Sunday, October 17, 2004

'Team America: World Police' Condemned: Enormously Bigoted Rubbish

By Glorious Revolutionary Federation

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Posted 10/17 | Add a Comment

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  1. Humor check.................
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    ...............None found! :-(

    Posted by Dreambreather from Greenwood  on  10/17  at  05:57 PM

  2. I suppose those who didn’t find Jim Crow humor funny also would fail your “humor check.” What a cheap way to cloak racism.

    Posted by Federation of Fortune 500 Killers from  on  10/17  at  06:18 PM

  3. Cockburn writes a solid piece this week in Counterpunch mentioning Howard Stern’s battle for free speech. The truth is that Stern is hardly a threat. He often refers to all Middle Eastern people and Arabs as terrorists. Not to mention the common American misconception about that people of India are Arabs. I concur with the Federation that silly racism like that of the South Parkers and Stern is not what free speech is about. Unfettered speech is really speaking out against the state. The “offend everyone” crowd is simply a misnomer as the actual system of Americanism is never challenged...possibly because their is nothing funny about that truism.

    Posted by Kap Fulton from San Diego, CA  on  10/17  at  07:35 PM

  4. Is this intentionally or unintentionally funny?  A bunch of rich college kids calling themselves “killers” has got to be satire, right?

    Posted by a from  on  10/17  at  11:28 PM

  5. Keep it up guys...you are almost as funny as “Team America”!

    Posted by Mark from  on  10/17  at  11:47 PM

  6. You guys… Has ANYONE here stopped to think that MAYBE, just maybe Trey and Matt are SATIRIZING big Hollywood action movies, our ridiculously polarized government, and the “war on terrorism”?

    I mean really, their depicitions of terrorists (and even better our policy of “hurting them to help them") are so over-the-top that they could be nothing more than blatant slaps-in-our-faces that there is a problem with America’s perception of the world…

    Could this be what the filmmakers are trying to accomplish?!?  I suggest that you all do a little homework regarding these artists… they are Libertarians… Team America engenderes VOTER APATHY?!?  Gimme a break… Having two wings of a ONE PARTY system has created apathy in this country… Perhaps if we had a few more political parties (like the REST of the civilized world) them more people would feel represented and, thus, would vote…

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  12:36 AM

  7. We’ll take these illiterate criticisms one-by-one.

    “A” writes that we are “rich college kids,” but doesn’t do his or her homework, else he or she’d know that the majority of students at Columbia are on financial aid—and that because of Columbia’s significant budget, there is actually more class diversity here than some other schools because of Columbia’s ability to help students pay.  It’s a cheap ad hominem attack that doesn’t bother to engage in the article’s argument.

    Edward Preston pathetically misreads the article.  The line about voter apathy was a paraphrase of Sean Penn’s statement—not our own belief.  His response is meandering and diversionary, and doesn’t begin bothering to address the racist and homophobic stereotypes that were the subject of the original piece.  Pitiful.

    Posted by Federation of Fortune 500 Killers from  on  10/18  at  12:40 AM

  8. “Pathetic” and “Pitiful”...  So, gentlemen, if you plan on making it ANYWHERE and plan on doing ANYTHING with your lives you’re going to have to make a concerted effort to NOT react in the above manner… As a professional actively working in your fields of expertise I can guarantee you that if your ridiculous attitude does not improve you will not go very far (whether an indie-freelancer or at a major firm). 

    As for the issues of homophobia and racism… My same critique applies… Matt and Trey are going over-the-top to make a point that, UNFORTUNATELY, Americans really do have some of these basic values and misconceptions ingrained into their psyche.  Now, this is mostly the major news broadcasters fault.  The filmmakers who created Team America are using their platform and style to not only connect with a disaffected and bored audience, but also to point out just how similar, and thus offensive, our mainstream content from Hollywood and the major news outlets really is.

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  09:39 AM

  9. Jesus Christ.

    Have you self-righteous, whiny little fucktards ever thought about getting a life?  All of you could start with just one life at first, with which you could take turns.

    It’s a movie.  Get over it.  Get over yourselves.  It’s a goddamned MOVIE.  Grow up.

