[clue-talk] Wow, Card's a little political...

[Jed S. Baer]

On Sat, 1 Nov 2008 09:26:02 -0600
Sean LeBlanc wrote:

> On 11-01 08:46, Jed S. Baer wrote:
> > On Sat, 1 Nov 2008 08:41:05 -0600
> > Sean LeBlanc wrote:
> > 
> > > When I said "disaster capitalism" it has a very specific meaning. I
> > > suggest you read _The Shock Doctrine_ if you want to learn more.
> > > It's about the Friedmanites and their influence. 
> > 
> > Oh, I'm aware of Naomi Klein.
> > 
> > A book like Klein's doesn't seem very compelling or smart, IMHO.
> 
> Okay, then. Touche. :)
> 
> If I'm to be frank, if I have to worry about authoritarianism - I'd say
> it's going to come from the right. Sinclair Lewis said, "When fascism
> comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

Authoritariansim is already here. I see it in the mindless "zero
tolerance" policies begat by unfounded fear of firearms, and that comes
from the left. I see it in the "zero tolerance" policies towards drugs,
and that comes from the right, mostly. The plain fact is that those in
power want to have more power. I previously stated that I have plenty of
bones to pick with Republicans. The Democrats, taken as a whole, are
worse, but when it comes to picking one over the other, at this point,
it's only a question of whether you want the left or right boot on your
throat.

There's another quote very similar to Lewis', which I can't find right
now. Could be he rephrased it, or the one I'm thinking of is Lewis
rephrased. Doesn't matter. Authoritarians will use whatever vehicle they
can to achieve control.

> When I look at the McFailin' Nuremberg^H^H^H^H rallies

Oh, stop. And just what do you think Obama's rallies look like to the
right-wing crowd?

Seriously, do you really think you can score debate points by invoking
Hitler?

> I'm sure everyone here has seen the signifiers of fascism...ask
> yourself, is that the right-wing or the left-wing that is pushing for
> those...right here, and right now? Set aside the ideology about "free"
> markets for a moment, and really look at these, and ask yourself who is
> going to be bring fascism here?

The government, irrespective of which party is nominally "in control".

I was looking for the quote I referred to earlier -- don't why it isn't
in my quotations file, and came across this, which feels apropos:

There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not
want merely because you think it would be good for him.
 -- Robert A. Heinlein 

And we can sling that criticism all over. Don't want to pay for the war
in Iraq? Don't want to pay for nationalized health care? Don't want to
pay for the War on Drugs? Don't want to pay to bail out people who
decided to live on the Gulf Coast without sufficient insurance?

The list goes on and on.

Tyranny, fascism, socialism, communism ... all are different faces of
people attempting to fix something that ain't broke. Just because
something doesn't get you the results you want doesn't mean it's broke.
This is why big government is bad, no matter under what guise it exists.
It attempts to force people who merely want to get on with their lives as
they see fit, to conform to some mold that's cast in the disfigured shape
of every social ill, real or imagined, that somebody, somewhere, thinks
should be everyone's problem. Well, I got problems enough for me right
here in Casa del Jed, thank you very much. But I don't have the Congress
bailing me out, so barring unforseen circumstance, I'll be digging out
for years. But politicians, of both major stripes, seem to think they
still need to take my money and give it to someone else.

F(*& that!

jed