dude. all apologies. I'll state clearly: I have not read enough CS Lewis to render strong opinions on him. Not at all. I retract the flip statement, you Lewis-huggers. The cited quotation is, to me, moronic in the context of what CS Lewis supported his entire life. That's already been pointed out.
Will probably eventually end up seeing the Moore film, but I'm in no real hurry. His documentaries typically deal in the sort of bland generalities that anyone with a basic interest in the subject matter already should know; they're often convincing, but I don't feel I learn much from them. I prefer documentaries that really explore topics in detail, not give me funny animations. WhyDoesn'tJesusCureFishHookInjuries.com Never back down, B-Bob. I've never read the Four Loves, but Screwtape Letters, all twenty pages of it, is highly overrated. It relies on a trick ending that, unlike devils, isn't all that tricky. It boils down to: devils are tricky / don't trust demons/ Jesus is like a cool Lion who never gores you. (I may have been inferring that last bit.)
The way I see it - CS Lewis was either a liar, a lunatic, or he was what he truly claimed to be... A childrens book author.
^^^ Never trust anyone who makes a midlife conversion: CS Lewis, GW Bush, David Horowitz, Michael Savage, David Brock, John Dean, Arlen Specter, St. Augustine.
I dunno, some the best universities and charitable organizations were started by some pretty cold-blooded capitalists; could that be considered a break from cruelty?
Absolutely not. I've been going off the same thought processes I had when I was three. Never deviate, never surrender.
way way off topic, but i was reminded of this nsfw <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C0HX8d3SKzA&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C0HX8d3SKzA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> on topic, like other MM films it looks interesting and entertaining at the very least.
On topic, to those that had a problem with it, why was Moore going after Heston problematic? It wasn't as if Heston had retired from political advocacy because of his dementia; he was still leading the NRA public relations battle at the time. If it was okay for a senile man to use his celebrity to continue to campaign for extended gun rights as the NRA spokesman, why was it not okay for Moore to confront / question him with his opposing views? Awesome. I also likes me some brisket like nobody's business, and wear my hair just like that. (NSFW: teenaged rebellion performed by aging thirty-somethings & Lord of the Flies imagery, both disgusting): Spoiler <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y84gW_5ZFKE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y84gW_5ZFKE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> 'Cause, like, the moon is cold, and stuff.
No one was railroaded or deceiving into the $700 billion bailout. And GS and all the other financial firms - AIG, Citi, and BoA included now - appear to have either paid back the money at a significant interest rate or are now in good enough condition to eventually do so. Of all the TARP money, the only part that doesn't seem likely to come back is the bailout of General Motors. Overall, the TARP appears on track to be a win-win for both the government (making a profit or breaking even) and the US economy (preventing a massive depression that would affect your everyday main street person far more than anyone else).
the banks can pay back the TARP money because the value of their illiquid assets have gone back up and the overnight lending markets have loosened up. their business model built on packaging crappy derivative investments was flawed and built on blind greed. personally i think Goldman and Morgan Stanley got off way too easy and the Fed in essence is promoting a moral hazard by giving them a safety net by lending them billions of dollars so easily.
I remember having a conversation in college with a young business major [me being a young sociology major] The statement he made was Capitalism is the greatest . . If Jesus ran capitalism it would go like. . I stopped him and said. . . well If you a christian . . if Jesus ran anything it will be great My point is . . . .in theory all the systems work The issues is MEN run them you have to account for the flawed nature of man In this case Capitalism requires very strong regulation In our society - More Money = More Influence Since corps and rich folx have more money they simply have more say in matters So . .we no longer have a true democrazy You add into that the pure manipulation of the media by those on the more influence end of the spectrum democracy is further distorted [Control the Input - You control the output] Rocket River
To put it more simply, the two (capitalism and liberal democracy) need to be divorced. Call it capitalist secularism. The "lax regulation" you mentioned really just refers to corporate interference in representative government. Representation is supposed to refer to the citizenry, not the corporate underworld.
Surprisingly the Euros where the majority of working people have representation through parties and unions that represent their interests such that there is more equality between the vast majority and the tiny minorioty of big time capitalists seem like is where they have the balance more correct. The democratic system is not subverted and controlled almost exclusively by the small capitalist class. As Moore points out after the New Deal and WW II the balance was better in this country; hence many men could afford to have non-working wives, pay off their houses early,have secure pensions and send kids to college without massive debt. Then we had smiley President Reagan and the triumph of the super rich and their ideololgy which we see parroted by working folks on this site daily. Moore has a telling clip in which you see Regan, the Treasury guy from Wall Street helping Reagan as he forgets his lines in a speech praising IIRC capitalism, while speaking on Wall Street.
Regardless of the reason, at the end of the day, everyone is a winner. It's funny that the people who complain the most about the bailout (main street) are the ones that would have been completely obliterated without a bailout. They would have been complaining a whole hell of a lot more when the US ended up in a depression. As for being too easy on them - possibly so. But essentially giving them a 20% interest credit card isn't actually a great situation on their end - no better than it is when consumers get sucked into a 20% interest credit card.
Nice that you alone are focused on reality. I guess I deserved that crack, but dont equate middle of the road with focusing on reality or being correct. The middle of the road folks supported Bush on Iraq. BTW you beat me to it. My last post to you was overly nasty and I was about to edit it. Sorry.
