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Guest Post: Why We Need A 3rd Party In 2012
Submitted by Jim Quinn of the Burning Platform
Why We Need A 3rd Party In 2012
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There are no easy solutions. There are only painful, more painful, and really really painful solutions. Both mainstream corrupted political parties have had the chance to put the country back on a prudent fiscal path. They have both failed miserably. One party will spend the country into oblivion and the other country will try to democratize the world with their military machine. There are no fresh ideas from either party. There are the same old stale ideas and rhetoric.
I’ve been waiting for someone to distinguish themselves as a straightforward leader who will level with the American people and tell them the TRUTH. There is only one totally truthful politician in Washington DC. His name is Ron Paul. He is trapped in a Republican Party run by neo-con warmongers. Chris Christie, the governor of NJ, has the guts and demeanor to satisfy the requirements of a new leader, but the hacks who run the party will not allow him to become the face of the party. Paul Ryan, Congressman from Wisconsin, has the brains and ideas to help save the country. The party hacks will pretend to adopt his ideas to get elected in 2012 and then go back to the same old policies.
Both parties are captured by corporate lobbyists, the military industrial complex and Wall Street. Lobbyists spend $40 billion per year “convincing” politicians that their ideas should be implemented. Politicians DO NOT represent the people. They represent those who give them the most money. Radical earth shattering change is needed to save this country. Incremental steps won’t work. We need a leader wielding a sledgehammer.
The ONLY way to save the country from financial collapse is to take on the largest expenditures. They are:
- $895 billion for Military spending
- $730 billion for Social Security
- $491 billion for Medicare
- $297 billion for Medicaid
These 4 areas total $2.4 trillion per year out of $3.8 trillion. This is 63% of all Federal spending. A real leader would tackle these areas. A 3rd party candidate with gonads would propose the following ideas:
- When George Bush took office in 2000 the annual Defense (funny name) Budget was $380 billion. Since that date CPI has increased 25%. On an inflation adjusted basis, the Defense Budget should be $475 billion today. Essentially we are paying an additional $420 billion PER YEAR to fight the phantom WAR ON TERROR. This is nothing but a fraud perpetrated by the neo-cons and now the neo-liberals. My plan is to declare victory in the War on Terror. No one knows what victory means anyway. Withdraw ALL the troops from the Middle East, Germany, Japan and Korea. Let them blow themselves up if they want. Not our problem. Germany, Korea and Japan can pay for their own defense. Tell the Pentagon they have $475 billion to allocate and not a dime more for the next 10 years. SAVINGS = $420 billion
- John Hussman has a fantastic idea regarding Social Security. This idea would benefit the working class and stick it to the rich. ”Drop the rate substantially, but include all income – wage and non-wage. Three-quarters of Americans pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes. By reducing the wedge between the hourly amount earned by employees and the hourly cost paid by employers, this strategy would create immediate incentives for employment. Moreover, it would raise more revenue because at present, even Warren Buffett only pays Social Security taxes on the first $106,800 of income.” This idea would be an immediate boost to the economy as the average worker would take home more pay. Revenue from Social Security would increase by $200 billion.
- On the cost side of Social Security, life expectancy, amount of wealth, and market incentives would need to be introduced. Anyone over 55 years old would get just what they were promised. Workers from 30 years old to 55 years old would see the age they were entitled to collect SS rise from 67 to 76 depending on their current age. Anyone whose net worth is in the top 5% of all Americans would not receive SS when they retire. Workers just entering the workforce would be given the option of a significantly scaled down benefit or a private account to be managed by themselves. These steps would make the system viable forever. It would not cut costs in the near term.
- Paul Ryan’s common sense approach to Medicare would be: For those under 55—as they become Medicare-eligible—it creates a Medicare payment, initially averaging $11,000, to be used to purchase a Medicare certified plan. The payment is adjusted to reflect medical inflation, and pegged to income, with low-income individuals receiving greater support. The plan also provides risk adjustment, so those with greater medical needs receive a higher payment. The proposal also fully funds Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) for low-income beneficiaries, while continuing to allow all beneficiaries, regardless of income, to set up tax-free MSAs. Enacted together, these reforms will help keep Medicare solvent for generations to come. This proposal, along with eliminating the fraud within this system would save at least $200 billion per year.
