The next common enemy... - Page 6 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

aklim · #76 03-17-2006, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

It's the old "Bobby hit me first!" defense.

If "Group A" are spineless, soulless hypocrites then we should excuse "Group B" for the same?

Part of the equation doesn't work. Dittoheads don't give a shirt about the environment and so why should they drive a Prius?

The Hollywoody types hug pictures of baby seals and pound animals, encourage the little people to hang their was on the line and bicycle, yet buy diamond dog collars for FiFi and wear designer clothes hand-washed by illegal immigrants, and own fleets of gas-guzzling cars.

And so, my point is, if the Hollywood people are telling me that I need to do this and they aren't themselves, why should I give a crap about what they say? How is that convincing?

Lebenz · #77 03-17-2006, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Not sure I follow your point. My point is that it makes it hard to swallow advice from a current thief about the ills of thievery.

Still talking about Congress? Often times thieves are retained as consultants. Learn from their weisdom and you can take that knowledge in a different direction.

There was a time when if you wanted a specific option on a vehicle, you could get just that option. Now a days, if you want xenon headlights you have to buy another 70 lbs of accessories along with the headlights. A simple step in the right direction would be to sell accessories individually, even if at a more premium mark up.

Lebenz · #78 03-17-2006, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

And so, my point is, if the Hollywood people are telling me that I need to do this and they aren't themselves, why should I give a crap about what they say? How is that convincing?

Like it or not Hollywood celebs and set designers do have a notable influence. They can and do significantly influence the buying patterns of many folk.

aklim · #79 03-17-2006, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lebenz

Like it or not Hollywood celebs and set designers do have a notable influence. They can and do significantly influence the buying patterns of many folk.

Well, like they say, a fool and his money are soon parted. What I am saying is that if they are telling us about how we should conserve while being wasteful themselves, it isn't convincing me.

cmac2012 · #80 03-17-2006, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

It's the old "Bobby hit me first!" defense.

If "Group A" are spineless, soulless hypocrites then we should excuse "Group B" for the same?

Part of the equation doesn't work. Dittoheads don't give a shirt about the environment and so why should they drive a Prius?

The Hollywoody types hug pictures of baby seals and pound animals, encourage the little people to hang their was on the line and bicycle, yet buy diamond dog collars for FiFi and wear designer clothes hand-washed by illegal immigrants, and own fleets of gas-guzzling cars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Not sure I follow your point. My point is that it makes it hard to swallow advice from a current thief about the ills of thievery.

A first! Botnst twists my words to grind his own ax.

Group A and group B both contain hypocrites and hyperventilaters; does that mean neither crowd has anything worthwhile to say?

Did you catch the footage of Brad Pitt saying a while back that "Golly. We have the opportunity to end hunger in our time." Uhhhh.... goooodddd luck with that one Braddumms. Many, or most, in that crowd have had luxury handed to them on a platter for so long that they don't have a clear idea of where things come from, nor the cost of those things to the vahrnment or human labor.

Because B. Streisand, et al, are sorta clueless, this means that we're not running out of oil, that we're not destroying mountaintops and valleys like there's no tomorrow (funny I should mention that) for a few gigawatts worth of coal?

That crowd may have an inkling of problems on the horizon but they don't get the personal sacrifice component. But PUH - LEASE spare me this giant red herring of an argument that they invalidate any concern on the issue.

Botnst · #81 03-17-2006, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

A first! Botnst twists my words to grind his own ax.

Group A and group B both contain hypocrites and hyperventilaters; does that mean neither crowd has anything worthwhile to say?

Did you catch the footage of Brad Pitt saying a while back that "Golly. We have the opportunity to end hunger in our time." Uhhhh.... goooodddd luck with that one Braddumms. Many, or most, in that crowd have had luxury handed to them on a platter for so long that they don't have a clear idea of where things come from, nor the cost of those things to the vahrnment or human labor.

Because B. Streisand, et al, are sorta clueless, this means that we're not running out of oil, that we're not destroying mountaintops and valleys like there's no tomorrow (funny I should mention that) for a few gigawatts worth of coal?

That crowd may have an inkling of problems on the horizon but they don't get the personal sacrifice component. But PUH - LEASE spare me this giant red herring of an argument that they invalidate any concern on the issue.

All I did was suggest that dittoheads are not hypocrites while the wacky leftwing Hollywood crowd is practically indistinguishable from Marie Antoinette. "They have no bread? Why, let them eat cake!" In Streisand's mouth it comes out, "Can't afford a clothes dryer, hang your clothes outside on a clothesline." Riiight. People who cannot afford to wash and dry their clothes live in neighborhoods where people would rob every stitch of clothes off a clothesline and sell them for dope. Meanwhile, Babs cranks-up her A/C thermostat to 77F and congratulates herself for enduring the dampness under her arms.

