Things to pay attention to.

[Ladyhawke1]

South Dakota's Cattle Cataclysm: Why Isn't This Horror News?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/15-7


Why Food Should be a Commons Not a Commodity

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/15-2

 

[Smart Red]

South Dakota's Cattle Cataclysm: Why Isn't This Horror News?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/15-7

Certainly not in the mainstream news as much as it should be, unfortunately, but I have seen the devastating footage and heard about the far-reaching effects of this calamity. My prayers and positive wishes to them. Hopefully, they will soon get the aid they need. What I haven't heard is anything about fund-raising to send assistance to those families who lost generations of livelihood in one fell swoop.

Why Food Should be a Commons Not a Commodity

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/15-2

Not too sure about this one. Both the Pilgrims and Jamestown started with a communal food supply. It was soon noted that some did all the labor to produce food, while others did nothing to help and still got a full share for themselves and their families. That was the beginning of private property in both communities.

I know a woman who has 4 children with 3 men, avails herself of every free offering and entitlement, has been given grants for college for 6+ years where she drops all her classes and uses the money for more enjoyable things because "the teacher is dumb", "the class is boring", "I couldn't stand my stupid classmates" and currently has fewer than 6 credits in total. A user who has had over 12 jobs in the past 5 years - none lasting more than a week before she decided the job was beneath her abilities, stupid, boring, or too much work. "Sold two of her children - for the price of avoiding jail for theft - to their father and hasn't spent more than 26 hours at one time with her girls in the past 4 years despite their father NEVER (but once) refusing her requests to see her children.

And as the article suggests, the produce of my property, my money for seed, my water costs, and hours of my labor in the garden rightly belongs to the community and should be taken from me, harvested, processed, and delivered to feed her? Ya! Right! Over my dead body and from my cold dead hands!

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I feel you misread the article. No one forces you to give anyone anything. You do as you wish. You only share if you wish or you just keep to yourself. There is always that one "case" of abuse that is blown up and then the whole picture is not seen. In this country as far as I could read...the harvest was always shared an none starved. In the early days people help each other. But now things have changed, it has become a means test as to whether or not you deserve help, and I am saddened.

We are all not alike in this world. Some suffer from neglect that reaches into their adulthood. One thing to keep in mind and those of us who have had the fortune to raise all forms of animal life has seen this.

When the babe and the very young are not fed well or cared for, there is a failure to thrive. In humans if becomes a vastly different thing. The brain does not develop and it fails the child. The child fails in so many ways and the learning the skills needed for a decent life becomes evident.

People do not starve to death in this country (well not many anyway) and they do not just go away where we do not have to see them or deal with them. Oh nothey will survive and then we have to deal with them later.

With a failure of human development through childhood depravation, the child survives without the ability to acquire the skills to live a life as part of a community. They fail in schools and so it goes, and so it is perpetuated. They do not just go away. They will survive to become an adult and they will survive later to prey upon you, me, and our children.

So what does it take? It starts by having a system that cares for everyone and gives everyone the same chances in life. I have heard so many times from Americans that it is me, myself and mine. That makes for a very costly society. What you do not take care of at the front door you will have to deal with at the back door.

So be prepared to pay the price. Because if the government shuts down. Soon very soon, our non-progress in human needs will make itself known.


― Alice Walker -

HELPED are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be constant.

HELPED are those who love the entire cosmos rather than their own tiny country, city, or farm, for to them will be shown the unbroken web of life and the meaning of infinity.

HELPED are those who live in quietness, knowing neither brand name nor fad; they shall live every day as if in eternity, and each moment shall be as full as it is long.

HELPED are those who love others unsplit off from their faults; to them will be given clarity of vision.

HELPED are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception, and realize an partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful.

HELPED are those who love the Earth, their mother, and who willingly suffer that she may not die; in their grief over her pain they will weep rivers of blood, and in their joy in her lively response to love, they will converse with the trees.