- Paul Ryan’s healthcare plan would reduce costs, keep the high quality, and keep it out of the government’s clutches: It provides a refundable tax credit—$2,300 for individuals and $5,700 for families—to purchase coverage (from another state if they so choose) and keep it with them if they move or change jobs. It establishes transparency in health-care price and quality data, so this critical information is readily available before someone needs health services. State-based high risk pools will make affordable care available to those with pre-existing conditions. In addition to the tax credit, Medicaid will provide supplemental payments to low-income recipients so they too can obtain the health coverage of their choice and no longer be consigned to the stigmatized, sclerotic care that Medicaid has come to represent. This plan would save $200 billion per year.
- There are two options to simplify the tax system. Americans spend $11 trillion per year. They pay $1.1 trillion in income taxes per year. The tax code is 17,000 pages long. By scrapping the entire income tax and replacing it with a 10% VAT, the country would get the same revenue with individuals being freed from the tax code. The other option is essentially a modified flat tax as proposed by Paul Ryan: This highly simplified code fits on a postcard. It has just two rates: 10% on income up to $100,000 for joint filers and $50,000 for single filers, and 25% on taxable income above these amounts. It also includes a generous standard deduction and personal exemption (totaling $39,000 for a family of four), and no tax loopholes, deductions, credits or exclusions (except the health-care tax credit). The proposal eliminates the alternative minimum tax. It promotes saving by eliminating taxes on interest, capital gains, and dividends. It eliminates the death tax. It replaces the corporate income tax—currently the second highest in the industrialized world—with a business consumption tax of 8.5%. This new rate is roughly half the average in the industrialized world and will put American companies and workers in a stronger position to compete in a global economy.
- The Deptartment of Education and the Department of Energy were both created by Jimmy Carter in 1979. Since this time student test scores have plummeted, the cost per student has skyrocketed, and we graduate more morons into society than ever. Since this time, our dependence on foreign oil has doubled, no nuclear power plants have been built, no refineries have been built and peak oil has been completely ignored. For this outstanding performance, we spend $78 billion per year for the Dept of Education and $36 billion per year for the Dept of Energy. If we survived from 1789 until 1979 without these departments, we can make do without them again. They are miserable failures and must be scrapped. Annual Savings = $114 billion.
- Every department and every program and every government worker would be required to take a 10% reduction across the board. Annual savings = $100 billion.
- Legalize marijuana for adults and then tax the shit out of it like tobacco and alcohol. Unknown revenue increase. Reduction in prison costs for minor drug offenses.
By my estimation we’d be pretty damn close to a balanced budget. It would entail pain and sacrifice to achieve a balanced budget. The pain and sacrifice today would ensure that our children and grandchildren have a tomorrow. Some practical issues to tackle in order to fix the culture of Washington DC would be:
- Term limits of 12 years for all Representatives and Senators. Politics is not a career. They are serving the people and then returning home to their chosen profession.
- Lobbying and lobbyists would be outlawed. No corporation, individual, or union could buy access to politicians.
- Political Campaigns would be publicly funded and last for only 6 weeks before an election.
Regarding immigration, all illegal immigration would be stopped. The fence/wall that exists in California would be extended through Texas. Troops withdrawn from Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Korea, and Japan would be available to enforce our closed border. The children of illegal immigrants would no longer be given citizenship status for being born here. We should strongly encourage legal immigration, especially of professional well educated immigrants. John Mauldin has a great idea to encourage legal immigration and help the housing market:
- Any immigrant who buys a house in the US would be given a fast track to citizenship of two years, as long as they commit no crimes. This would attract wealthy immigrants. It might also keep the best and brightest graduate students here in this country.
John Hussman had a creative solution to help the housing market. He came up with this idea in October 2008. Of course, the Bush and Obama idiots would never consider such a logical solution:
- Congress can efficiently mute the impact of the mortgage crisis on “Main Street” by allowing a small change in foreclosure law. Specifically, in foreclosure proceedings, judges should have the ability to reduce the amount of principal on a mortgage loan, provided that the original mortgage lender receives a “Property Appreciation Right” or “PAR” from the homeowner. The PAR would be an obligation to repay the mortgage lender out of future appreciation on the home (including property subsequently purchased, until the obligation was relieved). Payment would occur either when the home was sold, or through an equity-extraction refinancing at some later date. In that way, homeowners would surrender some amount of future appreciation in return for an equivalent reduction in the mortgage principal. This would result in an immediate lowering of mortgage payments, yet the original mortgage lender would still stand to be made whole. To account for time-value, the amount of the PAR obligation could be allowed to increase at a small rate of interest. The homeowner would be able to keep the house. Importantly, there would be no need to continue major write-downs on mortgage securities, since only the character of the payments, not the value of the mortgage obligation itself, would change.
