How Badly Does Modern Collectivism Hurt You?
Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 5 months ago to Culture
How bad is collectivism today? Clearly the US is not Galt's Gulch or Stalin's USSR. We're somewhere in between.
I'm writing down some negative ways collectivism could affect individuals, from most innocuous to worst.
A) Collectivism is an annoyance at present. I usually find good ways to work around it.
B) If it weren't for poor gov't policies and collectivism, we might have fantastical things like a cure for cancer, affordable space travel, robots than can do most human tasks.
C) Collectivism keeps me from my dreams. (e.g. “A union or affirmative action is keeping me for being promoted out of turn, and there are no other options for me to do the work I love.” “A personal passion of mine is illegal.” “I can't get funding for my organization because of a sweetheart network around gov't, financial institutions, and my industry.”)
D) One or more Gail Wynands, Ellsworth Tooheys, or Wesley Mouchs are out to sabotage my life and are having some impact on me. We all agree these types exist. This item says your name personally is on their “list” of enemies or people to sabotage.
E) My business or career is failing because of collectivism and poor gov't policy (e.g. regulation, taxes, monetary policy).
F) We are on the cusp of totalitarianism and/or severe economic collapse similar to in Atlas Shrugged.
This is not an exclusive list, just the first six things that came to mind.
I'm curious which of these things are happening to Gulch members. Is it we're at A and B and just mindful of preventing the more severe items? Or we over halfway through a real-life Atlas Shrugged?
Note: I expect it varies depending on location, industry, interests, experiences, etc. Also, it could be a mix, say A and F but not B-E; they don't necessarily happen in order.
I'm writing down some negative ways collectivism could affect individuals, from most innocuous to worst.
A) Collectivism is an annoyance at present. I usually find good ways to work around it.
B) If it weren't for poor gov't policies and collectivism, we might have fantastical things like a cure for cancer, affordable space travel, robots than can do most human tasks.
C) Collectivism keeps me from my dreams. (e.g. “A union or affirmative action is keeping me for being promoted out of turn, and there are no other options for me to do the work I love.” “A personal passion of mine is illegal.” “I can't get funding for my organization because of a sweetheart network around gov't, financial institutions, and my industry.”)
D) One or more Gail Wynands, Ellsworth Tooheys, or Wesley Mouchs are out to sabotage my life and are having some impact on me. We all agree these types exist. This item says your name personally is on their “list” of enemies or people to sabotage.
E) My business or career is failing because of collectivism and poor gov't policy (e.g. regulation, taxes, monetary policy).
F) We are on the cusp of totalitarianism and/or severe economic collapse similar to in Atlas Shrugged.
This is not an exclusive list, just the first six things that came to mind.
I'm curious which of these things are happening to Gulch members. Is it we're at A and B and just mindful of preventing the more severe items? Or we over halfway through a real-life Atlas Shrugged?
Note: I expect it varies depending on location, industry, interests, experiences, etc. Also, it could be a mix, say A and F but not B-E; they don't necessarily happen in order.
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It's like George Washington never threw a buck across the Potomac.
Why does the right wing lie so much?
Their governments don't pay for it; their governments take the money from the citizenry to pay for it.
And the quality of their medical care is lower, the freedom to decide on their medical treatment is lower (and in the case of China, even their family choices are restricted).
Of course overall costs of medical care are lower than here. Here is where medicine is pioneered, particularly pharmaceuticals. Of course, there's profit-motive... here.
I can picture Dagny asking James, "...you KNEW about this?"
Hiraghm nailed it. Communism is not Russian -it is a world movement - check CPUSA which proudly proclaims in its website that it is proud of its support and affiliation with the Progressive Party. If you believe that the Founders properly protected US from losing our unalienable rights, you recognize that we are being attacked by a political insurgency whose agenda is the destruction of the America that the Founding Fathers created.
“ It is easy to destroy a country’s currency. It is very difficult to detroy their sovereignty.” -- George Soros
“Destroying America will be the culmination of my life’s work.” -- George Soros
Personal attacks don't make your point. It simply shows how thin your arguments are when confronted with something besides jingoistic sloganeering.
“ It is easy to destroy a country’s currency. It is very difficult to detroy their sovereignty.” -- George Soros
“Destroying America will be the culmination of my life’s work.” -- George Soros
Reagan created some big time challenges for them as the American Loser Brigade screamed in fear that he was going to start a nuclear war by not being Carter-Obama like. The Collective could not compete trying to maintain equality with Americas power.
