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Moonlapse

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Blog Comments posted by Moonlapse

  1. Moonlapse

    Posted

    A quote from the Nathaniel Branden article in one of my earlier blog posts - I find this incredibly relevant:

    What needs to be challenged in our country today is not the desirability of helping people in difficulty (intelligently and without self-sacrifice), but rather the belief that it is permissible to abrogate individual rights to achieve our social goals. We must stop looking for some new use of force every time we encounter something that upsets us or arouses our pity.

     

    As a first step toward a freer society, by stimulating new thinking about the best ways to solve social problems, here is one concrete suggestion. Let us bring the paying-attention-to-outcomes philosophy of the business world to our legislative practices. First, every piece of legislation and every government agency must spell out what it aims to accomplish and in what time frame. Next, it must be monitored periodically, and the public must be informed concerning its progress, or lack of progress, toward its goal. When the time set for the accomplishment of specific goals is up, the legislation or agency must go on trial for its life just as in business. It must not be allowed to remain in force merely because it exists. It must demonstrate results, and if it has failed in what it promised to deliver, it should be abolished. This policy alone will not lead us to a fully free society, and you do not have to be an unreserved advocate of laissez-faire to appreciate its merits. What it will do is raise public consciousness concerning the workings of our present system and perhaps introduce some element of accountability. As matters stand now, once a political institution is in place, it is notoriously difficult to get rid of, even when almost everyone agrees it is a disaster.

     

    Now, employees of government agencies who legitimately attempt to hold the system accountable have technically had their First Amendment rights nullified for the sake of preventing the goverment from facing legal scrutiny, legitimate or illegitimate.

     

    This is a horrible precedent to set as an example of solving problems. I'm dumbfounded that the Supreme Court, a supposed pinnacle of judgement and reasoning, cannot find a solution that does not infringe upon citizen's rights.

  2. Lost_Warrior

    Posted

    Every manufacturer has 'good' and 'bad' products. Most vehicles will be fairly reliable with regular maintenance and most vehicles can be prematurely ruined without it. I mentioned the problems with the Escape because I see them as design flaws (which may be remedied in newer years)

     

    It is also a good point that you should be grateful for any gift, especially something as expensive as a vehicle. However, I always think its best if there are no regrets involved, again with something as expensive as a vehicle. :lol:

  3. tflex

    Posted

    Everyone is so willing to give up their old ways in search of beeing 'Americanised.'

    I wouldn't say everyone, but that brings up a good point that so much focus is put on American culture (good or bad) instead of the principles of individual rights and freedom that the nation was based on and which continue to be diluted and obscured.

     

    Pertinax's comment on population is interesting too, and probably more relevant. What's better - to go back a few hundred years, without technology or free markets, when living successfully was a greater challenge; stay on the current course where we feel obligated to sustain an exploding population at the expense of the productive until the breaking point; or is there another solution? hmmmm.....

  4. tflex

    Posted

    This is just my opinion, and I'm an opinionated bastard, but I think that the relationship between big business and big government in a mixed economy has driven much of this. Despite the inherently coercive nature of that combination, I also feel that not enough people are individualistic - meaning that they are too preoccupied with emulating or submitting to someone other than themselves or their true identity.

  5. Lost_Warrior

    Posted

    Nooooo, DO NOT get that vehicle. I've worked with cars for about 7 years, and I can assure you that it is a bonafide lemon - judging from the several that I've come in contact with. Brakes jobs are costly and frequent, engine and transmission problems even at low mileage. If you absolutely must get one get the latest model year, since it will have more bug worked out than a several year old one.

     

    http://www.google.com/search?q=ford+escape+problems

     

    Whatever you get, read plenty of reviews from actual owners (not a media publication), and do not get a newly released model.

     

    Just trying to save you some headaches and frustration. :lol:

  6. Moonlapse

    Posted

    Poke a few holes in the ant mound, pour gasoline down, and set it ablaze. Fun, fun, fun.

     

    That was my first thought. :) But theres so much thatch that I havent raked yet and the house is sort of on a hill where it can be seen for a few miles, so I'm pretty sure that someone would phone the fire department. Then again, I do have home insurance.

  17. Moonlapse

    Posted

    Of course they are free to do as they wish with their own product (see the irony?), but I feel that this course of action is an incredible contradiction and I have lost much respect for this company.

     

    Through their actions, they are sanctioning this repression of freedom by China's totalitarian regime. They are helping to violate the freedoms that made their success possible in the first place. It's an undeniable contradiction, and it will only strengthen the enemies of human rights.

     

    Google for infomation on Shi Tao, and you'll see how something as seemingly harmless as catering to the Chinese goverment by doing business with them gives them the power to imprison a man (who has no access to government secrets) 10 years for communicating with pro-democracy groups in the U.S., under the pretense that he disclosed "national secrets". Much of China's censorship technology was supplied by the United States.

     

    In the long run, Google is dooming their company to oblivion by undermining the principles they owe their existence to.

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