Bypassing the blacklist: Robert Pratt’s new podcast
Just over a month ago long time and very successful talk radio host Robert Pratt found himself suddenly fired by the corporation that managed the Texas radio stations where his show aired.
By all measures, it appeared the reason for the cancellation of his show was because he happened to be conservative and had dared report on the numerous creditable allegations of vote tampering during the November 3rd elections.
His firing ended up to be one of the first of my daily “Today’s Blacklisted American” posts, and in fact inspired the series.
Pratt however is, like me, not one to take oppression or blacklisting sitting down. He has now begun a regular podcast, and had me on as a guest today. We did several different podcasts, two of which are now available. The first on the landing Perseverance is part of a longer podcast and is available here. In the second, available here, we talked at length about the passing of Rush Limbaugh and his significance in American history.
A third podcast, on the modern culture of blacklisting will be posted next week.
Pratt is doing what I have done for years. When blocked by petty tyrants and close-minded thugs, you find an alternative route to reach your audience, and use it. You don’t simply complain, you make those jack-booted bullies squirm because their attempt to silence you is a failure.
All power to Robert Pratt. As a podcast his reach could actually be larger than when his broadcasts were confined to local Texas radio stations. And wouldn’t that be sweet?
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Just over a month ago long time and very successful talk radio host Robert Pratt found himself suddenly fired by the corporation that managed the Texas radio stations where his show aired.
By all measures, it appeared the reason for the cancellation of his show was because he happened to be conservative and had dared report on the numerous creditable allegations of vote tampering during the November 3rd elections.
His firing ended up to be one of the first of my daily “Today’s Blacklisted American” posts, and in fact inspired the series.
Pratt however is, like me, not one to take oppression or blacklisting sitting down. He has now begun a regular podcast, and had me on as a guest today. We did several different podcasts, two of which are now available. The first on the landing Perseverance is part of a longer podcast and is available here. In the second, available here, we talked at length about the passing of Rush Limbaugh and his significance in American history.
A third podcast, on the modern culture of blacklisting will be posted next week.
Pratt is doing what I have done for years. When blocked by petty tyrants and close-minded thugs, you find an alternative route to reach your audience, and use it. You don’t simply complain, you make those jack-booted bullies squirm because their attempt to silence you is a failure.
All power to Robert Pratt. As a podcast his reach could actually be larger than when his broadcasts were confined to local Texas radio stations. And wouldn’t that be sweet?
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“because their attempt to silence you is a failure.”
That’s the way. Never giver up, never surrender, always fight back until victory.
Currently listening to the 2nd one. First time I’ve listening to both of you. Talk radio never was my thing. That might change now (as I get older, ha!).
By the way, is there a way to call in? I actually might do that in the future.
Bob, you speak about obscenities and your policy on them. You’re right on that. Since you enforce it on your website, I realized how prevalent it is in general (English-speaking) culture and how uncivilized it appears. There are very few cases where obscenities might be justified to make a point (there are studies on that, the more intense the pain you use obscenities to cope with it or make your point appear more serious). But those are so rare, so when made here it would even be worth the one-week ban to comment on your website.
All the best to both of you, Pratt & Zimmerman. You’re good people.
Some more good news-here in Birminham, a dingbat UAB professor who wished Rush suffered in his passing may lose her job after this latest outburst. Fire with fire.
Ian C: I don’t know if Robert Pratt ever took phonecalls on his radio show. Since the podcasts are taped I don’t see how listener calls are possible, though as he refines his show this might change. He might do live stream to podcast eventually.
I have made it a point to be annoying among friends about obscenities, asking them to try to clean up their language. I’d say it works somewhat when I am around, but they do so reluctantly.
What I find fascinating is the resistance. Too often people argue with me about this, as if somehow talking like a guttersnipe is somehow uplifting. Very sad and baffling.
“Why We Curse”
Prof. Jordan Peterson
https://youtu.be/kMnJO_r_vgw
2:12
Bob,
“What I find fascinating is the resistance.”
Perhaps it’s part of established (socially expected) ways of expressing oneself? One looks odd not doing it.
Growing up, I learned that speaking like in NYC meant to include the “F-word” in every third sentence (or was it as every third word?) and it was seen as normal, even expected.
Commenting on your website actually forced me to reconsider how I express myself. Funny enough, I found that I learned not to use any obscenities in other (online) places where those are the norm. It makes me look more cool and mature. And I’m actually grateful for that lesson and insight.
Ian C: I grew up in Brooklyn, and trust me, if I had used an obscenity casually I would have heard it from my parents. And the culture around me made it very clear one did not speak like that. You wanted to be civilized, not a brute.
Yes, congrats to Mr. Pratt for going the podcast route, always enjoy the longer-form and just downloaded the Shows.
Just finished listening to you on Pratt. Good for you regarding foul language. Being a mining engineer with decades working underground coal or hardrock mining, cursing was at a minimum of every third word (sometimes every second word). It’s easy to fall into that habit, and I did for a time. I realized it and later minimized my cursing. My ability to effectively communicate with fellow miners was much improved by the lack of cursing, and many noticed and commented.
More power to you, Sir.
