[Vision2020] Banditry is Not an Option Was: Economists Predicted $90/Barrel...

[Donovan Arnold]

Chas,
   
  Maybe you should make your position more clear. Do you prefer the US government controlling abandoned US oil rigs, or sending troops to die in Iraq to get our source of oil?
   
  Secondly, are you saying that we should let Americans suffer because our standard of living is much higher than in places like Malaysia, and India?
   
  I think saying that people are rich because they have a TV and car is misleading. They need cars to get to work, they often don't own the car, and the TV is hardly a sign you can afford decent meals and meet your basic medical needs. Many of those people with two cars and a TV are $100,000 in debt and don't have proper health insurance. The TV would not cover those costs. Many Americans are only one or two pay checks from being out on the streets. Your standard of measurement are not comparable. Our standard of living in the US is higher, but we are not rich as individuals. We have no savings, no health care, no security of a job tomorrow, a mountain of debt, and are unable to pay for many things we need but must spend them on things like cars and health care. 
   
  You must be unaware that the US, and the lives of people in it are dependent upon oil. To not wish for energy costs to be affordable is to wish harm to people in the US, don't you see that? Taking a position that Americans should suffer because others do, is not a pro-people position. When the US suffers, so does other nations around the world that depend on the US to buy their products and services we cannot afford anymore. $30 billion taken out of Malaysia's economy will NOT improve their lives either. 
   
  Best Regards,
   
  Donovan
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  

Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com> wrote:
  On Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 12:31 PM, Donovan Arnold
wrote:

> You are just full of self contradictions aren't you? You say you are
> pro-people, but support the continued taking of their homes, and denial of
> medical care.

You extrapolate my words wildly without providing any evidence of the
necessary interim steps. Please show me where I have indicated
support for the taking of people's homes, or the denial of medical
care.

> You say you agree that Bush and oil companies are unfairly stealing from
> future citizens 100s of billions of dollars, if not a trillion, yet you
> don't think we should take action to return some of those resources back to
> the most injured.

Again, what unwarranted inferences. I don't know whether you are
misreading, or whether you just prefer to use your imagination when
you encounter passages that you don't understand. No, I am not
deliberately insulting you. However, your interpretations are so
fanciful that I can't comprehend other causes.

> You say you are for socialism, yet you are against one of the core
> principles of giving control of the resources to the people.

Again, read more carefully, please. It makes dialogue easier.

> Where have you been since the 1970s? Your suggestion that we experiment with
> the lives and welfare of people is irresponsible.

We've been experimenting with people's lives since the 1970's?
Really? Taking people off the grid is similar to these alleged
experiments?

> The United States does have poor citizens. We may have rich citizens, but
> most people are struggling to pay for their house, get a basic education,
> and afford the medical care.

I'm not entirely sure how any of this is relevant o what has gone
before, but I'll try to respond fairly.

In a relative sense, the United States has poor citizens. Even in a
real sense, if we are talking about the homeless. However, generally
speaking, our poor citizens rank among the most privileged in the
world. Legions of our "poor" still have Playstations, still have two
cars, still have a TV in the living room and in the kitchen, and
maybe one in the bedroom. Their abdomens aren't swollen from
malnutrition.

I am a citizen of the world, first. That the suffering is in Malaysia
or Turkey or (elsewhere) doesn't diminish it. I care just as much for
the dispossessed in Los Angeles as the dispossessed in Mumbai as the
dispossessed in Rome as the dispossessed in Moscow, Idaho. My own
children and loved ones being exceptions, of course.

> I think you are just messing with me. No rational person would be suggesting
> the belief system you are suggesting that we play with the economy, and
> allow people to lose their homes, and be denied medical care. That is too
> cold of a position for anyone to take.

I think you are messing with me. No rational person could misread so
often without it being willful.

Chas


       
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