Nuke you, Lars. Waste not, want not.
Posted by Ritter on April 6, 2008
This CBS 60 Minutes article got me to thinkin’ ’bout a new domicile:
Yucca Mountain sits on federal land in Nevada, not far from Death Valley, in a remote stretch of desert, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The nearest commercial establishment is a brothel 15 miles away.
As a former friend put it, “Sounds pretty seductive with all this fancy marketing language, eh? Now, if there was a general store at the brothel…”
Ah, so that’s why it’s so expensive; the amenities. And, of course, the remote stretch. Ahhh, that felt good. The remote stretch.
Doing my part to enlighten those of you in the “ninety percent of the country [who have] no idea where Yucca Mountain is,” I provide the following link. So, now you have joined that elite 10%. Congratulations! Your prize will be shipped within the next 8-10 years er, weeks. Of course, now that I know where Yucca Mountain is, I realize that it’s too close to Las Vegas, so…
While not right up against Yucca Mt., Crescent Valley does at least have the potential to be on a rail line hauling nuclear waste to the facility. Yes, potential: that which to which we have yet to live up.
Speaking of living up, lots of small town business establishments fulfill multiple needs of the surrounding populace: you know — real estate, ammunition, antiques, beef jerky, bail bonds, used cars, embroidered pillows and gasoline. So, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and venture to say that the typical brothel in Nevada does indeed include a general store. Wonder if the employees multi-task.
<FADE IN: the simulated pecky cedar wood grain laminate checkout counter in a multi-purpose general store manned (is that the word?) by a scantily clad woman in her early 70s. Her name tag, strategically pinned, reads “Madame Roux, Realtor/Facilitator”>
“May I take your order, sir?”
“Yes, I want a case of those spearmint-flavored beef jerky things, a pair of those embroidered Elvis pillows, and 15 minutes of consensual sex.”
“Will that be for here or to go?”
“For here. Oh, and I almost forgot, I need to pick up a little 40-acre parcel of parched, featureless desert land downwind of the big Yucca.”
“No problem. Anything else?”
“Yeah, a 60×200 General Steel aircraft hangar.”
“Cash or charge?”
“Charge. Can I get it all gift wrapped?”
“No, I’m so sorry. Our gift-wrapping associate is tied up with another customer. We don’t expect her to be released from… er available for another day or two.”
“Really? Well, then forget it.”
“Sir! You want me to restock all this stuff? You’ll have to pay a restocking charge.”
“Oh yeah? How much is that?”
“15 minutes of non-consensual sex.”
She removes her name tag and plunks it down on the simulated pecky cedar wood grain countertop with a deft yet clumsy movement that reveals… She is a he. Well, partially. Sort of. Maybe. Hard to tell. Perhaps it’s the ambient radiation? The heat?
“You gotta be kidding! I already paid at the office.”
<FADE OUT: security personnel approach from various directions>
Tune in again next week when Nuclear Waste Man returns in an apparition near you.
phroedrick said
Well, actually I don’t see any problem with being down wind of Yucca mountain, and neither should any one else.
Personally, I have always wanted to be able to read by light emanating from my own body. Think of the energy savings, the reduction of green house gases, the restoration of the ozone layer, the happy smile on Al Gore’s dying face if all of us could glow in the dark. Imagine never having to replace a light bulb, or warm your food in a microwave–just hold it to your chest for thirty seconds.
Entire cities could forget supplying energy from big power companies, oil prices would drop, the problem of a glut of senior citizens placing an unnecessary strain on the Social Security system would be eliminated as the average life expectancy will plunge to roughly, say, twenty-seven.
Some savvy auto makers could produce alternative energy vehicles powered by the driver’s own radio active particle emissions. Under the shorter life expectancy scenario, American cars could be back in vogue as no owner would live to see the point of built in obsolescence. Foreign manufacturers would be up shit creek as their vehicles will now last longer than a human life span; No longer is there an advantage to exceptional quality.
Hell, think of it–no old farts trying to stay in the work force, the average eighteen year old would finish college at around 23, put student loans in forbearance, die a few years later and never have to repay them.