Bobleben,
“Brooklyn”
Say no more.
As a continental European, I grew up with a specific image of what it meant to be a New Yorker. And in my techie cirles from SF, LA, NYC etc., it’s normal to curse and use obscenities. Once I realized how prevalent and unnecessary it is, I stopped doing it. Thanks to you. Credit where credit is due.
“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” ~Tyrion Lannister
well they didn’t manage to silence Mr Pratt, but they did show the world they are terrified of what he might say.
Ian, Robert,
I’m a retired NCO.
Obscenities are the lingua franca of the NCO Corps, despite the politically correct Pentagon constantly stating that it creates a hostile work environment.
I have a constant battle to clean up my own language, made more difficult by working for an employer whose complement is 35% veterans.
I slip into the language pattern of NCOs on a routine basis, though I try not to.
I appreciate Robert’s constant enforcement of standards. The political discussion without vitriol and informative discussion of science make this a bright spot in the morass teh interwebz.
Good for Pratt…. I probably disagree with every bone in his body, ( I will let you know!) I believe that the REAL left has many ideas good for mankind, and I am not so blind that my mind cannot be changed by reasoned argument, it seems to me that the real fight here is about where argument is allowed. By blacklisting anyone on the most popular forums, people will be drawn to echo chambers of their own position, and will never be exposed to different ideas and arguments. This does not bode well for anyone.
Secondly, regarding swearing, I am pretty sweary, I do not need to swear , ( although I believe I once got a warning here ), but I do believe that a well used cuss word can add an inflection to a statement or comment that can be very effective. I also believe that language should be used according to the situation. When speaking in Swedish company I use Swedish, when talking to my mother or commenting here, I don’t swear…. When having a few beers with my friends… I cuss like a sailor… It’s all about the situation.
@wayne , I disagree with the theory in your video link, when I cuss these days it is much more likely to be caused by hitting my thumb with a hammer or my son leaving every light on in the apartment before leaving for school than any primeval instinct! I know exactly what I am saying and why! ;-)
Lee–
–in that situation my Behaviorist bent would say; verbally mediated, rule-governed, learned behavior. And my Cognitive bent would say; if you “know” what your doing, you can get a grip on it. Either way the locus of control is the individual.
Petersons example depends heavily on the level of abstraction one is looking at.
(Say, what is the time difference between you & the USA?)
Jordan Peterson –
“Why do you curse when your computer crashes?” (or, “The Functioning of My Computer Depends on the Stability of the Sun”)
https://youtu.be/A33S2N348WU
12:34
@wayne, I read somewhere that a good outpouring of emotion during a painful moment reduces the pain… I’m pretty sure I outpour emotion, but I’ve never done a blinded study to confirm this…. And its currently 17.51 in Sweden…. It’s bloody confusing trying to work out EST, Pacific time, western time, northern time and Florida time to this European…. Why can’t you guys just have one time zone like the rest of us? ;-p
Lee, if the Left would seek to implement their ideas outside the top-down, monopolistic control of government … where too often they become the ONLY idea being used, administered as though individual citizens are interchangeable widgets and/or are assigned “victim” and “privileged” status on the basis of surface appearances mixed with politics … they would receive a far more fair hearing – and if worthy, support – from me and others.
The top-down paradigm replaces the distributed intellect of millions, with their near-total trust in an elite few to solve our problems for us … operatives who CAN’T tell an individual apart from a statistic, and for whom feedback is distorted by politics (electoral and institutional) along with the ability of government to coerce funding without regard to actual performance.
And good intentions does not change those deficiencies.
It is that near-total trust I find disturbing … it reminds me of HS classmates who have come up to me at reunions, and told me that they got through one or more classes just by sitting by the class brain – me. They sure didn’t realize at the time, the risk they were taking.
We are asking our government operatives to write checks that their bodies can’t cash, and leave us with the bounced check.
I’ve had Pratt on my Podcast aggregator as a radio broadcast, so onward..
Now, for the cancellation of everyone living in the US, and civil rights action against those that oppose abortion. From Breibart:
“President Joe Biden released a statement Friday urging Congress to “swiftly pass” the Equality Act, a bill that would eliminate the legal recognition of male and female sex, cater to gender ideology, and designate protection for the unborn as “pregnancy” discrimination.”
@Jester Naybor, we are having the same problem here that I have had for years… I am a left wing socialist, this does not make me a nazi or communist. I believe that certain things should be universal human rights, (I.E. health care, fresh water, a roof above your head ), and I believe some things should be govenment run, (I.E. public transport, power distribution ). I also believe in democracy, I don’t mind paying high taxes to fund the above, but I need the right to vote out those that do not steer my ship of state in the correct direction. ( Please don’t jump on me folks, this isn’t a political discussion, I am just stating my point.) My position, and that of millions of people across the world is a million miles away from what you guys in the US are calling “the left”. They have nothing to do with the left I belong to, a democratic, free speaking socialist believer that it is the responsibility for those better off to look after the poor. I know that this is poison to most Americans, but you don’t have to like it, and you don’t have to come and live here…. Live and let live! But the bullcrap you have going down over there is closing people’s minds to ANYTHING we of the left have to offer, and any closing down of free speech, unless it be in a very small set of circumstances, is just wrong. Without discussion and debate we will only stagnate in thought and ideas, and that is what worries me most about your situation over there right now.
