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The World Is a Mess. We Need Fully Automated Luxury Communism.
NY Times ^ | June 11, 2019 | Aaron Bastani

Posted on 06/11/2019 9:14:46 AM PDT by C19fan

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To: Mr. K

The problem with farm subsidies is the other side of the deal: consent to price controls, keeping profits low enough most farmers can’t build up a good cu$hion to bridge bad years.

We have no famines because the supply chain can easily transport surplus (if not direct replacement, then suitable alternatives) from one are to another. A freak orange-killing snowfall in Florida can be mitigated - to the consumer - by shipping boatloads of oranges from Brazil. Consumers barely notice a difference; any farmers broken by the blight are simply bought out by megafarms and production resumes accordingly.


41 posted on 06/11/2019 11:44:46 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (The Red Queen wasn't kidding.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

A just machine to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We’ll be clean when their work is done
We’ll be eternally free yes and eternally young

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

-Donald Fagen I.G.Y.


42 posted on 06/11/2019 11:46:53 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: freedumb2003

For the record.....


Ferengi Rules of Acquisition

Once you have their money ... never give it back.
Never pay more for an acquisition than you have to.
Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
A man is only worth the sum of his possessions. (From Enterprise, episode “Acquisition”; sloppy script-writing, as rule 6 (see above) was already given in DS9)
Keep your ears open.
Small print leads to large risk.
Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
Greed is eternal.
Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
A deal is a deal ... until a better one comes along.
A contract is a contract is a contract (but only between Ferengi).
A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.
Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
Never place friendship above profit.
A wise man can hear profit in the wind.
Nothing is more important than your health—except for your money.
There’s nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman.
Never make fun of a Ferengi’s mother ... insult something he cares about instead.
It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
War is good for business.
Peace is good for business.
She can touch your lobes but never your latinum.
Profit is its own reward.
Never confuse wisdom with luck.
Expand, or die.
Don’t trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.
The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.
Females and finance don’t mix.
Never ask when you can take.
Good customers are as rare as latinum — treasure them.
There is no substitute for success.
Free advice is seldom cheap.
Keep your lies consistent.
The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
Win or lose, there’s always Hyperian beetle snuff.
Home is where the heart is ... but the stars are made of latinum.
Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
Beware of the Vulcan greed for knowledge.
The flimsier the product, the higher the price.
Never let the competition know what you’re thinking.
Ask not what your profits can do for you, but what you can do for your profits.
Females and finances don’t mix.
Enough ... is never enough.
Every man has his price. (DS9 season 6, episode 19 - “In the Pale Moonlight”)
Trust is the biggest liability of all.
Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever.
Sleep can interfere with profit. (DS9 season 2, episode 7 - “Rules of Acquisition”)
Faith moves mountains ... of inventory.
There is no honour in poverty.
Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
Treat people in your debt like family ... exploit them.
Never have sex with the boss’s sister.
Always have sex with the boss.
You can’t free a fish from water.
Everything is for sale, even friendship.
Even a blind man can recognize the glow of latinum.
You can’t make a deal if you’re dead. (DS9 season 7, episode 8 - “The Siege of AR-558”)
Wives serve, brothers inherit.
Only fools pay retail.
There’s nothing wrong with charity ... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
Even in the worst of times someone turns a profit.
Whisper your way to success. (DS9 season 7, episode 9 - “Covenant”)
Know your enemies ... but do business with them always.
Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit.
Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
Hear all, trust nothing.
Never cheat a Klingon ... unless you’re sure you can get away with it.
It’s always good business to know about new customers before they walk in the door.
The justification for profit is profit.
New customers are like razortoothed grubworms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they can bite back.
Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.
Employees are rungs on the ladder of success. Don’t hesitate to step on them.
Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach.
You can’t free a fish from water.
Always know what you’re buying.
Beware the man who doesn’t make time for oo-mox.
Latinum lasts longer than lust.
You can’t buy fate.
Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
More is good ... all is better.
A wife is a luxury ... a smart accountant is a necessity.
A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience.
Never allow doubt to tarnish your love of latinum.
When in doubt, lie.
Deep down everyone’s a Ferengi.
No good deed ever goes unpunished.
[Quark’s rule] When Morn leaves, it’s all over.


