The Folk Prophet

Welcome to the entire history of mortality.

And slavery, as we all know, is approved of in the Bible.

No.

I wouldn't say either of the sides of your equation here are accurate. Capitalism doesn't care about time, talent, or energy. Nor does it care about benefit. It's simply you sell what you can, and buy what you want. And that's it. If you can sell a lot, somehow, regardless of time, talent or energy, you make money. And if others don't want to buy what you have to offer, it doesn't matter if it's beneficial or not. Time, talent, energy, and benefit are useful tools. But they're not, on an individual basis, mathematical certainties in capitalism. That being said, in the long-term and the grand scheme of capitalism, that does tend to work out, as the market will equilibrate on the whole. But in the individual case it won't necessarily play out as an, if-you-work-hard-you-will-win situation. And that's one of the problems with the way some look at it. They see it, definitionally, as -- anyone who works hard WILL succeed -- and that is shown to be false pretty quickly. But the fact that it's false doesn't negate the reality that it's still the best system which allows for growth and potential to succeed based on hard work. But that's really missing the point in a way. It's less about the individual's potential (the so-called American Dream, if you will), but more about an overall system that best allows for overall growth of economy and benefit. Individually what capitalism gives back may not work out. But societally, what capitalism gives back with the broad input of time, talent, and energy IS beneficial to society at large, of which the individuals (even those without specific success from their time, talent and energy, or even input of those things at all), partake. That, of course COULD be true outside of capitalism as well...but it simply is not. Because the one missing component that all other systems (except one) seem to have is motivation. The reason capitalism works is because of the POTENTIAL that it will give back based on your time, talent, and energy. And, moreover (another false point in your equation above), the POTENTIAL that it will give back significantly beyond "proportionate" to the benefit offered. Simply put, the hope of getting rich, because it's actually a possibility, drives the value of capitalism. Yeah...most won't get rich. But the "dream" of it pushes the time, talent, and energy more than other systems. There's solid motivation for effort. There's a three-tiered hierarchy of motivation. At the bottom is fear of punishment. At the top is love and altruism. In the middle is hope for reward. Socialism and similar ideologies (communism, welfare states, etc.) claim love as their motivating factor, but they're delusional, and so must relegate to the lowest tier and motivate through fear. In an ideal world -- the generally fictional utopian only seen twice that we know of in all of history motivated by pure love and goodness -- all would be motivated without fear or hope for reward, by pure love. But in the real world, people are motivated by hope for reward -- a lower tier than the ideal, but one that works much better in this fallen world.

Finished "matching" hats for me and the Mrs. I say matching in quotes because, A. The bands are different (though you can't see the one on my wife) and B. The shape isn't the same because I have no idea what I'm doing. But they're similarly shaped. I supposed "finished" should be in quotes too since I still need to make hat liners for both. Or not. I guess I don't have to. But... On another hat...my brother said he wanted his IJ hat weathered. So... I need to rework the shaping just a bit on this one. Not that he'd know or care...but it's not quite screen accurate! Finally... my daughter really wanted me to make her a hat. But she's growing and I didn't want to spend too much money on a hat that she'd grow out of...so I got a super cheap wool hat blank. (Like $10) And it wasn't stiffened at all, so I had to stiffen it with shellac....which discolored it. Argh. And then my shaping on it was TERRIBLE. So I need to reshape it. She wanted it all yellow: Here's another angle on the "matching" hats so you can see they are sort of the same-ish: Sorry this one's fuzzy:

History says otherwise.

I totally agree...but.... I think the potential consequences of it all are terrifying. In other words, it's the ridiculous, nonsensical, extreme, unhinged reactions to Trump that are scary. And it's not just far leftists. The number of good, faithful, honest, intelligent, righteous people I know that blindly DESPISE Trump is shocking to me. And they're the good people. It's very worrisome. I've never reserved my points of view in pretty much anything with friends, family, etc., until now. Now when I have family get togethers, if politics and Trump come up...I don't say a word. And I'm no Trump fanatic. But the fact that I think he's doing mostly well and don't hate him makes me one, apparently, in many eyes.

The one I have has a phase reverse switch to solve that problem I think.