A side benefit for the private sector is that there would be an endless supply of young college graduates to hire, pay low wages, and ditch some portion of health coverage. There would be no educational half-life which is currently around two years (if the graduate even attended classes). The question is who exactly will be running the monster monopoly corporations–some twenty-two year old CEO?
The public sector will shrivel up and cease to exist; Finally an end to mind numbing bureaucracy. No one sitting in a useless job shuffling papers across the desk and sending out letters to citizens asking questions that do not apply to them. Talk about a paper reduction act–Jesus this is the perfect solution.
The glut of lawyers would diminish and virtually all would eventually disappear as average life span wold no longer allow for endless law school horse shit, time to study for the Bar Exam, and then get into practice while living–and I know of no dead lawyers still in practice, save for the old Mayor Daly days in Chicago when dead people actually showed up at the polls to vote him into office again and again and again.
The Sierra Club would cease to exist (finally) as all its members, lawyers, sympathizers, lobbyists, and pig shit supporters will start to glow, then after a few months the glow would fade as all life force leaves their bodies. Their brains will be preserved as in the movie Young Frankenstein, in a glass container labeled ABNORMAL. Or as Marty Feldman put it the brain of A. B. Normal.
Sidebar: Marty Feldman died of a heart attack due to food poisoning he picked up on vacation in Mexico. Viva Mehico, Ole!!
Politicians would receive the same glorious fate–State and Federal. There would no longer be a President as the age at which one can run is thirty-five–believe it’s the same for the Vice President, as the average life expectancy would now be 8 years short of the constitutional minimum.
Racist promulgators such as the Reverend Al Sharpton would cease to exist and then maybe we would all actually realize the racist issue was pretty much solved long ago, save for outposts in Northern Idaho, and the survivalists in the mountains (God knows where). See, guys like him make their living finding racism and creating a ruckus about it. Consequently as his income depends on finding racism he must to maintain his income stream and political notoriety FIND racism at intervals of the frequency of paydays.
The Ultimate Fighting enterprise will be replaced by a more violent form of college football. Americans do love their violence as long as it’s televised or witnessed in person at an arena (just like Rome). This new form of football will be seen first at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A good solid block, tackle or quarter back sack will send glowing body parts flying in all directions. Americans will LOVE this, so why not give it to them.
Inner-city gang warfare would come to an end. There would be no more drive-by shootings, no more graffiti on the walls of private homes and public property. The latter due to difficulty of holding ones arms up long enough to use spray paint and weakness of the index fingers to press the spray nozzle. The recoil of any gun, even small arms will knock off a finger or two, perhaps even a hand. No one, no matter now macho will put up with that even if the target is well lighted.
Illegal emigrants from our neighbor south of the border can stream in as freely as air circulates the earth. They will soon start to glow and end up with the same life span reduction found in American citizens. Amnesty will no longer be necessary; No need to learn English (well most don’t anyway).
The airlines will shut down and die as radioactive passengers interfere with the navigation instruments in the cockpit. Probably no one could get past the check points, as glowing is currently a very unusual and suspicious thing.
We can forget about lead poisoning from cheap products made in China. We never have to think about Nuke You Lar war as when enough people gather together to peacefully protest any remaining grievances against remnants of government will suddenly reach critical mass and explode (E does equal mc squar).
The economy of the country of India will take a setback as no one will need outsourcing any longer. Imagine an entire country sitting there waiting for the phones to ring.
This radio active waste storage is a good idea and hopefully Yucca Mountain is just a nice beginning of a long-term strategy to deal with, as Bush says it, “nucular,” waste.
Some possible sites and strategies up for consideration are:
–Bury some significant amount of spent radio active material under the White House lawn and in the rose garden.
–Store a lot of it in some empty storage closets in the halls of the U.S. Congress buildings, and don’t forget the State and local level.
–Go ahead and build the Great Wall of America along the U.S.-Mexican border and put a lot of this radio active material in the cement used to construct it.
–Use Putin’s methodology and store some of this shit in powder form in public places, on subway trains, mass transit, kneeling buses, public toilets, in the products made by companies producing and packaging flour and sugar.
