The Political Discussion Thread

[Falcon Horus]

Good point.

[SGalisa]

What prophecies thread???????? Link please?

EDIT: Never mind found it added my 2cents worth.......

I corrected my post (see the EDIT note), anyway for anyone else..

[Seastallion]

At this point, I'm for a Resource Based Economy. It is precisely the future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned, and I think it is about the only viable alternative to the corrupt economic and government systems currently in place. As technology continues to make the human worker obsolete, people will find it harder and harder to provide for themselves and their families. If anyone believes that the government, banksters, and corporations cares about them, they are seriously deluded. In a RBE, technology can be used to its fullest potential, without the negative consequences to society. Also, all the corruption and most of the crime is a direct result of the monetary system. No money to bribe the politicians, and why would a thief steal what they could have freely? As Jacque Fresco has said, the problems of society are solvable by technology, and the politicians know nothing about that and aren't even qualified to have an opinion on it, as none of them have any technological background.

As far as elections go, they are meaningless; if you have any choice at all, it is from preselected candidates who will only continue to serve the banksters and the corporations. They do NOT serve the people. The two-party system is nothing more than theater for public consumption. In reality both parties are on the same side, giving only the illusion of difference and choice. We are on the verge of economic collapse, and the multinational corporations and banks could care less, since they are "too big to fail", and will make profits regardless of an economic meltdown. If they control the necessities of life, they will use that stranglehold to ensure our economic slavery. Power and Food companies control the vast majority of the available resources, and they are multinational in nature. They have NO loyalty to this nation or its people.

Clearly I have no thoughts on the matter.

Anyone interested in a Resource Based Economy can check out www.thevenusproject.com

[Gatefan1976]

Seastallion.
Such change, while warranted and needed, will not happen without major social upheaval by either the forces of War, or true global economic meltdown. Human history indicates that this is true. The Cosmos may live in a constant state of flux, but we (humanity) gear towards self serving apathy, and it unfortunately takes a kick up the butt for us to change.

[Falcon Horus]

I don't live in a two-party country.... we have many parties, and many sides and people who want to split Belgium up into two different countries, and people who want to keep Belgium as one country. And they're definitely not all on the same side of things -- that has been proven more than once in the past few weeks. Sunday's going to fascinating.

[Gatefan1976]

What would the repercussions of that be if everyone still wants to be part of the EU?

[Falcon Horus]

What would the repercussions of that be if everyone still wants to be part of the EU?

As far as membership of the EU, Belgium doesn't want to leave... nor would the ones who want to split my country up into two would want no part in the EU. They want to stay, they just don't want to stay as one country.

I live in a country that is 184 years old in terms of existence (declared independence in 1830). We've belonged to France, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, and before them the Roman Empire. And we've always resisted oppression from all of them, except perhaps the Roman Empire. Although we did fight bravely against Julius Caesar -- which is misleading all on its own cause we were not the Belgae he speaks of in his De Bello Gallico. We were the Eburons instead.
We have a language barrier in place between the north of the country, the south and the east (Flemish, French, German). The north, Flanders, and the south, Walloon, clash on everything, and yet splitting it up is the worst idea ever.

No, I want Belgium as one country, and membership of the EU.

Oh and voting is mandatory over here.

[Gatefan1976]

If you always resisted, you never belonged to anyone, no matter what. NEVER FORGET THAT

I AM NOT A FRENCHIE I'M A BELGIE!!!

I can see the choice on wanting to divide the country based on language, but I cannot see the actual VALUE for your people to divide politically. It would be like one major town here wanting to separate from one other major town for "cool factor", rather than the practicalities of the situation.

[Falcon Horus]

It would be like one major town here wanting to separate from one other major town for "cool factor", rather than the practicalities of the situation.

Exactly what it would be like.

