k-12 solution?

Partnership with local institutes of higher education

Partnership with local business

Exploitation questions

Are you doing this because you want to?

Is there something else you'd rather be doing?

What are the perceived barriers to you doing what you really want?

Are you doing this for someone else?

Is someone else forcing you to do this?

Deep thought

Bigotry is not a result of ignorance
Bigotry is a result of Fear and it is impervious to data
Replace fear with relationships

Paraphrasing Reza Aslan

Truth and consequences

There's this odd idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty. An idea necessary in our legal system. Necessary when the state is deciding to take someone's life liberty or property because they were accused of violating the law.
Is it necessary in our communities?
Does every violation of life, liberty and property need to be handled in court?
Does every injustice need to go to trial?
If a person does not go to trial, does that mean that person is innocent?
Beyond a reasonable doubt is crucial in a court of law.
But, that does not negate a society from enacting consequences for actions outside of the law.

Actions that don't deprive a person of their life, liberty or property.
Many people who have been violated do not choose to involve the law. That does not mean their violator is innocent. Nor does it mean that the violator should not face any consequences for their actions.

Simple rule for human interaction

Don't touch another person without their consent unless it's in strict self defense (to stop an imminent threat)

Everything should be handled at the lowest level possible 

Government involvement a last resort

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

There is no free market

The market does not want to be free

The market seeks an enforcer. It seeks regulation. It seeks protection from liability. 

Three actors war for law in their favor

Worker. Consumer. Company

Each law used to control the other. 

Even in the black market there are mafias, gangs, lords 

Deep Thought

It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.

Ann Landers

Deep Thought

Rich kids get taught

Poor kids get tested

The Real Job Creators

Supply and demand (S&D) is said to be a fundamental concept of economics
Who sets the standards for S&D?
I have a product and I create 100 units. I sell 10. Do I create 100 more to increase demand? No. I decrease my output or change my product.
If I create 100 units and sell out in a day, I create more. What if I can't do it by myself? I lose money. So, I have to hire someone else to help me make it. The goal is to profit off of their labor. I will not pay them more than what I would make from the sells of the items they create. That would be stupid.

Let's go back to the first scenario of loss. Would I hire someone else to help me make the extra units even if I only sold 10 of the first? No, that would be a waste of money.

Two labor rules
Employers don't hire anyone unless they have to.
The only reason they would have to is if the labor would stand to make a profit.
A person will only hire you if they can make a profit off of you.

An employer is not going to make a profit if no one is buying their product.

Some say an investor is a job creator. Not so. They provide capital for the work you need. If there is no need for more labor, that investment will not go to labor costs.

So, back to the question of setting standards for S&D.
It is the demand that sets the standards. Who creates the demand?

Consumers.

If there is no demand, there is no need for a supply. There is no need for more labor if there is no need for a supply because there is no demand.

Consumers are the real job creators.

Purpose of School

Learn skills to support yourself

Or learn skills to get others to support you  

I'm not going to say if looks determine what category you belong in, but I'll imply it 

Deep Thought

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”


― Albert Einstein

The bad neighborhood

Realized that it's a prophecy

Fulfilled by others 

Told to stay away

Not to improve 

So there is no investment

No business, no jobs, no opportunities 

Creates the bad neighborhood 

Such a bad idea

I do believe in freedom and if you are not violating another person's rights/liberties, you should do what you please.
BUT, there are some things that aren't a really good idea. As in, it's bound to end up bad. Maybe not all of the time; but enough for me not to support it.

Bad idea:
Sperm banks.

I understand that there are some men who are not fertile and there are some women who don't want a man in their lives.
BUT, Why wouldn't you want a child to have a healthy father figure in their lives?
Why couldn't you find a donor and build at least a friendship with them?
Why would you want to father a child and not have any responsibility for it? Not want to even know it?

