SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/goodbye-to-the-dollar/
The inept and corrupt presidency of Donald Trump has unwittingly triggered the fatal blow to the American empire—the abandonment of the dollar as the world’s principal reserve currency. Nations around the globe, especially in Europe, have lost confidence in the United States to act rationally, much less lead, in issues of international finance, trade, diplomacy and war. These nations are quietly dismantling the seven-decade-old alliance with the United States and building alternative systems of bilateral trade. This reconfiguring of the world’s financial system will be fatal to the American empire, as the historian Alfred McCoy and the economist Michael Hudson have long pointed out. It will trigger an economic death spiral, including high inflation, which will necessitate a massive military contraction overseas and plunge the United States into a prolonged depression. Trump, rather than make America great again, has turned out, unwittingly, to be the empire’s most aggressive gravedigger.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:02AM (33 children)
The comments are crazy over there. The sentences are as long as normal people's paragraphs and they have their own definitions of common terms, eg like what capitalism means (afaict to them it means anything bad the US government does). Where are people learning this?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Apparition on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:19AM (31 children)
You obviously haven't paid any attention to the American education system since the '90s. English, history, math, and critical thinking? Pfft. They're all overrated and who has time for them anyway? It's all social justice, socialism, communism, LGBTWTFBBQ rights, bring a drag queen to kindergarten days.
(Score: 5, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @06:48AM (29 children)
The usual reason given is that Critical Thinking Education leads children to disobey their parents, but you and I both know the Right's real reason is that Critical Thinking makes one resistant to propaganda.
For example, many Right Wingers assert that taxes are paid only through threat of violence, whereas I myself was threatened by no one when I recently voted for a Clark County property tax increase as I feel high such taxes are a good way to support our schools.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @08:10AM (1 child)
Either you:
1. are clueless about how this could be abused
2. actually want it to be abused
It is obvious that "critical thinking" isn't going to be honestly about teaching more effective ways of thinking. It's a propaganda class taught by teachers, and teachers are typically in support of ctrl-left propaganda. It'll be "analyse why Orange Man Bad" at best. It may be more like "show via critical thinking why socialism is the obvious solution".
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:00PM
Consider that Criticial Thinking was taught by a devout Catholic in high school junior year Lit.
We even read Dante's Inferno.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday February 05 2019, @11:41AM (9 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @01:17PM (4 children)
I live in one one of the liberal utopias. Not a republican in sight. Taxes are collected under the threat of fines and jail time. What I get back for them is.... roads (and maybe some forest preserves). Social contract, I never signed it. Seems to read: Give us your money and we'll give others a bunch of shit that doesn't apply to you. When you do need some help the government gives the run around for some crumbs unless you've got 50 kids.
So why would I go back to school (ah yes, part of that was free when I wasn't contributing a thing), when school taught me the critical thinking to see I've got a devil's bargain. Take your "society" and ship it back to amazon, I don't want it.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:09PM
Sounds like you have a raw deal where you are. There are many places where you can go that don't have good tax enforcement records [weforum.org]. Guyana and Chad are at the top of the list. Hopefully you can tell us about how happy you are from an internet cafe in Georgetown or N'Djamena.
Have a nice trip. See you next fall!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:59PM (1 child)
Who the hell upmodded this as "Insightful"? Is someone actually brave enough to step forward and justify that upmod? Seriously, who modded this libertarian drivel up? Hell, I feel dumber just for having read the damn thing!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @02:24AM
You're saying that your feelings lag behind reality?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @07:11AM
FatPhil neglected to inlcude a link [soylentnews.org] to information about [wikipedia.org] Rousseau's fine work, The Social Contract [constitution.org].
Don't go back to school. I'm sure that won't make anyone happy.
However, I do recommend reading the above, as it will diminish your ignorance and, hopefully, help you not look like an idiot in forums like this.
Toodles!
(Score: 1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:32PM (1 child)
We know what a social contract is, but do you?
Just like a dwarf planet is not a planet, and a veggie burger is not a burger, a social contract is not a contract.
Real contracts are voluntary. The "social contract" is imposed on you from birth.
Real contracts have terms agreed on in a meeting of the minds. The terms of the "social contract" may be altered at any time by 51% of voters, and the new terms apply to everyone, whether they accept or reject them.
