tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post6195879974778965473..comments2024-03-29T10:12:07.396-04:00Comments on Vital Remnants: Distributism 101: Is predatory capitalism a conservative doctrine?Martin Cothranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16452612266051351726noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-89554342778196008472012-01-31T10:53:49.457-05:002012-01-31T10:53:49.457-05:00'Yes, I'm telling you they were Muslims.&#...'Yes, I'm telling you they were Muslims.'<br /><br />And what does that have to do with them rioting, rather than their economic situation, for example?<br /><br />The rioters in LA after the Rodney King trial - did they riot simply because they were black? Or because they were already furstrated by their economic situation, their marginalization by society and their treatment by the Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-81081320034065132172012-01-31T10:06:13.089-05:002012-01-31T10:06:13.089-05:00You are uncharacteristically careful about your wo...You are uncharacteristically careful about your wording here.<br /><br />Yes, I'm telling you they were Muslims.<br /><br />Muslim fundamentalists? Not a clue.<br /><br />"Simply wanted to destroy their neighborhoods"? I would imagine it's more complicated than that.<br /><br />Because of sharia law? I don't know. Maybe because they don't like French police.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-85578582756924714112012-01-31T09:55:12.723-05:002012-01-31T09:55:12.723-05:00'Take me to Paris. I want to see the neighborh...'Take me to Paris. I want to see the neighborhoods where all those "youths" torched cars and burned buildings.'<br /><br />Are you <i>seriously</i> telling me you think those youths rioted because they were all Muslim fundamentalists that simply wanted to destroy their neighborhood? Because of what - Sharia law?Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-44930803616593822082012-01-31T08:00:28.117-05:002012-01-31T08:00:28.117-05:00> If you ever come to Europe, Lee, I'll gla...> If you ever come to Europe, Lee, I'll gladly take you on a tour of Dublin, Stuttgart or Oslo (all places I have lived) and you can show me where all these masses of invading Muslims are. It'll be an entertaining afternoon for at least one of us.<br /><br />Take me to Paris. I want to see the neighborhoods where all those "youths" torched cars and burned buildings.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-82029152652056781312012-01-31T07:58:42.224-05:002012-01-31T07:58:42.224-05:00> So when you agree with a newspaper article, i...> So when you agree with a newspaper article, it's hard fact, when you disagree with an official report from the largest overgovernmental organization in the world, its an unreliable opinion paper.<br /><br />Well, when I posted the newspaper article, I prefaced it by saying, "An interesting perspective..."Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-24592395784168343632012-01-31T07:25:48.811-05:002012-01-31T07:25:48.811-05:00'As I said: it looks like an opinion paper. Th...'As I said: it looks like an opinion paper. The opinions begin with which measures are more important.'<br /><br />So when you agree with a newspaper article, it's hard fact, when you disagree with an official report from the largest overgovernmental organization in the world, its an unreliable opinion paper.<br /><br />Makes complete sense.<br /><br />'...and that the U.S. Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-23538844694120911792012-01-31T07:01:33.473-05:002012-01-31T07:01:33.473-05:00> So the United Nations Development Programme R...> So the United Nations Development Programme Report is a mere 'opinion paper'? <br /><br />I'm so sorry, I didn't realize the UN never had an opinion about anything.<br /><br />Lots of variables there, Singring. Lots of room for argument about any single one of those measures, let alone what they are worth when you start building formulae from them.<br /><br />As I said: it Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-66065423757673519112012-01-31T04:57:29.229-05:002012-01-31T04:57:29.229-05:00'What you linked to looks more like an opinion...'What you linked to looks more like an opinion paper.'<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index#New_methodology_for_2011_data_onwards<br /><br />So the United Nations Development Programme Report is a mere 'opinion paper'? <br /><br />Your capacity for rationalizing away hard data never ceases to amaze.<br /><br />'Wake me when you have some hard facts.&Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-78263825890089090012012-01-31T04:43:46.659-05:002012-01-31T04:43:46.659-05:00'Not only is Singring's "wealth equal...'Not only is Singring's "wealth equality" mantra subject to all kinds of dubious variables, as well as questions about who is doing the measurements,'<br /><br />This raises a couple of questions:<br /><br />a) what 'dubious' variables are you talking about?<br /><br />b) automatically questioning the source of the data that seems to contradict your dearly held Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-60798290312572542962012-01-31T00:19:22.738-05:002012-01-31T00:19:22.738-05:00And here's the real question: is European soc...And here's the real question: is European socialism, presuming it finds its way out of the tar pit of debt that it's currently mired in, going to survive the upcoming Islamification of Europe?<br /><br />The birth rates are clear: there will be more Muslims -- Turks, Arabs, Pakistanis, etc. -- in Europe than Europeans. The math seems pretty clear. As Mark Steyn says, to win the futureLeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-89219464031219537522012-01-31T00:08:55.350-05:002012-01-31T00:08:55.350-05:00I got the following information from a real right-...I got the following information from a real right-wing rag named the New York Times. An interesting perspective...<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/the-other-reason-europe-is-going-broke.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&ref=global-home<br /><br />> "But G.D.P. per capita (an insufficient indicator, but one most economists use) in the U.S. is nearly 50 percent higher Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-20786663888077116902012-01-30T23:10:04.212-05:002012-01-30T23:10:04.212-05:00> I think what you are seeing is a refusal to b...