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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (137913)	7/5/2001 4:54:09 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1584598

.it was the status quo they wished to maintain.....a typical trait of conservatives. After all, it was the status quo of that time that helped them realize their great wealth. Collectivelty they changed the country. Thats not the status quo. Most people consider me a conservative, but I want less taxes and regulation, and also other changes, not the status quo. Your statements assume that their way was the only way. On the contrary, had the development and exploitation of our natural resources been done more fairly and wisely, we would have a lot more of those resources left today and a great deal more people would have benefit. If an attempt was made to develop slowly and only after carefully weighing every possibility then the country would be far less developed. Real life is a messy jumble that usually changes quickly and anyone who would try to plan economic changes to try and make them "fair and wise" usually will not have the information needed to formulate the plans until after they have all ready implimented an incorrect plan. Also people are normally not willing to take large risks without the posibility of large rewards. How would you have made all the changes in the economy that happened in the 19th century "fair" and "wise"? Tim

To: tejek who wrote (137913)	7/5/2001 11:28:50 PM
From: hmaly	Respond to of 1584598

Ted Re..Tim, they did not want any change that would negatively impact their wealth...it was the status quo they wished to maintain.....a typical trait of conservatives. <<<<<<<<<<<< Ted, that would be true of everybody, liberal, conservative or in between. Its a trait called greed, and it is present in varying degrees in everyone, including you and I. Most conservatives want to keep the staus quo, and most liberals want to change it by taking from someone else and giving to themselves; whether it be power or money. There was some benefit but it was as an after thought to the robber barons. Your statements assume that their way was the only way As in all businesses, the person on top controls the ballgame. The robber barrons had a burning desire to be on top, and have the power that is given to the person on top. Wealth was probably secondary to power; and wealth was used as a means to power. The wastefulness, which you are talking about was done primarily to speed up their grab for power, as anything that slowed down their objective was discarded. On the contrary, had the development and exploitation of our natural resources been done more fairly and wisely, we would have a lot more of those resources left today and a great deal more people would have benefit.<<<<< While on the surface, that may seem like an obvious statement, in practice the opposite is often true. This comes about simply because the things the robber barrons built, railroads, ships, big oil, telephone, etc., had such a great impact on society, and improved society enough such that the ends justified the means. Lets look at it this way. China is just developing today, but will China have more of its natural resources left, after it gets up to the wealth per citizen that the US has. If not China, how about any country in Europe, which started earlier than we did, and finished later. South America then. Do you know of any country which will have more of its resources left. Canada might be the exception, but I wouldn't count on it, as Canada is selling off their natural resources (to us of course), in order gain our wealth. It certainly wouldn't be any country dominated by the communists, which actually have a philosophy akin to liberalism. Not one country has prospered under communism, more than the US prospered under the philosophy of greed. Not one country which delayed development, has been able to retain their resources either, as Africa has shown. Greed has its good points. It is a great motivator. Greed just needs to be controlled somewhat, not defeated.