Inside Edition: Ali Rosen- ‘Legendary Chef and Traveler Anthony Bourdain Dies At 61’

Posted on June 9, 2018 by FredSchneiderUS
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Source: Inside Edition– Legendary chef and traveler Anthony Bourdain 

Source: The New Democrat

When I first heard about Anthony Bourdain’s show Parts Unknown coming to CNN in 2013 or 14, I thought this was another one of those so-called reality TV shows where the lead character is some loudmouth who makes an asshole out of himself ( to be frank ) in order to gain ratings. I’m not a fan of what’s called reality TV generally, except for what’s actually reality TV which are documentary programs even documentaries about Hollywood, so I was thinking Parts Unknown is not something I’m going to be interested in.

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Source: USA Today– Legendary chef and traveler Anthony Bourdain 

But so-called reality TV is wasn’t Tony Bourdain’s show and what he wanted to communicate to people. He was a food and cultural documentarian who traveled the world to show people what other people eat and how they live. Who brought people together over good meals and got to learn about them by experiencing them, what they eat, the sites and sounds of their countries. And then he would show everyone else what he learned about Vietnam, Italy, Ecuador, Cuba, and wherever else he would travel to.

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Source: The Chive– One of Anthony Bourdain’s best quotes 

In a country and world where we’re so divided mainly on political and cultural grounds and now unfortunately even by race, ethnicity, and class, Bourdain brought different together with food and cultural. And showed millions of Americans and people outside of America, that even with all of our differences that we can still share a great meal together, get to know each other and realize we’re not that strange from one another after all.

I’m not a cook and all I know about food and cooking is that food can taste really good, it can taste really bad, and generally somewhere in between, in less you what you’re doing or where to eat and have the resources to eat great food on a regular basis. But I know what I like and how to cook for myself and what I got from Bourdain was that not all good food has to taste alike and look alike. That good food comes in all different forms made from all different types of people in different countries.

The other thing that I got from Bourdain which I already knew, but hopefully now millions of other Americans and people outside of America hopefully also know, is that it isn’t okay to be yourself, but that being yourself is the only person you should be. Because you’re the only person you know really well. When you try to be someone other than yourself especially a famous celebrity that you look up to, all you’re doing is acting. And I realize some people do that for a living and even do it on so-called reality TV. But the non-reality actors are professional actors. And when everyone else tries to be someone other than them self, they’re not only not just actors, but now they’re amateurs and amateurs actors.

In a country and world where so many people especially young people feel the need to be like their favorite celebrity and in many cases reality star, Tony Bourdain taught so many people how to be themselves and why they should always be them self. He taught us about individualism and how to be an individual. I think Ayn Rand would’ve loved Anthony Bourdain even if was just for that reason. And if you don’t like yourself, maybe it’s because you have character issues, or you suffer from low self-esteem, which is something that perhaps Bourdain also had issues with.

But that we’re the only person we know really well and the only person where we always know what we’re thinking and what we know. And when we try to be someone other than ourself, we’re just pretending. Anthony Bourdain’s belief in individualism and his ability to bring different people together with food and culture, is what I’m going to miss about him.

Inside Edition: Ali Rosen- Legendary Chef and Traveler Anthony Bourdain Dies at 61

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Vanity Fair: Julie Miller: ‘Is Reality TV To Blame For President Donald Trump?’

Posted on June 8, 2018 by kireschneider
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Source: Vanity Fair– 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at The White House Reality TV Show.

“Last year, Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen noticed Donald Trump using so many pot-stirring tactics from the Bravo franchise that he began cataloguing them on Twitter. When the president used social media to cancel a White House invitation that N.B.A. champion Stephen Curry had not yet officially rejected, Cohen tweeted, “HOUSEWIVES PLAYBOOK: rescind invitations liberally! (See: Bethenny re LuAnn, Mexico; Bethenny & Ramona, Mexico).” Trump’s post-election digs about Hillary? “Keep bringing up fights from last season.” Trump’s excuse for not immediately calling Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto following an earthquake? “Blame cell-phone reception.” Trump’s suggestion that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign colluded with the Russians? Tossing out bogus statements in desperate pleas “to stay on the show,” Cohen wrote…

