Dr Strangetroll : or how I learned to stop arguing and be amused by the intransigence

[BMcL]

Seems to me you have a problem with capitalism.

No, I have a problem with "crony capitalism" , where the government gets in bed with business.

 

[Johnson]

No, I have a problem with "crony capitalism" , where the government gets in bed with business.

Ok, let's accept that you want to fix that, how do you propose to fix that? Posting lies and conspiracy theories are not helping, they only succeed in making you look stupid.

 

[BMcL]

Ok, let's accept that you want to fix that, how do you propose to fix that? Posting lies and conspiracy theories are not helping, they only succeed in making you look stupid.

You don't even know what crony capitalism is. Just another know-it-all who wants to argue.
You fix it by having trustworthy people in power.
Since you support democrats, why don't you tell us how trustworthy they are ? Unfortunately about 50% of republicans are just as bad.

 

[Cdkipp]

You don't even know what crony capitalism is. Just another know-it-all who wants to argue.
You fix it by having trustworthy people in power.
Since you support democrats, why don't you tell us how trustworthy they are ? Unfortunately about 50% of republicans are just as bad.

I think most high schoolers with a GPA of 3.0 could define crony capitalism. I don't know how you could get out of high school history without knowing that term. You tink you are on to something special there BMcl. Think you coined the term?

 

[BMcL]

I think most high schoolers with a GPA of 3.0 could define crony capitalism. I don't know how you could get out of high school history without knowing that term. You tink you are on to something special there BMcl. Think you coined the term?

No, I simply pointed out that Johnson thinks capitalism is government and companies conspiring together to manipulate the market.

 

[Johnson]

You don't even know what crony capitalism is.

Pretend that I do know.

Just another know-it-all who wants to argue.

I am pointing out how illogical. Your claims are. For example your claim that your god created everything (thus also COVID)

You fix it by having trustworthy people in power.

That would exclude known liars like yourself.

Since you support democrats,

What makes you think I support any party? I am not in the US, and have not voted in decades.

why don't you tell us how trustworthy they are ?

I have not made any statements regarding political parties. What I have seen in your country that politicians get millions of dollars from corporations to help them get elected.

Unfortunately about 50% of republicans are just as bad.

I am curious as to how you got to that 50%

 

[Cdkipp]

No, I simply pointed out that Johnson thinks capitalism is government and companies conspiring together to manipulate the market.

Oh, Sorry!!!!! Dang. For some reason when you said-----"You don't even know what crony capitalism is" I thought you meant Johnson didn't know what crony capitalism is!!!!!!!! So hard to keep up with your sharp mind!!!!!

Do you think your posts disappear? We know you are lying.

 

[Johnson]

No, I simply pointed out that Johnson thinks capitalism is government and companies conspiring together to manipulate the market.

You have no idea what I think. Let me give you a hint, I am way beyond "crony capitalism". Look up "fractional reserve banking" if you want to understand the money supply and how that relates to the 2007 financial crises. And secondly I can recommend the book " Capital in the Twenty-First Century" by Thomas Piketty. If you are interested in income inequality and ways to fix that.

But instead of offering solutions to a problem you think you have identified, when you were asked, all you do is making false allegations that the person posing the question does not understand. Suggesting that it is you who does not understand and try to hide that by attacking windmills.

So again, please explain how you propose to fix chrony capitalism while preserving the free markets.

 

[Bob B]

I think the attached document ..... from a liberal think tank ...... pretty well details how the regulatory agencies have been corrupted.
Here is one snippet from the document.

 

[Johnson]

I think the attached document ..... from a liberal think tank ...... pretty well details how the regulatory agencies have been corrupted.
Here is one snippet from the document.

View attachment 79946

I am well aware of the issue, the question is how to fix that in today's political climate.

 

[Bob B]

I am well aware of the issue, the question is how to fix that in today's political climate.

Vote for people who have the interest of the country at heart ... not the interest of special interest groups or their party. At the local and state level .... do the same .... vote for those who have the interest of the community at heart.
Write letters to your representatives stating your expectations for their conduct if they want your vote.

I think most people hate corruption ... regardless of political affiliation. When you see a district attorney who is easy on criminals of any sort .... get rid of him. Research the judges you get to vote on .... when you find a bad one, inform as many people as possible about it and get him voted out.

We the people .... have to put in the work to root out corruption.

 

[MurphyGuy]

I am well aware of the issue, the question is how to fix that in today's political climate.

We don't need to fix the problem because its not a problem, its a symptom.

In engineering, we always look for the root cause before determining how to fix something.

With most political issues today, the root cause was a supreme court decision which granted "personhood" to corporations (Citizens United vs FEC 2010) . They granted corporations the same constitutional rights meant for people.. except you can't put a corporation in prison, and corporations don't get old, retire, and eventually die like a person.

Outlaw all corporate lobbying, recall the personhood ruling that was made by a conservative majority on the supreme court, and most of these political problems will evaporate almost overnight.

