I don't know what this will become. I expect it to be a lot of tongue-in-cheek jabs at Cuntlosi and the whole Socialist vibe out there. In a perfect world, it would turn into a book that would be wildly popular and spark a Founding Father backlash. But sheep only know how to baa. And socialism creates sheep, and I don't have the desire to be anyone's shepherd nor to fleece them. So all one can do is spread the word and hope you can help the sheep understand basic economics (such as that there is no Sky God who can create money out of thin air). Hell, I don't know. But we're now officially living inside a Cult of the State and we are the apostates. I'm really not sure what to do.

Anyway, feel free to add your ideas. I'm actually more curious about all of your opinions than stating my own. I'm fundamentally curious about how people live among the growing numbers of kool-aid drinkers.

This is interesting, because a Socialist Utopia is a state of mind, not reality. My own mother basically congratulated me today on the passage of health care, um, despite the fact that I have been expressing in no uncertain terms my complete and utter distaste at ObamaCare, how I wished it would fail, how I consider it an attempt to overthrow the Republic.

But la la la mama thalo only sees the bright side, that her son who lost his health insurance will now get to go to the doctor, thanks to brave Barack and noble Pelosi. Instead of rage and that strange feeling of "were we just RAPED?"... she's all aglow. Ahhh, the sweet sweet nectar of free crap. The warm fuzzy security blanket of the Left, who opens their wallets for us and gives us these terrific gifts for our own good.

People like my mom won't wake up until they feel the true stab and sting of the loss of liberty. They honestly are probably better off living life as sheep, and denying reality. Because I really don't think they grok what's just happened. Last night was a black day. I'll never forget it, the same way as I'll never forget 9/11. It was the day smug politicians won. It was the day the Constitution of these United States of America, took a huge hit. Where our freedom truly is at risk of going down the same road as Socialist Europe and perhaps even Soviet Socialist Eastern Europe.

The bright side, from a thalo.net perspective: Despite being raped, Patriots still have their sacred honor. And they still have the following weapons to fight tyranny at their disposal:

1. Freedom of Speech
2. The right to keep and bear arms
3. The fifth amendment where it says we shall not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, and private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.
4. The eighth amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Which I take to mean nobody should have to look at Nancy Pelosi's face or listen to her voice ever again.
5. The tenth amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Operative words: "TO THE PEOPLE."

and finally,
WE HAVE OUR VOTES. And by all that is holy, we need to vote these evil con artists out on their asses. They are all going to pay with their jobs. And just to rub their noses in shit, we need to pass a law that doesn't give them a cushy health care deal for life after they get voted out. They should have to buy afresh under the exclusive terms of ObamaCare. That'll show 'em.

Did you tell mother thalo under HusseinCare you have to wait until 2014 to see a doctor. You will start paying for that doctor visit starting now.

There is so much emotion in all of this it is basically impossible to have any sort of rational discussion on what is going on with anyone who is blindly agreeing. They have no defense to what is going on. Any defense is deflected just as President Hussein does by blaming President Bush and the Republican party with an assorted list of straw man fact less stories.

The best thing tonight was Beck, showing the picture of the progressive junta locking arms, fairly shouted HOW DARE THEY compare themselves to the civil rights movement. It was great.

He also played some Obama video clips and I thought his head was going to explode. That actually made me feel better.

quote:

The best thing tonight was Beck, showing the picture of the progressive junta locking arms, fairly shouted HOW DARE THEY compare themselves to the civil rights movement. It was great.

That sounds good. Perhaps nothing was as douche-chilling as hearing Patrick Kennedy get all broken up about the passage of the state-takover of the health care industry. This bill is an abomination and the best you can say about it is that it at least (yet) doesn't proscribe firing squads and torture for those who want to opt out. (You simply pay a fine and/or go to prison.) John Edwards was right. There are two Americas. There's the one where people have delusions of grandeur and see themselves as saviors (rather than oppressors, which they are), and there's the one realizes that, ultimately, if you want something that it's the good, right, and sustainable thing to earn it yourself. That's called freedom and duty as opposed to entitlement and victimhood.

quote:

and there's the one realizes that, ultimately, if you want something that it's the good, right, and sustainable thing to earn it yourself. That's called freedom and duty as opposed to entitlement and victimhood.

A-frikkin'-men.