The American Loser Brigade also ridiculed him for "Star Wars" which saved Israel from what the Chamberlain - Daladier fools had created.
As Hitler admitted: "The forty-eight hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nerve-racking in my life. If the French had then marched into the Rhineland we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs, for the military resources at our disposal would have been wholly inadequate for even a moderate resistance."
Just watched another complain that he "lost" freedom because range prices went up. Of course a "conservative" business man is going to blame a price increase on that there darn gumment. He doesn't want his customers thinking he's gouging them. ROFL And some folks fall for it.
"Buy a toilet with a tank capacity of my choice"
What difference how much it takes to flush. The job gets done. Ohhhhhh, I get it you wanna complain about the paperwork on that too?
"Spend a couple of hours at the range for a reasonable amount of money."
Take that up with the capitalist who owns it. If you are willing to pay what he wants why should he lower his price?
"Buy health insurance with benefits and deductibles of my choosing."
When the Obamacare gets up and running it will be far better. You will still buy your insurance from a private company but it won't be junk. It's rolling out just fine in California. MA, thanks to Romney, has something very similar for years now.
"Fly without being treated like a terrorist."
TSA came in under Bush. Doesn't matter where the idea came from, Bush and Chaney set things up for the abuses. Yes, Obama is continuing it and because of a recent incident they will probably get guns. Sad, very sad but I've never been able to carry a loaded gun on an American flight.
"Make a phone call or send a text message with expectations of privacy."
Darn, when I had a hard drive crash a couple of weeks ago they wouldn't give me my data as a back-up. BTW, privacy is a myth. Most folks through most history lived in small villages or neighborhoods where everyone knew everything.
"Buy an AR15 with a 30 round magazine."
If you can't hit a target with the first 29 rounds what makes you think the 30th is going to be magical? Actually so far those regulations are LOCAL and hopefully they will be defeated when folks realize that mass shootings are a health problem and see that folks can get treatment.
"Buy a hundred watt incandescent light bulb."
You can still do that. BTW I've already replaced most of the lights (CFL) in my home with LEDs. I'm also using LEDs in television studios because they don't change over their very long life, they don't emit much heat, and if I want to change the brightness I can do so without changing the color. Far better than the old way. Come on lad, join the 21st century instead of griping about old technology.
"Buy a new car without the government mandated tracking module."
Gotta show me the law on that one. Ain't no such thing I'm aware of unless someone has put one on your car. Yes, manufacturers are collecting data on g-forces, speeds, etc. but that's not available for use in anything except the manufacturer's or insurance crash data.
"Buy a 30-ounce big gulp in NYC. "
There you got me. Bloomberg and his nut cases were pretty bone headed about that one. I understand there is a new guy in town and things will change if they haven't already.
"Have my conversations between me and my doctor be between me and my doctor"
Every time you bought insurance. they were looking over your doctor's shoulder. If your choice of doctor happened to be out of plan you had to pay way more. If a script was expensive you had a bigger copay. Until I got government help my insurance was insisting I have a co-pay of over $1,000 for Welcol.
"Have the IRS not pick on me for my political beliefs."
Yes, liberal organizations were targeted too. But, when organizations are talking about overthrow of the government don't you think they should be investigated? When churches are making political recommendations...
"Anyone else in the Gulch care to join in with freedoms lost?"
They ain't "freedoms." Nobody has guaranteed you any particular type of light bulb or toilet will be available. Show it to me in the Constitution that anyone can have the crapper they want.
Spend a couple of hours at the range for a reasonable amount of money.
Buy health insurance with benefits and deductibles of my choosing.
Fly without being treated like a terrorist.
Make a phone call or send a text message with expectations of privacy.
Buy an AR15 with a 30 round magazine.
Buy a hundred watt incandescent light bulb.
Buy a new car without the government mandated tracking module.
Buy a 30-ounce big gulp in NYC.
Have my conversations between me and my doctor be between me and my doctor.
Have the IRS not pick on me for my political beliefs.
Anyone else in the Gulch care to join in with freedoms lost?
Many municipalities retroactively tax. There. law passed-goes back in time. deal with it.
here is a personal example. my city decided to pass a tax on downtown businesses to ensure beautification. btw it looks the same. anyway, I had a duplex in a residential neighborhood in the same zip. the zip covered a wider area than "downtown" 2.1% on "sales" well, wasn't everyone surprised when the city came back and included rentals as sales. not only the tax but had to pay an accountant to fill out the form on my return.
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