Gary:
Broad and overly “Inclusive” and complex proposals allegedly about “Equality” like the one you site are very sharp double edged swords that cut deeply both ways. So the Left needs to be careful what they wish for. And they of course wish that their subjectivity serves to destroy the simplicity that is the Constitution.
But subjectivity in law will serve two wicked masters.
Why is the Constitution so strong and hardened against such perverted subjectivity? Because it is simple and not overly complex with arbitrary rules of behavior and subjectivity. And that is what makes the Constitution so strong.
The Right / Republican party must begin to serve those on the Left who wish this insanity to be manifest some “Woke” law suits and some measure of American legal reality.
And here is the next step that the more Conservative Republicans must begin to act on, becoming a Republican Committee member. There are 200 thousand unfilled positions in the Republican party right now. And that is who controls the party, and the Republican party at this moment in time is run by RINO’s. Listen to Dan Schultz of the Concord Project.
https://www.thethinkingconservative.com/the-neighborhood-precinct-committeeman-strategy-to-take-back-the-republican-party-and-then-america-at-the-ballot-box/
Conservatives driven by the MAGA movement and Trump’s simple America First message MUST take over the majority of the Republican party. And that is what is underway.
I’m listening to the Pratt and Zimmerman interview as I write, and I’m enjoying it, you are always quality listening to Bob, (and I’m still looking forward to when timezones match so I can say hello on the space show!), But I’m afraid even though Pratt seems an intelligent guy, and actually a nice guy I could have a beer with, I think we would end up arguing… lol… We are polar opposites in many ways…. But he has the right to his opinion, and he has the right to say it, when, and most importantly WHERE ever discussion is supposedly allowed.
Lee:
You are an honorary member of those of the traditional “left” in the United States. I was going to school at Berkeley during the “Free Speech Movement ” and was even tear gassed sitting in front of my fraternity. In those days, most were of the left and not the fascist left. I was of the left in those days and dialog was used to discuss issues. There were organized ultra radicals who were basically anarchist. They received much of the press coverage.
I view things differently than you, but I fall right of center on some issues and left of center on others, but I do believe that if you want something done bad enough, the government is always there to do it bad enough. That said, other than major issues such as national defense, I prefer government as local as possible and prefer a much smaller federal government.
Beware of Joseph Goebbels masquerading as a news organization CEO, or social media potentate.
The Trump / MAGA political candidate vetting begins: Nikki Haley is the first casualty.
“We are in the process of putting together a more formal schedule for candidates who want to come get his endorsement,” said senior Trump adviser Jason Miller, noting that Trump’s meetings so far have been limited to golf friends, Mar-a-Lago members and “folks with the ability to contact him themselves.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/02/report-trump-begin-vetting-candidates-mar-lago/
There is massive fear in the ranks of the status quo elite politically empowered in America on both sides of the aisle, and that is a good thing. Fear is good.
Lee, I agree that the better off should help the less fortunate … it is essential for keeping a free society stable. I personally help support two organizations (outside of my church) that do just that, because I have seen how they do just that and know they are worthwhile.
But I’m going to challenge your statement … what socialism seeks is not to have us help each other.
It instead encourages us to outsource that responsibility to a government whose operatives supposedly have access to better people and resources to do that, than the private sector could ever provide. That is the assumption … and it is followed to the point that government sucks the support and motivation away from ordinary people to retain that responsibility for themselves and fund alternatives at higher levels.
But government operatives, being human, lack the insight to differentiate between the truly needy and the merely greedy – let alone what a particular individual actually needs – from the pedestal of bureaucracy … equal protection under the law, especially when leveraged by aggressive lawyers and SJW’s, work to severely limit government in that regard, as well.
Also, a lot of the problems that lead to the need for aid, have behavioral/ethical components that require the caregiver to “get inside the head” of those who need help, for that help to be effective … which, because of government’s monopoly on the use of coercive force, can seriously threaten civil liberties and freedom-of-conscience.
Bureaucratic inertia, the desire of bureaucrats to empire-build, and politics exacerbate the problem, by perpetuating career-advancing/politically-beneficial but ineffective programs and systems that would otherwise die on the vine as people pulled their support from them. Government’s unique ability to coerce funding and regulate action leads right to this perpetuation of what isn’t working. (This is similar to how Big Space still roars along at a glacial pace, that commercial space is outrunning more and more.)
Bottom line: government is structurally incapable of resolving individual-specific issues effectively and efficiently … regardless of the amount of virtuous intent on the part of its operatives.
It needs to get out of the compassion business … and not only for all of the above reasons, but because its dominance of the process and its unique ability to coerce funding fosters a “gave at the office” attitude among We the People, who ARE better equipped to deal with such problems …
… because we are closer to the problems
… are more motivated to solve the problems
… lack the blank checks to perpetuate the problems
… and lack the coercive force to become a problem
As I see it, it’s time to stop outsourcing our responsibility to be our brother’s keeper to a faceless, industrial compassion-delivery system that keeps people locked in it, and go back to something closer to the model of the old American barn raising – neighbors (including Naybors) helping neighbors, unfettered by government’s myopia, inertia, and coercion – if we are truly interested in being compassionate in a sustainable manner.
