economics is a science, like chemistry or biology.
your description is almost accurate.
Certain wealthy interests have perpetuated a perverted view of economics, downplaying or omitting certain fallacies and pitfalls, which allows them push their agenda without questions.
Absent the important concepts which temper them, these catch-phrases are trumpeted as they march roughshod over liberty and society. "supply and demand" "maximum efficiency" "the free market fixes everything" "if you are poor, you are lazy"
I caught a 5 digit username falling for the same fallacies as everyone else!
t you will be asking why the freedom loving libertarians want to remove all parts of goverment except the two that are about removing freedom (police, army).
i'm sure the woman saved from immanent rape and the town saved from nuclear devastation think the army and police are about preserving freedom.
Of course, with all the "parts" they want to remove still there, the army and police become things to fear because they are charged with upholding laws contrary to the principles of our founding fathers... such as the will of the people, and "not trampling on the liberty" unless absolutely necessary.
What libertarians do ignore is the fact that, from an individual's perspective, corporations can hold equivalent power, though not the same in nature, to the government.
Careful regulation is necessary, and its something libertarians are against.
The ideal situation would be one in which the government keeps corporations in line, and corporations reciprocate, them both always at loggerheads, and focused on one another but gaining no ground.
Please elaborate why you think the "intellectual property" concept is compatible with socialism.
In the case of copyright, it resembles socialism in that a central cartel, backed by government force, is being given command power over large sectors of the economy.
powers include: the power to limit production
the power to dictate device design to sectors unrelated to their own
the power to remove products, both related and unrelated to their own, from the market
the power to forcibly seize and redistribute wealth
In particular this is evident in DVD players, which, like soviet russia, are all the same.
They all have the same features, and dare not tread from that template for fear of having their license to participate in the market "revoked".
We not only accept this basic injustice, we celebrate it as good, just, and moral. It isn't, any more than using any other form of power to screw people over.
this perversion of reason is propped up by the myth of the american "rags to riches" dream.
The truth is that for everyone one of these, there are hundreds of thousands of others who get caught and sodomized by the corrupted legal system erected for that express purpose.
The truth, of course, is that those same people, willing to sacrifice anything, including themselves for money would have risen to that position no matter what nation they were in.
While I generally agree with you... what about Walmart syndrome?
I can no longer buy a good many things I wish to, including at the level of quality I wish to, because price-competition pressure has driven production overseas, and quality into the toilet.
How would you address that?
until recently, i'd produce apple as an example of niche companies coming in to serve the need for actual quality. Unfortunately apple has been sliding out of that niche to chase the lowest common denominator ipod "and a computer to go with it" crowd.
There are other firms like this though.
I went to college in a tiny little town of 10,000. One of the people there ran a business fabricating cars from scratch, and always had someone doing it.
Someone not meeting your needs? Start your own firm!
I enjoy quality over quantity, i'll buy from you, even though I have no actual money to spend!
True, but pointing out the flaws without a real-world example would allow incompetent officials to plausibly spout off denial and claim the flaws are merely "hypothetical"
it's not surprising that those in charge reacted strongly and sharply. We had recurrent incidents on campus last year with sexual assault and they had to lock down all the residences and the labs, and as such, they took great pains to inform the students who had access cards for the suite residences that they would not, in fact, be in danger, be it financial or otherwise.
you have to love an administration which cares more about their ego than the rape targets they were trying to help.
Someone equally or more competent than your own staff tested your infrastructure, found its flaws, and gave you a free report on it, and you're going to beat them over the head.
This "law uber alles" authoritarian streak is what causes most companies to become plagued with "upward failure". The truly competent don't dare to speak inconvenient truths, and the incompetent are given free reign to take advantage.
The problem with that is a "local" community has a lot of trouble dealing with an "International" corporation that has a lot more money. Especially when it's the federal government who signs away legal rights the community has to the highest bidder. So many people talk the talk of smaller federal govt. but don't acknowledge the greater protection of individual rights that would be needed for it to work. Though that isn't really the case with this lawsuit.
uum.. what are you talking about?
from what i'm seeing, what you say would only support the fact that international corporate pressure would assure they behaved efficiently and effectively with their public funding in order to compete.
