recogitare.com

stanky wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 5:57 pm

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 5:29 pm

I'm pretty confident I know what it means, and it is a very bad, evil thing that must be stopped.

Cluster bombs are not necessarily an effective way to stop it, and even if it worked, the cost, in human terms, may be excessive.

does capitalism need to be stopped?

It needs to be regulated.

And it is, mostly.

As a result, those of us who live in democratic, capitalist, nations have it pretty good, compared to all of human history before us. Some things might be a little better or a little worse in different parts of the world, or in different times, but for the most we have freedom and prosperity, as much as is realistic to expect.

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 2:59 pm

President Bush wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 6:24 pm A mural I saw in Guangzhou. Commie countries tend to be fascinating.

Was it next to one that said

War is peace.
freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.

No, didn´t see that one there.

Mead says:

"It needs to be regulated.

And it is, mostly."



Not nearly enough. If the current shit is allowed to continue, it will be the ruin of our cute little civilization, followed eventually by the rest of our species.

In simple terms, we've got to get our shit together or suffer the rather grave consequences.

I doubt we're up to it.

sparks wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 5:35 pm Not nearly enough. If the current shit is allowed to continue, it will be the ruin of our cute little civilization, followed eventually by the rest of our species.

I don't see it.

Climate change is the most popular existential threat these days. However, when that subject came up on these pages, I read the papers. In one, "existential" was redefined to mean, basically, dramatic change. There were all sorts of things in those papers that basically said, "Our data doesn't show it, but based on some level of uncertainty it might be even worse than that, so anything could happen including extinction." It wasn't even the "our data shows a 1% chance of extinction." form. It was more of the "Our models are unclear, so we can't use them to prove we won't go extinct" form.

The very worst of them would show massive climate change, resulting in a great decrease of arable land, resulting in an inability to sustain current population. This would result in wars which would kill even more people than the starvation. And......

If there are wars going on, it means people aren't exiinct. Billions of people could die. Then what? There would be a billion people left and they would have a civilization. And even a high tech civilization at that. It would suck during the phase where we transition from eight billion to one billion. That would definitely be bad. But neither civilization nor humanity will be destroyed. I don't believe seven billion people will die or that our population will decrrease to one billion by the end of this century, but even if we accpet that very, very, worst case possibility, humanity still exists, still has a civilization, and still has access to video games.

So, I agree that we need regulation of capitalism. We need better environmental protections. Producers should not be allowed to let pollution run rampant in the name of economic growth.

But.....where are the worst polluters? China.

Is capitalism really the problem?

President Bush wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 3:39 pm
<snipped Truman image>.

Keep in mind that Harry wasn't defending socialism in that quote.

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 6:28 pm

President Bush wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 3:39 pm
<snipped Truman image>.

Keep in mind that Harry wasn't defending socialism in that quote.

Only pointed out that some demonize the word to scare people.

ETA: List of socialist members of the United States Congress:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... s_Congress

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 2:42 pmIt reminds me of something my father once said to me. He was 70 at the time.

"All my life I called myself a socialist. It was only recently that I realized that if socialism could ever work, we wouldn't need socialism."

He wasn't wrong.

Circular reasoning.

Of a sort.

arthwollipot wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 10:01 pm

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 2:42 pmIt reminds me of something my father once said to me. He was 70 at the time.

"All my life I called myself a socialist. It was only recently that I realized that if socialism could ever work, we wouldn't need socialism."

He wasn't wrong.

I dunno, sounds like maybe a good bumper sticker to me.

Socialism is a political ideology not a freaking weight loss program ( ie if ¨WeightWatchers¨ could ever work, we wouldn't need ¨WeightWatchers¨).

phosphorous cycling is a limiting factor.
greed ruins everything.
topsoil sustains us. we wash it away.
too many wanting too much
and not even happy.

Iran retaliates on Israel
wtf will U.S. do?


snapping turtles mating in sight of my window.
good show.
ancientness in action.
tender