Why the GOP Needs "Divisive" Voices

We need voices "crying in the wilderness" in the GOP.

A new meme has hit the nets as the Soros-hired trolls begin to pump out comments.  The new talking point questions why the GOP tolerates "divisive" voices like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Cruz and Rand Paul and points out (as thought they were worried about the health of the Republican Party) that such voices are "divisive".  Watch for it. It will be popping up all over Facebook and other forums.

Here's an answer as to why we need the "divisive" voices:  The Republican Party has for some years been busily "wondering after the beast" as Revelation puts it. Republican "leaders" want the power that Democrats seem so adept at seizing. Playing politics has become more important than standing for principle. The GOP leadership has become enamored of the DC version of the game of thrones and is losing interest in defending the Republic. Like ancient Israel, we need a few voices crying in the wilderness. Unity doesn't do you a whole lot of good if you're all unified and marching toward Hell.

© b2013 by Tom King

Amazon Warehouse - "Long Hours, Harsh Working Conditions"

What we gonna do tonight, Jeffy?

Well, "Boo-hoo." 

Mitch Wagner whinges this week about working conditions at Amazon.com's warehouse in a book review on Internet Evolution. The book he reviewed (and no I'm not giving you a link to it), is another one of those smug "potshots at the big dog" type of expose's and who needs 'em?

Okay, admittedly I'm an old guy (59) and to youthful pundits, blogging in their t-shirts, my opinion counts for little, but since when does a warehouse without air-conditioning qualify as harsh working conditions? It's a warehouse for crying out loud! Long hours, little chance of promotion, pressure to work fast? In the dictionary under "warehouse" it should say, "Long hours, little chance of promotion, pressure to work fast". These conditions are why our mothers want us to go to college people." Crappy working conditions are what you get if you are "too cool for school" dudes! Be happy. At least you have a roof over your head. You could be schlepping steel plates around a staging yard in the winter in the middle of a Blue Norther that's blowing stuff that is just east of being snow and west of being hail!  Now them's harsh working conditions!

Wagner also "wonders" about the wisdom of Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos,' strategy of plowing all Amazon's profits back into the company. Well why not?  The thing ought to be a nonprofit corporation for all the companies it is keeping alive and helping to prosper during this mini-depression through sales partnerships with Amazon. Wagner, himself, admits that his clothes and practically everything else within sight of his webcam are all Amazon purchases. When he worries about Amazon's profits, he doesn't consider that everyone selling on Amazon is making profits. So long as Bezos keeps drawing his considerable paycheck, I don't think he's terribly worried about current profits. Wagner asks when Amazon is going to make a profit. Perhaps, Mitch, you should ask the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything else. 

To wit, "What we gonna do tonight, Jeffy?"

"Same thing we do every night, Mitchy. "TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

© 2013 by Tom King

The Medal of Freedom Should Perhaps Be Renamed

Daniel Kahneman

Interesting - President Obama is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Daniel Kahneman for Economics. Kahneman is a behavioral psychologist who has worked in something called "hedonistic economics". His work attempts to explain, in part, the mistakes people make when estimating the effects of different scenarios on their future happiness (also known as affective forecasting - predicting how feelings can be affected by illusion. The "illusion" occurs when people consider the impact of one specific factor on their overall happiness while ignoring other factors. In other words, give people a powerful enough illusion and they tend to greatly exaggerate the importance of that factor in their future happiness, while overlooking the numerous other factors that would in most cases have a greater impact.

In other words, whether that was his intent or not, Kahneman gave the propagandists a tool that teaches them how to fixate the minds of the masses on one big thing that is presented as the "key" to their future happiness so that they will ignore and dismiss other factors that are likely to be more important and may even undermine their happiness. For example, fix the public mind on the importance of universal healthcare so that they ignore the loss of individual liberty, the threat of massive debt, massive taxation and the loss of opportunity and freedom of action.

While Dr. Kahneman may be a lovely person who had no intent to aid in the downfall of America, perhaps "Medal of Freedom" isn't the write name for his award. 

Obama also included Bill Clinton, Oprah and Gloria Steinem in the group and, oddly enough, Loretta Lynn - though Lynn is an old pal of Jimmy Carter, so that probably explains it.

Ah, well, the politics roles on.

© 2013 by Tom King