HELPED are those whose ever act is a prayer for harmony in the Universe, for they are the restorers of balance to our planet. To them will be given the insight that every good act done anywhere in the cosmos welcomes the life of an animal or a child.

HELPED are those who risk themselves for others' sakes; to them will be given increasing opportunities for ever greater risks. Theirs will be a vision of the word in which no one's gift is despised or lost.

HELPED are those who strive to give up their anger; their reward will be that in any confrontation their first thoughts will never be of violence or of war.

HELPED are those whose every act is a prayer for peace; on them depends the future of the world.

HELPED are those who forgive; their reward shall be forgiveness of every evil done to them. It will be in their power, therefore, to envision the new Earth.

HELPED are those who are shown the existence of the Creator's magic in the Universe; they shall experience delight and astonishment without ceasing.

HELPED are those who laugh with a pure heart; theirs will be the company of the jolly righteous.

HELPED are those who love all the colors of all the human beings, as they love all the colors of the animals and plants; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.

HELPED are those who love the lesbian, the gay, and the straight, as they love the sun, the moon, and the stars. None of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.

HELPED are those who love the broken and the whole; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.

HELPED are those who do not join mobs; theirs shall be the understanding that to attack in anger is to murder in confusion.

HELPED are those who find the courage to do at least one small thing each day to help the existence of another--plant, animal, river, or human being.
They shall be joined by a multitude of the timid.

HELPED are those who lose their fear of death; theirs is the power to envision the future in a blade of grass.

HELPED are those who love and actively support the diversity of life; they shall be secure in their differences.

HELPED are those who KNOW.

 

[897tgigvib]

That word...

COMMUNISM

It has so many meanings. There are some who feel that my friend who lived 2,000 years ago was a communist. Or even that he was the only true communist. On the other wildly different hand, there are lots of people who think that Lenin, the founder of the Soviet state was a communist. Add to that, there are a lot of folks who think that a small book called "The Communist Manifesto" was written by Karl Marx. Well over 99% of that book was written by Friedrich Engels, a probably over educated man who really didn't get it.

I read it. Critically. I recognized Karl Marx' hand only on the first 2 pages, and maybe as a few corrections at the end of 3 or 4 paragraphs. The list of DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS is obviously Marx'. See, it should not be read until after the economic and philosophic manuscripts have been read and understood. At least some parts of Das Kapital should also be read first also. This way the oversimplifications and actual mistakes of the manifesto can be seen.

Apparently there have been no world rulers claiming to be communist who actually were or are communist. Only dictators claiming the title communist in one form or another falsely. The list is basically true. The atheism of Marx is the main point wherein I disagree with Marx.

No national boundaries...
No currency...
(and most importantly) ...No Exchange Value...
No Fetish of belief in any God
7 other things my poor ole brain would require an hour to remember.

Myself, I was only about 25 when I studied these things. Dr. David Hunt, now an author of several books, told us then that we were all too young to be learning the things he was guiding us through.

One of his other courses was about creating games. I did not take that one, but Cal and some others did. Picture the heated discussions in class! In fact, Cal and I got in a tussle outside the cafeteria.

Dr. Hunt got wind of this so he used a "game" devised by Lisa, a grad student of his. A game of Capitalism. Students were set in groups with a leader. I was leader of the small business owners. Cal was in the "open" group. As the game progressed I ensured my group did not get too many points. That blew Dr. Hunt away! He could not believe what was happening. See, votes were made in class about how the game would progress. By letting the other groups have more, soon the other groups were voting as my group voted! Cal's open group voted to always vote the same as my group!

After a few days of this Cal gave me a ring. What the hell is this I said. Some kind of east coast society he was part of held that they would have no person as a friend until they had a fight. (Strange.) But at the end of this classroom game, all the students were in the small business owner group.

It showed us that when it is voted on that resources would be as equalized as possible, the greatest number of people would be happy.

I do have much more to say, but I have things to put together right now to prepare for winter up here at the lake.

Meantime LadyHawke, if you wish to discuss this more fully, obtain the Penguin softbound Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 and read them.

