Just like they did with the various copyright extensions and DMCA where they all got together, held hands, sang kumbaya, and then passed them all nearly unanimously...wait...shit... that is the opposite of what you are hoping they do.
I should point out that economists have squat to do with assigning dollar values. Economics is ultimately a study of decision making based on scarcity. If anything it is a field of study that seeks to represent human behavior and decision making using math and graphs.
For all of the intellectual superiority that comes out of slashdot there is a stunning lack of understanding of what economics is and how it works.
First, as I said, Apple isn't the only one coming under fire recetly for this. Second, as far as I know the other phones don't get locked the same way iPhones do. Only being able to purchase one with a specific carrier is different than being tied to that carrier for life.
There are anti-trust laws dealing with that two company colluding stuff. It isn't far off from the other flak that has been coming up lately over the various exclusive phone deals. AT&T/Apple aren't alone on this and there has a been a surge in complaints about this against all vendors. The anti-trust laws are written specifically to prevent these kinds of things from happening and they are just tap dancing around the laws at the moment with silly excuses.
Well of course not, that is why they have rules that allow them to listen in on your phone and email just because you have a funny name. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if they use this to determine which houses to watch at night because crime usually happens at night, so houses that are active at night are more likely to be engaged in illegal drug sales/use/etc or whatever other idiot shit reason they come up with.
No, they will find something they can name like the whole USA PATRIOT crap. For example, the US Internet Safety & Freedom Under Copyright Key Enhancement Doctrine...
Ugh...another one of those "bullet point list makers". Not all of us have to do a point by point commentary to say how stupid and meaningless a story like this is.
How sad is it that I thought of the Fallout series before the original movie after reading that... I read that and was pretty sure that it was JunkTown not BarterTown... It took a bit of googling to remember that movie.
Re:Not first-sale doctrine: Psystar altered OS X
on
Psystar Crushed In Court
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Here...let me explain... First...get all teary...then start whining...then demand that everyone should give you what you want the way you want it because you want it to be that way. Then start stomping...screaming...crying...maybe rolling around on the floor. Basically...all you really need to do is throw a temper tantrum that would make a 2yr old proud and you will understand the entitlement mentality behind all of this. "I should get what I want, for the price I want, with the rules I want, because I want it that way." This is all driven by people who think that if they don't like the terms of an agreement that they can unilaterally alter them to meet their needs. These are the same people that dream up stupid shit ideas like "We reserve the right to alter this agreement at any time without notice" and then scream bloody murder when other like minded idiots lock them into a contract that says the same thing.
I don't like what the RIAA is doing. I haven't bought any RIAA music in almost 10 years now. I also haven't downloaded any music. I don't try to rationalize some weird shit reason that says it is ok for me to simply take what I want because they won't offer it to me on the terms I want. The same goes for software. I VERY rarely buy software, and I pretty much restrict most of my software to F/OSS stuff. There are a few software package that I have bought, but rather than downloading, I wait for a deal where I can pay the price I want, or I find another product. It is that simple. This insane entitlement mentality is getting disgusting, and is ultimately what drives much of behavior the whiners usually throw tantrums about. Tell me that the RIAA behavior is anything other than greedy entitlement bullshit...just the same as the idiots downloading music.
These battles are escalating battles between large groups of spoiled brats that think that they deserve whatever they demand on the terms they demand and they will go to great lengths to force their demands.
Assuming they didn't do this on purpose sure, why not...
Or...they knowingly use GPL code, allow it to be discovered, pull the tool, "review it", and then release it as GPL... Then resume the talk about how it is "cancerous" and "socialist" and how it "infects" code. Now they have a 100% valid example of GPL forcing open a tool in the "cancerous" and "infectious" ways they claim it does.
I'm not saying that that is what is happening here, but let's not go running out to celebrate our victory over the evil empire just yet. These guys aren't exactly stupid when it comes to manipulative shit like this.
My CAPTCHA is "sadden". How disturbingly appropriate.
