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“I only regret that I have but one face to palm for my country.”
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Pants on fire.
Some people are so opposed to the Guns In Parking Lots bill currently stuck in the sausage grinder down at the statehouse that they're willing to lie about it in black and white.
Not sure what the exact connection is, but it sure does seem that the large corporations are the most fanatical opponents of this.
Usually not given to populist tin foil hattery, but I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Corporate America Inc. is the new nobility and the rest of us are the serfs whose role it is to be grateful we are allowed to work on the estates of our betters. When they want to do something ammoral to us serfs, they cry up the freedoms of the market place. When they make a bad bet and want to be bailed out, they claim to be social service agencies and extract the money they want from us anyhow via taxes.
And don't get me started on our so-called two party system. We have a system where two parties compete in a perpetual popularity contest, to see who gets to suck up to the corporate masters for the next few years. Bush and the GOP: we get Medicare Part D, which pretends to be a health care entitlement, but is actually a massive transfer payment of taxpayer money to drug companies. Obama and the 'rats, and we get ObamaCare, which pretends to be a health care enttitlement, but is actually a massive transper payment of taxpayer money to insurance companies. So tell me again about how these parties differ in their approach to governance?
The R's are mildly less offensive to gun rights, granted. But otherwise no less beholden to the corporate masters.
Unfortunately, I go to work every day for this chemical bonehead and his staff at his self-defense-free zone that doesn't even use the metal detectors they have there... they only use them on guests... so... yes, he could be sued if someone comes in and starts shooting up the place, even now, especially since they have a very strict no-gun policy that they don't take measures to enforce.
Oh... did I mention that they announced this past fall that they were going to cut 5,500 jobs over the next two years? Way to set up a "safe" non-volatile work environment there, Lechleiter. You and Mayor Daley should be friends if you're not already.
Alath - The typical personnel department worker is a screaming lib drunk with power, making rules that fit thier whims.
JP - As I commented on RobertaXs blog, when you are dealing with a couple of thousand scientists with access to research grade chemicals and biologicals, firearms are the least of your worries.
Try being a guest that gets to haul all manner of expensive tools and equipment in and out of there on a daily basis and not be able to do anything about self-protection. I get the metal detector every time.
I've come to the same realization about Corporatism recently.
Unfortunately, I've discovered that a lot of my fellow conservatives / libertarians / free-marketeers / Ayn Randians don't want to hear that kind of talk.
It's depressing that our side can be just as reflexively knee-jerk as the liberals / progressives / socialists.
Yes, I'm familiar with the P.J. O'Rourke quote, and I saw that John Stossel episode on "Cronie Capitalism" earlier this year. And it' valid.
If you're asking us to infer that corporations would automatically behave in a more virtuous and less dickish manner absent government regulation, I respectfully disagree.
This is a pants-'n'-drawers-centric day for you.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what the exact connection is, but it sure does seem that the large corporations are the most fanatical opponents of this.
ReplyDeleteUsually not given to populist tin foil hattery, but I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Corporate America Inc. is the new nobility and the rest of us are the serfs whose role it is to be grateful we are allowed to work on the estates of our betters. When they want to do something ammoral to us serfs, they cry up the freedoms of the market place. When they make a bad bet and want to be bailed out, they claim to be social service agencies and extract the money they want from us anyhow via taxes.
And don't get me started on our so-called two party system. We have a system where two parties compete in a perpetual popularity contest, to see who gets to suck up to the corporate masters for the next few years. Bush and the GOP: we get Medicare Part D, which pretends to be a health care entitlement, but is actually a massive transfer payment of taxpayer money to drug companies. Obama and the 'rats, and we get ObamaCare, which pretends to be a health care enttitlement, but is actually a massive transper payment of taxpayer money to insurance companies. So tell me again about how these parties differ in their approach to governance?
The R's are mildly less offensive to gun rights, granted. But otherwise no less beholden to the corporate masters.
Unfortunately, I go to work every day for this chemical bonehead and his staff at his self-defense-free zone that doesn't even use the metal detectors they have there... they only use them on guests... so... yes, he could be sued if someone comes in and starts shooting up the place, even now, especially since they have a very strict no-gun policy that they don't take measures to enforce.
ReplyDeleteOh... did I mention that they announced this past fall that they were going to cut 5,500 jobs over the next two years? Way to set up a "safe" non-volatile work environment there, Lechleiter. You and Mayor Daley should be friends if you're not already.
Alath - The typical personnel department worker is a screaming lib drunk with power, making rules that fit thier whims.
ReplyDeleteJP - As I commented on RobertaXs blog, when you are dealing with a couple of thousand scientists with access to research grade chemicals and biologicals, firearms are the least of your worries.
Wait. People lie?
ReplyDeleteJ.P.,
ReplyDeleteTry being a guest that gets to haul all manner of expensive tools and equipment in and out of there on a daily basis and not be able to do anything about self-protection. I get the metal detector every time.
Anonymous, to keep my job.
alath,
ReplyDeleteI've come to the same realization about Corporatism recently.
Unfortunately, I've discovered that a lot of my fellow conservatives / libertarians / free-marketeers / Ayn Randians don't want to hear that kind of talk.
It's depressing that our side can be just as reflexively knee-jerk as the liberals / progressives / socialists.
About 10 years ago, The Onion published a Point-CounterPoint feature, arguing "The Future Will Be A Totalitarian Government Dystopia vs. The Future Will Be A Privatized Corporate Dystopia."
I fear we will get to live in the worst of both worlds.
"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators."
ReplyDeleteIndustries protected from competition by tremendous hurdles of regulations are hardly existing in an environment one could term laissez faire.
Yes, I'm familiar with the P.J. O'Rourke quote, and I saw that John Stossel episode on "Cronie Capitalism" earlier this year. And it' valid.
ReplyDeleteIf you're asking us to infer that corporations would automatically behave in a more virtuous and less dickish manner absent government regulation, I respectfully disagree.
But that's a whole other rant...
Corporations as we know them wouldn't exist without government regulation.
ReplyDelete