What I’m suggesting here is that for once in a very long time, America actually commit to doing something all the way and in a short time frame.
We don’t go to war any longer with a clear cut plan to win quickly and get the fuck out before we lose a lot of Americans in uniform. No, our habit is to go in and police, and try to establish democracy in places that do not want it. Shit, we don’t have any idea of what democracy IS any longer so how the fuck can we be so arrogant as to try and push whatever it is we’ve got down the throats of everyone else?
Let’s also cut through the bullshit and just acknowledge that if the tobacco companies have been able to produce, distribute, and enhance the habit forming substances in their various products for decades, actually centuries if one considers that this shit has been in use for a very long time. Let us not forget the old advertising slogan, “not a cough in a carload,” along with, “outstanding and they are mild,” why can’t we simply accept a little nuclear waste in our backyards? That, folks, is consistency of thought and action in motion. Americans are not accustom to that.
Meanwhile, millions of people all over the United States and the world have died of lung cancer from these products. Tobacco products are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Not regulated as would be any other substance so toxic by the FDA. Fuck no and these buggers have the bucks to lobby to keep it status quo. See, the FDA would jump on making tobacco products illegal to manufacture and produce in a New York second.
In summary, the strategic placement of spent nuclear substances solves virtually every problem America faces with which we do not have the guts, balls, or perhaps intelligence to tackle head on. So, route them trains, dig them holes, shove the shit in–Let’s party! Then when we use the expression, “he has a warm glow about him,” we will not be misstating reality.
El Gordito said
Hey, I know what democracy is: two wolves and a sheep taking a vote about what to have for dinner. Luckily, America was not founded as a democracy. Unfortunately, we’re heading in that direction.
phroedrick said
Democracy-Schomcracy–Does not democracy depend on an educated population with the ability to think critically, ask questions, have or form opinions and conclusions based on observation of actions rather than words, and perhaps (Oh, God I know this isn’t politically correct or in fashion) speak one, common language? Seems to me literacy is important, too.
Given that one requirement a great many Chinese living in this country (mostly the aged ones) can’t participate in this democracy (if that is what it is or becomes) save for cities such as San Francisco and the State of California printing ballots in Chinese, virtually every Mexican emigrant (the illegals) won’t learn our language and even the American-Mexican citizens parade through our streets waving the Mexican flag. What kind of bullshit is that? How about this–If you love Mexico so much why not go home and try to parade around with an American flag.
So, am I racist? No! What I am is absolutely committed to using common sense and intelligence to run the affairs of state (not the sort in which or former cigar loving president engaged).
I’m sure this is asking too much. We Americans are such wimps, we are essentially just like a herd of sheep. Sheep are not very bright and if you ever watched a herd of them you surely noticed when one begins moving in some aimless direction all the others do the same. Embarrassing for many of us who actually do have the ability to think and see the reality of our guvmint and the money eating glutton of bureaucracy, Americans are stupid to think we own the world.
Next time you visit Europe notice how easily you can spot another American. They’re the morbidly obese ones in shorts, ragged t-shirts, and stupid looking, thousand dollar running shoes. Some of us actually visit places such as the Tower of London in gray sweat pants and filp-flops.
Bad news–The rest of the world does not like us very much, if at all and we persist in giving them lots of reasons to stay firmly on that position.
This condition is the direct result of an educational system designed to produce brain dead graduates lacking basic thinking and reasoning skills. High schools across this vast wasteland graduate kids who can find Canada on a world map–that are sure an iPod is the conduit through which God speaks–cannot read and follow simple instructions–and lastly do not speak English very well, many are worse at it than some emigrants from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Colleges and Universities take these cloud-brained masses and turn them into even more dazed and confused young adults itching to get into the work force where they will be able to do nothing save feel good about themselves. A degree with the letters BS (may be very close to the substance we all call BS) does not ensure the holder can actually DO anything. A degree with the letters BA (remember when a BA meant hanging one’s bare ass out a car window while driving the strip) also ensures nothing in terms of actually doing anything.
