An American Life Worth Less Today
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DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
You also put profit ... moreover your own "selfish" profit ... before "people." Consider: Everyone knows that the greater the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the greater the number of fatalities in automobile accidents (as collisions are so charmingly called). And, conversely, the lower the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the lower the number of fatalities in automobile accidents. And, for that matter, the lower the number of collisions, in the first place. THEREFORE ... we should reduce the MAXIMUM legal speed on ALL streets and highways to 5 miles per hour. With this speed limit in force, there will be almost no traffic fatalities anywhere in the US, as compared to the above 40,000 we currently "enjoy." WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY? It would be asinine to top the maximum legal speed limit everywhere in the US at 5mph? Why is that? Why would this be asinine? We'd be saving perhaps 43,000 lives per year[^]! What is it that YOU are valuing above the lives of up to 43,000 human beings ... per year? It is, of course, that you are valuing *your* time -- and all profit you hope to gain in expending that time as you see fit -- above the potential loss of lives of other human beings. edit: Just in case it wasn't clear -- I am assuredly not faulting you for this "selfishness" on your part (you will notice, I hope, that I put ironic scare-quotes around both pseudo-accusations that you are selfish). I am trying to explain and illustrate to you that your "disgust" at "capitalism" is quite unfounded ... and is, in fact, most irrational.
modified on Monday, July 14, 2008 11:03 PM
Ignoring the people (kids mainly) killed in reversing accidents in driveways etc, this is a great analogy. 5.
-------------------------------------------------------- Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad!!
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Ignoring the people (kids mainly) killed in reversing accidents in driveways etc, this is a great analogy. 5.
-------------------------------------------------------- Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad!!
_Damian S_ wrote:
Ignoring the people (kids mainly) killed in reversing accidents in driveways etc, ...
I implicitly acknowledged such (I said there would be few automobile fatalities, not none at all, with such a universal-within-the-US absolute speed limit).
_Damian S_ wrote:
... this is a great analogy. 5.
Thank you. What I offered is a crude/emotional ... or perhaps 'visceral' is a better word to use here ... illustration of how it is, and how and why it must be, that we attempt to place monetary value on human lives. When "capitalists" attempt to calculate the monetary value of human lives, they are attempting to refine and rationalize and quantify the above visceral understanding so that we may wisely use this knowledge -- which any intelligent/rational person knows if he but thinks for a moment, rather than emotes -- in deciding how to allocate our always limited and finite resources. You may recall some weeks ago my explanation of the relationship between money and time -- specifically, that the "value" which money *really* represents is time, for time is the universal currency by which all things in our lives are produced, measured, allocated, etc. This analogy is related to that understanding of what money really is.
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it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." -Albert Einstein
DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people
Any intelligent fool can announce what disgusts him. It takes a touch of genius and a big pair of balls to stfu and do something to make the world a better place.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people
Any intelligent fool can announce what disgusts him. It takes a touch of genius and a big pair of balls to stfu and do something to make the world a better place.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." -Albert Einstein
DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
And some wonder why I complain...
“If we are all in agreement on the decision - then I propose we postpone further discussion of this matter until our next meeting to give ourselves time to develop disagreement and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about.”-Alfred P. Sloan
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DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
You also put profit ... moreover your own "selfish" profit ... before "people." Consider: Everyone knows that the greater the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the greater the number of fatalities in automobile accidents (as collisions are so charmingly called). And, conversely, the lower the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the lower the number of fatalities in automobile accidents. And, for that matter, the lower the number of collisions, in the first place. THEREFORE ... we should reduce the MAXIMUM legal speed on ALL streets and highways to 5 miles per hour. With this speed limit in force, there will be almost no traffic fatalities anywhere in the US, as compared to the above 40,000 we currently "enjoy." WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY? It would be asinine to top the maximum legal speed limit everywhere in the US at 5mph? Why is that? Why would this be asinine? We'd be saving perhaps 43,000 lives per year[^]! What is it that YOU are valuing above the lives of up to 43,000 human beings ... per year? It is, of course, that you are valuing *your* time -- and all profit you hope to gain in expending that time as you see fit -- above the potential loss of lives of other human beings. edit: Just in case it wasn't clear -- I am assuredly not faulting you for this "selfishness" on your part (you will notice, I hope, that I put ironic scare-quotes around both pseudo-accusations that you are selfish). I am trying to explain and illustrate to you that your "disgust" at "capitalism" is quite unfounded ... and is, in fact, most irrational.
modified on Monday, July 14, 2008 11:03 PM
Ilíon wrote:
Everyone knows that the greater the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the greater the number of fatalities in automobile accidents
actually many many years ago that was proven not to be true on the Autobahn and then the number of people driving increased and it all changed. So, while your above statement is true eventually even if you lower the speed limit to 5mph it won't matter. It's like the ladder theory----more deaths are attributed to falling off a 6 foot ladder as opposed to a 12 foot ladder. Smaller(or less) is not always better. So, to wrap this up, size does matter. :-D :-D :-D
Don't take any wooden nickels.
