>>And Joe, altruism as a solution to our problems?<<

Gosh what a terrible terrible idea.  I vote to keep encouraging everyone to bring out the worst in who we are.  Let's keep the religions baying in fear, the politicians squirming under the thumbs of their special friends, and the masses clueless under a barage of relentless marketing mind control;)   That ought to keep the bitter happy.

>>Have you ever read Karl Marx?<<

Nope, no interest in replaying history.

>>What do you think communism is?<<

Well I've seen it up close and wasn't too impressed.  Communism however is not the opposite of Capitalism.  Both are basically based on power and control and domination of scarce resources.  

>>This Kantian extreem that has permeated popular thought is nuts -- and contradictory.  Your idea is based on a faulty model of human behavior.  Everyone who has tried it has found you have to kill about 10% of the population to even get started and even when they go considerably further, it still flops.   You can't even begin without a huge secret police and betrayal society rules (Like you can be shot for not reporting seeing someone else do something wrong.  If someone sees you see the third party and reports you,  bang!).<<

Now I understand.  A cold war warrior who needs an enemy to oppose.  Didn't you hear?  They lost.  But as one soviet leader said, "what are you going to do when you no longer have us as an enemy".  In the finest judeo-Christian tradition we'll just have to find another "them" to defeat for the Lord;)

As far as "faulty behavioral models"...  One piece of data not widely thought about is the extent to which the tools of behavioral mind control have been so precisely refined.  No longer are the traditional broad tactics of repression necessary, they have been replaced in some areas with surgical precision. Would you wish a future for your children based on the suffering and mind control of history, or are you ready to try something different?

"Listen! I will be honest with you,
I do not offer the old smooth prizes,
but offer rough new prizes,...

To know the universe itself as a road, as many roads,
as roads for travelling souls."

Walt Whitman
- Song of the Open Road

Forget about history.  As far as I'm concerned history is over.  What does freedom really mean to you? What do you want to become? Come on man, Dream!

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