What's all the more irritating, is that these fuckwads hit us when we were down. Very much like religious proselytizers go after people when they are low. When people lose their jobs, and are in a financial crisis, if you promise them free stuff, they're weaker. Because they so want to believe. It's like promising a starving guy food. When you're hungry, you're more likely to not question the promise, you just want to take advantage of the supposed generosity. You're not looking for the catch, or the hitch.

It's no surprise that the most expensive piece of legislation in human history comes at a time when people are in the depths of joblessness and a near-depression.

That's the lever that not only got Obama and his radical leftist crew elected, but that got this stupid healthcare nonsense passed. It's a SYMPTOM of distress in the republic.

Sometimes, when hope is flagging, some people turn to false hope. Which is exactly what the left wing Marxist socialists always offer. They take that jealousy and rage at people who've worked for a living, and spin it like a kind of crime... that people who've done well don't deserve it, and should be forced to give it all away to slackers and people who consider themselves victims.

Beck made another great point last night: the people that comprise the power base of the left are not worthy opponents. In fact they are fickle. They are only going to be there for these corrupt politicians, as long as the gravy train is real to them. When it stops being real, these same people--and I think the proof is all around us, in Europe, and looking at history--are the ones that are going to RIOT.

The people who believe in "Obama Money" are eventually going to wake up and realize that there ain't no such thing.

And after the left robs from the job creators, not only will there be fewer jobs, but the country will be bankrupt, and nobody is going to be willing to stick their necks out for people who want a free ride. And when the government's promises start turning up empty after empty, it's going to be like little kids who get coal in their stockings on Christmas. They cry first, then they pitch a fit.

And then welcome to the bonfire of the vanities. You think I'm kidding? It's happening in Greece right now.

The socialist utopia is going to be major metropolitan areas friggin' exploding with violence, with no Batman to keep them from the fabric of society from tearing itself up.

You want to see a great movie, rent "Gangs of New York"... which tells the bloody history of the five points area of NY city. A dark chapter in the birth of what ended up being the greatest melting pot city on the planet. But there were pockets of absolute tribal savagery. Complete lawlessness, class/ethnic/racial warfare. It was Lord of the Flies x 100. The Federal government passed ridiculous laws, had ridiculous policies, and made ridiculous promises. City government was as corrupt as hell, and caught in the middle were the poorest of the poor new (irish) immigrants.

This wasn't just civil unrest. This was a total and utter breakdown of society. With the army firing on mobs, while the mobs were chopping on each other with axes, and beating each other's brains out... while also ransacking and looting every middle-class or wealthy home... while lynching black people... setting fires. I mean there was no depth of human behavior that WASN'T in the streets. It was total insanity. There's a great scene in the movie where PT Barnum's American Museum goes up in flames, and all the circus animals, including Elephants, are running wild in the streets.

It was a total reboot of humanity. Sometimes society has to go that low before it resets and people start to value civilization again. Because they forget that civilization is the ultimate hedge against violence and mayhem.

So we could be heading for that kind of massive reboot. I live near a major metropolitan area, but thankfully I'm in a fairly calm suburb. But let's just say that if this whole leftist socialist nonsense continues, I won't be surprised to look toward the Southeast and see the smoke rising from the skyline.

quote:

But la la la mama thalo only sees the bright side, that her son who lost his health insurance will now get to go to the doctor, thanks to brave Barack and noble Pelosi. Instead of rage and that strange feeling of "were we just RAPED?"... she's all aglow.

Ya know, I'm not going to criticize Momma Thalo. Besides, I've got a Momma Nelson who often errs from the Christian right side of the spectrum. To some extent, these old birds have earned the right to close their minds. Old ladies shouldn't be made punching bags, with the exception of Cuntlosi, of course. But these old ladies are often very good examples for how people are thinking.

quote:

This is interesting, because a Socialist Utopia is a state of mind, not reality.

And I've never been able to find that state of mind. And I've never been able to find the Baby Jesus state of mind either. But there are those states of minds, and many others. But the one right now that is trying to force itself on us through government is the Socialist Utopia state of mind. And it's double the shame that this clearly dishonest and authoritarian state of mind should have such clueless adherents. What authoritarians want to coerce is acquiescence. Any even modest look at history shows there are always bandits and liar politicians who go about promising one thing or another in order to gain power. For people to not only acquiesce to such obvious liars, but to get a warm-fuzzy glow over doing so, is like the civic immune system going down.

