tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post8659682513116256454..comments2023-06-15T09:13:45.467-04:00Comments on Liberty's Torch: “Don’t Enter Reality Without It!”Francis W. Porrettohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-33067325292711333592015-06-09T10:25:39.839-04:002015-06-09T10:25:39.839-04:00You may recall the story of my rental property, an...You may recall the story of my rental property, and the sequence of events which led to my handing it back to the bank. While I may use the excuse of being young and dumb when I purchased it, I do not misunderstand the nature of the wrong I committed.<br /><br />I am a deadbeat. I did a great wrong, and did not properly think out the consequences of my action. If the author of that piece had said likewise, then I could offer a measure of sympathy and respect. We all make bad choices in life. Learning from them is part of being human.<br /><br />But the author spins this as "it's not my fault." And that is denying the sin, denying the wrong, and refusing to learn from the mistake. It is a more grievous error than the original wrong.Manuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13082153758868357687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-656489423760779862015-06-09T10:10:36.709-04:002015-06-09T10:10:36.709-04:00"the strident proclamations that the laws of ..."the strident proclamations that the laws of cause and effect woven into the very fabric of reality are somehow wrong."<br /><br /><b>Cause</b>: I lie to you to get you to invest time and money with me.<br /><b>Effect</b>: You invest time and money with me (to your detriment).<br /><br />Yup, nothing "wrong" there. Just the fabric of reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-74997729390827058362015-06-09T10:06:45.350-04:002015-06-09T10:06:45.350-04:00I sometimes catch bits of a t.v. show called (IIRC...I sometimes catch bits of a t.v. show called (IIRC) American Greed. It's pretty much all about embezzlers and Ponzi schemers.<br />Generally, people are persuaded to invest with pyramid schemers based on claims about the return on those investments. The gist of the show, and of the law, is that the investors have been defrauded. That is, that a crime has been committed against them. The t.v. show emphasizes the unconscionable greed of the pyramid schemer, and encourages sympathy for "defrauded" investors. This attitude is mirrored by both the law and society in general, DESPITE the fact that losing all of one's investment IS the foreseeable consequence of investing with someone whose claims of ROI are extraordinarily unlikely if not flat-out impossible.<br /><br />When Bernie Madoff "defrauded" his investors, much was made of the horrible consequences of MADOFF'S actions on these investors. Even though most of Madoff's investors were quite well-off to begin with, they represented a group of people who were (or should have been) more savvy investors than the average American, and most were not completely wiped out financially by the Madoff "fraud". <br /><br />Perhaps most importantly, none of the investors, either on the t.v. show American Gree or ripped off by Madoff, were subsequently PROHIBITED BY LAW from declaring Bankruptcy. <br /><br />For better or worse, society has deemed bankruptcy preferable to debtor's prisons. It is even one of the enumerated Constitutional powers of Congress to make laws regarding bankruptcies. Nevertheless, bankruptcy laws themselves are a form of theft -- allowing the borrower to avoid repayment to the creditor. <br /><br />1. Under the logic of the post, should we not eliminate bankruptcy laws as a form of theft where individuals are "absolve(d) ... from freely chosen material obligations"?<br /><br />2. Should we not also DE-criminalize Ponzi Schemes, as the investors in such have "freely chosen" that material risk?<br /><br />3. Under the logic of the post, should we not also denigrate and label as "deadbeats", or "leeches", those who receive Social Security Retirement benefits, as well as Medicare? <br /><br />4. If there is such a thing as "fraud", should it be relied upon to absolve the "defrauded" of their "freely chosen material obligations"?<br /><br />5. Most importantly, have college students been defrauded? That is, have misrepresentations about the ROI of a college degree been made to students pre- or post- matriculation?<br /> 5(a). If no one has made such misrepresentations regarding the benefits vs. costs of college; is there rational justification for singling out college graduates as ineligible for the protection of bankruptcy laws?<br /> 5(b). If there have been misrepresentations (i.e. Fraud), who has made such misrepresentations? And, are some of those making such misrepresentations in positions of authority, undue influence, and control of the students PRIOR to enrollment?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-74120167220779869102015-06-08T14:58:08.780-04:002015-06-08T14:58:08.780-04:00We tried to get the city to let us move a replacem...We tried to get the city to let us move a replacement mobile onto a piece of property that we own. We talked to them about it before and get different answers every time. This time, we were told we could only replace it with the exact same 20' width as the old one, but their law won't allow less than a 24' wide trailer. <br /><br />When my 24 year old step son learned of it, he said we should secede from the city. And he meant it. He thought we weren't trying hard enough, because we listened to what they told us. He is delusional, as other young people seem to be these days. Terihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13382050215676302342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-37921466166307215172015-06-08T12:34:00.856-04:002015-06-08T12:34:00.856-04:00I love how this chick lays out hobbies versus voca...I love how this chick lays out hobbies versus vocation, in terms of her "useful" application versus "wasting a young life". How many of us have had the feeling that we're wasting our lives, young or otherwise, in keeping our nose to the grindstone, simply to pay our bills? This is why they call it "work". Because it's not a hobby, you don't have to love it, you don't even have to like it. You just have to do it, because that's what responsible people do. People who sit around all day and do exactly what they want to do are called bums.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-82039913278175841672015-06-08T10:46:08.542-04:002015-06-08T10:46:08.542-04:00I still remember the first time I heard a credit c...I still remember the first time I heard a credit card offer on the radio that said, "You deserve the things you've always wanted!"<br /><br />Really?! The Card is seductive but destructive of the holder and all those around him.Weetabixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06106614092497408546noreply@blogger.com