    Posted by Mr. Bean from Earth  on  10/18  at  12:41 PM

  10. Ha!!!  Mister Bean, what a wonderful bit of advice… Though I feel my analysis to be valid, you’ve made a wonderful point:  ITS A MOVIE PEOPLE.  Whether or not it is offensive or production, ITS A MOVIE.  We could all grow up a bit, shed some of those personal insecurities that make us react harshly and negatively.

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  01:47 PM

  11. “Federation of Fortune 500 Killers” sounds like the right’s parody of the radical left— “Billionaires for Bush” turned inside-out.

    For those of you “outraged at the outrage”, I suggest you take step back and consider who this joke is really on.

    Posted by Frank Goodman from  on  10/18  at  03:38 PM

  12. Satire - A work which exposes and ridicules human vices or folly. Historically perceived as tending toward didacticism, it is usually intended as a moral criticism directed against the injustice of social wrongs. It may be written with witty jocularity or with anger and bitterness. Sidelight: Satiric poets often utilize irony, hyperbole, understatement, and paradox, as in Pope’s An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot .

    Come on kids, you are missing the point. Your Federation is almost as clueless as the movie is intelligent and funny.... VERY.

    Posted by Charles from Las Vegas  on  10/18  at  04:04 PM

  13. No kidding… this Federation must be some sort of Brown Shirt front or something… No, no, wait… I see… from their own description they are “anti-captialists”...

    Jesus… It doesn’t get any worse… Well, might as well continue down this socialistic/communistic pathway we’ve been on since the 30s, eh guys???

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  04:20 PM

  14. Oh… almost forgot… Don’t you all know that the Democrats (Left) are just as supportive of the Fortune 500 as the Republicans (Right)???  It’s not as though the Democrats are ACTUALLY the party of the people… they just lie better and slicker than the Republicans…

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  04:31 PM

  15. --“After conferring with sympathizers, we feel completely comfortable making this assessment,” said a Federation spokesperson.--

    Wow, talking about yourselves in the 3rd person? I hope that quote coming from one of the other wannabe Elistist children in your Columbia U neosocialist nerd clique wasn’t too difficult to track down. It would be a pity if you had to wait til your roommate got back to the dorm to finish this fine journalistic critique.

    “Utter garbage,” said a Federation spokesperson (re:the author puffing himself up) in response. “‘Team America’ epitomizes a real decline among some quarters of American humor.

    You Statists should work towards regulating humor then. People shouldn’t be allowed to say such offensive things. Clearly what we have here by these Racists is a long list of Thought Crimes.

    Posted by Alec Baldwin from Derkaderkastan  on  10/18  at  04:34 PM

  16. “Edward Preston” obviously hasn’t taken a good look at Press Action. If he had, he’d know that Press Action is quite adept at showing the Democrats as wannabe Republicans.

    And if “Alec Baldwin from Derkaderkastan” had done a little research before commenting, he’d know that Press Action is an anarcho-libertarian site that would love to see the state and all its repressive features smashed into smithereens, with its pieces gently picked up and emptied into the dustbin of history.

    Posted by Mark Hand from  on  10/18  at  05:15 PM

  17. Aloha Mr “Hand”,
    What research is required to tell the difference between pretentious wanna socialists and pretentious wannabe anarchist? Neither is honest about their true intentions, and when I have tried in vain to reason with these protesting goons, their “freedom from government” coincedentally seems to involve some plot to destroy businesses, which is the closest thing to freedom from the state we have. Then to empower more radical leftist (statists) to do carry out their anticapitalism. Their anticapitalism is either the biggest case of USEFUL IDIOTS for marxist in history, or a total fraud. Granted these people are simpleminded violent youth, but still the very concept of these babies need to be “researched” is almost as funny Team America was.

    Sincerely,
    Sean Spicoli Penn, friend of the greatest Actor in the World, Alec Baldwin

    Posted by Alec Baldwin from Derkaderkastan  on  10/18  at  05:38 PM

  18. I need a date for this weekend.  Any of you liberal, tree-hug’n, activist, wannabe commies want to go see that new Team America movie?  I hear it’s all the rave.

