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165 comments on DrumBeat: October 23, 2006

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Supaluminal on October 23, 2006 - 12:08pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I see this as a classic case of reality vs. perception. It isn't the fault of the western world that other people will sell their food crop for fuel, ignoring the potential for the western governments to introduce policies that might cause this. However, for the people on the ground in the third world, who likely do not have a say in who gets the food they grow, it doesn't matter who's fault it is. What matters is how they see the situation. Moreover, most humans have a bit of a selfish streak, especially when it comes to food, and in the long run, there is a lot of potential for trouble when people percieve others as living well while they starve.

Unfortunately this ties in with one of the great potential problems with PO, namely that how people see things will drive their decisions, whether those perceptions are right or wrong, which may not (or maybe more often than not) lead to the best outcome. These sorts of issues can scale to the local level as well.

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oldhippie on October 23, 2006 - 10:25pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
"Itisn't the fault of the western world that other people will sell their food crop for fuel..."

No it's never the fault of the powerful,greedy and amoral what happens to the weak. Powerful marketplayers are entitled to kill anyone they want.

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step back on October 24, 2006 - 4:16am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Powerful marketplayers are entitled to kill anyone they want ... and to call it preemptive "self defense"

Yes. That's the Golden Rule. (He with the gold makes the rules.)

While tooling around yesterday in my SUV looking for some $2.30 gasoline, I heard some right wing Harpie on the radio proclaim that America has the "best" democracy in the world. Then the fair-and-balanced Ronn Owens chimed in, "Yes, of course we do." (He is a popular talk show host out here in the San Francisco --Bay Area region who has rightish leanings but claims to be in the middle. He's basically the guy who says I supported George Bush 100% before I didn't support him totally now.) Sheesh.

Point is that many of my fellow Americans never heard of Parlimentary government. They are so deluded they actually think their button push on the Diebold voting machine counts. They religiously believe we Americans have the Bestest "democracy" in the world and it is our manifest destiny to spread its word around the globe and also the word of our true lord & savior, Adam Smith.

But then again, when our "elected" public officials go off and do a shock-and-awe thing on some 3rd world country, or bully them into selling us their crop for our fuel, we rationalize our responsibility away. We wash our hands of the whole messy affair. Hey it wasn't me. It wasn't me. I didn't go & ask all those dumbass 3rd world sub-humans to do foolish things, to sell their food to us and to starve themselves to death. The "blame" falls on "them". I am pure and clean as the Christmas snow. It wasn't me.

End of rant. (Note from me to me: What were you thinking dude? That's like narly irrational.)

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165 comments on DrumBeat: October 23, 2006

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