Anyone have a backlog of cases and/or laws gained through this argument?
The ultra-right has been saying for almost a century now that the government is simply incapable of doing anything efficiently and effecitvely, so they should stay out of things like healthcare and unemployment benefits.
Foot, meet mouth, mouth, meet other foot and both hands as well.
You don't have unregulated capitalism. That would actually be a good thing. While there is a government there is no unregulated capitalism. without a government this wouldn't even be an issue.
sorry, wrong.
I live in the southeast.
Whenever a hurricane hits the gas prices shoot up a buck because the republicans killed off the regulations on oil speculation, and refuse to punish oil cos when they go-a-gouging.
The last time we had "unregulated capitalism", snake oil salesmen made people wary of medication, meat was as hazardous as nuclear waste, and we had a stock market crash that put 30% of the populace into hoovervilles.
The correct answer is "proper regulation".. the kind that places big business and the government at loggerheads.
When big business and government fight each other making no gains, the little guy wins.
Just because they're wrong, breed contempt for the rule of law, and are widely disobeyed doesn't mean the government will concede their error.
Indeed, these laws show an ominous polar-opposite reaction pattern when compared with prohibition, and now peoples' lives are being destroyed through selective enforcement.
The next law on its way down ted stevens' tubes signals they plan to go this way with anything involving computing as well.
random FBI guy: "this libertarian activist is a real pain." random FBI guy 2: "let's seize his computer under this new law, we know everyone downloads music so that's our probable cause" ~~later~~ random FBI guy: "wow, this guy's into anime!" random FBI guy 2: "Score! anime girls have ambiguous ages at bet" ~~later~~ judge: I find you, libertarian activist, guilty of possession of child pornography, and may god help you when you hit the general population at rikers.
I'd like to say that, though I despise what they did making generics illegal in the computing world (blizzard v. bnetd), I've never heard of them using the ruling to kill any websites.
I've been to a couple free servers, and blizzard simply out-innovates them. One particular "server-which-must-not-be-named" had so many bugs with the shaman class it was impossible to play it, and examination of their tracker shows they are simply not capable of keeping pace with the blizzard game updates.
Despite their dishonesty, they were compelled to compete with free and have done so. Kudos to them for doing what 3 other full industries refuse to do.
3) "I don't recognize this fake 'right' you've made up, and I certainly don't recognize your assertions it should trump the first, fourth, and fifth amendments of the US constitution, therefore i simply act as if you never claimed it in the first place, and take what my friend sends me over the internet."
3) is righteous AND criminal.. and this could describe washington, jefferson, etc..
Republicans have strayed from their "less government" standpoint and are in bed with big business in general, but particularly resource-barron and credit industries.
Democrats, however, are not only doing what the republicans do, but are traditionally (and actually) in bed with hollywood.
You have two choices, strychnine or ricin...
Personally, I'm actually leaning toward the republicans simply because they have so many people they're already sold out to, they may not get around to giving their handouts to the anti-internet crowds.
[they] were worried about what the hackers could do because they were "one step away" from the computer control system of one of the huge detectors of the machine, a vast magnet that weighs 12,500 tons, measuring around 21 meters in length and 15 meters wide/high
quick, hide the 21x15 meter finger painting and the 21x15 meter refrigerator!
At this point i'm quite serious in that I wish to emigrate from the US to canada.
As a brand new college graduate, however, I think I'm fighting an uphill battle.
Are there any (dedicated) resources through which I can seek skilled canadian employment? Such as a "career builder" specifically for canadian employers seeking foreign talent?
The record business HAS moved into the 21st century. iTunes, Amazon and others allow you to buy music online for cheap, and in most cases it's not even DRM-encumbered anymore. What's more, indie record labels have exploded and most of them allow you to download music straight from them instead of going through a big label.