What about "goog"? Then they could allow variable declarations/functions/etc to be written forward or backwards. Of course, then they would be competing with perl on difficult to read programs.
If Microsoft hasn't been copying Macs the entire time they would be shipping 5-Star notebooks and Bic pens rebranded as MS office. Aqua vs Aero? I think the jab there is fairly obvious. Dashboard vs Sidebar? They are like the same damned thing, except Dashboard is less irritating. Apple makes iPod, MS rushes to make a Zune? I realize their products are very different under the hood, and how they behave, but on the surface MS spends quite a bit of time copying Apple to make "original and innovative" things for Windows. I haven't used Win 7 myself yet, but I have watched people show it off and the first thing I thought of in many of the new "shiney" is "Hey, Mac was doing that a year or two ago".
You read that I said veterans are stupid and apathetic because you are looking for reasons to be offended. I said no such thing. You have repeatedly accused me of saying bad things about the military, and the first accusation was before the military was even mentioned. What I really don't get there is that it is the more liberal bunches that generally talk bad about the military, yet you were accusing me of right wing behavior. So, I think we can agree to cease this since you are reconstructing anything I say. You are demonizing rather than discussing differing opinions. If you have an axe to grind about anti-military people, grind it elsewhere. That doesn't mean just by virtue of being military people get a free pass. I suppose you will tell me that the folks 'just following orders' at Abu Gharib were fine upstanding service members, thinking clearly, and acting intelligently. I say they are a huge disgrace to the profession of arms, human filth, and a prime example of how so many are just doing what they are told. It is the rare few that will stand up and fight against illegal orders and other such things. The one soldier that did stand up had his life threatened by his comrades for having the courage, mind, and morals to do so.
Also, the military is just a tool doing what they are told, the Constitution ensures that by making sure that they answer to a civilian authority. Only the truly stupid would insist otherwise. When the military doesn't do what it is told that is a military coup and generally a very bad thing.
Most people aren't bad people, but when it comes to their economic or political freedom they are almost all either too stupid or too apathetic to do anything and are happy to entrust their future to mindless party line voting and never checking up on what is being done.
P.S. I served longer and you are the second person this week to try and point out that they are the better person on the assumption that I have not served.
I suggest you check your history. The revolution was driven by a minority action and a significant chunk of that colonial army (as is any army) is just people doing what someone else told them to do. There are far more bullet flingers/catchers than there are leaders in any given military force. The majority of people were too stupid or apathetic to actually do anything. Also, as I have pointed out NUMEROUS times that you seem to ignore, is that I am speaking of taking from the existing fat and lazy top, not from the bottom. If the others on the bottom can't be bothered to climb and take what should be theirs back from the aristocracy then I sure as hell have no intention of letting them ride on my back while I try to climb. America has a tremendous amount of upward mobility, the trouble is most people don't do anything to take advantage of it. You are sitting here trying to make me feel guilty for the lazy slobs that would rather beg for table scraps from the top rather than get there themselves. Don't give me any of that shit about how it is impossible to climb out of a bad place, some of the most successful people to grace the earth started in absolute squalor.
You seem to think that Republicans and I have anything in common. Sure, Republicans pay lipservice to libertarian ideas, but when was the last time you saw any of them actually do anything even remotely resembling anything other than corporate welfare? Or Democrats for that matter, infinite patents on medicine...yeah...talk about some freedom loving people. Most "liberals" are a threat in the fact that they honestly don't understand basic economics at all. I have only met a few self described liberals that had a clue how economics actually worked. Republicans actually do for the most part, but they abuse that rather than encourage a healthy market. Starving because of incompetent leaders vs malicious leaders still leaves you starving, though I suppose you could have a warm fuzzy that one of them wasn't actually trying to starve you, but it won't last long, you will still be dead.
