Posted on 04/24/2006 12:08:12 PM PDT by libertarianPA
I recently found a postcard that an ex girlfriend once gave me. It's a picture of Charlie Chaplin in his movie Modern Times. I was a film student in college and my ex knew that I am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin's work. In my liberal days, I was even an admirer of his philosophies and politics. The postcard depicts probably the most famous scene in the film - his Big Brother-esque boss makes him fix the "big industrial machine," and consequently, the Little Tramp gets caught up in the giant gears. The entire movie, and that scene in particular, was Chaplin's commentary on how the corporate world takes advantage of the average worker in exchange for very little reward. One thing that never dawned on me until I became more economically educated was something that seems to have never dawned on Charlie, and still doesn't occur to those on the left - what's the alternative?
(Excerpt) Read more at amarxica.com ...
Digging for roots and berries?
Agricultural. You want a list of all the aggi nations that defeated industrial ones throughout history?
One thing that never dawned on me until I became more economically educated was something that seems to have never dawned on Charlie, and still doesn't occur to those on the left - what's the alternative?
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That is the question that never gets answered. Oh, they will spew out the problems, but never a solution. IMO, it just grabs the blue collar attention so they can exploit the worker for even more money on a question that has no answer.
Unless we all go back to rooting for food.
Don't you know...the alternative is utopia. The government will give us everything that we need and there will be no room for violence in our society. Let's all sing kumbyah and feel the peace. /s
The American Industrial Revolution was well past its growth peak by the time of silent films. About the time of the Chicago Exposition was the peak of the Guilded Age, and then came attempts to apply science to society itself, with the results of Communism, Nazism, Fascism, Existentialism, Dadaism, and unceasing mechanized warfare the first half of the 20th century. Chaplin was echoing the times, which looked at al this and wondered if we were going to Kurzweil-merge machine and man by 2150 if not sooner.
The ironic thing is agricultural is much better if technological innovation is applied constantly - which might mean, heavens, that a factory to make some of those improved agricultural things would be needed.
I never really understand why "industrial" and "agricultural" are of the same plane. Industrial can support agricultural, but agricultural cannot support industrial. So they're of totally different levels.
Might be better to categorize as "industrial" and "non-industrial", only?
The Left feeds off unhappiness. They aren't looking for an alternative.
What I ran into recently was a man claiming that pure socialism was the ideology of Jesus.
I'm sort of a odd mixture of moderate/libertarian/conservative views. I think it's immoral for a man to live in a self-centered decadence (Hollyweird being the prime example), and that he should apply in giving spirtually and materially to others...but I do not believe in the political manifestation of my views; nor do I think that a man should be ashamed of or sad that he created wealth, and that he should enjoy it as well.
Their world is free of free-will, mine is full of moral choses. There's doesn't involve the political liberty of man, mine does. There's doesn't have any faith in man, mine does. Their world is impossible to agree upon, mine is the chose of each man. Personally, I would like to think Jesus spoke of his morality in the same manner, but then again I'm not his representive nor do I wish to put words into his mouth.
I'm humble in a sense that I do not know the perfect system, but ones where there's no moral chose, stinks of evil.
"The Left feeds off unhappiness. They aren't looking for an alternative."
That is truly brilliant, very well and succinctly put.
I personally, think it was the concept of might vs. right that came with our Civil War, which began our country's troubles, not the industrial revolution, as many say. It's just easier to see the greed concept in the industries...
It's also always easier to attack "businessmen" than governments - the irony. In truth businessmen are just every-day joes like everyone else who have little real control over one's life, but those who have the real power and control cannot be evaded so it's easier to turn on every-day joe.
Same phenomenom occurred, I think, with Sept. 11. We have absolutely no control (really) over what goes on in Moslem countries far away. So, what to do? Blame Bush and Republicans for offending those we can't control at all!
Quite true.
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