posted February 26, 2009 08:41 AM              

Egg in the face.

Didnt happen.

Too boring to go into.We embraced free markets in 1990 when bankruptcy loomed and the Reserves were in the negative.

BANG - what the govt. Equality inducing programmes,laws and regulations didnt do in 40 years happened in 10 years.

Poor are still poor but the middle class is one of the biggest in the world -that wasnt the case pre -1990.

I never had any exposure to our socialist times - i was a kid to understand back then.And what i learnt in school and college is ...apologetically enough crazy govt propoganda trying to " socialise " me.

Been seeing the light of late...or am i ?

What do the members think is better ?

Republic or Democracy ?

posted February 26, 2009 03:25 PM            

the thing is people are amazingly resourceful. when government and economy are too tight, they just go right outside the mainstream and create black market economies. so a country that officially looks broke actually has a lot of thriving people in it, they just are very good at not being counted...the same is true when capitalism seems to have all the money sewn up in a few hands...

which is better? anything that is not too extreme, probably. whether he acts it out or not, obama was right, partisan politics is b.s. - a bunch of schoolboys playing at government from a my side/your side mentality !! i still think democracy is best because at least we get to exercise our power to vote and influence the course of events. it is a LOONNGG way from perfect, but as esther hicks points out, when everything looks terrible it is an opportunity to get a real handle on what you DO want and head in that direction...

posted February 26, 2009 08:49 PM            

quote:

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Been seeing the light of late...or am i ?
What do the members think is better ?

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posted February 26, 2009 11:01 PM            

In true democracy the people are involved directly, but it does not work good.

Republic and democrats are just parties in the USA. Often times it has become associated with right and left (socialism)

I will vote for Republic all the way. They are made of smart economists.

Even spiritually they have an upper hand.
Heh, remember how early followers of Buddha and Mahavira were rich. Jesus dined with Nicodemus. Without rich people christianity would not have survived.

Only rich people can be religious, the poor will seek bread and has no time for God

Gee, I had this typed out and forgot about it. Anyway here goes before it goes..

quote:

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Well you said it already -- poor had become more poor and rich did not become rich with what India tried. Her prime minister Indira Gandhi was as ill advised as Obama is today.

No doubt in my mind , I will chose the most modern party.

Only a rich country can afford to be socialist and spiritual. I keep hearing some Americans say we have lots of money. Perhaps they do - I mean when all these rich people die, all that or perhaps the inheritance tax goes to the government.

One day, this country can become bankrupt if innovation ends. Obama has tried to create innovation by creating more jobs in green industry. But how do we know if carbon dioxide and other gases heats our earth? It was a risk he has taken based on his and other people of his party's own convinction. Also in these crazy time 600plus billion goes towards health reforms. Where is all this money coming from? Makes me think the US is indeed rich.

Hope we get over this fight and focus on recovering this country. It is not necessary to repeat history and the "We" talked about in the declaration of independence can do that. Economics is also psychology driven . Therefore better the pscyche , better the urge to consume and that sustains the economy because uptil now we have been consuming and consuming and fueling the economy. Right now most Americans are cutting costs and also trying to remove all unncessary expenses. The banking people were paid bonuses on future returns (which really fell thru after 5-10 years). Most of the companies recovered those bonus from wall street execs but many did not. Finance industry should reinvent itself as 'real-finance' . We are done with all that bogus financial instruments. If wall street does well, main street does well. Because people's money is invested there -- education loans, retirement, small businesses etc etc.

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posted February 27, 2009 10:23 AM            

These people will raise the selling price of their products and inflation will likely result. So all prices are going up.

posted February 27, 2009 11:53 AM              

quote:

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You've done your best to insult and offend a good many members of this forum.
I'm curious why you think we'd be interested in responding to you with *any* sort of opinion, let alone spend time and effort contributing to your knowledge??

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Firstly - why respond at all ?

Secondly - and this is not thread for that kind of basic explanation - look carefully - most of it involved retaliation - when not in retaliation - it was a generalisation that a member CHOSE to think applied to them.

I know what i post and i have not insulted anyone unless i was insulted first - in view of my CHOSEN beliefs.

Thirdly - If you or any member imagines that the very existence of opposing beliefs and their expression by anyone else implies Insult - that is your imagination.That is not my Fault.

Fourth - on GU - that has been a matter of forum legend - everyone on GU has had fights with members with whom they dont share political or social beliefs.

Yet the very same members do NOT discuss that on other forums or threads , except for a couple of early threads that attracted claims of Racism.

You as well as I know that we are both entitled to our beliefs - i chose NOT to think that your beliefs imply you are to be treated any differently , far less that your beliefs being different means you are offending me.

What you do is your choice.

If i can be subjected to misperceptions or generalisations i am entitled to the same liberty - that is what i am guilty of isnt it ?

And most of what i have posted has correspondence with some other female writer that i concur with - most of what members find offensive and start arguments has been in the words of another.and i have been childish to to go with the flow.

Mea culpa.

If i post what a writer thinks on an issue and state facts or observations that back it - and a member takes it personally .

NOT MY FAULT.

Everyone is entitled to have their own threshhold of imaginatory offence.

If you CHOOSE to think that i insult you or offend you by expressing beliefs contrary to your own .

Then its your childish party and i dont want an invite.

And trust me, as has happened on GU in the past.

If my insults of any members had been unwarranted - Randall would have banned me like Mystic Gemini was so many times.