But that does mean we have to actually help people, instead of outsourcing OUR responsibility to our government and expect it to jam your or my particular socio-economic morality down our throats as The One True Way. That is what our elites have insisted upon since the start of the American Great Society welfare state … and is why the associated War on Poverty over here is a quagmire to this day.
Lack of caring is not the problem. Using the wrong tool for the job, is the problem.
@Jester Naybor, I’m guessing you have not spent much time in Europe? The social welfare system here in Sweden is govenment funded, (I.E. funded by our taxes), but is administered at a local level by local care workers. We have transparency of government, and can see where our high taxes go, so it is easy to hold the government accountable, both locally and nationally. We tend to have more trust in govenment over here than you guys in the US, (for which I have been ridiculed for on here more than once). As long as a bigger government with higher taxes can be held to account, I am happy to belong to such a system, and indeed I much prefer to live and raise my children here than I would over their. This is my choice, and fortunately you and I live in parts of the world where we have the chance to use our vote to change things if needed, and indeed can even move to another country should we wish. I moved from the UK to Sweden almost 20 years ago, Sweden is far to the left of the UK, and have never regretted a second.
Lee, can you cut funding to a dysfunctional government program immediately? I can cut funding to those private-sector entities I support directly, right here, right now, if they get stuck on stupid. THAT’S accountability. And I don’t even have to go that far to get the point across, for I can walk into those organizations I support and talk to the decision-makers within them directly, for I know them and they know me.
Because of that and the voluntary nature of their relationship with those they help, I can trust them to deal with the behavioral and ethical issues that underlie many problems that are afflicting our citizens, the way I can’t the government with its monopoly on coercive force.
And as for socialism, your society was/is built upon the backs of several established, successful private-sector corporations that are not government-managed. Some “socialism”. But OTOH, how hard is it for a start-up to overcome your regulatory burden and succeed … where is your equivalent to Silicon Valley, or SpaceX, that have recently come from nowhere to challenge your established corporations with new and better paradigms?
No, I’ve not traveled in Europe much … but have ever you been where my family hails from, the region known as Appalachia? It is a prime example of a quagmire perpetuated by our Great Society welfare state … with many of the same dysfunctions as you see in our inner cities, who have also been heavily subjected to that welfare state. Two words describe what you see in both places: intergenerational poverty, because people have been led to believe that they can only (or need only) “get by” on that government help, instead of taking the responsibility and initiative to get ahead. (The similarity, BTW, transcends the different racial demographics of both places, which undercuts the assertions of systemic racism being THE cause of inner-city misery.)
@Jester Naybor, I have visited north Carolina and west Virginia, enjoyed the company of the good and proud folk of these areas, and always had at the back of my mind that their lives could be improved with more social welfare, especially if it did not have the stigma that Americans seem to attach to any form of help from the state. I didn’t want to fall down this rabbit hole, I’ve been down it so many times before on this blog. I know as a socialist I’m in a minority of one here ( at least amongst the vocal ), but I enjoy my life, I believe in the system I live in, I willingly pay my 33% income tax, I happily receive my $72 a month single parent rent rebate, and $100 children’s allowance, knowing that I currently pay in much more than I draw out. This wasn’t always the case… My kids had subsidised child care from the age of 1, I had 6 months of paternity leave with 80% pay for both of them…. During this time I was a net taker rather than giver… Now the opposite is true, even though I still enjoy some benefits from the system I choose to live under. I am not stupid, and I am not “wrong”, any more than you are. I just have a different ideology than you do. That is fine. You live there and I will live here. And regarding invention being stifled in socialist leaning countries, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our governments are trusted to support and encourage cutting edge technologies, and as to paradigm changing technology coming out of a socialist country like Sweden? Have you ever heard of Spotify, or indeed Minecraft? Both born in this country of 10 million people. ( And I didn’t even mention ABBA!!)
And I should say…. If you see social care failing the people who need it the most over there, perhaps you guys should use that vote you have, perhaps hold the relevant authorities to task, and sort your own system out rather than just presuming that every other system of government in the world is subject to the same failings as your own. I have waxed long and lyrical on this subject, and I am genuinely tired of shouting into the void. My own opinion now is I’m never going to change any opinions here, just as my opinion will not be changed by anyone here. We live world’s apart (not including my neighbor localfluff!) , And you like it over there, and I like it over here… I can claim a little more standing in experiencing different countries and cultures than most Americans, and what I have seen has only re-enforced my political views. The left, (as apposed to the crazy extream Nazi stuff you guys are dealing with right now) has quite a lot of good ideas that would do the USA no harm at all. Unfortunately in this environment of closure of ideas, the conversations can’t even be had.
Lee Stevenson wrote “Unfortunately in this environment of closure of ideas, the conversations can’t even be had.”
I beg to differ. You and Jester Naybor have had what reads to me as a very sane conversation. Let me sum up the areas of real difference.