The social contract is a political tool, a fiction created and propagated to give the state moral high ground, and deny rebels against the state moral equivalence. Where people with unclouded vision see a civil war as two groups willing to kill each other for power, and have to ask what each group intends to do with that power in order to form a moral judgement, those who believe in the social contract see a noble government defending itself against oathbreakers, and need to look no deeper.
It's basically the republican equivalent of the monarchist's "divine right" fiction.
In the colonial era, this fiction was a lot more believable -- after all, while real contracts are opt-in, at least someone with enough money could theoretically opt-out of the social contract by sailing to some unsettled region of the New World, and building their own life where they owe nothing to, and are owed nothing by, a nation an ocean away. The cost and risk was of course prohibitive, but at least it was an option.
You can't even pretend there's a way to opt-out anymore; the best you can do is trade one social contract for another by changing citizenship, and that's generally a ~decade-long process that requires the permission of one or both masters.
So it's losing its grip -- more and more people are seeing it for the sham it's always been. Don't worry, I'm sure the statists will settle on a replacement fiction sometime within this century, just as they invented the social contract when divine right became useless.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:06PM
Consider that in the Boy Scouts, we went camping once per month year round with no regard whatsoever for the weather. A couple times I was woefully unprepared for such weather: that resulted in my fellow Scouts knocking my tent down while I was in it, in a driving rainstorm.
The second time nobody knew other than myself, but they all came pretty close to finding a dead body in my sleeping bag come morning: Hypothermia.
So I know from trekking in the wilderness.
I also have the First Aid and Wilderness Survival Merit Badge, as well as an Idaho State Gun Safety Card. I'm a lousy shot but that is easily fixed. Can't buy guns 'cause I'm a wingnut? Guess Again: Gun Shows. There's one every single month in Portland.
With all that put together, there are a great many places where I could freely go to live off the land.
But I don't do so, because I would rather contribute to society - especially _American_ society, for example by writing essays such as It Must Not Happen Here [warplife.com].
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by TheRaven on Tuesday February 05 2019, @06:24PM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday February 06 2019, @02:34AM
That "social contract" has been bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated multiple times. Every time some son of a bitch screeches, "There oughtta be a law!" he is attacking the social contract. Political action groups are constantly attacking said contract. Think about it: if a parent can be imprisoned for allowing his child to go to a community park to play, the contract is worthless.
I did a duck search for the story I have in mind - I find that such arrests are almost common - Maryland, Florida, New York, Queensland, Tennessee, South Carolina - and I'm seeing 7, 8, 9, and 12 year old children, rather than 4, 5, or 6 year old children.
Click this Duck search, or do your own - https://duckduckgo.com/?q=arrest+for+allowing+child+to+walk+to+playground+alone+&t=hl&ia=web [duckduckgo.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @12:31PM (10 children)
Remember, according to conservatives and libertarians "Do what I say or you will be shot" is evil but "Do what I say or you and your family will starve" is good.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @02:45PM (9 children)
You seem to be very confused.
Conservatives: no problem inherent in a state monopoly on violence. Conservatives care about small, incremental changes to society. They don't want big, radical shifts.
Libertarians also don't mind violence as a threat being handled by the state (look up what they refer to as the night watchman state) but tend to want its scope to be narrowly restricted.
Maybe you were thinking of anarchists instead?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:31PM (8 children)
My experience of libertarians is that they are completely fine with state violence provided that they know for certain the state violence won't be directed at themselves or somebody they can identify with. For example, I've met more than a few libertarians who are not on board with or actively opposed to Black Lives Matter but were still very upset about Ruby Ridge, despite the fact that many of the people Black Lives Matter were upset about getting killed by the state hadn't even broken the law while there was substantial evidence that the Weavers had.
Anarcho-capitalist types tend to be more extreme and think more in terms of any government violence being bad regardless of its purpose. In short, random dude shooting up a place with an AR-15 = OK, cops shooting up a place with an AR-15 = Horrible Evil. I'm still not quite clear what the difference between the two is.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:35PM (2 children)
Sounds like your a pro at coming up with strawmen to me.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:01PM (1 child)
The libertarians I've chatted with include neighbors, a Libertarian Party congressional candidate, and some friends of mine. Now, they may not be the best exemplars of libertarian thought, but they sure seem like a pretty reasonable cross-section of actual libertarians.