My immune system, at least regarding Socialist Utopia, remains firm. And in order to keep it up I don't need Viagra. I don't need to stay angry, cynical, engage in bizarre conspiracy theories, or be radically skeptical. I don't need to be dour, bitter (Cuntlosi!), or nasty. One need only engage just a bit of one's brain and go beyond what one hopes to be true and take a look at what is true. There is far too much real stuff in life to enjoy. One doesn't have to invent fantasies or live in a Socialist Utopia of the mind.

But some people can't seem to live in any other world but one fantasy world or another. I must say I don't totally understand this because I don't, for the most part, experience this. And it's not that I'm all cold intellect and bereft of emotion. I consider myself very emotional and prone to many silly sentimentalities. But there is still a difference between emotional and delusional, at least I think there is.

Pictures from that bonfire in Greece.

quote:

Rioters used sledge hammers to smash the glass fronts of more than a dozen shops, banks, jewelers and a cinema.
Youths also set fire to rubbish bins and a car, smashed bus stops, and chopped blocks off marble balustrades and building facades to use as projectiles.
Organisers said some 60,000 people took part in the protest. But an unofficial police estimate set the crowd at around 20,000 - including those that took part in a separate, peaceful march earlier Thursday. Police do not issue official crowd estimates for demonstrations.
Thursday's strike - the second in a week - brought the country to a virtual standstill, grounding all flights and bringing public transport to a halt.

State hospitals were left with emergency staff only and all news broadcasts were suspended as workers walked off the job for 24 hours to protest spending cuts and tax hikes designed to tackle the country's debt crisis.

quote:

Strikers and protesters banged drums and chanted slogans such as 'no sacrifice for plutocracy,' and 'real jobs, higher pay.'
People draped banners from apartment buildings reading: 'No more sacrifices, war against war.

The demonstrators included hundreds of black-clad anarchists in crash helmets and ski masks, who repeatedly taunted and attacked riot police with stones and petrol bombs, at one point spraying officers with brown paint.

Once the mind is deluded, then things such as "war against war" to describe simply not going into debt to pay for unsustainable entitlements is what you get. And I argue that, just like any cult, socialism causes (or helps to cause) the mind to be deluded. It's a perversion of personality, character, and truth itself. Socialism is a war against civilization. It's a mind fuck of civilization.

quote:

Fears of a Greek default have undermined the euro for all 16 countries that share it, putting the Greek government under intense European Union pressure to quickly show fiscal improvement.

It's possible that all of Europe could collapse and erupt into a Greek bonfire....just as the United States has turned to go down that same road. Perhaps you see why I see Patrick Kennedy's tears (and Juan Williams' tears at the election of Obama) to be the tears of delusion and gullibility, if not downright evil. Yeah, Juan seems like a nice enough guy, but they say that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, and Juan remains the most credulous apologist for these American socialist goons.

I've seen these goons up close and personal in Seattle during the WTO riots a few years back. And thoughts of "it can't happen here" are just nonsense. It already has happened hear and the Alinsky ACORN-like legions are building even now. I'm really starting to see Beck as more and more a visionary. I can definitely see shit happening in a way that will make the Watts riots look like a Girl Scout picnic. Again, I just want you to know that I'm not really prone to be conspiracy or apocalyptic theories. But look at Greece. That is exactly where we are heading. When the money runs out — and it will run out — this is what we will get. This is what all of B. Hussein Obama's community agitating gets you.

For those who wonder why I don't like socialism, this is why. I see well beyond the airy and delusional do-gooder claims of the press conferences. And so do most of you here.

quote:

What's all the more irritating, is that these fuckwads hit us when we were down. Very much like religious proselytizers go after people when they are low. When people lose their jobs, and are in a financial crisis, if you promise them free stuff, they're weaker. Because they so want to believe. It's like promising a starving guy food. When you're hungry, you're more likely to not question the promise, you just want to take advantage of the supposed generosity. You're not looking for the catch, or the hitch.

It's no surprise that the most expensive piece of legislation in human history comes at a time when people are in the depths of joblessness and a near-depression.

Well analyzed. I do think socialism is predatory while free market capitalism (with the necessary safeguards and minimal regulation, blah blah blah) is liberating. There is a war by the former against the latter. In many respects it is exactly as you have characterized it. Socialism is a wishing-away of the sometimes hard realities of life, including the reality that you have to work for a living and that we all can't have the success of Bill Gates. We might become that successful, but to try to guarantee a lavish lifestyle is a drain on society and is unsustainable. Oh, it's not hard to get union employees (and others) to become so convinced that they have a right to other people's money that they will start rioting when this religious-like delusion is confronted. That's the scheme of the socialist politicians.

