American capitalism gone with a whimper

[bytor2112]

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them?

From Pravda....read here

[FunkyTown]

Whoah... You read Pravda, Bytor? I'm impressed.

Pravda, for those who might not read it, is Russian for 'The Truth'. It's a pretty Pro-Russian paper, so you can safely couch its anti-US sentiment in that light, but it's certainly not a respecter of specific governments as it doesn't especially like Putin, either. In fact, Pravda may be one of the last free papers in Russia. Partly, this is because most people don't take it seriously due to reports like these:

Killer UFOs hide in lakes - Pravda.Ru

and

Atlanteans may live in their underworld beneath our feet - Pravda.Ru

However, under the paranoid conspiracies and alien civilizations lie some gems that are well researched.

Pravda is a guilty pleasure of mine.

[Guest lalaonegin]

This reminds me of the old Cold War saying..."There's no Pravda in Izvestia and no Isvestia in Pravda"

[bytor2112]

Whoah... You read Pravda, Bytor? I'm impressed.

Pravda, for those who might not read it, is Russian for 'The Truth'. It's a pretty Pro-Russian paper, so you can safely couch its anti-US sentiment in that light, but it's certainly not a respecter of specific governments as it doesn't especially like Putin, either. In fact, Pravda may be one of the last free papers in Russia. Partly, this is because most people don't take it seriously due to reports like these:

Killer UFOs hide in lakes - Pravda.Ru

and

Atlanteans may live in their underworld beneath our feet - Pravda.Ru

However, under the paranoid conspiracies and alien civilizations lie some gems that are well researched.

Pravda is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Yes.....Pravda is a guilty pleasure of mine also.

[FunkyTown]

Hahah. As well it should be. Pravda is the only game in town for any sort of internal dialogue of how Russia's thinking without being utterly controlled by Putin's government.

Ever since they shut down The Exile, I have become a sad panda for Russian news that doesn't portray the government as superheroes that bounce bullets.

[hordak]

Whoah... You read Pravda, Bytor? I'm impressed.

Pravda, for those who might not read it, is Russian for 'The Truth'. It's a pretty Pro-Russian paper, so you can safely couch its anti-US sentiment in that light, but it's certainly not a respecter of specific governments as it doesn't especially like Putin, either. In fact, Pravda may be one of the last free papers in Russia. Partly, this is because most people don't take it seriously due to reports like these:

Killer UFOs hide in lakes - Pravda.Ru

and

Atlanteans may live in their underworld beneath our feet - Pravda.Ru

However, under the paranoid conspiracies and alien civilizations lie some gems that are well researched.

Pravda is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Thanks for the heads up. I have been lost since they stopped printing Weekly World News.

Although i will no longer be able to keep up with the goings on of Bat boy it's nice to know there is another paper willing to expose the threat of UFOs

[FunkyTown]

It's very entertaining, Hordak. You'll enjoy it. Besides the Hollow Earth style monstrousities, its pro-Russian bent acts as a pulse for how they're feeling at the time.

On August 26th, 2008, Russia invaded Georgia.

Georgia prepared to declare war against Russia - Pravda.Ru

That's from 2006, February, 2 years before the invasion.

The War in Chechnya:

Mikhail Gorbachev: Russia must give Chechnya autonomy - Pravda.Ru

And yet: Any Alternatives to Today's Head of Chechen Administration? - Pravda.Ru

This occurred in 2003 as well. Reading between the lines, the Pro-Moscow Chechnyan Ahmad Kadyrov became President. And Pravda predicted it. Not too hard, since he was backed by Putin. Here's who he was:

Akhmad Kadyrov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, remember that while Pravda is a ridiculous newspaper, it is also incredibly accurate for gauging politics in the region.

[Just_A_Guy]

How will you pay off your share of the National Debt?

(Canadians excluded from the above!)

[prisonchaplain]

I'm more than nervous about all of our spending...but I've not given up on American ingenuity and resourcefulness.

[the Ogre]

How will you pay off your share of the National Debt?

(Canadians excluded from the above!)

I'm not too worried about it. The good socialists out there will see the problem in time and will nationalize the internal debt and prioritize the external debt.

[glow_inthe_dark_girl]

The USA needs a socialist goverment...

[NeuroTypical]

...like it needs a hole in the head.

[the Ogre]

I don't know LM. O and his boys are right. Capitalism in the last twenty years has been a disaster for the poor in this nation and internationally. I think it is time to change. How about a compromise? Do you have any ideas for compromise. The status quo is a complete failure economically and rhetorically is dead. Change is needed. I do not think O is on the right track, but the economically conservatism have yet to offer a plan.

It has been a long wait. I think something has to be done now.

