Opinion // Current

Palin sees conspiracy in new dollar coins

http://rawstory.com/2009/11/palin-speech-abortion-opponents-mocked-describes-weighty-to... more

SleepDirt
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2 days ago
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38 comments

Should cities tax marijuana?

Taxing medical marijuana sales is an idea worth considering, not because it is a... more

copperdragon
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3 days ago
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16 comments

What is the True Conservative Position on Gay Marriage?

http://www.blogspression.com/general/what-is-the-true-conservative-position-on-gay-marr... more

blogspression1
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4 days ago
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1 comment

DC Protesters Mocked by Media, Ignored by Politicians

http://www.blogspression.com/general/dc-protesters-mocked/

blogspression1
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5 days ago
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2 comments

A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in 1949. He discusses our nature as both solitary and social beings, simultaneously conditioned by biological and cultural constitutions, and what this means for the individual's role in society. He then asks "how the structure of society and the cultural attitude of man should be changed in order to make human life as satisfying as possible." The final passages prove particularly poignant in presaging the greatest atrocities committed by Soviet tyranny. The challenge: How is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?

Part of the answer may reside in bypassing the power of large bureaucracies through a decentralized system of democratic planning directed by workers' and consumers' councils. Moreover, with today's information communication technology, the capacity for mass collaboration and self-government/self-management has never been more viable and effective. Your thoughts?

An Excerpt:

"The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals...

(The) crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in... more

JMPxx85
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5 months ago
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4 comments

imgur is good! (4 images of all sorts)

http://imgur.com/gallery/EKWDE http://imgur.com/gallery/5FVE8... more

remanns
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7 days ago
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2 comments

Republicans Celebrate Victory but Ignore Big Problem

http://www.blogspression.com/general/republicans-celebrate/

blogspression1
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7 days ago
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0 comments

A Free Republic Depends On Citizens Bearing Arms

Almost every time a gun is used in a homicide, a chorus of special interests calls for... more

1percent
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7 months ago
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9 comments

David Nutt speaks out at government in New Scientist article

"Policies that ignore the realities of the world we live in are doomed to fail. This... more

cadex
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7 days ago
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0 comments

The H1N1 “Emergency” is Democrats Katrina

http://www.blogspression.com/general/the-h1n1-emergency-is-democrats-katrina/

blogspression1
added this
10 days ago
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2 comments

Why the Tea Party Movement is Good For America

http://www.blogspression.com/general/why-the-tea-party-movement-is-good-for-america/

blogspression1
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10 days ago
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0 comments

It's Time for Us to Go

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-28/its-time-for-us-to-go/... more

slovelett
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13 days ago
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0 comments

Solitude contributes to a person's imagined intimacy with a TV character

If your best friend is a guy from "The Office" or a young doctor on "Grey's Anatomy,"... more

pjacobs51
added this
13 days ago
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26 comments

Facebook-strangelove: or how i learned to stop worrying and love the internet

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Facebook as a clever guise; truly, the genius marketing ploy of the 21st century if not of all time.
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facebook is as it would lead you to believe, "a social networking site," as we have seen this has potential to be really very misleading (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/18/facebook.reversal/index.html). although, as well as allowing you to keep in touch with your friends, however, they collect information deemed valuable and sell it to third party companies which in turn proceed to advertise and solicit products to you, the individual–a target audience of one. whereas we would normally be organized into a few target audiences for corporations to pursue, instead facebook provides a platform for corporations to "pigeonhole" the individual into "niche markets" at the same time to maximize profit while reducing ad placement campaign failures losses and expenditures.

these arguments, including but not limited to the previous, are shallow and vacuous in light of what is really going on, i.e. the willingness in participation of individuals to voluntarily submit private information that can be recorded and stored for later use in favor of the interested parties. whether it be primarily third party small business groups and corporations or ultimately the government (as all of our average time spent and position of mouse clicks are also documented and can be viewed by D.A.R.P.A. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA) holding anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law (see also: http://current.com/items/91135668_facebook-poke-leads-to-woman-s-arrest.htm) as well as digitally documenting a paper trail tied to your name local access point, address, mail, e-mail, phone number banking account and credit cards etc.

we've most definitely entered an age of accountability, where the individual is responsible for their transactions and/ or interactions as well as whatever else may transpire on the internet. where upon certain occasions it has caused certain individuals to lose their jobs or otherwise prevented them from getting one. pending the abolition of the net neutrality act(source available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality), the internet is more or less a democratic medium in that it can either be used for or against the private individual whom so ever over indulges themselves in it.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------... more