Oh..and @NeuroTypical there's another thing I got into at one point, which is Children of Bodom. I don't know how I got into that. But man alive I love them if I'm in the right mood. They're so...melodic in their instrumentation and the synth with the heavy guitars and drums just...I dunno, and countered by the non-melodic screaming... I can't explain it. Love it. But I don't indulge very often because there's a lot of f-bombs in it and I don't particularly feel like it's, you know...conducive to the Spirit. Last week I had two hour-long drives to myself though and listened to Children of Bodom the entire time. Another one I'm not fully into by any means, but love a few songs, is Meshuggah. My interest there is like...I dunno...not the music so much. It's fully the rhythms and poly-rhythms and just kind of overall technical craziness. But... also, I don't indulge in that much either. But I do like it. But...other than turning on country while working, the think I listen to the most is The Tabernacle at Temple Square. Because the primary reason I ever go out is to go to my weekly temple shift, and I turn that on to prepare, and then it's just on in the truck and I just kind of leave it because I like it. And we turn it on all day on Sunday too instead of country. One might call my music tastes.... eclectic.

So is life even better better with...2 subwoofers? Giggling. Otherwise....I don't know. I'm new to this. Never cared about this before. We got into Alexa devices (Echo) a bit back and making our home smart...but I wanted better sound for the music. Since then, we've moved to the Sonus Era 100s. I tried out the Echo Studio, but the Sonos Era 100 just sounded better. We don't listen to loud music. It's mostly background, but sometimes we turn it up a bit for cleaning time or something. The Era 100s are sufficient. We run 2 as a stereo pair and a solo in my office. I know it's not going to be as good as a good larger speaker (Klipsch The Sevens or Nines, for example...but ouch on cost), but it's sufficient for what we needed for now...and... I have to say, for the size the sound is shockingly good. Technology rocks... literally in this case. But going fully Sonos was beyond the pale on cost. The sub is $700! The Arc 2 is a grand! Too much for me. (Maybe someday on the grand for a soundbar... the upcoming Klipsch Flexus 300 soundbar has me thinking...hmm... but....NO. I won't do it! Except....you know... but no! Except....). Even adding the mini-sub to the Era 100s is $430. And that ain't gonna shake stuff like my 12" (though for music...I don't want that....but I digress again...). I might spring for the sub mini for the music someday. But for now the 2 Era 100s is working nicely. And they're Alexa devices so I can control my lights and etc still. So Klipsch won my money on the soundbar (I know that doing a full theater system with separated speaker is technically "better" but I'm not really that picky....yet... what have I gotten myself into!?) I developed some of my tastes in my teens. But Michael Jackson doesn't fulfill any longer. Though Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis still do. In my college days (I was older 20s at the time) I got into Metallica and Tori Amos* and a lot of the...I dunno "metal" of that time and the following decade. White Zombie (and later Rob Zombie), and so forth. But, as I said in another thread (about hats), I got into country a few months ago (having always hated it before). I listen to country music almost daily now while working. Shrug. I'm in my 50s now. (To be fair, I think medicine I started caused some hypomania in me, so I expect a new taste at this age is rare... except I think I might have some minor bi-polar going on so I'm getting into new stuff (like hat making) all the time in my 50s. Hmm.) My other favorite is folk music from the 60s, but I was raised on that so developed that taste in my pre-teen years. I really dislike bassy music at this point (meaning the kind that thump thump thumps to the beat in an obnoxious way). But maybe my music taste will develop (in a state of hypo-mania likely) from my new interest in bassy movies. Gangsta rap...here I come!