The Federal Reserve must be audited. It must be a complete audit with nothing off-limits done by the GAO. When the audit reveals that the Federal Reserve has committed crimes against the citizens of the United States, it should be disbanded. The country grew tremendously from 1789 until 1913 without a Federal Reserve. The Treasury can issue the money of the U.S. The money should be backed by hard assets. It would require a basket of hard assets including gold, silver, uranium, oil, natural gas, and agricultural products.
We have reached Peak cheap oil. Ignoring it for a moment longer will ensure disaster for our suburban sprawl society. The government needs to get out of the way and let companies build nuclear reactors, oil refineries, and LNG facilities. The Pickens Plan which would utilize wind farms to free up natural gas to power our truck fleets should be given serious consideration. If geothermal, hydro, solar, and wind make sense from an ROI basis, it should be encouraged. Government needs to get out of the way of entrepreneurship. An expansion of electrified rail transportation is one area that government could actually provide leadership.
So, I’ve balanced the budget and solved the housing crisis. I wonder what I’ll do after dinner.
The ideologues in the Republican Party and Democratic Party are not worried about a 3rd Party. They say that there is no way a 3rd Party could create an infrastructure to win in 2012. What they fail to realize is that people are sick and tired of their two party games. The names change, but the game remains the same. Both parties have failed the American people. The American people have failed. It is time to make a stand, before it is too late. 2012 is our last chance.
I believe that Ron Paul and his Campaign For Liberty should break away from the Republican Party and either form a new 3rd Party or just take over the existing Constitution Party structure. The name is right. The ideas are consistent. I would vote for Ron Paul, but he is 72 years old and he may be too diplomatic. We need a bomb thrower. I think we need Chris Christie to take on Washington DC the way he has taken on the Unions and the Democrats in NJ. A Constitution Party ticket of Chris Christie for President and Paul Ryan as VP would be a winnable option. This would be revolutionary. It would require these two men to abandon the corrupt Republican Party and do what is best for the country. Party politics is dying rapidly due to incompetence and corruption. It is time to start over.
If we keep these wise words of our founding fathers in our minds at all times, we could turn this country around before it is too late.
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine
“Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations–entangling alliances with none, I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one of] those which ought to shape its administration.” –Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural Address, 1801.
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Long ago Gore Vidal observed that we have two branches of the same party; the current political situation in the U.S. reflects that. I voted for Obama, but under no circumstances will I vote for him again. When he appointed Geithner and Summers I knew my vote had been wasted, and nothing that has happened since those appointments has caused me to change my mind. I will be looking for a third-party candidate, definitely, come 2012.
So, after a lifetime of paying income tax, I would now become 10% poorer and pay more tax on money already taxed. Are you out of your fucking mind?? Would I get a break, that is, get to spend my entire net worth at the time the vat starts, and pay no VAT until that amount is exceeded?
Eliminating cap gain tax?? No, all income no matter the source should be treated the same. You think it's nice Buffet et al would get millions in dividends tax free and I get screwed out of 25% of wages?? You like Hussman, well read more, real capital gains on productive assets should be tax free, not gains from shuffling paper.
Oh, again St. Ron Paul. Hey Ron, what's your name? "Less govt intervention". How old are you? "N0 60v7 1n73rv3n710n". How's the weather? "Without government intervention". He's monothematic and a fundamentalist. No solution can come from that, if it could, it should also come from those crazy religious fanatics. They're the same with another song.
*
"Why We Need A 3rd Party In 2012 "
We don't, stupidest move we could make.............
Do that, you get Obamanation back in 2012, and the same STALE members that have been returned to Congress, for most of their adult lives...
The Ethnic minority vote alone, would make a 3rd Party a loser.........for the GOP.( where all true conservatives/Independents have shot a moving IN.)
Over 94% of Blacks voted for him, and the ratings show the Maority of them still in his camp( ignorance is bliss ), and the Hispanic vote will also be in his favor, ad the left wingers, BEEN A DEM all my lifers, and the welfare lifers....
