Noooo, you can't simply throw the argument back at me. Bad Sam. Bad. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Prince_James, I had no idea you thought so? It seems to me that everything has it's time and place. I am still curious and wonder what sort of solution would We in the USA come up with if (or when) there is not enough land and people must rent from landlords. What would people think of private landownership when a handful of land-Barons own all the land? That is a reoccurring theme in the entire world (even Easter Island) for as long as there has been people owning land. I also think that is why the Chinese thought Communism was worth a try. And you know, there was no harm to We the People living in America in the Chinese giving it a go. Was there? No. So let them try.. .. .. .. .. Anyway, I'm all for mob rule - that's democracy after all. Truly great people are truly just people. Some people think that that arse-hole Kissinger is truely great. Some people think Reagan was truely great. From another perspective Kissinger was a monster who dropped one last bomb on women and children just to be f*cking prick (knowing the USA was leaving Vietnam the next day) and Reagan was a kook who thought aliens were observing us from behind the moon!?!?Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Not to mention the many Americans that still think Bush is a truely insightful and great American leader :bugeye: I have always maintained Julius Caesar was truely great. BUT to others his actions directly led to the demise of the Republic and that when politically out-gunned Julius took Rome by force like a spoilt prat (I tend to think it was inadvertently General Marius's fault by precedence). We the People, aka Mob, I believe it says Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Michael
You might be quite surprised at all of the other social activities that continue even though the news media would have you believe that Iraq is in total ruin and under total anarchy. The men still enjoy their coffee and conversation right on the street cafes every day ....just like they did a hundred, perhaps a thousand, years ago. People still go to the markets shopping, and people still gather for parties and wedding and other such normal, daily activities. But the news media only shows the sensationalism of war and blood and death and destruction ......the other normal activities aren't very newsworthy. Baron Max
Michael: Feudalism tends to be very bad for everyone involved. It basically destroys the economy. You never read the history of the Korean War? We lost the war in part because the Koreans were aided by the Communist Chinese. We also have a billion+ strong enemy because of Chinese Communism. A nuclear one, at that. Do you use this same logic when seeking a doctor? Actually, "We the People" referred to landowning American pseudo-aristocracy gentlemen.
Michael: And when the mob decides that your rights are inconvenient for them, because your of the wrong skin color, religious belief, political belief, sexual orientation, been accused of a crime you didn't commit, and a thousand other reasons, and string you up a tree, are you for the mob?
Prince_James, After the war with Japan, General MacArthur took the land which was lawfully owned by wealthy Japanese families and shared it among the average citizen. This was because without land those Japanese were forever indentured to the landowners. He simply stole the land and willy-nilly handed it out to people for free. Do you support this decision? What about New York. Some people will never be able to own property. They will forever rent from property owners. Would it be OK it someone simply took the land and handed it out for free to people living in New York? Do you support rent control? Is that fair? It's their land - why can't they rent it for what they want? Let the economy sort it out? Why do we have rent control? Lets suppose. What is the peoples recourse if: In the future there are large land Barons that own ALL of the land in the USA. We'll just say there are 1000 extremely rich families who own ALL of the land. All of it. Every Citizen must pay them rent. They agree among themselves to make the rent so extremely high that the Citizens are forever in poverty and debt to the landowners. What are the Citizens to do? The landowners own the land legally afterall. It is their rigth to demand whatever price they set as rent. If you do not like it - find some other place to live. So? What do the Citizens do? The Bill of Rights Grantees certain basic rights and outside of that the public is within their rights to alter the Constitution. That is the "Mob" I'm talking about about - you and I. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! MII
Michael Not without due process, the Constitution is the law of the land, and if you want to destroy it the fastest way is with mob action, for once the mob rules nothing is safe, look at the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, one of the few revolutions that didn't go through a mob reign of terror was the American Revolution, so you have your mob change of the constitutional Rights, and you will most likely end up a victim of that very same mob, mobs eat their own in the end.