This isn't really about bass. Just about...stuff. And by "stuff" I mean stuff. Like...you know....things. But I digress... I've gotten into sound lately. It's really weird for me. But here's the basic story: When I saw Top Gun Maverick in the theater I was impressed by the theater shaking when the jets roared. So then, recently, my daughter and I have gotten into watching movies together at night. And I thought it would be fun to get a subwoofer. And so I told her we needed to make the room shake (she's 8, btw). And she loved the idea. So we got the cheapest soundbar/woofer we could find from Walmart. And...yeah... it made the room shake...sometimes...sort of. But...you couldn't hear dialogue and you had to constantly turn the sound up and down while watching a show. But still...fun. We made the room kind of shake and she giggled. That was my goal. But it got me into it. So..... I purchased a better soundbar for upstairs. And then....hoo hoo hooo....I ordered a 12" subwoofer. And HOLY COW! Like...seriously....if I let it ride as it was when we first turned it on (about half way on the volume knob)...I feel confident it would literally damage the structure of the home over time. EVERYTHING shook. And it was AWESOME! But...too much. But I got it dialed in I think. Now it only shakes the room on the really big sounds. Just right... maybe. And the dialogue is clear and I don't have to turn the sound up and down and up and down. Though... I kind of want more boom/thump when it does kick in. Maybe a 14" woofer? Maybe a 2nd 12"? No....that's silly. The whole thing is silly. But my little girl giggles and exclaims how it made her "butt shake" every time. And it's silly but awesome and fun and makes us both smile. I don't know how long it'll last as a fun thing. It might become fatiguing pretty quick. But for now...happy daddy. And I turned on the first part of Raiders of the Lost Ark and...the sound!! So engaging and exciting. I love the movie without...but...it's like a new experience watching it again. I don't think I saw it in theaters when it came out in the 80s. So, always on TVs with TV speakers. Happy daddy. Anyhow...feel free to share, as I said, not about bass, per se, but silly 'stuff' that makes/made you happy, and maybe you got sick of too...or whatever. What silly reasons have you acquired any given thing just to see your little one giggle or the like? I thought it might make an interesting topic. If anyone cares. I got the Klipsch Flexus 200 soundbar* (normally $500 but I got it for $300) and the Klipsch R-12SWi subwoofer for $219. So $500ish all in for the really shake the room and clear dialogue system. The Walmart one was $150ish (Hisense). * I went with this Klipsch soundbar because it had a subwoofer out port so you could get any subwoofer for it, whereas most systems connect wirelessly only to their own subwoofers. And I can expand the system with surrounds speakers later if I want to. The sub that connects wirelessly to this bar is $300 and only a 10" (though I'm sure it still rattles the windows), but because of the sub out connection I could do a cheaper but bigger sub.

I believe humour references a woman's um....moon cycle? Edit: I forgot to add this to the above comment:

I don't know how the United Order would even work in a virtual currency and technology based economy. If everyone were producers of physical goods, sure...but how many are any longer? None. Even if one has a job producing goods, one isn't the producer of that good. One is an employee of the producer of that good, for which one gets a salary. And that's not even considering the fact that robots are the primary producer of goods now. And if the producers of goods gives it to the church to divide up evenly...the ability to produce those goods gets destroyed. The simple fact is that capitalism was the means of creating the cell phone, computer, or whatever you and I are communicating on. Without capitalism, these things would not exist. Capitalism has done more for prosperity than any other system. Yes...it allows for evil. But it also creates immense wealth and technology that benefits all. Without it, we'd all be farmers still. And maybe that's fine. It's interesting to consider. But I sure like my computer. And my lightbulbs. And my TVs. And my cars. And my heater and A/C. And my etc., etc.... all thanks to capitalism.

Actually...it's super easy. Here's a basic tutorial: And to be super-duper humorous:

Hence the dancing banana. That being said.... socialism, as a theory, has a lot in common with the ideas behind the gospel principles of all things being common, and if could be applied without state control and voluntarily (which it cannot be without a truly righteous populace) would be great. It's the "state" part (and the associated removal of freedoms) that I actually have issues with. Socialism, as a theory, is less egregious to me as a welfare "state". A socialist "state" is just as egregious to me. But it's really the "state" part I have issues with. Welfare and the common regulation of goods isn't so much the issue to my thinking.

Of course it does.

*cough* socialist! *cough*

I've been asked to play guitar to accompany our ward choir singing This Little Light of Mine on Easter Sunday. My my, how times have changed.

