This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
If You Really Think It Matters Which Party Controls the Senate, Answer These Questions
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Please don't claim anything changes if one party or the other is in the majority. Anyone clinging to that fantasy is delusional.
If you really think it matters which political party controls the U.S. Senate, please answer these questions. Don't worry, they're not that difficult:
1. Will U.S. foreign policy in the Mideast change from being an incoherent pastiche of endless war and Imperial meddling? Please answer with a straight face. We all know the answer is that it doesn't matter who controls the Senate, Presidency or House of Representatives, nothing will change.
2. Will basic civil liberties be returned to the citizenry? You know, like the cops are no longer allowed to steal your cash when they stop you for a broken tail light and claim the cash was going to be used for a drug deal.
Or some limits on domestic spying by Central State agencies. You know, basic civil liberties as defined by the Bill of Rights and the U.S. constitution.
Don't make me laugh--you know darned well that it doesn't matter who controls the Senate, Presidency or House of Representatives, nothing will change.
3. Will the predatory, parasitic policies of the Federal Reserve that virtually everyone from the Wall Street Journal to what little remains of the authentic Left understands has greatly increased income and wealth inequality be reined in? Please don't claim either party has any will or interest in limiting the Fed's rapacious financialization. There is absolutely no evidence to support such a claim--it is pure wishful thinking.
4. Will the steaming pile of profiteering, corruption, waste, fraud and ineptitude that is Sickcare in the U.S. be truly reformed so its costs drop by 50% to match what every other developed democracy spends per person on universal healthcare? It doesn't matter if ObamaCare is repealed or not; that monstrosity was simply another layer of bureaucratic waste on an already hopelessly dysfunctional system.
If you answer "yes," please run a body scan on yourself to detect the biochips that were implanted while you voted Demopublican.
5. Will the influence of Big Money be well and truly banned from politics? If you answer yes, please pick up your tin-foil hat at the door.
6. Will the incentives in the Status Quo be reset to punish rapacious financialization and gaming the system and reward productive investment and labor? Before you answer, check out who's buttering the Senators' bread. Hint: Wall Street does not qualify as productive unless we're talking about the production of life-draining parasites. Virtually none of the vast armies of skimmers and scammers, from those pursuing bogus disability claims to lobbyist leeches, will suffer any consequence.
Moral hazard is the Status Quo's Prime Directive.
7. Will anything be done to dismantle the Neofeudal Debt-Serfdom known as student loans? You are delusional if you think either party has any interest in limiting the predation of an academic Upper Caste that came to do good and stayed to do well.
8. Will any prudent assessment be made of unaffordable weapons systems like the F-35 Lightning--$1.5 trillion and counting for aircraft that will soon be matched by drones that cost a fraction of the F-35's $200 million a piece price tag? No way--parts of those insanely costly jets are made in dozens of states, so the pork is well-distributed. Never mind the plane is lemon, built to fight the wars of the past. It's jobs, Baby--that's all that counts. Never mind the $1.5 trillion--we can always borrow another couple trillion--the Fed promised us.
Do you really think the Senate controlled by either party will ask why the F-35's price tag dropped to $120 million from $200 million? That's easy--the revised estimate left out the engine and avionics. They'll be added back in after the Senate approves open-ended funding.
If none of these key dynamics will change, you got nothing. Please don't claim anything changes if one party or the other is in the majority. Anyone clinging to that fantasy is delusional.
If you doubt this, please take the above quiz again.
»
- 47646 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
It does matter as to one's employment. It doesn't matter if anything else changes. Or so most voters think.
All aboard the Clinton-McCain 2016 ticket! LOL.
Change will only happen when the goverment is ruled by the people, not the other way around. Direct Democracy is the only way to take the power away from the elected criminals.
Works in Switzerland.
Off with their heads!
CHS thinks "Mideast foreign policy" is incoherent? Really? Really?
Good read, even for ZHers determined to still lay blame for everything on Obama and the Jews. You all voted GOP so don't pretend you aren't just a little happy that "your team" won, or still cheer on like Fox and Drudge are for "their side" when you know it's all going to come crashing down whether bourbon boehner or skippy mcconnel are in charge or not.