Your blind spot: You refuse to recognize that almost always government is a very clumsy tool, and always must use coercion to achieve ends that you consider laudable.
America’s blind spot, one that you most correctly note: Americans for now more than half a century have been very lazy as citizens and voters, and have failed to vote out politicians who have been proposing and instituting bad policy.
Both points are correct. The latter can be changed by choice. The former, if relied on, cannot.
Lee Stevenson:
Simply: What is being missed here that makes it impossible for you to understand is the Left in the form of the Democrat party in America are attempting to raze and replace the family structure with the government. As well as the belief in a God or a superior force in the universe other than government. Its an all encompassing kind of control over the human being and their freedom. You can call it Globalism, you can call it Socialism, you can call it what ever you please, but that is exactly what is the goal.
And this effort by the Left is to destroy the Constitution which structures and establishes the individual and the family, and a superior force in the universe as being primary over government. All under the banner of “Equality” and “Social Justice”. That is what all of their counter intuitive “Politically Correct” speak is focused on. And that is all a lie and a fraud, its a sales pitch to the people who the Left think they can persuade to their perverted way of thinking. And it is perverted to the every day American anyway.
And the Democrats in America as a political party machine are driven by this perversion in pursuit of eternal political power. A power which they would never be in possession of because of their very bad and perverted concepts in government and their creating the culture of dependency that keeps people essentially enslaved to it in order that they retain political power. Under the label of a “higher morality” and compassion of course.
And this structure of “Compassion” and a “higher morality” serves the beginning of the destruction of the family in America. The Black family as well as others in America has been destroyed. Up to the 1950s the black family consisted of 70 percent mother and father, married in the home. Today the government has incentivized and mandated the Black family and others through social welfare programs to NOT have a man in the home. Essentially destroying the family model for the Black Americans and others. Today there are only 25% of Black fathers married and in the home, to the mothers of their children in America. And that is a real statistic, look it up.
Listen carefully to Larry Elder and this Black actor, Denzel who are the most honest on the subject: https://youtu.be/D0fz9b86Th8
This is what the Left and the Democrat party by extension must destroy, family and a belief in something greater than government. Its a nihilist / Marxist / God less model of existence. In other words it is the model adhered to be the Communist Chinese government, they are seen by the Left and the democrats as the future for America and the world.
And these are antithetical concepts to an American. And the thought of a protective all intrusive government may be more comforting and palatable to you and where you come from and where you live. But it is un and anti American from a core DNA fundamental freedom perspective. Like oil and water.
This inability for you to “SEE” is where the conversation dissolves into chaos and just a head butting scenario. America and Americans are just different in where we come from, and that difference, the Constitution that structures the individual as being primary and a concept of something greater than government that must be destroyed by the Left is the fundamental difference.
And that is the struggle in both understanding and perspective that exists in this particular political warfare scenario that stifles you.
I hope this helps you and anyone else who finds this all too much to understand, understand.
Just to give you guys a heart attack, I just worked out the total of my tax payment for the month of February. Including my own and my employers contributions , I paid pretty much exactly $2005 to the government this month. I live a modest life, I spend my days driving a fork lift and throwing boxes around, and my evenings with my kids and perhaps a beer and a podcast. I receive $172 a month back in direct help, but I live in a system with healthcare for all, where my kids are having a much better education than I was ever offered in the UK in the 70’s and 80’s, the streets are clean and the path to my front door is cleaned of snow and gritted when I go out if it has snowed… Nanny state…. Possibly, do I believe I get value for my tax dollars? Hell yes! Not just me, but my fellow humans…. @Jester Naybor, I admire your contributions to charity, especially local ones, certainly the best way to make sure your money works. My point is that charity should not be needed in a functional society… When it comes to the point that another’s wellbeing is dependent on someone else’s ability to donate, I concider something broken in the system. That citizens wellbeing should not be down to someone else’s personal choice to donate.
“When it comes to the point that another’s wellbeing is dependent on someone else’s ability to donate, I consider something broken in the system. That citizens wellbeing should not be down to someone else’s personal choice to donate.”
At what point does your model begin to limit the existence of people? What are the controls that are needed when there becomes too many people?
Is your model unlimited? It sounds like the more people there are means that there is just more that they have to contribute to the well being of everyone else.
When does the government say enough people? Or does this model promote over population and everything that comes along with that?
I think people need to begin wearing this tee shirt.
https://img1.etsystatic.com/101/0/10626952/il_570xN.1060531361_jq2j.jpg
Reality will visit you, eventually.
Rick and Morty
“Slavery With Extra Steps”
https://youtu.be/1kKoqE-sAb8
1:01
@Cotour, What is evident from your post is that it is you that does not understand…. I do not live in a country that has a constitution, I do not live in a country where free speech is being stifled to anything approaching the US right now. I do not live in a country where being left wing politically makes you seem a Nazi, I do live in a country I like, I do live in a country that is based upon democracy and freedom. I do respect you, you are obviously an intelligent guy, but you obviously don’t understand that you are talking to someone who lives in a different world to you! I have no “constitutional crisis” on my doorstep, I have no worries about my next elections being “free and fair”… They will be… Your pushing the US’s problems onto my environment says much more about your situation than it does about mine.
