JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum so who really controls the world??

Here are a few facts as I see them in response to the original question:

1. The people who rule the world are the intelligent, educated, aggressive ones who were fortunate enough to have been born into a situation where they can excel.

2. Corporations are just groups of people organized to run a business to make money for their stockholders and themselves, often led by those from 1.

3. Corporations are in competition with other corporations and as such will do whatever the law allows to further their interests.

4. Therefore, the government must make rules, or unfettered competition will cause corporations to do nasty stuff.

5. Therefore the government is the problem when nasty stuff happens.

6. The government is elected and directed by the people in our worlds.

7. People do what they think benefits themselves first and elect those who they think will take care of them. They are led by the media to vote for people based on issues like abortion and religion which should not be directed by the government.

8. Therefore, we (and Occupy Wallstreet types) have only ourselves to blame.

People and organizations that do not pay taxes are mostly using incentives created by the government to direct investment where they (in their infinite wisdom) think it should go. An example would be interest on home loans being tax deductible. There are thousands of tax rules and regs that have come about that way.

The masses are generally uneducated and do not do what is best for the country. For example, they want cheap crap from China and don't make the connection that the economy is crashing because local workers have no jobs because all the work is done in Asia so Asia reaps the benefits. The government does not have the balls to increase tariffs on imports because people would complain when their TV, car, smartphone, Walmart item, etc. increases in price.

Nobody would care what happens in the Middle East if they did not have most of the oil. (If Cuba had oil wells, our policy toward Cuba would change in a heartbeat.)

The defense industry is a huge part of the economy. If there were no conflicts or wars, hundreds of thousands of people would be out of work and thousands of companies would be out of business. No politician has the guts to make peace.

Lawyers and our legal system have a stranglehold on government and cause hugely detrimental unintended consequences. Awarding millions of dollars in frivolous lawsuits (McDonalds spilled coffee for example) causes huge repercussions like "duty to warn". The vast majority of US politicians are lawyers who have no clue about many of the issues. Government should be comprised of people from all walks of life including engineers, scientists, economists, teachers, physicians, etc. (no musicians though!).

Colin's election platform (no he does not want to be elected!).....

1. Eliminate the practice of allowing lawyers to work for a percentage of the settlement. Make the client pay by the hour or job.

2. Impose a tariff on imports and apply the revenue to the general fund replacing an equal amount of income tax revenue.

3. Replace the existing tax system with a flat tax that generates the same revenue.

4. Bring the troops home from Afghanistan and any other un-winnable battlefields.

5. Require that voters have a minimum of a high school education.

6. Cut the budget of overgrown bureaucracies in half (EPA, OSHA, many others)

7. Improve our education system so that it is tough, demanding and rewarding. Do not pander to the crybabies whose kids are troublemakers and/or lazy. The world will belong to those who have the best education in the long run and it ain't us.

8. Put criminals in very uncomfortable jail cells (dungeons?) and leave them there. Make the streets safe again.