It's about creating a vibrant, cohesive society that gives people - ALL the people - a chance to pursue their dreams of life liberty and happiness.
I envision some kind of libertarian system at grass roots level with little regulation and zero taxation to stimulate local business and innovation, with taxation and regulation increasing the larger corporations and organisations get. Dunno, just an idea. Something about social responsibilities.
But this puts the Republicans in a quandry. Either they accept the loss at the next elections and rebuild the party (which is going to be difficult, but they will) or they double-down on the fascist fantasy and put Vance in as administrator of some kind of techno-fascist regime built solely on fear, repression and control. Which hardly seems feasible with Vance at the helm but they may be stupid enough to try.
someone on bsky said it was like doing a 1000 piece jigsaw with only two pieces left to do and people were saying, "nope, I can't really get the big picture here".
And therein lies the problem. Not just your country unfortunately. The greater Stuttgart region is pretty gloomy at the moment as the automobile sector has totally slumped. People are talking of it turning into
Detroit 2. When you go around here and see all the innovative start-ups post WWII and "hidden champions" that are now struggling, you can't help but think, damn, what went wrong?
Sorry, you don't get to be Detroit 2. We are, Cleveland, Ohio. Stuttgart ain't got nothing on Cleveland, Ohio.
When I moved here in 1971 we had 3 full tilt steel mills, J & L, Republic and a US Steel plant, another US Steel plant in nearby Lorain where George Steinbrenner had his ship building company next to the mill (where he made his money to buy the Yankees) and a coke mill that served all 4 mills and a multitude of foundries. Not to mention mills in nearby Youngstown. We also had 9 auto plants (some 13 or so total statewide) more than in Michigan IIRC. There were 33 Fortune 500 companies with their headquarters here, when it actually meant something. There was around 800k people here, now barely 400k. Peak WW II into the 60's Cleveland Metro had the highest concentrations of machine shops anywhere in the world, some 44k to 41k. Now ? Yeah right ...
Now there is one specialty mini steel mill and four auto plants. We are the heart of the rust belt. Been through what you are about to go through it sounds like. Shit wears out and its technology becomes out dated. It's called retooling. New plants have to be built. There have been plenty of new auto plants built all over the US in the past 20 years or so. With newer technology. We had to do this to catch up to the Japanese who built their industry from the ground up after WW II with the most current technology and efficiency. I would have to assume the same for post war Stuttgart. Will Stuttgart be rebuilt or new stuff going somewhere else as in Cleveland's case ? The normal rise and fall of business cycles. I had an orchestra seat to all that I have mentioned above.
But now we have a paradigm shift underway with A I and all bets are off as to where we are headed and where we land. So what once was has little meaning in this new paradigm. The tricky part now is the human interface with this new paradigm. On the other hand, the bets are still on for those who are in charge of the algorithms. It is in the short term, already pretty much predetermined. So beware of shiny objects and other pies in the sky which you were just lamenting about. They are a total distraction and the algorithms in place say that they will work as intended. Fate accompli, you've already been assimilated and haven't yet become aware of it.
ymwv ... just some late night ramblings by a tired old fool who knows nothing about anything. Go ahead and ask, they'll tell ya.
Honestly, I missed it. But I was laughing too hard at Oswald.Spengler...
@NoEnzLeftToSplit: you wrote
"I envision some kind of libertarian system at grass roots level with little regulation and zero taxation to stimulate local business and innovation, with taxation and regulation increasing the larger corporations and organisations get. Dunno, just an idea. Something about social responsibilities."
While I appreciate that libertarianism can be reasonable if you confine discussion to intangible issues that have no concerns about property rights (e.g. freedom of speech), it's doomed to small potatoes status in the US. Our governments, esp. the federal one, are about the concentration of power to support property rights and to express the will of the rich/powerful with some deference to the will of the majority. Libertarianism AFAICT is about the diminishing of that concentration to the benefit of individuals.
Those with power and wealth in this country are always going to try to diminish the money/power of the individuals and take it for themselves. That is a pretty lopsided fight.
And therein lies the problem.
Not just your country unfortunately.
The greater Stuttgart region is pretty gloomy at the moment as the automobile sector has totally slumped. People are talking of it turning into Detroit 2.
When you go around here and see all the innovative start-ups post WWII and "hidden champions" that are now struggling, you can't help but think, damn, what went wrong?
I hope everyone got the irony of bemoaning ad hominem attacks and then using the word âleftard.â
Honestly, I missed it. But I was laughing too hard at Oswald.Spengler...
@NoEnzLeftToSplit: you wrote
"I envision some kind of libertarian system at grass roots level with little regulation and zero taxation to stimulate local business and innovation, with taxation and regulation increasing the larger corporations and organisations get. Dunno, just an idea. Something about social responsibilities."
While I appreciate that libertarianism can be reasonable if you confine discussion to intangible issues that have no concerns about property rights (e.g. freedom of speech), it's doomed to small potatoes status in the US. Our governments, esp. the federal one, are about the concentration of power to support property rights and to express the will of the rich/powerful with some deference to the will of the majority. Libertarianism AFAICT is about the diminishing of that concentration to the benefit of individuals.
Those with power and wealth in this country are always going to try to diminish the money/power of the individuals and take it for themselves. That is a pretty lopsided fight.
The folks abetting Trump at this point are no different from Ghislane Maxwell.
someone on bsky said it was like doing a 1000 piece jigsaw with only two pieces left to do and people were saying, "nope, I can't really get the big picture here".
In the end, it doesn't really matter what Kurtster or the Trumpista diehards think. Trump is now toast. His own party are no longer buying the bullshit. Prices are higher. The economy is tanking. He doesn't actually have a clue. And now it seems like he's even about to start a war as a distraction.
But this puts the Republicans in a quandry. Either they accept the loss at the next elections and rebuild the party (which is going to be difficult, but they will) or they double-down on the fascist fantasy and put Vance in as administrator of some kind of techno-fascist regime built solely on fear, repression and control. Which hardly seems feasible with Vance at the helm but they may be stupid enough to try.
Whatever, now the hard work of trying to heal the country starts.
No kings, no oligarchs, no billionaires.
No lobbying by vested interests with deep pockets..
It's about creating a vibrant, cohesive society that gives people - ALL the people - a chance to pursue their dreams of life liberty and happiness.
I envision some kind of libertarian system at grass roots level with little regulation and zero taxation to stimulate local business and innovation, with taxation and regulation increasing the larger corporations and organisations get. Dunno, just an idea. Something about social responsibilities.