The fact that i have not received a single email or attracted any action from Randall means what you are accusing me of is a product of your own perception.

posted February 27, 2009 12:12 PM              

quote:

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and i have seen the perils of too much help from government. which is more fair?

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See - thing is i only ever saw our Socialistic do - good govt.and when i travel to a place where the opposite worked for a century with good results - my past experiences is all i see

We had govt programmes that used tax payer money and were supposed to result in eradication of income inequalities- FAILED BIG TIME.

We had govt.govt programmes that used tax payer money to make sure all MAJOR industries were monopolised by the government and private capitalists didnt get any chance to get rich at our costs - from Banks, Healthcare ,Petroleum to Metals.

FAILED AGAIN - our govt ran all its units and undertakings at a loss - be it our train system or banks - KABOOM.

Then when the water reached our noses the govt decided to abandon socialism and embrace free markets.

Now imagine the view i get from here - the reverse happening across the world in a superpower and i get front row seats.

And i know that what is expected from Universal healthcare and bankbailouts will not only NOT happen - it will blow their minds.

Which makes it a hilarious exercise doesnt it

And leaves to ponder what is the third option

what i really was hoping i guess is a lesson in political science - they never spoke about the technicalities that differentiate a Repubic from a Democracy.

posted February 27, 2009 12:17 PM              

i absoultely recommend this book " Millionaires in the Bible "

Moses,Abraham,Jesus etc were all filthy rich !!!!!

Great book that challenges our rich - bad , poor - good beliefs.

and it is true that those who believe in creating for and involving the greater many are SPIRITUAL.

Capitalism doesnt just create for the top rung - it involves the bottom rung and thus enriches them too.

posted February 27, 2009 12:27 PM            

Look at it this way.

If there are $100 "worth" of goods and services in an economy and $100 in money circulating in that economy, the system is in balance and there will be no inflation, no deflation, no rise or fall in prices.

However, if one more dollar is printed and circulated into that economy which has $100 worth of goods and services, then every dollar in circulation has just been "devalued" by 1%. Because the "dollars" in circulation are now worth only 99 cents in purchasing power, prices for goods and services must rise to reflect that reality...or sellers must collectively agree to take less for their goods and services and be paid only 99 cents in actual value instead of $1.01 for the very same goods and services.

posted February 27, 2009 12:35 PM              

SO how does a Repubic in political terms differ from a Democracy - if both elect their leaders ?

posted February 27, 2009 01:09 PM            

in england (called socialist by some) the decision to enter the common market was decided by public vote referendum. a rarity but it did happen. i have never heard of such a thing in america.

posted February 27, 2009 01:30 PM            

Many feel cheated right now in what they saw in Obama. Even the media was praising songs that he is "fiscally conservative" than his distractors presume, but less than 40 days in office and he has proved himself to be quite the contrary.

Jwhop - Thanks for pointing that out. I said it so poorly for lack of time. I shouldn't have said anything at all in that case.

Your assumption is Obama's admin is going to print more money and that will devalue the currency even further. But I am not sure of that yet.

Where I was going earlier by that comment was based on your previous analogy - government raises taxes , sellers (lets say restaurant owners) increases their price to account for the tax increase, customers now pays more. It is inflation in that sense.
People will have to shell out more if the consumption need is to be met.

I mean we can argue that, if every one cuts down on their wants -- lets say going out to eat half the time than before, use fans as opposed to ACs and cut down on utility bills etc etc... this will create less demand and might make prices fall also. Will it happen ? How long can Americans hold off on their wants?

Why do we need to upgrade laptop after laptop every 3 year? Or that HDTV that gets better every year? Or that car which you changed and upgraded every 3-5 year. These things led to a growth in the past. But now it appears to me that to balance out the dollars chasing the cost of good, it will be beneficial to America to consume less.

Gee, I am contradicting myself now by saying don't consume. If you are happy, you will consume less. You will feel less hungry. This is what spirituality says. But how many conservatives are willing to downgrade their SUVs LOL.

Gosh, why do I always debate from both sides? Must be the Libra ascendent at work. Never mind. shutting up.

posted February 27, 2009 04:38 PM            

paper money is where inflation starts. as there get to be too many people to use gold for everything, paper started to be used as a "symbolic" amount of gold. fine if it is backed penny for penny, but ever since paper money came in it has been "symbolizing" less and less gold. about the only truly gold-backed currency at present is swiss franc, which at one time was as worthless as everything else, but they have been buying back gold to cover their money and it is now worth about half its face value. no other paper currency can boast this!! at least that i know of...

posted February 27, 2009 08:48 PM            

and then there is the inflation caused by greed. yes terrible word, but in my work, i set my own price. in my county the working logic is "charge what the market will bear" so for years people just asked for the moon and often got it. people advised me over and over to raise my prices to "keep up" and not be seen to undervalue myself. i held steady, saying i was not going to contribute to inflation. now people look at me as reasonable and those others have inflated themselves out of the market all of a sudden.

posted April 24, 2009 11:27 AM            

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Republic or Democracy - What is Pro and which is a Con ?

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If you ask a Jesus or Buddha, they will say be choiceless. They are not interested in politics really but only in you becoming and living like God.

Perhaps they would give you a answer (the best under current circumstances and based on your being/gut)

posted February 23, 2011 04:05 PM            

I found myself running in circles between the two parties,

In my opinion, It was designed this way.

So my choice was, Be frustrated and angry, Or play along and be a part of the group.

The group that is VS another group.

I think politicians pit the groups against one another.

It is far too distracting from "real" life to endure anymore.