It's the anonymity that bothers me the most. I know men donate for whatever reasons, honorable or not.
Just don't get the idea of having a child in the world and having no interest in them.
Or not really knowing the father of your child.

The real first law of economics

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need

https://www.marxists.org/subject/utopian/morelly/code-nature.htm

Morelly 1755

Code of Nature

Another perspective

Commission based economy

What if everyone was paid commission if their labor resulted in the sale of a product?

Even minimum wage workers 

What if everyone got a percentage of the company's profits based on their contribution to the profit?

Profit sharing for all

Promote the General Welfare

It's in Everyone's best interest if all citizens (and all humans for that matter) have adequate shelter, nutritious food, healthcare and Education
I could add transportation and access to information.
These are things that one can give themselves (all resting on education). More likely, these are things they get from someone else.
Should they have all access to these things? Equal to everyone else in society? Or should they have access according to their ability to compensate?
Should the person providing these services be forced to provide the service to all (even if they do not want to provide the service to some or any). Or should society allow a larger market of providers?

The holder of a negative right is entitled to non-interference,
while the holder of a positive right is entitled to provision of some good or service.

Take the first step

Kind of tired of U.S. citizens demanding that the government take care of problems.
Especially military intervention in foreign countries.
But it also goes for protection in your own home.  Or assistance for housing and food.
Any able bodied American can raise money and procure transportation to fight the fights they want to.
We are able to change our economic structure by supporting ourselves.  Refuse to work for and buy from corporations that disrespect us as workers and consumers
Any community is able to support it's people.

All without the government.

Healthy fear of relationships?

I don't want to be with anyone who will stress me the fuck out

But that's almost everyone I've met

So...

What I want labeled

Organisms genetically modified with materials outside of its species

Humility

Unsolicited advice
Your opinion isn't as important as you think it is
Grown ass people don't have to take your advice
Most don't want it

No matter how bad you think someone else is fucking up.  It's not your place. You don't have enough information to make informed decisions about other people's lives.
It's not your job to instruct/police/reprimand other grown ass people
Let people live their lives and make their mistakes

Personal responsibility
empowerment
volunteering

If anything, live by example
be the change...
Set boundaries for yourself
Protect yourself

Change comes from within.
Lessons come from the family and community.

Who are you to tell grown ass people how to live their lives?

When you see other people making decisions you don't like, look at your own life

All in the interpretation

There's two ways to interpret rules

If it's not explicitly forbidden, it's permitted

If it's not explicitly permitted, it's forbidden

I'm of the former interpretation

Deep Thought

  Whosoever commands the sea

commands the trade; 

whosoever commands the trade of the world 

commands the riches of the world, 

and, consequently, the world itself.

Sir Walter Raleigh.    

  

The problem with democracy

First problem,
We have never seen pure democracy
The USA is a plutocracy. A plutocratic republic

People are naturally biased.
People are going to vote their own interests
or their own fantasies

They believe their interests are what is best for others
Or they don't give a fuck about other people
When people vote on an issue
They don't necessarily go the way of equality, freedom, and justice for all

Bias isn't a danger to democracy
Lack of critical thinking is the danger
Bias is human nature. It's how our brain works

We have to realize that we can't combat bias

We need to understand that we are naturally going to find things and support things that promote our ideas

I am going to have a hard time looking at and swallowing things that go against my ideas.
We need to come to this realization and get passed it.

We need to take all the sources of biased information and investigate them

Then We can go on to making informed decisions


*original post 2012-02-16 14:51
*2012-03-20 10:52
*2/16/12

Real liberty

The state should not be taking anyone's life

That includes any agent of the state

No one is justified in taking another person's life

The only reason to take another life is self defense

That is defense in a situation where capability, opportunity, and intent (of deadly force) are present

When any of these three are missing, You are not defending yourself. You are retaliating. Retaliation is not justified. 

