3 ms·

Perhaps we all should have gone the route of Iceland in 2009 — let all the banks fail, endure ferocious poverty for 5 or so years, but in that time cultivate a

by jchook 7y ago

Perhaps we all should have gone the route of Iceland in 2009 — let all the banks fail, endure ferocious poverty for 5 or so years, but in that time cultivate a rich humanity that results in: - peacefully firing the entire government - crowdsourcing a new constitution with the help of the Internet - putting the white collar criminals in corrections where they belong (instead of giving them $25M bonuses) - getting women on equal footing in government and business leadership — transitioning to 100% green energy Seems the global economy tried to vomit up all the banksters and corporate corruption but the governments all took a pill to suppress the purge and stay ill.

andrepd 7y ago
It's absurd that such a crucial function of society -- control of the money supply and management of debt -- falls on the hands of an unelected, unaccountable, largely hereditary elite. Yet nobody talks about this, when the solution is obvious and in plain view of all: democratise banking.
- geggam 7y ago
  The democratic process leads to tyranny of majority which is still tyranny but I guess you have better odds of being in the privileged pool.
  - croon 7y ago
    It's likelier to find yourself in an agreeable/livable situation with interests aligned with 50%+ people, rather than ~0.1%. I'd have to agree that those odds are better.
    - geggam 7y ago
      Those 50% soon change into the .1% and with a democratic process you find folks like cambridge analytica who learn how to use propaganda to manipulate the masses. It is a terrible idea but quite common in history, you can also read history to learn why its terrible. Plato wrote in The Republic, “And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.”
      - andrepd 7y ago
        I wonder what's your alternative then? Democracy is flawed, but newsflash: so is the world. The world is a messy place, and democracy kinda works, at least better than most other options.
        geggam 7y ago
        A nation of laws, when the laws are followed and applied to everyone you have a fair and reasonable situation. The US was created as a Constitutional Republic with the constitution binding the govt. The govt has used its powers to erode that binding and in doing so created the federal reserve which has been the problem causing most of the financial issues. When you have a group of people who can create currency replacing money ( a store of value ) then you have a group of people who are unstoppable. I will leave you with this... William Pitt made this statement: "Let the American people go into their debt-funding schemes and banking systems, and from that hour their boasted independence will be a mere phantom." He realized the maxim that Rothschilds laid down as fundamental: "Let us control the money of a country and we care not who makes its laws."
- gbersac 7y ago
  I'm not sure people are knowledgeable enough to know if someone is competent to be a banker. How could such election not ending as a populist race.
  - r00fus 7y ago
    Why will democratization lead to demagogues? The most popular ideas should win, not the most popular people. We have no real need to require representation anymore, we should have a fully auditable, direct democracy.
scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
>getting women on equal footing in government and business leadership As a woman, I really can't think of any women I know who would want such a thing. Pursuing power is a never-ending rat race for tenuous prizes, and having a family will take several years out of a woman's career. For what, some ill-conceived notion of equality? If you want to treat women with respect, treat them as women with their own dreams and desires and not just as if they were men-in-womens-clothing.
- isthispermanent 7y ago
  You can't think of any women? Of allllll the women in the world you can't think of a single one?
  - AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
    of any women I know I think the GP has clearly stated her sample.
- AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
  Dangerous things saying you are. A stay at home mom does not contribute to cheap workforce, does not pay for daycare and takeouts thus tanking the economy. An ideal woman should work hard (preferably in STEM) until she's forty and then spend all the money she earned on fertility services.
  - AstralStorm 7y ago
    Nah, corporations are just waiting to replace us all with robots and AIs. Even said "perfect" woman pales in comparison.
lazerpants 7y ago
Your optimism is laudable, but I doubt Iceland would have recovered as well if the entire world had experienced a massive financial collapse. After all, Iceland has primarily depended on tourism to prop up its economy, and there would not have been tourists if the world economy had collapsed. The Iceland example works because its such a small part of the global economy.
isthispermanent 7y ago
I've always been a "let it burn" person. Medicine is never fun but it is necessary.

by jchook 7y ago

andrepd 7y ago

It's absurd that such a crucial function of society -- control of the money supply and management of debt -- falls on the hands of an unelected, unaccountable, largely hereditary elite. Yet nobody talks about this, when the solution is obvious and in plain view of all: democratise banking.

geggam 7y ago
The democratic process leads to tyranny of majority which is still tyranny but I guess you have better odds of being in the privileged pool.
- croon 7y ago
  It's likelier to find yourself in an agreeable/livable situation with interests aligned with 50%+ people, rather than ~0.1%. I'd have to agree that those odds are better.
  - geggam 7y ago
    Those 50% soon change into the .1% and with a democratic process you find folks like cambridge analytica who learn how to use propaganda to manipulate the masses. It is a terrible idea but quite common in history, you can also read history to learn why its terrible. Plato wrote in The Republic, “And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.”
    - andrepd 7y ago
      I wonder what's your alternative then? Democracy is flawed, but newsflash: so is the world. The world is a messy place, and democracy kinda works, at least better than most other options.
      - geggam 7y ago
        A nation of laws, when the laws are followed and applied to everyone you have a fair and reasonable situation. The US was created as a Constitutional Republic with the constitution binding the govt. The govt has used its powers to erode that binding and in doing so created the federal reserve which has been the problem causing most of the financial issues. When you have a group of people who can create currency replacing money ( a store of value ) then you have a group of people who are unstoppable. I will leave you with this... William Pitt made this statement: "Let the American people go into their debt-funding schemes and banking systems, and from that hour their boasted independence will be a mere phantom." He realized the maxim that Rothschilds laid down as fundamental: "Let us control the money of a country and we care not who makes its laws."
gbersac 7y ago
I'm not sure people are knowledgeable enough to know if someone is competent to be a banker. How could such election not ending as a populist race.
- r00fus 7y ago
  Why will democratization lead to demagogues? The most popular ideas should win, not the most popular people. We have no real need to require representation anymore, we should have a fully auditable, direct democracy.

scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago

>getting women on equal footing in government and business leadership As a woman, I really can't think of any women I know who would want such a thing. Pursuing power is a never-ending rat race for tenuous prizes, and having a family will take several years out of a woman's career. For what, some ill-conceived notion of equality? If you want to treat women with respect, treat them as women with their own dreams and desires and not just as if they were men-in-womens-clothing.

isthispermanent 7y ago
You can't think of any women? Of allllll the women in the world you can't think of a single one?
- AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
  of any women I know I think the GP has clearly stated her sample.
AlexTWithBeard 7y ago
Dangerous things saying you are. A stay at home mom does not contribute to cheap workforce, does not pay for daycare and takeouts thus tanking the economy. An ideal woman should work hard (preferably in STEM) until she's forty and then spend all the money she earned on fertility services.
- AstralStorm 7y ago
  Nah, corporations are just waiting to replace us all with robots and AIs. Even said "perfect" woman pales in comparison.

lazerpants 7y ago

Your optimism is laudable, but I doubt Iceland would have recovered as well if the entire world had experienced a massive financial collapse. After all, Iceland has primarily depended on tourism to prop up its economy, and there would not have been tourists if the world economy had collapsed. The Iceland example works because its such a small part of the global economy.

isthispermanent 7y ago

I've always been a "let it burn" person. Medicine is never fun but it is necessary.