My team lost. I voted Libertarian.
So really you voted against the democrats and allowed the republicans to win.
My answer to all these kinds of questions has been the same since I was 4 years old (though I certainly wasn't as coherent and "eloquent" at age 4 as I am today).
I refuse to be governed... by anyone.
Of course nothing of any significance will change. Why would it?
Seriously! There is only one issue. Are you a slave, or are you not? Decide.
Fundamentally, a human can decide to live in either of two ways.
#1: You try to force everyone else to live the way you want, by some combination of directly forcing people yourself, or by hiring and/or voting for predators to force others for you. This scheme is precisely a scheme in which 7 billion human beings are in constant war against the other 7 billion human beings, with everyone trying to impose all their wishes upon all everyone else.
#2: You live life they way you want to live, and leave everyone else free to live their lives the way they want.
Those are the only two possible choices. WARFARE (force involuntary interactions) or PEACE (exclusively voluntary interactions). Any attempt to "split the difference" is still WARFARE.
So there you have it. Do you want live on a planet with 7-billion enemies? Or do you want to live on a planet with 7-billion human beings trying out all sorts of ways to live a happy and successful life (and when various attempts seem to work great, selectively adopt those discoveries that make you happier).
This is such a stupid topic! Who wants 7-billion enemies rather than none? Sadly, due to the 12 to 20-some years of programming kids get from school (and other people programmed by their 12~20 years of school, including their parents), almost NOBODY ever looks at this simple issue and simple choice as... the simple issue and simple choice it is.
Which is why... humans are hopeless.
Just so you know it is possible, I have absolutely zero urge to tell others how to live their lives, much less force them. It is possible to feel that way. I can assure you of that.
special kind of genius you are.
Ingroup-outgroup morality is an innate survival behavior of mankind.
Very few people have evolved beyond it.
One might find certain cases where this kind of behavior had a "survival value" long, long ago when humans were predators (before they learned to be producers).
But once humans learned they could produce vastly larger quantities (and higher quality) goods and goodies via productive action, any "survival value" was very selective, and more than outweighed by the opposite.
And so, overall, voluntary interactions lead to longer survival, not to mention much higher standards of living.
The constant fighting philosophies only help human predators and parasites, because they give cover for those predators and parasites to consume what they did not produce. Think about it for a second. It is very simple.
A predator gets what he/she needs by stealing what various producers created. Therefore, predators are absolutely dependent upon producers... they would die without producers for lack of goods (and be miserable for lack of goodies).
A producer gets what he/she created by production. Therefore, producers gain nothing from predators, and in fact lose their production and quality of life (not to mention happiness, security and peace) due to the actions of predators.
And so, predators must create chaos to hide what they're actually doing from producers.
Of course today, predators have a huge number of parasite supporters who sanction their actions, support their actions, sometimes carry out their actions (government workers), and vote for predators to rule the earth (in order to get unearned goods and goodies).
I am 100% certain, beyond any doubt, that if everyone for the past 100 years lived like me and those I hang with (indirectly, via internet), no human would ever have to labor on anything boring ever again, the standard of living would be at least 100x the current level, and a significant percentage of humanity would be living and exploring in outer space.
But instead humans got the federal reserve and income taxes, and as they say, the rest is history.
-----
PS: Always remember this. The main reason humans never evolved past "predator logic" or "predator thinking" is because they never got past "predator assumptions". And the reason they didn't get past those predator assumptions is... because the predators-that-be established a wildly unnatural system (public education, mainstream media control, and more) to make sure simple thoughts like the one I described above pass through their minds. Because these realizations are not complex, and not rocket science.
Or to say it another way, given the overwhelming brainwashing in society, it may take an extraordinary human being to recognize these simple facts, but it doesn't take much time or intelligence to understand the simple fact and simple choice that I presented above (or the consequences of those choices on small and grand scales).
Which is to say, humans would know and act accordingly if simple facts weren't hidden from them, and incessantly nagged out of them via social pressure and other forms of brainwashing.
