----- Original Message ----- From: OrionWorks <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:37 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:[OT] H1N1 Synchronicity
> From Grok: > > > As the smoke cleared, OrionWorks <[email protected]> > > mounted the barricade and roared out: > > >> Grok sez to Terry: > >> > >> > On the contrary -- capitalism very much DOES relate to > fascism. NOST > >> > directly so. And of COURSE socialism relates to communism! > However I > >> > doubt very much if you understand the first thing about that. > >> > >> Ah, I see another informative political lecture is about to > ramp up > >> for our viewing pleasure... or perhaps not. > > > > Ya, I doubt it too. However the fact remains that the main stumbling > > block to the advance of society today -- and certainly to OU 'fringe > > science' and tek -- remains the present social order, with its > rather> brutal and short-sighted focus on short-term profit return. > > > > We really require that "vision thing", you know..? > > > > Interesting speculation, Grok. > > FWIW: > > I don't claim to be a Political Science expert. > > Speaking specifically of socialism, and looking through rosy > spectacles, Scandinavian countries come to mind. Most of these > European countries tend to tax the hell out of their citizens. Despite > the on-going indignity of having one's wallet continuously raped, I > get the impression that most of its citizens do not appear to be > revolting against a tax bracket that is often in excess of 50%. The > only logical conclusion that makes any sense to me is that most must > feel that they are getting what they are paying for. They must feel > they are receiving adequate returns on their investments. > > Yet, there remains a constant struggle to define what makes one truly > happy. For example, let's take Sweden in more detail: > > See: > http://www.essortment.com/all/governmentswede_rbfh.htm > > Exerpt: > ----------------------------------------------------------- > It is hard to argue that Sweden’s all-encompassing health care hasn’t > benefited the average Swede in some ways: infant mortality is low (3.9 > deaths per 1,000 live births) and life expectancy high (79.08 years). > Paid parental leave is available to all Swedes, female and male. Yet > many Swedes complain that their health care system is a bureaucratic > nightmare, with long waits for doctors’ appointments and even > surgeries, and little choice for patients when it comes to things like > choice of doctor. Every time Swedes have voted in a nonsocialist prime > minister, they seem [to] regret it, and in only a few years revert to > the socialist system that most have been raised in. > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Meanwhile, I've spent most of my adult life living and working within > a capitalist system. I neither love capitalism, nor do I hate it, nor > do I perceive it as an inherently evil system. It simply IS, and I'm > used to it. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. From what I can tell, > no political system is perfect. In the end it always seems to come > down to: You get what you pay for. > > Personally I'm inclined to believe that many within the United States > cling to a ridiculous notion that they will be better off > (happier) if > they are taxed less. Paying less taxes, they assume, means they will > have more purchasing power to buy more "stuff". The illusion is that > one perceives wealth, power, or freedom, as being in possession of a > fat bank account that allows one to buy all the "stuff" they believe > that will make them happy because someone told them that being in > possession of such "stuff" is what they really need in order to be > happy. > > Ironically, the exact opposite often seems to happen for many after > they are lucky enough to accumulate all the "stuff" they were told > would make them happy. Now one is faced with all those worries about > all that "stuff" that needs to be maintained or protected from > everyone else who now covets their "stuff.". > > IMHO, this country will eventually need to perform a serious > amount of > self-reflection on what makes itself happy. I would predict that many > who might embark on such a task might be devastated to discover that > what they thought would make them happy (if they were to get it) > actually wouldn't > > So then... what does make one happy? And what is wealth? Can one find > true happiness ONLY if we were all to rise up and overthrow the evil > bourgeois system we all live under so that the correct one can be > installed? > > That's a topic for another discussion. > > Regards > Steven Vincent Johnson > www.OrionWorks.com > www.zazzle.com/orionworks > I think salient question is "What makes people feel frightened and insecure"? Harry