From Vanity Fair 

“DISCLAIMER: This episode is in no way meant to comment on whether Trump (or anyone else running) would make a good President and whether or not you should vote for him. It’s meant purely to assess the tactics used in his political campaign because I found it interesting. Any jokes made at his, or any other candidate’s expense, are there purely for entertainment. There’ll still be a ton of hate in the comments, but hey, at least I tried to head it off at the pass here 🙂

When you think of the 2016 Presidential campaign, one name comes to mind – TRUMP. Every day, news stories come out about his inflammatory comments, his stubborn, unapologetic debate strategy…and that’s EXACTLY the way he wants it. Trump is no traditional politician; his tactics come from somewhere else, and that place is REALITY TV. Trump’s long history in reality television has given him the perfect strategic edge in the political arena, and so far he’s winning the game of political Survivor that is the 2016 presidential race.”

Vanity Fair_ Julie Miller- 'Is Reality TV To Blame For President Donald Trump_'

Source:The Film Theorists– Donald Trump, meet Uncle Sam.

From The Film Theorists

You can’t blame reality TV for everything that is wrong with America, ( trust me, I’ve tried ) but without this facts don’t matter, everything is relative, what you can get away with to accomplish whatever your goals are celebrity culture that we’re living in, Donald Trump is the king of that. No one uses that lifestyle and culture to his advantage better than The Donald Trump.

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Source: Vanity Fair– The Donald Trump

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at The White House, is the biggest reality TV show in the history of universe. It’s on 24 hours a day even when most people in country ( except for your addicted insomniacs are asleep ) and it’s like one of those TV’s that don’t have an off button and even a mute button and to get away from it you have to be in a different room on a different floor. You can’t turn it off, but simply try to get away with it. Like turning your i-phone off while in search for a life outside of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at The White House.

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Source: Vanity Fair– The Donald Trump

It’s not that we live in a reality TV universe, but that we live in Donald Trump’s reality TV universe. Where he’s the king of it and where they’re no rules at least that govern him. Where he never has to ever worry about being kicked off his own show ( unless Congressional Republicans grow a set off balls, or Democrats win back Congress ) because it is his own show. Unlike a reality TV show when the ratings start to slip and they believe that has to do with one character or several characters, those people are simply fired.

Firing the President of the United States, is about as easy as landing a 747 plane blindfolded without landing wheels, or pushing an elephant up the hill with just your arms and legs. Those things can only happen in extreme cases. And knowing this and the fact that The Donald has so little knowledge or respect for how American government works ( perhaps his father arranged for his son to not have to take social studies or American history in order to graduate ) The Donald views himself as a king or dictator even who can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants to without any real consequences.

Why not? He’s got a 90% approval rating inside of the so-called Republican Party and a Republican Congress that by enlarge doesn’t have the balls to hold him accountable for the most part, with a handful of Republicans Senators ( the last few Republicans who are actually still alive being the exception to this rule. Even though privately Congressional Republicans will tell you off the record that they know how irresponsible President Trump and his behavior is.

You can’t blame reality TV for anything and again I know because I’ve tried, but reality TV does has a lot to do with what’s wrong with America which is a subject for a future blog post. Personal responsibility with people taking the time to figure out the differences between what’s not reality TV but celebrity life TV where perception is more important than actual reality, has to be imaged here by every American especially the fans of celebrity life TV. But that’s the life that Donald Trump lives in and uses it to the max to advance his career goals like becoming President of the United States and being President. With 60 plus million Americans voting for him with about 90% of those voters still with him even with his low approval rating for a first term president.

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Economic Policy Journal: Veronique De Rugy: Stop Calling The GOP The Party of Small Government

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Ederik Schneider
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Source: MSNBC– Donald Trump’s GOP

Source: The New Democrat

Listening to Republicans today talk about the need for limited government and limiting the size as well as growth of government, is like talking and listening to a 400 pound man ( perhaps in New Jersey, to use Donald Trump’s reference ) talk about the need for diet and exercise. It’s hard to listen to it with a straight face, because they’re only speaking from bad experience. Sort of like hearing a parent tell their kids not to do exactly what they did when they were the exact same sage. Like staying out late, eating too much junk food, playing video games, etc.