You don't have a good excuse anymore. Stop stealing music you morons,
you don't get it do you?
they still demand money from end users when we know for a fact they can make stupid amounts of money without it.
megatokyo.com proves my point. The guy is an artist and makes the money to live quite well without demanding his users cough up.
This idea is the perfect way for corporations and political groups to completely destroy truly representative searches.
Astroturfer groups will bury websites which offer contrary evidence.
Centralized establishments like the MAFIAA, Micro$oft, Big Telecom, the Repugnicrats, and the Demolicans will hire contractors whose job is specifically to stuff the "ballot boxes".
Non profits like the EFF and savetheinternet will disappear into the 9th page, while Fox's latest fabrications will magically make #1 every single time.
Voting on search results: a bad, terrible, horrible idea.
One of the big-name televanglists (Billy Graham?) had an early computerized system for answering his fan mail. A staff of people read the mail, and used highlighter to mark phrases that contained relevant keywords. Data entry operators keyed in the address and the highlighted phrases. A program used the phrases to select an appropriate canned reply, filled in keywords, added bible citations, and printed out a letter.
BAD famous person!
I once wrote Johnny Isakson about the PDEA (piracy deterrance and enforcement act) which would have turned the p2p wars into the war on drugs, and received a canned reply about the public domain enhancement act.
Makes me want to pick up my rolled up newspaper and swat him good and proper, then lock him in the garage.
Slashdot Mirror
As for education, it doesn't require going into debt or being "indoctrinated".
as a graduate of a top 20, I agree with you, but if you refuse indoctrination, you will receive little attention from recruiters.
Personally, I'm none too happy right now and I think, so far, he has the right idea.
I'm in almost as much debt for school as my progenitor is for her house, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it.
Going to my minimum wage every day is like a kick in the teeth, and nobody offering a living wage will give me the time of day.
economics is a science, like chemistry or biology.
your description is almost accurate.
Certain wealthy interests have perpetuated a perverted view of economics, downplaying or omitting certain fallacies and pitfalls, which allows them push their agenda without questions.
Absent the important concepts which temper them, these catch-phrases are trumpeted as they march roughshod over liberty and society. "supply and demand" "maximum efficiency" "the free market fixes everything" "if you are poor, you are lazy"
HAH!
I caught a 5 digit username falling for the same fallacies as everyone else!
t you will be asking why the freedom loving libertarians want to remove all parts of goverment except the two that are about removing freedom (police, army).
i'm sure the woman saved from immanent rape and the town saved from nuclear devastation think the army and police are about preserving freedom.
Of course, with all the "parts" they want to remove still there, the army and police become things to fear because they are charged with upholding laws contrary to the principles of our founding fathers... such as the will of the people, and "not trampling on the liberty" unless absolutely necessary.
What libertarians do ignore is the fact that, from an individual's perspective, corporations can hold equivalent power, though not the same in nature, to the government.
Careful regulation is necessary, and its something libertarians are against.
The ideal situation would be one in which the government keeps corporations in line, and corporations reciprocate, them both always at loggerheads, and focused on one another but gaining no ground.
Please elaborate why you think the "intellectual property" concept is compatible with socialism.
In the case of copyright, it resembles socialism in that a central cartel, backed by government force, is being given command power over large sectors of the economy.
powers include:
the power to limit production
the power to dictate device design to sectors unrelated to their own
the power to remove products, both related and unrelated to their own, from the market
the power to forcibly seize and redistribute wealth
In particular this is evident in DVD players, which, like soviet russia, are all the same.
They all have the same features, and dare not tread from that template for fear of having their license to participate in the market "revoked".
We not only accept this basic injustice, we celebrate it as good, just, and moral. It isn't, any more than using any other form of power to screw people over.
this perversion of reason is propped up by the myth of the american "rags to riches" dream.
The truth is that for everyone one of these, there are hundreds of thousands of others who get caught and sodomized by the corrupted legal system erected for that express purpose.
