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Comment Re:Diminishing returns (Score 1) 478

Does this mean that the founding fathers of the USA have all gone to hell? They did effectively disobey secular authority... the King of England.

The Gadsden flag (a snake saying "don't tread on me") was the flag of the US before the Stars and Stripes. Read Genesis 3, especially verses 13-15 to understand the theological significance. God does the treading. Those who were flying the flag were identified themselves with Satan. The founding fathers may or may not have been Christian, they certainly were theologically literate. They understood (or would have except for willful blindness) the symbolism.

Whether they went to hell or not, the roots of that disobedience are bearing bitter fruit in today's U.S.

A couple of areas where you can see this fruit are gun control and health care. Both of those are rooted in the resulting view that authority is something that you have to protect yourself against (with your own assault rifle) and is totally incapable of nurturing you (providing basic universal health care).

The rejection and hatred of authority results in the impasse where horrific mass murders occur frequently -- but authority is incapable of dealing with the danger of widespread gun ownership.

Almost all other developed countries recognize the greater effectiveness of universal public health care and benefits that a government healthcare system can provide. Because of fear of authority, the U.S. citizens pay too much for too little. Bloomberg recently published a ranking of the world's most efficient health care. The U.S. ranked right up there at #47, just after Iran and just before Serbia.

Comment Re:Diminishing returns (Score 1) 478

Another factor is the aging of our society.

That has two (at least) effects. One effect is the decrease in the amount of testosterone flowing through men's veins. Less testosterone, less risk taking.

Another effect of aging is the increasing awareness of mortality. Awareness of mortality leads to risk aversion.

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