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Source: The Democratic Underground– The King of debt Donald Trump

When I want to hear advice, I want to hear advice from someone who knows what they’re talking about. I know, that sounds crazy and perhaps next you might say that I would only jump out of an airplane with a parachute or when I’m completely drunk, but I want to hear advice from people who know what they’re doing. Who can say, “you should look at doing this, because this is what I did and it worked out very well from me.” Instead of someone saying, “don’t screw up like me. Trust me, it doesn’t work because that’s exactly what I did. ”

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Source: The Nation Magazine– Vice President Mike Pence & The House GOP Leadership- Fiscal responsibility, LOL!

The Republican Party, is no more the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, as they’re the party of individual freedom and federalism. They believe in freedom for the individual, if that person lives like them and shares their same cultural and religious values. They’re the party of federalism, if states and localities are doing exactly what they want them to do. This case with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and immigration, with so-called sanctuary cities is a great example of that. Marijuana where the Trump Administration, wants to interfere with state marijuana laws and say that the states can’t have their own marijuana laws, is another example of that.

And perhaps more important than anything else because it affects our economy with things like interest rates and banking, the Republican Party is the party of fiscal responsibility, only when Democrats are in power and deficits are high. Once Republicans retake the White House again and have a Republican Congress as well, they act like fiscal responsibility is something they’ve never heard of. Or deficits and debt are no longer major concerns, because they’re back in power and know how to manage those things. Or as Vice President Dick Cheney said back in 2003 on Meet The Press, “deficits don’t matter.” Or as Donald Trump has said, he’s the king of debt and knows how to manage it.

This Republican Congress hasn’t done much in how the year in a half that they’ve been in power. But they did manage to pass three big spending bill with big spending being the two key words. I guess Republican would be another key word as well, but they passed a gigantic federal budget, a gigantic spending bill with both of those bills only making the most obese person in the world happy with how they big and porky they are. With Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration essentially saying that, “why should we be worried about the national debt and deficit, when we’re not going to be the people who have to pay for it?” And of course the so-called tax reform bill, which is another way of saying borrow two-trillion-dollars to pay for tax cuts, so we can tell the Republican voters that we actually did something while we’re in power.

Vice President Joe Biden, back in 2010 while he was campaigning for Congressional Democrats on the campaign trail, said in a speech, “that this is not your father’s GOP.” Meaning this is not the same Republican Party that he worked with in Congress as a Senator for 36 years, or the party he saw while growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. The Republican Party today is not even the Republican Party of 2010, 2011, 2012, that actually believed in fiscal responsibility. They’re now the Donald Republican reality TV show party that only seems to be in the business of trying to stay in power. Where the only principal is winning elections and defeating Democrats. And as a result they by themselves are killing fiscal conservatism and fiscal responsibility. Which is a shame, because it means that everyone else gets to pay for borrow and spend big government.

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Vanity Fair: Nick Bolton Interviewing Amanda Carpenter- The Conservative Case Against Donald Trump

Posted on June 1, 2018 by kireschneider
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Source: Vanity Fair– President Donald Trump, 45th POTUS 

Source: The New Democrat

The conservative case against Donald Trump is pretty clear I believe as a non-Conservative, but the conservative case against Donald Trump might not be the Republican case against him or even a Republican case against him. As Amanda Carpenter ( CNN conservative political analyst ) would agree with me here, Conservative and Republican aren’t the same things. What Republican Party was at least pre-Trump was, was a vehicle to promote conservative values and policies.

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Source: Harper Collins– Amanda Carpenter’s, conservative case against Donald Trump 

Source: Harper Collins- Amanda Carpenter’s, conservative case against Donald Trump
But not all Republicans are Conservatives ( Donald Trump for example ) and believe in the same things. And as Amanda Carpenter would also agree she’s a Conservative first and a Republican second. Just like I’m a Liberal first and at best now an Independent-Democrat second. I’m not a big fan of the Democratic Party right now, which is the subject for perhaps a future blog article.

A Conservative to me at least in the political sense, is someone who believes in the U.S. Constitution and bases their politics around that and sees it as their job to conserve the Constitution and our individual rights and freedom. And not just some of them and try to pretend others don’t exist or are not important.