The truth, of course, is that those same people, willing to sacrifice anything, including themselves for money would have risen to that position no matter what nation they were in.
you don't get it.
banning any official movement of cash from corporations to politicians will simply result in black market cash movement.
"fact finding missions" to tahiti, "gifts", mysterious executive sinecures which magically arise just as they retire or their kids leave college.
While I generally agree with you... what about Walmart syndrome?
I can no longer buy a good many things I wish to, including at the level of quality I wish to, because price-competition pressure has driven production overseas, and quality into the toilet.
How would you address that?
until recently, i'd produce apple as an example of niche companies coming in to serve the need for actual quality. Unfortunately apple has been sliding out of that niche to chase the lowest common denominator ipod "and a computer to go with it" crowd.
There are other firms like this though.
I went to college in a tiny little town of 10,000. One of the people there ran a business fabricating cars from scratch, and always had someone doing it.
Someone not meeting your needs? Start your own firm!
I enjoy quality over quantity, i'll buy from you, even though I have no actual money to spend!
True, but pointing out the flaws without a real-world example would allow incompetent officials to plausibly spout off denial and claim the flaws are merely "hypothetical"
it's not surprising that those in charge reacted strongly and sharply. We had recurrent incidents on campus last year with sexual assault and they had to lock down all the residences and the labs, and as such, they took great pains to inform the students who had access cards for the suite residences that they would not, in fact, be in danger, be it financial or otherwise.
you have to love an administration which cares more about their ego than the rape targets they were trying to help.
Someone equally or more competent than your own staff tested your infrastructure, found its flaws, and gave you a free report on it, and you're going to beat them over the head.
This "law uber alles" authoritarian streak is what causes most companies to become plagued with "upward failure". The truly competent don't dare to speak inconvenient truths, and the incompetent are given free reign to take advantage.
The problem with that is a "local" community has a lot of trouble dealing with an "International" corporation that has a lot more money. Especially when it's the federal government who signs away legal rights the community has to the highest bidder. So many people talk the talk of smaller federal govt. but don't acknowledge the greater protection of individual rights that would be needed for it to work. Though that isn't really the case with this lawsuit.
uum.. what are you talking about?
from what i'm seeing, what you say would only support the fact that international corporate pressure would assure they behaved efficiently and effectively with their public funding in order to compete.
right, because competition never improved anything..
"No fair, I can't compete with the state."
This I find incredibly ironic.
Anyone have a backlog of cases and/or laws gained through this argument?
The ultra-right has been saying for almost a century now that the government is simply incapable of doing anything efficiently and effecitvely, so they should stay out of things like healthcare and unemployment benefits.
Foot, meet mouth, mouth, meet other foot and both hands as well.
You don't have unregulated capitalism. That would actually be a good thing. While there is a government there is no unregulated capitalism. without a government this wouldn't even be an issue.
sorry, wrong.
I live in the southeast.
Whenever a hurricane hits the gas prices shoot up a buck because the republicans killed off the regulations on oil speculation, and refuse to punish oil cos when they go-a-gouging.
The last time we had "unregulated capitalism", snake oil salesmen made people wary of medication, meat was as hazardous as nuclear waste, and we had a stock market crash that put 30% of the populace into hoovervilles.
The correct answer is "proper regulation".. the kind that places big business and the government at loggerheads.
When big business and government fight each other making no gains, the little guy wins.
don't games require direct interaction with the video hardware to run?
So are the nixon drug laws.
Just because they're wrong, breed contempt for the rule of law, and are widely disobeyed doesn't mean the government will concede their error.
Indeed, these laws show an ominous polar-opposite reaction pattern when compared with prohibition, and now peoples' lives are being destroyed through selective enforcement.
