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What's the Best that Could Happen?

What's on your mind?
General interest discussions, not necessarily related to depletion.

Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby davep » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 18:01:02

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', ' ')"Everyone move to the boonies" probably isn't a viable solution at this time....

:?:


It would certainly help in a permaculture-style transition...
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 18:04:38

Kind of tough with no way of buying land, no jobs, etc... 8O
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby davep » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 18:13:33

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'K')ind of tough with no way of buying land, no jobs, etc... 8O


If coupled with an Anarchist style approach to property, it could be hugely beneficial. But you'd need some kind of training before giving a certain acreage to individuals. Local rules for local people...
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 18:21:54

Sure, it could work if our society were significantly different, but as a means to transition to a significantly different way of life (permaculture), I'm not sure we're ready....

It's not like there's a bunch of wealthy guys out there setting up ecovillages for homeless unemployed people. :|

Pstarr posts about this a lot, how we can't change our society unless we change land ownership significantly, and that sure doesn't look like it's happening any time soon. :cry:
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ibon » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:02:53

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', '
')The single most important thing we can do is convince our fellow countrymen that the government cannot save us. If we are to be saved, we must save ourselves.


The Chinese do not frame their argument in a simple polarity of the individual vs the collective. The Chinese want stability and efficiency from their government as a platform on top of which they can as individuals pursue their goals. There is harmony and a healthy tension between government and the individual.

We seem in the US to be unhinged from this healthy balance. We no longer can even frame this argument in terms of how this balance can rebuild our infrastructure. We are fighting a philosophical struggle that is empty of substance.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:07:17

I thought in the US the people are the government/state :?: "of, by, and for the people" - that kind of thing.....

<<<<<took "social studies" but never "civics" :oops:

On the other hand, I agree with the idea "They" can't/won't save us." But to me "save ourselves" means not "paddle your own canoe" but rather, what can we do as communities to help each other? Even in a larger monkeysphere, what can we do as a society to help each other?

Man is not an island unto himself. In spite of what Ayn Rand says. :P
Last edited by Ludi on Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:09:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby AgentR » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:08:29

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'B')ut also, the GOP is merely playing the word games of dialectics - they will not answer a question under any circumstances, they just dig in their heels and start yelling about something unrelated.


Happy to answer any question, and I'm probably as GOP loyal as anyone around here; I do not guarantee that you will approve of my answers.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut the idea that the government is on a rampage is crap. You live on .125 acres in the suburb, then you can't shoot deer from your back door, you have to cut the grass, you can't burn your leaves, you can't build a motorcycle track in your back yard. That's not "tyranny."


I don't live on 0.125 acres in the suburb. I don't cut my grass, nor rake leaves. I don't like motorcycles so I don't know about that. Shooting deer would be problematic since game laws require retrieval but the deer could easily end up on someone else's property.... So I'll have to pass on having a real opinion on that one.

But your guys very much want to have a say in whether I'm allowed to own or carry a weapon. They are very much into dictating ridiculous reporting requirements for small scale endeavors. They are very much into making certain that everyone and their dog knows WHAT your vote was on the question of whether to unionize. They are very much into silencing any political, non-gonad speech which does not agree with their position. They are very much into having something "public" but only truly accessible to their chosen elite. Of this I refer to inaccessibility in practice, as opposed to inaccessibility by law. I could go on to silly lengths, but to suggest that government is not now overreaching at the Federal level is really kind of silly. [otoh, flinging the word "tyranny" around is also quite an overreach]

As to the original question, whats the best possible result? We're on it. A slow, grinding decline, we all stay fed, we all have tolerable shelter in abodes basically of our choosing; we have adequate diversions for our time so we need not riot out of boredom. In all honesty, we are living, and will continue to live, more comfortably than humans of nearly any other age.

BTW: WIPE OUT TUESDAY!! WOOOOOOOTTTT!!! That was some good xxx kicking!
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:14:40

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', '
')But your guys very much want to have a say in whether I'm allowed to own or carry a weapon.