As for the anarcho-capitalists, I'll admit I've only really encountered them online, mostly ranting about how a violently imposed monopoly is ruining everything good and holy about the free market, how the government wants to take their guns, and so on.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:09PM
I'd use ron paul as the prototypical modern libertarian. We have no idea what your friends actually said and whether you misinterpreted it or not so it is much better to use what is available in public.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @12:35AM
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!
Congratulations! You win the internet for today!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @02:32AM (2 children)
"Substantial evidence" that Vicki Weaver and her infant child were breaking the law? Or maybe the kids Sammy and Sara?
Congratulations, you've introduced me to a level of bootlicking I didn't believe was possible.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday February 07 2019, @12:05AM (1 child)
No: There was good reason to think Kevin Harris was, and when they tried to serve the warrant they had every reason to think they were about to be entering a firefight. The FBI sniper fired a shot he shouldn't have fired and hit Vicki even though he thought he was taking a shot at Kevin Harris.
As for Sammy, he had just shot at federal officials when he was killed. When you open fire, that makes you a fair target, retreating or not.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @03:45AM
Note the difference:
"Kevin Harris"
"the Weavers"
So do you care to elaborate on which Weaver(s) were breaking the law, aside from the charges against Randy?
That cuts both ways, you know. As I'm sure you're aware, while the question of who fired first is disputed, both accounts agree that Sammy only returned fire after the Marshals fired on the Weaver/Harris group and killed the dog. While the validity of Harris's self-defense justification (which did prevail in court) may depend on which version of events one believes, Sammy had unambiguous cause to fear for his life.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting the Marshals are unjustified in returning fire against the entire group, either -- frankly, the only person who wasn't justified was whoever fired the first shot, but we'll never know who that was. Once you have two armed groups facing each other, and shots have been fired, any individual on either side can only assume the opposing group is acting together.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 06 2019, @04:53AM
No True Libertarian knows for certain that state violence won't be directed at themselves, unless of course, the state (or other contenders for that power) doesn't have the power. The tides turn in democracies and your team won't stay in power forever.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:36PM (3 children)
A completely redundant and predictable pair of reasons...
Jails are full of inmates being asked by mainstream representatives: "Didn't your parents ever teach you..."
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday February 05 2019, @07:15PM (2 children)
Jails are also full of inmates whose Mothers drank too much during pregnancy. They're actually incapable of being taught, some can't even grok 2+2=4.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:48PM (1 child)
It has been well-documented since the fifties that adult Schizophrenia is highly correlated with childhood cat ownership.
It would seem reasonable to expect this to be the result of the patient's brain being infested by the same Toxoplasma Gondii as leads infected mice to be less fearful of mice, but decades of research has not found such a link.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday February 06 2019, @05:14AM
I'm somewhat surprised that a link hasn't been found.
Even diet has quite an affect on mental health. Had to remove all dairy products from my sons diet before he settled down and personally I (and others I know) seem to be more depressed when having wheat in my diet, not to mention the bowl problems.
People are much more complex then the simplified view that if you try, you can overcome anything. Sorta like someone with 2 good legs telling the cripple that they can walk if they just put their mind to it.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 05 2019, @06:41PM
"seems to take a stand against, well, the teaching of critical thinking skills.", "and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority." I.E. Not against teaching critical thinking. Against teaching, Teacher's Pet Project, whether that's Obama is actually the devil, or Trump's recent ancestry is Gorillas.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:09PM
Trump didn't even really lower the taxes on regular people, in fact, he eliminated some unreimbersed employee tax exemptions. In fact he did a few other things that actually increase taxes on regular people. Don't be fooled.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @07:46AM
I kept reading and now they are piling onto a guy for buying silver in 2001 and tripling his value. They say he is stupid for not selling at the peak in 2012 when he could have 6x-ed the value, therefore silver is a scam (or something) I saw some other posts where they say only professional traders could make money in the stock market, which is bizarre since all you've really needed to do for decades to "make money" is buy and hold as the dollar inflates.
These people seem totally without any sort of financial understanding, possibly as a genetic/developmentally determined trait (just like not everyone will be a great athlete, etc). This obviously puts them at a disadvantage everyday of their lives, so I can see why the idea of alternate economic systems would have some appeal to them.
Anyway, fascinating stuff over there so I appreciate this post.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @08:26PM
More importantly, there are an insane amount of people over there who will defend atrocities such as the NSA's mass surveillance.