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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (256506)	5/18/2002 10:59:47 AM
From: rich4eagle	Respond to of 769667

Hi Mike, carry on!

To: greenspirit who wrote (256506)	5/18/2002 12:39:21 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

Michael, I come up with: Autopoietic - something that runs by itself. I use OneLook Dictionary as a resource. The word is found in only one dictionary, the "Worthless Word for A Day". onelook.com So much for it being a common word. Reminds me of another obscure word from the realm of economic voodoo called "hedonics". Basically a way to swindle the recipients of COLAs, though the economists don't express it quite that way. <gg> Sorry about the outright rudeness. I do try to curb that. But the sarcasm does seem appropriate, so that stands. <smile> Re: so it's pretty much a waste of time presenting a different point of view which engenders aspects of free market economics, into your utopian socialistic vision. Michael, when I look at the practitioners of "free markets" and their strongest advocates, I find people like Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay, Michael Milken and other outright criminals. That's what troubles me about "free markets". They always devolve into abusive swindles. I'm no utopian or socialist, much as you'd like to mischaracterize me as such. I'm very much interested in mixed economy solutions. With aspects of market competition to prod producers to keep prices low, and government regulation, intervention, legal systems and public ownership of essential infrastructure to keep profiteers at bay. There is a surprise hit on Broadway in NYC right now called UrineTown. urinetown.com broadwaytixx.com It's a look at the future when water becomes a privately owned commodity, and Urinetown is forced to pay outrageous rates for water to a rapacious, scurrilous corporate fiend. Whose character is loosely based on a combination of Skilling and Boone Pickens. The citizens of Urinetown revolt against the ruinous situation they find themselves in. Much like the rioters in the capital of the Dominican Republic who were killed during protests of Enron's rate hikes in that city, or the Bolivians who suffered the same fate. Human beings murdered for protesting for basic human necessities that were being priced out of their ability to pay not because of "just and reasonable" remuneration for Enron, but so that Lay could add another home to his stable of residences, lard a few million more into his off-shore accounts. While his customers were being slaughtered by riot police. Is there something wrong with this picture of "free markets"? I believe there is. But, in keeping with my statement that I'm not a utopian, lets get back to Urinetown. In the play, the citizens successfully take back their water from the corporate villain. But what happens then? Nirvana? Utopia? No, the reality is that they're incompetent managers, and the city runs out of water entirely. So, what's the lesson of this tale? I believe it is that the best of all possible worlds we can hope for is mixed economy, with markets and regulation both being necessary to the mix. And some sort of a recognition that the upcoming shortages of water and other essential commodities need to be dealt with in a system that is more fair than that provided by a "free market" and more efficient than that provided by central government planning. Is health care something that is a "human right"? I don't know for sure. But I do know that the US stands alone in its unique inability among developed nations to care for its lower income citizens. I think it is a telling indication of the basic heartlessness of our system. YMMV