The Future of Our Freedom

Posted by BJ_Cassese 10 years, 2 months ago to Philosophy
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I remain optimistic, but increasingly concerned. The rule of law has always been under assault by the whims of the power hungry and the irrational. Freedom in all forms is their enemy. That said, our liberty is in an increasingly precarious state of deterioration and citizens seem more apathetic towards it than ever. Like many of us in the gulch, I pursue my happiness and strive to achieve my potential in a world that is aggressive toward effort and excellence. I would like the ideas of anyone who cares to comment as to what is the best course of action regarding the following;
How does one best "create" the world in which they want to live when surrounded by the functionally illiterate of today? I love people. I don't want to see them live their lives in desperation if I can help them rise. But how? It's not an altruistic desire, but a self interested one. I desire to live among thinkers, and achievers and not just "existers". I desire tosee growth in those around me and be an instrument of that development. I find it difficult to know where and how is the best course.
Thank you for your thoughts


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  • Posted by RonC 10 years, 2 months ago
    Ultimately, this is the best time ever to make a move toward your goal. I have found, and history bears this out, when the world is in despair and all are looking down there is little competition for the person with a plan to do something big.

    You could start a business and employ those you wish to surround yourself with. Your idea lifts them, they as a group lift you. Over time, they learn and the cream rises as some of them become "of the mind".

    In the last depression many businesses were started that have become household names. Coco Channel and Max Factor made it big selling hope to people that needed it. John Galbreath bought properties for pennies on the dollar. In doing so he recycled houses thrown away by the system and provided rental units for those needing housing. Sound Familiar? When the country went back to work he later sold them and carried the mortgages himself, starting another business; Galbreath Mortgage.

    If we all go on strike, no doubt Atlas Shrugs. One of the hallmarks of producers, IMHO, is there emotional need to accomplish something. Most of us need to do that everyday, it's part of our life. Even in AS, in the gulch they found their new place in that world and began accomplishing their self assigned tasks.

    Back to the prime question, How does one best create the world in which they want to live...? My answer would be, one idea at a time, with little or no competition to divert needed resources away from your goal. You may have to find other producers for financing or capital needs, but these days virtually no one else is trying anything new.

    S
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    • Posted by TexanSolar 10 years, 2 months ago
      I am searching for land in South Texas to build a Solar farm of "Combined Heat and Power Concentrating Photovoltaic collectors".
      The Bradford Collector utilizes 75% of available solar energy converting 32% to electricity and using 43% to produce steam.
      The steam may be used to desalinate seawater or brackish ground water.
      It may also be used to provide absorption refrigeration or air conditioning.
      I will build a manufacturing facility central to the solar farm. The manufacture, installation, operation and maintenance of this solar farm will create many jobs for an off-grid self sufficient community. If interested, connect with me on LinkIn. Producers only please.
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  • Posted by $ Stormi 10 years, 2 months ago
    Over 15 years ago, pre-Internet in every house, I asked those same questions. It started with idiocy in school curriculum called Outcome Based Education (an oxymoron at best). I began to write letters to the editor, informing some, gaining lasting friendships with many. We kept in touch, researched, and settled on a one person at a time education idea. If we could each educate one person on a topic, they would talk to others, and each of us did that, our influence would grow. We grew into a large e-mail tree and expanded into blogging. We continue to share truth and real education about pseudo-global warming, Common Core (pseudo-education) and Agenda 21. We can find other like thinkers in this way, and if we succeed, we can make a difference. Education must happen outside of schools, as it does not happen within them. If it is not enough, Atlas will shrug.
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  • Posted by berrymanst 10 years, 2 months ago
    I have asked this same question for the last 3+ years, and ultimately it comes down to; how do we(me, myself, and I) re-educate enough people to make a difference, and get it done in time. And then there is the motivation factor. We need enough people seeking a life-long Thomas Jefferson type education that they(the fellow thinkers), begin to influence the community around them. I have been invited into a community where we read books(good ones that have stood the test of time), listen to CD's of talks given by productive leaders, with results similar to the results I desire, and associate with like minded people. So I guess Education is the answer to the question, since we now live in a world of highly-trained and poorly educated people. We need more critical thinkers and I will end with what Henry ford said about thinkers "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

