gentoo jokes are a Slashdot meme, just like the Soviet Russia jokes or Balmer's chair throwing jokes. Once they are put in circulation, nothing can end them. Ignore them, or even try to find them enjoyable:)
Don't write to your congresscritter Put down that pen! Close that word processing program! Forget all that happy crap you learned in civics class about sharing your views with your "representative." You don't have a representative any more. You merely have someone who thinks he or she is your "leader," unfettered by either your opinions or the Constitution.
Marx was wrong: religion isn't the opiate of the masses, in modern America, the drug that keeps us numb, dumb and well-behaved is a belief that we can still make a difference by politely voicing our views to our would-be rulers and owners.
they'll build Robotech style Mechs and a bunch of remote controlled dronebots and send them in to the slaughter.
Exactly. This technology is excellent for the likes of China and the Islamic countries, where soldiers' lives are cheap and expendable. How long do you think it will take them to copy this system, after it has been paid for, developed, tested, and debugged by the Americans? It is easier to copy than to invent.
If he's a good politician... he'll actually change his position for real and support equality for gays instead of joke callously about it while continuing to support blatant discrimination.
If he does that, he will lose the conservative votes and NOT gain any gay votes. Reversing your opinion on important issues is counter-productive: people will call you a Flip-Flop. See last elections...
Why "offtopic"? Remote controlling or some kind of automatic guidance of the plains is a central part in conspiracy theories about 9/11. Those giant Boeings maneuvered like fighter jets.
Where are you going with this? Next, you'll say that the climate models are wrong? Do you have a PhD in climatology? Are you saying that Al Gore is wrong?
Max Planck said: "a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
At that time, the majority of scientists would not accept his quantum theory. The majority is often times wrong. The "scientists" who in 1970s were predicting an Ice Age, are predicting Global Warming now.
As TFA says, there was a much warmer period in the Middle Ages. There were Viking farms on the coast of Greenland. It was named Greenland, because it was "green", not frozen white. After the warm period around 1100AD, there was a cooling period which killed off the colony on Greenland and virtually isolated Iceland. The colony in Vinland (America) was lost, too.
Communism could have crashed a long time ago, if the American political elite did not support it. For example, after Kruschev's idiotic farming experiments failed, the USA sold grain to the USSR. Otherwise, there would have been a rebellion. The Allies could have destroyed Communism in 1945, too. In fact that was what general Patton was demanding before his accidental (?) death.
It's a public secret that the "transition to democracy" of the Communist block was initiated and conducted by the Communist elite (they transformed themselves into the new "democratic" political and business elite).
The point is: It wasn't because of the Cold War, that Communism crumbled - on the contrary, the "Threat from the West" was keeping it alive. Nothing unites the people around the leadership, however idiotic, as a foreign threat. Godless commies, terr'ists, Axis of Evil... Eastasia is just as good as Eurasia for an enemy. If the media is doing its job properly.
Slashdot Mirror
I understand your point and you understand mine. We just disagree. And that's not likely to change, even if I learn complex derivatives (not likely) :)
Just a couple of things though:
"I would think that more countries would be moving away from fiat currency in that case. Oh wait, it's the other way around. I wonder why." Come on!? What kind of a argument is that? The whole world is polluting the environment, like there is no tomorrow. The whole world is sick from eating either way too much or way too little. The whole world is building weapons arsenals, enough to wipe us out many times over. The whole world is using Windows on their computers, for crying out loud! The whole world can be dead wrong and you know it.
"Economists far wiser than I have argued against it, with good reason." I'm not an economist, but I do try to be critical of what I read. There is an influential economics school, arguing for some form of gold standard, called "The Austrian School". I'm sure you know about it. Ron Paul is very much an adherent to their ideas. Me too.
Do you know that the price of basic goods relative to gold is pretty much stable since ancient times? That fact was not in my (and probably yours) university textbooks. I wonder why? In ancient Sumeria, in Roman times, in Renaissance Europe, a loaf of bread was worth about as much gold as now. Vagaries of randomness indeed...
