Inflation

[debilorrah]

We recently kicked off a new bus line from Barstow to Victorville, and there were giveaways that had the SANBAG logo on them (San Bernardino Associated Governments) and some girl came runnin up to me and said "I saw the words government and I had to get in on it". I was floored. Here, honey, have a free pen.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Quote:
There aren't very many liberals in Congress (maybe 10 or so, Democrat does not = liberal) and Presidents are usually pretty centrist in their actual actions. Anyone who is being honest will place the blame on both parties. I wish there was an actual 3rd party. Both parties have the same goal. They just go about achieving it in a different way. The goal is to win at any cost. The goal needs to be changed. If you pay attention to what is actually happening you'll see that each party is trying to further the goals of those that donate the most to their elections or that are most likely to vote for them. It doesn't matter what furthering these goals for their contributors do to the country. All that matters is winning.

I carry a copy and I read it and have studied it thoroughly. There are parts that we do still live by, and they are mostly in the first ten amendments. There are reasons we made changes to the constitution - like eradicating slavery and giving women the right to vote that I, for one am just s happy that we changed. But, the entity commonly known as 'corporation" did not exist in anything like the form we know it when this document was written. Now that this entity has been given rights we have a new set of problems. This entity is immortal, and amoral (note I did not say immoral) and while ostensibly made up of humans it is only marginally human controlled.

Ever read The Twilight of Sovereignty? "The market is a better arbiter of human desires than politicians or government. The market is a better system than democracy." That is where we are.

 

[Q9]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Quote:

I carry a copy and I read it and have studied it thoroughly. There are parts that we do still live by, and they are mostly in the first ten amendments. There are reasons we made changes to the constitution - like eradicating slavery and giving women the right to vote that I, for one am just s happy that we changed. But, the entity commonly known as 'corporation" did not exist in anything like the form we know it when this document was written. Now that this entity has been given rights we have a new set of problems. This entity is immortal, and amoral (note I did not say immoral) and while ostensibly made up of humans it is only marginally human controlled.

Ever read The Twilight of Sovereignty? "The market is a better arbiter of human desires than politicians or government. The market is a better system than democracy." That is where we are.​

All things considered, true democracy would be a nightmare. We live in a republic - sorta. The market is undeniably dramatically more effective than government at nearly everything. The Constitution should indeed be abided by - with certain amendments removed, particularly the 16th and 17th. If the feds would do that, a lot of problems would not exist, particularly the problem that this thread is about - Inflation.

 

[rufus]

A true democracy looks a lot like a lynch mob. I guess the difference depends upon whose neck the noose is placed.

Rufus

 

[chickened]

I was just ready to say the same thing! democracy was taught to me in school to be the best thing since sliced bread, heck I got a credit in highschool for voting and now days we vote on every subject so why do we need representatives eh? Democracy is nothing more than mob rule.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Granted, what we have is not democracy, it is supposed to be a representative republic. It is not that either and in the text the author was using the term democracy as do most americans - as representative government. Q, you and I have had that part of this conversation before so you know, I know what democracy is and is not.....

Mob rule is a disaster. Most of the countries currently in chaos seeking freedom will end up with despots worse than the devil they knew. But, there remains the chance - slim but still there - that they may yet pull it off and at least in these cases they are seeking it rather than having some one try to hand it to them.

Either way the fact that the Libyan rebels managed to start a bank and an oil company overnight is well let's just say it does not bode well for their fledgling democracy. Debt based fiat currency anyone??

The issue again, is the "at nearly everything" part..... the market cannot do many things that do not respond well to short term profit motives. Funny things like roads and sewer systems and legal systems........ Well we have managed to do away with most of that last one in favor of a profit based one.

 

[Q9]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Granted, what we have is not democracy, it is supposed to be a representative republic. It is not that either and in the text the author was using the term democracy as do most americans - as representative government. Q, you and I have had that part of this conversation before so you know, I know what democracy is and is not.....

Mob rule is a disaster. Most of the countries currently in chaos seeking freedom will end up with despots worse than the devil they knew. But, there remains the chance - slim but still there - that they may yet pull it off and at least in these cases they are seeking it rather than having some one try to hand it to them.

Either way the fact that the Libyan rebels managed to start a bank and an oil company overnight is well let's just say it does not bode well for their fledgling democracy. Debt based fiat currency anyone??

The issue again, is the "at nearly everything" part..... the market cannot do many things that do not respond well to short term profit motives. Funny things like roads and sewer systems and legal systems........ Well we have managed to do away with most of that last one in favor of a profit based one.

Legal systems, no, of course not. I'm inclined to disagree with a lot of libertarians about whether the private sector could adequately provide police protection, though I keep an open mind on the subject. But, actually, history shows that the market will in fact provide roads. Private companies do in fact look long-term, contrary to popular rumor. In the early 1800s, MANY roads were built by private companies. Why? Their customers saw that it would be to their economic advantage to have a road constructed to their town, so they shelled out the cash to road-building companies. If I can find them, I'll get back to you with the statistics on the private road-building in that era. There's also a great John Stossel video on the matter, showcasing the spectacular successes of modern private highways in reducing traffic here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5DCmDXJun4&feature=related

As far as sewer systems, the market has never really been given a chance.

 

[chickened]

Road building in my area was done initially by logging companies and now everyone benefits. The county government is now closing roads they deem unnesssary which to the effected taxpayer is not fair. And don't give too much credit as some people do not know the difference between a true democratic government and a democracy that mob rules. Representation is a right in this country in part so the little guy is not unheard.

 

[Robo]

Quote:
There aren't very many liberals in Congress (maybe 10 or so, Democrat does not = liberal) and Presidents are usually pretty centrist in their actual actions. Anyone who is being honest will place the blame on both parties. I wish there was an actual 3rd party. Both parties have the same goal. They just go about achieving it in a different way. The goal is to win at any cost. The goal needs to be changed. If you pay attention to what is actually happening you'll see that each party is trying to further the goals of those that donate the most to their elections or that are most likely to vote for them. It doesn't matter what furthering these goals for their contributors do to the country. All that matters is winning.

A third party never takes off in America. That was proven just before the Civil War with the American Party (Know-Nothing Party) and the Free Soil Party. Have you ever heard of them? Personally I hate political parties, this nation needs to be unified and not divided by a political party. Notice how the Articles of Confederation failed. States right's just break us apart. As Abraham Lincoln said: "A house divided cannot stand".

 

[annaraven]

Quote:
The problem, as I see it, isn't the States rights, it's the Federal usurpation of power. I would love to live in a real republic where, if the State I'm in isn't doing it right, the next State over might be and I can move there, but still be guaranteed minimal basic freedoms by the Federal Government. That ain't the way it works nowadays, and maybe never did...

And don't even get me started on corporations as legal entities...
ETA: Or Unions!