Let’s call a spade a spade (Poor Billy used this phrase and ended up saying he was sorry to all people of color ever born, now living and for at least three generations to come. I worked for an American-African who used the term virtually all the time). The BS designation, when properly translated means Bull Shitter, and BA means Babbling Asshole.
But, hey, we’re Americans and (let’s all hum middle C now and sustain for sixty seconds) a Democracy that we are determine to shove down the throats of other nations, especially if the population is brown, even though we can’t seem to keep one going inside our own borders.
Now please listen carefully as our menu options have changed. Press 2 for Spanish, 3 for Urdu, 4 for Chinese, 5 for Arabic (check to see there isn’t some package stuck under your phone before you do), 6 for Hindi, 7 to be the victim of a drive by shooting, or 8 to hear these choices again.
El Gordito said
Why is it bad news that the rest of the world doesn’t like us very much? I welcome their animosity. Considering what the rest of the world is like, I’d be more worried if they did like us. Why the hell should we care what they think? They’re either a lot further down the road to (or already there) at a place any rational individual doesn’t want to be.
Are we supposed to emulate Europe? Europe, which is rapidly melting down into an unsustainable post-modernist morass of multiculturalism? How about Africa? They can’t seem to get past their tribalism and endemic corruption. The Middle East? Yeah, sure, the dark ages were mighty attractive, weren’t they? Let’s go back there. China? Oh, yes the joys of communism are so thrilling, aren’t they? Japan? Their population is aging so quickly that they’d better hurry up and get those robots working full-time. Russia? India? Australia? Puhleeeze! I know, how about Antarctica?
The point is, there is no other country on earth where the individual still has a chance against the considerable forces arrayed against him.
Let me reiterate, since you didn’t seem to get it the first time: America is NOT a democracy even though the pressure has been building for the past century to transform it into one. It was founded as a constitutional republic because the founders rightly feared democracy. You want a democracy? Move to Gaza. Hamas was duly elected and my, oh my, aren’t they just doing a bang up job there?
The fact that our political class persists in calling America a democracy and using that to justify an altruistic foray into Middle East nation-building is telling. Either they understand the dangers of democracy and choose to ignore them or they are a few of the more ignorant end-products of government education. The so-called “progressives” have been running the government schools for a century, so it could be either reason. The fact is, it was right and just for us to get rid of Saddam, but not for us to sacrifice ourselves to build a pie-in-the-sky “moderate” islamic state. We should have stipulated in no uncertain terms that Iraq will be a secular state, and that islam will NOT be involved in governance, nor will it be afforded any special consideration in Iraq’s constitution. Just as we dismantled state-Shintoism in Japan after WWII, we should have dismantled political islam in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, we have our mealy-mouthed President talking about a “religion of peace” and sending his inept Secretary of State on the tired and pointless quixotic quest for Middle East “peace in our time.”
Oh, and don’t give me that “especially if the population is brown” garbage. White liberal guilt is pervasive on the left and no good has or will come of it. Witness the destruction of Africa wrought, in no small part, by foreign “aid.” Witness the destruction of the black family structure in America courtesy of the welfare state. Witness the witless adoration of the arrogant racist Obama by so many mind-numbed white collegians.
phroedrick said
Perhaps I didn’t make my point regarding America not being well liked by other nations. First, I don’t give a shit either and I think it’s better they think badly of us than try to hug us. I simply meant to address the vacuum between American ears that everyone else is doing things incorrectly and WE have the ONLY viable solution through the exportation of whatever the hell it is we have a form of government.
Yes, I also agree this is the last bastion where the common man can have freedoms, the chance to succeed and, oh yes, the chance to pay a shit load of income taxes and over $4 per gallon for gasoline. We’ll see $ 5 soon. Only reason there is not politician tackling this ass raping of American’s is that this is an election year and politicians need the fucking contributions of the oil giants. As long as America is a debtor nation, we will always be at the mercy of those organizations with large war chests full of cash. I say bring back the Excess Profits Tax of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Yep, sure, you betcha, Billy Bob, those Arabs and the Islamic faith sure are a tribal bunch of nasty mother fuckers. Even Billy Bob understands that you don’t march into an essentially tribal culture (centuries old) and try to fix it. If Islam (and I know a great deal about it) is the religion of peace, that segment of it is so well hidden by extremists it will never surface.