Buffalo Roam, OK OK .. I didn't mean mob as in "mob" I meant mob as in the general public over, say. elite land owners. Yes, I agree - due processes. Now with that in mind, is it possible for the Public to vote for a Communist Style government? Legally is it possible? It should be - if that were the Will of the People. Also, is it possible to Legally make the USA an Islamic State? Is it possible to Legally make the USA a dictatorship? Just curious ... Michael
Michael, So now your saying that the general public is a mob, check your dictionary, word have specific meaning, and with comments like that you are proving just how much of a elitist you are.
Buffalo Roam, Really, it was an off-the-cuff remark. I included myself in the term "mob" but read "mob" as general public. PJ is the one who said Land holders get the say while the "mob" plays second fiddle. That sounds like elitist to me....
Michael: No. But you shall also note that the merchant class of Japan was extremely prosperous following the Meiji Revolution. The old, landed aristocracy, of the samurai caste lost their true power following said revolution 80 years before WWII. I find it hard to imagine MacArthur then confiscated that much land. I think it would be horrible to confiscate the land from the land owners. It is theirs. Similarly, I do not support rent control. Rent control is placing an eggregious tax against many land owners still here in New York City. Moreover, there still remains areas where you can cheaply afford a house in NYC. In fact, throughout much of America, most Americans can buy property. What the free market demands is only that the best land is more expensive, not that all land should be. Right now, I could buy acres of land in Montana much cheaper than in New York, for instance. Colonize other lands - like the Europeans did in the Age of Exploration. Also, in a capitalist system, this never occurs. Land is freely traded in. It's considered a rarity to own a property that has been in one's family for over a hundred years.
Prince_James, You place a lot of faith in Voodoonomics Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Me too.. .. .. I understand your position and I agree with you - I think that for today this is as good as we'll likely get. However, I do think that land ownership (or lack there of..) and revolution share a seat at the same table - - along with their buddy Mr. Colony. Hence conflict. I for one thinks it's wrong for the Chinese to have taken Tibet. But, their land space is extremely limited and they did exactly what you suggested. ala: Age of Conquest I do hope they are smart enough to see there is a real opportunity for commercial tourism should they grant real semi-autonomy to some small slice and allow Tibet culture to adapt from within and to retain what they deem essential to "be" Tibetan. I guess we'll see, Michael
Prince_James, OK, I was thinking about this from another angle. Under then English Law the King of England owned all of the land that became the USA. The King was the legal landowner - right? Do you support the actions our forefathers took that is now called the War of Independence? It seems to me that according to your land-ownership rational We the People were wrong in stealing the Kings land? What is land-tax if not the same as rent? He owned the ships. He owned the land. He had every right to squeeze as much tax/rent as he deemed worth his while. It was his property after all. So do you celebrate July 4th? Why or Why not? Michael
So do you look for those types of stories when you read newspapers or watch the evening news about America? Do you want to read stories of a group of American teens sipping coffee at Starbucks in Chicago, telling jokes to each other? Do you want to read stories of busy single mothers shopping at grocery stores in Houston, Texas? Do you want to read about that wedding in Shreveport, Lousiana? Do you, in fact, want to read about normal, daily activities? Face it, no one on earth, in any bloody country, wants to read normal daily activities on the newspaper or on the news. If you do, you're a liar. The fact is, Iraq is a hell-hole right now, which is why American politicians can't even go anywhere outside of the Green Zone in Baghdad. If Iraq were so nice and rosy, I want to see American civilians go walking outside in Iraqi cities in broad daylight.
terryoh, It would surprise you but they do, Outside of Baghdad, and Sadr City, thing are really quite stable, watch the news and most of the bombings take place in Baghdad, why? because that is were the bombers get the best news coverage to influence the propaganda cycle to make it seem like the whole country is in turmoil, watch the bombing and see where they are happening, very little action outside the triangle.
I just went through 112 news stories about bombings in Iraq, 110 were in Baghdad, 2 happened in the rest of the country.