[mad_gater]

Spoiler:

At this point, I'm for a Resource Based Economy. It is precisely the future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned, and I think it is about the only viable alternative to the corrupt economic and government systems currently in place. As technology continues to make the human worker obsolete, people will find it harder and harder to provide for themselves and their families. If anyone believes that the government, banksters, and corporations cares about them, they are seriously deluded. In a RBE, technology can be used to its fullest potential, without the negative consequences to society. Also, all the corruption and most of the crime is a direct result of the monetary system. No money to bribe the politicians, and why would a thief steal what they could have freely? As Jacque Fresco has said, the problems of society are solvable by technology, and the politicians know nothing about that and aren't even qualified to have an opinion on it, as none of them have any technological background.

As far as elections go, they are meaningless; if you have any choice at all, it is from preselected candidates who will only continue to serve the banksters and the corporations. They do NOT serve the people. The two-party system is nothing more than theater for public consumption. In reality both parties are on the same side, giving only the illusion of difference and choice. We are on the verge of economic collapse, and the multinational corporations and banks could care less, since they are "too big to fail", and will make profits regardless of an economic meltdown. If they control the necessities of life, they will use that stranglehold to ensure our economic slavery. Power and Food companies control the vast majority of the available resources, and they are multinational in nature. They have NO loyalty to this nation or its people.

Clearly I have no thoughts on the matter.

Anyone interested in a Resource Based Economy can check out www.thevenusproject.com

I think the reason why we have so many problems in this country is because of the large amount of control the government seems to have over our lives and our businesses. There is the fact that different income levels are taxed at different rates, resulting in this extremely convoluted system overseen by a bunch of stuffed shirts who probably wouldn't know an honest day's work if it bit 'em in the backside (the IRS) that effectively punishes success, hard work, and initiative. This is the reason you also don't see too many people tearing our politicians a new one since a good percentage of the people aren't even paying into the system as it stands now. I'd prefer a system that didn't tax income at all and instead taxed consumption (going to the store and buying stuff) but the next best thing would be a flat tax...where EVERYONE payed the same percentage of their gross income (no deductions allowed). If we had this system, it would be far less complicated and we could get rid of the IRS bureaucrats. And I could guarantee you that if the government tried to raise the flat tax percentage without offering a darn good reason...the government would have a revolt on its hands by morning. The flat tax system I think would allow small businesses to flourish in our country once again. And once we've had a resurgence of small business many of them could get together and form co-ops to stand against the big baddies like Monsanto and the like that like to contaminate our food and water with their GMO's and pesticides. I think the flat tax system would also serve as a deterrent against any one person or group having a controlling interest in government operations. If you think about it, the current system which involves placing an extremely high tax burden on people who have been blessed through hard work and determination to get to that point where they have a nice tidy nest egg to live on, in effect give those top earners, who most people refer to as the 1% (versus the rest of the 99%) (with differing opinions as to the level of disparity of course) may seem like a good idea but having higher rates for people who earn more in effect gives the higher-earning people a controlling interest in government operations. This in effect leads to the "corporatization" of government, which then leads to an environment wherein politicians more readily accept bribes. But in a flat tax system where EVERYONE is paying taxes at the same percentage rate of their income (again no deductions allowed), this gives NOBODY a controlling interest in government operations. I daresay that in effect the Constitution would become the controlling interest in this system, as it should be and was during the early years of our country. So it's possible to have a more equal system in a currency based economy as well I think

[Coco Pops]

If countries would run fine without politicians then why do we have them?

Why not just abandon them and have a board of qualified people to run things like the economy and stuff and do away with all the expense of having these twits in office?

[Falcon Horus]

Power corrupts! No matter who's in charge, power corrupts.

I mean, with great power does come great responsibility.

[Gatefan1976]