Split the Conservative / Moderate / Independents...............recipe for snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory.
What we NEED is what's already happening, NEW blood, getting in and taking the LIFERS/Marxist/Fascist/Far Left Wing Progs O_U_T of all seats( BOTH Parties)................WHO want the nation to survive.
NO MORE, business as usual, the stakes are for ALL the Marbles..........
Excellent post- dead on analysis.
"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically
acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in
his path and gave him triumphal processions. ... Blame the people who hail
him when he speaks in the Forum of the 'new, wonderful good society' which
shall now be Rome's, interpreted to mean 'more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.'" -
Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
when its foundation is weak a house cannot stand. when a people are corrupt a country cannot be saved. Obama isn't your problem he's just a messenger.
The new party needs to be the CENTER PARTY if you really want to get elected. Position it as in the center, rejecting both the left-wing, big government economic policies that have been a disaster and the right-wing social policies that put government in our bedrooms. This literally marginalizes the current two parties at a single stroke, by driving them to the margins. During the nominating process, they each play to their base - extreme liberals for the Dems, extreme conservatives for the Repubs. Then during the election they move to the center to try to win, with a wink to the base to give them comfort they aren't being abandoned.
So take the CENTER away from them up-front. Paint them both as extremists. No one can get nominated in either party without saying extremist things to play to the base that bothers to turn out for the primaries. "Constitution" sounds like some impractical throwbacks in powdered wigs. "Libertarian" sounds like a bunch of libertines.
But CENTER - ah, that's comfortable. People with families, raising their kids. Normal polite folks, who will leave you alone. Good values. Not nuts. Baseball and football. NASCAR.
As for the policies, in my Letter to Obama that Tyler won't print, I listed these:
1. Rebate all income taxes for the last three years, with a minimum rebate of $25,000 for a single filer, $50,000 for joint filers. Costs about $3 trillion - QE2 - and restarts the whole economy from the bottom up.
2. Transfer authority to print money from the Fed to the Treasury Department.
3. Back the new Treasury Department notes with gold revalued to $20,000 an ounce, but don't back existing Federal Reserve notes. Let the market sort out the exchange ratio between FRNs and TNs.
4. Abolish all personal, estate and corporate taxes, including FICA, and the IRS. Implement a 23% sales tax (FairTax.org) with an up-front rebate to take care of low-income people.
5. Offer a one-time opportunity to repatriate overseas money, legal or illegal, personal or corporate, on which tax was never paid for a 10% tax.
So the CENTER PARTY gets to run on a platform of "I'm going to give your family at least $50,000, eliminate income taxes, balance the budget (cf. Tyler's cuts) and keep the dollar the world's reserve currency for the next 100 years. I'm going to fight every effort from the left to turn the U.S. into a socialist economy, and every effort from the right to take away your personal freedoms."
Chris Christie for President and Paul Ryan for VP, against Obama/Biden and - who - Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh?
We'll cream 'em.
Term Limits: the chief Republican blocking term limits in the Senate is Mitch McConnell (R-Ky). Seems like the Republican Party needs to have a back alley meeting with Mitch instead of "we need a third party- looking out to the horizon with a telescope". Clean up internal Republican messes.
Chris Christie is a joke; as chief executive officer of the state of New Jersey, he should be focusing on ALL aspects of New Jersey. Bush and his dimwit US Labor Secretary, Elaine Chao, Mitch McConnell's wife, missed their monthly jobs creation target for 8 years. It would be interesting to see research on whether unions are the ONLY customers left in most municipalities. IOW, union members are the only members of the middle class who are left with disposable income. If union members made as much as banksters and CEOs who live in New Jersey, yeah, Christie might have a point. But they don't and he doesn't.
One maggot does not eat much, but millions do!
Mr Quinn has (some?) . I want the money I paid into S.S. , and not at 76 yrs old ( I'm 55) . Talk about a scam . We have three men out of 300 million whom we think has good ideas ? Pitiful . We WILL NOT GET A THIRD PARTY , Just a strengthening of the ONE. Whom we all will have to bow down and serve. One World , One Government , One Party . Quinns utopian drivel is myopic . Society does not get better , nor mans character. It degrades . Show me how mankind is getting better ?
i wouldn't hold my breath...
they now call it a social security insurance fund.
no guaranteed payout on insurance...
subtle, but important difference. thank your local congressman/senator. there are no accidents.
btw, i'm right there with you on the opinion that's it's a scam. i've just tempered my expectation of any change in it. this might be why they think they can force you to 'buy healthcare insurance as well.
