ralis

What is most disturbing in regards to predatory capitalism is the ideology that free unregulated markets are for the greater good. U.S. corporations move to China for what purpose? The greater good of greed and profit! U.S. manufacturing creating horrific pollution in Chinese manufacturing areas. Cheap junk being exported back to the U.S.! All at what cost? What is the utility of such corporate philosophy when millions in the U.S. have no work because of such shortsightedness! If the Tea Baggers, Libertarians and Republican have their say in gutting the EPA and other so called predatory regulations that allegedly hamper business, then what will the U.S. become? A feudalistic state? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5042762 The above contains the link to the LA Times story. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/23/china-carbon-emissions

I would recommend reading 'Science and Sanity' as opposed to reading Wikipedia. There are a number of teachers who have based their work on Korzybski. http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Intelligence-Self-Liberation-Non-Aristotellian-Realization/dp/1845900618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319863202&sr=8-1 Win Wenger has produced several excellent programs on image streaming i.e, visual thinking. http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Factor-Win-Wenger/dp/074352523X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319863409&sr=1-1

Double binds and paradoxes can be remedied by eliminating the "is of identity". By studying and applying Korzybski's 'Science and Sanity', I was able to clarify my thinking and eliminate illusory contradictions. Years of meditating failed to address this problem. 'Science and Sanity' introduces the reader to Non Aristotelian thinking which is visual thinking and brings one to eliminate the habit of talking to oneself.

I read that when I woke up this a.m. and thought I was having a bad dream.

Would you care to explain in detail what kind of deregulation? What regulations are unfavorable?

This is just preposterous!! More police state tactics in the name of fighting terrorism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm8ahsgZYtE

I would recommend this book by Krozybski which is an excellent way to unravel belief systems BS. http://www.amazon.com/Science-Sanity-Introduction-Non-Aristotelian-Semantics/dp/0937298018/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1319082004&sr=8-5 For a shorter and more to the point of Korzybski's work. http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Intelligence-Self-Liberation-Non-Aristotellian-Realization/dp/1845900618/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319082103&sr=1-1 I have some natural ability to immediately jump into someone else's point of view and understand how that individual thinks and create an argument from their point of view. Maybe later I will go into more detail. Suffice it to say, there are both positive and negative attributes to that ability.

Free markets can best be described as Socialized Darwinism, given that free unregulated markets are predatory in nature. That means an imbalance of resources that a few alpha primates acquire. If you ever read any history and I assume you don't you might realize what the dark side of human nature is really about. Can't you read? I said the downside of human nature is primitive and violent! I am talking about unregulated markets being predatory in nature. The best example to date are the predatory banks that brought about the 2008 financial crisis due to deregulation and the gutting of Glass-Steagall. The commodities bubble market in which oil is speculated on by banks and hedge funds that produce nothing. These institutions are permitted to trade at a very wide margin (10-1 or more) and are not required to take delivery of the commodity. Before deregulation, airlines and fleets could buy futures to lock in a guaranteed price so as to be able to price future airfares and trucking contracts. I suppose you enjoy paying more for gas at the pump when you fill up your car? Does that make you smile and think how benevolent these bankers and hedge funds people are as you give more of your hard earned money to them? As far as Steve Jobs is concerned, he was an innovator and accomplished much for the evolution of information technology. However, he was a control freak, complete with ridiculous price structures, limited software, skirted anti-trust laws and required all applications, music etc. to be bought through his I Tunes store. That is a business model founded on greed and control.

Mark Papantonio discusses the anti-intellectual and anti-science movement of the right wing. One comment he makes, is that the general population reads and comprehends at a 7th grade level and therefor has no facility to think critically.

Do you just make this stuff up or even analyze the implications of a pure free market? What is natural about free market capitalism? To say that markets should be free and in the same statement complain about overregulation. Your statement implies that you are wanting some regulation. Libertarians and Tea Baggers are posturing for markets that are absolutely unencumbered by any regulation i.e, free markets. What you and others whom have bought into this ideology, fail to realize or even consider, is the problem of the downside of human nature that is primitive and violent! Whether it is the Koch Bros. or any other corporation, these people do not have anyone's best interest in mind! Corporations are not benevolent entities! Humans are socialized primates and exhibit primate behavior towards one another. BTW, there are data accumulated by research scientists to substantiate that statement.

Just found this on Bloomberg News. Very important read! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-18/bofa-said-to-split-regulators-over-moving-merrill-derivatives-to-bank-unit.html

This country is not just about you and your minority group of Tea Party advocates that are single minded ideologues. What you characterize as socialist has always been part of this country. What do you intend to do about what you erroneously believe is unconstitutional? Return to the McCarthy era where all that you accuse of being socialist have their lives destroyed? Make the liberal progressive movement illegal? Make all the "commons" such as roads, military, bridges, public utilities, police, fire departments etc. private? Serene Blue has well presented the causes for all to read here. However, you are in disagreement with her analysis. Race baiting? That is just more Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and Glenn Beck using Machiavellian techniques to create division through political demagoguery and propaganda. A very old technique that has been used to the same ends for thousands of years. What is unclear to me, is why you are on this Taoist site? Your ideology is clearly divisive and fails to incorporate different points of view and the real needs of people that are less fortunate than you. In this thread you have characterized people as being lazy and even criticized poor people as buyers of various electronic items before paying their bills and that being a problem that creates social ills. I can find the exact quote if needed. However, you know what I am referring to. I guess the poor make you uncomfortable.

