Do we have a duty to be "politically aware"?

A company is too big to fail when it threatens to take a whole country with it and spark a domino effect that spreads around the world. You have to remember our monetary system is based entirely on credit. Which is just another word for debt. In fact Panorama had a program on doorstep lenders recently that unwittingly shows exactly how the economy really works.

Panorama's undercover reporter recorded one of the collection agents saying "you never want to let them pay off the loan". Or words to that effect. For doorstep lending companies to continue operating and making a profit, their customers must remain in debt. To keep their customers in debt they constantly issue "new money" which has to be paid back with interest. It's a never ending debt escalator.

Back in the 1970s/80s our politicians decided it would be really cool if everything we did in life was hard wired directly into the banking system. So now the banks are wired into everything. If too many banks fail. Everything fails. All of our infrastructure falls apart because we live within a monetary system where we exchange credit for goods and services.

 

Well, I'm less financially aware, but I would ask anyone who feels that politicians can't change the shape of a country look at what's being done to public services in the UK. I personally feel that many of the 'austerity' measures have not been misjudged at all, they've been a quite blatant & conscious use of the financial situation as an excuse for making serious ideological changes to the nature of public services in this country. That's a pretty major overhaul to the social landscape of the nation we live in. Damn shame it's one I disagree with really.

 

Well if people think changes to the welfare system or the NHS are painful. Just imagine how much more painful life could have been if a major banking group had gone down. If HBOS had been allowed to fail for example, banks in both Northern Ireland and the Republic would have gone with it. Tens of thousands of people would have been dumped on the unemployment line without any redundancy package.

It's all very well people saying the government should let the banks fail. And sometimes I think the same thing. But the truth is the British tax payer still pays out in the end. Absolutely no government wants to be dealing with that situation.

 

As I say, I'm not a financial expert and won't comment on what others are far more qualified to. For once (though I may ask questions). What you're describing though seems to be a situation in which the idea solution may be to slowly but progressively work to disentangle the banks from every facet of our lives? Though that, perhaps, is an herculean task.

 

This is untrue. Homosexuals are denied rights that others are not, based upon their sexual orientation. For example if I have a child, and raise it with my partner (who is not a biological parent) and we both shower it with love, energy, time, care and everything else that good parents do, and then I die, if the partner is of the same sex as me they do not have the same rights as if they were not.

My opinion is shaped from living as a minority with restricted rights for many years now, I have lived in several countries, and that is one of the few other examples of a person who lives under a different set of rules that are really quite unfair.

 

In the UK we have a "Fiat" currency, which means it is not backed by anything other than the ability to raise taxes. Which in turn means that when a bank is bailed out it is the taxpayer who pays. If a bank fails then the taxpayer does not pay, however investors and mal investmants fail, but not savings accounts because they are segregated and are covered by the government up to £85,000.
So what happens is proper capitalism. You make a bad investment and you lose money. What is happening now is that you make a bad investment, and the government will ensure that you don't lose money.
The banks create nothing, they profit from usury and moving money arround.
Look at Spain and Greece, it is the bond holders who are being spared from taking a " haircut"
but what has happened to ordinary peoples salaries, pensions,and social services they have been cut to the point were ordinary people are suffering, but not the bond holders and it is no surprise that the prime minister in Greece is an ex banker.....and the can has only been kicked down the road, nothing has changed.
So let the rich take a hit, let them lose their money for gambling on unsafe investments and leave the people alone

 

?????
Are you making a study of it? You seem very interested in it.
You notice more gay people around you maybe because, I dunno....THEY AREN'T CRIMINALISED ANYMORE?

 

Dress sense? Though I admit I say that because I'm not fabulous.

 

They are promoted for efforts towards gay world domination.
Graham Norton is a Field Marshall in the gay army.
Their uniforms are a sight to behold.

 

How about legally sharing property and parental rights? How about receiving death benefits if your partner should die?

There are lots of legal benefits to marriage.

I can't comment personally on what it's like to be gay, but from what the Stats, conservaties and the LGBT community say it's far from a lifestyle of margaritas and show business.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bashing
http://www.americanprogress.org/iss...s-of-workplace-discrimination-and-harassment/

 

I made the point, and I still do, that the media and politicians
will promote some cause that is relatively meaningless or unimportant to conceal something of real importance. Gay marriage is only one example, it may be important to the people involved, but relative to other things it is not.AND sadly reading the posts here the politicians seem to have succeeded
Nobody seems to be aware of the debt crisis, it's just some trivia.whereas gay marriage is something that must be defended, yeah sure
look at some other stuff.
What about Fukushima? how much do you hear about that?
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or how about genetically modified crops, which obama supports ( bet you didn't know that)
or that a company called "Wholefoods" sells food made with them
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs6WUTpTHQU&feature=player_embedded"]Whole Foods bombshell: Infowars exposes GMO false advertising with 'NOTHING ARTIFICIAL, EVER' - YouTube[/ame]

you see my opinion is that folks are dumbed down by politicos and the media. They are taught to get all excited about trivia, like when a football player gets called some nasty names. yet the real stuff, the stuff that affects them, their occupation or even future generations is hidden by this trivia

 

And that's more important than the continued inequality levied against members of our community? Hmmmmm.
Seems you're annoyed people aren't as interested in things you find important while also being annoyed they find things more important than you do.

