Politics of SB Members?

[lamont]

At least I've got a (dry) sense of humor about my own view. Also, I'm not really a commie or a fascist. I'm not going to waste a lot of my time getting upset over the fact that nobody believes the same thing I do and don't want to force my views on anyone. Unless the majority actually comes to believe what I do voluntarily I doubt that most of what I think should happen politically will happen in my life. The most fascist opinion that I've got is that guns should be taken away from people, but in reality that is never going to happen in this country anytime soon...

Really I'm a libertarian socialist or I'd call myself a "pragmatic anarchist" but I'm using anarchist in the sense of bakunin and not in the same sense that Heinlein described the term "pragmatic anarchist" in one of his books.

mempilot once bubbled...


This is funny stuff! Great material. Hey, the communists and fascists called and want you to pose for a poster.

Everyone is entitled to their 'own' view, I guess.

 

[mempilot]

Come on! A little ribbn' for your dry sense of humor on your views shouldn't rub you the wrong way. You admit your views are drastically different from what our society is willing to accept within the confines of our current system.

Hang in there. Someone on this board will eventually agree with you. No one ever agrees with me, so we're in the same boat! LOL

Just curious. Is there a nation in the world today that practices your ideals? Just wondering if there is a thriving example?

 

[Belushi]

Damn!!! I am glad I am British ...

No democrats/republicans but;

We have an immigration problem that no one will do anything about because no one wants to work for minimum wage except the immigrants

We have a Department of Work and Pensions ... funny, because the government are going to abolish the state pension and with all the immigrants there is no work.

We need to bring back the death penalty, 75% of the UK wants it but we are not allowed even a referendum on it.

We need to legalise prostitution, cannabis, busking and euthanasia, but we wont because the government cant tax sex, drugs, rock n roll or death.

Taxes are going up, utility services levels are going down,
Crime is going up, police numbers are going down
Distrust in the Royal Family is going up, Prince Charles is .... saying nothing!

at 16½ years old, you can join the Army and go to war and shoot people, but you are not allowed to hold a gun licence until you are 18
at 16 you can get married and have sex and have children, but you are not allowed to watch porn films until you are 18.

The "National" Health Service is sending the sick to Europe because it is cheaper and quicker.

But hey none of this matters because England beat the French in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup and now meet Australia in the final ... Life is great

 

[RichLockyer]

mempilot once bubbled...
This is funny stuff! Great material. Hey, the communists and fascists called and want you to pose for a poster.

Everyone is entitled to their 'own' view, I guess.

Gotta say though, that is the best, most well-stated and most logical position statement that I've yet to see from a hardcore left-winger.
It was nearly devoid of emotional drivel and illogic, which generally does a good job of invalidating arguments (from both sides).

Of particular interest to me is the idea of 100% employee ownership of business... a far cry from state-owned and controlled business as normally extolled by leftists. I think that particular aspect is really FAR more "capitalist" than any system currently in place. Yes, Wall Street (and online traders in particular) have turned stocks themselves into commodities. Very good, solid companies are not looked upon favorably and fail to get the capital they need, and poor companies make a killing.

Employee ownership will help to ensure company survival, provided that the employees are given proper direction from management. Direction... not micro-management.

As far as salaries, management deserves high salaries, for without them, the employees would lack the direction to succeed, and like the current system where the stockholders determine the executive salaries, the employees would do the same... but the important thing to remember is, like supply and demand setting the price for a product, the same would set the price for quality managers.



And yes... as long as he is in the US, he is entitled to have and to share his own view.

 

[adder70]

lamont once bubbled...
I've progressively gotten more and more rabid about gun control and feel that outside of the military they should all be rounded up and melted down and shouldn't be sold anymore. Not even an exception for hunting.


I believe in social programs and the social safety net. I don't believe that we're such a resource poor country that we couldn't guarantee every single person a minimum standard of shelter, food and healthcare. I'm in favor of universal health care.