[Moksha]

This reminds me of the old Cold War saying..."There's no Pravda in Izvestia and no Isvestia in Pravda"

Wasn't this a Spiro Agnew line?

[prisonchaplain]

Economic conservatism is not dead, rhetorically or in actuality. IMHO, the housing crisis was, at least partially, the result of undue pressure from the government to spur on risky loans to increase home ownership. Additionally there was some deregulating that was cavalier, and allowed for short-term profiteering, and perhaps even conspiracy theft. None of that argues against conservatism--but rather, reminds us that government does a few things well--and protecting us from thievery, including on an institutional level, is primary.

It may be a few years, but fiscal conservatism will rise again! :-)

[the Ogre]

It may be a few years, but fiscal conservatism will rise again! :-)

I think it will as well. I am actually rather fiscally conservative, however the dime I am tuning on is finding a solution to poverty. Glenn Beck has been going on about progressivism, but to counter at least the progressives are doing something about poverty. Those opposed to the progressive movement think it is up to the poor to fix themselves as if they decided one day: "oh wouldn't it be nice to be poor".

Boot-strap solutions to poverty only work for individuals. There are whole classes of people in poverty that need help as a class.

I'm a little poor now. If I were interested in a career outside academia, then I would probably go back to the business world. In the last two months I have earned the money I'll need for school doing page-design (and yes, sometimes while I was posting here). One book has hit the press and the other will be complete in the next two weeks. I could do it full-time, but I eventually want to do something else. I was a project manager with AMEX and I could have stayed.

Some people just do not have the opportunities I had. Sometimes people need help with education. Somepeople need help with medical bills.

When the economically conservative insist through their inaction poverty is the concern only for the poor, they illustrate too well that change must happen.

[mlbrowninwa]

The USA needs a socialist goverment...

Well it surely has one!!

[the Ogre]

Well it surely has one!!

If you think we are, then you do not know what it means to live in a socialist state.

I used to oppose socialist medicine. I did so quite actively on this site a few years ago, but I changed my mind in the last few years and I think we need to drop all pretense and adopt a system like Great Britain's.

[prisonchaplain]

My guess is that very few two-parent families are in abject poverty. Some are, but not most. So, any government policies that gently encourage familes to remain in tact are worth pursuing. Also, one of the great social equalizers is education. While I'm federally fiscally conservative, I can be quite liberal on the local level. More teachers, better teachers, better schools, better equipment, more "frills" (art, music, phy. ed., etc.). If it costs $10K per student, instead of the $6K we pay now, it's still a whole lot cheaper than having them end up where I work.

We'll always have the poor amongst us...but I agree that any preventative measures we might take that spend a dime now to save a dollar later are probably worth looking at.

[the Ogre]

My guess is that very few two-parent families are in abject poverty.

This is where religions have to step in and work closely with government to encourage families to continue to grow and to also keep both families in the home. I will never make excuses for the people I know, but I do think this is an area where men need to step up and recognize they need to discontinue behavior that is separating themselves from their families. I do not excuse women, but I do think many of the problems of families today find the megalomania of men at the problem's heart. There are several posts in the advise forum that illustrate this perfectly.

Religious men need to get it together and then religions need to show that there is a place for men within their ranks. Latter-day Saints do a very poor job of this when the percentage of women to men is as steep as it is.

I was a deep supporter of the million man march. I wish it could have been established and executed better. I wish it were a movement that everyone could have gotten involved with.

What is the the role of government here? I don't know, but I think the government can do something to show that men as a gender group are a welcome part of every dialogue. I also think it is time for men to drop the apathy that bogs us down and holds our heads under the water.

[glow_inthe_dark_girl]

capitalism is just making rich people richer, and the "third world" countries are getting worst every year that passes.

Socialism refers to any one of various economic theories of economic organization advocating state or cooperative ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal opportunities/means for all individuals with a more egalitarian method of compensation based on the full product of the laborer. Modern socialism originated in the late 19th-century intellectual and working class political movement that criticized the effects of industrialization and private ownership on society.

A moderate socialism = equal opportunities. but you know the big enterprises and the big "fishes are afraid that they would take their privilages away, so the goverment alienates people to think socialism is evil and all those lies about being anti-religion, moderate socialism isn't against religion.

[HEthePrimate]

From Pravda....read here

Sweet! It's about time!

[FunkyTown]

o.O Uh oh... I think we're going to have a war here. Now the real socialists are coming on and battling it out with the strict capitalists.

As a moderate, I suspect I will make many mortal enemies.

I'm still happy I'm not the only one who reads Pravda.

[the Ogre]

As a moderate, I suspect I will make many mortal enemies.

Oh, the joys of being a moderate.

[Moksha]

Times are so rough, they had to lay off the Sommelier and the Tennis Coach.

Those without Capital are living as well as ever.