 

[MurphyGuy]

Vote for people who have the interest of the country at heart ... not the interest of special interest groups or their party. At the local and state level .... do the same .... vote for those who have the interest of the community at heart.
Write letters to your representatives stating your expectations for their conduct if they want your vote.

I think most people hate corruption ... regardless of political affiliation. When you see a district attorney who is easy on criminals of any sort .... get rid of him. Research the judges you get to vote on .... when you find a bad one, inform as many people as possible about it and get him voted out.

We the people .... have to put in the work to root out corruption.

There is no such thing. Every person will have their own interests at the top of their to-do list.. You can't fix that, so we have to look at other solutions. The only way to fix the problem is to remove the feedback reward system.

 

[Johnson]

Vote for people who have the interest of the country at heart ... not the interest of special interest groups or their party. At the local and state level .... do the same .... vote for those who have the interest of the community at heart.
Write letters to your representatives stating your expectations for their conduct if they want your vote.

I think most people hate corruption ... regardless of political affiliation. When you see a district attorney who is easy on criminals of any sort .... get rid of him. Research the judges you get to vote on .... when you find a bad one, inform as many people as possible about it and get him voted out.

We the people .... have to put in the work to root out corruption.

Right now the corporate sector is funding the politicians friendly to their cause. This is more a problem in the US then in Canada but it exists everywhere.

 

[Bob B]

There is no such thing. Every person will have their own interests at the top of their to-do list.. You can't fix that, so we have to look at other solutions. The only way to fix the problem is to remove the feedback reward system.

Congress used to have lines they wouldn't cross .... in the interest of the country .... We need to get back to that Get rid of politicians who just want to change the rules if they can't get there way.
I think there is almost always some common ground ..... support those who look for it.

 

[Bob B]

Right now the corporate sector is funding the politicians friendly to their cause. This is more a problem in the US then in Canada but it exists everywhere.

It's our fault for electing the wrong people.

 

[Johnson]

Congress used to have lines they wouldn't cross .... in the interest of the country .... We need to get back to that Get rid of politicians who just want to change the rules if they can't get there way.
I think there is almost always some common ground ..... support those who look for it.

In the us polarization is out of control and it doesn't take much to fuel that as Putin has shown.

 

[Johnson]

It's our fault for electing the wrong people.

I am not even taking part in the selection process. (I don't vote, even though I can vote in two countries and soon a third)

 

[Johnson]

I remember a conversation with an American guy who claimed, in the same sentence, that the minimum wage of 7 dollars was too much, but that he needed at least 25 dollars an hour to feed and house his family. He also claimed that he was smart because he scored 100 on an online IQ test. The depressing thing is that half the population is even dumber than that.

 

[MurphyGuy]

Congress used to have lines they wouldn't cross .... in the interest of the country .... We need to get back to that Get rid of politicians who just want to change the rules if they can't get there way.
I think there is almost always some common ground ..... support those who look for it.

Not only will that not happen, it can not happen. Not anymore.

In the old days, commerce was a circle of influence restricted by travel and communication.. that is no longer the case.

It is easy to elect people who don't have ties to big business, but the supreme court allowed big business to create new ties to those who are elected.

That single decision destroyed this country, and there's no going back from it. Politicians are not going to pass laws to cut their own throats.

 

[Bob B]

I am not even taking part in the selection process. (I don't vote, even though I can vote in two countries and soon a third)

Ahhhhh .... then it's ALL your fault .... Just kidding
.... but, you aren't allowed to complain about government if you aren't voting. If we just sit back and let the activists fringes or special interest determine who gets elected we are doomed.

To me, it's pretty easy to see what politicians are working in the interest of the country ..... and which ones have their own agenda ...or special interest agenda. Gotta look at what they are doing .... not what they are saying. The joke about how you can tell if a politician is lying is true most of the time .... If their lips are moving.
There are some lucky people who live in "swing states" who's vote actually counts for something at the national level ... but at the very least, you can try to influence your local elections. That can make a big difference.

I personally try to vote for those who don't think government is the solution to everything ... I see government more often being the problem..... but more important to me is what I can find out about their integrity. If you actually find one with integrity ..... vote for them regardless of their political affiliation.

 

[Bob B]

I had an eye opening moment when I was on jury duty. The judge had just finished up bragging about how just our being there was helping put criminals behind bars .... that they would rather plea bargain than go to trial ... and about how good the conviction rate was.
Then, he asked if there were question ..... I asked what I thought was a simple question ... what % were repeat offenders? To my surprise, the judge got angry and stormed out of the room .... I'm thiking WTF?
The lady who was doing all the logistics for controlling the jurors .... came to the podium and said that the repeat rate was over 85% ..... That's when I came to the conclusion that this was all job security for judges and lawyers .... they had NO incentive to keep criminal off the streets ... they had a big happy recycling club.

