12oz Lecture Series - Kimberley Strassel | The Resurgence of Socialism Today

[glorydays]

2 minutes ago, misteraven said:

its exactly the same... you're depending on government to basically untangle itself from their main source of money. 

 

Regulation, in general, is government interfering in a market or sector. They'll always say its for the greater good, but we all know that they are not unbiased and fact is most legislation is actually drafted by lobbyists. Government just rubber stamps it into law. Markets, for the most part regulate themselves. If a company takes advantage, and you don't like it, you stop doing business with them. When there's regulation, it often becomes you forced to do business with them due to regulations. Again, its a middle man that is disrupting the natural order of things.

 

Okay, lets analyze a few... Please drop examples and we'll explore and discuss.

i did list these above but here are a few

 

gold/cash to check places

low credit score credit cards by certain banks -- especially chase and wells fargo

ARM mortgages by credit unions -- especially the ones that focus on low credit scores

everyday needs like gas for vehicle -- before COVID, gas was at 4 dollars a gallon...since the crash it's now at a dollar

 

even now, and its not even the poor that's being targeted, masks for nurses and health workers are being price gouged

these masks were priced at 50 cents each...it is now 6 dollars for a paper mask

[misteraven]

58 minutes ago, Dirty_habiT said:

@misteraven- just spit balling here but what does a "neutered government" do if you've taken away all the things they can do?  If the purpose in some peoples' minds is for the government to be as small and without power as possible, then what's the point of even having a government at all.

 

I certainly do not want anarchy, dictatorship, socialism/progressivism, etc.

 

What I think needs to happen is the money needs to be extracted out of politics.  It seems now more than ever that it's a race to see who has the biggest bank to campaign the hardest.  That doesn't mean you will win, but it means that your odds of winning are tremendously increased.

I really don't know what the answer is, but it is REALLY clear to me that I don't want more govt regulation and more taxes.... and I don't want anarchy.

A governments role, according to the charter that led to its creation, is to defend the nation from foreign invasion and be the arbitrator of last resort in defending life, liberty and personal property. Everything beyond that was tacked on after the fact. There is no original directive in the Constitution to grant them authority over the school system, for example. I'd argue that they've done a piss poor job of it. We've already seen how often private solutions have pushed the industry forward in far more impactful and meaningful ways, despite being bogged down in regulation. 

 

I've posted this before... Read about how money truly effects politics at its most fundamental level here... http://www.definingthemachine.com/party_dues.html

[misteraven]

5 minutes ago, glorydays said:

i did list these above but here are a few

 

gold/cash to check places

low credit score credit cards by certain banks -- especially chase and wells fargo

ARM mortgages by credit unions -- especially the ones that focus on low credit scores

everyday needs like gas for vehicle -- before COVID, gas was at 4 dollars a gallon...since the crash it's now at a dollar

 

even now, and its not even the poor that's being targeted, masks for nurses and health workers are being price gouged

these masks were priced at 50 cents each...it is now 6 dollars for a paper mask

Those are all voluntary systems man. If you have absolute shit credit, yet want to borrow money... You're going to get taxed. That's not predatory as we're discussing a deal being agreed to by two consenting adults. An example of predatory would be how a college student is bombarded by opportunities to borrow money without having the life experience to understand. Technically they are an adult and they aren't being forced to borrow, but that comes closer than your example. Pawn shops might feel predatory, but its a matter of supply and demand. If you need money so bad that you're willing to take 10 cents on the dollar, thats on you. Clearly that individual has few choices so why would you take that one from them if they decide that is what they need to do?

 

Same thing with ARM mortgages... The option is that the individual does not get a chance to buy a house. So they're taking a gamble that the rate adjustments will be within their threshold to honor it with the consequence of failure being the house they cannot afford being taken from them. Sucks for them, but life indeed has consequences when you fail.

 

Not sure I'm understanding you gas reference. You're also talking about one of the most heavily regulated sectors in existence.

 

Its a simple matter of a mutual exchange between willing participants. You're free to shop around, they're free to wheel and deal until they can win over your business, or not. Not sure why you'd feel good allowing for a third party to sit in the middle of that even if they were unbiased. But as we all have largely agreed on is that the third party here (government) is not unbiased and that they indeed seem to give special treatment to the side of this with the money. I would think that would be even more reason for you to agree that they shouldn't be in the middle regulating deals. Only way it begins to make sense is you're willing to actually believe / trust that government is benevolent to those that they govern and genuinely looking out for your best interest. Can you honestly believe that and say this with a straight face?

[glorydays]

@misteraveni honestly say i cant. from what ive seen lately, governance is bullshit in and of itself.

