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-- posted by permabear
» mitelo - Re:FWC: Age Of American Unreason
In response to Re:FWC: Age Of American Unreason posted by permabear:Acura here as well. No 32 mpg, though in the 2001 CL. You must be calculating your mileage wrong.
I had a patient whose daughter was in a Suburban and a jerk in a Mazda was going an estimated 80 mph on a city street, became airborne and went through her windshield severing a carotid artery
and nearly decapitating her. She miraculously survived surgery after three cardiac arrests in the operating room. I considered a Honda Civic that runs on natural gas that they give you a $3000 tax credit for and you fill from your home natural gas. After hearing that story, I am looking at Hummers.
-- posted by mitelo
» permabear - Re:FWC: Age Of American Unreason
In response to Re:FWC: Age Of American Unreason posted by mitelo:Hey Mitelo,
We have something in common. I have an older Acura Integra GS. 32 highway, probably a lot less overall, but I'm not complaining. I'm not quite as happy with this car as my previous 1990 Ingetra which went 120,000 without any significant problems before I sold it. I've had to put several thousand into this one in the past couple years for various "minor" ailments. I may go Toyota next time.
Regarding the safety issue, it's a legitimate point. My wife drives a Toyota Highlander. I gritted my teeth when she bought it but I have to say it's a hell of a car. It's got all the safety gizmos and I admit to some reassurance having my wife and kids in this perceived "safe" car. Gas mileage isn't nearly as bad as some of the bigger SUVs; hers averages around 20 mpg.
Everyone is free to take a shot at me for having an SUV in my family. It surely wasn't my first choice of a car. When the wife wants something, a husband is wise to say yes dear. That's exactly what I said. I admit to having some posts in the past critical of SUVs. And I continue to feel that way from a philosophical standpoint. SUVs get lousy gas mileage, can be dangerous to other cars, and have contributed to the oil dependency we find ourselves in. Still when my wife said she wanted a Highlander, those arguments didn't account for a whole lot in my household.
With the escalating oil and gas prices Americans are turning away from big gas hogs. And rightfully so. $70 fillups take a bite. Undoubtedly hybrids are going to become even more popular. And the next generation of cars is going to be plug-in hybrids, which I've been touting on these boards for some time.
-- posted by permabear
» mitelo - Re:FWC: Age Of American Unreason
In response to Re:FWC: Age Of American Unreason posted by permabear:
Hey, its a free country....so far. You may want to buy another one before Obamicans rule.
-- posted by mitelo
» Jas_Jain - A Video Worth Watching: The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class
A Video Worth Watching: The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S...
A quote: "When Americans buy homes they are buying schools"! There are people in Silly.con Valley who pay $1M more for an ordinary home just 2-3 miles away because of schools. Americans practice a devious form of segregation to perpetuate Unequal Opportunities. Some even have to lie to get equal opportunity for education for their kids.
BTW, I made the same forecast of "Collapse of the Middle Class" years ago. The American financial system was so manipulated over the past 25-30 years so as to result in financial rape of the middle class via the age-old device of debt. Kevin Phillips, one of the best economic historians alive in America, buttresses my point in his new book.
Phillips Slams Wall Street, Feckless Politicians in `Bad Money:'
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=n...
The best years for America are way past. Americans are in denial about the dark future whose foundations have all been fully laid by Financial Nazis. Evil occurs in many forms and in America it took the financial form. All the bad things that are happening in the economy were systematically planned for the benefit of the Financial Nazis.
Jas
-- posted by Jas_Jain
» Jas_Jain - FWC: “US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?”
--
FWC: "US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?"
Saw the link below on my friend George Ure's website.
Hey, George, I came to that conclusion years ago, as you know, and my conclusion had nothing to do with high oil prices. It had everything to do with the FACT that in the areas of politics and economics, "educated" Americans are bred to be dopes (brainwashed from birth onwards via propaganda) and morally blind dopes at that. Those who doubt that Americans are morally blind dopes should take the time to listen to a great reporting of the mortgage crisis:
The Giant Pool of Money:
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.as...
This could not have happened if the population, at all levels, was not corrupted and doped. What we have witnessed over the past dozen years was the last charge of the moneybags who have now gained the total control of the US economy and the political system after being at the game for more than 300 years. Bad leaders don't just happen to Germans and Russians and Iraqis. We are #1!
Americans have been living the good life on their great inheritance and now on borrow money. All good things come to an end but this one will come to an end with a bang and not a whimper. No muddle thru economy as some wish.