Ever since then I have done as much research as possible about judges I can vote for.

 

[BMcL]

This article asks questions about why we went down the path of lockdowns when we knew better ?

What Might Have Been: Calm, Protection, and Care

BY JEFFREY A. TUCKER JANUARY 15, 2022
We’ll be putting together the timeline of this disaster for many years to come. It all comes down to those fatal days between January and March 2020, from the news out of China, to the lockdowns in Northern Italy, to the lockdowns in the US.
The documented and admitted record is clear and this is the source of scandal, in my view. Top public health officials in the US, UK, and Australia spent the good part of six weeks obsessing over whether the virus was a lab leak, accidental or deliberate, and therefore what the political spin should be if it turned out to be true.

Something certainly happened to change the script in the last week of February. On February 25, 2020, Anthony Fauci wisely told CBS News the following: “You cannot avoid having infections since you cannot shut off the country from the rest of the world… Do not let the fear of the unknown…distort your evaluation of the risk of the pandemic to you relative to the risks that you face every day…do not yield to unreasonable fear.”

The next day, something shifted.

Suddenly, lockdowns were on the table. And we know what happened next. Fauci and Dr. Birx worked over the coming weeks to warm Trump up to the idea, culminating in the March 16, 2020, press conference that announced lockdowns to the nation.

What followed, as Tucker recounts in highly readable fashion. The known risks from Covid were known, even at that early date. Early news reports informed us what has remained true to the present: pretty much the only people at significant risk were elderly people with significant co-morbidities. Young people were not a risk.

Everyone on planet Earth knew this two weeks before the lockdowns. …
…
…, we could have done exactly what Fauci said we should do on February 25: “Do not let the fear of the unknown…distort your evaluation of the risk of the pandemic to you relative to the risks that you face every day…do not yield to unreasonable fear.”
Protect the old. Let the young live their lives. Research on the best means of treatment. Minimizing fatalities on the road to endemicity. In other words, the Great Barrington Declaration.
It’s not rocket science.

But all of a sudden that changed.

Instead, all hell broke loose with wild and experimental lockdowns that seemed designed for the whole population to avoid the virus – well, not the whole population but the professional Zoom class in particular while “essential workers” exposed themselves to the disease. Other outrages included especially exposing elderly people rather than protecting them. Schools were closed. The medical system locked down. In other words, the policy response was the opposite of what public health would have recommended.

And so Tucker’s question is: What happened?
He has no answer.

Why did this happen? Why did Farrar, Fauci, Collins, Birx, and the whole rest of the gang that had been living on burner phones and holding secret meetings for a full month not openly explain to the public the risks and what to do about them? Why did they choose instead a policy of lockdowns, panic, and disorientation that resulted in astonishing economic, social, cultural, and political carnage?
We’ll be asking these questions for a very long time. …
…
Figuring out why sound public-health practice was rejected in favor of lockdowns is the job of writers and researchers for many years to come. But this much we know already. We had the information we needed to rationally address this threat. We had the experience and knowledge we needed to approach this responsibly and scientifically. A very small group of people on both sides of the Atlantic chose a different path.

Kinda sounds like a conspiracy, doesn’t it? The question is, who will be giving Fauci a medal this time around?

What Might Have Been: Calm, Protection, and Care ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Figuring out why sound public-health practice was rejected in favor of lockdowns is the job of writers and researchers for many years to come. But this much we know already. We had the information we needed to rationally address this threat. We had the experience and knowledge we needed to...

brownstone.org

 

[Johnson]

Ahhhhh .... then it's ALL your fault .... Just kidding
.... but, you aren't allowed to complain about government if you aren't voting. If we just sit back and let the activists fringes or special interest determine who gets elected we are doomed.

To me, it's pretty easy to see what politicians are working in the interest of the country ..... and which ones have their own agenda ...or special interest agenda. Gotta look at what they are doing .... not what they are saying. The joke about how you can tell if a politician is lying is true most of the time .... If their lips are moving.
There are some lucky people who live in "swing states" who's vote actually counts for something at the national level ... but at the very least, you can try to influence your local elections. That can make a big difference.

I personally try to vote for those who don't think government is the solution to everything ... I see government more often being the problem..... but more important to me is what I can find out about their integrity. If you actually find one with integrity ..... vote for them regardless of their political affiliation.

I find the viewpoint of libertarians naive. For capitalism to work, we need an educated population taking rational decisions in their own interests. Government is there to preserve a fair distribution of the goods and services in order to promote the welbeing of the population. Failing to do so will only lead to oppression and ultimately in the violent overthrow of governments. That is in no one's interest.

 

[Johnson]

This article asks questions about why we went down the path of lockdowns when we knew better ?

The reason we went down the path of lockdowns was because hospitals were unable to cope with all the new patients flooding the system. When people have less exposure to infected people they are less likely to get infected and in need of hospitalization.