Why is it only right-wing gun-owners who worry about the state taking their guns, but not left-wing gun-owners? 8O

I guess I could ask, conversely, why do right-wing uterus-owners not worry about the state owning their uteri, but left-wing uterus-owners do? 8O
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:17:12

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', 'w')e all have tolerable shelter in abodes basically of our choosing



That's right, all those people being kicked out of their homes chose to sign fraudulent loans. :)
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Cloud9 » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:30:38

Are there any left wing gun owners? As for the uterus thing: I had an interesting conversation with one of my students. She absolutely refused to believe that there was a cost to child birth. When I told her my son’s after insurance expense was about $6,000, she asked why on earth would anyone pay for having a child when it was free. Either the system resets or the producers are going to sit down in the dirt and do nothing.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby AgentR » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:35:38

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')hy is it only right-wing gun-owners who worry about the state taking their guns, but not left-wing gun-owners?


For me and my simple mind, its a simple question. A while back, a Democrat politician got up on the floor of the House of Representatives alluding to a particular weapon and asserting that only someone wanting to commit mass murder would own one. None of the Democrats rose in moral outrage at the statement. That weapon was in my gun closet at the time.

Seeing as how I've never even tried to start a fist fight, nor do I respond to anger with anger, I was offended. Being the civil person that I am, I voice my displeasure at the ballot box and with checks to candidates, and such other political activity as I am able, to do whatever little I am able to do to see that the Democrats lose.

Up until that day, I had voted straight ticket Democrat. Always. (you did ask "why"...)

Since that time, my list of preferred issues has moved some, most notably that I'm much more concerned about the encroaching upon the 10th, than I am concerning the 2nd.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') guess I could ask, conversely, why do right-wing uterus-owners not worry about the state owning their uteri, but left-wing uterus-owners do?


Would you oppose a law that permitted abortion, but required that no injury be done to the fetus, and that all medical capability available be used to sustain and protect the life of that fetus? Just curious. Its a touchy subject because the sides can't really discuss the underlying problem with the argument. Pro choice people do not see the fetus as a human life; so no counter argument past that point has any merit. Pro life people see the fetus as a human life with exactly the same rights and privileges as you, or I; so the counter arguments to them have no force since the opposition sounds like they are arguing that anyone has the right to kill anyone else that happens to be annoying. Myself, I don't honestly care about it as a matter of law, adults will kill children and get away with it, just as they always have, whether its legal or not.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:38:40

Are there any left-wing gun-owners? You're kidding, right?

Ed Schultz, the dimmest left-winger on the air, is a super-duper-ultra gun owner. Hunts anything that moves, apparently.

My husband, who is about as far left as a person can go (atheist socialist animist pro-gay marriage) is a multiple gun-owner.

Most people on this message-board are gun-owners! 8O 8O 8O

<<<<< pro gun ownership, but not for myself (I don't think mentally ill people should own guns)
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:41:01

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', ' ') Myself, I don't honestly care about it as a matter of law


You don't have a uterus. So you aren't worried about the state owning a part of your body. But you care about guns as though they are a part of your body.

<<<< hates abortion :(
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Cloud9 » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:43:31

Sweet, good to know the left is armed. Night all.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby AgentR » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:46:42

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', 'w')e all have tolerable shelter in abodes basically of our choosing

That's right, all those people being kicked out of their homes chose to sign fraudulent loans. :)


I knew that line was going to be misconstrued, but I think you're doing it for fun, on purpose!

To be clear, I am not asserting that people don't get kicked out of homes for not paying rent or mortgage. Its the action that follows that differs, and defines the assertion. A government van doesn't drive up, pack them in, and take them to an internment camp that they are not permitted to walk away from, simply because they were evicted. They can choose to walk, ride, whatever to new locations that are within their means, or avail themselves of public assistance if they are *truly* without means. [not understating the hardships here, just pointing out what is within their ability to do at that point.]