Say ‘dem prayers, grab ‘dem guns, tape on some explosive, cause the 13th century here it come. Allaho Akbar.
Okay, the last people of white skin we bombed were the Nazis in the 1940s. The mission of the Nazis was to rule the world. They ran afoul of America as we consider that to be our job. Since then it’s been brown skinned people, period. Not only that, America always talks about peace, yet averages some major kind of war to reduce the population of American youth on the average of every ten years.
I can’t agree that the breakdown of the American black family structure is entirely the fault of the welfare state. Certainly it is a contributor. However, there is some point where one must acknowledge that how one perceives themselves creates the image and person they are, how they act, and so on. The concept of personal responsibility is completely missing in the entire racial discrimination issue and always has been. Why all the whining about being in the situation one is as the result of some one’s actions three hundred or more years ago, much less projecting that myth into the 2000s where it mostly does not exist. At some point minorities must come to the realization their perception is out of phase with reality.
While I am not an Obama fan, I would like to read some justification for the position of his being an arrogant racist. Mind you, I don’t oppose the position put forth, and would like to see it expanded upon.
El Gordito said
Excess Profits Tax? Ever hear of the law of supply and demand? More governmental interference in markets is exactly what we don’t need. You might want read this book for an economics refresher. The function of price is to allocate scarce resources. Want lower prices? Increase supply (i.e., drill in ANWR, off the Florida coast, and in my back yard if there’s any oil there) or decrease demand (convince global warming activists to bicycle to their next confab).
Personal responsibility is anathema to demagogues of all stripes (politicians, victimologists, activists, et al). Who would they pander to in a world populated by self-reliant people? The welfare state is the antithesis of a culture of personal responsibility.
What is your point about America’s supposed proclivity for war against “brown skinned” people? Should we only fight Swedes and Norwegians? It sure sounds to me as though you’re buying into that “America is racist” crap.
As for B.O. being an arrogant racist, read his words and contemplate his actions.
phroedrick said
Yes, I remember the days of Macro and Micro economics from college, the invisible hand and all that stuff.
Supply and demand work just peachy keen IF and so long as supply is not artificially constrained as it is now. As for demand there isn’t one chance in hell that will decrease any time soon. Let us not forget that it was the automotive industry that convinced cities to rid themselves of those ugly overhead electrical lines that provided power for mas transit systems producing little green house gas compared to the automobile. The oil companies had a hand in this also.
Consequently the transportation infrastructure of this country depends on gasoline powered vehicles. Let’s also not forget to thank the fucking Sierra Club for its part in keeping any and all building of refineries and drilling in our own backyard from happening for over thirty years and counting.
I think the word, “Club,” in their name should not be thought of as a gathering of people of like mind, nor should it be construed to mean a gathering of folks to celebrate and have a good time. I believe the literal meaning of the word, “club,” as a noun is more appropriate: “a heavy stick with a thick end esp. one used as a weapon.” We do not have a supply problem in terms of crude oil; We have a constrained refining capacity thanks to the afore mentioned, club.
Let’s also not forget that cities like Los Angelsleeze have resisted building mass transit systems that are fast, reliable and efficient because the main corridor that makes sense in which to construct it runs through the back yards of some very rich, mostly
Jewish, people in Encino and the corridor along Ventura Blvd. Long live the 405 over the hill into West Los Angelsleeze and south. Long live the 5 that winds its way through to Los Angelsleeze to the north. Oh, let’s not forget Orange County and south where traffic barely moves at most any time of the day or night and commutes can be in excess of three or four hours.
How about looking at supply and demand from another angle, such as we demand to know why supply is constrained and why oil companies can waltz to the bank with billions to trillions in annual profits while the rest of America has to carefully consider just how far they can drive to get groceries.
