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freshwest
freshwest's Journal
freshwest's Journal
June 29, 2014
Published on Jun 25, 2014
President Obama delivers remarks at the League of Conservation Voters Capital Dinner, June 25, 2014.
President Obama Speaks to the League of Conservation Voters
Published on Jun 25, 2014
President Obama delivers remarks at the League of Conservation Voters Capital Dinner, June 25, 2014.
June 29, 2014
EDIT: That was the short version. Here is the full video. Enjoy!
Published on Jun 26, 2014
President Obama answered questions at a town hall in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Okay, the wilds of Minnehaha...
Oh, and look, an intelligent crowd who want to know what's going on in the world, not what the media tells them to think!
Beautiful bear in the woods of Minnesota:
EDIT: That was the short version. Here is the full video. Enjoy!
Published on Jun 26, 2014
President Obama answered questions at a town hall in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Okay, the wilds of Minnehaha...
Oh, and look, an intelligent crowd who want to know what's going on in the world, not what the media tells them to think!
June 28, 2014
His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power...
They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest.
Their final objective, toward which all their deceit is directed, is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."
~ U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, quoted in the New York Times, April 9, 1944
That was 70 years ago.
And the violence is ramping up, so they are getting close to their goals. They've done what they have done, not so much in the name of government which had many measures to keep them down, but by worming their way up from the corporations to hold sway over resources, media and the American mind.
We're now herded that direction by the Libertarian viewpoints as explained in these pieces:
How Freedom Became Tyranny
Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.
George Monbiot - December 19, 2011
Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?
In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.
Right-wing libertarianism recognises few legitimate constraints on the power to act, regardless of the impact on the lives of others. In the UK it is forcefully promoted by groups like the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange. Their conception of freedom looks to me like nothing but a justification for greed.
So why have we been been so slow to challenge this concept of liberty? I believe that one of the reasons is as follows. The great political conflict of our age – between neocons and the millionaires and corporations they support on one side and social justice campaigners and environmentalists on the other – has been mischaracterised as a clash between negative and positive freedoms.
More at the link about the meaning of positive and negative freedoms and how the word is being used against us:
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/
They have gotten just about every thing they have on their list, playing the CT, Tea, GOP and the public who don't understand what the world the Koch brothers are forcing on us to accept this. Note that Social Security and the Post Office are on the list:
BERNIE SANDERS Uncovers 1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"
What else do the Koch brothers want?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...
Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.
Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch
to kpete:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
Diclotican, we've heard this for years, Americans have come to believe this is how it has to be.
Some have spoken out but been forced out of the spotlight for it:
Van Jones: Protecting Society from Corporate 'Tyranny'
Van Jones, Founding President of Rebuild the Dream, criticizes the influence corporations and special interests have on our political system. Jones argues that "the Tea Party is correct, our liberties are under threat," but their "negative" rhetoric is misguided.
to Lars77:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101736730
As much a threat as Germany was to the world... Think of us if we go all the way. Obama is determined to keep us off the path that Bush took us on... And then some... But we still have more destructive capacity than anyone else, AFAIK.
Diclotican, what if America were to be unleashed, through these entities with their ideologies upon the entire world? Are we too late, is this system out of our hands now?
One more thing... Sorry this is so long, just read it at your leisure:
1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"
What else do the Koch brothers want?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...
Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.
Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch
to kpete:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
Would any of these things pass the smell test in Norway?
I know there was a problem with investing public pension funds some time back. So it's not impossible Norway will be confronted by something similar, with the loss of unity.
Diclotican. Good analysis. We're having trouble here, it was foreseen long ago. MSM is Goebbels:
"The really dangerous American fascist... is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence.His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power...
They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest.
Their final objective, toward which all their deceit is directed, is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."
~ U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, quoted in the New York Times, April 9, 1944
That was 70 years ago.
And the violence is ramping up, so they are getting close to their goals. They've done what they have done, not so much in the name of government which had many measures to keep them down, but by worming their way up from the corporations to hold sway over resources, media and the American mind.
We're now herded that direction by the Libertarian viewpoints as explained in these pieces:
How Freedom Became Tyranny
Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.
George Monbiot - December 19, 2011
Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?
In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.
Right-wing libertarianism recognises few legitimate constraints on the power to act, regardless of the impact on the lives of others. In the UK it is forcefully promoted by groups like the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange. Their conception of freedom looks to me like nothing but a justification for greed.