Also, taxes should be fixed, not just cut. Fair tax would work way better, but that will never happen because it would fix too many political talking points that both sides use to get elected. However, again with economics, raising taxes does not necessarily increase revenue, and when our taxes are already so high, the odds are is that it will not increase revenue. This is a calculus max/min problem and it really isn't all that complicated, the problem is that people that say 'lower taxes on business' get derided for it. If the government would knock off some of the taxing, get the hell out of the way in most areas, and then actually enforce sane anti-trust type laws we would see prices fall as the companies had to race to the bottom to compete. This of course only works when the companies have to compete rather than lobby for rule changes.
No, I have contempt for the mindless masses that insist on demanding handouts rather than blazing their own path. Now, that also happens to coincide with most Americans.
Toyota is maybe a better example, the workers get treated very well, the plants often have small clinics on site to help workers get checked out and get the basics (cold med type stuff) so they aren't taking a huge hit to productivity. They also tend to have much more generous sick time policies that actually encourage sick workers to stay home and get healthy rather than have them coming to work sick and infecting the work force. The unions have had a damned hard time taking hold. The lesson here is don't treat your employees like slaves and they won't unionize and drag you down. Workers unionize when they are abused, then the unions grow, then the union bosses are really the only ones really getting the good deal as they bring down the beast...then all the little workers get left in the ashes. Ford is surviving because they are doing a better job of competing and carrying the excess burden.
Workers have not made the country great. Every country has workers and not all even remotely great. The thing that made America great were the trail blazers. The innovators, the risk takers, and the pioneers. The people that dared to give the finger to the crown. The people that bear arms to protect those freedoms. The people that actually innovate and do creative things in the market. My original post is about that very thing, that the fat rich lazy bastards are just waiting to be eaten by those who are willing to push forward. The reality is that the vast majority people are not of that class.
If the average American consumer could pass a basic math class and calculate interest the money wouldn't be flowing upwards in huge streams. Look at how rapidly consumer debt is increasing. When people stop buying shit, the top runs to the government for protection. The government brings all kinds of moronic "controls" to try and manipulate the game for whoever will give them the best deal. The people are most often brought to support the politicians with bribes of welfare, handouts, and mandatory wage hikes. Once the politician is securely in place they sell us all to the fat bastards that would rather manipulate the game than be competitive.
I absolutely blame the American people. The founding fathers were a small bunch and told a big nation to fuck off and created the America we have. You are telling me that 5% of the population can control a couple hundred million people without their consent? That is moronic. These people are willing wage slaves begging for handouts instead of finding ways to break the chains. I have no desire to carry them. I don't believe in nation building overseas either, if those people want their freedom let them stand up first. I am not opposed to helping those that do go into open revolt, but I do not support sacrificing American lives to "Free" people who will not first sacrifice their own in the fight. These idiots are bought off with stupid handouts from a government willing to sell them to the highest bidder. They cheer on higher corporate taxes without giving a single thought to the fact that those taxes will just be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. The whole thing is pathetic, and it is driven by the 95% too stupid or apathetic to actually do anything other than look for their next handout.
Then your econ courses or your professors sucked. Minimum wage is dictated by government attempting to control things. The idea is that if the cost of living goes up, the government comes in and forces businesses to pay more. This usually means those businesses cannot hire as many people so unemployment tends to go up with the minimum wage. Also, even the most basic econ course should have covered that an increase in income (real or perceived) causes an increase in prices so cost of living goes up. So with things like minimum wage and easy credit the prices of things go up. What is really fucking people is that nearly everyone can get this easy credit which is basically an artificial increase in income so they are willing to pay higher prices for things. If people weren't so swipe a card and pay such inflated prices things would normalize much better.
Your little democratic/dictator comment shows how fundamentally broken your understanding is. Minimum wage is dictatorial, it is set and enforced by government attempting to control things it undermines both the business and worker ability to negotiate their own contract. Now, I think government should be involved to some degree, stopping things like company towns from returning, but if I am willing to work for 4/hr because I am starving and I need to support kids, but I can't negotiate that with a potential employer because minimum wage demands that they pay me more, that isn't very democratic. It also forces businesses to become inefficient producers, which also leads to an increase of prices!I think it is stunning that you would call dictator action by the government "democratic" and people's freedom to negotiate wages "dictatorial".
