Politics Chatboard – Teachers.Net

It's Because the Rich Designed It!

Economist Michael Hudson is the best at explaining "Classical Economics" vs. Neoclassical or Neoliberal Economics." Classical Economics emerged after the French Revolution which ended the Feudal System of lords and serfs. Classical Economics started with Adam Smith and ended with Karl Marx. Among other th...See More

Mar 21, 2018

From God to Godless Economics!

Mar 13, 2018

I just finished "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"(1905) by Max Weber (1864-1920), and it is amazing that the work ethic needed to make capitalism dominate economics started with the Calvinist, or as we know it, the Puritan work ethic. What starts out being done for the "Glory of God" has ended up as today's capitalism which is dev...See MoreI just finished "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"(1905) by Max Weber (1864-1920), and it is amazing that the work ethic needed to make capitalism dominate economics started with the Calvinist, or as we know it, the Puritan work ethic. What starts out being done for the "Glory of God" has ended up as today's capitalism which is devoid of God, devoid of a sense of right and wrong, and has no sense of guilt over destroying the lives of others - or destroying the planet.

This is how Weber makes the connection:

(Quote)

Waste of time is thus the first and in principle the deadliest of sins. The span of human life is infinitely short and precious to make sure of one's own election (to heaven). Loss of time through sociability, idle talk, luxury, even more sleep than is necessary for health, six to at most eight hours, is worthy of absolute moral condemnation. It does not yet hold, with Franklin, that time is money, but the proposition is true in a certain spiritual sense. It is infinitely valuable because every hour lost is lost to labour for the glory of God. Thus inactive contemplation is also valueless, or even directly reprehensible if it is at the expense of one's daily work. For it is less pleasing to God than the active performance of His will in a "calling." Besides, Sunday is provided for that, and, according to Baxter, it is always those who are not diligent in their "callings" who have no time for God when the occasion demands it.

(End quote)

My emphasis on the word "calling", we have all heard people say things like teaching or nursing is "my calling." This is, of course, directly from religious calling, and if God has called you, you have better do the best you can for fear of damnation. The capitalists took full advantage of this!

In today's world, this has morphed into "God has a plan for . . . well, everyone!" Frankly, aside from removing free will, the world offers no evidence of this. For those who disagree I offer the story of Rabbi Harold Kushner. His son was born with Progeria (where you age and die, of old age, at about 13). People in his synagogue would say, "Well, God has a plan for your son!" The Rabbi found this so absurd he wrote the book "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People!" It is a good read.

Yet, I am still amazed at the role of religion in capitalism, and its current absence.

Tanking?

by Chalky

Feb 24, 2018

The 2018 elections will be most interesting.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/12/a-chunk-of-republicans-appears-to-be-becoming-independents/?utm_term=.227ccd011686

T.E.C. - Iowa The Republican Party is bankrupt of ideas that might help the American public or the country, and that fact is now clear to all but the most tribal conservatives. The Democrats, the DNC wing, is no better and maybe worse by the looks of the Clintons. Yet, the democratic party has the Progressive Caucus - their only hope.

However, despite H...See More

Feb 26, 2018

Long after Manafort was gone, Gates was still embedded

by Bob R/CA

Feb 23, 2018

The plea, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., is unusual because it indicates that Gates lied to the FBI as recently as Feb. 1, when he already was negotiating with prosecutors about the raft of criminal charges he was facing.

. . ..

Gates, who served as Manafort's deputy, is expected to testify against Manafort if h...See More

Rick Gates, former top campaign aide to Trump, pleads guilty in Russia case

Rick Gates, a former top deputy in the Trump campaign, has

Chalky "...pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy against the United States".

Boom!

Feb 23, 2018

Like (1)

Who will lose their job at the FBI

by Tim Finnegan

Feb 16, 2018

Turns out that someone saw something or heard something, said something, but the FBI did not follow their protocols. I would never suggest that it's intentional on their part to make Trump look bad... he does a good enough job of that himself. Whoever let this bad man slip through the cracks and did not follow the FBI protocol should be fired immed...See More

(1)

Tim Finnegan Big Hollywood likes to admonish people for sending thoughts and prayersZ peopl, like Oprah, are labeled as mentally ill for their Christian religious beliefs.

I hope that all actors, all democrats, all those who hate guns will come out against Big Hollywood for their glamorization of violence. Oh Hollywood has long glorified gun violence a...See More

Feb 16, 2018

Why did the Democrats not take care of this in the health care plan they decided America wanted and needed? I thought there was affordable health care after Obamacare ... the "affordable" health care act.

Oh, wait ... the Dems buddies in big pharma got a break. Why such silence from the left about this failure of Obamacare?

https:...See More

Affordable Health Care?

by Tim Finnegan

Feb 13, 2018

Texas Teacher Dies From the Flu

She struggled with the copay, which she believed was too high.