Pretty much everything we eat is genetically modified and has been for hundreds of years. Bring it on!

 

There is one bit, J, that noone has mentioned yet and I think that its important to remind folks.

Fact is that today's Financial Community is not "yer father's" Financial community. By that I mean that Banking, Lending and Investing are now so convoluted and esoteric in their design and execution that almost noone outside of the community----and damn few INSIDE--- understand how things are done. As a result it is very hard for the Governments of the World to keep and eye on these folks. Its also very dangerous to act precipitously for fear of accidently doing more damage than repair.

When people talk about being "too big to fail" I, myself, don't usually think in terms of size as much as how emmeshed a given institution may be in too many fields (IE. Real Estate, Government, Industry, Lending). FWIW.

BTW: I am not a huge fan of over-regulation. However, I DO think there should be some curbs as to how many pots a given F I can stir their fingers around in at any one given time.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

 

I get the feeling that you are quite guilty of getting your opinions from mass media.

Though in fairness it is quite difficult to do so otherwise in this day and age, as it requires parsing through an increasingly large amount of data that is manipulated by both sides of the political spectrum.

Politics in the US are extremely different from those in the UK.


The big issues are the small issues, and they are very serious. Let me give you some of them:

1. Right to Chose - Does a woman have the right to chose to have a baby, or to terminate the pregnancy. Democrats say she can chose, as it is her body. Republicans say she cannot chose, and must give birth, even after the pregnancy came through rape (including incest).

That alone is enough for me to decide that they should not be in power.

2. Right to equality - Gay Marriage. Take all the religion off the table here, it is all about tax laws and survivorship -by entwining marriage and taxation and then refusing marriage to some people you are witholding taxation benefits, this is unfair.

3. Debt Crisis - yes its real, but it is also very big picture and just pulling up a debt clock and crying woe is not the solution. Yes, spending on Obamacare seems to make it spiral out of control, but what is the actual cost of Obamacare? Here is some info on it (only from one side of the fence mind you, but you gotta read both...) http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...macare-is-on-the-right-track-to-reduce-costs/

Ultimately the difference I see between Republican and Democrat is that Democrat thinks more long term, putting things in place to build infrastructure for the future. It isn't the instant gratification that the present society seeks in the google generation, it is years, often decades down the road.

Look up title 9. (here let me help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX)

Another non issue.. that cause massive upheaval, and faced outrage, but by forcing it through, just like Obamacare, has created a more equal future.

 

Thanks for pointing up the REAL issue about the "Gay Marriage" issue. In the end it is not about "Gay Marriage" per se. Thats just the emotional "lightning rod". The real issue (that does also include marriage between Gay partners, has more to do inheritance rights, medical coverage between non-married partners (IE Children who have custody of infirm parents; bf/gf who fall to caring for an infirmed sibling). Corporations are fighting extending what used to be benefits reserved for married hetero couples. The marriage rate is falling and people are electing to live together but still want those "joint benefits". This is the REAL issue. That other stuff is just the Media.

BTW: In like manner, that whole "Right-to-Life" thing is rather much the same thing. Yes, Middle Class and Upper Class White Christian women are the single largest users of Abortion Services. But THAT is not the REAL issue. Its just the Emotional Lightning rod. The REAL issue is that women do not want Men controlling their Health Issues. Orthodox Jewish and Muslim and Hindu men still dictate when, where and how a female under their authority see a doctor. Many conservative Christian households live under the same authority. Without protection under the Law a women can be compelled to have her health needs, pregnancy, abortion, innoculations, female circumcision, medications, examiniations all controlled by the male authority

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET Time:

Christian and Jewish families have the single highest rates of Family Rape and Incest. If a woman has the freedom to seek healthcare on her own, how long do you think this dirty little secret stays a secret, huh? NOW we are starting to talk about the REAL issue! If a Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Male dies and his wife is taken by the brother and she does not want to bear a child for that brother to satisfy some inheritance issue.....how much say do you think she has about that? What about the Muslim or Hindu or Chinese woman who does not produce a Male heir, on demand? You think she has anything to say about this? NOW we are talking about the REAL issue!!

Best Wishes,

Bruce