Posted on 10/18/2006 6:39:06 PM PDT by WFTR
I was in church for many years, and I have major doubts about some claims of the church and many who champion Christianity. I've seen a relationship with God do great things for some people, but I've also seen people hurt by choices made in pursuit of that relationship. I spent many years seeking "spiritual fulfillment" in Christianity. Both good and bad things came of that pursuit. I certainly don't look for fulfillment in DVD's or cars, but neither do I believe that every problem is irrelevant if I just go to church. No "cultural crusade" could have turned me from God. Instead, my own experiences with Christianity made me much less interested in those pursuits.
If your sandals do not wear out and you find mannah on your front yard every morning, the question of whether thingss are getting better or worse is moot. For the rest of us, the question is relevant. My point was that this guy is writing an article cheerleading for how wonderful things are today, but he didn't analyze very carefully. When someone makes these claims in a national magazine but his analysis is bad, there's nothing wrong with voicing differences.
I don't think that the current culture is as anti-Christian as many in the church claim. The party that controls the legislative and executive branches of our government is pro-Christian. As a society we've taken some steps towards officially recognizing faith-based approaches to social problems. All but the lunatic left fringe now recognize that immediate gratification of all sexual urges is neither necessary or healthy. We may not agree with the strict anti-sex views of the lunatics on the other side, but society no longer snickers at people who think that abstaining past high school is a healthier course of action. The "Christian culture" of a diverse selection of Christian music, books, radio, and television entertainment and information is much bigger than it was in the past. I'm not saying that our society is in better or worse shape than it was forty years ago on this point. I'm just pointing out some data that would support a more positive view.
Bill
Me thinks that there was some reason that you didn't answer when I asked whether you had 10,000 customers as your grandfather had. It was a simple question. If you had a customer base of 20,000 people who had purchased from you and particularly if they purchased on a regular basis, you'd have made a very strong argument that your e-Bay store was a huge operation in comparison to your grandfather's general store. On the other hand, if only two dozen people have purchased from you and there's no way that you could support your family on your e-Bay store, then that's a different story. Plenty of conservatives like to fancy themselves as business owners, entrepreneurs, and investors. There's nothing wrong with that, but I suspect that the reality often falls a little short of the spin. That's my problem with the original editorial as well.
If it makes you feel any better, I understand that technology has created some opportunities. However, the guy who wrote this article made no effort to highlight those opportunities. You and I see things differently, but I gladly admit that your argument for things being better today is much better than the argument advanced by the guy who wrote the original editorial. If his arguments had that much substance, maybe I wouldn't have bothered to post a critique of his editorial.
Bill
Thanks!
If the original editorial had tried to make this point, I wouldn't have bothered to criticize. My problem is with the sloppy thought that went into the article. I don't care whether someone sees the glass as half-full or half-empty. I have a problem with people trying to sell me half a glass of water by claiming that it's really three-quarters of a glass of water.
Bill
Not necessarily true.
Your net worth is dictated by the area where you live. For example, in the part of South Florida where I live, the average worth of a four bedroom home is $400,000+...and we're not the "very rich"; as a matter of fact, we are mostly working stiffs.
When you calculate the worth of your home, your savings, your retirement plan, etc., that net worth increases.
What an absolute crock of s#it!
The economy will NEVER grow for EVERYONE, some segment of the population will always be hurt by growth...that certainly was the case for people employed by the horse-drawn cart industry with the advent of the auto industry, but their demise was a positive thing for the overall economy.
Today's lowest rung employee is eons ahead of the highest employee of fifty years ago in technological knowledge.
So what? Is technological knowledge the same as quality of life? Technology is fun and does some nice things for us, but if you're having trouble making a living, having technology around you doesn't make that struggle any less painful.
The horse-drawn cart analogy doesn't fit. The horse-drawn cart industry died because something replaced that product and not because companies decided to make horse-drawn carts in China. Today, companies like to make things in China because there is less regulation and less threat of lawsuits. Companies in the U.S. have to employ more and more people to shuffle paper for the government or protect themselves from lawsuits. When domestic production costs become too high, they move production overseas. They still have to transport their products, so the paper shufflers keep up with the transportation. They still need to market their products, so the ad people still have jobs. They still need to monitor their money flow, so the accountants still have jobs. They still deal with lawsuits, so the lawyers still have jobs. What they don't need are those who know how to make production work or how to help production work. As I said originally, this economy favors the paper-shufflers and the smooth talkers. I'm afraid you're the one who's spouting "an absolute crock of s#it."
The economy may never grow for everyone, but a strong country should have a fairly diverse economy with room for all kinds of skills. The winner of every major war for at least 150 years has been the side with the strongest manufacturing base. Someday, we will be in another conflict that will dwarf what is happening now in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we don't have the industry to supply our military, we will lose this one. All of the spin of the marketers and the arguments of the lawyers will be meaningless at that time.
Bill
Oh Sorry my feedback on just the EBAY gaming store is over 7K to the good.
My rate for getting feedback is about one in ten auctions I have been in business with ebay since 1998. Last year we figured we average about 30 packages a day 6 days a week. The post office is one block away so if I miss the pickup it takes me 3 or 4 trips walking which is fine I need the exercise.
BTW I have excellent repeat business and two years ago was able to close the physical store and go exclusively online. (Repeat business is a bonus because they contact me directly thus I don't have to pay Ebay any fees.) Which has actually netted me more money because now I don't have to physically wait on customers and am not tied down to a location.
I've shipped to all the Major European countries as well as the Middle East (lots of Soldiers love Hobby games and I always throw in extras like card games and dice games the soldeirs can carry and store easily) Also shipped to just about all the Far Eastern countries except mainland China. And have shipped to just about all of the countries in both North and South America. Oh yeah and I send lots of stuff to New Zealand and Austraila.
Once I closed the physical store it let me concentarte on listing stuff online and investing and now I am moving more and more into real estate which has made me some excellent return on investment. Another couple of years and I will probably stop with the online store being the real estate is starting to take more time and has a much better return on investment and is a lot more fun.
Unemployment is below 5% (and that's with millions of people here illegally holding jobs), home ownership is at an all-time high, more people own more things than ever, yet, here you are complaining about our economy.
People today work more because they want more, that's not something created by industry...that's human nature, industry is just reacting to the needs of the market.
It must be hard to keep looking for the rain clouds hiding behind the blue skies.
That's wrong.
"Companies in the U.S. have to employ more and more people to shuffle paper for the government or protect themselves from lawsuits."
That's wrong.
"They still need to market their products, so the ad people still have jobs."
So, in your world, the hundreds of thousands of jobs displaced by manufacturing moving to China simply took up work in the advertisement industry?
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
"As I said originally, this economy favors the paper-shufflers and the smooth talkers."
That right there tells me the absolute depth of your lack of understanding, and uncovers a whole lot of resentment seething in you.
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