Yes, I'll admit, a few of these politicians probably really have convinced themselves that what they are doing is best. But be honest. Having looked at all those Democrats in the House and Senate, do any of them honestly look like St. Francis rather than Predators?

The inability (or unwillingness) of voters to not see the obvious is the plague of our times. But, again, I'll split the rabble into two factions. There are those who delude themselves that they are victims so that they can plunder the wealth of others, and there are those who don't have to delude themselves at all and simply revel in the idea of plundering others.

quote:

It was a total reboot of humanity. Sometimes society has to go that low before it resets and people start to value civilization again. Because they forget that civilization is the ultimate hedge against violence and mayhem.

Holy Jesus, I think you just hit upon a deep truth. What this health care "reform" is about is trashing something that is working now only to replace it with a system that doesn't work anywhere near as well. A common error of the delusional, the zealous, and the arrogant is dumping on the good because it is not perfect. And socialists are forever in search of the perfect (when they are not just trying to gain power, but you know what I mean). They make perfect, as they say, the enemy of the good.

The good will be trashed, the "perfect" will be instituted, and when the perfect ends up being far far worse than the merely "good" that was already destroyed, that's when the lying and Orwellian double-speak kick into high gear. Because you can't polish a turd, because the reality is what it is, you have to try to change the perception of reality. One of the prime means (and easiest means) is simply to change the language. And because the people are to some extent already programmed to respond to language (instead of the reality underneath), they often fall for this, for they, too, have gotten on board to some extent with the grand beliefs of the socialists. It's a religious-like vibe that is stroked which is one reason I often refer to these fiends and rubes as "The Cult of Liberalism."

In short, it's proven beyond doubt that you can radicalize people. You can ramp up their fears and hatred to the point where Karl Rove is the devil, America is the Oppressor, and capitalism is exploitation. That is the method of the socialists. And people (both the gullible and the would-be plunderer) fall for it. You can ramp up such hatred, envy, and delusion that people are ready and willing to tear down civilization, not knowing (and certainly not caring) that they are tearing down the hedge against violence and mayhem. I've often seen that film "Gangs of New York" sitting on the shelf, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Let's just say I think I've reached my Leonardo DiCaprio limit. I'll see if I can overcome that, but my hopes aren't high.

Please read.

This is an appropriate article for this thread: Health Care Rebellion: Lessons From Martin Luther King
by Jeffrey Lord

Another article worthy of this thread, at least the preamble:

quote:

Late last night, in a narrow and partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the most significant piece of social legislation in over seven decades. It did so in the face of overwhelming and principled opposition from the American people. Large majorities of Americans oppose this legislation because it offends the historic American dedication to the principle of self-government. They understand that this new law will accelerate Washington’s intrusion into our most personal and private decisions.

This is why opposition to this bill will only grow. Supporters of this bill argue that popular hostility will recede upon its passage. But, rather than cementing our descent into a European-style welfare state, last night’s passage of Obamacare is best seen as a historic turning point, a true catalyst for real change.

This part...well...

quote:

Those who supported this bill are our fellow Americans, and we do not question their good will or patriotism. In public policy, however, good intentions alone do not suffice. And let there be no mistake, our philosophical differences with supporters of this bill are profound. The reason government-run health care has been the holy grail of the left for decades is that liberals realize as much as we do that it is a giant step toward the creation of a European-style welfare state. This is an evolution Americans have always resisted because it is alien to our national character.

Seriously, do you think I'm being too perfectionistic if I don't buy this whole "we do not question their good will" shtick? I guess it's what you say to people in the hope you can persuade them over to your side because "Hey, you stupid idiot, what the hell were you thinking?" probably won't do it. And yet we have to face the fact that, just like with the election of B. Hussein Obama, there are many Americans who are clueless, stupid, uninformed, and/or really do have bad motives. Am I supposed to deny this? I hate it when Brother Jonah repeatedly does the same thing.

Well, I *do* question someone's good will if they support robbers and thieves, if they support people who take away choice and subvert the rule of law. Hey, sucks if that's one of you out there reading this, but I do think three-quarters of our problem — and the very reason we have reached this stage of advanced socialism — is because of too damn much "don't get me wrong" politeness watered down and muddling many people's thinking. Many were more concerned with not ruffling other people's feathers than getting at the truth. We need more than soft-peddling and namby-pamby Bobby Jindalism (anyone heard from that guy lately?) if we are to topple the delusion of socialism. You can't put out a fire by pouring gasoline onto it, and you can't roll back socialism by soft-peddling other people's mistaken ideas, delusions, and/or bad motives with anything less than clear and forthright thinking.