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Oswaldo Jonathan This is so sad. RIP

Feb 15, 2018

Oswaldo Jonathan She became an angel in heaven now. :(

Feb 15, 2018

Next: More hunger in America!

No one ever said Republicans have a clue! They say we need tax cuts because people are better at spending money than the government.

Now the Trump Admin. wants to cut food stamps (SNAP) by 40% with half being a real cut. The other half the government will spend to buy the poor a box of non-perishable foods such as shelf-stable milk, ready-...See More

Feb 13, 2018

Tim Finnegan What is the Democrat response? They had plenty of time when Obama was in charge to fix this and other problems when they had complete control of the legislative and executive branches. In that time, what did we get? No universal health care, no immigration reform, no fix for hunger, no minimum wage increase ... a whole lot of nothing.

Both...See More

Feb 13, 2018

T.E.C. - Iowa I have to ponder if this rant about "Dems" has a point. I mean, this part of the post is certainly true, "Both sides seem to like to make promises until they have full control."

The answer to this is simple. We do not have two parties! We have one party that pretends to be two, and both are owned by the oligarchs. That said, it should be c...See More

Feb 14, 2018

Are the Democrats Planning to Lose in 2018?

As much as I support a humane solution for the DACA group, I now think the democrats are planning to lose the next election - because their oligarch masters want them to lose. If you want to go to the wall in closing down the government, the Democrats should do it with something that does not enrage the far right - something like the opioid crisis ...See More

Feb 10, 2018

Democrats Can't Run and Win on the Fact That Trump's an Idiot

Voters Want an Alternative, Not Someone to Blame... Democrats are marching, lemming-like, towards disappointment in November. They seem to think that all they need to do is point out that Trump is an idiot, a plutocrat, a liar, and that he probably coll

Common Dreams | commondreams.org

How Stupid Are We? Answer: Very!

Germany has spent $200 billion over the past two decades to promote cleaner sources of electricity, and in 2017 there were 100 times in which the cost of electricity went negative - that is, the power company pays you to use it!

America is bigger, and to match what Germany has done, we would have to spend $50 billion every year for that sa...See More

Feb 6, 2018

Power Prices Go Negative in Germany, a Positive for Energy Users

Germany has spent $200 billion over the past two decades to promote cleaner sources of electricity. That enormous investment is now having an unexpected impact.

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T.E.C. - Iowa About that square in Utah, energy expert Avery Lovins has a bar graph of the solar energy that falls on the roof and south side of the average home. A second bar on the graph, much smaller, shows the energy needed to run the home. Lovin has presented this information to rooms full of engineers and asked them to raise their hand if they cannot see t...See MoreAbout that square in Utah, energy expert Avery Lovins has a bar graph of the solar energy that falls on the roof and south side of the average home. A second bar on the graph, much smaller, shows the energy needed to run the home. Lovin has presented this information to rooms full of engineers and asked them to raise their hand if they cannot see their way to powering the home with the energy it receives from the sun. Lovin says no engineer has ever raised their hand.

This is not a Democrat or Republican problem, because both parties are sold out to special interest. I am saddened when I hear Americans talk of "those awful democrats" or "those stupid republicans." It is tragic that these people still do not "get it." They still think the problem is the other party.

Long Time Lurker was correct to write, "If we had a congress with enough forward thinking people and a president with an emotional age above 3, we might be able to implement some technology, and other infrastructure working to make things better for people." Our problem is all of Congress, or alternately, the problem is the system and how money has corrupted everything including both parties.

Yet worse, Americans are so averse to paying taxes and are so selfish, in a self-centered way, that we no longer believe in paying taxes to make life better. We are "scared to death" (as opposed to brave) that someone else will get the good from taxes and we will get nothing - except maybe a better society.

Do you need an example? Here is a quote I found regarding Puerto Rico!

(Quote)

More than five months since a devastating hurricane hit the island's shores, some 270 schools are still without power.

Roughly 25,000 students are leaving with that number expected to swell to 54,000 in four years. And that's after an 11-year recession already sent 78,000 students seeking refuge elsewhere.

(End quote)

We should be ashamed, but we are not! It is just another disaster to ignore, because the rest of us were not in it. Sadly, What I wrote in the OP is still true, "This country is doomed to be an economic backwater!"

Feb 8, 2018

Tim Finnegan LTL, you are right... look at the congressional approval ratings. And then look at the number re-elected. Quite the disconnect in numbers. Tim Brady is one of the most hated men in football... but most fans would love him if he was on their team.

And about that square in Utah... why has Musk, or some other millionaire, billionaire, corpora...See More

Feb 9, 2018