A Conservative is someone who believes in a strong national defense but is conservative in how to use it and bases their national security policy on what’s best for America and our allies. Not looking to invade countries simply because they have a bad authoritarian government and are bad to their people. ( Like the 2003 Iraq War ) Who believes in economic freedom, property rights, low taxation and regulation, fiscal responsibility, federalism which is a way of saying that government closest to home is the best government once you move out of national security and foreign affairs.

Donald Trump is pretty much the opposite of all of those things. He wants a large national defense and for us to spend a lot of money on it as a country, but isn’t very clear in when we should use it when we’re not under attack. Ran as a Nationalist in 2016 but hit the Syrian Assad Regime with missile strikes last year and again this year, when they gassed their own people. Sure, he believes in lower taxes and regulations, but so does the furthest Left Republican in the entire country believes in low taxation and regulation across the board as well.

What Donald Trump represents and what goes against American conservatism, is this Joe McCarthy/George Wallace faction in American politics that claims to be the real Americans and everyone else are just foreigners or traitors, or the Un-Americans, not deserving of the same rights and respect as their tribe. He represents nationalist-tribalism in America and in some cases racism and racists, as well as ethnic bigots and bigotry. He at the very least represents the people who hold racist and other bigoted views towards certain ethnic groups in America like Jewish-American. Whether he’s personally a racist or bigot himself, is the topic of a different debate. But those are the people he represents.

What Donald Trump is, is the anti-Conservative Republican President of the United States. Who sees his job as to protect himself and and his political interests. Even if it means doing things that aren’t conservative. Like attacking the American intelligence community and our law enforcement. Or attacking military veterans and their families simply because they don’t support him. Pardoning people who’ve already have admitted to committing the crimes that they were charged with, which is the latest examples with his pardons yesterday.

If President Trump thinks it will benefit him politically and personally, he’ll do it whether it’s conservative, progressive, nationalist, authoritarian, or anything else. He’s not just a political opportunist, but the most successful political opportunist that we’ve ever seen in this country which makes him very dangerous. A man without a core and center, is a man that can always be exposed, because he has nothing protecting and guiding him other than his short-term political and personal interests. Which is what you get with President Donald Trump.

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Source: Albur Tube: CNN Tonight- Don Lemon Interviewing Amanda Carpenter: Gaslighting– Amanda Carpenter, talking about her new book 

 

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Reason Magazine: Nick Gillespie Interviewing Nadine Strossen- ‘Fight Hate Speech With More Speech, Not Censorship’

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Ederik Schneider
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Source: Reason Magazine– Author Nadine Strossen

Source: The New Democrat 

“Reason’s Nick Gillespie talks to former president of the ACLU Nadine Strossen about the importance of free speech.”

From Reason Magazine

To paraphrase USA Today political columnist and CNN political analyst Kirsten Powers, I’m a free speech nut. Meaning I don’t put many limits on what free Americans can say about anything in America or anywhere else. Other than what Nadine Strossen said in this interview where she says you can’t incite violence and call for harm against personal property and individuals. You can’t falsely accuse someone without consequences. You can’t harass someone and leave horrible messages on their phone without consequences, or get in their face after the individual made it clear to you that they don’t want to talk to you and have already moved to get away from you. You’re free to yell at that person as they move away from you, but you can’t try to force anyone to listen to what you have to say about them or anyone else.

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Source: Oxford University Press– Good book

But when you live in a liberal democracy and you know what liberal democracy is actually about, you know you’re going to be living in a country where some people there at least aren’t very bright. Perhaps they flunked out of junior high, perhaps they’re one beer short of a keg, got kicked out of every mental institution that tried to help them or simply simply escaped from every mental institution known to man. They’re people out there that are simply stupid or crazy, or a combination of those things and view some humans as animals that deserved to be treated as such. Or that women should be slaves to men, at least Caucasian men. Or gays are really just mental patients, or perhaps don’t even deserve to be alive. You’re going to be sharing a free society with people who believe that only they the hateful nuts, deserve to live in freedom.

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Source: Deposit Photos– Damn right!

Americans simply have the right to make assholes out of themselves, except for the exceptions I’ve already laid out and when you live in a country of 320 million people you’re going to have a lot of assholes. Especially when that country is a liberal democracy and broader free society. The way you combat hate speech is the same way you combat ignorance which is through education. You teach the ignorant or at least try to and explain why the asshole is an asshole and has views that could have only been dreamed up in the greatest pot fantasy in the history of the universe. And is so out-of-touch with reality that they live in a different universe mentally.