About the closest exception to this might be right after the hurricane in New Orleans, there was a brief time where illegally acting LEOs blocked a road; the reaction that the public had to that revelation was of uniform disapproval; and of course in their defense, they weren't acting rationally either, and people are pretty dumb when they act together under the influence of duress and irrational fear. In the end though, people were able to evacuate, and once at the evacuation terminus could leave or stay as they were so inclined to do. Certainly, a big mess though.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby AgentR » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:53:00

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', ' ') Myself, I don't honestly care about it as a matter of law

You don't have a uterus. So you aren't worried about the state owning a part of your body.


As I noted, pro choice people do not view the fetus as a human being having the same rights as you or I. Past that divide, there can be no debate. Ownership or lack there of can't even be discussed as its moot. If the fetus is human, you don't get to kill them just because they trespass, (IN GENERAL, lets not get into ridiculous Texas law about shooting left handed people at night wearing pink shirts and high heels...) If the fetus is not human, you can kill it or not, without needing a reason other than it is inconvenient; whether the uterus is owned by you or not. Game retrieval laws may apply though...

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut you care about guns as though they are a part of your body.


Not really. I do care about an elected representative of hundreds of thousands of people asserting that I wish to be a mass murderer.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 20:58:52

Agent, I do not think you can empathize, as you do not have a part of your body the state might want to own.

You just can't see it the same way a woman does. No state has ever tried to own your testicles.

You probably can't understand what I mean when I say I personally do not ever see a "when life begins" moment in the life process. To me personally there is no such point - there is never a point when there is not life - the egg is alive, the sperm is alive, the zygote is alive. The question to me is when is that life a human being? Which gets down to difficult questions of what do we mean by "human being"? Is a sperm a human being? Is an egg a human being? Is a zygote a human being? Not being religious I have no answers for these questions which concern any other person besides myself. But I DO believe that an identifiably human person, a woman, should own all the parts of her body. No part of them should belong to the state or be subject to search and seizure by the state. Men would not stand for their testicles belonging to the state (sperm are living too) but they do not understand how a woman might feel about her uterus and what goes on in it with or without her consent.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby AgentR » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 21:22:18

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'A')gent, I do not think you can empathize, as you do not have a part of your body the state might want to own.


I never claimed to be able to, nor even interested in it.

My point is about the argument itself.

If the fetus is human with the same rights as you or I; one's ownership of their uterus gives them no more right to kill whats in it, than you have a right to kill anything in your house.

If the fetus is not human, ownership of that body part is barely even relevant, you can kill the fetus, simply because you want to kill it.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he question to me is when is that life a human being? Which gets down to difficult questions of what do we mean by "human being"? Is a sperm a human being? Is an egg a human being? Is a zygote a human being?


To a pro life person, its not difficult at all.
No. No. Yes.

That stark contrast, between a question you find to be difficult and ethically challenging or worthy of debate and discussion; to the opposition is a straightforward statement of observed fact. They have no doubt, and will never have any doubt about the answer.

Past that, the debate fails. Because the foundation argument on each side can not ever be reconciled.
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby Ludi » Sun 07 Nov 2010, 21:39:27

I'm going to get off the reproductive rights discussion because it is more than political ( religious or spiritual). I'm not sure the gun issue is more than political. Maybe it is. 8O But as I say, I NEVER see left-wing gun-owners fretting about the guvmint taking their guns. Maybe we should be worrying about it, I dunno. It certainly would never happen in Texas, even if we elected Bill White instead of Rick Perry! :lol:

<<<<surrounded by gun-owners, and not worried about it. :)
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Re: What's the Best that Could Happen?

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Mon 08 Nov 2010, 02:11:13

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'B')ut as I say, I NEVER see left-wing gun-owners fretting about the guvmint taking their guns. <<<<surrounded by gun-owners, and not worried about it. :)

Perhaps that is because left -wingers think that government is benevelent and exists to help them and can even be effecent at delivering goods and services to the governed.
Right wingers see government as always being ineffecent, often corrupt and occasionaly evil.
The liberal can't imagine ever wanting to defend himself from an agent of the government while the conservitive thinks that the guns in private hands are the last line of defence against government gone wrong and that it will eventually go wrong for sure. :roll:
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