The Zombie System

Some terrific ideas about improving current economic structures in the U.S., also Australia!
So, why are 'some' current politicians uncreative,being "zombie-like", maybe doing what they are told to do, and by whom? (powerful corporations, influential billionaires, or?)
Even though Sweden 'also' has a fairly high unemployment rate (8% in August 2013), its economic structure still could be worth an investigation, at the same time providing some zombie-like politicians with a taxpayer funded 'holiday'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sweden#Unemployment
 

QuickSilver said:
SifuPhil said:
If unions are so useful why couldn't they keep American jobs from going overseas?

Why couldn't they keep Detroit from disappearing?
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When the Bush administration made it finacially profitable... and even gave tax breaks to corporations moving production overseas, how would you expect unions to stop them?
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I think that the problem started in the Reagan era, at least that's when I started seeing good jobs being "exported" to 3rd world countries.
 
lkk.jpgimagesVODGJ7NR.jpg The Western "Ayn Rand" states, along with the "Bible Belt" and the Southern "Antebellum" folks, make up the resistance to the utopia we speak of. Oddly enough, out West, they go with Darwin and feel natural selection should govern survival in our modern age. Down South, they try to prop up a false ideology with redistricting (Gerrymandering). All these cultures miss the reality. Automation, robotics, and outsourcing make self reliance, in the form of well paying manufacturing jobs, impossible for most. There must be a shift in the political paradigm and a redistribution of wealth in the form of jobs that can't be performed (yet) by robots or automation. Jobs that can't be shipped overseas. Jobs repairing our rapidly disintegrating infrastructure. The economy needs permanence...make the jobs permanent. Rebuild America and the middle class. The poor will benefit from revenues. The rich, as usual, will gain from profits. The only eventual losers (because of the deficit spending) are the people at the end of the pyramid...the sad trillionaires. Oh well.

The West coast, New England, and my fickle Great Lakes people embrace change. They recognize it as inevitable and as a necessary component of progress. The red states are dominated by white conservatives (one way or another). The blue are made up of ethnic and cultural coalitions where compromise is used for political power. I think the long range picture is obvious unless the coalitions can be divided through subtle demagoguery. The "Brave New World" can appear if we avoid fear and lies.
 

The "Brave New World" can appear if we avoid fear and lies.
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This is a HUGE problem.. The Right Wing media which feeds fear and lies is domimant in the areas you point out. This is due to the fact that they are owned and operated by the very people that benefit from keeping people uninformed and afraid. They play on that.. they also play on the religious aspect that drives many of these people to vote. You cannot turn on a TV and NOT get Fox News.. or a Radio and NOT hear the golden tones of Rush Limbaugh or the miriad of other right wing talkers. The airwaves are saturated. Friends in the South have to pay extra to get other views on cable.. so it's no surprise that those without resources are inundated with falsehoods. Of course the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine in broadcasting by our friend Ron Reagan set the stage for that.
 
I know supposedly competent people who listen to Fox news as if it were an oracle. Occasionally, when I want to aggravate myself, I'll tune in. Invariably, the logic and reasoning of the conversation is based on innuendo and implication rather than statements. I forget who said it but..."The man who lies merely hides the truth. The man who tells half lies...has forgotten where he put it". Rupert Murdoch is trying to sell his version of tabloid news and 1950...today. The talking heads he employs are empty and easily programmable.
 
metasegue said:
I know supposedly competent people who listen to Fox news as if it were an oracle. Occasionally, when I want to aggravate myself, I'll tune in. Invariably, the logic and reasoning of the conversation is based on innuendo and implication rather than statements. I forget who said it but..."The man who lies merely hides the truth. The man who tells half lies...has forgotten where he put it". Rupert Murdoch is trying to sell his version of tabloid news and 1950...today. The talking heads he employs are empty and easily programmable.
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I know... I find it amazing that seemingly intelligent people stay plugged into FOX. BUT.. Murdoch is giving that factor what they want. They HATE Obama.. Now I'm not saying that Race drives all of it... but I firmly believe a good portion of it. By staying connected to FOX.. they are given OTHER reasons to pin their hate on. They can delude themselves into really believing they are NOT racist.... because FOX tells them so. Obama is BAD because X Y and Z... and you are right to hate him!
 
Murdoch is a malevolent spider and he is all about self interest. His political position changes to advantage his own business interests. His father was a much better newspaperman, but his sons? I don't think the poisonous twisting of truth will die with the old man.

Tony Abbott is Murdoch's creature and often his news outlets receive briefings before the government's own cabinet.

I refuse to buy any of his publications and won't subscribe to Foxtel on principle.
 
QS: you are nailing the strategy. To call them disingenuous would be a moral compliment. Fox policy blatantly appeals to racists in the hope they represent enough of the majority to manipulate the electorate. Beyond that, the routine seems to be to ignore and deny any type of responsibility for what they say. Jon Stewart, Steve Colbert, and Bill Maher have a field day with recorded contradictions. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle used to tell it like it is...before the brothers shut them up. There are screwed up people in all races...just realizing and acting on that will serve to eliminate irrational hatred such as that levelled at Obama.

DW: yes, Murdoch is a political and social chameleon who will turn inside out for an advantage. The Fifth Estate is in real danger here and elsewhere. The profit motive can skew any format. NBC and MSNBC have cut the cord...Microsoft isn't in the news "business" anymore. Apparently, after Gates left...technology and not politics interested them. I find myself listening to CNN lately.
 

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