I’m in the camp that I’ll fight to death every American’s right to free speech even if I disagree with it and will fight to the death to preserve some asshole’s right to free speech, because I don’t want some other asshole ( especially elected assholes ) trying to shut me up either civilly or through government force when I say something that may tend to offend someone else. Once you pass laws that offensive speech is now illegal, you’ve just created a new highway of potential new offensive speech laws that now anyone could create or use to fight free speech that they disagree with. Which could include laws passed against racial and ethnic minorities when they say offensive things and do offensive things against majorities in America. Which is something the so-called political correctness warriors on the Far-Left haven’t thought through or even considered which is political correctness laws could be used against them. Free speech and education, are always the answers to ignorance.

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The Economist: Liberalism- Where Did it Come From and Are its Days Numbered?

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Erik Schneider
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Source: The Economist– Lady Liberty!

Source: The New Democrat

On this overcast, ugly, cool Memorial Day in the nations capital just outside of Washington, I thought as we celebrate as a country the lives of the people who died for our freedom, I would explain how we got that freedom as a country and the philosophy that our freedom and individual rights is based on. Whether you want to call it classical liberalism or as I prefer just liberalism, liberalism is what our individual freedom and individual rights are actually based on. No other political philosophy has given us that. As well to speak to The Economist piece, do I believe liberalism is in trouble in America and around the world or not.

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Source: Tedfri Teff– Good definition of liberal democracy

Liberalism is based off of liberal democracy and the principles of what’s called classical liberalism. Representative democracy where the people elect their leaders and politicians. But what also comes with liberal democracy is individual rights and things like separation of powers. A free press for example so government can’t control both their own operations and enforcement, as well as the information that the people receive in the country. As well as free speech for individuals so people aren’t arrested or detained simply for disagreeing with the government or anyone else. And that right to express themselves so long as they aren’t falsely accusing, harassing people, or inciting violence. And that even covers offensive and hate speech. ( Sorry, political correctness warriors )

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Source: My English Teacher– Good definition of Liberal

But not just a constitutional right to free speech which is a liberal right to free speech which covers a lot of ground, but individual rights, freedom, self-determination in general, that comes with limited government with again separation of powers, as well as the rule of law. People have the freedom over their own lives in a liberal democracy, but not the freedom to take someone else’s freedom away from them, especially the right to life ( another liberal individual right ) unless it’s in self defense. Our Founding Fathers ( our Founding Liberals ) didn’t create America because they wanted to bring the British authoritarian monarchy here, but because they wanted to get away from it and create a liberal free society based off of self-determination, individual rights, and limited government.

Do I believe liberalism is in trouble in America and around the world? Yes, but because you have two competing authoritarian populist factions that don’t believe in freedom and see it as dangerous. The Nationalists on the Far-Right, who don’t believe in immigration, integration, multiculturalism, the rule of law, a free press, would like to see views that are critical of them be outlawed and the people who express those views be jailed. We see this with the Donald Trump movement in America, but also with Nigel Farage Nationalists in Britain.

And we see it with young people in America and in Europe on the Far-Left. Who have more respect for Karl Marx and Che Guevara and see Communists and Socialists as their pop culture icons as well as ideological heroes. And look down at people like Jack Kennedy, Tom Jefferson, and other Liberals who gave us our liberal democracy and freedom. They see Liberals as corrupt and bigoted, but Communists as great people who should be celebrated. it’s not just the Bernie Sanders social democratic wing ( or Democratic Socialists ) that young people in America and in Europe are in love with ideologically and culturally, but authoritarians who are even further left of the Democratic Socialists in America and in Europe.

As long as you have these two growing political factions in America and in Europe, that see political diversity as a dangerous thing and that the other side aren’t just political opponents, but enemies, with both major political parties in America expecting their political party to nominate someone from their fringe wing or they won’t bother voting in the general election, liberalism and liberal democracy will be in danger in America. You’ll always have a President who believes that anything critical of him should be punished and not allowed to get out in the public, especially if it’s true. And an opposition party that believes they should not only defeat the party in power, but replace it with their own fringe and replace the Nationalists with Socialists and Communists, the people who believe in liberal democracy and freedom in general, will suffer.