-----
PS: Oh, and another thing. Since I was something like 6 years old, I've considered myself more-or-less equivalent to an alien from outer space who observes earth and its crazy inhabitants. Which means, all humans are part of my "out group" as you put it. But that STILL doesn't make me want to harm humans, or control humans. I still want to help, in whatever way I can (that doesn't materially impact my life very much).
However, you could easily argue at the above characterization by claiming that in fact I consider "all sentient species part of my in-group". Because you'd be correct to say that I consider any honest, ethical, rational, benevolent alien (or machine) from anywhere in the universe to be part of my in-group, with "species" being irrelevant.
The difference between these two perspectives, which are both valid, is that almost all humans are in fact in my out-group (they don't think or feel or act like me because they are not sane, honest, ethical, rational and/or benevolent). But virtually all humans are in potential in my in-group (they are in theory capable of thinking, feeling and acting like me). To me personally, both are relevant observations, albeit in different ways.
When I was younger my feelings of being around most people was that of being in a pit snakes. They were too irrational and emotional and gave me the creeps.
"is that almost all humans are in fact in my out-group"
Certainly, most humans aren't human. Lorenz described man as the missing link between the anthropoid apes and humans and I heartily agree.
The hunter-gatherers begat the townsfolk and the townsfolk begat the freedom folk. The freedom folk are human - they don't consider others as property to be used or disposed of as objects.
the federal government now serves as an intermediary to
serve up the sovereignty of the people to nameless
and unaccountable international corporations. get it?
research tpp. ("trade agreement"). they are telling
you, right after the election results were in, it is war
and tpp to be shoved down your dead throat by the
"best and the brightest", your authorities who have made
a nice trillion dollar industry out of stealing your privacy,
your expertise and labor. not a bad days work, eh?
.
The Point - Are You Sleeping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At2IIzug0WQ
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxaZTc_3B5s
CrossTalk: Stupid Wars
.
humor thors day.
.
Supreme Court of Comedy - featuring NJweedman
from Edward Forchion 4 years ago
http://vimeo.com/13867603
.
but that lindseed, graham cracker, war nazi
claiming the vote on tuesday means more
americans want more war and he wants to give
it to em',(the voice of the people and the political
mandate bullshit) that is just the kind of stupidity
that has, and will continue, to make the republican/democratic
money, federal reserve
party the nest of the unspeakable and eternally
cursed; may they carry on to their well deserved
doom. a special place in hell awaits these type
of sleazy, blood money, bought politicians. (lemming stupid )
This kind of cynicism and defeatism is paralyzing to those it infects.
laomei :Obamacare: The teafags would have you believe that it's some massive government take-over of healthcare. A handout to the poor. The destruction of healthcare by the hands of the dark one. While the libtards stand firmly by blabbering about how many more people are insured and oh how cheap it is now.
You seriously need to do a bit of reading.
The "Teafags", cute. You do realize the modern day Tea Party was apolitical and their slogan was "Stop the looting and start prosecuting" right? And no it was not started by Santelli on CNBC. The career scumbag Republicans saw this as a threat to their status quo and co-opted their movement with all kinds of religious right pollution....and then like the dummies that they are the "democrats" piled on them.
Second point, you DO realize Judge Roberts ruled Obamacare a tax, right?
So you want more taxation?
The tee tee party was started and funded by the Koch brothers. The evil, evil Koch brothers. Only the brothers Dulles can compete with the destructive, fidouchebag Koch family.
I am pretty sure that the Mach 1.6 F-35 doesn't really cost that much, just like hammers don't cost $435. They have to get the money for the black budget from somewhere. Or are they planning on blowing up the Pentagon's accounting department and document storage facilities and telling us that a trillion dollars have gone missing again? I hope you are not one of those that think anything you have not seen before or that flies super fast must be from outer space. The Oxcart was flying at Mach 3 in the 1960s and they didn't even declassify it until 2008. Just imagine what they can do now and will not admit to for another 30 to 50 years. It all has to be paid for by padding budgets wherever they can.
And since when did the word "alien" become synonymous with "extra-terrestrial". Alien means "belonging to a foreign country or nation." So when the word "alien" shows up in old military documents, why do so many idiots assume they are referring to ET?
