cactoblasta

Reply to Being in favor of stealing someone's property to give to another isn't compassionate in Democrat JoeUser Forums

[quote]That is not how the United States was founded. That is how Europeans may view the world but in the United States, it was supposed to be a government by the people for the people, of the people. [/quote] But the US is a perfect example of the modern sovereign state! What is the constitution if not the expression of the US social contract with the state? You hold certain rights to be self-evident (areas over which the sovereign cannot impinge) and you surrender others (yo

Reply to Being in favor of stealing someone's property to give to another isn't compassionate in Democrat JoeUser Forums

[quote]If men with guns come to your house and take money from you what do you call that?[/quote] Theft, not taxation. [quote]So that's your argument? That if I can't find a way to keep from getting robbed then it's not really robbery?[/quote] No, that taxation isn't robbery because it's the price of citizenship. It's part of the social contract we make with the sovereign for mutual security and prosperity. We surrender some of our wealth and the right to violence to t

Reply to Being in favor of stealing someone's property to give to another isn't compassionate in Democrat JoeUser Forums

[quote]Robin hood was robbing from the government to give to the poor if you recall.[/quote] I think that depends on the stories. There are a couple I've seen where he robs rich people who enter the woods while the Sheriff shakes his fist comically at his failure to catch Robin. If you remember, he met Friar Tuck and Little John when he tried to rob them. On topic... I guess what I don't understand is this concept of taxation as theft. You choose to be an Ameri

Reply to The need for ethics reform. in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Ethics don't need reform, but people sure do. If they can't figure out right from wrong, no amount of regulating or limiting will affect them, short of jail time.[/quote] The Chinese legalist Han Fei Tzu was one of the first to discover otherwise. People can be kept in ethical check so long as there is sufficient uncertainty as to their fate if they misbehave. The whole concept of the inscrutable orient is a result of the discovery that honesty amongst officials c

Reply to Liberal super majority: The ramifications in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]What he is saying is that the people -- individuals -- should be given as much control of their destiny as possible. If someone chooses not to get health insurance, then that is their choice and there are consequences that go with it.[/quote] But he also says there is no consequence, because if you don't have health insurance you just go to the hospital and get the treatment immediately anyway, declare bankruptcy and keep living your life as before. Companies don't have

Reply to Liberal super majority: The ramifications in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Basically we are arguing against "well, people CAN'T provide medical treatment to themselves, either directly or via wise choices, thus we must take control over all medical treatment in the country and DECIDE who gets it". Which is an unnatural perverse thing where people get to decide "this person is worth more to society because he is rich" or "this person is worth more to society because he has children and is young" or "we think smoking is bad, so this person should be denied care

Reply to Obama and the tax tipping point in Politics JoeUser Forums

On the economic prosperity thing - Draginol, you've nailed it. I wish I could be so succinct. The concern I have with great disparity in wealth is that eventually people on the lower end will see the top end as unattainable, and that's when violence or at least political change becomes popular. [quote]Next time you eat your food bear in mind that it was probably grown by a politically conservative person, transported to your store by someone who is probably politically conservative.[/

Reply to Liberal super majority: The ramifications in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]In a socialistic society like Canada, the citizenry have largely abandoned their personal responsibilities to each other in favor of handing it over to the government to take care of things for them.[/quote] That's one way of looking at it. The other is to say that the citizenry discharge some of their personal responsibilities to each other through the tool of government, the most efficient way to take care of everybody.

Reply to Obama and the tax tipping point in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Certainly. Not everyone who is poor is lazy or stupid. But they aren't being held down by "the man" either (or by the government).[/quote] The problem is that it doesn't matter if the only thing holding them back is themselves. Most people are wilfully politically naive. This makes them a resource that can be used in difficult circumstances to effect changes of power. The presidency, for example, is out of the hands of anyone who isn't already a multimillion

Reply to Obama and the tax tipping point in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Why is that not good for the country? I am serious so try to give a serious answer.[/quote] It encourages crime (the closer people come to 'real' relative poverty (ie significantly less than others, even if it's not absolute poverty) the higher crime rates become) and political instability through the encouragement of demagogues, for two points. I suppose you could argue Obama fits into the second category there, but if you start to see really big differences in

Reply to Do Mothers Have Wasted Educations? in Parenting JoeUser Forums

Wow. Can I just say how fun I bet dating Taltamir would be? A wo/man so fixated on having as much sex with as many virile partners as often as possible (to ensure s/he doesn't waste his/her life) must go off in the sack. Shame about the conversation though.