Jas
PS: A born-and-bred American dope confuses a thoroughly controlled life, including debt-slavery, with freedom. This dope only has to obey thousands of laws made by crooked politicians (who are busy serving the interests of bigger crooks)! No dictator dreamed of more obedient and harder working subjects.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=...
US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?
Syed Rashid Husain, Arab News
Oil prices continue to rise and rise, with no end in sight. Virtually all other commodities seem to be following to be the same suit. Some now say a new economic system is emerging from the ashes of the old and now crumbling financial structure. Failing to meet even the basic needs of the common man, the current economic system is facing its worst crisis and appears in doldrums. It has miserably failed the underprivileged of this world.
Markets appear divorced from the fundamentals. F. William Engdahl strongly says in a recent write up that the oil markets (and other markets too) today are controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60 percent of today's crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price.
And the end-result is growing deprivation to a large number of people across geographical boundaries!
In the 90's, with the war in Afghanistan taking its toll, the Soviet empire virtually melted before our eyes under its own weight. The number of deprived, form Moscow to Siberia and Grozny started to grow and grow rapidly. And as the number of have-nots in then USSR rose, the system could not cope with the pressures, and failed to provide even the basic needs to the common man in the streets. And within years the mighty and the powerful USSR was assigned into the annals of history.
Analysts today point to the Afghan war as one of the major causes for the disintegration of the USSR. Many then rejoiced over the demise of the USSR, claiming the capitalist system has won the war - finally. Many in the West, including the Regan Administration claimed supremacy of the capitalist system over the Marxist ideals. The victory of the West was described in terms of ideologies.
Current developments also point to a new emerging reality. The capitalist economy now seem to be failing its underprivileged, the have-nots of the world. With the number of people below the poverty line growing rapidly all over the globe, the common man on the streets today appear more and more desperate today.
In sharp contrast to this grim reality, it is only a few, the haves of the world, controlling the capital, benefiting from the current scenario. The vast majority is now being deprived of two square meals a day too. The old Malthusian theory, which has been lying dormant in the shelves for quite sometime, seem to be back and people have started to look at it closely once again. And this is happening in this 21st century, when the world claims to have taken tremendous strides in the fields of science and technology. What a growth indeed!
The people to benefit out of this imbroglio are the money vendors, the rich of the world. Real estate and property boom has been the engine of growth all around. Conservative economists do not accept investments in real estate as really contributing toward the growth of the economy. Terming it as stagnant investment, these conservative economists continue to claim, growth in the real estate sector does not contribute significantly to the over all GDP of an economy. And secondly it is only the fortunate few who could benefit out of this boom - and at the cost of poor many.
Unable to come up to the expectations of the vast majority of the common man, many seem asking the question today, is the capitalist economy also passing through its last phases? The situation is grim for a vast majority. Global food prices, based on United Nations records, rose 35 percent in the year to the end of January, markedly accelerating an upturn that began, gently at first, in 2002.
Since then, prices have risen 65 percent. In 2007 alone, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent. The World Bank estimates that 33 countries around the world face potential political and social unrest because of the acute hike in food and energy prices.
And this has resulted in disastrous social consequences for the billions below the poverty line in the impoverished, underdeveloped world. The scenario is so bleak for the common man on street that the world is witnessing food riots virtually all across the globe. People of the world are hungry in this era of growth and emancipation!
Where are we being led? We are living in a different world with a new era seeming to dawn upon us. In the 21st century, when the world was supposed to be at the click of a mouse, the number of hungry population, those who can't afford proper food three times a day has increased. It seems, the age of scarcity, of shortages, of rising prices, of food riots, of ration cards, is finally upon us, all around the globe.
What is happening, that with the weakening of the ruling currency of the world, the US dollar, the moneyed class of the world - sans frontiers in this age of freedom and liberty- is moving their capital into commodities - from oil to gold and grains.
This paper transaction, at times termed as speculation, is taking place even without the physical transfer of the goods and is making a mockery of the conservative economic models. And this is contributing to the current imbroglio. Unfortunately only the moneyed class has the capacity to participate and benefit from this entire game - at the cost of the poor.
Religious scholars tell that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not permit transactions in which physical transaction of the goods under question did not take place. And in the current situation, rarely is the physical transaction taking place.
This paper circulation is contributing to this rise of virtually all commodities - oil included. If it continues the same way, it may not be too wrong to point out that like the Marxist ideals, the current era of capitalism may also not last long. It may already be in its final throes, some hence deduce.
If a system cannot meet the basic idea of having some sort of equity within the society, where the have-nots could not have at least three meals a day, then it is bound to fizzle out, proponents of the theory underline.
