tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post6649899314031624919..comments2024-03-29T02:03:49.151-04:00Comments on History Unfolding: Civilization and self-restraintDavid Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020082243968071584noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-60840852771472436022010-04-12T14:10:17.095-04:002010-04-12T14:10:17.095-04:00PS
Just a note re the first 3 above, where previou...PS<br />Just a note re the first 3 above, where previously more engineers, turned later unfortunately into more lawyers and MBAs. <br /><br />Although I admit to have both of the latter, I agree; nevertheless, the joys of representing civil and transportation engineers can be overrated.<br /><br />all the best,<br />GMBozonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18078858723231122013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-8100463619317363782010-03-28T08:33:58.014-04:002010-03-28T08:33:58.014-04:00Professor
Only recently read Three Billion New Cap...Professor<br />Only recently read Three Billion New Capitalists. Have added it in a fn to Thurston's rant, which had included Trading Places, etc. <br />All the best,<br />GMBozonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18078858723231122013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-79031053880024517042010-03-21T17:18:02.449-04:002010-03-21T17:18:02.449-04:00I wrote a 'confession' of an old scalawag,...I wrote a 'confession' of an old scalawag, under the pseudonym Thurston Howell alias Robert Macaire, outlining in footnotes actual nonfictional references to political, economic, and military history works. I thought you might like to see it. I consider the footnotes fair use, but there may be those who disagree, so I am inquiring rather than posting it. all the best.<br />Gerald Meaders<br />MBA JD <br />Love Politcs and War so far.Aunt Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01266914664888937116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-16093046247624327032010-03-01T15:32:40.151-05:002010-03-01T15:32:40.151-05:00Warren Buffett would scrap health care bill
http...<b>Warren Buffett would scrap health care bill </b><br /> http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33693.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-49887776212636785032010-03-01T08:48:51.821-05:002010-03-01T08:48:51.821-05:00I think you are seeing the symptoms of a deeper di...I think you are seeing the symptoms of a deeper disease.<br /><br />The USA is having the same problem that destroyed other Empires: over-reach. <br /><br />The Vietnam War broke the US economy, and that is fact because when President Richard Nixon in 1971 unilaterally cancelled the direct convertibility of the US dollar to gold (essentially ending the Bretton Woods system of international financial exchange) what was actually happening was a US default.<br /><br />With the oil crisis coming soon after(because the Texas oil fields peaked at 1970), the economic problems just get bigger and the US public service was sacrified. So, the US education standards get lower because US don't had money for mantain it, making Democracy an easy target for demagogy.<br /><br />From 1972 to today we watched a US slow fall, but the last years that fall just accelerated.<br /><br />PS.<br /><br />Sorry the bad english, my native language is portuguese<br /><br />João CarlosAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-71758232666595824492010-03-01T00:08:57.227-05:002010-03-01T00:08:57.227-05:00Dear Prof. Kaiser,
Thanks for your thoughtful per...Dear Prof. Kaiser,<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughtful perpective. Your theme, that freedom is for the individual and regulation is appropriate for corporate power, is so important. This is the over-ridng issue of our time for the future of America. Two scholars have best addressed it: Sheldon Wolin, and Chalmers Johnson. (Perhaps it is just a coincidence that both taught at Berkeley in the 60's.)<br /><br />And condolences on that viral email that so mis-states your views. I have just received a forwarded copy from a relative who is a nut case. I don't mean her views are crazy, though they are. I mean she is a schizophrenic who cannot stay on her medication. Any similarity between her and the far right in this country is -- well -- all too real.<br /><br />Observer1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-76001957847982868352010-02-28T19:52:58.904-05:002010-02-28T19:52:58.904-05:00And I guess you think this is the RIGHT turn?