So why have we been been so slow to challenge this concept of liberty? I believe that one of the reasons is as follows. The great political conflict of our age – between neocons and the millionaires and corporations they support on one side and social justice campaigners and environmentalists on the other – has been mischaracterised as a clash between negative and positive freedoms.
More at the link about the meaning of positive and negative freedoms and how the word is being used against us:
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/
They have gotten just about every thing they have on their list, playing the CT, Tea, GOP and the public who don't understand what the world the Koch brothers are forcing on us to accept this. Note that Social Security and the Post Office are on the list:
BERNIE SANDERS Uncovers 1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"
What else do the Koch brothers want?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”
In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...
Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.
Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch
to kpete:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
Diclotican, we've heard this for years, Americans have come to believe this is how it has to be.
Some have spoken out but been forced out of the spotlight for it:
Van Jones: Protecting Society from Corporate 'Tyranny'
Van Jones, Founding President of Rebuild the Dream, criticizes the influence corporations and special interests have on our political system. Jones argues that "the Tea Party is correct, our liberties are under threat," but their "negative" rhetoric is misguided.
to Lars77:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101736730
As much a threat as Germany was to the world... Think of us if we go all the way. Obama is determined to keep us off the path that Bush took us on... And then some... But we still have more destructive capacity than anyone else, AFAIK.
Diclotican, what if America were to be unleashed, through these entities with their ideologies upon the entire world? Are we too late, is this system out of our hands now?
One more thing... Sorry this is so long, just read it at your leisure:
1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"
What else do the Koch brothers want?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”
In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...
Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.
Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch
to kpete:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
Would any of these things pass the smell test in Norway?
I know there was a problem with investing public pension funds some time back. So it's not impossible Norway will be confronted by something similar, with the loss of unity.
June 28, 2014
I agreed, then guessed the next argument to be made is that, in assisting allies to maintain their society, civil or not, is the worth of supporting them. They are often not respected or trusted by Americans online. In fact, we could argue endlessly 'whose' ally they really are.
I feel some objections are that we are trespassing on the sovereignty of the nation who requested or allowed the USA to fly drones over their territory. Because by our own standards, those governments are not legitimate, while some would gloss over the merit or legitimacy of ISIS - ISIL. as they appear to be acting as the avengers of Saddam Hussein, who many say should have been left in place, massacres and all, to spare us going into Iraq in the first place.
There is a sloppiness in the assertion that neither us nor the drones are not welcome in other countries.
At times DUers applaud the use of drones, even lethal ones, if it is used for causes they support. Such as Sea Shepherd using them to find Japanese whalers, drones to kill elephant poachers, or this morning OP of using them to watch farms for animal abuse.
One of the most prolific live streaming reporters named Tim in NYC following Occupy made a video of a drone he made to fly about and record events. Surviellance by one side okay but not by the other.
I think for some, it's more the feeling of nothing between one and the sun, moon and stars; living in a state of nature of a sort countless humans have throughout our history, and prehistorically, is being taken away from us. That we are unwillingly becoming part of a technocratic global grid that cannot be trusted and dp not respect us.
But many people in the world are eager to build this grid. Those who are not, are called terrorists by some for not modernizing in culture amd accepting change to go along. And I think that is what is driving some of the extremists, their fight against science and universality in culture, and we are conflicted.
Not all change is positive, nor is all tradition. Just ruminating here as I woke up in too much pain to sleep. This thread is a good opening to thinking about why drones exist.
That is a thought provoking piece there. I am thinking about your excerpt:
'...forfeit their right to be protected by sovereignty, as they cannot first violate sovereignty and then ask to be protected by it...'I agreed, then guessed the next argument to be made is that, in assisting allies to maintain their society, civil or not, is the worth of supporting them. They are often not respected or trusted by Americans online. In fact, we could argue endlessly 'whose' ally they really are.
I feel some objections are that we are trespassing on the sovereignty of the nation who requested or allowed the USA to fly drones over their territory. Because by our own standards, those governments are not legitimate, while some would gloss over the merit or legitimacy of ISIS - ISIL. as they appear to be acting as the avengers of Saddam Hussein, who many say should have been left in place, massacres and all, to spare us going into Iraq in the first place.
There is a sloppiness in the assertion that neither us nor the drones are not welcome in other countries.
At times DUers applaud the use of drones, even lethal ones, if it is used for causes they support. Such as Sea Shepherd using them to find Japanese whalers, drones to kill elephant poachers, or this morning OP of using them to watch farms for animal abuse.
One of the most prolific live streaming reporters named Tim in NYC following Occupy made a video of a drone he made to fly about and record events. Surviellance by one side okay but not by the other.