Cost of living going up because of an increase in minimum wage is natural market forces operating. Minimum wage going up because the cost of living went up is artificial government control. This kind of stupid "feel good" intervention typically causes more problems than it solves. All the little workers demand higher and higher wages...the business can't/won't compete anymore...or they sell at a loss...either way...they die. Then all those little workers have nothing. What a fantastic economic policy. I hear it worked great for Detriot.
My personal favorite is when the 'victims' being protected actively make a stand against the laws meant to protect them because of asshattery like this. I had a pretty liberal teacher in one of my college classes talking about the importance of affirmative action and most of the students were dutifully nodding. Until a buddy of mine, who happened to be black (We miss you Mr. Carlin), went on a rant about how he often gets treated like he only got in because the bar was lowered despite the fact that he has a 4.0 GPA.
Unfortunately that will always happen. These types of laws must be passed to break through and keep things progressing forward...but as that happens, and the real necessity for the law becomes more aligned with normal behavior rather than enforced behavior, idiot asshats will start popping up to abuse it.
Yeah! Pen and Pencil has worked for a long damned time...why did we go to this damned computer thing! Also, no more new modes of travel...we have had feet for a long time, there is no need for cars, or planes, or trains, or any of that other stuff that comes from advancing technology!
I need to clarify. "they would rather have false positives than false negatives"
They would rather have false positives than false negatives until they are caught in a situation of being a false positive, however, at that point it is moot because they have been safely detained away from the rest of the population that happily accept the collateral damage to protect themselves. After all anyone who is angry at the people for supporting policies that had them falsely imprisoned might do something that warrants their detention if you were to let them go!
Slashdot Mirror
What nonsense, just apply the .45 patch to their head and they will never have a problem again!
Just like they did with the various copyright extensions and DMCA where they all got together, held hands, sang kumbaya, and then passed them all nearly unanimously...wait...shit... that is the opposite of what you are hoping they do.
I should point out that economists have squat to do with assigning dollar values. Economics is ultimately a study of decision making based on scarcity. If anything it is a field of study that seeks to represent human behavior and decision making using math and graphs.
For all of the intellectual superiority that comes out of slashdot there is a stunning lack of understanding of what economics is and how it works.
First, as I said, Apple isn't the only one coming under fire recetly for this. Second, as far as I know the other phones don't get locked the same way iPhones do. Only being able to purchase one with a specific carrier is different than being tied to that carrier for life.
There are anti-trust laws dealing with that two company colluding stuff. It isn't far off from the other flak that has been coming up lately over the various exclusive phone deals. AT&T/Apple aren't alone on this and there has a been a surge in complaints about this against all vendors. The anti-trust laws are written specifically to prevent these kinds of things from happening and they are just tap dancing around the laws at the moment with silly excuses.
The horrifying thing is that was the most coherent part of her entire answer.
I am Sparticus!
Well of course not, that is why they have rules that allow them to listen in on your phone and email just because you have a funny name.
In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if they use this to determine which houses to watch at night because crime usually happens at night, so houses that are active at night are more likely to be engaged in illegal drug sales/use/etc or whatever other idiot shit reason they come up with.
And we still couldn't find it on a map...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww
Clearly, we need a map stimulus spending.
No, they will find something they can name like the whole USA PATRIOT crap. For example, the US Internet Safety & Freedom Under Copyright Key Enhancement Doctrine...
Ugh...another one of those "bullet point list makers". Not all of us have to do a point by point commentary to say how stupid and meaningless a story like this is.
I don't understand. "The Bloke vibe"? Generally men have penises not vibes...
How sad is it that I thought of the Fallout series before the original movie after reading that... I read that and was pretty sure that it was JunkTown not BarterTown... It took a bit of googling to remember that movie.
