The US simply should look just why it's health care costs are so insanely more than in any other country. — ssu

They have. I mean doctors have. I think the theory at this point is that Americans are unusually unhealthy. Not sure why, but I'm sure the American Sugar Association isn't helping. They actively squash research that clearly shows the dangers of over doing sugar.

Oh, it’s all “making it easier for voters to vote”. The censorship, altering state laws, social media censorship all makes sense now. — NOS4A2

There was a little pandemic going on at the time. But yes, the establishment wanted him out. He was too much of a wild card (idiot).

Powell announced a moderate rate increase in response to signs the economy is warming. Now we'll see if it's enough to chill the economy without bringing down any banks.

I remember one of best reason given by some guy to vote Trump: with Trump as president the press will do their job. With Hillary they will be her lap dog. — ssu

There's probably some truth to that. The one I saw that sticks with me is a young woman living in West Virginia where the demise of coal mining left a lot of people in poverty. She saw a vote for Clinton as a vote for the status quo. Voting for Trump meant at least trying to improve things.

That still doesn't make him a good US president, — ssu

I don't think NOS wanted him to be a good US president. He wanted Trump to break the system and create the conditions for a revolution. In another century NOS would have been a communist.

For it is one of the most admirable qualities of the demagogue that he forces men to think

That's true.

I’m not confident he will be convicted or not because the entire system is stacked against someone like Trump — NOS4A2

He's done fairly well for himself in spite of that.

I am suspicious of the system and anyone who earns a living from it. — NOS4A2

I assume you aren't talking about mailmen. Politicians are an odd breed. A true politician doesn't have much of a moral compass. She's just looking for prominence. But in a democratic system, the way to gain prominence is to please the people. That means politicians do pay attention to what the people want. A prime example is Biden's present support for tuition reimbursement. He wouldn't be supporting that except that it became apparent that in order to secure the electorate, he would have to move left.

Likewise, Trump's success showed that Republicans need to move toward being a little more anti-Semitic and racist in order to keep their voters. Thus DeSantis freely brings up Soros as a way to attack Democratic NYC. It couldn't be more plainly anti-Semitic, but it's working for him. If it wasn't he would back off of it.

And then you have Trump. He's not a politician. He's not trying to please the people. What do you think he's trying to do?

The state is only after protecting its own interests and Trump goes against those interests. — NOS4A2

The state is something larger than any particular generation. It's not the kind of thing that acts on its own. A state is basically a kind of legal technology. Think of it as a kind of animal that, having evolved, is very successful. That's why you have to go hunting moose near the arctic circle to get away from them. They're incredibly successful at this time.

The establishment is a different thing. It's a generational cohort that has found itself with the power to protect its power. An establishment doesn't usually get super rigid and reactionary unless they think their power is in danger. Our present establishment has no fears. They're not particularly worried about Trump because he can't really do the kind of damage he might like to do.

Trump wouldn't be facing charges now if he hadn't directed his lawyer to violate campaign finance laws and then subsequently publicly distance himself from that lawyer. That pissed Cohen off and he's been trying to get revenge ever since. As people close to Trump explain, Trump has a tendency to create conflict and war for himself. Even if it's not there, he'll create it. It's just his personality.

If you give someone money and they do with it what they want it’s your fault for giving them money. — NOS4A2

Ok. So you don't think Trump should be prosecuted for this particular law because it's unjust. You're suspicious that the charges are politically motivated (by a grand jury). At the same time, you're confident that since he hasn't been convicted of any crimes up until now, he won't be found guilty this time either.

Don't worry about people frothing at the mouth. It doesn't matter.

Because they are stupid laws — NOS4A2

Why are they stupid? They're supposed to protect doners so you don't give me money to run for alderman only to find that I spent your money on donuts.

I believe in justice and prosecuting someone for non-violent vices such as a campaign finance violations is unjust — NOS4A2

Prosecuting someone for violating campaign finance laws is unjust? Why?

It depends on the law because I do not believe in most of them. — NOS4A2

And that's what I figured it was really coming down to with you: you're an anarchist, so you don't support any type of prosecution for anyone.

Oh dear. You can curate and string together as many of my quotes as you wish and give yourself exactly the story you want to hear. It’s a telling habit. Still, two impeachments, dozens and dozens of investigations, and here you are empty handed with nothing to show for the wasted efforts, tax dollars, and time you’ve spent as a true believer. — NOS4A2

Just putting aside mouth frothing, if there's evidence that he violated the law, he should be prosecuted. I'm sure you agree with that.

“I have no interest in getting involved in some manufactured circus by some Soros-DA,” DeSantis said at a news conference Monday,
NBC

I guess this is a Soros-DA:

"Bragg is from Harlem, and grew up on Striver's Row.[2] In an interview with The American Prospect, Bragg noted that he had been "deeply affected by the criminal justice system – most directly through three gunpoint stops by the NYPD."[3] He graduated from the Trinity School[4] before attending Harvard College. He graduated from Harvard cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 1995[2][5] and earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review.[5][4]"

-wikipedia

oops

nice post. :up:

I mean your faith is cute, — unenlightened

This is me. I need to visit the barber.

I would have said "sell securities, raise rates," three weeks ago, but now it looks like that will risk sending the banking system into a crisis. — Count Timothy von Icarus

:up: The foreign exchange market is showing that global sentiment doesn't expect the fed to raise rates any further. The dollar is getting weaker, not stronger as it would if a rate hike was expected.