I think for some, it's more the feeling of nothing between one and the sun, moon and stars; living in a state of nature of a sort countless humans have throughout our history, and prehistorically, is being taken away from us. That we are unwillingly becoming part of a technocratic global grid that cannot be trusted and dp not respect us.
But many people in the world are eager to build this grid. Those who are not, are called terrorists by some for not modernizing in culture amd accepting change to go along. And I think that is what is driving some of the extremists, their fight against science and universality in culture, and we are conflicted.
Not all change is positive, nor is all tradition. Just ruminating here as I woke up in too much pain to sleep. This thread is a good opening to thinking about why drones exist.
June 27, 2014
Why are the guns always loaded? Do they think 'The Night of the Living Dead' is reality?
If the boy was going to be taught to go hunting, why not wait until outdoors to load it up?
What was he hunting in the house? Or even worse, did he find it?
It's my question to all of the city slickers with the open carry fetish. It's one thing to have your gun ready in the woods to shoot some dinner.
What are they hunting for in the city? What are they hunting for in a restaurant or public meeting?
You can't tell me they aren't just getting closer to what they've been taught by their leaders:
It's not about protection from crime, it's not about hunting for food or any of that with the open carry crowd.
It's about putting the people on that list on notice. It's not paintball games now.
June 27, 2014
This is what they are devoting their special forces training to since they are now physically disabled but still intent on making a difference.
Here are some guys that also work on this:
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Wounded-Warriors-Find-Second-Career-Busting-Child-Predators-242675461.htmlThis is what they are devoting their special forces training to since they are now physically disabled but still intent on making a difference.
June 26, 2014
What else do the Koch brothers want?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...
Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.
Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch
to kpete:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
We've heard these memes for years, Americans have come to believe this is how it has to be. Another explanation of this here:
How Freedom Became Tyranny
Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.
George Monbiot - December 19, 2011
Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?
In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.
Right-wing libertarianism recognises few legitimate constraints on the power to act, regardless of the impact on the lives of others. In the UK it is forcefully promoted by groups like the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange. Their conception of freedom looks to me like nothing but a justification for greed.
So why have we been been so slow to challenge this concept of liberty? I believe that one of the reasons is as follows. The great political conflict of our age – between neocons and the millionaires and corporations they support on one side and social justice campaigners and environmentalists on the other – has been mischaracterised as a clash between negative and positive freedoms...
More at the link about the meaning of positive and negative freedoms and how a word is being used against us:
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/
I dare say that even if your friends are of the 'island libertarian' variety who don't consider themselves to have any 'fellow Americans,' they would object to some of what the first article says as it could effect them or their families, as they may have to make a living.
Also, the kind of isolationism they favor does not stop globalists from waging daily warfare against other nations, not at all. And waging war against us here at home or the same kind, which when push comes to shove, is violent.
Certainly a thorough read of the second article, and it's worth reading, may lead them to decide they must come to understand more about what they're supporting. It's all part of a whole.
Good luck with your talks with them.
Do they really want this done to their fellow Americans just to have those three things?
BERNIE SANDERS Uncovers 1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"What else do the Koch brothers want?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”
In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...
Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.
Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch
to kpete:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298
We've heard these memes for years, Americans have come to believe this is how it has to be. Another explanation of this here:
How Freedom Became Tyranny
Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.
George Monbiot - December 19, 2011
Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?
In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.
Right-wing libertarianism recognises few legitimate constraints on the power to act, regardless of the impact on the lives of others. In the UK it is forcefully promoted by groups like the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange. Their conception of freedom looks to me like nothing but a justification for greed.
So why have we been been so slow to challenge this concept of liberty? I believe that one of the reasons is as follows. The great political conflict of our age – between neocons and the millionaires and corporations they support on one side and social justice campaigners and environmentalists on the other – has been mischaracterised as a clash between negative and positive freedoms...
More at the link about the meaning of positive and negative freedoms and how a word is being used against us:
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/
I dare say that even if your friends are of the 'island libertarian' variety who don't consider themselves to have any 'fellow Americans,' they would object to some of what the first article says as it could effect them or their families, as they may have to make a living.
Also, the kind of isolationism they favor does not stop globalists from waging daily warfare against other nations, not at all. And waging war against us here at home or the same kind, which when push comes to shove, is violent.
Certainly a thorough read of the second article, and it's worth reading, may lead them to decide they must come to understand more about what they're supporting. It's all part of a whole.
Good luck with your talks with them.
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