The war in Afghanistan turned out to be the Achilles heel of the Russian empire and who knows the two concurrent wars, in Iraq and in Afghanistan, is leading the US-led capitalist economic system toward the same fate? Only time has the answer to this trillion dollar question.
-- posted by Jas_Jain
» permabear - FWC: “US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?”
In response to FWC: “US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?” posted by Jas_Jain:
Interesting hearing from an Arab perspective on the coming downfall of the capitalist system.
First off it remains to be proven that the oil price is being driven higher by speculation alone. T. Boone Pickens has made a very good argument that the supply/demand balances increasingly favor the demand side, especially with the growth in the developing economies such as China, India, Brazil and others.
Second, the international oil companies only control about six percent of the world's oil these days. The vast majority of oil is controlled by nationalized oil companies. Surely you can't consider the oil cartel system a capitalist system. It looks more like a socialized system. So I don't buy the argument that the Exxons and Chevrons of the world are driving the price higher. If anything the Gazproms and the nationalized Middle Eastern oil companies are driving the price higher, along with the fall in the dollar.
Getting back to the argument against the capitalist system, what is the alternative? This essay from this Arab writer very happily critiques the American failures. But I surely don't see a whole lot of economic dynamism coming out of the Middle Eastern nations. Oil is about the only big product coming out of that part of the world. And oil has probably done more to hold back economic development in that part of the world than anything else.
While I agree with Jas that the U.S. has been way on the wrong track in recent years and has definitely been living beyond its means, to say that capitalism is a dying system remains to be seen. If anything China and India are showing how to make it work even better than the U.S.
-- posted by permabear
» Jas_Jain - FWC: “US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?”
In response to FWC: "US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?" posted by permabear:--
"Getting back to the argument against the capitalist system, what is the alternative?"
It Is NOT the System, Stupid! It is the character of the people, especially, the leaders. And we have CROOKS as the leaders (only they have the chance at the very top jobs). Bad System produces Bad Leaders. I could care less about the label of the system. Is the capitalism of today the same as one 200 years ago or 600 years ago?
Answer the question please: Are Americans being led by bad leaders, especially, bad economic and political leaders?
"This essay from this Arab writer very happily critiques the American failures."
An American is BRED with extreme prejudice for "the other" - the other political systems, the other economic systems, the other religions (except for Judaism and Christianity), the other cultures, etc. An American is bred with all sorts of prejudices. An American looks at the label of the person (e.g., liberal or conservative) or the system and he uses labels to discredit an argument.
Freud said that he and other Jews had an advantage in understanding the main social system because they were the outsiders. What sort of person looks for all the criticism from within only? A thoroughly prejudiced one. A born-and-bred American dope is an irremediable dope. He knows the economic and political truth!
America's and world's biggest problem and threat is: American People! (Leaders are part of the collective).
Jas
-- posted by Jas_Jain
» permabear - FWC: “US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?”
In response to FWC: “US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?” posted by Jas_Jain:
Answer the question please: Are Americans being led by bad leaders, especially, bad economic and political leaders?
We've been over this issue many times before. You and many others think of me as a partisan democrat. I believe that republican, conservative power in the past 27 years, has been a disaster for the country. So yes, Americans are being led by bad leaders.
An American is BRED with extreme prejudice for "the other" - the other political systems, the other economic systems, the other religions (except for Judaism and Christianity), the other cultures, etc. An American is bred with all sorts of prejudices. An American looks at the label of the person (e.g., liberal or conservative) or the system and he uses labels to discredit an argument.
I plead guilty to all charges here. No doubt in my mind democracy and freedom are superior ways of governing and living than any other political system around. Absofriggintutely. Jas, you are a rebel by nature. Imagine challenging the authorities as you do every day on the internet in a country like Saudi Arabia, or Egypt, or China, or Russia, or Zimbabwe. Fact is your butt would be in the slammer faster than you could say "crooks". Or you might never even make it the slammer. You might get your back whipped in the public square. Or your head chopped off. Or you might get poisoned with some obscure radioactive material.
It is not just the freedom to speak and challenge ones government that makes America and the western way of life (Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) great. But our economic systems up to this point have given us a life of prosperity that no other humans have experienced to this point on earth. We are so fortunate, we have no idea how much.
Like you I want to see change. I want to see a government that actually addresses problems and solves them, not does what this or that special interest wants or what might be best to get them elected in the next term. We have the capacity to solve these problems. My hope is that if we can muddle through the challenges that lay ahead of us, that we can move on, make the changes that are needed in our politics and economics, and create more prosperity for not only our children, but also act as a model for prosperity for children around the world. Somewhere along we lost our way and we need to become the model for the world once again.
-- posted by permabear
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