@Cotour.. Quote “When does the government say enough people? Or does this model promote over population and everything that comes along with that?”…. I do not even understand this question…. Your living in a country that in many states disapproves of any form of birth control, where abortion under any circumstances is either frowned upon or impossible. My 15 year old son, and his 15 year old girlfriend have access to all the birth control they (will/might… I don’t ask..) need, with no embarrassment… Provided by the state… Provided by a small percentage of my taxes, in an efficient manor. Your talk of “overpopulation” is actually nonsense… I’m guessing your still in shock regarding my tax payments, so I will give you a break.
Your tax situation is of no concern to me, that is your concern.
Your missing my point, government in America driven by the Lefts requirement is demanding that the family model and the concept of a God or supreme power over and above government, be replaced with government. That is it. Can you see that?
Everything else you mention in the context of this conversation are just incidental details and serve to further confuse the conversation, forget them.
Currently in America its about the destruction of the family and the belief in a supreme power in the universe being replaced by the government. Very simple.
Do you agree that the family and the belief in something greater than the government is a good thing to work towards?
If you agree with that proposition than there in lies the explanation of why you are unable to “SEE” why no one or few in America on this blog agrees with you. Its not good, its not bad its just the difference that you are looking for to explain things.
Q: Do you believe that the family model should be free from government interference and management?
Q: Do you believe in a God or a supreme power over and above government?
Two key questions that will reveal to you what you actually believe.
And this is what must be shoved down the throats of the “Black Listers”, LAW SUITS! BIG FAT CIVILRIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION LAW SUITS.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/02/bronx-educator-files-lawsuit-claiming-fired-refusing-pose-black-panther-salute-photos/
A sharp double edged sword has been fashioned by the Left and it will cut just as deep against their perverted natures.
Lee S: Just for you, some humor:
https://youtu.be/OVuQq-m2ZUM 2:26
Unfortunately some may not see it as being funny :(
Can you appreciate it? Or is this slice of reality offensive to you?
And finally, @ Bob, I disagree ( of course!) , I believe that government can be a very fine tool if used correctly, the “big state” sends the money down with instructions how to use it… The Provence’s send it down with instructions how to use it, and the local agencies use it with boots on the ground experience. This works in some places, it works in my neighborhood… I see the local hoodies from 3 or 4 years ago now catching the same bus as me to work… They have been retrained, from selling weed to doing whatever, but paying their taxes, and contributing to society. The last bit of my comment there is important “paying their taxes and no one contributing to society”… Herein is the difference between you, I, and almost everyone else here. I pay my taxes for the good of the many, not the few. I trust my govenment to uphold the agreement we have that the poor shall be cared for, that the needy will find help and no one shall want for the sake of their position. When I distrust my govenment, on the local or national level I will vote against them. If the vote don’t go my way I have to suck it up, and I am still free to organise, protest, and fight for what I believe in. It still sounds strange, but right now Sweden still sounds much freer than the USA.
Just want to throw in that Sweden isn’t totally gov’t run and the US isn’t all laissez faire free market.
Far as I can tell Spotify and Minecraft weren’t the result of a gov’t agency program but the result of individual enterprise.
And the US has plenty of socialist type features. The US gov’t spends many billions on the elderly, the poor, education, healthcare etc.
But how effective has this spending been, and why does it seem to work better in Sweden?
I think of the towns where I live in the NYC metro. Middle/upper middle class, pay high taxes -mostly school tax, but have very good schools, very low crime, good town services etc. Kinda Swedish. But in NYC… well I was going to say NYC has high taxes but high crime and poor services, and that’s currently true. And it was true during the 70’s and 80’s when other Dems ran the town. But when Giuliani and Bloomberg were in charge crime went down and city services were good (except for the public education racket). And some of the hoodie guys stopped selling drugs and got a job.
Maybe there’s more to it than the economic system. Sweden (Japan also comes to mind) is culturally homogeneous, there is a certain understanding of acceptable behavior. In the US those standards have to be taught – but they can be taught if the will exists and racial/cultural differences aren’t exploited for political gain.
Lee–
I’m in the State of Michigan, we have just under 10 million in population.
Q: to what Country are you a citizen?
Socialism has been fairly successful in small countries like Sweden and new Zealand. The best form of government is a monarchy with an enlightened sovereign. Of course the problem is the follow-on king that is a tyrant.
Democracy in the United States relies upon an education system that is free of bias and propaganda. That will never happen, so we hope for a balancing of views..that also seems to have failed us. Next is a free and open press and that extends to social media. That is gone awry. Lastly, an informed public that stays abreast of issues. All of this has gone wrong. We now have high tech oligarchs pulling the kings strings. Just as in Joseon times. An incompetent..controlled king leads to disaster.
Robert Zimmerman stated, regarding the firing of Robert Pratt that
“he dared report on the numerous creditable allegations of vote tampering during the November 3rd elections.”
I take Free Speech, being part of the 1st Amendment, very seriously. I don’t believe in it being suppressed. I don’t believe in cancel culture.