Here...let me explain... First...get all teary...then start whining...then demand that everyone should give you what you want the way you want it because you want it to be that way. Then start stomping...screaming...crying...maybe rolling around on the floor. Basically...all you really need to do is throw a temper tantrum that would make a 2yr old proud and you will understand the entitlement mentality behind all of this. "I should get what I want, for the price I want, with the rules I want, because I want it that way." This is all driven by people who think that if they don't like the terms of an agreement that they can unilaterally alter them to meet their needs. These are the same people that dream up stupid shit ideas like "We reserve the right to alter this agreement at any time without notice" and then scream bloody murder when other like minded idiots lock them into a contract that says the same thing.
I don't like what the RIAA is doing. I haven't bought any RIAA music in almost 10 years now. I also haven't downloaded any music. I don't try to rationalize some weird shit reason that says it is ok for me to simply take what I want because they won't offer it to me on the terms I want. The same goes for software. I VERY rarely buy software, and I pretty much restrict most of my software to F/OSS stuff. There are a few software package that I have bought, but rather than downloading, I wait for a deal where I can pay the price I want, or I find another product. It is that simple. This insane entitlement mentality is getting disgusting, and is ultimately what drives much of behavior the whiners usually throw tantrums about. Tell me that the RIAA behavior is anything other than greedy entitlement bullshit...just the same as the idiots downloading music.
These battles are escalating battles between large groups of spoiled brats that think that they deserve whatever they demand on the terms they demand and they will go to great lengths to force their demands.
Assuming they didn't do this on purpose sure, why not...
Or...they knowingly use GPL code, allow it to be discovered, pull the tool, "review it", and then release it as GPL... Then resume the talk about how it is "cancerous" and "socialist" and how it "infects" code. Now they have a 100% valid example of GPL forcing open a tool in the "cancerous" and "infectious" ways they claim it does.
I'm not saying that that is what is happening here, but let's not go running out to celebrate our victory over the evil empire just yet. These guys aren't exactly stupid when it comes to manipulative shit like this.
My CAPTCHA is "sadden". How disturbingly appropriate.
Why would you say "Fantastic Offer?" I think it is a pretty shitty offer.
What about "goog"? Then they could allow variable declarations/functions/etc to be written forward or backwards. Of course, then they would be competing with perl on difficult to read programs.
If Microsoft hasn't been copying Macs the entire time they would be shipping 5-Star notebooks and Bic pens rebranded as MS office. Aqua vs Aero? I think the jab there is fairly obvious. Dashboard vs Sidebar? They are like the same damned thing, except Dashboard is less irritating. Apple makes iPod, MS rushes to make a Zune? I realize their products are very different under the hood, and how they behave, but on the surface MS spends quite a bit of time copying Apple to make "original and innovative" things for Windows. I haven't used Win 7 myself yet, but I have watched people show it off and the first thing I thought of in many of the new "shiney" is "Hey, Mac was doing that a year or two ago".
You read that I said veterans are stupid and apathetic because you are looking for reasons to be offended. I said no such thing. You have repeatedly accused me of saying bad things about the military, and the first accusation was before the military was even mentioned. What I really don't get there is that it is the more liberal bunches that generally talk bad about the military, yet you were accusing me of right wing behavior. So, I think we can agree to cease this since you are reconstructing anything I say. You are demonizing rather than discussing differing opinions. If you have an axe to grind about anti-military people, grind it elsewhere. That doesn't mean just by virtue of being military people get a free pass. I suppose you will tell me that the folks 'just following orders' at Abu Gharib were fine upstanding service members, thinking clearly, and acting intelligently. I say they are a huge disgrace to the profession of arms, human filth, and a prime example of how so many are just doing what they are told. It is the rare few that will stand up and fight against illegal orders and other such things. The one soldier that did stand up had his life threatened by his comrades for having the courage, mind, and morals to do so.
Also, the military is just a tool doing what they are told, the Constitution ensures that by making sure that they answer to a civilian authority. Only the truly stupid would insist otherwise. When the military doesn't do what it is told that is a military coup and generally a very bad thing.