    Posted by JesusGuidesMyBullets from The Depths of Your Psyche  on  10/18  at  06:11 PM

  19. Funniest movie in years! MUST-SEE CINEMA!

    Posted by Esteban from Chicago  on  10/18  at  07:26 PM

  20. LOL....  oi… they COULDN’T be Libertarians… That’s almost as ridiculous as the Prez calling himself a Republican!

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  09:00 PM

  21. Oh… And the Democrats aren’t trying to be Republicans… LOL… oi, and oi again… Both are neo-socialists, anti-capitolists like the Federation over here. 

    Why else would both parties support so vehemently the massive corporate welfare state, big oil, the consolidation and thorough regulation of our media systems, etc, etc, etc???  These are communistic and socialistic actions.  TRUE Republicans are conservative, small-government, no taxes, self-governing men and women… A.K.A. Libertarians…

    Listen fellas, you may be doing more harm than good with your socialism… Truly it indirectly anticipates and engenders world government, big brother, etc… Try to make a sensible argument and case boys, otherwise you’re stabbing yourselves in the back (no matter what your original intentions).

    ed

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  09:08 PM

  22. http://www.reason.com

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/18  at  09:13 PM

  23. What the Sean Penn/Baldwin character said was interesting - many Libertarians really believe that business is freedom from the state.  Most Anarcho-Socialists, and Left Anarchists propose solutions that go beyond either the state or the market.  From the point of view of Andre Grosz, or even Noam Chomsky, it is the state that empowers capitalism, yet right wing libertarians miss this.  While I admire how some libertarians sincerely claim that in their utopia, given the lack of state support and pork, corporations would disapear and be replaced by small firms and localized economics controlled by the free market, this is not too different from what left-anarchists and non-statist Marxists, like myself, have in mind - except we are egalitarian about it, and think that the market is no less anti-liberty, than the state.

    I do agree however that there is a difference between neocons and libertarians.  But the inordinate libertarian fear of unions and the notion of egalitarianism causes alliances that could potentially be built, to go to nil.  And the state/corporate complex that we all oppose in one way or another keeps growing.

    Posted by j cummings from  on  10/19  at  01:26 PM

  24. The notion of egalitarianism, while loftly, is a human impossibility… In a free market (one day) we are rewarded by our contributions, our work ethic, and our capability.  Unfortunately, even with an amazing education situation that strives to be equal (again, ONE DAY) not all men and women will be as productive and EQUAL contributors to society.

    I as a Libertarian recognize the inherint wrong of an ABSOLUTELY equal monetary or standard of living situation, as this would one day reward laziness and inaction… much like a neo-socialist state.

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/19  at  01:40 PM

  25. Why is egalitarianism impossible?  And even if it were, then so are other utopian ideas...that is why even if there are no examples for it existing in the past, it is, and has been since the French Revolution, a rallying cry - Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.  To claim that someth9ing is impossible goes against all human achievement.  The abolitionists were told it was impossible for America to be prosperous without slaves, etc.

    Only in equality can there be true liberty.  The tyranny of market forces can be replaced by human co-operation, without a state.  Witness the growth of worker-owned firms, the “taking” of factories in Argentina and Italy (see the fil “The Take.")

    And socialist?  Why aren’t you complaining about how corporations are subsidized by taxpayers yet take home rewards?  This is socialism in a negative standpoint.  The original socialists, from which Marx adopted his “from each...to each” motto existed indepently from states, were what we now call co-operatives.

    Posted by j cummings from  on  10/19  at  02:12 PM

  26. Mr. Cummings, we definitely would find ourselves agreeing on everything you’ve written above.  I haven’t advocated the current subsidies of our modern socialism.  In fact, if you’ll read above I rant a bit against them.

    However, what we’re discussing here is equality… I think you’re speaking of equality of mind and freedom… I was specifically discussing equality of the pocketbook, which in a free market (a TRULY free market) is nearly impossible.  Sure, could it happen?  Yeah, why not… But it’s so unlikely that pursuing it could be incredibly wasteful and could even become a witch-hunt.

    Now, equality and equal access to love, life, opportunity, and liberty are INCREDIBLY possible and I would argue are inevitable results of humans forming society.  While we have and will continue to experience roadbumps, we are progressing steadly towards what you have called equality. 