    Henry Ford
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  • Posted by copcfrmr 10 years, 2 months ago
    I am an atheist. This means to me that I do not know if there is a god. I am open to anything that does not completely defy logic. I was raised ( I am 68) by a mom that wanted me to be Christian. The bible, as I remember, says some great upheaval must come before man is then put on the correct path. Are we, maybe, to take the elimination of the bad upon ourselves and then rebuild a reasoned and sustainable world? It will undoubtedly require hard work and tough decisions however, without it we seem to be headed for endless turmoil. I am a Combat Wounded Veteran of the Viet Nam War, have been to hell, and know this could be Heaven if people would let it.
    GOMF
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    • Posted by SteveWeiss 10 years, 2 months ago
      You aren't an atheist; you are an agnostic. If you think that you are an atheist why do you refer to the bible, which is the poorest standard of morality that I can think of? And I'm 67, by the way.
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      • Posted by copcfrmr 10 years, 2 months ago
        I chose atheist in the last few months based on Penn Gillete's definition of his atheism. I care not a great deal of deities. I, too live on this rock and "know" very little. How much more than a best guess is what we know? I did a bit of "praying" in combat but do not know if that is what got me through or not. You see, I do not know.
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    • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago
      I'm no mystic either. This is the only existence I know of. I'm not interested in the contradictory or illogical. God is the topic that cuts off so much discourse that could be guided by thought. I liked Amselm's Pros Logium for an ontalogical argument, bu that's where it stopped for me. My goals are for how and with whom I spend my time on this rock. Like I opened with in my post... I remain optimistic. Thank you for your perspective.
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      • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 2 months ago
        In "Stranger in a Strange Land", perhaps Heinlein's most, if not only, despicable book, the "legal witness" is asked what color a house across the street is.

        "It's white on this side" she says.

        While this is literally true, she doesn't know what color the parts of the house she can't see are... that doesn't mean they don't exist, or are colorless if they do.
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    • Posted by RevJay4 10 years, 2 months ago
      Welcome home and thank you for your service, Brother, copcfrmr. Those who have been in service are probably the least likely to want war. But, if need be, will serve again. USN '61-'69.
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    • Posted by JuliBMe 10 years, 2 months ago
      I lean towards loving the Judeo-Christian philosophies knowing that they bring hope and goodness for all people to strive for. Whether or not there actually is truth to there being a Supreme Being, I and no one else knows for sure. For evidence, however, I look at the history of the people coming here to form this nation and their belief and reasoning. Could this nation ever have been formed at all if there actually was no God? If there is no God, what is keeping man from ruling us all?
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      • Posted by johnpe1 10 years, 2 months ago
        Juli, my conviction is that moral living is the goal of
        the good religions, however they contrive them, and
        even Muslims try to approach this, though many
        are aberrant, it appears.

        our founders, their wives and families, gave us a
        strong moral code along with serious integrity, as
        a heritage. however constructed, ours must match
        in order that we may sustain the nation which
        they created. whatta challenge!

        We Can Do It. -- j

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        • Posted by SteveWeiss 10 years, 2 months ago
          What is morality to you? The "good religions?" What might they be? Good by what standard? The bible is certainly no standard for an ideal morality. I wonder why you rely upon primitive religion for a moral code. To this day England is a theocracy, and that's why the Founding Fathers opposed state endorsed religion.
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          • Posted by johnpe1 10 years, 2 months ago
            Steve, Rand advocated a moral code which we
            might find agreeable, don't you think? abstaining
            from initiating force or mental coercion -- ok? the
            honoring of others' natural rights -- ok? the
            acknowledgement of ownership, starting with one's
            own body -- ok? most of the philosophies which
            I have encountered, many parading as religions,
            have attempted to guide behavior in these ways,
            however twisted.

            I made no comment about state endorsement,
            and, of course, vehemently oppose that, as
            you do.

            it is my conviction that this nation was founded
            on a system of honoring inherent human truths,
            like those mentioned above, and the loss of an
            appreciation of that system undermines the
            nation. just as an attorney general and a president
            who will not obey nor enforce certain laws
            undermines the nation.

            make sense? -- j

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            • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 2 months ago
              " the honoring of others' natural rights -- ok?"

              "honoring"?

              Natural rights don't exist, so you can't build a moral code around them.

              You have to begin by defining "moral".
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              • Posted by johnpe1 10 years, 2 months ago
                excuse me, Hiraghm, but the objectivist epistemology
                honors natural human rights, by virtue of the
                characteristics of humans as humans -- free choice
                and self-interest and all of that.

                yes? -- j

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                • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 2 months ago
                  not often I have to look up a word; congrats.