I think the reason why we have so many problems in this country is because of the large amount of control the government seems to have over our lives and our businesses. There is the fact that different income levels are taxed at different rates, resulting in this extremely convoluted system overseen by a bunch of stuffed shirts who probably wouldn't know an honest day's work if it bit 'em in the backside (the IRS) that effectively punishes success, hard work, and initiative. This is the reason you also don't see too many people tearing our politicians a new one since a good percentage of the people aren't even paying into the system as it stands now. I'd prefer a system that didn't tax income at all and instead taxed consumption (going to the store and buying stuff) but the next best thing would be a flat tax...where EVERYONE payed the same percentage of their gross income (no deductions allowed). If we had this system, it would be far less complicated and we could get rid of the IRS bureaucrats. And I could guarantee you that if the government tried to raise the flat tax percentage without offering a darn good reason...the government would have a revolt on its hands by morning. The flat tax system I think would allow small businesses to flourish in our country once again. And once we've had a resurgence of small business many of them could get together and form co-ops to stand against the big baddies like Monsanto and the like that like to contaminate our food and water with their GMO's and pesticides. I think the flat tax system would also serve as a deterrent against any one person or group having a controlling interest in government operations. If you think about it, the current system which involves placing an extremely high tax burden on people who have been blessed through hard work and determination to get to that point where they have a nice tidy nest egg to live on, in effect give those top earners, who most people refer to as the 1% (versus the rest of the 99%) (with differing opinions as to the level of disparity of course) may seem like a good idea but having higher rates for people who earn more in effect gives the higher-earning people a controlling interest in government operations. This in effect leads to the "corporatization" of government, which then leads to an environment wherein politicians more readily accept bribes. But in a flat tax system where EVERYONE is paying taxes at the same percentage rate of their income (again no deductions allowed), this gives NOBODY a controlling interest in government operations. I daresay that in effect the Constitution would become the controlling interest in this system, as it should be and was during the early years of our country. So it's possible to have a more equal system in a currency based economy as well I think

Please.
Never run for office.

[Gatefan1976]

If countries would run fine without politicians then why do we have them?

Why not just abandon them and have a board of qualified people to run things like the economy and stuff and do away with all the expense of having these twits in office?

Politicians are SUPPOSED to be qualified. Problem is though, the only qualification most of them posses is self promotion and ruthless greed. We vote in the Kardashians.
I wonder why we have problems.............

[SoulReaver]

I think the reason why we have so many problems in this country is because of the large amount of control the government seems to have over our lives and our businesses. There is the fact that different income levels are taxed at different rates, resulting in this extremely convoluted system overseen by a bunch of stuffed shirts who probably wouldn't know an honest day's work if it bit 'em in the backside (the IRS) that effectively punishes success, hard work, and initiative. This is the reason you also don't see too many people tearing our politicians a new one since a good percentage of the people aren't even paying into the system as it stands now. I'd prefer a system that didn't tax income at all and instead taxed consumption (going to the store and buying stuff) but the next best thing would be a flat tax...where EVERYONE payed the same percentage of their gross income (no deductions allowed). If we had this system, it would be far less complicated and we could get rid of the IRS bureaucrats. And I could guarantee you that if the government tried to raise the flat tax percentage without offering a darn good reason...the government would have a revolt on its hands by morning. The flat tax system I think would allow small businesses to flourish in our country once again. And once we've had a resurgence of small business many of them could get together and form co-ops to stand against the big baddies like Monsanto and the like that like to contaminate our food and water with their GMO's and pesticides. I think the flat tax system would also serve as a deterrent against any one person or group having a controlling interest in government operations. If you think about it, the current system which involves placing an extremely high tax burden on people who have been blessed through hard work and determination to get to that point where they have a nice tidy nest egg to live on, in effect give those top earners, who most people refer to as the 1% (versus the rest of the 99%) (with differing opinions as to the level of disparity of course) may seem like a good idea but having higher rates for people who earn more in effect gives the higher-earning people a controlling interest in government operations. This in effect leads to the "corporatization" of government, which then leads to an environment wherein politicians more readily accept bribes. But in a flat tax system where EVERYONE is paying taxes at the same percentage rate of their income (again no deductions allowed), this gives NOBODY a controlling interest in government operations. I daresay that in effect the Constitution would become the controlling interest in this system, as it should be and was during the early years of our country. So it's possible to have a more equal system in a currency based economy as well I think

absolutely: reducing taxes for megacorporations like Monsanto & making them even richer will help fight against them

although why a flat tax? a regressive tax would be even more effective

or better yet why not exonerate the elites from taxes altogether? just make the commoners pay everything
after all it's well known that in feudal times the nobility - who paid no taxes - also had no power, and the lower classes had all the power