I am not really a Leo fan either, but without a doubt this is some of his finest work. He just plays an irish punk, like in Titanic. But the truly brilliant performance is Daniel Day Lewis as Bill the Butcher. With his skanky, greazy hair, you can almost SMELL him.

It's really a terrific sweeping historical fiction picture. The details are very convincing. It's right up there with the level of detail of the John Adams miniseries, so you know that every historical detail was painstakingly rendered.

It will blow your mind that so much of the story is true. So figure that was in the early years of the Civil War. So notwithstanding the race riots in New Jersey in the 60's, the last big law and order breakdown in the area (in my lifetime)... figure this was less than a hundred years after the Draft riots in NY depicted in the movie (which are historical and coincided with a full scale gang war in the fictionalized version). The Emancipation proclamation was the Fall before those riots in the summer.

The recipe is kind of scarily similar to now, in that there was big sweeping legislation (albeit not as morally bankrupt as now) which flipped the American People out, a press inciting class warfare, during a period of war (in our case terrorism), a divided union, high unemployment, a corrupt government, and on and on.

Then came the spark, and the whole city tore itself up. This was only 147 years ago. And I'm talking total, absolute breakdown of law and order on a city-wide scale. Lynchings, the stench of burning flesh, decapitations... attacks on a friggin' ORPHANAGE. The Democratic party was then the equivalent of racist skinheads... calling the Civil war the "nigger war". They played on people's fears that blacks from the South would invade New York and compete for jobs with the flood of even more pitiful niggers (namely the irish, including the O'thalos, my ancestors). So you have the same sort of racial/class component.

Talk about radicalizing people. And again, only 147 years ago. So in many of our great-grandparents' lifetimes.

Then came Newark New Jersey, in my lifetime. Similar recipe on a smaller scale. Recent sweeping legislation (The Civil Rights Act in 1964), a crushingly poor metro area, high unemployment, a time of war and civil unrest, a corrupt local government, a mayor and congressional representative accused of not having magic powers to create opportunities for the black americans in the area. And all it took was one spark: Two white police officers beat up a black cab driver for an iffy traffic violation (he passed their cruiser), and as they drag his limp form into their precinct house (which happens to be right across the street from an ultra-poor tenement, a housing project), a rumor sweeps the community that the cops were killing black people. Welcome to a week of total loss of social cohesion. Violence, looting, fires, fighting in the streets. Yours truly was seven years old.

Obama's socialist utopia is just adding tinder to this kind of thing. It'll become clear that it's all bullshit, all talk, all politics... and then it only needs one spark to ignite the bonfire of the vanities. And again, this isn't going to be the Tea Partiers looting and pillaging. This is going to be the people who Obama says he's trying to HELP. The people he says he's redistributing wealth TO. Only it won't happen fast enough. None of them are gonna want to wait until 2014 for health care. Or Obama money.

The Tea Party people are pissed off, they're assembling, they're being heard... they'll help us gain liberty in 2010... but that's not who the left should be worrying about. They should be worrying about their own supposed power base. The people I've argued time and again that they are in reality AFRAID OF. That whom in reality they are RACIST AGAINST. Who they routinely use, exploit and enslave. Who they promise shit to, and never deliver.

Okay, that ices it. I'll drop by Blockbuster tonight and see if they have "Gangs of New York." It seems timely. I'm sure the riots in Seattle will look a little different. People bludgeoning each other with their stainless steal coffee mugs. But same result.

Well, I'll have to wait until brothel can queue "Gangs of New York" through his Netflix account. At the brick-and-mortar Blockbuster store the price for even old movies is $5.47. That's up from 2.00. If you have stock in Blockbuster, you might consider moving it. This chain is obviously run by the Obama mindset and don't know economic reality. I picture this board meeting where some VP tells the president that revenues are down in the recession so he says "Raise the price!"

I went over to the Redbox and rented (please don't laugh) "New Moon" which is the 2nd movie in the Twilight series. An online Facebook friend (a guy) told me that it is so bad that he was laughing out loud through much of the movie. I gotta check this out. And for one dollar, it's easier to do.

Hahaha, did they have espresso riots really? Where the spark was "not enough foam on the latte?" Hey, stranger things have happened.

Yeah, you really need to see "Gangs"... hey, how often does Scorcese let you down?