Deep Thought

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

John Kennedy

No Asshole

If you find yourself being an asshole
Remember these three things

No one cares what you think
You're not as important as you think you are
On average, You're just as stupid as everyone else

Who knows what Jesus really said?

When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

Matthew 14

When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Who knows what Jesus really said

Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you

Matthew 5

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you

To Answer The Proposal

“No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: "But what would you replace it with?" When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with”
Thomas Sowell

Intentional misunderstanding of question.
A policy is created to address a valid issue.
Policy is not synonymous with a fire.
A disastrous policy is using gasoline to put out fire. The replacement is water.

To address the question,
It would behoove all of us to ensure that everyone in this nation is healthy and can make informed decisions.
We have to decide what 'healthy' entails and how we have to decide how we can guarantee that.
The same goes for informed decision making.

The government has proven that it is ill informed about all of the above.
The alternative is for the people to decide what they need.
The alternative is empowerment and community

Benghazi

Here's the thing...

The only people there were CIA agents

Benghazi was a CIA operation that went bad
The people they were dealing with or the enemy of the people they were dealing with, used an inflammatory video to attack the consulate (read: CIA post).
The CIA called more CIA agents to help.
You don't call in the military into a CIA operation when they don't know anything about it.
The government is not going to tell the public about a failed CIA operation.

Sexist thought of the day

Men set lower standards for women because they think women are inferior.
Then they get mad because women are held to lower standards.
Then when women try to reach higher standards, men laugh at them or tell them to stop trying because they think women are supposed to be inferior.
Or men are disgusted/outraged because they think the women are trying to be manly...
Hence the reason you should do whatever the fuck you want
and set whatever goals you want for yourself
Realize you're probably going to fight for what you want.
And when you reach your goal, cherish those who supported you
and piss on those who tried to stop you by offering to help them reach their goals (don't worry, their pride will usually stop them from accepting your help).

and hold a moment of silence for those women who think women are inferior and don't support other women in reaching their goals.

I suck at sports

In order to be competitive, you have to give a fuck about what other people are doing.
I can't be bothered to pay attention to other people.
I'm not about that life

Faith

Belief

Acceptance that something exists or something is true

Faith

Complete trust and confidence in something or someone

Belief and faith are two different things

Belief is a firmly held opinion or conviction

Faith is letting that acceptance guide and control your life

Deep Thought

Despite many claims to the contrary, life does not begin at conception: It is an unbroken chain that stretches back nearly to the origin of the Earth, 4.6 billion years ago. Nor doeshuman life begin at conception: It is an unbroken chain dating back to the origin of our species, tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago. Every human sperm and egg is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, alive. They are not human beings, of course. However, it could be argued that neither is a fertilized egg.

In some animals, an egg develops into a healthy adult without benefit of a sperm cell. But not, so far as we know, among humans. A sperm and an unfertilized egg jointly comprise the full genetic blueprint for a human being. Under certain circumstances, after fertilization, they can develop into a baby. But most fertilized eggs are spontaneously miscarried. Development into a baby is by no means guaranteed. Neither a sperm and egg separately, nor a fertilized egg, is more than a potential baby or a potential adult. So if a sperm and egg are as human as the fertilized egg produced by their union, and if it is murder to destroy a fertilized egg—despite the fact that it's only potentially a baby—why isn't it murder to destroy a sperm or an egg?

-Carl Sagan 

A true Republic

A truly representative Government

I'd like to change the voting system to be more representative
A person could petition for a seat and if they get the apportioned amount of signatures, they get a seat. And anyone can revoke their signature at any time.  When the number of signatures goes below the apportioned amount, they lose their seat.


Constitution
article 1
section 2
The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

http://static.newrules.org/voice2004/askdave/23askdave.html


Or what if, a person campaigned to be a representative in congress.
That person got 30,000 people to sign a contract with them. The contract stated that they would be the representative for that 30,000 people.