 

I only hope that people either wise up, or an entire overhaul of the systemic industry complexes that pervade today's style of capitalism

[misteraven]

14 hours ago, glorydays said:

I only hope that people either wise up, or an entire overhaul of the systemic industry complexes that pervade today's style of capitalism

What you're describing here is crony capitalism. Perhaps the largest example I can think of is when a $7 billion dollar no bid contract went to Halliburton during the second gulf war, a period that happened to be during the administration of George Bush Jr and Dick Cheney. It was not only public knowledge, but common knowledge that the company Dick Cheney worked for before he became vice president was Halliburton. When he was questioned about that, he claimed he severed all ties to Halliburton when he decided to run for vice president. The government is pretty much its own regulator so they didnt seem to care, especially when the media pretty much let it go. Meanwhile, the public for the most part didn't give a shit because all's they know is that the government taxes everyone and then it goes into the void that keeps the country running (assuming they even thought that far ahead).

 

Please feel free to look all this up.

 

That being said, we can see from this very thread how difficult it is to reach consensus amongst just a handful of individuals. Most of us can barely frame an argument, let alone know the intricacies of subjects that have a profound impact on our daily lives. Certain individuals that do have this understanding and understand the opportunities some of it represent, then leverage the powers that be (government) to create unfair competitive advantages. By giving the government so much power, they are able to pay back these individuals by passing legislation that reinforces or amplifies the revenues that in turn go towards keeping certain politicians in power. All of us just sit around reposting memes and arguing politics based upon our massive limited understanding of the situation, that has largely been reduced to talking points without real merit that are spoonfed to us by whichever team you pledge your loyalties to; red or blue.

 

In the course of this thread, we've managed to see how half the time, we're aren't even speaking the same language as there isn't anything near an concise understanding of certain words, which in turn have a huge effect on our ability to discuss certain subjects, which admittedly, most of us (myself included) really haven't taken the time to fully study and understand. Now we can begin to understand why shit is a complete mess and is unlikely to correct itself. We'll keep arguing until we're blue in the face and the majority will accept new laws, generally bundled with other very insidious ones and often named things that just fuel the contemptuous debate.... Howe can you possibly be against something called the "Patriot Act"?! How can you possibly let the planet die by not supporting the "Green New Deal"?!

 

You see where I'm going with this and hopefully better understand why I try to put up these types of posts. I'm not telling anyone to agree with me. Just do your homework and come back with reasonable talking points based as much on fact and evidence as we can manage. 

 

Anyhow, just my PSA and not a criticism on any single individual in this thread or on this forum. Just some food for thought cause we are all a part of this problem. The dirtbags in government and in some of these companies that do take advantage are only able to do so because of out own stupidity and because of the choices and involvement we all have in this system as a result of simply not taking the time to understand situations in all their content and consequence and allowing more and more power to government as a result.

[glorydays]

@misteraven

i did find myself getting frustrated because the disconnect within the dialogue was there in the thread.

The talking points are from different camps which in turn created their own "buzzwords" when it comes to educating their own tribe.

 

and I'm not angry or offended by being called out on my lack of knowledge, but i have been studying up as much as i can. 

the one thing i'm trying not to do is to get caught up with others going down the wrong rabbit hole.

[misteraven]

17 minutes ago, glorydays said:

@misteraven

i did find myself getting frustrated because the disconnect within the dialogue was there in the thread.

The talking points are from different camps which in turn created their own "buzzwords" when it comes to educating their own tribe.

 

and I'm not angry or offended by being called out on my lack of knowledge, but i have been studying up as much as i can. 

the one thing i'm trying not to do is to get caught up with others going down the wrong rabbit hole.

You shouldn't be angry or offended by anything I've said. I have huge respect for people honest enough to acknowledge they might not know something and even more so for those that attempt to remedy that situation. Only anger and frustration you should be feeling is that it appeared you had a lot more faith for government to be looking out for you and hopefully now you're on a path to realizing that doing so is your own responsibility and you need to be skeptical of those that say otherwise and guard against those that are trying to enforce that dynamic.

 

Its a simple analogy... If your parents bank roll your life, you're dependent on their benevolence and subject to their rules. If you move out of the house and make your own way, you're only indebted to yourself. That freedom. Government and all their attempts to regulate the daily lives of individuals works precisely the same way, except they aren't your family and you cannot count on strangers across the country (or even local for that matter), to put your welfare above their own. 

 

Just dont subscribe to the bullshit man. Check out some of the links I've posted and take the time to learn and come to your own conclusions. I'm just here to try and nudge people so they'll start that path.

[misteraven]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQkBkdkjKaR/?utm_medium=copy_link

[ndv]

Wow!  I really do not know what to say.  That's just insane.  Retarded.