    Every day gets a little better… And I only look at situations like the current political quagmire and foreign relations nightmare as indicative of things to come… good things… It takes an entire population of unsatisfied citizens to make things change, to engender revolution… It’s coming, it’ll just be a bit longer than we thought I ponder…

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/19  at  02:39 PM

  27. DIs Moofie is no goo!~

    Posted by tim from culombiai  on  10/19  at  07:24 PM

  28. I haven’t seen the movie.  I don’t know if it is trash, stock or schlock, as it were.

    However, if it is a sad betrayal of Lenny Bruce, it must be bad.

    Lenny Bruce was funny.  Don’t be offended, please.  Just accept the fact that he was being ‘egalitarian’ with his humor. Here is a sample of some of his work:

    “The reason I don’t get hung up with, well, say, integration, is that by the time Bob Newhart is integrated, I’m bigoted. And anyway, Martin Luther King, Bayard Rustin are geniuses, the battle’s won. By the way, are there any niggers here tonight?

    (Outraged whisper) “What did he say? ïAre there any niggers here tonight?’ Jesus Christ! Does he have to get that low for laughs? Wow! Have I ever talked about the schwarzes when the schwarzes had gone home? Or spoken about the Moulonjohns when they’d left? Or placated some Southerner by absence of voice when he ranted and raved about nigger nigger nigger?”

    Are there any niggers here tonight? I know that one nigger who works here, I see him back there. Oh, there’s two niggers, customers, and, ah, aha! Between those two niggers sits one kike-- man, thank God for the kike! Uh, two kikes. That’s two kikes, and three niggers, and one spic. One spic-- two, three spics. One mick. One mick, one spic, one hick, thick, funcky, spunky boogey. And there’s another kike. Three kikes. Three kikes, one guinea, one greaseball. Three greaseballs, two guineas. Two guineas, one hunky funky lace-curtain Irish mick. That mick spic hunky funky boogey. Two guineas plus three greaseballs and four boogies makes usually three spics. Minus two Yid spic Polack funky spunky Polacks.

    AUCTIONEER: Five more niggers! Five more niggers!

    GAMBLER: I pass with six niggers and eight micks and four spics.

    The point? That the word’s suppression gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness. If President Kennedy got on television and said, “Tonight I’d like to introduce the niggers in my cabinet,: and he yelled “nig- gerniggerniggerniggerniggerniggergigger” at every nigger he saw, “boogeyboogeyboogeyboogeyboogey,nig-gerniggerniggernigger” till nigger didn’t mean anything any more, till nigger lost its meaning-- you’d never make any four-year-old “nigger” cry when he came home from school.

    Screw “Negro!” Oh, it’s so good to say, “Nigger!” Boy!

    “Hello, Mr. Nigger, how’re you?”

    http://www.wam.umd.edu/~molouns/amst450/delillo/1950s.html

    Posted by MDPB from  on  10/19  at  08:18 PM

  29. Socialist?  Anti-Capitalist?  Aren’t those badges of honor?

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/19  at  09:19 PM

  30. Edward Preston from San Antonio is a moron whose arguments have so little to do with reality, it is absurd to even try to answer them.  And with this post I hereby refuse to do so further.  You may have your ivory tower conceptions of monetary policy, but the reality is that half the world’s population, 3 billion people survive on the equivalent of US $2 a day.  A third of those on $1, who don’t even have access to potable water.  25,000 children die every day of hunger and related easily preventible causes.  In the US some 36 million people, 12.5% of the population are below the ridiculously low poverty line.  It’s not a matter of hoity toity Ayn Rand capitalism, but of justice.  And those in such dire need, by the dictats of justice, deserve by birthright access to the very basics: enough to eat, a roof over their heads, helathcare and opportunites for education.  The disgusting rich by natural right ought be stripped of their wealth to provide same.  As Bishop Thomas Gumbleton says, “Rich people don’t see that it is precisely their wealth that is the cause of such extemes of poverty.” Although many of them know precisely what they’re doing to the rest of us. 

