hatebureaucracy

Critical Memo to Obama: Do Something

On Dec 16 01:49 PM Socialism cannot compete! wrote:

> "The oil industry is still vastly higher subsidized than alternative
> energy - much to the detriment of the planet; it harms my children,
> and I am pissed."
>
> Not so. In fact, oil companies already pay an additional "mineral
> extraction" tax above and beyond the usual corporate taxes paid by
> every other corporation. One could go look at the "effective tax
> rates" of oil companies vs. other major corporations, if one could
> put aside one's politics long enough to do so. I include several
> for your perusal, in case you have not the "energy or inclination":
>
>
> As reported on ETrade for TTM (trailing twelve months):
> 1) BP (British Petroleum) = 35.32%
> 2) XOM (Exxon Mobil) = 44.42%
> 3) CVX (Chevron) = 46.02%
> 4) KO (Coca Cola) = 23.84%
> 5) WMT (WalMart) = 34.32%
> 6) INTC (Intel) = 25.48%
> 7) GS (Goldman Sachs) = 30.32%
>
> Just a small sample, but includes a few of the biggest oil companies,
> and a few other major-in-their-industr... companies. You'll notice
> that the least-taxed of the oils pays more taxes than the most-taxed
> of the non-oils!!
>
> Furthermore, regarding "harms me and my children"...pleas... expound?!
> I hope you realize all the good and even life-saving products that
> come to you via the petroleum industry. The obvious one is plastics...and
> the many items and devices that are made with them. You know, things
> such as catheters and artificial hearts.
>
> You really should reexamine your liberalism. It flounders quite astonishingly
> when checked against reality!!
>
> (a whole bunch of false tripe)

Wait a second...did you say plastic is "good"? Good in the sense that it never biodegrades, and that it is causing the feminization of the male race? Or "good" because there is a floating mass of the stuff the size of the United States in the middle of our once pristine oceans? I cringe every time I have to tear through layers of fossilized plastic in order to get to a purchased product. Even things that definitely don't need to be wrapped in plastic are encased in the stuff. Use once and throw away....how is this "good"?
I don't think we should get rid of catheters and artificial hearts, but I do think there should be an awful lot more regulation of what the plastic producers are pushing on the public. In Europe the manufacturers are responsible for the entire life-cycle of their products, which cuts alot of the senseless waste.
But if you really want to consider this issue; why not face the real reason that everything is individually wrapped and packaged in this most destructive material? It has to do with the frenzied pace of modern life, and the women who once had all day to shop ( at the corner butcher shop and general store, where meat was wrapped in paper, and most items were made of biodegradable cloth and wood.) and cook who are now giving all their time and energy to perpetuate a system that was created by men and is not in any way conducive to the cyclical rythym of nature, but is entirely separate and disconnected from it.
Lest you think I am a new ager or a radical feminist, I will say that I'm emphatically NOT. Actually I'm a very modern and pragmatic person, yet I'm often aware of the tragic nature of modern life. Yes, our standard of living has increased....but at what cost? Things move so fast now and are so separate from the very environment that supports us, that we hardly notice the ruin we are causing by our constant search for the newest, most ergonomic, most fashionable stuff.
Sometimes I wonder if hurtling into the future without any sense of what we are really here on this earth to do is going to lead to our ultimate demise. I hope not, but when I hear how some people consider petroleum products "good" without in any way considering the wreckage we're leaving behind for future generations to deal with I wonder.

Our Economic Crisis: The Grand Experiment

Each other.
If the current system is so obviously broken, corrupt and unjust, and we all see it, why can we not create a system that does work, that is fair and equitable, that rewards those that are honest and hardworking, and excludes those who reap monetary rewards on the backs of wage slaves?
Don't get me wrong, I'm no communist....but I know that people have the ability to create positive independent systems......barter and trade systems, local currencies, and nonmarket economies that are stronger, better, more resilient, and most importantly, more equitable than the one that currently dominates our society.
If we can all agree that the emperor is unclothed, can we not also be courageous enough to depose him?


On Dec 15 10:25 AM xmplary wrote:

> We were told many things that were wrong. The politics here seems
> to be getting as corrupt as those of the 3rd world countries. Just
> look at the Illinois Governor for an example. Wall Street has become
> a place for even bigger and bolder scammers as well. If we can't
> count on the people that are supposed to represent us, who can we
> trust?

Would We Even Recognize a Depression if We Had One?

One thing the writer of this article missed is the fact that many people are on the edge of true homelessness and will not be watching tv in the privacy of their homes because they won't be able to afford even an apartment. I see a depression as creating a massive increase in shantytowns, squatters and tent cities. For these people, food and clothing will be hard to get, because it is difficult to work and function in a society that requires a home address, a phone number, a file cabinet and a computer to even access social services. However, in a true depression social services will start to unravel, as is beginning to happen in California and other states. There are many people just on the edge of the abyss in regards to homelessness; some have already gotten there even in good times. Their numbers will increase exponentially in the case of a real depression,creating mass social instability.
stillrenting is exactly right about the black underclass. The wealthy white upperclass ignores this to their peril.

The Undisclosed Costs of the U.S. Government Bailouts

Even if we were to think for ourselves, is there anything that we could even do to stop this insanity?