A very sober and sobering assessment as a Michigan resident I couldn't agree more even though I am a Green and not a Geo-Lib.
Nuff said,
"and Windows 7 blows Snow Leopard out of the water"
I didn't know Microsoft made crystal balls that foretell the future. Fascinating the things you learn on
I have an Acoustic Research AR-1 speaker that is over 50 years old and working like a top as a subwoofer.
And Adam Smith who knows where that "invisible hand" has been?
Toonol sed:
"Yes, companies screw up and are evil; but they have the right to be, just like individuals."
Your statement that companies have a "right" to be "EVIL" sums up the Libertarian philosophy in a nutshell. It's why I could never vote for Ron Paul despite having great respect for his consistent courageous opposition to endless war by the U.S. government. The fatal flaw of the Libertarian philosophy is that you don't think morality or even basic human decency applies to business, that they should be allowed to operate in a 100% ethics free zoneand that the "free market" excuses ALL excesses with a magic wand. M$ is just but one relatively small example of why that is a bad idea, Shell oil in Nigeria is a more serious example of what private businesses are capable of unhindered by morality.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Boycotts/Flames_Shell.html
And no this isn't the Nigerian governments fault they only used government soldiers because they were cheap they would have hired pivate militias to slaughter Nigerian environmentalists if no soldiers had been available.
In an ideal world of course business morality would come from voluntary self restraint but since greed seems to overpower self restraint (again see M$) alas it seems that businesses must be regulated to keep people from suffering. Unrestrained greed is quite literally the killer of the Goose that lays the golden egg of the Libertarians stateless utopia which is just that a utopia just as 100% unrealistic as the communist utopia that looks good on paper and not so much in practice.
That cuts both ways though in a capitalist "free market" employers can choose to keep labor prices artificially low to line their pockets with profits stolen from labor FORCING the working person to take a very low paying job with poor working conditions just to survive. In an economy with more work place democracy and better social supports the working person has more freedom to CHOOSE the job they want and be assured that that work will provide a living wage healthcare for that worker and his or her family.
You don't understand the difference? The Libertarian version of "freedom" in practice only means "freedom" for the upper 15% of well to do people and wage slavery misery for that is no way free for the vast majority of the population. This is born out in looking at quality of life in quasi socialist countries like Sweden v.s. the U.S. hint we aren't "#1."
"No less a "capitalist tool" than Forbes Magazine let a red cat out of the bag with a report this month that the happiest countries tend to be Scandinavian socialist democracies. High per-capita GDP certainly plays a role in their felicity, but even social democratic New Zealand, with per-capita GDP only 64 percent of the United States', ranks with the 10 democracies above us in the happiness index. They pay high taxes in these pinkotopias, but folks enjoy entitlements like free college, extensive elder care, and 52-week paid maternity leave.
The 2005 poll measured personal reports of enjoyment, pride in achievement and learning, being respected, among other things. Forbes suggests that such happiness derives from family, social and community networks, and a decent work-life balance, noting that the average workweek in Scandinavia is 37 hours."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/24
In sum try again, many of us see through the Libertarian charade about "freedom" in the workplace. Yes to Libertarians correct critiques of police state at home and empire abroad, no to laissez affaire capitalism that is naught but a recipe for a very few living living in opulent excess while many suffer without healthcare, adequate housing, or the opportunity for high quality secondary education for their kids.
fortune: No such file or directory