                  It may "honor" natural human rights, however that is possible, but humans have no natural rights, any more than does any other animal.

                  A lion has free choice and self-interest.
                  So does a gazelle.

                  Try convincing a hungry lion he must not violate the gazelle's "natural right" to life.
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          • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 2 months ago
            Not state endorsed... state controlled. state invented.

            You're right. The Bible sucks. Alternatively, we can turn to the Koran... or Dianetics.
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  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 2 months ago
    This is one of those posts that's going to turn religious, isn't it?

    You can't create the world. It exists and you exist in it. It is and you are.

    I love people. Some? Any? All?

    A life of desperation and you help them rise? There are more than 6 billion people in the world. You can't help them, they have to learn to help themselves. After that, you can demonstrate the rightness of an Objective life.

    Not altruistic. Certainly sounds so.

    To live among thinkers, achievers, and not existers. Utopia doesn't exist. Humans are humans with all their faults. All think. All achieve. All exist. It sounds like you're trying to measure something that's subjective. You can only measure yourself.

    Desire to see growth in others and be an instrument of that development. Have children. You can fail, even with them, but you can try. Some times it works, some time it doesn't.

    Difficult to know where and how is the best course. Such is life. Study, learn, and immerse yourself in the Objective Philosophy of self, rational mind, and life.
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    • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago
      No. I hope this conversation doesn't turn religious. That would involve far too many irrational presuppositions which add no value. I prefer thought to conversations ending in "I just believe". Thanks anyway. :-)
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      • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 2 months ago
        How efficient of you. Melding condescension and bigotry all into one sentence. Well, two sentences.

        The second one, of course, giving cover for your retreat from the topic....
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    • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago
      I like the fact that you broke it down to analyze. Here's the thing...
      The world has 6 billion people, but the people you live, work and interact with are your world. It's all that really matters. I think that can be created. If illogical mystics can persuade others to live in a monastery or in a commune which is irrational beyond description, I'm sure people of reasoning mind can find, train and associate with others on a similar journey. I'm still working on the "how". If it adds to my happiness to aid others in their development how exactly does that qualify as altruism. I do it for me and the person I work with benefits. That's simple trade. I trade my experience, knowledge and effort in exchange for their desire to learn and the effort to apply it. I've had some success with that in the past, but want to challenge myself beyond what I've done. I desire to experience as much of my life as possible with people that share a similar approach to theirs. Simply accepting the notion that people are irrational and living among the rational is an impossibility ignores reality. We are objectivists and we're not the only ones. I wasn't always one. It took time,education and development to unlearn the irrationality I was trained with as a child. I would suggest it is possible for others too. If 1, why not 10. If 10, why not 10,000?
      In regards to your assertion that all think, achieve and exist; they all exist is true. I should have been more specific. Objective thinkers should have been in place of just thinkers. All achieve? If walking upright and surving til Friday is an achievement, then we agree. I should have been more precise there too. People whose achievements are measured by their chosen purpose and progress in pursuit thereof. Most people never define a purpose for themselves and just meander through life til it is done.
      As for children... No thank you.
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      • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 2 months ago
        Lol on the children. This response seems quite a bit more of a rational approach. As to adding to your happiness is not altruistic, only you can answer that.

        And I wish you well in your endeavors.
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    • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 2 months ago
      "After that, you can demonstrate the rightness of an Objective life"

      Wow if that doesn't sound like a religious statement. Change "rightness" to "righteousness" and I think you'd have it pegged.
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      • Posted by $ blarman 10 years, 2 months ago
        Well said.

        When you get down to it, Objectivism is just as much a religion as anything else. It is a way of life, a life philosophy, a religion.

        In my view, everyone is seeking something to model themselves after because we innately realize that we are not the epitome of creation - we don't know everything, we can't do anything we want, etc. So we seek for something or someone to emulate. It can be a sports superstar. It can be a movie star. It can be a musician. It can be a tree or a rock. All of these are "gods" in their own spheres. Even philosophers.

