Heartland

DeWinter wrote:

markfiend wrote: Oh and as for socialism, I don't see what's so bad about trying to run society for the good of everybody, not just for the rich.

I'd consider what we have now Socialism, to be honest. High-tax, huge increase in the numbers employed by the State, arguable over-regulation,increase of State power, distribution of wealth from those who earn to those the Government considers to be deserving.
Personally, I see no reason for me to lose a third of my income in direct taxation alone (never mind Council Tax, VAT and the TV tax)and have less spare cash than some on benefits I know.

that's why i don't like socialism - it sounds good but that money for so~called equality comes from our pocket. helping by teaching is far better than helping by giving something for free.

F*cking hell have I stumbled into the Daily Mail forums?

Where's the bankers are wankers thread?

Surely isn't this it ?

Bartek wrote:

DeWinter wrote:

markfiend wrote: Oh and as for socialism, I don't see what's so bad about trying to run society for the good of everybody, not just for the rich.

I'd consider what we have now Socialism, to be honest. High-tax, huge increase in the numbers employed by the State, arguable over-regulation,increase of State power, distribution of wealth from those who earn to those the Government considers to be deserving.
Personally, I see no reason for me to lose a third of my income in direct taxation alone (never mind Council Tax, VAT and the TV tax)and have less spare cash than some on benefits I know.

that's why i don't like socialism - it sounds good but that money for so~called equality comes from our pocket. helping by teaching is far better than helping by giving something for free.

Your eyes will pop out off their sockets soon when you calculate how much of your sorely earned tax will be stuffed down the fanthomless throat of "capitalism".
Let's call socialism the "capitalism in favour of Johnny Everyone", if that helps pushing asside evil associations for eastern europeans who suffered a socialism that was everything, but not social.
Edit: An even mix of both is the way that works, a mostly free market where big clusters of money can not take the full effect of money's gravity. No news. And a nice theory.

markfiend wrote:F*cking hell have I stumbled into the Daily Mail forums?

I was thinking that myself.

One of the main problems is the way banks loan money. It's called fractional reserve lending. In a nutshell, it means not a single bank in the world has enough money to actually cover their debts and loans, because they loan out more money than they have in the "vault".

Money As Debt Part 1, I'm sure you can all manage to find the rest of it.

As eotunn (I think) has already pointed out, infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible.

What we are witnessing currently are the (predicable) results of extreme/unregulated capitalism.

My main concern is that the last time the world saw something similar, we ended up with the rise of totalitarianism (primarily in Europe) and WW2.

Syberberg wrote: My main concern is that the last time the world saw something similar, we ended up with the rise of totalitarianism (primarily in Europe) and WW2.

But at that point it would have been one among many factors, and probably one of the lesser ones. I don't think the horrors of 20th century are reducible to economic causality.

sultan2075 wrote:

Syberberg wrote: My main concern is that the last time the world saw something similar, we ended up with the rise of totalitarianism (primarily in Europe) and WW2.

But at that point it would have been one among many factors, and probably one of the lesser ones. I don't think the horrors of 20th century are reducible to economic causality.

I agree, it's almost impossible to narrow causes down to one single thing/event, but it was certainly what started the ball rolling, so-to-speak, and the end consequence was WW2.

Would WW2 have happened regardless of the Great Depression? Probably not, but it's something we'll never know for sure.

As to whether a similar set of circumstances will result in a similar outcome, I haven't the faintest idea. It all depends on how bad things get and for how long. We've also got the added problems of (in no particular order): population overshoot, resource depletion, decreasing soil fertility and climate change. How this will all pan out is any body's guess, it's just too early to tell yet.

I hope we humans have evolved far enough that we can sort out our problems by cooperation not conflict. My concern is that some of us haven't.

Brother can you spare a dime?

The social conservative wing of the US Republican party certainly seem intent on instantiating a new totalitarianism.

markfiend wrote:The social conservative wing of the US Republican party certainly seem intent on instantiating a new totalitarianism.

I'd have loved to hear you attempt that sentence last Saturday night!

markfiend wrote:The social conservative wing of the US Republican party certainly seem intent on instantiating a new totalitarianism.

Yet it's Barack Obama whose campaign rhetoric and supporters remind me of Mussolini (and, as I may have mentioned, his speeches sound to my wife like the sort of thing she heard as a girl in the USSR). I think you're looking in the wrong place: if totalitarianism ever comes to the United States, it will come in the form of Tocqueville's soft despotism, which--in virtue of what it is--is significantly more likely to come from the left than the right. Tyranny won't come to the US under the cross, but under the belief in progress and utopia. Which, come to think of it, was how it came to parts of Europe in the 20th century. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

biggy wrote:This 35 grand limit is a right pain in the arse.
I've moved some of my funds about so that I don't have more than 35,000 in any one bank but now I'm running out of banks.

Speak for yourself!

Good shout markfiend

Except for self-interest there's little will to step forward, that's a part of all of us. I'm in a 7 year tussle with HMRC over their sponsorship of terrorist fascists who seem to have sold our National wealth and Heritage to corprorate identities without feelings, responsibilities or a sense of shame or honour.

During a pre-trial hearing they all acted tough, judge and defence counsel now 5 years later with a honed case, they still won't press the button and I can only assume they're spineless and without strength, naively arrogant.

This is just the futures market bursting, same as the commodities market in the 80's and any market that gets vastly inflated, over-rated stocks and securities, their potential over-valued until reality intrudes. Trade will always be in blows, I like it

Interesting article I've just had passed to me:

http://realitysandwich.com/money_and_cr ... vilization

Contains a very coherent explanation of the debt-interest model of continuous growth and how things might progress.

It should come as no surprise to any Brit that money is debt, by looking at the "I promise to pay the bearer...." written on each note.

This article is misleading on several fronts:

* The IOUs are mostly backed by assets (collateral). One cause of the current situation is that the banks wrote loans on assets which were incredibly over-valued, effectively reducing collateral, meaning it made more sense for borrowers to foreclose than continue paying. The idea that banks give away money to people on the street is not based on fact; most serious loans need collateral.

* Its possible to monetize assets without changing/destroying them, eg. a mortgage on real estate.

* The bankers who fail to disclose (etc) are open to criminal proceedings. Many banks have gone out of business, and are now worth nothing... there's not many people running off into the sunset with a nest egg (and for those who are, that's more a discussion about executive pay structure, which is a whole other thread...)

* The government is not giving away money (well, not in the USA), they are buying these "IOU"s to lubricate the financial system, which will have some value once the system returns to normal.


Still, interesting read, even if a bit biased.

This just in...


Holy crap.

Power, Corruption & The New World Odour

SINsister wrote:This just in...


Holy crap.

It's not just Iceland, but Pakistan as well. Pakistan has some wider reaching consequences though.

Wasn't it exactly this that Ron Paul warned about in his presidential campaign? And he's not exactly a socialist...

Gordon Brown: "Which one of you is Robert Preston (from the BBC)?"

RP: "Me."

GB: "You're a c**t."

RP: "Thank you."

+5 to PiB

SINsister wrote:This just in...


Holy crap.

Does this mean the end of Kerry Katona?

SINsister wrote:This just in...


Holy crap.

"Haarde said the banks had been "victims of external circumstances.""

weebleswobble wrote:

SINsister wrote:This just in...


Holy crap.

Does this mean the end of Kerry Katona?

I thought it was funny anyway mate.