43 posted on 06/11/2019 11:48:51 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12)There were Democrat espionage operations on Republican candidates)
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To: karnage

“Communism is evil.”

Along with impossible and has failed everywhere it has been put in place. It’s a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

And first time someone disagrees with the production efforts and wants a bigger car, they will be arrested and/or executed. Can’t have that, can we?

rwood


44 posted on 06/11/2019 11:51:41 AM PDT by Redwood71
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To: Redwood71

Communism always fails.

But it remains popular.

Among idiots and totalitarians.


45 posted on 06/11/2019 12:44:20 PM PDT by karnage
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To: apillar

“..it’s simply against human nature.”

Back 8n my college lefty days, the leaders of the pack claimed “human nature” (the instinct to compete, to acquire more, to better oneself-—iow the human instinct to survive) was nonexistent.

Instead the very idea of “human nature” was, they argued, a “cultural construct” arising out of capitalism & imposed on the masses by the “ruling class”.

Thus any notion of the existence of human nature needed to be stamped out of the masses by party leaders, ie the communist ruling class, in order to squash any desire to compete or acquire anything not benevolently bestowed upon them by the collective.

By disallowing any discussion, much less accomodation, of human nature, any possibility of the re-emergence of capitalism could be effectively circumvented.


46 posted on 06/11/2019 1:23:58 PM PDT by mumblypeg (There ain't no entertainment & the judgements are severe.. --L. Cohen)
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To: karnage

One of the more popular ones now is socialism. Many on the left are trying to push for it. But communism and socialism do differ in some areas. The main one being ownership.

Both communism and socialism are economic and political structures that promote equality and seek to eliminate social classes. In a communist society, the working class owns everything, and everyone works toward the same communal goal. There are no wealthy or poor people — all are equal, and the community distributes what it produces based only on need. Nothing is obtained by working more than what is required. Communism frequently results in low production, mass poverty and limited advancement. Poverty spread so widely in the Soviet Union in the 1980s that its citizens revolted.

Like communism, socialism’s main focus is on equality. But workers earn wages they can spend as they choose, while the government, not citizens, owns and operates the means for production. Workers receive what they need to produce and survive, but there’s no incentive to achieve more, leaving little motivation while it’s lack of incentives also leaves the workers with a sense of slavery and doing hard work while others do little. The grasshopper/ant thing. And unlike the ants, humans will not be forgiving forever and will rebel against a system that punishes them for success. Kind of like the liberals are doing now with the rich footing the bill for the poor. (And the middle class the libs have reassigned to poor)

Some countries have adopted aspects of socialism. The United Kingdom provides basic needs like healthcare to everyone regardless of their time or effort at work. In the U.S., welfare and the public education system are a form of socialism. Both are the opposite of capitalism, where limitations don’t exist and reward comes to those who go beyond the minimum.

It is unfortunate that so many in this country do not learn from history and walk away from socialism, the current “trend.”

rwood


47 posted on 06/11/2019 1:41:51 PM PDT by Redwood71
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To: Redwood71

Socialism is just a rest stop on the way to communism.


48 posted on 06/11/2019 2:05:06 PM PDT by karnage
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To: C19fan

Tribbles taste just fine if marinated and grilled.


49 posted on 06/11/2019 3:57:02 PM PDT by Libloather (Global warming is AWESOME!)
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To: karnage

“Socialism is just a rest stop on the way to communism.”

Disagree. Communism fails because it has to evolve into something else because it has no leadership and no advancement. It has no enemy.

Socialism fails because it does have leadership that suppresses the human spirit from natural growth. So it has an enemy, itself. In other words, communism has no where to go and socialism has something to go from. Neither has something to stay for.

rwood


50 posted on 06/11/2019 4:03:20 PM PDT by Redwood71
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