Most people aren't bad people, but when it comes to their economic or political freedom they are almost all either too stupid or too apathetic to do anything and are happy to entrust their future to mindless party line voting and never checking up on what is being done.
P.S. I served longer and you are the second person this week to try and point out that they are the better person on the assumption that I have not served.
I suggest you check your history. The revolution was driven by a minority action and a significant chunk of that colonial army (as is any army) is just people doing what someone else told them to do. There are far more bullet flingers/catchers than there are leaders in any given military force. The majority of people were too stupid or apathetic to actually do anything. Also, as I have pointed out NUMEROUS times that you seem to ignore, is that I am speaking of taking from the existing fat and lazy top, not from the bottom. If the others on the bottom can't be bothered to climb and take what should be theirs back from the aristocracy then I sure as hell have no intention of letting them ride on my back while I try to climb. America has a tremendous amount of upward mobility, the trouble is most people don't do anything to take advantage of it. You are sitting here trying to make me feel guilty for the lazy slobs that would rather beg for table scraps from the top rather than get there themselves. Don't give me any of that shit about how it is impossible to climb out of a bad place, some of the most successful people to grace the earth started in absolute squalor.
You seem to think that Republicans and I have anything in common. Sure, Republicans pay lipservice to libertarian ideas, but when was the last time you saw any of them actually do anything even remotely resembling anything other than corporate welfare? Or Democrats for that matter, infinite patents on medicine...yeah...talk about some freedom loving people. Most "liberals" are a threat in the fact that they honestly don't understand basic economics at all. I have only met a few self described liberals that had a clue how economics actually worked. Republicans actually do for the most part, but they abuse that rather than encourage a healthy market. Starving because of incompetent leaders vs malicious leaders still leaves you starving, though I suppose you could have a warm fuzzy that one of them wasn't actually trying to starve you, but it won't last long, you will still be dead.
Also, taxes should be fixed, not just cut. Fair tax would work way better, but that will never happen because it would fix too many political talking points that both sides use to get elected. However, again with economics, raising taxes does not necessarily increase revenue, and when our taxes are already so high, the odds are is that it will not increase revenue. This is a calculus max/min problem and it really isn't all that complicated, the problem is that people that say 'lower taxes on business' get derided for it. If the government would knock off some of the taxing, get the hell out of the way in most areas, and then actually enforce sane anti-trust type laws we would see prices fall as the companies had to race to the bottom to compete. This of course only works when the companies have to compete rather than lobby for rule changes.
No, I have contempt for the mindless masses that insist on demanding handouts rather than blazing their own path. Now, that also happens to coincide with most Americans.
Toyota is maybe a better example, the workers get treated very well, the plants often have small clinics on site to help workers get checked out and get the basics (cold med type stuff) so they aren't taking a huge hit to productivity. They also tend to have much more generous sick time policies that actually encourage sick workers to stay home and get healthy rather than have them coming to work sick and infecting the work force. The unions have had a damned hard time taking hold. The lesson here is don't treat your employees like slaves and they won't unionize and drag you down. Workers unionize when they are abused, then the unions grow, then the union bosses are really the only ones really getting the good deal as they bring down the beast...then all the little workers get left in the ashes. Ford is surviving because they are doing a better job of competing and carrying the excess burden.
Workers have not made the country great. Every country has workers and not all even remotely great. The thing that made America great were the trail blazers. The innovators, the risk takers, and the pioneers. The people that dared to give the finger to the crown. The people that bear arms to protect those freedoms. The people that actually innovate and do creative things in the market. My original post is about that very thing, that the fat rich lazy bastards are just waiting to be eaten by those who are willing to push forward. The reality is that the vast majority people are not of that class.
