(04-07-2009 10:54 PM)erice Wrote:  Eh, I cut back on participating here because I got tired of the hostility that sometimes creeps up from under the surface, intended or not. It's certainly not because I'm less supportive of Obama. I come to the Parliament to be around fellow friends of Rice athletics (and so that this sports dummy might actually learn a thing or two about the games I love to watch). Not to be on one side of a room full of conservatives arguing with liberals.

Occasionally I come back to the Quad to catch up, but like tonight, I often regret it.

While I understand why the OT posts were relegated from the main board to the Quad, I generally feel like it's had the effect of polarizing the discussions -- mostly it seems like it's just the extremists (probably I'm one of 'em) who meander over to this area of the Parliament. So I'm on a 10-step program to lay off this bad habit. Obviously (since I'm posting now) I'm still in the denial phase. But I'm trying.

Cue the "can't we all just get along" wisecracks.

No wisecracks... but GENERALLY speaking, you get a more intelligent, thought out argument on this board than in the spin room. Certainly we are not without our political leanings, and free from the influence of "the machine"... but generally speaking, we can have intelligent, even if highly argumentative, discussion here.

We can get along without agreeing on everything, and even disagreeing vehemently... or by not having to agree not to talk about certain things.

(04-16-2009 10:30 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(04-16-2009 10:19 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  I get the feeling that Emmie trusts the government bureaucracy more than she trusts corporations. I wonder why? I see a high correlation between government control and corruption. It is difficult for a bureaucrat to sell power if he has none.

I understand that Owl 69 distrusts corporations less than he distrusts government. He has explained why.

I would say that I distrust them equally. The bigger they are, the more I distrust them, and the government is larger than any corporation, and has police powers that no corporation has, so I suppose on that basis I probably distrust the government more.

Not in any way picking on emmie, OO or 69/70 as I have great respect for all of them... just responding to the thoughts expressed here...

The motivation for corporations is to make money. They make money by selling me things. They sell me things by making things I want or need. which improves my life... or at least my perception of my life... so while corporations aren't perfect... their motivations don't necessarily conflict with mine... and if they do, I don't need to use their services.

Certainly, they also make money by convincing me I need things that I don't... though I blame "us" for making me feel that I need $750 Prada shoes rather than $150 Johnson and Murphy's... and not "them" for profiting from our insecurities... and then there are the liars who try and sell me a product they KNOWINGLY misrepresent... but not only are there financial repercussions for doing so, but there are laws against it. Where are the laws preventing a government official from intentionally misrepresenting the facts in order to get votes... which means money and power.... and there is no alternative to their services.

It may be not that I distrust corporations (in general) more... simply that I feel capable of avoiding the worst offenders and rewarding the good ones... and when I "vote" on how my money gets spent... it actually happens that way, even if my opinion is in the minority. With the government, my vote is weighed against the masses, many of whom have been listening to the advertisements and not necessarily doing their own research. If I am in the minority, my vote is basically ignored... so I distrust government MUCH more than corporations.