Pel...And I guess you think this is the <b>RIGHT</b> turn?<br /><br /><b>Pelosi to Dems: Support health<br />bill, even if it kills career</b><br /><br />http://www.nypost.com/p/news/<br />politics/pelosi_career_dems_<br />support_health_rv5IyPk9kkDq3eM9vaiVJJ<br /><br />56% of the voters who are against this kind of governing don't matter? Right?<br /><br />I guess 56% of the voters will have to put up with this kind of behaviour until november, 2010.<br /><br />Then it will be over !!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-5198503951014673672010-02-28T18:53:41.308-05:002010-02-28T18:53:41.308-05:00We and our leaders were asleep at switch at severa...We and our leaders were asleep at switch at several major junctions, starting with the unnecessary show-trials of US lefties in the 50’s and extreme Minuteman commies-under-your-bed propaganda, followed by pursuing the hopeless Viet-Nam war, killing of tens of thousands of our young men and hundreds of Vietnamese for no good reason for more than a decade, the false promises of LBJ to the end war, followed by the series of assassinations by rogue security cabals, the pernicious Barry Goldwater, the nefarious Richard Nixon, the inept Zbignew Brezhinski, the embrace of radical Islam in Central Asia just because it was anti-communist, winking at Karachi’s nuclear ambitions to get even with India, the misguided Kissinger and reprehensible deeds of the US in Latin America, the White House streetgang of ex-Navy personnel (Bush Sr+Rumsfeld, among others), the brain-dead Reagan fronted by a directory, Supply Side Economics, Newt Gingritch, and recently the Office of Special Operations, the lopsided influence of Israel, the unchallenged, self-serving influence of Wall Street, the Supreme Court of Opus Dei, Fox and the New Millennium Nullifiers of the GOP. This barely scratches the surface. We have created such a knot of special interests, irresponsible Congress, voodoo, laughably incompetent Supreme Court Justices and eternal warfare that one cannot imagine how it would be cut.<br /><br />So many woeful wrong turns, we are in the wilderness now. At least we have educated bloggers such as Prof. Kaiser with sympathy for the rest of us who if nothing else provide a light of hope.Nur-al-Cubiclehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13240215262850274264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-75840965557688998162010-02-28T16:14:25.936-05:002010-02-28T16:14:25.936-05:00Brian:
56% of Americans have not defined or unde...Brian:<br /><i> 56% of Americans have not defined or understood what their "rights" are or what constitutes a "threat" to those rights. </i><br /><br />Yes they have. <b> BIG GOVERNMENT </b> constitutes the <b> THREAT </b> to ordinary citizens.<br /><br />When the current administration goes from administering 20%+ of GDP to over 24%+ of GDP that is a <b> THREAT </b> to ordinary citizens.<br /><br />When 56% of people do not want Obamacare and they are absolutely ignored, that's a <b> THREAT </b> to<br />ordinary citizens.<br /><br /><i> ... Unfortunately, a smart, good looking president talking sensibly and rationally cannot create collective action (obviously). </i><br /><br />The president, I thought, is there to be judged on deeds and campaign<br />promises, <b> NOT </b> good looks etc.<br /><br />That is exactly what prompted us in Massachusetts, to ensure that<br />Senator Brown was elected to keep in check the deeds of the current administration.<br /><br />More of the same will come in november, 2010.<br /><br />Hence the rush by administration to<br />pass all sorts of laws that the people are clearly saying they are against.<br /><br />That kind of behaviour Brian, is a <b> CLEAR THREAT </b>to ordinary<br />citizens. The people know it and express it. It still is<br /><b> "We the people... </b> and not<br /><b> "We the state ... </b><br /><br />I strongly believe that <b> "We the<br />people... </b> will do something about<br />the administration's behaviour in november, 2010, <br />by electing representatives who will represent<br />the voters' and not someone else's<br />agenda.<br /><br />Hopefully it will not be too late.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-58890783385387192872010-02-28T12:15:55.327-05:002010-02-28T12:15:55.327-05:00Re: Anonymous post. 56% of Americans have not defi...Re: Anonymous post. 56% of Americans have not defined or understood what their "rights" are or what constitutes a "threat" to those rights. Was total financial meltdown and the fiscal ruin of all Americans at the hands of the "market" the threat? Or was the true threat the government's acting to avoid it? Was the collapse of the American auto industry due to decades of making crappy products the threat? Or was the government's acting to rescue it the actual threat? Had the government allowed those two things to happen, people would now agree what constitutes the threat (unbridled, unregulated, unprincipled free market action over an extended period of time), and what constitutes the mitigation of that threat. Alas, now we have 56% of Americans believing wrong is right, and good is bad.<br /><br />So can we have a an unrestrained populace while enjoying economic and political restraint? I think not. Economic and political restraint requires collective action. Personal restraint requires the opposite--personal action (or inaction). <br /><br />Unfortunately, a smart, good looking president talking sensibly and rationally cannot create collective action (obviously). Collective action requires collective values and collective tolerance. And the only way a large group of people form collective values and collective tolerance is to share collective experience. <br /><br />The last Hero generation had collective experience in spades, with the Great Depression followed by WWII. Each event provided the necessity for large groups of people to put aside their differences, help each other out--even it may have not served their personal interests or social conscience--and recognize that everyone has to give something to address the problems they faced; whether it be paying higher taxes, passing landmark legislation without the wacky guns-in-national parks or anti-abortion riders, or looking past the marital status of your neighbor who's children are hungry.