Sparticus was just bored. Karl Marx wanted to be one of the Marx Brothers, but wasn't funny enough. And Rosa resented her last name.

Man is not prepared to adequately govern himself. For this reason will come God's Kingdom, and that will be that.

If we are not One Nation Under God, then we are One Nation Facing Doom.

Don't underestimate the future usefulness of Eminent Domain.

The press is largely unprofessional, undereducated, unprepared to deliver the truth, uninterested in the most important news/facts/conditions, and unreliable.

About the quote---It is one more support for the idea that we do not learn from the experience of others. Burke knew what he knew more than 200 years ago; and it has benefited us not a bit. About New Orleans---To build a city on the coast and below sea level is just stupid. To rebuild that city, after knowing the result of having done so previously, is madness.

The raditional role of the press had been to serve as a watchdog against the potential corruption, abusiveness, and tyranny in government. Much of the press today seems unwilling to take that role seriously any more. The press now seems complicit with abusive government.

Amen, Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Politicians strive to influence our thinking, but half the country thinks differently from the other half. Public opinion is terribly manipulated, but there are many who do see what is going on.

I am by no means a socialist nor a fan of Chomsky, but I am afraid he spoke correctly here.

It is a mental disorder, such as liberalism, that prevents many people from thinking for themselves.

He said that a long time ago - the portion has risen to three quarters.

How would you get some unwilling men to fulfill their responsibilities except through coercion? This is Planet Earth, where men do not always do what they must. Coercion is justified when the force used is used to obligate people to do what they must but will not do. Under tyranny, coercion is used to impose the will of the tyrant. Under republican rule, coercion is used to enforce the law. Sometimes the law is not moral. But we have the right to organize to achieve new legislation.

We have liberties? Then we also have duties and responsibilities. Freedom is not free. Yet some will not fulfill their responsibilities until coerced. And freedom is not the license to do whatever we might wish. Society does have the right to expect from each of us adherence to some code of norms, even though this will not be agreeable to all. This quote may be more applicable in some specific contexts, but as a general statement or maxim, it is arguable.

The interesting thing is that this was said 500 years ago, around the same time the Europeans were setting off for new worlds. This observation was made with the old worlds in view. The spread of alleged civilization brought along with it the spread of alleged culture, alleged humanity, and alleged wisdom.

Perhaps this is true only so as long as the one-eyed man leans more toward his opportunistic side than his socially responsible side.

So did my mother-in-law.

441 billionaires own approximately the same amount of wealth as the less wealthy half of the world's population. That may be exacerbated by the more than 2 billion who are enslaved by totalitarian regimes. Bacon's idea is simple enough, I say. After all, money is not life, the best things in life are free, and covetousness enslaves. But have you tried living without money. It can be challenging.

I thnk that Eric is going to be shocked when he finds that, not money itself, but the money sytem has turned the world into a pit of woe. Or if he is not shocked by that, he may be surprised when the really poor no longer honor that system. Or maybe this is not profound enough for his intellect.

Ergo, money equals liberty? It's 4:30 a.m. - let's plan the revolution tomorrow.

Why DO I feel something so like like a dangerous epiphany? I guess I won't be dying of old age, after all.

I bow my head in shame, even though I don't have much money, because I have not yet found a way to echo this truth with the full degree of dedication that it merits.

Amen to Al's comment, and despite our aversion to Lenin's solutions, his analysis of the status quo is not too far out there. Communism is totalitarian, while capitalism has become treacherously monopolistic. He who dies with the most toys may be winners in their own esteem, but most of the rest lose, not for lack of trying, but for lack of genuine enjoyment of uninfringed opportunity.