But I have to take issue with your use of the word “creditable” here, Lee. Anyone can allege anything about anything or anyone. The thing is, making an allegation doesn’t make it true. You need proof for that.
There is a branch of government that requires proof and settles the validity of allegations, sorting fact from fiction. The judicial branch. And in this forum, where proof is required to prevail, no evidence of any widespread vote tampering was provided. Over 60 cases went through our judicial system. Including the Supreme Court. Not one prevailed. Not even one. Zero proof.
Now this is not to say that our election process is secure. In fact, there are many legitimate concerns regarding the states ability to safeguard the election process. But absolutely zero proof exists of vote tampering in the 2020 elections.
Don’t you find it odd the President Trump began making statements back in May 2020 that the only way he could lose is if “the election was stolen from him”? While he was far behind in the polls. This allegation was asserted repeatedly with great fervor following the elections. Which culminated in a treasonous riot meant to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
So, if these allegations of tampering and fraud are creditable, where is the proof that would have necessary to win even one court case?
Gary–
Mostly good stuff, in that I get what you mean.
(however…)
Ref– “public education” in the United States– I would defer to someone who is well versed on Colonial America, (maybe the Proprietor of this website would take a shot?!…) but in the interim–
What we today think of ‘public education,’ is primarily a result of the progressive era of 100+ years ago, the goals of which are 1) brainwash your children to worship the State and 2) off-load practical skills-training from business, to the State. (oh, and btw– you have to pay for every-thing, whether you like it or not, and we’ll tax your property so even if you own your own home, if you don’t pay, they’ll throw you in the street and sell your house on the courthouse steps, to satisfy your tax bill.)
Some relevant tidbits to explore:
1790: Pennsylvania state constitution calls for free public education but only for poor children. It is expected that rich people will pay for their children’s schooling.
1805: New York Public School Society formed by wealthy businessmen to provide education for poor children. Schools are run on the “Lancasterian” model, in which one “master” can teach hundreds of students in a single room. The master gives a rote lesson to the older students, who then pass it down to the younger students. These schools emphasize discipline and obedience, qualities that factory owners want in their workers.
1820-1860: The percentage of people working in agriculture plummets as family farms are gobbled up by larger agricultural businesses and people look for work in towns and cities. At the same time, cities grow tremendously, fueled by new manufacturing industries, the influx of people from rural areas and many immigrants from Europe. During the 10 years from 1846 to 1856, 3.1 million immigrants arrive a number equal to one eighth of the entire U.S. population. Owners of industry needed a docile, obedient workforce and look to public schools to provide it.
1837: Horace Mann becomes head of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. Edmund Dwight, a major industrialist, thinks a state board of education was so important to factory owners that he offered to supplement the state salary with extra money of his own.
1840s: Over a million Irish immigrants arrive in the United States, driven out of their homes in Ireland by the potato famine. Irish Catholics in New York City struggle for local neighborhood control of schools as a way of preventing their children from being force-fed a Protestant curriculum.
1848: Massachusetts Reform School at Westboro opens, where children who have refused to attend public schools are sent. This begins a long tradition of “reform schools,” which combine the education and juvenile justice systems.
1848:The war against Mexico ends with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The treaty guarantees citizenship rights to everyone living in these areas mostly Mexicans and Native people. It also guarantees the continued use of the Spanish language, including in education. One hundred fifty years later, in 1998, California breaks that treaty, by passing Proposition 227, which would make it illegal for teachers to speak Spanish in public schools.
1851: State of Massachusetts passes first its compulsory education law. The goal is to make sure that the children of poor immigrants get “civilized” and learn obedience and restraint, so they make good workers and don’t contribute to social upheaval.
1893-1913: Size of school boards in the country’s 28 biggest cities is cut in half. Most local district (or “ward”) based positions are eliminated, in favor of city-wide elections. This means that local immigrant communities lose control of their local schools. Makeup of school boards changes from small local businessmen and some wage earners to professionals (like doctors and lawyers), big businessmen and other members of the richest classes.
1917: Smith-Hughes Act passes, providing federal funding for vocational education. Big manufacturing corporations push this, because they want to remove job skill training from the apprenticeship programs of trade unions and bring it under their own control.
1948: Educational Testing Service is formed, merging the College Entrance Examination Board, the Cooperative Test Service, the Graduate Records Office, the National Committee on Teachers Examinations and others, with huge grants from the Rockefeller and Carnegie foundations. These testing services continued the work of eugenicists like Carl Brigham (originator of the SAT) who did research “proving” that immigrants were feeble-minded.
Josh,
You asked: “Don’t you find it odd the President Trump began making statements back in May 2020 that the only way he could lose is if ‘the election was stolen from him’?”
I find it less odd than four and a half years of the entire Democratic Party saying the same thing about Hilary’s loss. Indeed, there were four full-blown investigations into that issue, each finding no evidence at all that any such thing happened. Those investigations were not based upon evidence presented but upon speculation and innuendo.
You have been intentionally misleading in your argument. None of those 60 cases went through our judicial system but were stopped at the gate to the system. Despite the evidence presented to the public (unlike the previous no-evidence investigations of Trump’s election), our judicial system refused to review Trump’s evidence. What this means, following your own logic, is that all the cases that were heard all the way through our judicial system ruled in favor of Trump.