It's a long movie (167 minutes), maybe like John Adams it should have been a miniseries on TV, but it's definitely worth seeing. Again, if for nothing else, Daniel Day Lewis. It was one of those movies that was nominated up the wazoo (2002) but didn't win squat. It should have won best actor, director, or best picture that year. It was up against Chicago, The second LOTR movie, The Pianist, and The Hours for best picture. Chicago (eye roll) won.

I have not seen the FIRST movie in the Twilight series. But I assume like Potter books, it's very popular with the yutes. This halloween, every 13 year old girl I saw was dressed as a vampire. I live near a school and all the teenage chicks talk about nothing but Robert Pattinson. Who reminds me a bit of Bowie. I'd cast him in the Ziggy Stardust movie, lol.

A Facebook post that I thought turned out well:

Ahh…that does sound good, Timothy. I'm only slightly familiar with Rand, but have the general gist of her point of view.

Certainly we can look at some of the collectivist states such as Nazi Germany, Russia, China (or even today's Greece and EU) and see the harm. There are various shades and stripes of collectivism, but they all have one thing in common: The person's life is a function of the state. In American-style freedom, the state is there to secure the freedom of the individual, not ensnare or enslave it. This is Government 101 to me or you, but a lot of people look at something such as "free" health care and say "Why not? We pool our resources to build roads, don't we?" But a road is infrastructure specifically meant to facilitate commerce (although, like the Autobahn in Germany, such things can obviously be built for the narrow purposes of the state).

But health insurance, like the kind of car you want to buy, is out of the purview of any kind of state except the one that wishes to replace personal freedom with state conformity. A collectivist state is in no way compatible with individual freedom. It's in no way compatible with the "Just do it" vibe. And yet the yutes of today tend toward just such slogans even as they embrace collectivism. (There's also a theory out there that as we lose our more substantial freedoms, a trapped people will try to compensate, or go into denial, by inflating the small ones.)

Granted, the world is flooded with do-gooder busy-bodies who think collectivism is the height of civilization. Sometimes politics seems more like a fashion to them. If Europe is doing it this season, they simply must keep up. That's why these unthinking people need to read a book such as "The Ominous Parallels" and remember the steps to the horrors of Russia, China, Nazi Germany, North Korea, Cuba, Cambodia, and others.

But do-gooders always see themselves as perfectly benevolent. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren't. But that delusion is often so powerful that they are reckless and believe that if they had all the power, they could finally get done all the things that can't get done now because of that messy and slow process called "self-government." As Jonah Goldberg and others point out, yes, the person who is TODAY in charge of the collectivist state might be somewhat benevolent. But the next person might not be, and yet the apparatus for total state control (where any evils can be vastly amplified) has been put into place. And you can count on it being abused by someone, deluded or not, do-gooder or not. And I think as Hayek points out, in ANY top-down all-powerful state, it will tend to be the most ruthless people who make it to the top because such a mechanism rewards such behavior.

Surely I'm paralleling some themes in the book. I hope I get a chance to read it. But no book, no political theory, no treatise on economics will likely ever convince the person with exalted do-gooder visions that there ever could come a person with the same warm-fuzzy benevolent exterior who would abuse their office, an office that is already ripe for abuse because of the vast powers that collectivist governments tend to concentrate in a relative few hands. Frankly, sometimes I think the greatest harm is just a simple lack of some people to acknowledge not only their fallibility but the possibility of their fallibility. They lack humility, and yet we have to admit that it is often the arrogant and the ambitious who make it to the top of the pyramid in politics. And this is exactly why limited government with numerous checks and balances is vitally needed in order to keep a people free – assuming they want to be free. Even now that is being called into question as more and more people behave like sheep or victims.

quote:

Hahaha, did they have espresso riots really? Where the spark was "not enough foam on the latte?" Hey, stranger things have happened.

LOL. Yeah, that's a good scenario. I can also envision an updated version of "Soylent Green." You have all these stupid liberal yuppies in this futuristic society buying products that they think are green. But our hero (Clive Owen? George Clooney?) discovers the dark secret. Those recycled paper cups made of 100% recycled fiber are actually being made from VIRGIN TIMBER. So you get this final dramatic Heston-like scene where Owen (or Clooney) announces to the mob "Starbucks cups are made of Douglas fir."

No, not quite the ring to it as the original, but this is a parody remember. LMAO. And the Toyota Prius is apparently a real-life case of exactly that. It takes more energy to make than a Hummer.