There's a lot of uncertainty right now

To this extent I'd agree with your characterization of the fallacy. Hitler was responsible for what Hitler did; history was responsible for creating the conditions that made Hitler possible. — Pantagruel

:up:

That, sir, is a very third rate religion you're espousing, I'm afraid. Not because it has proven false, for religion does not deal in fact, but because it entirely lacks ambition. — unenlightened

I don't think the world needs to be saved, if that's what you mean.

Again, the Dasein was Hitler-compatible ... — 180 Proof

This is a fallacy called reductio ad Hitlerum.

It simply wasn't in the news. Only later we found out that the whole financial system had been close to collapsing. And just how much was given to banks and corporations. — ssu

It was pretty obvious when the chairman of the fed and the secretary of the Treasury appeared before Congress asking for money. Everyone knew that 55 trillion dollars had just disappeared and that the banking system was in credit freeze. Most of the bail out was legislation called TARP.

Perhaps the money that people have in banks should be secured — ssu

It's insured by the FDIC up to a certain amount.

But it should be absolutely clear that the Fed works for Wall Street. — ssu

Of course.

Apparently a grand jury thinks there's enough evidence to indict. Have a little faith in the system, man.

I think the Fed is now busy saving the banking system... again. — ssu

I don't think that was the Fed, if you're talking about 2008-2009. It was Congress and the Treasury.

Is that a “no”? — NOS4A2

He's going to be charged with violating federal campaign finance laws. You been out hunting moose or something?

Can you tell me briefly what he did this time that has the foam increasing in and around the mouths of those who believe this shit? — NOS4A2

I don’t know nor care about the details. — NOS4A2

:chin:

What isn’t true? — NOS4A2

They aren't relying on Cohen's word. He's supposedly got a recording that proves Trump directed him to violate campaign finance laws.

You didn't know that?

The establishment’s base is resting their hopes on the word of a porn star, a lawyer who plead guilty for lying, and a political district attorney — NOS4A2

I'm pretty sure you know this isn't true. Why are you saying it?

That's like saying that policemen do not commit crimes. — unenlightened

I guess we're thinking of different meanings of "establishment.". Today's establishment is those college kids who wrestled with the police at Kent State. Clinton was very progressive in her youth and then became part of the new establishment. It's not about authority or policing anything. If anything, our establishment is "let the markets do what they want and defund aid to the inner cities.". That's what both Clinton and her husband ultimately stood for.

I know it's hard to think of Trump as the leader of the young rabble rousers, but he actually is. He was elected in part by refugees from the Democratic party. It didn't turn out well. He didn't strike a particularly heroic pose, but he did reveal a well of frustration with, and anger toward...

the establishment.

Likewise any revolutionary government comes to power in a coup and immediately becomes established or is overthrown by a counter coup by the disestablished establishment. — unenlightened

I'm sure Trump would have liked to establish his own ment. He wanted to be a dictator.

think so. Rather in the same way that a corrupt policeman is still a member of the police. — unenlightened

Broadly speaking, he's an anti-establishment figure. He was a perfect rendition of the demagogue who leads the fight against the establishment. In this case, the establishment is neoliberal, so MAGA was about taking the country back to somewhere around 1965 when embedded liberalism assured the average white guy a good job with benefits.

It wasn't a good look when Obama and Clinton tried to explain that we can't go back. That assured that they'd be taken as exactly what they are: representatives of the establishment.

Another hint is that establishment figures don't try to arrange coups.

. Governments bearing the risk of bank failures turn people apathetic to their banks' behavior. — Tzeentch

In this case the threat is coming from central bank policy, so it's a little late to cry "laissez faire!". But yes, bank failures are a good thing (unless they aren't).

Trump, his Republican supporters... are all entrenched part of "the establishment". — Fooloso4

No, I don't think so.

Yes, because The Prez stands at the Gates of America very much like Gandalf stood before the Gates of Minas Tirith, and by his power turned away the servant of Sauron. EVEN Donald Trump was able to thwart invasions from the Bahamas and bird-like aliens from a distant star system, just by standing resolutely in front of the the urinal in the oval room powder room.

Iceland is waiting for a lapse in our powerful presidency, as is Lichtenstein, Morocco, and Sri Lanka.

Can the POTUS by force of his high office turn back ICBMs? Apparently -- otherwise the Soviet Union would have long since buried us, as Nikita Khrushchev foretold. Unfortunately, coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was able to slip past the Great Guardian and Guarantor of Freedom. — BC

This sounds slightly sarcastic.

No they don't. The whole reason arbitrage works is because information assymetry, which we even see in highly liquid, transparent stock markets, let alone complex relationships resulting from the interaction of various supply chains. — Benkei

Which part of that is outside the economy?

It isn't just that the existing political process will fail to solve our significant -- even existential -- problems. It IS the case that the existing political process CAN NOT solve our problems. — BC

We still have to have a president, though. If we have no head of government, somebody will invade.

the structure or design of our markets/economy hindering us from developing a better way forward? — Benj96

Market prices reflect the totality of the information in the economy. If we want more guacamole silverware and less plastic, we'll have to contribute to that well of info through legislation that increases the price of plastic or subsidizes guacamole.

:clap:

There's a good Dylan song about a kid who goes looking for his native american father, only to be disillusioned by what he finds. The refraim is a quasi native chant sort of combined with a European sound.

"My mother took me aside
and tried to change my mind
she said there's nothing
nothing
left to find."

Crucially though, I can carry on wearing my kilt without feeling like I'm perpetuating a fake culture. — Jamal

With or without underwear?

Love you too. — Banno

Just keeping it real, man.

Sure. But this isn't about you.

These are not an academic exercises. — Banno

Funny you said that. My unspoken opinion was that both you and the author you mentioned were making the issue all about yourselves.

It all goes back to food.