If the average American consumer could pass a basic math class and calculate interest the money wouldn't be flowing upwards in huge streams. Look at how rapidly consumer debt is increasing. When people stop buying shit, the top runs to the government for protection. The government brings all kinds of moronic "controls" to try and manipulate the game for whoever will give them the best deal. The people are most often brought to support the politicians with bribes of welfare, handouts, and mandatory wage hikes. Once the politician is securely in place they sell us all to the fat bastards that would rather manipulate the game than be competitive.
I absolutely blame the American people. The founding fathers were a small bunch and told a big nation to fuck off and created the America we have. You are telling me that 5% of the population can control a couple hundred million people without their consent? That is moronic. These people are willing wage slaves begging for handouts instead of finding ways to break the chains. I have no desire to carry them. I don't believe in nation building overseas either, if those people want their freedom let them stand up first. I am not opposed to helping those that do go into open revolt, but I do not support sacrificing American lives to "Free" people who will not first sacrifice their own in the fight. These idiots are bought off with stupid handouts from a government willing to sell them to the highest bidder. They cheer on higher corporate taxes without giving a single thought to the fact that those taxes will just be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. The whole thing is pathetic, and it is driven by the 95% too stupid or apathetic to actually do anything other than look for their next handout.
Then your econ courses or your professors sucked. Minimum wage is dictated by government attempting to control things. The idea is that if the cost of living goes up, the government comes in and forces businesses to pay more. This usually means those businesses cannot hire as many people so unemployment tends to go up with the minimum wage. Also, even the most basic econ course should have covered that an increase in income (real or perceived) causes an increase in prices so cost of living goes up. So with things like minimum wage and easy credit the prices of things go up. What is really fucking people is that nearly everyone can get this easy credit which is basically an artificial increase in income so they are willing to pay higher prices for things. If people weren't so swipe a card and pay such inflated prices things would normalize much better.
Your little democratic/dictator comment shows how fundamentally broken your understanding is. Minimum wage is dictatorial, it is set and enforced by government attempting to control things it undermines both the business and worker ability to negotiate their own contract. Now, I think government should be involved to some degree, stopping things like company towns from returning, but if I am willing to work for 4/hr because I am starving and I need to support kids, but I can't negotiate that with a potential employer because minimum wage demands that they pay me more, that isn't very democratic. It also forces businesses to become inefficient producers, which also leads to an increase of prices!I think it is stunning that you would call dictator action by the government "democratic" and people's freedom to negotiate wages "dictatorial".
Cost of living going up because of an increase in minimum wage is natural market forces operating. Minimum wage going up because the cost of living went up is artificial government control. This kind of stupid "feel good" intervention typically causes more problems than it solves. All the little workers demand higher and higher wages...the business can't/won't compete anymore...or they sell at a loss...either way...they die. Then all those little workers have nothing. What a fantastic economic policy. I hear it worked great for Detriot.
My personal favorite is when the 'victims' being protected actively make a stand against the laws meant to protect them because of asshattery like this. I had a pretty liberal teacher in one of my college classes talking about the importance of affirmative action and most of the students were dutifully nodding. Until a buddy of mine, who happened to be black (We miss you Mr. Carlin), went on a rant about how he often gets treated like he only got in because the bar was lowered despite the fact that he has a 4.0 GPA.
Unfortunately that will always happen. These types of laws must be passed to break through and keep things progressing forward...but as that happens, and the real necessity for the law becomes more aligned with normal behavior rather than enforced behavior, idiot asshats will start popping up to abuse it.
Yeah! Pen and Pencil has worked for a long damned time...why did we go to this damned computer thing! Also, no more new modes of travel...we have had feet for a long time, there is no need for cars, or planes, or trains, or any of that other stuff that comes from advancing technology!
I need to clarify. "they would rather have false positives than false negatives"
They would rather have false positives than false negatives until they are caught in a situation of being a false positive, however, at that point it is moot because they have been safely detained away from the rest of the population that happily accept the collateral damage to protect themselves. After all anyone who is angry at the people for supporting policies that had them falsely imprisoned might do something that warrants their detention if you were to let them go!