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DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
You also put profit ... moreover your own "selfish" profit ... before "people." Consider: Everyone knows that the greater the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the greater the number of fatalities in automobile accidents (as collisions are so charmingly called). And, conversely, the lower the average speed at which we collectively travel on the streets and highways, the lower the number of fatalities in automobile accidents. And, for that matter, the lower the number of collisions, in the first place. THEREFORE ... we should reduce the MAXIMUM legal speed on ALL streets and highways to 5 miles per hour. With this speed limit in force, there will be almost no traffic fatalities anywhere in the US, as compared to the above 40,000 we currently "enjoy." WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY? It would be asinine to top the maximum legal speed limit everywhere in the US at 5mph? Why is that? Why would this be asinine? We'd be saving perhaps 43,000 lives per year[^]! What is it that YOU are valuing above the lives of up to 43,000 human beings ... per year? It is, of course, that you are valuing *your* time -- and all profit you hope to gain in expending that time as you see fit -- above the potential loss of lives of other human beings. edit: Just in case it wasn't clear -- I am assuredly not faulting you for this "selfishness" on your part (you will notice, I hope, that I put ironic scare-quotes around both pseudo-accusations that you are selfish). I am trying to explain and illustrate to you that your "disgust" at "capitalism" is quite unfounded ... and is, in fact, most irrational.
modified on Monday, July 14, 2008 11:03 PM
Can't find the strip, a transcript will have to do[^] Milo: I understand my opponent supports the 55 miles per hour speed limit on our highways. Opus: Saves 50,000 lives per year. I'm definitely in favor of saving lives! Milo: Then maybe my opponent would like to save another 30,000 lives per year by reducing the speed limit to 45. Opus: 45? Milo: Or perhaps save another 25,000 lives by reducing the speed limit to 35! Opus: Well, 35 is pretty slow. Milo: Apparently my opponent would send 55,000 men women and children to fiery mangled deaths so he can zip along to his manicurist at 55! Opus: I DON'T HAVE A MANICURIST! Milo: He probably doesn't. Most mass murderers don't. Hitler didn't. Opus: STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! Milo: Rebuttal? Opus: Uh... Bush is a wimp.
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Can't find the strip, a transcript will have to do[^] Milo: I understand my opponent supports the 55 miles per hour speed limit on our highways. Opus: Saves 50,000 lives per year. I'm definitely in favor of saving lives! Milo: Then maybe my opponent would like to save another 30,000 lives per year by reducing the speed limit to 45. Opus: 45? Milo: Or perhaps save another 25,000 lives by reducing the speed limit to 35! Opus: Well, 35 is pretty slow. Milo: Apparently my opponent would send 55,000 men women and children to fiery mangled deaths so he can zip along to his manicurist at 55! Opus: I DON'T HAVE A MANICURIST! Milo: He probably doesn't. Most mass murderers don't. Hitler didn't. Opus: STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! Milo: Rebuttal? Opus: Uh... Bush is a wimp.
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Fisticuffs wrote:
[nothing, really]
If all one wants is schtick, then Fisticuffs is your man[^]. However, if one wishes to think rationally about such matters, then one is well advised to look elsewhere[^].
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Fisticuffs wrote:
[nothing, really]
If all one wants is schtick, then Fisticuffs is your man[^]. However, if one wishes to think rationally about such matters, then one is well advised to look elsewhere[^].
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DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people
Any intelligent fool can announce what disgusts him. It takes a touch of genius and a big pair of balls to stfu and do something to make the world a better place.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
oh dear :sigh: you must be the guy that puts the rant in soapbox off topic rants?
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." -Albert Einstein
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it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." -Albert Einstein
DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
That's because you're a whinging socialist.
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
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oh dear :sigh: you must be the guy that puts the rant in soapbox off topic rants?
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." -Albert Einstein
DownUnderDev wrote:
oh dear :sigh: you must be the guy that puts the rant in soapbox off topic rants?
That would imply a certain consistency of principle or position. No, ol' Oakman is just a dried-up, washed-out and burned-out old "troll," who constant sees himself in others[^]. Also, your sig-line offends him (but then, soap and water offends him). I myself wouldn't even begin to hazard a junior psychoanalysis "explanation" of just why it offends him; and, in any event, he generally has cornered the market on unsought junior psychoanalysis "explanations."
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So did you plagarize on purpose or did it take you twenty years to come up with the same joke? Also, if you had to make love to a man to save his soul, would you prefer to give him oral or anal?
- F
Fisticuffs wrote:
So did you plagarize on purpose
Oh he's an old hand a plagarizing. I caught him at it awhile back. What's interesting is that he tends to try to steal jokes from others. Apparently he's aware of his lack of wit.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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DownUnderDev wrote:
it is disgusting to me that capitalism puts profit before people....
That's because you're a whinging socialist.
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
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73Zeppelin wrote:
That's because you're a whinging socialist.
WB
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
WB? Warner Brothers??
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
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WB? Warner Brothers??
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
Welcome back, I think.
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Welcome back, I think.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... Yes, I have been extremely busy and still am. Just popping in for a few minutes... sigh.
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... Yes, I have been extremely busy and still am. Just popping in for a few minutes... sigh.
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
Oh, OK. I missed you, you know...
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Oh, OK. I missed you, you know...
You're not the only one! I think just about everyone I know has. Too much work, no free time. I need a holiday. :((
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
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You're not the only one! I think just about everyone I know has. Too much work, no free time. I need a holiday. :((
I'm the ocean. I'm a giant undertow.
Sorry, that was a stupid thing to say... What have you been doing that's kept you so busy?