Holy shit!! Lotta fuckin' trolls commenting on this one. Fuck off and die, trolls. There is only one party here. The money party.
looks like its constitutional crisis time. boner and mitch mcdonalds against obama and george soros open society foundation.
as american citizens it is our duty to uphold the law and protect our country from invasion of illegal felon aliens. so if obama is going nuclear with amnesty than i say it is our responsibility to round em up and make citizen arrests !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a friend of mine was killed by an illegal driving illegally. it was a hit and run. the govt found the illegals at the airport ready to fly back to mexico. guess what the u.s govt did??? beuhler?
they let them go !!!!!!!!!
justice? liberty? anyone? beuhler?
amnesty = civil war (cuz i know that the 1st red blooded american making a citizens arrest on an illegal felon alien will be prosecuted by the obama admin to the fullest extent of the law)
These parties must be a part of a mob. Trust me I'd know...
robnume: The tee tee party was started and funded by the Koch brothers. The evil, evil Koch brothers. Only the brothers Dulles can compete with the destructive, fidouchebag Koch family.
Absoluterly 100% Wrong, it was co-opted by the Koch brothers. What can be called the modern day Tea Party was NOT "started" by the Koch brothers. Do your homework, ok? Seriously. The information is out there for you to find in about 15 seconds.
Exactly, I was there. The Tea party was a grassroots effort that got taken over using a variety of polysci/psiops methods. It speaks volumes that when the Occupy movement started, many former Tea party types were passing on intelligence on what to watch out for from the co-opting evil doers..
I said much the same in my first post after the election! Really, this team Red is going to give us our country back? Come fucking on, I have seen those assholes in power more than once, I never got my country back! And that ain't no bullshit neither! Congress, Republican, Democrat? So fucking what. All of them are boought by the same corporations and Israel.
CHS IS A LEFTEST IDIOT. Follow him off the cliff if you desire.
CHS IS A LEFTEST IDIOT. Follow him off the cliff if you desire.
It won't make a difference. The globalists are about to release the airborne strain of ebola as they continue to siphon the wealth out of the country.
But things are already changing..transparency is surfacing...for five hours anyway before it was taken down.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/border-patrol-statistics-show-cha...
Change is coming and not all of it speaks Spanish.
Ann Barnhardt has the best rant I've read about Tuesday's election, titled "This is What Hope Looks Like." A taste...
Roflmao...
Hot diggity dog!
Just can't wait to go flying.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlH60lm3mz0
Actually, haven't flown since 1991. Between the gestapo TSA and now the contamination chances having gone sky high, will never fly ever again. Driving is much safer but then, why go anywhere when home is sweet home? Weza justa waitin for the gestapo to come waddling down the road some day soon?
5. Will the influence of Big Money be well and truly banned from politics? If you answer yes, please pick up your tin-foil hat at the door.
5. Will the influence of Big Money be well and truly banned from politics? If you answer yes, please OFF YOURSELF, AS YOU ARE COMPLETELY FUCKING STUPID, AND THE PLANET NEEDS LESS STUPID PEOPLE....
fixed it...
Whichever political party is elected, the winners never walk into office with a clean sheet.
There is a gigantic "enduring" government machine that grinds on regardless of politics, elections or the wishes of the electorate. To those who own and run the government machine, elected political representatives are merely "transient"...here today, gone tomorrow etc and they have very limited influence over government policy.
It has been proven in academic way that US is oligarchy:
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
But same thing with Putin oligarch regime - both evil makes no different. Only thing is regardin Putin regime it's more simple and more... how to say... dull.. probably is the right word.
Rouble’s slide revives memories of dark days of 1998 and 2008http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2014/11/07/roubles-slide-revives-memori...
"less aggressive" might be the right description of Putin's oligarchy -vs- the US oligarchy which goes round the world starting wars everywhere.
And what we see now is the US oligarchy trying to take on the Russians to become the dominant oligarchary.
polling booths should also double as suicide booths for any fuckwits who are still @ the mental state of believing in the system.
how deluded can you be in spite of all evidence to the contrary? I see intelligent people everyday that cannot see the forest for the trees. I guess they lack critical thinking skills.
I wouldn't want to make a know-it-all laugh.