How about we demand to know why all refineries, without regard to ownership, stop refining and go into maintenance and repair mode at the very same time each year. Why isn’t this a staggered activity, or is there some sort of agreement among them that to do this all as one group, prices can be driven up and then maintained at the new, higher level? Let’s have this gluttonous industry supply an answer to that.
Now, let me get back to the brown people issue. No, I don’t think we should go to war against Swedes and Norwegians. I only suggest that if one looks at the countries we’ve bombed the shit out of since WWII it’s hard to find a country where the population was anything except brown.
What the hell was the name of the movie where we decide to go to war against Canada? Funny movie and sort of makes the point I’m trying to get at.
As for Obama, I frankly don’t think there’s any difference between him and Rev. Al Sharpton. If blacks want to find real, hard core racism they need to look into their own communities and organizations first. Want to find real racism–that’s where you’ll find it. It is in the camps of the very people who claim to be the victims of it.
Oh, yes, there’s not much difference between Obama and Hillary when you simmer down the effluent of their fundamental philosophy. When you get to it, perhaps, Al Gore wouldn’t have made such a bad president after all–yes I can hear you groan.
So, to close this out… Will a really valid candidate with a brain, able to see reality, think before speaking and acting, stop listening to advisers with their own agendas, and take the tough route to fixing what IS broken PLEASE STEP FORWARD.
El Gordito said
And just where is this “artificial constraint” coming from? Why, that would be from the gub mint, now wouldn’t it? Insofar as a business looks to the coercive power of the gub mint to bolster its position versus rivals rather than by besting them through innovation and achievement, it is as corrupt as gub mint itself. The gub mint has no business being in business. The attendant market distortions have got us where we are today.
At a certain price point, demand for oil and gas will most certainly decrease. However, as prices rise, new sources of energy become economically feasible. We have something like 5x more oil than Saudi Arabia, but it’s locked up in oil shale and extraction is still experimental. France gets 75% of its energy from nuclear. Forget the so-called “renewable” boutique energy sources such as wind (Ted Kennedy’s view might be spoiled, after all). Ethanol has already begun crowding out food production. (But I guess that’s OK because the environmentalists are always willing to sacrifice the “brown skinned” people for their own good.) We can achieve self-sufficiency in energy, but not if the environmentalists can continue to use the power of the gub mint to advance their reactionary agenda.
And just what the hell is wrong with companies making a profit? That’s why they’re in business in the first place. No profits: no jobs, no R&D, no products. Exxon Mobil’s profit is over $40 billion. So what? Its profit margin is less than 8%. Still, politicians love to exploit wealth envy. It buys them votes. You seem to have bought into their agenda, with your use of terms and phrases like “gluttonous” and “waltz to the bank”.
“Simmer down the effluent of their fundamental philosophy.” Now, that’s funny! And so true. But, sorry, Al Gore would have been an even bigger disaster that Bush. To answer your final question, no, all we’re likely to get is one of the three clowns currently in the queue. Reagan said it best, “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
phroedrick said
Hey, nothing wrong with making a profit! I was in business myself and profit is what you want, well actually it’s a gray area when it comes to tax time. A business owner and stockholders of all sorts want to see a healthy bottom line, yet not at the expense of paying too much tax (what ever that is). Actually, profit is secondary to cash flow. Screw the profit… if you don’t have cash flow your dead.
In the 1970s post gas crisis as it was called when we all lined up for gas going up to, ohmagod, 65 cents a gallon. The gub mint did impose the excess profits tax on oil companies. I really think it was poorly named as it does imply there is a point at which profit is excessive. And I do believe that concept is nonsense.
Once incorporated, a entity essentially ends up taking on a life more like that of a human in the eyes of the gub mint. There is one small, nasty and overlooked exception.
This small, yet voracious predator is known as the ‘alternative minimum tax’, and only applies to real, breathing human beings. Essentially the gub mint does believe that at some point income from investments and so on becomes obscene.
So, the brain surgeon politicians passed the Alternative Minimum Tax bill to punish ordinary Americans for making too much money, especially when income from the sale of corporate shares generates the income. This, too is nonsense and should be surgically yanked out of the tax code.