One argument is that congress would become too big
The efficiency of decision making goes down as the number of decision makers goes up

Life of a politician

If something good happens during your reign, your supporters say you get all the credit;

Your critics say it happened in spite of you

If something bad happens, your critics say it's all your fault;

Your supporters say you had nothing to do with it

And you just do what you are told

Self sustainment

Self sustainment should start with self.  Every person should be able to do as much as possible to support themselves without outside influence.  This could be taught by the family, self taught, or schooled.
Then the community should be self sustaining.
Not relying on state or national governments, not relying on national corporations.

No Truth in Your Media

Don't watch much Television

Don't trust what I hear on the radio

All Biased

All incomplete

There may be facts but no truth

It's all make believe

It's all one sided

Not much to rely on

No role models

No healthy examples

Question what you see

Question what you read

Question what you hear

What happened to true journalism?
What happened to the what, where, who, when, and how?
Now we have the pundit.  People who rarely know what they are talking about but think everyone should care about their opinion.
The news exists, not for facts or truth, but for ratings and advertising.
Say what the people want to hear so they buy the stuff that is paying your salary.
And we are all left to do our own research, or more likely, not care anymore.

Queerest of the queer

you want people to be more comfortable with their sexuality. These new generations are just that.
If you want people to come out of the closet, you're going to have to deal with the fact that most of them are not going to be like you.

The people coming out of the closet don't act like you, they don't like what you like, they don't look like you, they don't like your labels.
This is something older lesbians are going to have to get over.
You get pissed when women identify as lesbians but sleep with/kiss men. So no one wants to identify as lesbian anymore
you talk shit about/ostracize anyone who identifies as bisexual, so no one wants to identify as bisexual.

People are now in a place where they don't feel the need to identify as anything, they will get shit from all sides for whatever they choose to identify as.

Teenagers don't even know what the hell they are. They discover. They don't need a label. They don't need to act the way you want them to

Am I hearing this right?

If a child bullies another by broadcasting their torment, And the person being tormented commits suicide. Fuck them. They're weak. The tormenter should face no consequences

But if a man's own words are recorded by another, and that man loses his job. The person recording him is a worthless piece of shit and should be prosecuted to the fullest level.

capturing someone's face or actions or words, in any situation, is a violation (of rights).

Deep Thought

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me

Ayn Rand

Credit where credit is due

Foundation of the -isms

I'm going to change my view on this
There are four foundations for the -isms.
The fourth one being power.
Maybe the most important reason I don't use the -ism words
Is privilege the same as power?
If you have no power over me, can you be a part of the -ists?
Or are you just an ignorant delusional asshole?

Realize that you are talking to people who think discrimination and prejudice are good things. And no one should be scorned for antagonism because...free speech

Now, If you call someone a racist, that means you are playing the race card and the issue you are actually addressing should be minimizes and disregarded.
Then the concentration should be on you and how you are the actual racist. And the person you called a racist is actually the one being oppressed (or just say something negative about black people. It's a good catchall.).

*previous post

I'm a little black and white about the -isms. Sexism, racism, ableism, heterosexism, etc.
When talking to people, I usually don't even use the -ism words.
I like to talk about the foundations.
For me, there are three foundations for the -isms.
Ignorance,
Delusion (usually of grandeur). Actually, the basis of this delusion is usually fear.
and Assholes.

Ignorance you can fix. It's usually the fact that they haven't had much interaction with 'the other'(that they even think there is an 'other'). They believe what they've been told. They think the media speaks truth (big no-no). They rely on preconceived notions with little facts.
All curable with time and patience.

Delusion is a little harder. This is based on passed trauma (or conceived trauma) It might take some serious counseling. Their mindset might never change.