I think you are missing the point. If gold is not enough, there are other precious commodities, metals, diamonds, whatever... The important thing is that the currency should be stable, because it has real value. And why do you need wast amounts of currency to expand? Money is the blood of the economy - too much is as dangerous as too little.
Yes, Switzerland is a small country, so what? Even this small country has issued (and backed with gold) more currency than its economy strictly needs. There are more franks abroad than in Switzerland, because it is a highly sought currency for short-term investment.
"Artificially pinning your currency to a physical commodity"? What is artificial about it? It used to be the norm worldwide. And it worked.
Ron Paul is right about a lot of things, maybe not everything, but certainly about the economy.
I'd take gold-backed Swiss Franks over your "trust-backed" currency any day. When you follow the barrel of oil price increase in dollars, check the price in Swiss franks.
Most everyone outside the US were Nostradamuses, too. I remember laughing to Colin Powell's address to the U.N. Security Council about Iraqy WMD in February 2003. I felt sorry for the guy! It was obvious that he himself did not believe the bullshit coming out of his mouth! How the other members of the Council could keep a straight face is beyond me.
Bloody Romans!
Give it up Derek, it's pointless. Wise-ass Gentoo jokes are a Slashdot meme, just like the Soviet Russia jokes or Balmer's chair throwing jokes. Once they are put in circulation, nothing can end them. Ignore them, or even try to find them enjoyable :)
Don't write to your congresscritter Put down that pen! Close that word processing program! Forget all that happy crap you learned in civics class about sharing your views with your "representative." You don't have a representative any more. You merely have someone who thinks he or she is your "leader," unfettered by either your opinions or the Constitution.
Marx was wrong: religion isn't the opiate of the masses, in modern America, the drug that keeps us numb, dumb and well-behaved is a belief that we can still make a difference by politely voicing our views to our would-be rulers and owners.
Other quotes from the book, here.
Bloody Romans!
Symbolic of your struggle against nature. Too late? :)
Magnetic wobbles? I thought it was static electricity from nylon underwear :)
+1 Insightful :)
Exactly. This technology is excellent for the likes of China and the Islamic countries, where soldiers' lives are cheap and expendable. How long do you think it will take them to copy this system, after it has been paid for, developed, tested, and debugged by the Americans? It is easier to copy than to invent.
If he does that, he will lose the conservative votes and NOT gain any gay votes. Reversing your opinion on important issues is counter-productive: people will call you a Flip-Flop. See last elections...
If he is a good politician, he should make fun of the whole thing (and gain a few votes :)
1. Write a blatantly wrong and biased article about Linux and Open Source.
2. Put a link on Slashdot.
3. Watch your Add-Sense rating rise.
4. Profit!
Works every time. Enderle, Dvorak, and the likes of them are laughing their asses off.
Why "offtopic"? Remote controlling or some kind of automatic guidance of the plains is a central part in conspiracy theories about 9/11. Those giant Boeings maneuvered like fighter jets.
Shut up, Big Nose!
Irrigation?
Yes.
Max Planck said: "a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
At that time, the majority of scientists would not accept his quantum theory. The majority is often times wrong. The "scientists" who in 1970s were predicting an Ice Age, are predicting Global Warming now.
As TFA says, there was a much warmer period in the Middle Ages. There were Viking farms on the coast of Greenland. It was named Greenland, because it was "green", not frozen white. After the warm period around 1100AD, there was a cooling period which killed off the colony on Greenland and virtually isolated Iceland. The colony in Vinland (America) was lost, too.
It's a public secret that the "transition to democracy" of the Communist block was initiated and conducted by the Communist elite (they transformed themselves into the new "democratic" political and business elite).
The point is: It wasn't because of the Cold War, that Communism crumbled - on the contrary, the "Threat from the West" was keeping it alive. Nothing unites the people around the leadership, however idiotic, as a foreign threat. Godless commies, terr'ists, Axis of Evil ... Eastasia is just as good as Eurasia for an enemy. If the media is doing its job properly.
Why do half-measures, let's close the internet while we're at it! Most of the traffic is porn and/or pirated.
Funny? I'd mod Insightful, if I had points.
Heh, nice sig :) I love that movie.