THe gun issue is one of several that stands a decent chance of sparking am amicable split between the states into 2 countries. Hey, it worked for Czechoslovakia, though granted they were separate ethnic groups from the beginning. OTOH, I am beginning to think that liberals and conservatives are almost as bitterly divided as most ethnic groups now. Just about every democrat has refused to even allow a vote on minority judges that are conservative, including members of the same minorities. Clearly political allegiance is more important than ethnicity. Maybe a group of states with a union based on the original constitution and one with a reinterpreted constitution to allow more control by the federal government over the individual states. Of course, then you ahve to figure out what to do with Florida, since it is fairly evenly divided between the two viewpoints. OH wait! Expel the illegal immigrants and vote! then the clear victor would be the conservatives! (THAT should spark a response!)

Perhaps you might get involved with public programs and evaluate how much of the funds actually find their way to needy people. I think that when you personally see the redemption of food stamps by drug dealers for the highest quality (most expensive) steaks and public housing with more crime than tenants, you might feel differently about the necessity of these programs. The real change needed, obviously, is spending more to reduce fraud and ensure that the funds are used appropriately. This condition is exacerbated by liberals who want to "give them another chance" until their record is so long and their indoctrination into crime so extensive that they no longer have the ability to function in legitimate society.

 

[doole]

I dunno. I post a thread in which I barely mention the word "DIR" under my breath and 3 different people want the thread 'pulled' because it's a "blatant troll". Somebody else puts up an actual poll about where you stand in the political spectrum and nobody thinks anything of it.

Anyway, these days when anyone wants to know whether I'm right or left, I usually say, "These are the options?"

You can't be financially responsible AND feed poor people?

Reality: you need managers. And in a free market you have to pay them whatever their skills demand.

The idea of corporations run by groupthink is just plain horrifying.

 

[Green Mountain]

Just say no to Dean.

 

[FredT]

lamont once bubbled...
I can agree with Libertarians on their issues of individual rights, but it stops at gun control. I've progressively gotten more and more rabid about gun control and feel that outside of the military they should all be rounded up and melted down and shouldn't be sold anymore. Not even an exception for hunting.

No problem. Just remember that step 1 in that plan is the scrapping of the US Constitution and the attached Bill of Rights. Once you have gone through the proper steps to do that, including a 2/3 vote of bouth houses and ratification by 3/4 of the states, go ahead and try to round them up. Just be aware that the folks you just pissed off are ALL armed, and now rightly annoyed with you and the others that worked to destroy the Country.

Of course evryone I've met so far who has the citizen disarmament bug conveniently forgets the Constitution when talking about their pet project, but wants to fall back on it for "other things" like keeping their skin whole and their house untorched when confronted by Government minions. The Constitution is NOT a chinese family dinner menu. You don't get to pick an choose, and still have it in force.

BTW Around here 2/3ds of the cops would quit before enforcing such a collection order, and would be leading the hunt for the other third.


FT

 

[SharkOfBonaire]

adder70 once bubbled...
OH wait! Expel the illegal immigrants and vote!

Great idea! All white and afro americans, leave the US now and then we'll let the indjuns vote... ut:

 

[drbill]

FredT-

Not sure that the Constitution EXPLICITLY grants the right for private individuals to bear arms. There is some debate as to whether the reference was to the militia or private individuals.

As a former hunter, I do prefer some reasonable gun control and severe punishments for abuse of weapons. However, I would stop short of restricting gun ownership.

In the days of the Constitution, a gun was a necessary tool for many of our population. Food for many depended on the use of firearms. Personal safety in an era of insufficient policing and frontier living often required one as well. It can still be argued today that the gun is a necessary tool (vs weapon).

What we really need to control are the idiots who improperly use weapons! I've long since sold all my rifles and pistols, and my underwater hunting gear too (in favor of a camera). However, if I had to resume hunting to ensure food (for instance if this Von's strike continues), I'd have no qualms about it.

Dr. Bill