Now, if living, breathing human beings have to pay AMT is it not within the realm of reason that corporations making a profit at a certain level (either as a percentage or amount–amount is better as percentage is easily twisted) to be subjected to the same sort of punitive taxation to which the American worker bee must cope?
The free market is a nice concept and does not work, period. This is because every one is afraid of it. Are we paranoid, or is there a good reason to fear such an animal? You betcha there is and the evidence need go no further than looking at the ethics or lack of them among corporate leaders, boards of directors and so on.
Free marketeers will cut all sorts of corners to increase profits (there we go again).
American auto makers were perfectly happy to let people fly through the windshield in a collision and the driver get a crushed ribcage from impact with the steering wheel until gub mint mandated seat belts and the wearing of them. Then along came air bags that, ironically, kill the driver every now and then when they deploy.
Why are so many factories near rivers, lakes, and the ocean? The answer is because it was easy and more profitable to dispose of all manner of chemical waste by just piping it untreated into the nearby waters. So, when fish started to float in great numbers rather than swim, gub mint had to do something about it, but hey, that was the free market.
“It’s just business,” goes the saying and cutting the legs out from under a competitor is all within the rules of the game. The line that delineates business from being just business is when profit comes at the expense of people, the quality of life, and so on.
The free market concept is flawed as it does not take into account the viscousness of people, the tendency toward pathological lying, and the moral fiber of the sociopaths running some of these mega corps.
We are a nation of liars. We lied to the native Americans (our first brown victims
), we do not tell the truth about anything to the world or our own population. Within that context how is it possible to have a truly free market?
Now, every company wants to be ‘green’ because ‘green’ is not Kermit any longer, it’s profitable. People love green companies and buy the same old shit products these buggers were always and keep making the same old way; Yet, a good marketing and advertising campaign to convince Americans you’re a ‘green’ company will make you more ‘green’ than you currently have on your bottom line. Even IBM wants to be known as ‘green’. If that’s what they want then how about they clean up all the toxic waste that seeped into the ground under their facilities in the silicon valley and elsewhere? That would be a good start.
I think I’ll duck and cover now and await a predictable response. Remember as school kids during the ‘cold war’ we did this drill to teach us what to do in case of a nuclear explosion. We went to the wall crouched down on our knees, bent forward and covered the backs of our neck. That was supposed to protect us. The reality would have been something similar to curly fries.
El Gordito said
Corporations and “rich” folk are easy targets for politicians because, for the vast majority of voters, they are the “other” and so may therefore (and with that all-important clear conscience, too) be robbed for the “common good.” The ironic thing about such schemes is that those very same voters who were content to plunder from “others” often find themselves joining the “others” via such abominations as the income tax and the AMT, both of which were sold as “taxes on the rich” that wouldn’t affect the average American. So, are ya feelin’ rich, now?
Free markets work just fine and the concept is not flawed; we just don’t happen to have one and haven’t for at least a century. I’m sorry to hear that you think government regulation is justified to alter economic behavior. You seem to be overlooking the salubrious effects of competition. And the (somewhat, perhaps) unintended consequences of gub mint bureaucratic meddling, which are typically worse than the supposed problems being “fixed.” If I don’t want to wear a seatbelt (or a bike helmet, or if I want to eat a Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind-sized mountain of trans-fat every morning for breakfast), that should be my decision, not some bureaucrat’s. You want to wear a seatbelt? Fine, wear it. That decision should be yours and yours alone. You’ll never convince me that I will benefit from delegating what should be my personal responsibilities and decisions to gub mint bureaucrats.
The so-called “green” initiatives are an interesting study. Follow the money. I don’t mind so much GE promoting their products (wind turbines and such) on their subsidiary, NBC, by touting the global warming nonsense as “news” but I do mind them tag teaming us with their gub mint allies to legislate their future profitability.
Bottom-line: laissez-faire capitalism is the only moral economic system. Even its pale shadow (that we know today) has been enough to better the lives of vast numbers of people, while other systems (fascism, socialism, communism, et al) provide only widespread misery, enslavement, and death. I reject all forms of collectivism.
Ritter said
All right, boys. Move along now. Nothing more to see here.