Comment: It used to be that you bought stock in a company with the understanding that you were buying a piece of ownership in a company that you thought was well run. You would then receive a portion of the profits made (dividend). Now it’s all about manipulation and financial games. We have companies borrowing money to buy back stock so that the value of the remaining stock increases in price. Upper management then rewards themselves with a bonus for this exercise in stupidity. This is the kind of thing that should be illegal as it financially damages the company in the long term.
Question: Lots of comments defending speculation. So how do we prohibit the corruption in the gold and silver markets? A President of the United States and his family making millions with the back and forth of peace then war on the oil markets? Big pharma? Big Ag? Black Rock buying up residential properties driving up the costs for home buyers? Bill Gates buying farm land to take it out of production. Hedge fund manipulation. How does one defend any of that? We’re not talking about one of us buying a second home or a piece of farm land and letting it lie fallow for a year or two. Short of simply outlawing speculation, how would it be regulated? What guardrails should be put in place?
Comment: Not a fan of socialism under the current definition, to easily exploited by the grievances and victimhood crowd. I am willing however to entertain a dialogue on cooperative economics and parecon as proposed by Albert and Hahnel. That said I think capitalism is salvageable provide there are reasonable guardrails and a cohesive society, the latter being the largest hurdle. … and … Tribalism based on race and the folk as our ancestors lived was relatively socialist by nature, and that is why it worked for them on a smaller scale. The modern incarnation of socialism, the term of which dates back to the early-19th century, does not work for many reasons, but the core reason, outside of the problem with scale, is that it is not a race-based system of organization.
Another reason it worked then but not now is that it was grown from the bottom-up, by and for the folk. Modern systems are imposed top-down across the breadth of society. The former requires buy-in from individuals so that when the folk succeed, individuals and families succeed; conversely, the latter pushes everyone down to the same level so that the ‘elite few’ succeed.
Question: I was asked several years ago if I approved of National Socialism. My response was that I agreed with Nationalism, but not Socialism. The fellow then asked me if I had a cousin who was out of work, would I help him. Sure, I replied. He then explained that to be an analogy for National Socialism – helping my extended family, my clan, my race, my Folk, (like the Amish) as opposed to the neer-do-wells, shiftless, and welfare queens. Is it possible to take some aspects of this type Socialism from the bottom up and avoid the potential corruption from a tyrant? The Amish seem to have cracked that code.
Comment: Hierarchical structures base on meritocracy are something I am willing to accept, if they are based on nepotism or DEI, not so much. That said no class should be above the law. … and … The rot in our society can be traced to class. The generations that follow the men who actually built businesses are the weak men destroying our country. The trust fund babies, as I call them, have had the privileges of wealth without having to do the work to acquire it. It’s easy to be a socialist when you have been miseducated in college and don’t really have to worry about grades because you’ll never have to get a real job to support yourself. These are the people who think farms are not necessary because you can get what you need at the grocery store. They also are unaware that they will be the first to be liquidated in their glorious revolution. I speak from experience as I’ve rubbed elbows with many of this type.
Question: Has the reader noticed that the billionaire class seems to be behind many of our problems? Would it be possible to come up with some means of limiting the damage that is done by the likes of the Rockefeller’s, Bill Gates, George Soros, and the Rothschild’s? They are so wealthy that they are never held accountable for anything as they can just buy their way out of trouble.
Comment: True leadership is honed and developed, both by teachers and by internal, self-possessed drive. Not by winning popularity contests, which are judged by the collective character of the general population.
Challenging contests of will, strength (both physical and moral) and judgement.
Previous civilizations chose leaders through tests such as these and also through prevalence in battle. Mortal combat might be included, with the option to yield before death or when called to do so.
Perhaps a council of prior leaders and aspirants to oversee the leadership development enterprise.
Question: We are currently ruled by a corrupt gang of career politicians who have largely done nothing more than win a beauty contest by the vote of a radically polarized citizenry with the result often rigged. Cicero’s opinion that, “Politicians are not born; they are excreted” seems perfectly on-point with the American leadership.
Men and women who have never served in the military take us to forever wars that do nothing but drain the nation of lives and treasure, not to mention the damage done to other countries that are no threat to ours.
Elections observably do not provide America with our best and brightest or even honest and honorable people. How then should we choose those who lead?
Leave a Reply