Check out:
http://reason.com/blog/2008/10/24/saving-social-security-episode
New parties are the only way to go. Develop a platform and go grassroots...eliminate corporate donations and lobbying altogether. Republicans and Democrats will not change unless they have a gun to their heads. You cannot have too many parties in a democracy, and if no one can get a majority, then they have to learn to work together.
The alternative is not pretty: history shows us that if things are allowed to slide to the point of real economic hardship and despair, the restraints are gone and people start looking for a 'strong man' to solve things. We've seen it before, and from an outsiders perspective, the US is starting to look unstable both politically and socially.
DOW/SP500 daily chart is bullish for now ...
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
Your'e not going to encourage legal immigration without making immigration legal. Get rid of the quotas. Get rid of all the asinine laws that require people to return to their home countries to file paperwork. End the H1B Visa regime and with it, the employer's power over his employee's legal residency status. End the two-year punishment for certain kinds of student visas, that forbids them from applying for another visa for two years after their current one expires.
There is a third party that has been in existence since 1971. I didn't read through all of the comments, but in case no one mentioned it, here it is:
http://www.lp.org/
I believe the system will collapse, it's too late. I also believe it is by design. Obama et al think they will replace it with some leftist paradise but they are just tools. We will be presented with a "savior" of some sort because things will get ugly, fast. We'll just have to give up a few unnecessary rights. Get self sufficent now people. Form a group of like minded persons you can trust and move to a low population area. This is the only way we'll be able to resist the planned takeover of our country and our enslavement by the wealthy interests who run the current farce of a government we have.
Why did he waste all that space talking about money? Why didn't he talk about the important things, like abortion, and gun control, and gays in the military, and whether "under God" should be in the Pledge? And what about our newest political prisoner? FREE LINDSEY LOHAN!!!!!!
Just face it. We. Are. Doomed.
http://history.emory.edu/newsletter01/eNews-09/images/we-are-doomed.jpg
Humans can't solve serious problems while denying the root of those problems. Those roots must be totally destroyed or the problems will continue.
What is the root problem? A simple 2 part observation. Almost all modern humans are utterly, literally and technically INSANE. Why? Because they believe almost endless absolute blatant absurd fictions - are real. When humans believe in fictions, they take actions based on their assumption those fictions exist. And that is what most modern humans are spending most of their time, effort, and resources doing - taking endless self-destructive actions based upon utter fictions.
The most obvious example is "government". Even law calls organizations "fictitious entities". Which means, humans once understood the difference between real and fiction. Today, very few do. And yes, "government", "corporations" and all other organizations are pure, unadulterated fictions - to exactly the same extent as the "United Federation of Planets" in Star Trek.
Would life be somewhat better if the plans the author mentions were implemented? Sure, for a short time. But he accepts and thereby supports every horrific, diabolical, INSANE foundational idea of the current authoritarian nightmare.
As long as the current mass psychotic delusional insanity exists, endless predators will take advantage of this insanity to fleece all believers, and intimidate and destroy those who resist.
The ONLY solution to the disaster that is human existence on earth today is SANITY - every time you catch yourself uttering a fiction, STOP IT. Refuse to pretend any of these fictions exist, and refuse to cooperate with humans who assert "you must comply". The proper answer to them is "screw you, predator".
Understand the fundamental story of humanity, which is "predator versus producer". Like snakes hiding in the grass, or lions, tigers and panthers blending into the bushes... the modus operandi of predators are: deceit and destruction.
For hundreds of years now, the earth has not produced sufficient "naturally occuring" water, food, shelter and other requirements of human life to support the human population. This is why human population did not increase much until humans learned to PRODUCE... to dig water wells, to grow crops, to protect, feed and raise animals to make clothing, perform work, and supply food - and eventually to make tools and machines to perform work.
Today, with 7 billion thirsty, hungry, cold/hot/sick humans to support, the ONLY viable modus-operandi is PRODUCTION.
However, as the human population grows, the dominance of the predators is growing too. And this is exactly why everyone with their eyes not totally shut tight can see "this is unworkable". And sure enough, this trend IS unworkable... utterly and totally and inherently unworkable.