Dittoheads don't give a damn about global warming or conserving fuel or helping their poor neighbors.

I am not sure whether a guilt-ridden plutocrat liberal is better or worse than a blase' plutocrat dittohead.

I do have more in common with people who believe that everybody should work to earn their food, shelter, and medical treatment. There is no free lunch and I don't appreciate being parasitized. I do like to give voluntarily to charity and I do enjoy working to help poor folks improve their lives. If there were poor folks in the USA like I have worked with in Latin America I'd have fewer qualms about social programs.

People in the USA who are poor are mostly immigrants who are working their asses of to improve the lives of their children or they are people who have made many bad choices in their lives. there are some people who genuinely need help taht do not fit in those two broad categories. I do not begrudge them a helping hand. I just don't want the helping hand to become a way of life, which is an unfortunate biprouct of our current welfare system.

B

aklim · #82 03-18-2006, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Group A and group B both contain hypocrites and hyperventilaters; does that mean neither crowd has anything worthwhile to say?

That crowd may have an inkling of problems on the horizon but they don't get the personal sacrifice component. But PUH - LEASE spare me this giant red herring of an argument that they invalidate any concern on the issue.

So, if the problem is as severe as you say and you are as concerned as you say but yet you are unwilling to make a sacrifice, how do I know you are serious and not just an Attention Whore? What you are saying is that they have an inkling of the problem and the solution but they are not willing to act it out themselves but advocate others do it and we are supposed to take them seriously?

Lets talk of Bush II for a min. Would you pay much attention to his lecture on how to be an honest politician with your view of him? Better yet, since you believe he is a crook, would you take his advice on how to be honest?

aklim · #83 03-18-2006, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

People in the USA who are poor are mostly immigrants who are working their asses of to improve the lives of their children or they are people who have made many bad choices in their lives. there are some people who genuinely need help taht do not fit in those two broad categories. I do not begrudge them a helping hand. I just don't want the helping hand to become a way of life, which is an unfortunate biprouct of our current welfare system.

B

The problem is that it is easy to give money away. It wins votes and what not because you look like you care. Now, to take it away, it is difficult. As such, it breeds the entitlement mentality where you believe you are entitled to this, that or the other. That I don't believe in. Not saying you cannot help someone in need. I don't believe that they are entitled to earn a certain amount or have this, that or the other.

cmac2012 · #84 03-18-2006, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

So, if the problem is as severe as you say and you are as concerned as you say but yet you are unwilling to make a sacrifice, how do I know you are serious and not just an Attention Whore? What you are saying is that they have an inkling of the problem and the solution but they are not willing to act it out themselves but advocate others do it and we are supposed to take them seriously?

Lets talk of Bush II for a min. Would you pay much attention to his lecture on how to be an honest politician with your view of him? Better yet, since you believe he is a crook, would you take his advice on how to be honest?

You focus on the Hollywood crowd like they are the only ones that matter in the discussion of vahrnmentalism. You have no idea of what I do to try to walk the talk. I hang my clothes out to dry. A small thing, but it is the most easily accessible form of solar energy. Save nat. gas. Takes me about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

I've perfected the art of the one gallon shower. I frequently get done with my shower before the hot water has even made it to the shower head. A bit loopy? Yeah, kinda. I've got an invention for a 1 or 2 gallon shower that would be easier to use in a lot of ways than our current setup and it would involve hot water (

). Hell no, I'm not telling you about it. Got to make money on it first.

I ride my bike a lot. Used to ride it a lot more but my livelihood demands a vehicle. Like I told Narwhal once, I see modern life as sorta like being a buffalo in the middle of stampeding herd that may or may not be heading for a cliff. It is very hard to separate from that herd and still survive. Stop driving altogether? I'd love to but I'm not sure that being one more fool begging on the street would be of much use to anyone.

I don't know how sincere the Hollywood crowd is. Many of them are too infatuated with the power their money gives them to be taken seriously on the issue. Uno mass por favor: just cuzzin some posturing slackers are misusing an issue, doesn't mean the issue is BS. Trust me on this one and do some more study: the health of life, including our lives, on this planet is on shaky ground, more and more so.

cmac2012 · #85 03-18-2006, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

All I did was suggest that dittoheads are not hypocrites while the wacky leftwing Hollywood crowd is practically indistinguishable from Marie Antoinette. "They have no bread? Why, let them eat cake!" In Streisand's mouth it comes out, "Can't afford a clothes dryer, hang your clothes outside on a clothesline." Riiight. People who cannot afford to wash and dry their clothes live in neighborhoods where people would rob every stitch of clothes off a clothesline and sell them for dope. Meanwhile, Babs cranks-up her A/C thermostat to 77F and congratulates herself for enduring the dampness under her arms.

Dittoheads don't give a damn about global warming or conserving fuel or helping their poor neighbors.