Smart Red is right. Some will take more and work more. Others will take more while working less. A very few will work more and take less. These all will affect those who balance the work with the take.

VERY VERY few will understand that... possession itself is a false fetish.

Communism? I think to achieve it would require humans with bigger and better brains.

 

[bobm]

Speaking of communism ( **&^%#@ ) , sounds great in theory but here is how it really works as this story was told to my mother 35 years later by her sister ( by telephone with great risk to her ) that was forced to work in a clothing factory ( she and her husband ( executed ) owned a large farm )... my parents owned a HUGE farm, an average size farm as well as a general store in town. My father was a Veterinarian too. They employed many people and everyone was thriving. As the red army was nearing the front door of our ( I was a newborn then ) farmhouse, we exited out the back door, got on the horses and into the forest. Well, my mother's maid was appointed "commissar" to manage the area commune. My uncle ( who owned a large farm too ) and his family were caught. He was beaten severely , and all put in cattle cars and shipped to Siberia. My uncle died as well as m a n y others ) and was thrown unto the side of the tracks and the wolves had a field day. To this day we don't know what happened to the rest of his family. Many of the surrounding farm buildings and homes were burned to the ground and our H U G E barn was made into the main storage facility for crops. The farmers were forced to work in factories while the city folks were forced to work the fields. Within 2 years, there were extreme crop failures due to mismanagement and the new laborers got their rations no matter how much work that they did on the commune ,so even this one barn wasn't filled from the entire commune area. This former maid, now commissar , lived in our house , which she managed to burn down within 3 months. Then in another 2 years, the barn burned down due to incompetence. People in the area were starving and started to protest. The answer from the communists was to execute many of their appointees including the former maid, load up most of the populace into cattle cars and ship them to Siberia in the dead of winter. Most of these repatriats died from exposure since their heavy winter coats were taken away to clothe those workers that remained. Most that survived the trip died afterwards of starvation. One of my brothers ( born in Cal) made a visit trip back to our former country 15 years ago and found the town as well as the countryside in poor condition and quite a few destroyed building rubble still there including our mother's general store. He couldn't even find where the farms were. Yea, " to each according to their needs, from each according to their abilities " r e a l l y works.

 

[897tgigvib]

No, it most definitely does not work Bob. I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Reasons?

For one, the Soviets were not really Communists at all.
Just a state owned dictatorship.

For another, even if the Soviet state was to be called the true communism, which it wasn't, human brains would have to be a lot better to make it work.

Not talking about big alien smart brains. I mean bigger brains that have a better soul. Humans don't have enough of that for fairness to be allowed to prevail. Instead, some folks feel they are specially endowed to have more than others.

That is a false way of thinking. A fetish.

 

[bobm]

If the soviets were not true communists, what about the chinese, viet namese, cubans, and others that call themselves the democratic peoples republics ? If some humans feel that they are specially endowed to have more than others, one should have a talk with Mother Nature as she has endowed the vast majority of her animal inhabitants of this planet to do just that ... compete by display, intimidation and / or brute force in what/ how much food they consume, what shelter/ territory they seek to occupy , and what / how many mates that they get. In other words, survival of the fittest.

 

[897tgigvib]

None of them were really communists Bob!

Every one of those countries uses money, currency, exchange value!

Communism, I mean real communism, the kind most folks don't have big enough or good enough brains to understand, uses no money.

None.

Uses no trade or barter system either!

None.

=====

Those countries just used the name "communist" to help their revolutions put a dictator into power.

=====

Survival of the fittest: Do you know that is exactly the kind of competition that Capitalism is? Apple wants to outsurvive and monopolize the niche that Samsung wants, for example.

Survival of the fittest: One of the main reasons for overpopulation. (Not counting hormones!)

=====

Short version: Far as I know, there has never been a truly communist nation. Never.
Lenin, Maodzetung, Castro: Those guys just called themselves communists to get folks to help them become dictators.

Short version: If a nation has a currency, dollar, ruble, peso, whatever, that nation is not communist, even if they call themselves communist.