Endeavor to persevere...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsL6mKxtOlQ
I gotta give it to you ZH'rs. Nowhere on the internet will you find a smarter group of commenters. You guys/girls are some smart mofos. I love waking up reading ZH before going to my dead end job! Thanks. ZH.
As a Conservatarian, I agree with the article on an economic and political basis, but point out that the differences are often in the social realm. Therefore, I am good with the election day change, and will continue my battle on a second front: the hearts and souls of mankind.
It matters.
The degree of fascism and loss of freedoms will always be exponential in effect under leftists.
While there is a small window of opportunity for a real conservative to make change in the current political environment, there is opportunity.
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre." Frank Zappa, 1977
I agree that nothing substantial will change, indeed, not much of anything will change.
But, the results were a little more than meaningless. Exit polls show a massive majority of people actually employed rejected the Obola program, which is good. Also, Clay Aiken, the tranny pop star lost in his odd bid for Congress. One would hope that the GOP control will be more of a preventative of things (e.g., the body armor ban proposal.)
Reasonably speaking, those looking for substantial reforms like the evil Soviet IRS being gutted, flat tax rates, encouragement of entrepreneurial activities, etc. can keep dreaming.
In sum, think the election results show that not everyone is totally braindead. Had the Democratic Party swept, you could bet that taxes would have effectively increased through new IRS 'rules' that would forbid write offs (except for Fortune 100 companies, who of course pay no taxes and usually receive cash outright, to say nothing of the inside dealings that our whole system is based on.)
Is there a political solution to our situation? I don't think so. The collapse, whether Japan style or one more spectacular is inevitable.
Personally, I think there is an opening for a political reset through the Republican Party: economic recovery acts through industrial bonds, special economic zones and protections for small businesses/partnerships that distribute gains more equitably, real life environmental clean-up projects (unlike the absurd war on CO2), a slow building of US gov held hard asset reserves. But such would only ever get to about a third of anything and would be more to 'raise awareness' than actually turn around the ship.
The tsunami of debt, keen understanding that our economy is by an large a farce meant to give possession of everything to a tiny film of the worst of the worst sociopaths, and hopelessness uselessness of most 'millenials' and younger portend a bad ending to the American System.
We are just swapping out one group of digital illits for another. Tech companies just code around all the verbiage created with laws and adjust risk algorithms to work with inside verbiage, aka loopholes. These folks better restore and fund the Office of Technology Assessment as they are going to need it. This agency was disbanded and it was a non partisan research agency to help them. So they have chosen over the last few years to be dumb.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/07/bill-to-restore-office-of-technol...
Google probably does it the best in DC as they have 2 groups, one for each party to lobby and ensure that laws are passed with verbiage they can code around and still get what they want and toss money at them. This is the way tech lobbying works today, they just code around the verbiage in laws so that's really their lobbying efforts and it makes no difference which party is doing the bill work for the most part as this work with either party. Tech companies don't care and the banks do the same thing but of course they do have a bit more to focus on with verbiage though.
Insurance companies, a lot of the same thing and they are big data users to mine, analyze and sell your data, the epidemic. Heard o AON? I'm sure you have but read about the hundreds of Quants they have on board and see what they do. Aon is the exchange for buying insurance for Walgreens employees and Walgreens shifted them over there about a year ago and I bet they have some massive files on all Walgreens employees too. There's also some links and information here about data brokers and how to opt out if you want to see from the World Privacy Forum.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/11/insurance-carriers-and-brokers-are-big.html
There's a lot of nothing being done with that money making epidemic too and I put together a new campaign and there's a good testimony video here from the World Privacy Forum with Rockefeller from January, so what's been done, nothing.
http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-preserve-our-privacy-/258776
It really makes no difference as this new group has their hands full and we shall see if virtual values continue to sadly trump the real world with a new bunch of Algo Dupees.
I really really admire you calling public education system unnatural. I honestly could not find a right word for it and now I’ve found it. When I think of our education I imagine an insane person who is in charge of Board of Education. I really do not know what our children will be in a few years. The evaluation system is so messed up. I wish it was somehow changed finally. I just don’t think it is possible to succeed for so many children. Only for some though
Mel and Essay Online Store Website