I am not sure whether a guilt-ridden plutocrat liberal is better or worse than a blase' plutocrat dittohead.

I do have more in common with people who believe that everybody should work to earn their food, shelter, and medical treatment. There is no free lunch and I don't appreciate being parasitized. I do like to give voluntarily to charity and I do enjoy working to help poor folks improve their lives. If there were poor folks in the USA like I have worked with in Latin America I'd have fewer qualms about social programs.

People in the USA who are poor are mostly immigrants who are working their asses of to improve the lives of their children or they are people who have made many bad choices in their lives. there are some people who genuinely need help taht do not fit in those two broad categories. I do not begrudge them a helping hand. I just don't want the helping hand to become a way of life, which is an unfortunate biprouct of our current welfare system.

Ah, the man who can speak for the sanity of dittoheads. I'll come up with 30 examples of dittohead folly later. It's late now. Rush is right, frequently, on issues of welfare excess. There are examples of it working well in the past, the CCC camps being one. It is often way out of hand now. I get that, thank you so much. The stories I could tell you about welfare fools in my cab and their bad attitudes.

You come up with these opinions and convince yourself this represents reality. Guilt ridden?!? That is lame beyond lame. When one suddenly suspects that the life they've been living may not be too wise or well considered and then begin to wonder about the veracity of continuing on that course, that is guilt? How about soul searching and prudent course correction?

B. Streisand is a prima donna just as certainly as Dubya Dubs is. Oddly similar, those two, manifested differently of course. Talk about your entitlement mentality. Bush has believed from his early days that he's entitled to wealth and power. It shows in his poor judgement. He comes up to Geo. Washington's knees, maybe.

Whether or not dittoheads give a damn about environmental issues is completely beside the point I was trying to make, which was: pulling the most conspicuous fools out of a crowd or loose knit movement, cause, whatever; and holding them up as the representatives of that movement may be of help in grinding one's ax, but it does nothing to enhance the viability or health of our nation.

aklim · #86 03-18-2006, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

I don't know how sincere the Hollywood crowd is. Many of them are too infatuated with the power their money gives them to be taken seriously on the issue. Uno mass por favor: just cuzzin some posturing slackers are misusing an issue, doesn't mean the issue is BS. Trust me on this one and do some more study: the health of life, including our lives, on this planet is on shaky ground, more and more so.

I never said the issue itself is BS. I just said I don't take them seriously.

cmac2012 · #87 03-18-2006, 01:41 AM

Then why are they brought up so often whenever the topic comes up? The intention is to discredit the whole issue, at least that's sure the impression I get.

Too much money makes people crazy. The hollywood crowd, Paris Hilton, Dick Cheney. Plenty of examples.

aklim · #88 03-18-2006, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Then why are they brought up so often whenever the topic comes up? The intention is to discredit the whole issue, at least that's sure the impression I get.

Too much money makes people crazy. The hollywood crowd, Paris Hilton, Dick Cheney. Plenty of examples.

Probably because they are the most visable when they spout their causes and don't walk the walk.

Well, that is an illness I can live with. How much is too much? Should we limit everyone for the sake of sanity? Maybe we should class them as kulaks and get rid of them, just as Stalin did?

cmac2012 · #89 03-18-2006, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Probably because they are the most visable when they spout their causes and don't walk the walk.

Well, that is an illness I can live with. How much is too much? Should we limit everyone for the sake of sanity? Maybe we should class them as kulaks and get rid of them, just as Stalin did?

Would you get off this lame accsations of communist sympathy stuff?! Show me where I advocated the state taking away people's wealth in a big way. I do think a graduated income tax is a good governor on the phenomenon of the rich getting richer until you have full on feudal landlordism, a la El Salvador. Even with the tax system of the last 30 or 40 years, people have gotten very wealthy in our land.

The better solution is for people to realize that more money doesn't necessarily equal more happiness -- frequently the opposite -- and with that realization, finding better ways to use their time and talents.

Don't worship money. That way lies madness, grasshopper.

aklim · #90 03-18-2006, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Would you get off this lame accsations of communist sympathy stuff?! Show me where I advocated the state taking away people's wealth in a big way. I do think a graduated income tax is a good governor on the phenomenon of the rich getting richer until you have full on feudal landlordism, a la El Salvador. Even with the tax system of the last 30 or 40 years, people have gotten very wealthy in our land.

The better solution is for people to realize that more money doesn't necessarily equal more happiness -- frequently the opposite -- and with that realization, finding better ways to use their time and talents.

Don't worship money. That way lies madness, grasshopper.

Well, it does sound somewhat similar to what Marx would say so what should I think? Maybe you want to try take the good that socialism is supposed to offer and import it. However, like it is said, a spoonfull of sewage with the best wine is about the same as a spoonful of the best wine with sewage.

It depends on what the individual deems as happiness.