The spirituality of money

Originally posted by FMF
Nobody looks to government to "fix all of life's problems". You're so intent on loading up your definition with facetiousness and hyperbole, you are just babbling.

Society is increasingly dependent upon government because government keeps expanding. Do you deny this?

At one point in US history, FDR tried to sell social security to the nation. It was a rather hard sell because at the time most thought they did not need it. However, today Americans think they would die in the streets without it, even though it is not really enough to even survive on.

This is just one example of many.

As for facetious hyperbole, those in Washington can shove it up their arse.


In other words, if those in Washington like their facetious hyperbole, they may keep it. 😵

Originally posted by whodey
Society is increasingly dependent upon government because government keeps expanding. Do you deny this?

In Indonesia?

Your definition of "statist" is absurd hyperbole. According to your definition, none exist. If you have a serious point to make about spirituality and your conservative views, perhaps you need to calm down a bit and consider more carefully the words you are typing.

Originally posted by whodey
These articles are easy to find.

http://philanthropy.com/article/Religious-Americans-Give-More/143273/

Even easier if the articles you find do not answer the question I asked.

Originally posted by FMF
In Indonesia?

Your definition of "statist" is absurd hyperbole. According to your definition, none exist. If you have a serious point to make about spirituality and your conservative views, perhaps you need to calm down a bit and consider more carefully the words you are typing.

The more power a government has the more corrupt it becomes. Luckily, your particular government is not that far gone......yet.

I like what C.S. Lewis said nearly half a century ago.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.C. S. Lewis


What a brilliant man.

Originally posted by whodey
The more power a government has the more corrupt it becomes. Luckily, your particular government is not that far gone......yet.

"My" government is moving in the other direction. A three decade long dictatorship here was overthrown 16 years ago.

According to your definition, no "statists" exist. I've never met one who conforms to your definition, and I doubt you have.

Originally posted by whodey
What a brilliant man.

How many years did C. S. Lewis spend living under a military dictatorship / kleptocratic tyranny / "robber barons"?

Originally posted by FMF
"My" government is moving in the other direction. A three decade long dictatorship here was overthrown 16 years ago.

According to your definition, no "statists" exist. I've never met one who conforms to your definition, and I doubt you have.

And how did this "revolution" occur FMF?

The US also had a similar spat with the British crown. They too rose up and blood was spilled and they attained political power.

I submit that the only way freedom is attained is not through the political process, but through the spilling of blood. Keep in mind that the same people who had been praising the election of the Indonesian president Sarhuto soon fled with him after violent riots broke out and he was toppled.

Of course, like the US revolution, freedom is fleeting. Soon the bureaucrats move in, take power, and squeeze more and more power from the people, much like a boa constrictor.

Originally posted by FMF
How many years did C. S. Lewis spend living under a military dictatorship / kleptocratic tyranny / "robber barons"?

The man simply had two eyes, a brain, and history to look at. He saw how his own country oppressed such people as the colonists in the US. He saw how the British crown tried to use a combination of corporate tyranny and military might to imprison and impoverish a people.

Originally posted by whodey
The man simply had two eyes, a brain, and history to look at. He saw how his own country oppressed such people as the colonists in the US. He saw how the British crown tried to use a combination of corporate tyranny and military might to imprison and impoverish a people.

He was nostalgic about the "robber barons" era? He thought "the British crown" tended to "imprison and impoverish a people" in the "robber barons" era?

Originally posted by whodey
Of course, like the US revolution, freedom is fleeting. Soon the bureaucrats move in, take power, and squeeze more and more power from the people, much like a boa constrictor.

What evidence of this do you have in Indonesia?

Originally posted by FMF
He was nostalgic about the "robber barons" era? He thought "the British crown" tended to "imprison and impoverish a people" in the "robber barons" era?

Today in the US the police just shoot them on the streets.

Shrug.

Originally posted by FMF
What evidence of this do you have in Indonesia?

I'm sure its there, unless they are the lone exception in human history.

If so, congrats.

Originally posted by whodey
Today in the US the police just shoot them on the streets.

Shrug.

So C.S.Lewis thought "the British crown" tended to "imprison and impoverish a people" in the "robber barons" era and you [1] dub him a "brilliant man" because of this viewpoint, and [2] you cite police shootings in the US to substantiate yours/his analysis?

Originally posted by whodey
I'm sure its there, unless they are the lone exception in human history.

If so, congrats.

What evidence do you have that Indonesia is the "the lone exception in human history" to the assertions you are making?