> I think what you are seeing is a refusal to buy in to the false dichotomy between capitalism and socialism.<br /><br />Who says it's a dichotomy? Not me.<br /><br />> I think what you are also seeing is a reaction against Christian believers who seem to think that just because an action may be allowed in a "free market," it should therefore be considered an ethical action, Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-39272494999456589112012-01-30T23:06:24.001-05:002012-01-30T23:06:24.001-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-75345358750518348422012-01-30T22:30:06.403-05:002012-01-30T22:30:06.403-05:00> Also, since you did ask for them, what did yo...> Also, since you did ask for them, what did you think of the facts, Lee?<br /><br />I'll comment on facts when you show some, Singring. What you linked to looks more like an opinion paper.<br /><br />> "a measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account."<br /><br />Wake me when you have some hard facts.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-74957964209119865032012-01-30T16:36:13.964-05:002012-01-30T16:36:13.964-05:00Lee,
I remember reading a book twenty or thirty y...Lee,<br /><br /><i>I remember reading a book twenty or thirty years ago by Michael Novak, an avowed Catholic, named "The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism", wherein he noted the hostility in the Church against the free market. Maybe I'm seeing some of that in your article, Martin.</i><br /><br />I think what you are seeing is a refusal to buy in to the false dichotomy between Martin Cothranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16452612266051351726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-17317731763643216482012-01-30T16:23:09.466-05:002012-01-30T16:23:09.466-05:00Not only is Singring's "wealth equality&q...Not only is Singring's "wealth equality" mantra subject to all kinds of dubious variables, as well as questions about who is doing the measurements, but it also fails to recognize that Americans get nervous about politicians promising income equality when we have so often watched politicians elsewhere make every one less free, sometimes horribly so, in the process.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-69678729669362590562012-01-30T12:19:24.053-05:002012-01-30T12:19:24.053-05:00'In other words: "If you stop saying some...'In other words: "If you stop saying something I disagree with, I'll quit distorting your position."'<br /><br />More like "If you stop saying something that is wildly inaccurate, I'll quit distorting your position."<br /><br />Sounds like a fair bargain to me. <br /><br />Also, since you did ask for them, what did you think of the facts, Lee?Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-12613170376929855612012-01-30T12:15:41.502-05:002012-01-30T12:15:41.502-05:00Lee,
It would also include countries that aren...Lee,<br /><br />It would also include countries that aren't losing their solvency.KyCobbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-79483280754425454462012-01-30T11:30:51.081-05:002012-01-30T11:30:51.081-05:00> I would guess that would be due to the big dr...> I would guess that would be due to the big drop in stocks in 2008, since the poor don't own much stock. Lots of countries, including at one time the US, make income less unequal by making everyone better off, rather than allowing the few to take almost all the benefit of economic growth.<br /><br />Out of curiosity, would "lots of countries" include the ones that are in the Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-86293600558684029362012-01-30T11:29:07.880-05:002012-01-30T11:29:07.880-05:00> If you stop using per capita wealth as an ind...> If you stop using per capita wealth as an indicator for the standard of living, then I will stop exaggerating your statements.<br /><br />In other words: "If you stop saying something I disagree with, I'll quit distorting your position."<br /><br />Nice bargain.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-2707758220135364792012-01-30T11:08:09.354-05:002012-01-30T11:08:09.354-05:00'Speaking of facts, where are yours?'
htt...'Speaking of facts, where are yours?'<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI<br /><br />Note that in an unadjusted scoring, the US ranks fourth - but because of its high wealth inequality, it plummets to 23 when adjusted for wealth equality - which is exactly the point I was making earlier.Singringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-52596145227890924762012-01-30T11:00:05.599-05:002012-01-30T11:00:05.599-05:00Lee,
"I read an article recently, wish I had...Lee,<br /><br />"I read an article recently, wish I had the link handy, which said that the gap between rich and poor has shrunk in the last four years, since the financial collapse. I guess that's one way to achieve egalitarianism -- make everyone worse off."<br /><br />I would guess that would be due to the big drop in stocks in 2008, since the poor don't own much stock. LotsKyCobbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-84189336029405948212012-01-30T10:55:42.664-05:002012-01-30T10:55:42.664-05:00KyCobb, thanks for the link. How utterly disappoi...KyCobb, thanks for the link. How utterly disappointing.<br /><br />The GOP establishment wins again. Somehow, they always manage to nominate a so-called "electable moderate". These usually go on to lose in the general election. So much for electable.<br /><br />Conservatives have already lost this election.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-1655683909211500362012-01-30T10:52:31.040-05:002012-01-30T10:52:31.040-05:00'Speaking of facts, where are yours?'
I&#...'Speaking of facts, where are yours?'<br /><br />I'll give them to you if you want them, Lee. But quite honestly all you need to do is Google 'standard of living' prefaced with whatever governmental body you wish to get data from (say the UN, the OECD or maybe even the CIA) and you will have your answer.<br /><br />But tell me: are you stating, for the record, that you believeSingringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180277470418724600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-23254471079336755802012-01-30T10:45:56.844-05:002012-01-30T10:45:56.844-05:00> Some day you will have to deal with the actua...> Some day you will have to deal with the actual facts, Lee.<br /><br />Speaking of facts, where are yours?Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.com