RickWA
Snagglesooth
"When you talk about pluralist order. I think yeah, that exactly what was done with by liberals during the civil rights movement and how they were labeled as out of town troublemakers. In that bit of hindsight the pluralist order was the enemy of freedom, and I am very glad they were the opponents of it."
Pluralist order - at least in the context I use it here - references the acceptance that PLURALISM - or multiple competing private interests all vie to influence government. Today's left seeks to shut down non-leftist private entities and/or eliminate their ability to have a voice. From Chick-fil-a to radio hosts - the examples are legion. Shut down flower shops and bakeries. Slash and burn.
"When I think of the words of Jesus I say he would have made the Communist blush with his statements anti materialism, and that he would see current Christians as prideful strangers who turned a deaf ear to the heart of his message."
Jesus was born among, traveled with, and ministered to private citizens. At no point did He seek to assume worldly power - be it political or even that of the Jewish hierarchy. At no point did He seek out the seat of power. Never did He travel to Rome. That the left seeks to selectively milk His example on select issues and utterly soil His name and words on others is one of its greatest trespasses. And it continues unabated. Many on the left have no idea just how giving Christians are as individuals and instead attempt to judge believers based on state and public policy preferences. That is heresy. Pure perversion. It's wrong and is Biblically inaccurate. We share whatever wealth we have - of our own volition, and through the agencies of our choosing. We give of our resources and of ourselves - mostly without a government proxy. We are witnesses of Christ's love, not the state. We are to be the salt and light. We are His direct agents in this world. He says so.
"Right now I am working my way through a book titled Why they do it. I think it's a good commentary on the slippery slope between free enterprise and plain old criminal conduct. How easy it was for them to slide from one to the other and hard it was for them to realize they had done so. In every case so far was about ego and the need to see themselves as something smarter and better than the system that surrounded them, rather than creatures of it. It makes it easy to see how the pursuit of enterprise to obtain the intangible things inside of themselves through it was their real downfall."
Egos. Criminals. Greed. Being "seen as above the system"...
Politician, Public Employee, and Hyper-political creatures, heal thyselves. One could readily say the same thing - and to far greater a degree...about the non-private enterprise that is government. Most pols exit the public stage quite wealthy. The state has armies and police forces. The state leverages exclusively public capital. The state regulates itself (aside from elections). And yet...look at the blind spot. Look at the acute-yet-chronic unique demonization of the private sector.
"I think individualism is a fair weather sociological myth. In the bad times, soldiers at war, survivors of a large disaster or any other huge unrest, people are drawn together. I think that aspect is rooted in use since hominids were swinging in trees. That is our true survival mechanism embedded in our nature."
Voluntarily when chosen - whether out of circumstance or general preference - I agree. When coercively collectivized and mandated as pooled resource, not so much.
"While Trump may certainly be all of the things you describe. I think first and foremost he is a mentally ill individual. I think it has been of full display since very early in his campaign. I think much of his behavior reflects the fact that he has a serious personality disorder. I think the real fault lays with the people and groups who would accept the trade off between his illness for their agenda."
Voters always accept their candidate with his/her faults and frailties as well as his/her strengths/qualities. This is nothing new. Likewise, detractors focus uniquely on the deficiencies to the careful neglect of any good. This is also nothing new. Grain of salt.
I don't like Trump. He is a terrible role model. He won't be president forever.
"This leads me to the two parties both being terrible. I think okra and arsenic are both terrible. But it I have to choose between the two I'll take okra thank you."
The proper analogy would be arsenic and hemlock...although both parties are largely led by vegetables.
Pluralist order - at least in the context I use it here - references the acceptance that PLURALISM - or multiple competing private interests all vie to influence government. Today's left seeks to shut down non-leftist private entities and/or eliminate their ability to have a voice. From Chick-fil-a to radio hosts - the examples are legion. Shut down flower shops and bakeries. Slash and burn.
"When I think of the words of Jesus I say he would have made the Communist blush with his statements anti materialism, and that he would see current Christians as prideful strangers who turned a deaf ear to the heart of his message."
Jesus was born among, traveled with, and ministered to private citizens. At no point did He seek to assume worldly power - be it political or even that of the Jewish hierarchy. At no point did He seek out the seat of power. Never did He travel to Rome. That the left seeks to selectively milk His example on select issues and utterly soil His name and words on others is one of its greatest trespasses. And it continues unabated. Many on the left have no idea just how giving Christians are as individuals and instead attempt to judge believers based on state and public policy preferences. That is heresy. Pure perversion. It's wrong and is Biblically inaccurate. We share whatever wealth we have - of our own volition, and through the agencies of our choosing. We give of our resources and of ourselves - mostly without a government proxy. We are witnesses of Christ's love, not the state. We are to be the salt and light. We are His direct agents in this world. He says so.
"Right now I am working my way through a book titled Why they do it. I think it's a good commentary on the slippery slope between free enterprise and plain old criminal conduct. How easy it was for them to slide from one to the other and hard it was for them to realize they had done so. In every case so far was about ego and the need to see themselves as something smarter and better than the system that surrounded them, rather than creatures of it. It makes it easy to see how the pursuit of enterprise to obtain the intangible things inside of themselves through it was their real downfall."
Egos. Criminals. Greed. Being "seen as above the system"...
Politician, Public Employee, and Hyper-political creatures, heal thyselves. One could readily say the same thing - and to far greater a degree...about the non-private enterprise that is government. Most pols exit the public stage quite wealthy. The state has armies and police forces. The state leverages exclusively public capital. The state regulates itself (aside from elections). And yet...look at the blind spot. Look at the acute-yet-chronic unique demonization of the private sector.
"I think individualism is a fair weather sociological myth. In the bad times, soldiers at war, survivors of a large disaster or any other huge unrest, people are drawn together. I think that aspect is rooted in use since hominids were swinging in trees. That is our true survival mechanism embedded in our nature."
Voluntarily when chosen - whether out of circumstance or general preference - I agree. When coercively collectivized and mandated as pooled resource, not so much.
"While Trump may certainly be all of the things you describe. I think first and foremost he is a mentally ill individual. I think it has been of full display since very early in his campaign. I think much of his behavior reflects the fact that he has a serious personality disorder. I think the real fault lays with the people and groups who would accept the trade off between his illness for their agenda."
Voters always accept their candidate with his/her faults and frailties as well as his/her strengths/qualities. This is nothing new. Likewise, detractors focus uniquely on the deficiencies to the careful neglect of any good. This is also nothing new. Grain of salt.
I don't like Trump. He is a terrible role model. He won't be president forever.
"This leads me to the two parties both being terrible. I think okra and arsenic are both terrible. But it I have to choose between the two I'll take okra thank you."
The proper analogy would be arsenic and hemlock...although both parties are largely led by vegetables.