        To me, however, a philosophy is incomplete if it can not answer the three basic questions revolving around origin, purpose, and destination. Those are the questions atheism can not answer to my satisfaction. I reject the idea that we sprang from nothingness and will return to nothingness, because that thwarts the WHY of life! It renders any adherence to natural law meaningless. If one believes that this life is merely a step towards something greater, however, suddenly the WHY of natural law has real meaning and efficacy.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 10 years, 2 months ago
    You have actually asked two questions, BJ: How do I change the world to be closer to my ideals? and How do I surround myself with a group of like-minded individuals?

    The answer to the second question is, "Create a microcosm." I agree with RonC in much of what he said, and his idea of starting a business is a good one (I did this - 20 years ago). One of the prerequisites to this is to define 'what' qualities are important to you. Both in business and in my (35 year) hobby, what was important to me (and achievable) was intelligence, integrity and imagination. I found a hobby group of people with those qualities; I helped hire people for our company with those qualities. However, if you look at the list of traits, you will see that many liberals qualify - and indeed, most of my friends are liberals. I can talk with them about anything...except politics and economy. A small subset of those friends are Randists/Libertarians/Objectivists; with whom I can discuss politics. So I have been participating in two such microcosms. This is now a third.

    Let me make it clear that I would be more than willing to bias my personal group more heavily in favor of RLO...but such people are hens teeth. I am thus content to surround myself with people who are high quality in other respects, They know what my political beliefs are (and it is amazing the degree to which RLO and Tea Party have been demonized) - and they find it more difficult to reject my type of ideology because they know me personally. Hopefully, I am influencing them.

    The second question is the one to which I can 'see' and answer, and do something about it. The first question, which is what we have been mostly discussing on the AS list, is less reachable. 'Creating/participating in benign microcosms' is my feather-weight on the scale of Truth. Perhaps this will influence the larger question, over time. Enough feathers weigh as heavy a ton as lead does.

    Jan
    (And I always preferred Invictus to Desiderata, Herb.)
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    • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago
      Thank you! Your comments are not only insightful, but helpful. I have a considerable endeavor ahead to achieve my goal. It may sound daunting and a little odd, but I chose to live my life in pursuit of it. It would have been better that I discovered it when I was younger, but I was a mess well into adulthood. In my mid 30s I began the process of self re-education (as if I had been educated). Now I'm 41 and fueled by a passion. Where I will direct it (i.e. The vehicle(s) I will need to employ), is still in the formative process. I appreciate the assistance. I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THE GULCH!
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  • Posted by CarolSeer2014 10 years, 2 months ago
    I believe we need to first open our eyes, as said before, then attempt to open the eyes of others.
    I've always felt, as Jefferson did, that for democracy to work, the citizenry must be first educated and informed. In the past, I figured that our education system and the media were actually doing their job of educating and informing. And naively I thought the populace were being educated and informed of the TRUTH. I have since find out the opposite has been occurring and has been over the last few decades, with the export/import of leftist thought in this country.
    I think education is the best place to start. And why I am so against Common Core, amongst all the other morally pragmatic reasons.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 10 years, 2 months ago
    You are asking one of the basic, albeit hardest to answer philosophical questions. To date, the human race has a rather poor track record. Civilizations rise and fall at an alarmingly rapid rate, always degenerating into barbarism. Since barbarism isn't self-sustaining, eventually some form of relative freedom appears only to degenerate after reaching a certain pinnacle. The last cycle as far as we can tell, came the closest to freedom, but looks as if it is now on the downside of the curve. It's possible that an enclave of rational people can survive and keep what technical and philosophical progress that has been attained intact. That may well be the task of the people of the Gulch and certain others. The only advice I can give you from the perspective of a fairly long life is to keep your personal integrity, keep achieving, not for others but for yourself, and most of all, keep your sense of humor -- you'll need it. If you have the opportunity to help others, do so, so long as it does not impede your forward progress.

    If you are in the Gulch, you've probably read many of the books that will bolster your life. Please let me suggest a poem that I find inspirational without getting all mushed up. It's called "The Desiderata" by Max Ermann. You can find it on line.
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  • Posted by johnmahler 10 years, 2 months ago
    Not to be redundant or obvious, but POTUS letting in all the world's immigrants dilutes the chances you will find to surround yourself with thinkers. I have always found myself in love with books, which I could neither afford nor had room to keep in my home. I got a Kindle MP3. I know they have glowing screen ones now and mine's obsolete, but I have a lot of books I would have given my incisors to get when I was in high school. Go to Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i... "the gutenberg project" Note, there is no cost for these e-books. Some snoots to whom I have referred this tell me the quality isn't as good as printed volumes.OK, but it is 95% as good and it is free without cheating anyone because all of these are out of copywright. See the "Book Thief" if you wonder how much knowledge is worth to each reader. Without reading, the Western Civilization will disappear not to be seen again for a millennium or eternity. We were lucky with the fact of the Renaissance. Only 500 years of ignorance separated the fall of Rome and the rediscovery of knowledge and wide spread reading because of the Gutenbergs. We live in an amazing time. Ignorance and materialism flourish with the gifts of high technology none its consumers could begin to explain. And ironically, that class votes for Tyranny and the end of Western Civilization.
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    • Posted by Technocracy 10 years, 2 months ago
      People can look down at kindles all they want, but it doesnt alter two important facts.

