What's up with that? ___

Post #29,154 by Ashton 2/21/02 12:45:06 AM Reply	What's up with that? ____Why merely: a fundamental misunderstanding about "what constitutes the Good Life", of course. Under a mistaken and potentially lethal misapprehension, the word 'progress' was coined -- the idea that... If you Could do something ?__? - You Should! (later on, 'You Should' became.. You Must!) Discrimination became deranged, as the noise level of Buy Me! No.. Buy ME!! rose higher + the chance to make EZ-Money by manipulating the appetites of the naive: focussed on their emotional vulnerabilities, so as to maximize your own profit - regardless of consequences to anyone else or to the society as a whole. See how powerful is The Word? Progress, being misunderstood - has nearly Fucked us all. Toss-up how it will turn out... since so many consumption-addicts have been created - and they copulate, you know? Ashton Explanations R'Us AG
Post #29,164 by nking 2/21/02 6:40:17 AM Reply	One thing for sure our founding fathers would be spinning in their graves if they knew what was going on in the modern USA. We got taxes out the wazoo, turned from a country of farmers into a country of consumers, our bill of rights keeps getting trampled on in favor of the megacorps, most US citizens do not care about the well-being of other US citizens, we got a homeless problem that hardly anyone cares about anymore, most people cannot seem to keep a job that will last them a lifetime (Corp downsizings, don't you know), and we have a new age slavery called wage slaves, etc. Plus most government officals are available to the highest bidder, so we have the best government that money can buy! "Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
Post #29,183 by Ashton 2/21/02 9:32:46 AM Reply	Not Them.. Us!_____Still looking for a scapegoat? 'We' did it to ourselves. Remember those recreational shopping trips to the mall (when the $ was coming in regular like?) They are still Reeel popular - seem to provide gratification to the dullest of the unimaginitive, even as - both have to work to support the consumption habit, farm out the commodity child-care to other min-wage / no perks folk. National credit card debt - the highest.. National personal savings - the lowest.. The Corps just pander to Our needs* -- exactly as do the (reviled) lawyers. If we weren't sue-happy spoiled brats with no sense of community - who would hire all those attorneys? * except of course, as with Kraft (makers of LifeSavers\ufffd; now leaving Holland MI for Canada - because they can save money on sugar..) - Kraft will make a larger profit - but the consumer will see no price reduction. 'Our' needs are Not Their needs, we see. Still wanna buy LifeSavers\ufffd (or any Kraft ersatz cheese-like product) next ?? Or Walmart.. yada yada. By all means: feed the monster who laughs at your predicament. The fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves - to coin a phrase. Then too... "we are what we eat". But the cliches won't save us either.. The admin will keep the war for [oil] going so's yer 12 mpg SUV still ~looks good - and GM gives 0% loans so you can get a New One on credit - even as your jobs evaporate (and they have one of the most profitable quarters in history) because we swallow: Buy More on Credit Now! to Keep the Dream Alive. QED? Nope.. It's US! not Them. (Yeah Norm I know - you saved and planned wisely; never bought new toys just because they were there - and still got bit on the ass. Truly sorry that.. yer compassionate conservative friends will just have to chalk it up to - you weren't Individually Responsible\ufffd enough!) Them's the breaks. Ashton
Post #29,203 by nking 2/21/02 10:36:20 AM Reply	Just living costs money If you own a car, you have to get it fixed. It will either drain your savings, or force you to put it on the card. Got sick? Need to go to a hospital? What do you use to pay the thousands of dollars on the bills that they give you. Dip into savings, or just put it on the card or make monthly payments (most hospitals around here want a paid in full, usually by credit card if cash or check is not available). Got a traffic ticket for going too fast (like everyone else, who honked at you for going too slow, and when you sped up, the cop clocked you at 3 miles over the limit) by an overzealous cop? Dip into savings again. Got a spouse and kids? You are going to pay more for them when they get sick, etc. I have no big-screen TV, I don't have a DVD player (heck I wanted a Playstation 2, remember?), I have a 1987 economy car, I have an old house, and the only thing that I really spent money on was a faster computer with more parts to build another computer for use as a server. Am I "Living Large"? Not according to other people who have that nice new car (1987 car about worth $120-$300), the biggest screen TV they could not afford(Mine is a 1985 model 27 inches, resale value of about $50 now), a killer stereo system (I have a $15 Walkman clone from Wallgreens), expensive clothes (mine are mostly Hanes or Fruit of the Loom T-Shirts with a pocket. Some Polo-shirt clones for business causal days. Etc. All bought on sale.). Well you get the idea. I had medical bills, car repairs, etc. Then I get accused of "living large" and spending too much money on junk? "Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
Post #29,210 by Mike 2/21/02 10:56:36 AM 2/21/02 11:00:05 AM Reply	One of the reasons.... ....for the way business is becoming ever more ruthless and uncaring is...paradoxically......because companies are now owned by a large number of people (ie shareholders) who care about ONLY one thing..... profit. Many of us walk around feeling that we are reasonably moral and ethical people in our dealings with the rest of society. What we don't realise is that when we put our money into stocks......what we are inadvertently doing is hiring somebody to go and do the fcking over for us. Once upon a time there used to be identifiable owners - some good some bad - who you could hold responsible for certain deeds. Now this is no longer clear because we have depersonalized ownership. The owners are faceless wonders who don't even bother to vote at annual meetings. At best companies are likely to behave only as well (or as badly) as the collective demands. I say at best, because into this managerial vacuum rush people with a boundless greed (they are addicts just like the majority). They line each others nests with quid-pro quo positions on the board ..... paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a sinecure. So I agree with you...its "US" and we are doing it to ourselves. The irony is that much of the wealth (and therefore share ownership) is still in the hands of the few. The participation of the rest of us serves to legitimize behavior which is otherwise unconscionable. Things won't get better until we stop thinking about how much we made last year and start asking ourselves "is my neighbor okay?". What is totally absent is people asking themselves...."do I really deserve* this". DESERVE is a dirty word. How can it be any other way when we have state-sponsored gambling holding out the promise of untold millions, a tax system which is basically a game of hide-the-pea and a legal system with the capacity to make someone rich (or poor) in a New-York minute. -- William Shatner's Trousers -- Edited by Mike Feb. 21, 2002, 11:00:05 AM EST Expand All History

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