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Re: Obama's win - good or bad for the US/the world?
Posted:
Nov 7, 2012 10:12 PM
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On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 6:12 PM, Paul Tanner <upprho@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 8:09 PM, kirby urner <kirby.urner@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 1:15 PM, Paul Tanner <upprho@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 2:09 PM, kirby urner <kirby.urner@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> ...
>>
>> << SNIP >>
>>
>>>> Once military expenses, broadly are interpreted, are subtracted from
>>>> net IRS revenue, what's left for taxpayers to take credit for? Do USA
>>>> citizens even pay for their own schools? Or is that China again?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I already did run them in a general way in my message
>>>
>>> "Re: Speachless In New York (or, another OMG moment) "
>>> http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7914775
>>>
>>
>> This diagram from 2010 is helpful.
>>
>> It looks like the deficit would just about equal discretionary
>> spending, which includes defense spending.
>>
>> So we could turn it around and say taxpayers get no credit for defense
>> spending (that's borrowed).
>>
>> Tax revenues cover mandatory expenses and that's it.
>>
>> In this sense, all that military spending as a "return on investment"
>> to a global population to invests in US government spending.
>>
>> Given how military spending is very slanted towards a certain kind of
>> engineering (destructive vs. constructive, Army Corps of Engineers
>> notwithstanding), I can see why some private investors, including
>> other governments ("private" in the sense of "not USA government)
>> would be unhappy with how their funds were being committed.
>>
>
> This is all not relevant since money is fungible. (For those who don't
> know that I mean, see
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungibility
>
> for an introduction.)
Not sure what you're saying as lenders ipso facto have powers to
enforce standards on debtors.
This is what the post WW2 Breton Woods IMF / World Bank circuitry was
all about: "we'll lend you money but you have to play by our rules"
("our" being some elite-minded minority with some background in
banking I guess).
>
>>
>> Lending the US money is sort of like lending meth to a meth addict
>> wouldn't you say?
>>
>
> No. See again
>
"See again" means "re-visit our disagreement again".
To me, Uncle Sam looks pretty seriously addicted and all those stories
he tells about making the world a better place are being belied by the
track record (I'm starting around Kennedy, same as Haim in that
regard, so maybe this is another Mafia story, not sure yet).
I'm all for Uncle Sam having a spine of his own (again / someday) but
for the moment I'm seeing it from a more Asian perspective: looks
more like a meth addict.
Addicted to holding / brandishing nukes, pushing weapons to the world,
promoting violence both on the ground and on TV as a "solution" to
world problems.
So many really idiotic mistakes, not talking about just recently.
What a doofus, eh?
I suppose one could argue (I haven't been) that the Civil War left the
USA criminally insane (schizo) but there's no court to prove 'em
guilty and no jail to lock 'em up (who? -- some of the people are only
fools some of the time) in the Kindergarten of Nations.
OK, so that's not the really the heart of America being expressed by
all those failed policies and police actions.
The *real* America is more Athena than Mars, more Nashville than
Beltway Junta. Lets paint that picture more, show the world a less
ugly face.
Anyway while you're out there working on rolling back the Bush tax
cuts, I'll work on re-vectoring away from some other recent mindsets
(many of them flag waving), and towards a more sustainable curriculum
with stronger STEM.
Yes, I think there's a natural grain to things (so call me Taoist?)
and I feel that I'm working with that grain, so "lone wolf in the
wilderness" is more of a distant echo by now. Lots of same pagers
(mas o meno).
Lets remember that pulling the plug and having the lights go out on
some of the "American" facilities here and there, for simple lack of
funding, is not always a big tragedy, no cause for distress. Ships
get decommissioned. Old equipment gets retired.
Like, look at Kennedy School here in Portland. Now it's a successful
hotel with many interesting nooks and crannies. Or Washington High.
Same thing: an art colony uses it these days (link below).
Public school classrooms might open on floors 9-15 in some Manhattan
skyscraper. Hotels are doing that. In Japan, lots of retail outlets
are way above street level (bookstores, coffee shops...).
Lets remember that government support of public schooling is not
synonymous with investing in 1930s infrastructure, nor does it have to
mean mixed-gender academies (more choices).
Does "the government" pay families to stay home to teach and learn?
Which government? What's a "home school"?
Again (to reiterate), lets not take school and base closures /
conversions as a sign things are "getting worse" necessarily.
Some reopen under new management, and for the better.
Lets keep our business investment worthy. Lets help Uncle Sam kick
the habit(s).
Kirby
Related reading:
http://www.grunch.net/synergetics/politics.html (my politics, snap
shot late 1990s)
http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-love-song-of-rbf-movie-review.html
( recent event at Washington High )
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