      1. Kindles or their equivalents make it much easier for people that want to read to do so, which encourages reading on its own.

      2. You can load a heck of a lot more books into an ereader of any type and have them AVAILABLE when you have the time or desire to read instead of put away sonewhere.

      Not to mention that you dont have to worry about storage space for physical books.
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  • Posted by Solver 10 years, 2 months ago
    Strangely, I've found that much of the trouble comes from how each individual chooses to answer the foundational questions of philosophy.

    Such as:
    Which is primary? ( existence or consciousness)
    Can existence exist even if you have no consciousness?
    Can your consciousness exist even if there is no existence?

    It seems that how people answer these questions determines how they answer, "what is freedom?"
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    • Posted by CarolSeer2014 10 years, 2 months ago
      You know, Ayn Rand's Objectivism is the only philosophy I've been able to read with a straight face--any other time I try to analyse philosophy I drive myself crazy.
      Like this statement: Nothing is inherently unstable!
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      • Posted by CarolSeer2014 10 years, 2 months ago
        (Reply to self):
        Maybe it was Nothing is inherently stable. I not only do not understand that, I can't even remember it. It seems it could be important, too. (That was irony!)
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        • Posted by Solver 10 years, 2 months ago
          You're right on both counts!

          One says,
          “For nothing is inherently unstable; something must always arise from it.”

          Another says,
          “Nothing is inherently stable or distinct from anything else.”
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    • Posted by $ jlc 10 years, 2 months ago
      Solver, could you give some examples of what you mean?

      Jan
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      • Posted by Solver 10 years, 2 months ago
        I see that those that accept that existence exists and it has primacy over our consciousness tend to be more rationally individualist. Those who think consciousness, or will, or the state or such has primacy over existence tend to be less. Or they tend more to search for some collective or common consciousness to rule them.
        My observation, not a proven fact or anything.
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        • Posted by $ jlc 10 years, 2 months ago
          Thank you, Solver. I was intrigued by your statements, but puzzled by them as well. My personal approach to the same topic is, "Physical reality has an independent existence; it is not consensual." I support this with the philosophical concept of Occam's Razor: If physical reality is derivative of consciousness, then you must explain both the reality and the consciousness; if reality exists independently, then you need only explain it.

          Jan
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    • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago
      I would refer you to Ayn Rand's collection of essays "Philosophy, who needs it". The irreducible primary of living organisms is to live. Consciousness can only exist if one lives and only in the minds capable of that level of cognition.
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  • Posted by $ KahnQuest 10 years, 2 months ago
    It's my opinion that the complacency of thought and action of which you speak is a result of our comfort zone. Americans are victims of our own success. For the most part, we've become lazy and have forgotten how our lifestyle was won. Unfortunately, this means we will have to be jolted out of our comfort zone.

    You can't change people. You can plant an idea and hope it finds a fertile mind in which to grow, but that's about it. Surround yourself with thinkers and achievers. Being here in the Gulch is a big step in the right direction.
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  • Posted by ETraub 10 years, 2 months ago
    I would eagerly refer you to Peter Diamandis' Singularity University to find the closest thing to Galt"s Gulch on this planet. The folks that are there have already done their part toward changing humanity for the better; and they're still at it. The only thing that keeps the "economic infidels" out is what it costs to participate. Those bucks provide a similar remoteness as that of Galt's Gulch.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 2 months ago
    It seems that the current generation is lost. It would be most advantageous to work on the youth and instill in them the independence of thought and industriousness that you seek.
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    • Posted by ETraub 10 years, 2 months ago
      I've got three grandkids that are Millennials; and I had pretty much given up on them. But I've recently concluded that they are as they are because of my generation. It's our fault!