The real problem that we have is that many poll watchers reported discrepancies, but no one would look into them. Why do we bother with poll watchers if we are only going to ignore them when they report discrepancies?
wayne,
You are incorrect about Proposition 227. It did not make teaching in the Spanish language illegal, but it did require that teaching also take place in English. Many school districts chose to “misinterpret” this and started teaching in English only rather than a combination. Their aim was obviously to be able to convince people, like you, that Spanish was unfairly banned from California schools. This is how the left manipulates people into believing things that are untrue, such as that 60 cases of election fraud went through our judicial system resulting in zero proof that the election was stolen from Trump. Who are we going to believe, the ever-truthful Democrats or our lying eyes? In this discussion, empirical evidence shows that it is the former.
Lee Stevenson,
You wrote: “I believe that the REAL left has many ideas good for mankind, and I am not so blind that my mind cannot be changed by reasoned argument, it seems to me that the real fight here is about where argument is allowed.”
I have found this to be untrue. You have always rejected reasoned argument that has been presented here. Indeed, you have complained that you are being attacked when we present you with reasoned argument, and you even spent a few months not commenting here because of your feelings on this issue. It is as though you do not want us to present any other viewpoint than your own. Your complaint is similar to telling us to shut up but in a way different than they did to Mr. Pratt. You don’t want us to contradict what you say, just like those who tried to silence Pratt, but you try to guilt us into silence. Your feelings are hurt when we disagree with you, so if we want to be polite and not hurt your feelings, we should not contradict your opinions.
But you don’t need reasoned argument to change your mind. You can see that your viewpoint is wrong. In order to distance your viewpoint from what is happening to America, you have to pretend the there is a “REAL” left, as opposed to the American left, or any aspect of leftism that you disagree with, but leftism is the same everywhere: in favor of more government control over their countries’s populations and providing for various needs (or not providing them to those who don’t toe the party line). The importance of free speech has been demonstrated by the founding fathers by placing it in the First Amendment. Eliminating free speech and independent thought are the first and most important thing that the left-wing does, even if that means arrest or “reeducation” in camps.
You practically begged us to present you with reasoned argument, but when we did, two and a half hours later you wrote: “Please don’t jump on me folks, this isn’t a political discussion, I am just stating my point.” Once again, you felt attacked and said so, literally pleading with us to not disagree with you. And yes, this is a political discussion, complaining about the left being leftist. We (not you, Lee) are in a post-constitutional America, and we have every right — and a definite need — to discuss it.
“But the bullcrap you have going down over there is closing people’s minds to ANYTHING we of the left have to offer”
But the leftists in America are offering the same things that you believe should be offered, and more. Except that “offer” is the wrong word, because we don’t get an alternative. The left’s “offering” is actually forced upon us, because the left knows that it cannot compete against alternatives. Hence, free speech is the first thing to go in socialist societies. Otherwise, as happened in the Plymouth Colony, free market capitalism would quickly win out as the better, more productive system.
A century ago in America, free market capitalism provided what you think only government should offer, e.g. public transportation and power distribution, but people like you decided that government should offer them instead, and now we Americans have lousy transit systems and California routinely has rotating power outages. And don’t get me started on the lousy health care; we are suffering through devastating effects of the failure of government to handle healthcare. Moral of this story: socialism can fail even before it runs out of other people’s money.
“I believe that government can be a very fine tool if used correctly, the “big state” sends the money down with instructions how to use it”
In the past, you have described your North Carolina and West Virginia experiences as visiting those who have turned America’s safety net into a hammock. They choose to not get out of the net/hammock and move to places where they can continue the work that they were doing before falling into their hammock. Handing them even more money only further encourages them to not go to where the employment is. What a fine tool the big state is, taking from the rest of us so that others can take a rest.
Jester Naybor wrote: “The top-down paradigm replaces the distributed intellect of millions”
Because leftist thinking says that when We the People are allowed to make decisions, we choose wrong every single time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkZcEJBcLmU (2 minutes, “The Giver”)
Even Lee Stevenson is telling us that we have chosen wrong. It is why leftists think that the correct use of government is for it to provide instructions on how to use money, such as mandating us as to how to spend our own money. Who needs Lee Stevenson’s high taxes when our tyrannical government can bypass that step and, through government instruction, coerce us into our own defined expenditures, such as the Obamacare mandate?
Edward-
clarification, noted.
Mr. Zimmerman,
As of February 2021, Pratt is still the only TV or radio personality to interview me about my books. No one else, in Lubbock or elsewhere, can say that they’ve interviewed me.
Matthew M. Day, Lubbock, TX
2020 Best Indie Book Award (BIBA) winner–Nonfiction–US History category (Fueling Victory at Home)
Matthew M. Day: Feel free to provide a url to your book so others can consider buying it.
Link to Fueling Victory at Home:
https://www.amazon.com/Fueling-Victory-Home-Relationship-Southwest/dp/1695719247
Link to Amazon.com author page:
http://www.amazon.com/author/matthewmday/
Thanks very much for your time.