Re: DOLLAR COLLAPSE NOW IMMINENT

On Fri, 16 May 2008 09:46:07 -0700, BobR wrote:

> 
>> > Hey, we are at least in total agreement on one thing...lotteries.  On
>> > the other hand, if you are stupid enough to waste your money on a
>> > lottery who am I or anyone else to say you can't.  It goes back to
the
>> > basic freedom to pursue happiness.
>>
>> > We might also agree on robber-barons if you can name a real life
>> > example of one in our current US population.
>>
>> Bill Gates made at least half his money by the creation of  a monopoly
>> in which he also destroyed most of his competition.
>>
> 
> Damn, we think too much alike.  Gates was also the first name that
> came to mind when I thought about the title robber-baron and God knows
> that I dislike that SOB about as much as any human on earth.  On the
> other hand, I can't totally agree that he was a robber-baron either.
> Gates was an op****tunist that essentially saw what the public wanted
> and gave it to them.  He is probably the worst example because his
> product was not something that was a life and death product.  We
> didn't have to buy his operating system or anything else from him, we
> chose to.
> 
> I go back in the business far enough to have been deeply involved with
> the IBM Monopoly of the 60's and 70's.  I thought the same of IBM at
> the time but looking back the monopoly by IBM was only partly IBM's
> doing and much more a stupid follow the leader mentality that said if
> you picked anything but IBM, it was your job on the line.  Microsoft
> became a monopoly on the same mentality.
> 
>> Back some 10 years ago, Archer-Daniels-Midland was caught by the FTC
>> in price fixing. Also, Ucars was also caught by the FTC in price
>> fixing. Various guys in the Enron-Andersen fiascos were playing robber-
>> baron.
>>
>> I could list the Ivan Boesky's, Michael Milkins, and many others, and
>> give you many book titles if you want to read how we've had many
>> robber-barons, going right back to Standard Oil times with Rockefeller
>> and the others who did a lot of damage along, simultaneously, with all
>> of their development of modern society.
>>
> I agree that all did some damage along the way but all also made
> contributions along the way that actually were a benefit to our life
> today.  Even Gates, who I despise, has led to many positives along
> with the negatives.  Without a company like Microsoft, would the
> personal computer revolution have come as far as it has?  We will
> never know but I doubt it.
> 
>> Recently, I've done a lot of reading about the kings, kingdoms,
>> barons, and serfs in medieval England, back 500-1000-1500 years ago,
>> and even in Mesopotamia 3000 years ago. Same basic deal: how a small
>> number of guys parasitize a large number of underling serfs/peasants
>> for monetary gain, power gain, and also get the underlings to bleed
>> and die in wars.- Hide quoted text -
>>
> There will always be those who exploit for personal gain.  It doesn't
> have to be a robber-baron to do so, it happens at all levels.

I do not want to spend my time reviewing past atrocities and whining about
what might have been. I want to re-establish the control of the American
people over their runaway government.  That happens at the bottom.  Not at
the top.  It is _OUR_ House of Representatives and the House is the true
seat of power in our Constitutional government.  Monopoly privilege is a
purchase privilege and it can only be purchased where power is isolated
from the majority.  The Senate of the United States is, in all likelihood,
the most corrupt legislative body on planet earth.  The House of
Representatives can have and should have much more influence on the
member****p of that body; not in direct control or appointment but through
the voices of the people as pronounced and amplified by our
representatives in the House.  The key to proper government is this
relation****p between the true representatives of the people in the House
of Representatives and the common people as defined by the Constitution.
Until the House of Representatives represents the people, as opposed to
the Party and the Lobby, we will make no progress.

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-- 
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers
of society but the people themselves; and
if we think them not enlightened enough to
exercise their control with a wholesome
discretion, the remedy is not to take it from
them, but to inform their discretion by
education." - Thomas Jefferson
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