The Economist: Liberalism- Where Did it Come From and Are Its Days Numbered

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Notes on Liberty: Bruno Gonclaves: ‘Communism/Socialism is Rubbish- Both in Practice & In Theory’

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Rik Schneider
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Source: Slide Player– Communism & Socialism

“I’m getting tired of reading and listening to so-called libertarian or conservative people saying that “in theory socialism is beautiful.” No, it’s not. In theory, socialism can be summed up as “the end of private property.” This is how Karl Marx summed it up. The genius of Ludwig von Mises is precisely in the fact that he did not have to wait until 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, to realize that this does not make sense. When the Soviet Union was still a young country sweeping intellectuals around the world, von Mises made the following remark: without private property, there is no supply and demand. Without supply and demand, there is no price formation. Without prices the economic calculation is impossible. And that is precisely what happened in the USSR and happens in countries that follow the path of socialism: without the compass of free market prices, governors can not make decisions about allocating resources. Socialism is the death of rationality in economics. Socialism is rubbish in practice because before that it’s rubbish in theory. Please stop talking nonsense. The free market, on the other hand, is beautiful in practice because first of all, it is beautiful in theory.”

Source:Notes on Liberty

“Karl Marx remains deeply important today not as the man who told us what to replace capitalism with, but as someone who brilliantly pointed out certain of its problems. The School of Life, a pro-Capitalist institution, takes a look…

POLITICAL THEORY - Karl Marx

Source:The School of Life– Socialist hero Karl Marx.

From The School of Life

Before someone argues that of course socialism works, just look at Britain, France, Scandinavia, and perhaps Europe in general, this is not about socialism at least in the democratic sense. This is about communism, which is different and is the authoritarian wing of socialism.

Every social democratic or democratic socialist country in the world, has a capitalist economic system. Their capitalist system is just different than America’s and even Canada’s and even Germany’s. And socialism along with communism, aren’t just economic theories and systems, but political ideologies and governmental systems as well.

Europe with their social democratic/democratic socialist economies as well as forms of government, of course look different from America, which is a liberal democratic federal government, with governmental power is spread out and where individualism is rampant and encouraged.

People on the Far-Left everywhere and not just in America, argue that we don’t know if communism and socialism have failed or not, because they’re never in accurately put into practice. But we know that is simply not true. We know that social democracy/democratic socialism, have been put into practice and we know the results from that economic system and form of government. And we know that communism has been put into practice and the results of that economic system and form of government.

How do we know how socialism and communism work? Because the people who advocate for communism are actually talking about Europe and other social democratic countries around the world like Japan, Australia, Canada. That wealth should be highly taxed and spread out. That no one should have to go without the basic necessities of life regardless of their education and production levels. That you should have a big centralized welfare state to provide people with the insurances that they need to live well. That is the economic system of Western Europe, Canada, and Australia, Japan as well.

What Communists do is make the same arguments that Democratic Socialists do, but take it further on both economics and expand their ideology to how government should operate and the role of state and and people in society. That the state should be put in charge of the people to serve the people on their behalf and meet everyone’s needs for them. That people sacrifice choice and freedom, for economic and physical security. And as long as everyone cooperates and doesn’t oppose the state, they would live in prosperity. T

Communists always promise that communism and the contract that Communists propose when they run for office. Whether they officially label themselves as Communists like in Cuba, or are dishonest with their ideologically and govern as closeted Communists, like what we see in Venezuela. Where the party in power there is actually called the Socialist Party, but they effectively at least govern as Cuban Communists. With a little more media, opposition, and freedom for the people.

Why Communism fails is because people, human beings in general tend to want freedom and be able to make their own decisions and self-determination. Wherever they live in the world, at least when they’re being honest. And that includes the social democratic/democratic socialist countries of Europe ( with the key word being democratic ) and when you take that freedom away and you take competition away, you also take away individualism and creativity, the incentive for people to improve and be productive, because they’ve been promised that whatever happens with them and however they perform in life at whatever they do, that big government no matter what will always be there to take care of them.