      My generation (I'm an octogenarian) didn't give our kids an adequate education in everything from financial literacy to the true meaning of selfishness (which does not rule out thinking of others) and the compassionate exercise of self interest. The often-heard quote "I don't want my kids to have to go through what I had to go through." is the biggest ticket to disaster that we ever bought for our progeny.

      So, for that reason (as an ardent Ayn Rand enthusiast whose life Atlas Shrugged changed when I was around 20), I deem it our responsibility to friggin' DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT instead of just wringing our hands and shrugging off that responsibility.

      If the Millennials' attention span is about as long as spit, then WE need to build an education system that will entertain them and be addictive! And there are plenty of guidelines, if we can mobilize to do it. We still have time; but not much.

      Imagine what a change we could precipitate if we could just get them to embrace one, simple concept across to them: money is a redeemable token one receives for providing a product or service that's of value to others. Just filling in the right side of that equation could change our world, IMO. And, if we don't participate actively in finding the way to correct this fault, WE are the ones who will have destroyed our planet; and not our kids and their kids! We'll just be continuing to do the things that we've done wrong.
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      • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 2 months ago
        I agree wholeheartedly. While 30+ years your junior, I see much of the BabyBoomers exhibiting those maladies, and their children much the same. It seems worse in the cities and in the "rich" areas. Not so much in the farming and smaller, rural areas.

        I agree that we need to improve the education of our children. My part had been as a merit badge counselor for the Citizenship merit badges (there are 3) and Personal Finance. My small part. But if we all did a small part, the task could be accomplished.
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        • Posted by ETraub 10 years, 2 months ago
          Three ideas that are explored in Diamandis' Abundance could do the job, and nicely: first, we need to quit grading on a curve or grading in a fashion that embarrasses those who don't do well. And we should definitely not grade simply on a student's ability to spew out facts that have been memorized.
          Instead, let's grade simply, according to achievement. Start a kid with a zero grade; and let him or her build it up to an excellent grade as he or she goes along. The more they learn, the higher the grade. No punishment for failure; but no rewards for failing to achieve.
          Secondly, let's not focus on memorizing things. That's a throwback to the days of Gutenberg's press. Teach them critical thinking and problem analysis; and then school them in the resources they have at their disposal to come up with the answers. Let them "cheat," by using Google and its competitors in their exams with whatever devices they may be able to muster up. [Imagine what that can do for employment. Credentials will fall away as the goal of education, and new employer will simply say, "Here's one of our big problems, how would you go about solving it?" As an employer, I'll give the response to that kind of a question for more creds than some certificate that everyone had to cheat to earn because everyone else was doing it.]
          Thirdly, we should focus on video games for teaching. Millennials love competition and hate tedium or being judged. But they pursue their video games relentlessly, being constantly judged and found wanting; but going back for more until they reach the next level. And they happily compete and accept the notion that others are doing better; but they can still beat them if they try. That's the nature of video games. And they can be used very effectively in teaching everything from the likes of history to biotechnology! They win by learning stuff. That's real education.
          I'm nearly finished working on the specs for a financial literacy game that I plan to crowdsource and crowdfund when I'm ready. That could kill several birds with a single rock! It starts with a magic lamp and a genie that can grant all of their wishes.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 2 months ago
    Thank you. I have received many interesting perspectives. While some were tangental in nature, the discussions are still valuable. I'll continue to review and absorb them. I post this because I did not comment on each individually, but appreciate the thoughts given.
    I never found this level of value on Facebook! Lol!
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  • Posted by oldwarrior 10 years, 2 months ago
    If the functionally illiterate are willing to learn, and increase their level of effort, then work with them; if not, not. If too few of the functionally illiterate are willing to up the ante, then you need to separate yourself from them, because it will get ugly if you stay.
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  • Posted by ETraub 10 years, 2 months ago
    The best answer I found was contained in the book, Abundance, by Peter DDiamandis and Steve Koetler.