    There is a clause in the Preamble to the Constitution, perhaps you’ve heard of it: to promote the common welfare.  That’s government of the people, by the people, for the people - as opposed to the filthy rich.  You’re damn right I’m a socialist.  More for Social Security!  More Welfare!  More affordable housing!  National Helth Care!  Higher taxes on the rich!  Take your Ayn Rand laissez faire capitalism and the misery and wars it engenders and shove it!

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/19  at  09:55 PM

  31. MPDB grossly distorts Lenny Bruce’s famous routine.  He or she neglects to mention that, afterwards, Bruce offered an extended mediation on how slurs could lose their hateful powers if we stopped cultivated a ‘taboo’ around their mention—hence with each repetition of the slurs, Bruce was liquidiating them of the power they held if a largely artificial stigma was erected around them.

    Your decontextualization of Bruce borders on libelous and is insulting to his fans and legacy.

    Posted by Federation of Fortune 500 Killers from  on  10/19  at  10:47 PM

  32. Tracy… You’re shootin’ over the hill… I’m in complete agreeance that the DISTRIBUTION of wealth is GROSSLY out of wack… However, that does not give you or anyone else liscense to TAKE and GIVE as you see fit. 

    How’s this for an egalitarian system:

    In the Armed Forces the LOWEST paid individual makes at minimum $18,000 a year, not to mention housing allowances and so forth.  The HIGHEST paid person in the Armed Forces is the Commander-In-Chief, who I believe recently received a pay raise to some $300,000 a year.  That’s one hell of a small gap compared to the private sector…

    I would completely agree with you that $500 million CEO salaries are RIDICULOUS, especially considering some of their employees can make barely enough to put food on their own tables. 

    However, the solution is not and will never be big government.  The PROBLEM is big government and all the money that’s involved… when a civic budget has been inflated to the proportions ours has it becomes corrupted…

    Tossing more in is not the solution… Why do you think the Corporations are in bed with the Fed???  Christ, Tracy, if you haven’t figured out that its because the CORPORATIONS want the GOVERNMENT’S money then you’ve got a lot of catching up to do…

    Take the money out of government and you stop funding MASSIVE global corporations that are subsidized, some outrighted directly funded, by our bloated beauracracy… Hmmm....  Maybe this could help level the playing field a little, huh?


    PS - your tone and choice of words betray your ignorance

    Posted by Edward Preston from San Antonio  on  10/20  at  12:45 AM

  33. It was the FF500K who invoked Mr. Bruce’s talents as a comedian to support THEIR argument and diss the movie.

    If you don’t like criticism, don’t write. 

    If he were alive, he would tear your so-called critique of Team America to pieces.

    Say what you will; you can.  I had no intentions to libel Lenny Bruce.

    I used Mr. Bruce’s words to shoot holes into what you have to say about a movie.

    You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

    His words, “... the word’s supression gives it the power...”, mitigates his comedic routine and exonerates him.  I thought the message was there and not ‘decontextualized’.

    I only offended the offender.  Seems to me that is the problem.  T

    Posted by MDPB from  on  10/20  at  09:02 AM

  34. A - No where in our, well-quoted by the FF500K, Constitution of the United States of America does it say we are to give equality to the world’s monetary system. 

    B - $2 US a day in some countries can be a middle-class lifestyle… You’ve forgotten the exchange system, Tracy…

    C - One day when you have kids, a successful career, some wisdom, and a little sense, you’ll wake up and realize you’re a Libertarian… Or at the very least a Republican… LOL…

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/20  at  09:32 AM

  35. Once again, MDPB fails to read his or her own writing, and it seems worthless to even bother replying.  If one reads his original post, a paste of Bruce’s famous ethnic slur routine, it’s clear MDPB is implying Bruce attacked all ethnic groups equally.  But that’s not the purpose of that routine at all.  Bruce followed, as we mentioned, with a line about how artificial stigmas enhanced the hurtful power of slurs, which MDPB failed to quote until his second post.

    He then implies we are arguing for “suppression” of the film, when we in fact only criticized it—nowhere is “suppression” of any form advocated.  Finally, MDPB arrogantly writes, “If you don’t like criticism, don’t write,” when there is no evidence in any of our postings that we are intimidated by criticism as utterly nonsenical as his or her own.