I see you have been watching Glenn Beck and his rants on Nazi propaganda. I assume that is why you didn't provide a reference to Woodrow Wilson's CPI. You are the most single minded person on this site at the moment. Given your rants against liberals and progressives, are you going to begin using hate speech here? If the Tea Party ideology is as you maintain, the epitome of what needs to occur in this country, then why isn't the Tea Party having mass demonstrations against OCW? Further, why didn't the Tea Party garner mass worldwide support as OCW has? I think you need to clear up this remark about race! The implications are not welcome here.

Wake up Aaron. No ideology has ever worked in curing the ills of humanity! None whatsoever!

I really don't need to be lectured by you as to the definition of propaganda. My remarks are in regards to the insidious use of propaganda produced by the right wing and it's media shills to create division and therefor create a mass movement of weak minded fools! Given the fact that I know a few things about propaganda, here is a You Tube link (starting at 1 min.) of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich and his use of so called "good propaganda." That was a bald faced lie that led to the destruction of Europe. Linked here is the death toll in Europe for WWII which includes U.S. military. http://www.angelfire.com/ct/ww2europe/stats.html The main problem I see with your narrative is that you want to be absolutely right and never wrong.

A few examples of political propaganda that can lead to hate and division. I believe it was Rush Limbaugh that instituted hate speech against liberals. Herman Cain believes liberals are out to destroy this country.

I don't share your sentiment. Have you actually studied history and if so, it becomes apparent that humans rarely change. Fear, chaotic emotions and irrationality are still the main forces that keep humans from working together.

Propaganda is almost always used for a singular purpose to influence groups to accept a specific ideology. Rarely if ever is propaganda used for good. Here are a number of books on propaganda that are worth studying. Many don't realize that Neuro Linguistic Programming is the basis for Frank Luntz's propaganda work. http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3APropaganda&page=1 This particular book is excellent. http://www.amazon.com/They-Thought-Were-Free-Germans/dp/0226511928/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Tea Baggers are a small group promoted by Fox News and were able to elect representatives that were single minded with only a very narrow agenda i.e, tax cuts for the rich, opposing Obama's health care plan and obstructing this administrations legislation. Actually, that makes no sense at all given that there are very few in that movement that are wealthy. When I speak about propaganda here are a few references that make my case in point. 'Global warming' was reframed to 'climate change' by the right wing pollster Frank Luntz, so as to insure compliance with right wing true believers and other weak minded fools. This propaganda campaign allowed the Bush administration to deregulate environmental controls that allowed more mercury and other particulate matter to be released into the atmosphere. The motive was profit! http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2003/mar/04/usnews.climatechange Gov. Rick Perry's anti science, anti intellectual agenda in revising current scientific studies. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/14/rick-perry-texas-censorship-environment-report Fox News has characterized the OWS as being lawless, dirty hippies etc. that is pure propaganda and demagoguery so as to turn public opinion against this movement. Further, to compare OWS to the Tea Party movement is absurd. Mass movements such as OWS are not always neat and tidy. A little chaos is in order.

Seems like you are not interested in the part of the U.S. Constitution that guarantees the right to assemble and air out grievances as well as free speech! I thought you were a supporter of the U.S. Constitution. Further, to call this movement immature is misguided on your part. Were the civil rights marches in the 60's misguided and immature by your way of thinking? When I label manipulative rhetoric as propaganda, I know exactly what I am talking about and I just don't use that term in a general and frivolous manner. You are blaming the entire movement for the wishes of the few and therefor the entire movement is misguided because of the wishes of the few? Seems like a logical fallacy Joe! If I understand the Libertarian and Tea Bagger movements correctly, the main goal is to overthrow the parts of the government that Ron Paul et al, have deemed unconstitutional. That ideology is in opposition to jurisprudence, U.S. Constitutional law, and various court rulings since the founding of this country. Further, it is a fact that the POTUS is not some dictator that can impose whatever he/she wishes. The founders of this country were wise in that three branches of government were formed so as to prevent any attempt to establish a monarchy.

Excellent post! You have very accurately described the propaganda that is fed to the masses here in the U.S. Joeblast insists that there is no propaganda coming from his political persuasion. I have studied the use of propaganda and the insidious effect it has on one's perception of reality. The purveyors of propaganda will always use partial information, broad baseless generalizations, lies and innuendo to stifle critical thinking.

You complain about over regulation and will not post one fact to substantiate your argument. Stop attempting to dump it back on me. That type of argument is really weak! Obviously, you have no factual basis for your argument.