Well, here's my perspective, fwiw: Yes, the flurry of obvious stuff is going to tame most likely. Yes, there's going to be blockers. A ton. But that doesn't mean the momentum is dying. The Supreme Court is conservative and (more importantly) constitutionally based. Trump and his team openly state they expected law suits and expect things will work out in court, many things going to the Supreme court. And almost everything being done is constitutional, and will likely, ultimately, be held up as so. Running these issues through the courts is part of the play, and a big part of the intended and expected momentum. Not sure what this means. Who's not involved? And how does that slow the momentum? How is it that those who voted for Trump being less involved than they were a week, a month, a few months ago destroying momentum? And what evidence is there that Trump supporters and voters are not involved any more or less than they have ever been? This isn't a change. Any congressional changes were always going to be a fight. No loss of momentum. It simply is what it is. But... there's also the real potential that because of these blockers, the congressional powers may well swing even further right in the next elections when people see and are pleased with what Trump has successfully done, and so forth. On that point, we'll see, for sure. Maybe the opposite will happen, particularly if the left is successful in convincing people how evil Trump's moves are (something they've generally failed at so far, but...the power of the media shouldn't be underestimated). Every single one of Trump's appointees for his cabinet has gone through (with the exception of the early drop out of Matt Gaetz). The momentum for change is still there and is SIGNIFICANT. DOGE is a tool to discovery, and that will continue but..... The changes that will be (and have been) implemented by Trump and his cabinet is the real momentum. Just because the impactful change moments all happen in a flurry doesn't mean the momentum created from those changes is dying. That's like saying because the D&C isn't getting new revelations added the way it was in Joseph Smiths time that the momentum of the church has died. The revelations given to Joseph in the establishment of the church created the momentum...and the stone continues to roll downhill, growing in power and strength. *Note: for those thinking I'm comparing Trump and his cabinet to the church in a "worshipful" way, that's not the point of the comparison at all, in any way. it's just a point of how momentum is established. Any example of something being established in a flurry and then setting the tone for the future momentum could easily be used. Say, for example....Amazon Prime's free 2 day shipping implementation. Or Google's free search engine approach. Or Apple's simple interface design. Etc. Changes set momentum. And then juggernauts are created. So I guess you could say, perhaps, that the "changes" being successfully made to the executive branch are slowing (though time will tell on that), but the momentum is set, and for the immediate future...I think the momentum is set pretty well. The view that a week ago or so the momentum was CRAZY and just a few days later it's dying though.... ? Seems odd. Of course there's a bunch of resistance. That's going to be the case. But there was a week ago too. And it's always been expected. Evil didn't die. (Note: I'm not saying all Trump resistance is evil, just to be clear. But a lot of the resistance to a lot of things does seem to be rooted in evil.) But the wins Trump has already.... I don't see momentum dying. Win after win after win...and I expect that will continue. And, yes...there will be some Trump losses. But when there are, to respond (like the left keeps doing) with, "It's the end for Trump! Finally, we've got him!" (which is a more extreme way of saying the momentum is dying, but kind of the same sort of response), just doesn't ring that true to me. The battle is not the war. Battles will be lost. But most battles seem to be either won or still being fought, with indications they'll be won by Trump and team. When, legitimately, more battles are being lost than won, well...okay then...then we can say the war is turning. But right now...nope. Don't see it. (To be fair, I think, ultimately, the left is going to take the reigns again. I just hope that the reprieve from that is moderately lengthy. (My fear is that it'll be a very short reprieve)). Anyhow, that's my take on it. You're right though. We'll see. Not trying to debate the points, btw. Just sharing my perspective, as it currently stands.

I don't think this is a valid perspective on the situation.

Really? So "The Morning Breaks" in the hymn book should have been hymn number 0?

Always a useful argument for those to whom it is not very evident. Holy made up factoid, Batman! Even IF some of us thought you or others were morally wrong to not support Trump...how is that hatred on our part, but you believing we're morally wrong to support Trump isn't hatred on your part? How is it that you believe your posting in a condemnatory way isn't driving people away from Christ in the same way you're claiming other condemnatory posts are doing? Are you really that blind to the hypocrisy of your posts in that regard? Are you really unaware how offensive what you're saying is...as you claim how offensive what others say is? I've made the same choice and participate MUCH less than I used to. But I pretty much blame myself for the terrible spirit of contention that I caused. Sure...others in the forum are culpable too. It's populated with mortals after all -- fallen beings, who all sin, falter, and fail right along side me. I'm moderately aware, however, that my farts stink. I guess yours smell like vanilla beans -- or lavender -- or sugar cookies -- or pumpkin spice.

I think your missing the point of the jab. Nice or not, he's saying absolutely horrible things of those who like Trump here. Claiming they worship Trump instead of Christ? That a downright despicable accusation and an extremely underhanded attack. And yet, I agree with you. I don't think he despises anyone. Which is why I made the jab. Because it should be obvious to anyone not afflicted by derangement that those who like Trump here do not despise anyone either.

He says as he despises all those who like Trump.

Sadly, politicking is often less contentious.