DYHALTO'S PROFILE

No, I don't hate Cloud. But ah pity th' foo'.
Prediction? ..... Pain.

author=LockeZ
They really only result in animosity. Teaching and learning aren't things that happen when discussing politics and religion.

What sheer nonsense.
So we, as human beings, should simply avoid talking about the issues that affect us? Complete bullshit. If you're scared of the serious topics and want to keep to the abstract game design theory discussions where you're at your best, then do so. There are kiddie tables and adult tables at family get-togethers. There's no reason the same can't apply here.

This is a site full of artists. One of our greatest intangible assets is our critical thought process and analytical abilities. Serious topics, the real world topics that require research, insight and debate, are valuable to all of our individual development.

Hey Billwilliams, I haven't forgotten about your promise :O Good luck surviving the Christmas->Boxing Day->New Years stretch.

author=Despain

Stuff

Stuff

I had an epiphany after some retrospect.
You'd already mentioned that you weren't all about abolishment of government. I don't know why I decided to be disagreeable afterward, since you and I share a lot of eye to eye.
My beef is with the von Mises indoctrinated meat heads who think that if we did a blanket wipeout of government, everything would magically work out. You should know the type. They're the ones who say "Tax is Theft", and love to prattle on about the immoral Monopoly of Force. Either unknowingly or consciously denying it, they support leveraged buyouts and corporate raiders, as well as speculative capital driving up the costs of the necessities of life. They also support learning mandarin so that we can understand what our new bosses are going to be telling us.
Free market is unarguably the way to go for matters of invention, technological advancement and forms of intellectual property. Resource management, maybe not so much.

FYI, I still think some level of socialised healthcare is necessary. Letting some single mom's kid die because she can't afford the bill is a form of persecution, and the lack of ethics involved will eventually bite the society back.
But in my twisted mind, I imagine a profitable Nation-State that pays dividends in the form of social systems and proper enviro/safety regulations. Maybe I just have too many optimistic ideas for humans.

author=Despain
what? the BP oil spill was fine—a couple of animals died big whoop. people blow that shit out of proportion.

Corexit, the chemical most used to clean it up, is toxic and believed to be carcinogenic. If the carcinogenic part is true, we won't really see effects in humans for 10 years or so. But I assure you, it'll return to the headlines eventually.
But if you don't believe it and think everyone is just blowing hot air, there are some great deals on coastal real estate in Florida. I wonder why.



I remember reading about the political system used in Switzerland. It's referred to as Direct Democracy and everything is done in a quasi-referendum style. They still have ridings like we do, but they're so small that people know their elected reps on a first name basis. The ability of big business/finance to influence public policy is seriously minimised by the level of de-centralisation. It also keeps the populace involved and engaged, and results in some very progressive developments like Switzerland not having a standing army, and gun laws that look like the US 2nd Amendment on steroids.
I don't know why I brought this up.

I'm glad we agree one #1.

But...

author=Despain
2 environmental concerns aren't an issue anymore. GOING GREEN is a massive thing and on today's market BEING GREEN is an effective marketing strategy and business plan on its own. people eat that shit up. ENVIRONMENTALISM is so engrained in people's minds (example: you brought it up!) that it's nearly impossible to go back.

Two major points about this.
The first is that the movement began because of a huge government push. Kyoto, carbon credits, etc. All that shit. You could argue that it began with the hypocrit Al Gore, but his movie's goal was to influence public policy.
Second, most of the so-called green movement is heavily subsidised and dependant on government handouts to maintain relevancy. None of the green energy technologies have gone anywhere in the standalone private sector, and actual efforts to go green on ordinary products are usually token gestures : 5% less mercury.
And how did you like your environmental protection in regards to the BP oil spill?

#3 referred more to the availability of facilities. Doctors and nurses may travel and practise wherever, but can you really be in favor of a system where hospital directors have money to make, and if you can't afford the treatment then you'll just have to die?

author=Dudesoft
I used to be very Liberal when I was younger. EQUALITY! yadda yadda. However, Canadian Liberals are bunch of self-serving assholes. So, I'm pro Conservative now.

You're spinning your wheels.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives are whores to the same powers that be who control the US. The ignorant, uninformed vote maintains the back-and-forth so that no real change can ever be enacted.
I could go into a tirade about how F'ed up Canada's system is, but I'll just say we're a long way from any meaningful political change. We'll just have to go along with whatever the US wants us to do. North American Union, much?

harmonic doesn't afraid of anything.