Then there's the asshole. You have to watch them and realize that they're not focused on the -isms. They're focused on hurting people or finding entertainment from people's suffering. I wouldn't recommend interacting with them. Call it what it is and move on.
*Last posted 5/16/11

White Privilege = House Negro

Divide and conquer

I think, in order to get people to acknowledge their privilege, you have to show them how that privilege oppresses them.
Privilege is just that, privilege. Privilege is something that can be given and taken away by a more powerful force.
White privilege was given so that workers would be divided.
White privilege was given by the heads of private industry in order to prevent worker (slave) revolt

What's happening now, is that white people are seeing white privilege as the sham it is, but in a clouded mirror.
They see that white privilege is not real power.
We've never met the people with real power. The people who give white people their privilege and take it away.

The leaders of private industry have us so twisted that we still fight amongst ourselves when white people see that their privileges are being taken away.
What white people need to see now, is that the heads of industry don't need white privilege as much as they did back then.
We are successfully divided. They use class privilege now.
They don't need working white people to have more privilege because they have successfully created a global economy where they can oppress us and people in other countries.
They can use class and nationalism to divide people of the world.
So when white people talk about their current struggles (struggles that people of color have been going through for centuries before), they need to know that their privilege is being taken away. Because it's almost unnecessary.
The leaders of private industry have complete control over our government, our laws.
The leaders have created a culture where they can redistribute wealth to the wealthiest individuals and make us believe that the poor and people who can't find jobs are the ones threatening our prosperity.
And yet, institutional racism, the racism where a person of color is sent to jail with higher frequency, higher sentencing, less opportunity for jobs and housing when they get out of prison, is still working very well.
When white people get more government assistance, yet the face of welfare is black... we're successfully divided.
The seeds have been planted and the trees are fruitful
WE have fallen for the best strategy of the minority (wealthy) against the majority (working class).
Divide and Conquer

There is no need for an apology.
There's no need to be ashamed to be white
There is a need for seeing the part you play in a game you didn't create
There is a need to see that working class white people are pawns
You didn't create the game. and it's time to stop playing along



We're made to believe that marginalized groups had no true power to begin with. When really, their power was just systematically taken from them
and barriers people can easily overcome, or rather, traits about them have become barriers because we perceive them to be barriers.
All people are strong if they are allowed to find their strength and learn how that strength can be used in cooperation to form a better society

Patriarchy is still about providing false privilege to men by denying women access to the tools (and each other) that give them power.
It's still about this false premise that women are weaker or that being a woman is somehow a physical barrier to something
But when you look back on your childhood and the childhood of our ancestors, you see how men are given tools and training to develop their physical strength and women are not given those same tools.
You see the difference in physicality of the women who are given those tools at an early age.
The idea of women has the weaker sex is a lie. It's a product of male privilege that, like white privilege, can be given and taken away

patriarchy is still about power and control of the few over the many.
It's still about wealth. Patriarchy is about maintaining power and control over property, resources, people
The leaders just changed the nature of the game.
It's still divide and conquer.

It's easy to exploit perceived weaknesses. It's easy to convince a person they are weaker than others, even when they are not.
It's easy to exploit perceived weaknesses in an individual when you demonize cooperation.
An entire family who is oppressed by one man, because they are pitted against each other and don't realize that they can overcome that one man if they unite as a true family.
Physical and mental barriers are barriers because we refuse to cooperate.
We refuse to acknowledge the strength of those with perceived weaknesses.

Originally posted 3/14/11

Purpose of Government

A forum where people come together for the purpose of protecting their rights

From plantations to prisons

Why oppression isn't a thing of the past

And we can't just get over it

take money out of science

accept the fact that everything you see/hear/read is shrouded in bullshit of some kind, to some degree

I would say to do your own experiments, but people have been known to bullshit themselves.

The pure scientific method works
But it's like the free market.
Ideally, it's great;
in reality, It doesn't work as well as you think it does.

When you add the human factor, things get screwed up

The best thing you can do is know what the bullshit filters are and try your best to remove them
Go straight to the source of the data and know how to interpret it. Don't let someone else interpret it for you.

And lastly, admit that you are going to believe what you want to believe, regardless.