Reply to Do Mothers Have Wasted Educations? in Parenting JoeUser Forums

[quote]And yes if you choose not to have kids your life is wasted. ANY living organism, by the very definition of life, must reproduce to leave something behind. Since eventually we all die.[/quote] Take everyone's favourite modern saint/beatified one, Mother Teresa. She never had any children. But to say that her life was meaningless, that she left nothing behind, is to ignore everything that is important about humans in favour of something that is an utter triviality. Children can b

Reply to Liberal super majority: The ramifications in Politics JoeUser Forums

I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, hey. But the word on the ground seems to suggest that when a hospital is run for profit, corners are cut on standards. Not huge ones by any stretch of the imagination, but you get better nurses (higher pay and slightly fewer working hours) and the exact same doctors (the shortage of trained doctors is such that they tend to work everywhere they're needed) in most public hospitals in Australia. And considering how important good nursing care can be, that ma

Reply to Obama's a socialist, let's be real in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Let me make something very clear: Marx was a socialist. Obama is not, by any stretch, a socialist. You took one comment that he said and moved him from slightly right-of-centre on the political scale to Lenin territory. I have not heard Obama say that he wants to move all industries under a collective nation-state umbrella, nor have I heard him say that everyone should make equal amounts of money.[/quote] Just to split hairs (because it's a very productive use of time) socialis

Reply to The Fundamentals Aren't Sound in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]This is the reason this system has failed. Because those who could not afford a higher life wanted it and those who wanted to afford the higher life gave it to those who couldn't afford it and now they both screwed.[/quote] This is one of those times where it's nice to not be a democrat at heart. I've never considered the majority of people to be particularly savvy when it comes to politics. In my view it's the duty of the strong to lead the weak into the light. But recently th

Reply to Liberal super majority: The ramifications in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]You may get it, but there's a good chance you won't. To give you an example, in the UK we currently have the labour government in power. To appeal more to the electorate, they decided to rebrand themselves and no longer be the strong pro-Union party that they were historically.[/quote] It's a similiar deal in Australia, too. The current Labor government is made up of a significant proportion of former union hacks and receives a great deal of funding from the unions. But its rel

Reply to Obama's a socialist, let's be real in Politics JoeUser Forums

If Obama was a good socialist, he'd lose that 38% of the vote - it's "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need", remember. Everyone should be paying taxes. The question is how much. Anyway, socialism is the tempering process that makes capitalism stronger. The US hasn't got much to lose by moderating capitalist excesses a little.

Reply to Becoming a Sage in Religion JoeUser Forums

I don't know - I think the experiences you have as a young person are pretty awesome too. Getting old and dying by inches is something I hope I never have to do.

Reply to Do facts matter in elections anymore? Did they ever? in Republican JoeUser Forums

Psychological studies show that word association trumps facts every time. That's why political ads use headlines like "McCain/Obama alleged to be baby killer"; the studies tell us that people will only ever remember the nouns, not the modifying adjectives. So the voter's eventual memory of that ad (if there is one) will be "McCain/Obama = baby killer". It's depressing the way these facets of human nature are so ruthlessly exploited by those who claim to be men and women of the people.

Reply to Why McCain deserves to lose in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]A devout Marxist whose only answer to anything is, "Throw Money At It", who has no respect whatsoever for the USA, and has long been in a church based on racist hatred "deserves" to win?[/quote] At least one of your statements here is wrong. Marxists are atheists. "Religion is the opiate of the masses", remember? So either Obama is a Marxist, or he belongs to a racist church, or neither allegation is accurate. You're not even trying any more, Parated.

Reply to Exactly How Much Do You Agree With Obama on the Issues? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

[quote]Except that good doesn't destroy people's lives under an avalanche of lies or get your beaucoup bucks from the dirtbag lobbyists . . .[/quote] Careful man, you're becoming dangerously European in mind and speech there. It's probably a crime.

Reply to Why McCain deserves to lose in Politics JoeUser Forums

I completely agree with you on the credit crisis thing and on the McCain/Obama deal as well. Unusual, huh? I can see why people do criticise banks for the mortgage crisis - it's unethical and extremely poor business to give out loans to people who clearly can't afford them - but at some point people have to take personal responsibility for their actions. They have to actually do what the fine print suggests and make sure they get the right financial advice if they're too brainless to

Reply to Exactly How Much Do You Agree With Obama on the Issues? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

I quite liked the fourth question: [quote]Some say Barack Obama’s plans to implement sweeping environmental regulations will raise the cost of gas, groceries, heating and air conditioning. Do you favor or oppose Obama’s environmental plans?[/quote] Classic psychological methodology put to the noble cause of voter manipulation. If only pyschologists used their powers for good, and not for petty deceptions.

Reply to Paying taxes is not patriotic in Republican JoeUser Forums

[quote]Patriotism has nothing to do with serving the STATE. It has to do with serving your COUNTRY. By that definition, the founding fathers, who rebelled against the STATE were not patriotic at all even as they said they were fighting for their country.[/quote] A country is an imagined community. I think it's telling that the founding fathers created a state quite early on in the piece as the manifestation of their patriotism. If it was simply the country that was the target of their

Reply to Paying taxes is not patriotic in Republican JoeUser Forums

I would argue paying your taxes is an act of patriotism. Patriotism is the act of serving the interests of the state above your own. Paying taxes benefits the state more than it does you. Ergo paying taxes is patriotic. As for the charity thing, I have a deep mistrust of most charities. The ones with the most grunts tend to be either outrageously godbothering (and therefore morally questionable in my eyes) or outrageously eco-friendly (and therefore of questionable benefit). There doe