The next law on its way down ted stevens' tubes signals they plan to go this way with anything involving computing as well.
random FBI guy: "this libertarian activist is a real pain."
random FBI guy 2: "let's seize his computer under this new law, we know everyone downloads music so that's our probable cause"
~~later~~
random FBI guy: "wow, this guy's into anime!"
random FBI guy 2: "Score! anime girls have ambiguous ages at bet"
~~later~~
judge: I find you, libertarian activist, guilty of possession of child pornography, and may god help you when you hit the general population at rikers.
you forget that game sales follow a diminishing return chart, eventually plateauing and sliding back the way they came.
He's more or less accurate, unless you want to run a day by day time-series regression to create a forecasting model for a bloody internet forum.
I'd like to say that, though I despise what they did making generics illegal in the computing world (blizzard v. bnetd), I've never heard of them using the ruling to kill any websites.
I've been to a couple free servers, and blizzard simply out-innovates them. One particular "server-which-must-not-be-named" had so many bugs with the shaman class it was impossible to play it, and examination of their tracker shows they are simply not capable of keeping pace with the blizzard game updates.
Despite their dishonesty, they were compelled to compete with free and have done so. Kudos to them for doing what 3 other full industries refuse to do.
3) "I don't recognize this fake 'right' you've made up, and I certainly don't recognize your assertions it should trump the first, fourth, and fifth amendments of the US constitution, therefore i simply act as if you never claimed it in the first place, and take what my friend sends me over the internet."
3) is righteous AND criminal.. and this could describe washington, jefferson, etc..
Republicans have strayed from their "less government" standpoint and are in bed with big business in general, but particularly resource-barron and credit industries.
Democrats, however, are not only doing what the republicans do, but are traditionally (and actually) in bed with hollywood.
You have two choices, strychnine or ricin...
Personally, I'm actually leaning toward the republicans simply because they have so many people they're already sold out to, they may not get around to giving their handouts to the anti-internet crowds.
[they] were worried about what the hackers could do because they were "one step away" from the computer control system of one of the huge detectors of the machine, a vast magnet that weighs 12,500 tons, measuring around 21 meters in length and 15 meters wide/high
quick, hide the 21x15 meter finger painting and the 21x15 meter refrigerator!
At this point i'm quite serious in that I wish to emigrate from the US to canada.
As a brand new college graduate, however, I think I'm fighting an uphill battle.
Are there any (dedicated) resources through which I can seek skilled canadian employment? Such as a "career builder" specifically for canadian employers seeking foreign talent?
The record business HAS moved into the 21st century. iTunes, Amazon and others allow you to buy music online for cheap, and in most cases it's not even DRM-encumbered anymore. What's more, indie record labels have exploded and most of them allow you to download music straight from them instead of going through a big label.
You don't have a good excuse anymore. Stop stealing music you morons,
you don't get it do you?
they still demand money from end users when we know for a fact they can make stupid amounts of money without it.
megatokyo.com proves my point. The guy is an artist and makes the money to live quite well without demanding his users cough up.
Anything less is pure bullhockey.
This idea is the perfect way for corporations and political groups to completely destroy truly representative searches.
Astroturfer groups will bury websites which offer contrary evidence.
Centralized establishments like the MAFIAA, Micro$oft, Big Telecom, the Repugnicrats, and the Demolicans will hire contractors whose job is specifically to stuff the "ballot boxes".
Non profits like the EFF and savetheinternet will disappear into the 9th page, while Fox's latest fabrications will magically make #1 every single time.
Voting on search results: a bad, terrible, horrible idea.
Heck, I'm not even too hot on the fire hose.
One of the big-name televanglists (Billy Graham?) had an early computerized system for answering his fan mail. A staff of people read the mail, and used highlighter to mark phrases that contained relevant keywords. Data entry operators keyed in the address and the highlighted phrases. A program used the phrases to select an appropriate canned reply, filled in keywords, added bible citations, and printed out a letter.
BAD famous person!
I once wrote Johnny Isakson about the PDEA (piracy deterrance and enforcement act) which would have turned the p2p wars into the war on drugs, and received a canned reply about the public domain enhancement act.
Makes me want to pick up my rolled up newspaper and swat him good and proper, then lock him in the garage.