Now Reading
Planned books:
- Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt 2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- A Dance with Dragons (Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
Current books:
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After America by John Birmingham
Recent books:
- The King of the Crags: The Memory of Flames, Book II by Stephen Deas
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
- The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company (Chronicles of the Black Company) by Glen Cook
- Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook
- Neverwhere: A Novel by Neil Gaiman
Now Watching
Planned movies:
None
Current movies:
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![Let’s Kill Hitler [HD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hESmStH-L._SL160_.jpg)
Let’s Kill Hitler [HD] by Unknown
Recent movies:
- Fringe: The Complete Third Season [Blu-ray] by Unknown
- Castle: Seasons 1 by Bill Roe, Bryan Spicer, David Barrett, Dwight H. Little, Helen Shaver
- Unstoppable [Blu-ray] by Tony Scott
- The Walking Dead: Season One [Blu-ray] by Frank Darabont
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Yes! I know that “comrade” was used in Communist countries. Allow me to mix metaphors for greater impact. Geez.
Hey Pete, I think you’re missing a tag line on that picture.
….Because capitalism worked so well…
Where’s your picture of vacant stores and unemployment lines. A government that takes care of it’s people is far better than a government that f’s them up the a with lax regulation and disregard for the people who keep the economy going, imo.
Ooh.
Fight. Fight. Fight.
Seems to be working okay here in Texas.
*shrug*
Given our state ethos of independent-stand on your own two feet-God-fearing-firearm-toting-capitalism, the intrepid individual might take a close at what we do here and wonder why the economy isn’t working in a tax-ridden-gun-banning-gay-loving-religion-hating-wannabe eurotrash state.
There’s no need to worry, Pete. There is no mixture of terms. There are no communist states, nor have there ever been. The governments of the USSR, China, N Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, etc are Marxist Socialist states. As a reminder, USSR = Union of Soviet SOCIALIST Republics
No system is perfect… but I’d rather have capitalism and all of its evils and the opportunity to choose my own path in life than socialism and all of its blessings and all rights and goods surrendered to the state… or no rights at all.
…Because socialism worked so well…
USSR: 60 million people destroyed in 70 years (7 million were starved to death in one single year by Stalin’s socialist programs; 23 million in two years)
Red China: 78 million people destroyed (including Tibet) in 20 years
Nazi Germany: 20 million people (of which 6 million were Jews) destroyed in less than 10 years
Yugoslavia: half a million people destroyed over 40 years under Tito
Cambodia: 2 million people destroyed in 5 years
North Korea: 1.6 million people destroyed in purges over 45 years
and the list goes on…
Murder, greed, slavery, and other grievous sins of mankind existed long before capitalism… but socialism introduced genocide to the world.
The only socialist nations that have prospered are in Europe… where they are protected under the blanket of freedom provided by the treaties and armed forces of the US and NATO… and capitalism.
Because capitalism worked so well? What revisionist history text were you forced to read in school? Kate… what is the standard by which you judge this system? How well have monarchies, imperialist, or other autocratic systems worked? How well have fascist and socialist states worked? How well have theocracies worked? Do you relish the thought of what your life would be like had you been born as an average person in the Middle East, Medieval Europe, Red China, Sudan, etc. Do you imagine that you would enjoy a life as you do now? Any who do are fooling themselves, or imagining themselves in some higher social caste than the masses. Only in capitalism can any person, by the merit of his or her own labor and mind, pursue the limits of his own imagination or ambition.
I don’t think that I’ve heard anyone banning guns and all of that other stuff. I haven’t heard the federal government mention anything about gay marriage. You can’t confuse state law with federal law. The individual states are free to decide. I think that you are taking socialism thing too far. Here is the big kicker for most of the complainers… Are you going to do something positive to help the the working man who did everything right and lost his/her job? Are you going to join groups to help the present situation? Americans complain too much, are only concerned about themselves and their own greed. And that is why we are in this mess. Not defending Obama, but this economic mess was left on his doorstep when he took office. I am sure that Bush is happy about dodging that bomb. I get tired of hearing complaints. If you want to worry about yourself, then do so, but don’t complain about everything while sitting onthe sidelines.
Dez – See, contrary to popular belief, I’m not some left-wing, tree-hugging, morally cleansed, atheist bitch. I am by definition a centrist. While I agree that capitalism has worked in driving innovation backed by the almighty dollar, the mere root of that word is ‘capitalize’. This economy and past governments have done everything they can to capitalize on the wrong things and people. Once we move from innovation and drive to success as a country and start grabbing for monetary gain at any price, it’s not a drive for betterment that defines us, it’s a greedy powergrab and people ultimately suffer.
While I don’t think full blown socialism is the answer either, I do not see the problem with the government helping to repair what has been done in the wake of such corporate greed and lax regulation.