That's just how it is. If I call myself beautiful and convince millions that I am beautiful, I look in the mirror for a reality check. Nope, not beautiful. Millions can jump up and down trying to say I'm beautiful, get born thinking it and die of old age thinking I'm beautiful, live their whole lives thinking I'm beautiful, it does not change the fact I am not beautiful.

Simpler than that Bob: 1 and 1 are 2. But even if 7 billion folks think 1 and 1 is 11, 1 and 1 is still 2!

=====

Communism means that there is NO EXCHANGE VALUE. None at all Bob.

Don't feel alone not understanding that. Very few people can even grasp the idea that...

400 pounds of gold is simply 400 pounds of a metal that can be handy for some uses.

Imagine going to work for no pay. Going to the gas station to fill up but you don't pay. Your garbage disposer breaks and someone comes to fix it but you don't pay them, but that same person goes to the store for groceries where your wife works. No prices, no pay.

Imagine that the rich people who used to live in the 2 million dollar mansion now run the automobile painting place, and your son takes his old jalopy there and they paint it up nice, no charge. 5 families now live in that mansion, and folks take turns living there! Another old mansion down the street is now a honeymoon place for newlyweds, including the newlywed downs syndrome couple who sweep the sidewalks downtown. Nobody charging for anything, everyone doing the same jobs.

=====

It simply would not work right Bob. Too many people have some kind of GREED cells in their brains. Too many people have some kind of POWERLUST cells in their brains. Too many who would just become lazy.

Gaaa! Cats are better, leaps and bounds better, than people. Better souls. Obligatory carnivores that they are.

=====

 

[journey11]

The problem is not the human brain, but the human heart. Which is exactly what Christ had to say about it and he offers the only remedy for it.

To be consistent to your own worldview, you must admit that we will never hypothetically achieve a better human being without survival of the fittest. But the blanket of commonality you propose would work entirely against it. Do we not cull our livestock to achieve the healthiest, strongest animals and to draw out a desired attribute? Is this not what Hitler had in mind for the human race?

As long as there is sin in the human heart, you will never achieve this utopia you look for. You can't "breed out" this sin nature/greed/drive for survival of the fittest, whatever you wish to call it. What is a dictator anyway, but a little man who thinks too highly of himself and desires to be a little god?

To be consistent to my own worldview, I'd really have to hate you all to not tell you that there is a reckoning day coming where all of this will be set right. God loves you and sent his Son to pay for your sin and to reconcile you unto himself so that you can have fellowship with him, life more abundantly on this earth and life eternal after this.

We know that there is a problem, but can any of us agree on what should be done about it? Whichever news source you get it from, it is evident that we are not "evolving upward", but that things are only getting worse and worse and it is we ourselves that are the cause of it.

I see these threads come and go on here, fruitless and often contentious. I see the lack of hope and peace that the lost have and it totally breaks my heart. I have such precious peace and joy in my Saviour. While we're talking about sharing -- how greedy and hateful would I have to be not to share that? The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

 

[bobm]

Well Marshall, I know very well that these so called communist countries are nothing more than very cruel dictatorships as my family and I have been through it personally. A NIGHTMARE !!! The dream of the communist utopia has never existed and never will. You see, some will say that all I have to do is show up and ask for goods and services and it will come to pass, so why should I do anything for others for it. Even the Kibutz experiment doesn't have happy campers either. How about a marriage where love, reproduction and care of the children is of utmost importance ... many marriages end up in divorce, spousal and/or child abuse. So what is next in neverland ? I suppose that a lobotomy to create a society of mindless zombies will come close. Since you brought up Samsung... our 4 year old Compac laptop finally gave up and died. my wife just bought a new Samsung laptop. It is by far the WORST computer together with it's operating program that I had the displeasure to use.
the curser jumps all over as we type, misspells, skips or transposes letters , screen goes blank, @$%^&*** Oh, by the way ... cats catch mice as well as other prey much smaller than themselves, then torchers them until they become mindless and near death before they finally kill and devour them. Cats do have cat fights too !