People all over the world tend to operate from fear: that if they don’t succeed and do well in life, bad things will happen to them that government won’t be able to bail them out and make it all better again for them. Which tends to be all the incentive that most people need to succeed and be productive in life. Because people tend not to want to live on Welfare and be able to do well in life so they don’t need Welfare to support themselves.

In a communist system and I would argue at least even in a democratic socialist system, that fear is taken away. Because social welfare benefits from those countries at least in those developed countries, are so generous, that people know if they fail, they’ll always have big government there to bail them out. With our more liberal capitalist economic system, we don’t have that generous taxpayer funded insurance system to ball us out when we fall on hard times or even fail. Which gives us all the incentive in the world to succeed in life.

Seriously, if you don’t believe communism is a failure both as an economic and governmental system, spend some time in Cuba or North Korea. People don’t flea from countries that are doing well and are prosperous. And take long dangerous boat rides from Cuba to Florida, to escape the authoritarianism of Cuba and try to live in freedom of America.

Americans don’t escape America to go live in Cuba or China, because they can’t handle personal decision-making anymore and want to go live on Welfare in Cuba, the Communist Republic of Korea, ( which is actually North Korea really is ) or China. During the height of the Cold War, about half of the world live under one authoritarian government or another, including Europe. Now most of the world especially in the West, no longer lives under communism or another form of authoritarianism.

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Marmar: Jane Fonda- 1976 Interview

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Derik Schneider
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Source: Marmar– Hollywood Goddess Jane Fonda, in 1976 

Source:The New Democrat

You can’t sum Jane Fonda up as a Hollywood actress or a left-wing ( to be kind ) political activist. She’s both of those things. She’s one of the best actresses of her generation at least and I would put her in the top of her generation with women like Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, and many others. But she’s also one of the most famous political activists ever and one of those people from the New-Left ( socialist movement of the late 60s and 1970s ) who actually survived that period and went on to have a very successful life. Not ending up in prison doing long stretches because she attempted to rob a bank and give all that money to poor people or blow up a bank.

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Source: Phil Roach– Hollywood Goddess Jane Fonda, in 1976

Things that The Weather Underground and Students For a Democratic Society, the Symbionese Liberation Army, did. She managed to stay away political criminal activity and instead just use her free speech rights to express her own political views and campaign for people who think like her and want the same things in society. And whatever you think of her politics and I’m not a fan of her Far-Left socialist politics, I believe in free speech that free speech applies to everyone including to radical on the Far-Left and radicals on the Far-Right. One of my core beliefs as a Liberal.

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Source: Rolling Stone– Left-Wing political activist, Jane Fonda

That free speech isn’t just for centrists who don’t know what they believe, or Center-Right Conservatives or Center-Left Liberals. But when I think of Jane Fonda, I prefer to look at her as the great Hollywood actress that she’s always been really since the late 1950s or early 1960s. And not as someone who has argued that America are the real murderers, the real evil empire. And that we’re not just a racist, selfish society.

Marmar: Jane Fonda- 1976 Interview

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The New Yorker: Will Storr: ‘How Millennials Became The Selfie Generation’

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Erik Schneider
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Source: The New Yorker– Narcissism on display

Source: The New Democrat

“We look at how society became fascinated with its own image, and try to find the truth behind selfie-taking. How Millennials Became the Selfie Generation | Annals of Obsession”

From The New Yorker

Just on a personal I note: I’m really glad I went to and graduated high school in the early and mid 1990s and not today with the personality I have then and now. Going to high school today must feel like you’re on a reality TV or daytime talk show or something. With practically every teenager in school feeling the need to talk, look, and act like they’re favorite celebrity that they saw or read about online the previous night. Social media narcissism and faddism is in and individualism is dying with the Millennials and we’ll see what Generation Z is like when they’re out of high school and college as well.

Selfies similar to coffee house cups and smartphones, are props. People use them to tell everyone else that they’re up to date and in style with whoever is cool or awesome at the time. And I’m willing to bet a lot of times when you see someone walking doing a street or out of a building looking down at their phone and holding a coffee house cup, the cup is probably empty and they’re just looking at their phone. And that draw dropping OMG expression that you see, is just that. But there probably isn’t actually anything extraordinary going on with that person at that time because again they’re just looking at their phone because they want people to think they’re just as cool or awesome and in as the people that see them.