    Posted by Federation of Fortune 500 Killers from  on  10/20  at  09:49 AM

  36. Think of yourselves as being disconcerting and unostentatious.

    Give yourselves a pat on the back.  Good for you.

    You use the word ‘glorious’, not me.

    You open yourselves to criticism from all angles when you use such ostentatious descriptions of yourselves. 

    ‘Killers’ is as ostentatious and nonsensical as it can get.

    Kind of trashy, too.  At least you aren’t ‘Republican’, thank God for that.

    You’re as touchy as the imperialistic Republicans, though.

    Read what you will into what I say, I just tell it like it is; like it or not.

    Glorious and humble you’re not, that’s for sure.

    Posted by MDPB from  on  10/20  at  10:04 AM

  37. Hey, MDPB, who said being a fascist hippie was any better than a Stalinist? 

    And to back my good man up, the FF500K must certainly be afraid of criticism, as they do not respond to it with cultured, sensible retorts… They whine, bitch and moan… Kids…

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/20  at  10:20 AM

  38. Didn’t I read this review in The Onion? Satire on satire… interesting approach.

    Posted by Brad Ross from Toronto  on  10/20  at  11:02 AM

  39. Equality is precisely economic equality.  It’s not a question of “creating” it; only a matter of allowing what is natural to flow of its own accord.  By blaming big government you implicitly make the argument that all government is bad.  But we need government, a strong government, as the highest ideal of our humanity and citizenship.  Because this government is so far corrupted by corporate welfare, imperial militarism, bought elections and complicit media conglomerates is no reason not to adhere the more to the concept of government as such.  It is laughable that Bush and his ilk, Reagan for example, hold the highest powers in the very government they decry.  The most fundamental problem to my thinking is military spending, $750 billion when all told and done in fiscal 2004.  Those are the monies, the “big government” that should properly go to fulfill people’s needs.  You make it sound like one can have all those other “equalities,” to be able to love, to create, to work, and the others you’ve mentioned without economic equality. It’s a chicken and egg question, and in truth, ecomoic equality is the precondition for those others.

    There is something profoundly wrong about a society that is organized so that the richest 400 (what? people?  citizens? scum?) are equivalent in wealth to the poorest 100 million.

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/20  at  11:56 AM

  40. Again, Tracy, you’re shooting over the hill.  YOU AND I AGREE ON THE ABOVE POSTING. 

    You’ve described a problem of corporate welfare, military imperialism, and complicit media conglomerates… Why do these problems exist?  BECAUSE THEY ARE PROFITABLE… Sadly enough, money DOES make the world go round…

    Take the money out of government and use it as a REGULATORY, LEGISLATIVE WRITING body (as the Founding Fathers intented).  With no money left in politics and beaurocracy, a free market can more ideally be realized.

    A limited Constitutional government is not perfect, but is the closest thing we can come to ideal… We do not need more federal dollars, more federal programs and employees… We shouldn’t send our money to the Federal Reserve… They should be invested locally in our communities… This is what was intended for this country.

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/20  at  01:49 PM

  41. And Tracy, I advocate a change-up in our monetary system… but I DO NOT advocate paying a minor contributor to society as much as a CRITICALLY IMPORTANT person who’s contributions advance the good and ideal by leaps and bounds.  People should be paid FAIRLY for their productivity… This is all I advocate.

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/20  at  03:16 PM

  42. I agree we agree on many common issues; and I apologize for my belligerent first post.  But there is more than just the legislative function to government - namely the judicial and executive - and those cost money.  Although I would agree as you’d probably suggest that these monies could be far lesser than they are now.  Moreover, I believe government has a responsibility and it is part of its function to provide certain things for the citizenry which can only be provided collectively - education, healthcare, welfare, housing, mass transit, etc.  Almost without exception laissez faire captitalists overlook what I think is a very critical clause in the Constitution: to promote the common welfare.  They also too often overlook the necessity of the regulatory function you’ve mentioned, especially when it comes to the environment.  I’m never ceased to be astonished and disgusted at the way capitalists think the environment is theirs to turn into an asset on a ledger, no matter the damage to the irreplaceable ecosystem.  Ann Coulter (rhymes suspiciously with sluttern) has been quoted as saying “God gave us the earth and dominion over it to do whatever we want to it.  We can rape it.” (Wish I had Mark Crispin Miller’s new book Cruel and Unusual for the exact quote.) Talk about kooky and crass.