    It provides great room for optimism.
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    • Posted by khalling 10 years, 2 months ago
      E, I downloded a sample. It immediately starts out eith an environmental premise of scarcity. This looks to be a rah -rah book based on some cool tech but failed premises
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      • Posted by ETraub 10 years, 2 months ago
        You wouldn't make such a comment had you read the book. It allows for your so-called failed premises; holds our feet to the fire; but provides some pretty solid evidence that there's reason to keep on truckin' and not rely on the government or even big business to solve our problems.
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        • Posted by khalling 10 years, 2 months ago
          But that's the thing. Even though XPrize does not allow those already on government grants to enter the contests, the prize is backed by at least some government funding and Foundations which cater to government interests. As well, the Prize fact sheet is clearly upfront as describing itself as an "NGO" (I don't know about you, but I only hear about non-profits who receive government monies use that term) and specifically point out that many of the prize winners will in fact contract with the government upon winning! Here is a major contributor to XPrize, featured proudly on their supporters page: The Limbergh Foundation:

          "The concept of a technology/nature balance, in which Charles and Anne Lindbergh so firmly believed, is now coming to the forefront as the answer to some of our global problems," said Clare Hallward, Chairman of the Lindbergh Foundation Grants Selection Committee. "The projects of our grant recipients have, since 1978, made significant contributions to such a balance. Because of the standards employed by the Foundation's grants program, it has earned international credibility which enables many Lindbergh Grant recipients to secure additional funding to continue their important work."
          The value of the Lindbergh Grants program as a provider of seed money and credibility for pilot projects that subsequently receive larger sums from other sources to continue and expand the work has again been confirmed.
          Each year, The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation solicits applications for Lindbergh Grants from the U.S. and abroad. This list includes publications, government agencies, media, universities, and other non-profit organizations."

          They are heavily promoting a green agenda. Go look on their website. As well, Elon Musk has a long history of chasing government projects, dollars and grants. This includes colluding with the govt for tax incentives related to cars they build, which picked one industry out, nay, one type of product and affected sales in that sector. I am certainly not against the concept of philanthropy funded Prizes in specific areas such as high technology. Especially space exploration. But to suggest "collaborative entrepreneurship" is completely free market when it clearly isn't, is one of those failed premises to which I am referring.
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          • Posted by ETraub 10 years, 2 months ago
            The premise on which the X-Prize works is that it sets conditions that would discourage large entities as well as government programs from participating or benefiting. It is directed toward skunk works and DIY Makers to do things that the government and large corporations are not nimble enough to do. If the prizes that are offered are cobbled together from grant money that's already been committed for wholesome purposes, either from the government or from philanthropic foundations, then so be it!
            As a Galt's Gulch "would-be resident," I'm not offended by opportunities to divert public money to the very things that we wish those who run our government or large businesses would do. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!
            Again, without reading the book, you're generalizing and, unfortunately, missing a large body of information that should give us encouragement rather than just sulking because Ayn Rand's prophesies are coming to pass and you get to say, "I told you so!".
            The implied purpose of her writing was not so much to broadcast complaints or to condemn our society; it was to wake us up and prod us into finding ways to reverse the trend. I don't think for a minute that her preference would be for America to grind to a halt.
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  • Posted by wiggys 10 years, 2 months ago
    the key word is EDUCATION! we live in a country where the level of education has deteriorated so horribly that our freedoms are disappearing quite rapidly. I read here how many of you have the idea that this situation can be stopped and turned around, but without an educated population the deterioration will only continue. I personally do not see the level of education improving for one second. to know how poorly educated the population is go to a gathering place of 30 to 40 year olds and listen to their conversations. Talk to high school aged people and ask questions about the history of the country or the world and they have blank faces. These young people want and want and want but have no interest in achieving whatever it will take to acquire what they want on their own. The "best course" is EDUCATION! And as I said I do not see it getting better, so enjoy the freedom you currently have.
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    • Posted by RonC 10 years, 2 months ago
      I have seen historian David Barton review the history of education. I can tell you with a lifetime of experience I could not pass an 8th grade exam from the 19th century. Education is a big word. Historically schools prepared people for a productive life. In his youth George Washington surveyed new tracks of land as the country expanded. What 14 or 15 year old would we trust that task to today?

      As poorly as I would be at the 19th century 8th grade test, my 60s high school education seems like a Doctorate when I see college students that don't know any history, civics, social studies, etc. How many branches of government, how many Senators, how many representatives and why. Whether intentional or not, it needs a solution.

      In my Father's era businesses trained people for the skills they needed. He progressed from loading boxcars to running machinery to setting up presses for other to run, and finally to building fine finished stainless steel cabinetry; and they trained him for all of that. Today, businesses complain of no skilled workers and still they try to hire workers "ready to go". What can we learn of education from our most productive past?
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