The current problem cannot be fixed by tweaking. The current problem cannot be fixed by adding a "third political party" based upon the same delusions, powers and feedback mechanisms as the current predators. That cannot and will not work.
The only solution is to stop believing in fictions. Stop it - completely, totally, finally. And stop taking actions that assume those fictions exist.
You can't live without "government" (a fiction)? Well, you are more wrong than you can imagine. But no problem, because you can have a so-called "government". But only as long as you accept two fundamental points:
#1: That any action that is unethical for a human to take on his own behalf, is also unethical for a human to take on behalf of government, corporation, church, any organization, or any fiction (and in any circumstances whatsoever).
#2: If you simply cannot live without a fictional mental security blanket of so-called "government programs", no problem. You can keep them... as long as they become FULLY voluntary in every respect, and never impose requirements or limitations upon anyone who does not subscribe. So fine, you can have so-called "government by subscription", where every last program must be "by subscription". But be very, very, very careful. You must never, ever imagine that you or "they" can restrict actions of anyone (non-subscribers). So, if you subscribe to a road project (for example), you cannot force any non-subscribers to avoid the endless sprawl and mesh of roads already constructed, or to be constructed by your project.
In a manner of speaking, humans have reverted to the stone age intellectually... yet expect to enjoy ever-growing material comforts. This will NOT happen, because it CANNOT happen. Humans must grow up intellectually, must become SANE. All humans must become producers, not predators.
In other words, humans, get real --- now.
Sorry, substitute "Intellectually Lazy" for Insanity and you're closer to the truth.
Intelligence -- there is no substitute!
So, when you are out and about, and you see some doofus looking around at angels circling around his head, and tries to grab them out of mid air... that is not insanity? Certainly most folks would consider this guy insane, and so do psychologists. Well, this is precisely what humans do when the pretend other fictions are real... much less live their entire lives taking endless actions based upon the nonexistent entities that exist only in their mind. If a kid grows up and still believes SantaClaus is real at age 50... that adult is not insane? If you believe that, you are intellectually lazy. Think about it.
Would you like a simple way to determine whether some supposed thing is fiction or real? That's pretty easy. First let me give an example, then I'll explain the obvious. If someone threw a rock at your head, and you did not see or hear it, had never seen or heard of a "rock", and so you took no action (like duck) --- that rock would still smack into your head and make you bleed. In other words, real existents interact with other real existents, whether you are aware of them, or believe in them, or not. Point? Real existents have consequences. You can ignore them all you wish, and they still have consequences.
In contrast, if you ignore a fiction... nothing happens, because a fiction is only a mental unit in your consciousness that has NO referent (no corresponding existent). And obviously, only existents have consequences. Therefore, if the entire population of earth had all their mental units associated with "government" (a fiction) erased, nothing would happen - except life would be infinitely better, because real physical humans would start acting more based upon reality, and less upon insane fictions. But the point is, since government is fiction, government cannot have any consequences on you or me or anyone else. What you might be tempted to call "consequences of government" are simply the consequences that real humans have on you... real humans motivated to take real actions because they believe those fictions are real (have referents). It is the real humans and their actions that have consequences, not the fictions. Erase the delusions from human minds and you will see that so-called government has exactly zero consequences. Very simple.
your points are great, as is his point. regardless of your insistence, many 50 year olds who would believe in santa claus have chosen to ignore the clues to the contrary. this intentional laziness, reinforced by those who would allow and encourage such to enable these folks to function within their odd worlds - which is fine until they expect us to support their fantasies (e.g. 98% union pensions = santa claus).
again, there is no argument here. not even in the subtleties. call it what you will, but these folks have chosen to ignore what's real, and have been allowed, if not encouraged to do so.
and, as you state, if it's not insane in itself, it's enough to drive a seemingly rational person (you, me, ???) to that end.
cheers
Browsing the comments leads me to believe the average Zerohedge commenter needs more of an education in political science.
not in argument, but a thought:
i generally think most ZH posters/commenters are pretty interesting/well-thought folks - generally not 'average' if they even understand, let-alone comment on most of this stuff - even *if* their poli-sci is week... so if you consider the average ZH commenter relative to the folks you see each day in traffic... shouldn't we be worried?
kind of like barnicles on the titanic, those who actually 'get it'...
heh