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/20  at  08:54 PM

  43. Yah, Tracy… Think of it this way… We are not currently experiencing a FREE MARKET capitalist system… Our major economic giants were created by big government (socialist) spending… In a true free market, many of the needs for the “common welfare” as you’ve described would be taken care of by a truly competitive market (even healthcare).

    Also, you do not need an actual well-funded (or over-funded) housing or education department… You need STANDARDS and REGULATIONS for the common welfare.  Examples include buildings at a certain quality, health at a certain affordability, programs and incentives to promote them. 

    A government could offer tax breaks to healthcare providers who comp for the poor.  This wouldn’t actually COST the budget anything, would not need a massive bureauocracy to maintain… There would simply be an amount of taxes never realized (collected)...  And if there’s little beaurocracy to be funded, who cares??? 

    Let there be little taxes… all the better for everyone… The poor are the most burdened by income tax in the first place (even if the rich were to pay ALL they truly owe)...

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/20  at  10:09 PM

  44. I still think bureaucracy gets a bad rap.  A strong bureaucracy, an infrastructure, need not be an impediment, but a benefit to life by facilitating the administration of government.  Granted bureaucracies are sometimes cumbersome and inefficient.  Certainly efforts should be made to remedy and streamline these problems.  But I think at the same time bureaucracies are indispensable.  There are many fine bureaucrats.

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/21  at  03:08 PM

  45. Tracy… I don’t know whether you’re a man or woman, but will you marry me?  LOL… What a GREAT conclusion, eh?  Glad we could have a more cordial conversation.  Take care.

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/21  at  03:35 PM

  46. A man.  Yes I’ll marry you.

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/21  at  04:36 PM

  47. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL......
    ...
    ..
    .

    We need another topic!  What else is cookin’ on press action???

    Posted by Ed from San Antonio  on  10/21  at  04:42 PM

  48. Three words: America - #### YEAH!

    Posted by Brandon from  on  10/23  at  07:56 PM

  49. Egalitarianism, equality, equity, communism, marxism, free-market system....talk about any system you’d like.  In the long run, it won’t make any difference.  Not to you, not to me, not to our children.

    My father used to like to talk about divesting the rich of their monies by taking, for example, a man with a million dollars, and giving one dollar to each of a million men, women, and children.  Pretty soon, he would tell me, you won’t have any millionaires and we’ll all be equal.

    In a temporary sense, he was right, just as some of you are right about how certain beaurocracies or government systems would help bring equity to our people.  However, in the long run, nothing would actually change.

    My father’s example falls short because he failed to consider the fact that, sometime shortly after “equality” is reached, the clever, the industrious, and the greedy would find a way, within the system, or without it, to once again get their hands on the majority of the money, and the majority of the power.  The rank-and-file “average citizen”, as long as they had enough bread and circuses, wouldn’t have a problem with this.  John Q. Public doesn’t give a rat’s ass about your politics, because it doesn’t put food on his table, or make him laugh like a good sitcom. 

    Face it people, your ideas and rallying cries will probably never get beyond a few focus groups and minor rallies.  The only way to beat the system is to BE the system.  The only manner in which our government has changed since the very beginning has been the corporate takeover of politics, proving the old adage of “money talks and bullshit walks.” I advise you to gather a lot of money and buy yourself a politico, it’s the only way you’ll make a difference.

    Oh, wait...there is another solution that’s been used successfully in other parts of the world.  In fact, it’s how our great country got started in the first place.  It’s called a BLOODY REVOLUTION.

    Posted by Ponder Truth from  on  10/24  at  02:05 AM

  50. Funny movie.  A good satire, although not obviously not everyone understands the filmmakers’ intent.  It reflects the American body politic at present almost as well as Dr. Strangelove did during the sixties.  In another thirty or forty years it will the same sort of time capsule that Strangelove is today.  Glad I saw it.  I am going to buy the DVD when it becomes available.

    Posted by Joe Nonneman from Illinois  on  11/10  at  04:30 PM

    51. Next entry: Yes, Mike, We're Doomed

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