Well, selfies are props as well for people who feel the need to be seen doing whatever they’re doing that day and being at whatever the trendy place is and that place will probably be a coffee house or some trendy cafe and they’ll feel the need to get those pics up on Facebook ( or whatever they’re favorite social network is ) almost as soon as their pics are taken. The need to feel cool by the people they believe are cool and who they want to be seen with. Faddism is in with young adults today and the need to be seen like their favorite celebrities and individualism and risk in life is out. Because if people act like themselves the person they talk to in their head and see in the mirror when they’re just being them self in private, they’re worried that person might not be seen as cool with the in crowd.

I’m all in favor of self-esteem and people feeling good about themselves, as long as it’s deserved. When someone fails at something whether it’s in school or at work, the first reaction shouldn’t be it will get get better. Doesn’t mean it won’t get better, but that shouldn’t be the automatic first reaction. The first reaction should be a self-examination and be a question which is why did you fail. Failing and screwing up should be opportunities for self-improvement. “This is why I failed and this is what I can do to prevent future failures and be successful in the future.” Instead of, “that is just a onetime thing and it will automatically get better in the future.” Because if you don’t fix what went wrong the last time, it won’t get better until you do.

Self-esteem, the so-called self-esteem movement of the 1990s, was the start of the rise of narcissism in America. With people feeling the need to be seen and be seen being cool and hanging out with cool people and feeling like if something went wrong in their life it wasn’t because of them and it wasn’t a personal failure on their part. And we see that with selfies today with people feeling the need to be liked and popular and be told they’re great, oh I’m sorry awesome and doing awesome things and being around awesome people and feeling the need to be associated with whatever the popular trend is. And the internet and social media today have just taken those issues in American culture to extreme levels, along with celebrity culture and how important that seems to be with so many Americans.

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Mariah Riley: ’48 Hours Mystery-Vanity Fair Hollywood Scandal- Natalie Wood’

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Ederik Schneider
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Source: Mariah Riley– Natalie Wood & Robert Wagner 

Source: The New Democrat 

“48 Hours Mystery – Vanity Fair Hollywood Scandal – Natalie Wood”

From Mariah Riley

I don’t see much of a mystery here and certainly no foul play, at least no evidence of any foul play. We know that Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, had a fight about Christopher Walken on their boat the night that Natalie drowned, but then they separated and went to different rooms on the boat. And Natalie for some reason by herself goes up on deck on their boat. We also know that they were both drunk and that Natalie not only couldn’t swim, but was scared of water and didn’t want to be in it.

So that might pose the question what was she doing up there and did someone force her to go up there. The problem with that is that she was drunk. Not that I know this from personal experience having never been drunk in my life, but from what I’ve seen with intoxication is that people don’t think as well when they’re drunk, as when they’re sober. When you’re drunk you just lost some braincells and the consequence of that is that you’re not as sharp and aware of what’s going on around you and you also don’t have complete control of your movements.

You do and say silly things and perhaps eve stupid things when you’re drunk. Walking around on the deck of a boat on a cold November evening even in Catalina California and getting close to the freezing water, would qualify as stupid. Especially in the dark and being there all by yourself. Especially when you can’t swim and are afraid of the water, at least when you’re sober.

This wasn’t suicide or murder, but a woman who accidentally killed herself. Similar to a driver losing control of their car and being the only person in their car and crashing the car and dying instantly with no one else being there during the crash. Which happens with drunk driving accidents. This to me looks like a self-drowning accident. Perhaps the deck of the boat was wet and she was too close to the edge. Maybe she saw something and reached over to try to pick it up and lost control and fell in the water. With the other passengers on the boat away from her and no aware of what’s going on.

I’m going off the available evidence that has been made public about this case that is now over 36 years old in late 1981. If someone wants me to believe something else, show me some actual evidence. Not a conspiracy theory and arguing well this happen or that happen and Robert Wagner really didn’t love his wife and was jealous and saw this way to get back at Natalie because of her affection for Chris Walken. Even if that were true that still doesn’t put Wagner with Natalie when she died or right before she died. Instead all you have is a decent fictional mystery story. Perhaps a tabloid story but nothing with anyway real evidence to it.

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