The perfect governement? One that empowers all of it’s people to do their best by providing the RIGHT social programs and training for a time period in which they are able to get back on their feet.
Oh and James — re: wanna-be eurotrash state:
So you’re comfortable that China owns most of our debt and a lot of our realestate (only second I believe to Arab interests)? That hardly anything is made in the USA and that words like offshoring and ‘globalization’ are forcefed to all American workers as SOP? I don’t know about you, but it looks like America lost it’s true identity a long time ago when Capitalism became a race for greed instead of prestige.
Furthermore, I don’t subscribe to the Obama-messiah complex, but the man won in a virtual landslide. I am not expecting miracles in his first 60 days in office, and like all fallible men, he will make mistakes. However to rob people of their first real hope of change for what they believe is better (popular and electoral vote here people) just seems to be cruel.
How quickly we forget his predecessor who wiped his ass with our Constitution every morning?
I don’t know about you — but I miss my made -in-the-USA woobie.
Kate – I make no assumption that you are an extremist or an atheist. Capitalize is not a bad word, and money is not evil. (Even the “Good Book” tells us that the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil) Money or wealth of any kind is just a tool. How one acquires wealth and uses it is not a reflection of money or capitalism, but a reflection of that particular person.
“This economy and past governments have done everything they can to capitalize on the wrong things and people.”
Wrong… the economy and the government are reflections of its people. They do not exist apart from us. They are not objectively good or evil. They are measured by how we use them. Citizens, of all persuasions, have abused our political and economic systems. The market is reflecting our collective greed and stupidity and showing the consequences of several decades of bad policies. In the mortgage industry, as an example, Dems and Libs reduced the credit requirements for the poor for the purpose of helping them obtain a home they cannot afford. Reps and Cons, especially bankers, said nothing as their greed sought after easy money from the mortgages of these prospective new home owners. Capitalism is not to blame. People are to blame.
I agree that full-blown socialism is no answer. The problem comes with the introduction of any minor program of socialism sets a precedent for ever increasing socialism… if not specifically checked. The Social Security system and other like programs, set up under FDR, have introduced the beginnings of the welfare state in America. The people now feel entitled to unrestricted monies and programs that their grandparents only used to get back on their feet. Any “socialist” policy that the government introduces removes rights and powers reserved to the states and the citizens. Any new “socialist” policy needs to have restrictions that limit it from becoming an institution unto itself.
I am not against helping out the working man. The aid we provide our soldiers and sailors, if you look at the programs objectively, are working examples of socialism. I have, however, no desire to provide programs in perpetuity to people (civilians) who risk nothing for their country… and indeed have incentives to cease working and live off of the labor of others. Such is theft.
I’m glad to see my verbal grenade wasn’t wasted!
Seriously, though, things aren’t as peachy keen here in Texas as I make out. Our already occupied strip malls still remain full (with the notable exception of Circuit City), but new strip malls, new office space, and new warehouse space sits vacant.
We shall dub thee “Ambush” Pete…
Hopefully, those who observe this blog and its style of debate, will not get the impression that we participants are fuming and venting fanatics for a particular political party or place on the political spectrum… and that we can agree or disagree while maintaining respect of persons. As Kate noted, many tend to assume the ideological stances of others. In my perception, Pete’s site and its more frequent commentators lean heavily to the right. Such helps me respect Kate, and those like her, more. For her, a self-proclaimed centrist, this is a place to expect resistance, even passionate resistance to her views. It takes no courage to express your stance among like-minded people. Also, she is willing and able to defend her position… she does not merely show up and toss in an incendiary comment to observe the extent of collateral damage (digging at Pete =) ). So kudos to her and those like her. I may not agree with her, but her voice is important to hear.
*****
According to a banker friend of mine, whose expertise is in mortgages… Texas is doing better than the rest of the nation due to the S&L woes of the 80′s. It was a similar problem, comparable to the mortgage crisis. A great number of the banks that were affected were in Texas. The lessons learned and regulation to correct future business has kept banks operating in Texas from falling into the same trap as those in the current crisis.
Capitalism is by far the best look at our poor they have cell phones and LCD TV’s for christ sake. the poor over here are not really poor.
Our system of government works best when it’s not large and bloated like it has been for the last 60 years , things were a lot different when we did not have an payroll tax , which is yet another example of how our politicians have legislated our doom one step at a time this is just the next step in a series of many for the last 60 years. The new deal was truly the first step to socialism. Part of our freedom is rooted in our consumer power, that power is about to go bye bye. I for one am ready to kick all the modern progressives and socialists out and send em to Mexico or some other shit hole to see real poverty and suffering.
Dez is right for many reasons. I hate techno toteing north coast liberal eurotrash ideology!
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