<br /><br />While similar, I don't think 9/11, Afghanistan, and the 2008 financial meltdown have yet created the same necessity for collective action and collective value-forming that WWI and the 1930's did. And that's probably good. It avoids a lot of human suffering. But without it, changes in our economic and civil institutions, and the people who serve in them will take . . . a generation. And those changes won't be as decisive or radical as those formed in the aftermath of a giant collective event.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15495519811741877907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-25634400766517554682010-02-27T23:46:00.173-05:002010-02-27T23:46:00.173-05:00It is fashionable these days to demonize Goldman S...It is fashionable these days to demonize Goldman Sachs, especially<br />in connection with Greece and financial troubles there. Let's examine some pertinent facts.<br /><br />In the article <b>Greece Credit Swaps ‘Cabal’ May Be Just Sideshow: Chart of Day </b> By Shannon D. Harrington, the author shares the following facts:<br /><br /><i>The CHART OF THE DAY shows the net national value of credit swaps on 10 European countries including Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, as reported by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. The <b>$108 billion figure</b>, which is <b>the maximum amount</b> on the line if all of the countries were to default, is <b>0.98 percent</b> of the <b>$11 trillion </b> in outstanding debt of those countries. In Greece, where the heaviest complaints about credit-swaps trading have been leveled, <b>bets of $9 billion</b> compare with <b>$267 billion of debt.</b> </i><br /><br />I guess it's irrelevant for thinking of the author of this blog, that those the debt of those<br />10 european states approach the US debt, give or take a trillion.<br /><br />Naturally, all of that is caused by<br />the demonic deeds of Goldman Sachs!!!<br /><br />In particular case of Greece, the unions, of course, had nothing to do with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-90664671910103083842010-02-27T20:42:41.390-05:002010-02-27T20:42:41.390-05:00The problem I see is that civic and economic disci...The problem I see is that civic and economic discipline must have roots in a widely-accepted belief system that promotes those values, and we do not have one. Tragically, the social dysfunctions with which we are wrestling make it unlikely that one will arise.<br /><br />Looking at the landscape of American life today, I can't help but feel that encourages us to take everything we possible can, or risk being suckers. Because someone else <i>will</i> do the things that decency and conscience would otherwise forbid. If "the market" works to fill every void (and in the religion that has grown up around it, that is exactly what the market exists to do) then ethics and restraint become meaningless. The options you refuse to exercise will be taken by someone else, who will profit or receive satisfaction from them. The impact of the individual is negated by the power and reach of the market. So the people raised in this environment are encouraged to grab at every possible advantage, because doing otherwise is for suckers.<br /><br />And many Americans feel they have been played for suckers. Every single time the financial markets have pushed themselves to the brink of collapse, the government has come to the rescue. The rich can be ruined and yet somehow get richer.<br /><br />Perhaps the ship could be righted by increased civic participation by people of good conscience and character, but haven't the grotesque excesses of modern politics made participation less attractive? We are daily confronted by evidence that politics is the domain of influence-peddlers and carnival barkers who seem immune from shame or censure. How, then, are we ever to convince Mr. Smith that it is time to go to Washington? Or that he could ever hope to make a difference there?<br /><br />The picture only gets sadder at the local level, where the corrupt and the incompetent positively thrive in the shade of their own seeming irrelevance.<br /><br />My fear is that the combination of increased personal freedoms and the reduced condition of our public life gives people ample reason to pull up the draw bridge, as it were. We have more means to find personal happiness and satisfaction with our loved ones and our private interests, and less incentive than ever to dilute that happiness by engaging in our uncivil civic life. <br /><br />Only if we believe that it is important that we make decent choices, and that decency can bring about positive change, will we ever see the kind of re-engagement necessary to impose some ethical order on economics and politics. I am open to suggestions on how one might arrive at those beliefs.Rob Zacnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563148977565672591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-31717568962871465522010-02-27T13:20:17.244-05:002010-02-27T13:20:17.244-05:00Majority says government a threat to citizens'...<b>Majority says government a threat to citizens' rights</b><br />February 26, 2010<br /><br /><b>A majority</b> of Americans think the<br />federal government poses a threat<br />to rights of Americans, according<br />to a new national poll.<br /><br /><b>Fifty-six percent</b> of people<br />questioned in a CNN/Opinion<br />Research Corporation survey<br />released Friday say they think<b><br />the federal government's become <br />so large and powerful that it<br />poses an immediate threat to the<br />rights and freedoms of ordinary<br />citizens.</b> Forty-four percent of<br />those polled disagree.<br /><br />Perhaps if the current - <b><i>"we know<br />everything what's best for you"</i></b> -<br />administration would stop meddling<br />into every aspect of people's life<br />the sentiment wouldn't be such?<br /><br />What do you think Dr. Kaiser?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com