Treason

We are going to have to get realistic if we’re going to survive as a country. There’s no denying our government is sick. We have posturing little politicians who have stopped even pretending they represent us. The Senate is a total joke.

The only people with the energy to be outraged are the tea party rednecks. I’m not above name calling. These people are racist, ignorant, and easily manipulated by fear.

They’re convinced that the real evil in the world is big government. What we really have to fear is big banking. We need better government.

I’m not really sure how these people can call themselves patriots and call our government evil at the same time.

The leveraging of derivatives is dangerous and complex and has to be regulated. Bank lobbyists buy off Democrats and Republicans confusing matters every time our representatives try to enact reform.

Reason gets so watered down by the end of the bickering the banks end up with more power and we lose more control.

TARP money tax payers spent was supposed to keep money in the system. Banks were supposed to make small business loans necessary to keep our economy rolling. They sat on the money and they still won’t make loans. Small businesses aren’t what got them in trouble. Getting rid of bad debt in swaps did. Finding ways around current regulations did.

As soon as they realized rules would be imposed on the banks that accepted our money they did everything they could to pay it back.

The big banks are making huge profits right now. They’re playing the world money markets and driving down the value of the dollar in the process.

They only way this country can produce new jobs is through small business lending. The banks won’t do it and they don’t have to.

I submit they’re deliberately killing our economy to get rid of Obama and anyone one else who would try to impose regulations on them. I believe it is treason.

Big Brother is not the government, Big Brother is big money!

Check out this link to a campaign contribution/lobbying chart of TARP recipients.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/total-campaign-contributions/

Quality of Life

Is the pursuit of happiness something we just give lip service to? Among the many reasons religions break my heart is the notion we must suffer in this life to truly enjoy the next. I honestly believe this is at the core of my differences with my ex.

Another is the idea that if we don’t believe, what’s to keep us from running amok and killing or exploiting each other? I contend that atheists have the moral high ground on this. We don’t have a fear of retribution from some vengeful God. We are empathetic and responsible for our own actions.

We live in a corporate driven society that uses this kind of thinking to their advantage. Big Money’s purpose is to squeeze more and more production out of people for less and less money. If they reach a wall where our laws get in the way they find a country that still allows exploitation.

They use all the forces in their powers to keep these people oppressed. Every social change our country aspires to is fought tooth and nail. Every time quality of life is brought up the charge of socialism is fired. We’d still have slaves and probably will again.

As civilized people we have a right to health care, education, firemen, cops, infrastructure, and real defense (not this sick corporate monster we’ve created).

The fear mongers point out the taxes necessary for these things would be oppressive in themselves.

Studies conducted by UNESCO, the CIA, the New Economics Foundation, the WHO, the Veenhoven Database, the Latinbarometer, the Afrobarometer, and the UNHDR have all concluded that countries with health care and access to education were happiest in spite of high tax rates. The U.S. didn’t make very happy in any of these studies.

Just imagine the freedom from worry. Quality of life is more important than wealth.

Check out these links----

http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/news/press-releases/2000-2009/2006/07/nparticle.2006-07-28.2448323827

http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/

Oh I almost forgot—The 5 to 4 conservative slant of the Supreme Court is about to remove campaign contribution restrictions from corporations. They contend that corporations should have the same rights as individuals. If you think government is determined by money now, just wait!

The Opinion Press

I heard an opinion on the radio the other day that made me want to reconsider this blog. When I started it I thought maybe I’d get arguments, differing opinions, discussion or maybe even agreement.

Politics puts me into a rage or, at best, total despair. We live in a world where something as obvious as healthcare needing to be fixed has been totally politicized. It’s obvious that the people making money on this ridiculous system have orchestrated its persistence. We’re all left thinking it’s beyond fixing. These people are just too powerful.

What I heard on the radio was a new slant on blaming the media. It’s the opinion media. It’s Rush, Glenn Beck, and people like me with blogs. This stuff is just polarizing. Everyone has to join a camp and nothing can get done.

Anyone besides me want to slap Lieberman? How’s that for being rational. I just can’t do it. Maybe we should all just shut up!

The radio show was talking about a fact check site I hadn’t heard of. It’s Politifact and they’re more fun than fact check. They’re doing “Lie of the Year” awards. Sarah Palin’s Death Panels made #1.

Check it out.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

Hope

I was very young when I learned religion was a tool used to organize and manipulate people. I also noticed thinking was portrayed in popular culture as the pastime of social misfits.

The image of television’s A Team comes to mind. There were three heroes; the swashbuckling leading man, the brutish, mohawked, bling clad black giant, and the little broken glasses wearing, pocket pencil protected, skinny little guy with bad hair (the nerd). He was the smart one that always got them out of trouble. He was also the comic relief.

I realize these were icons of the disco, cocaine sniffing, Me generation. That whole trip did eventually go out of fashion, but these characters are still used to play on the instincts of a gullible American consumer public.

The bad guys have gotten much more sophisticated and the numbers of people who find it too taxing to think have grown exponentially.

History is rewritten every time someone uses it to sell a point of view and our press won’t call them on it. I wonder if maybe they’re so entrenched in it they’ve become accomplices.

People are proud to admit they have a point of view even when they won’t do any background research. I am personally embarrassed when I’m not well informed about an important issue.

I was pointing out, what seem to be, irrational elements of Christianity to a friend of mine. She angrily snapped back, “Why do you think they call it faith?” There will be no discussion of time honored beliefs.

I’ve been criticized for my lack of values. Providing shelter and stability for my family and me should be the only important pursuits in life. Everything else is selfish.

Life really is short. It sounds petty, but we should follow our dreams (....long as you don’t hurt me or some other innocent person). We have to push past survival and make something of our little bit of time.

Just when I'm in totally despairing the hopelessness of the human cause, I take a look around me. Most people are just noise but there have been incredible achievements.

Just a tiny fraction of the population has surrounded us with incredible technology, art, philosophy and compassion. It’s here for all of us.

Don’t let the fear mongers scare you with words like SOCIALISM. The National Socialist Party were not socialists! The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic were not a real republic. True democracy would be mob rule and every culture that called themselves a democracy had a ruling elite, usually with slaves.

I’m rambling as usual and I might seem to be contradicting myself but we need to take back the word social. We are a week species and we never would have survived our early years if we didn’t band together to defend ourselves and to hunt. We are like dogs in that respect. We need each other but we have to think for ourselves.

We have to foster a society where thinking is hip.

Reason

Democrats have been a big disappointment to me lately. We have a chance to fix a lot of problems but we’re blowing it.

So many of our “representatives” have their hands in the pockets of big money. It amazes me that the right has been able to put the socialism spin on anything for “the people”. I can’t understand why the Fascism that’s being pushed isn’t exposed.

The Blue Dogs are killing anything constructive. The weak and even bad policies they are compromising with are just going to allow the right to say, “see, told you it wouldn’t work.”

I don’t really have to be specific, it’s in almost every issue. I think we got more done when the right was in power. Even though we have to suffer through unprovoked wars, the mentally ill put out in the streets, greed run rampant, a destroyed economy, and a scorched earth. It’s easy to point out evil when your nose is shoved in it.

It’s hard to be rational. Why is reason so elusive?

The left has to learn how advertising works. We have to accept that people’s opinions have to be manipulated if we want a better world. I’m joking of course. These people obviously don’t want a better world.

I know I’m ranting. I was at a great party last night. I do my best not to bring up religion or politics but everyone insisted. No two people thought anyone else had a clue what political reality was. Somehow we were all rational and enjoyed each other’s company.

I guess it can be done.