Request for Comment

[Zoom-boing]

I'd like everybody on this message board to write and post two essays. The basis for both would be "What if I were to travel 200 years into the future", but the difference between the two are:

Essay 1: "What if I were to travel 200 years into the future, and found that the liberals had overwhelmingly won the political control of the world a hundred and fifty year before. This is what the world would be like:"

Essay 2: "What if I were to travel 200 years into the future, and found that the conservatives had overwhelmingly won the political control of the world a hundred and fifty year before. This is what the world would be like:"

Without nit-picking about how I phrased the above, (you know what I mean), I'd really like to know what you all think is the ultimate end goals of the two strains of political thought.

Liberals- No Posting the lyrics from John Lennons 'Imagine'!

A good rep to the best post!

Well, this is just about the silliest request. Essays on what the world will be like in 200 years? Pfffft, we all know the world is going to end in 2012, so what's the point? Go eat some chocolate.

SEE!!!

You're gonna give her 7 rep points for that crap and completely ignore my essay???



I'm tellin' my MOM!

Crap? You gotta pay the bucks for the good chocolate, it's sooo worth it. Ashers anyone? (we have an Ashers outlet not too far from us . . . . oohhh, sweet!)

 

[Samson]

Well, this is just about the silliest request. Essays on what the world will be like in 200 years? Pfffft, we all know the world is going to end in 2012, so what's the point? Go eat some chocolate.

SEE!!!

You're gonna give her 7 rep points for that crap and completely ignore my essay???



I'm tellin' my MOM!

Crap? You gotta pay the bucks for the good chocolate, it's sooo worth it. Ashers anyone? (we have an Ashers outlet not too far from us . . . . oohhh, sweet!)

BRIBING THE JUDGE!!!!

You must be a Republican!!!

I'm goin' straight to the Principal!!

 

[Zoom-boing]

SEE!!!

You're gonna give her 7 rep points for that crap and completely ignore my essay???



I'm tellin' my MOM!

Crap? You gotta pay the bucks for the good chocolate, it's sooo worth it. Ashers anyone? (we have an Ashers outlet not too far from us . . . . oohhh, sweet!)

BRIBING THE JUDGE!!!!

You must be a Republican!!!

I'm goin' straight to the Principal!!

Here, this will help calm ya down. It's dark chocolate (what?? Am not a racist!)

 

[Samson]

Crap? You gotta pay the bucks for the good chocolate, it's sooo worth it. Ashers anyone? (we have an Ashers outlet not too far from us . . . . oohhh, sweet!)

BRIBING THE JUDGE!!!!

You must be a Republican!!!

I'm goin' straight to the Principal!!

Here, this will help calm ya down. It's dark chocolate (what?? Am not a racist!)

AHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh...........Oh yeah..........OH BAYBEE...........OOOOOOO!!!........ahhh

Identical improvements on the mood construct "energetic arousal" and cognitive function were found for cocoa powder and the caffeine+theobromine combination versus placebo

 

[SFC Ollie]

Got mine.

This thread's a total rip-off.

Hey with those 6 points and $5 I can go get a cup of coffee.

 

[midcan5]

"Out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made nothing entirely straight can be built." Kant

Full disclosure, biases and assumptions: I am a dyed in wool liberal, aspects of conservatism are part of all of us, on the other hand, social or political conservatism are primarily reactionary and historically, no one can be a conservative forever as time and issues change or they'd still be living in caves, that is if they got that far. Liberalism for me on the other hand is about doing what is best in the here and now, while still allowing individuals the freedom to lead their lives as fully as possible. It is an open ended social and political philosophy with individuals responsible for a just and civil world. But therein lies its problems too.

Essay 2: "What if I were to travel 200 years into the future, and found that the conservatives had overwhelmingly won the political control of the world a hundred and fifty year before. This is what the world would be like:"

Both of these examples have precedent so the task isn't hard, it is more a matter of selecting historical periods, classes, policies, people, and cultural environment.

If conservatives ruled the world, you have a country that was more third world than America or especially Europe are today. After Reagan and Bush the gap between rich and poor increased. Poverty increased and wages decreased. Worker rights would also be removed in place of corporate or business rights. Class or hierarchy would be a dominant meme. America in the twenties, America in the eighties, these are our starting views. Laissez-faire economics and the ascendancy of the individual who operates outside a matrix of societal constraints. Also outside a concern and responsibility toward the society that feeds them. The world would look like it does to a upper middle class conservative today. Privilege misses reality and assumes its position was earned or they are entitled to it. America in the fifties maybe, as the hidden issues of minority rights, poverty, and women's rights hide their ugly heads till the sixties exploded and said something's wrong here.

The conservative world is much easier to foreseen as we have modern examples even though the examples testify to a breakdown rather than a consistency. Clinton and Bush through deregulation and a 'come and get it money attitude' nearly brought down the entire economy. Remember though this is the American conservative. It is person brought up mostly on revisionist history and worship of money and markets. http://www.usmessageboard.com/economy/50564-libertarianism-in-a-nutshell-ii.html Would this last? Depends on how far that separation went.

Essay 1: "What if I were to travel 200 years into the future, and found that the liberals had overwhelmingly won the political control of the world a hundred and fifty year before. This is what the world would be like:"

The liberal world exists today - for the most part. The liberal already exists in western Europe and in the US, especially in the New England sections of America. (The conservative world exists more strongly in the South.) Consider society after FDR and LBJ, while lots of endeavors failed, many worked are now considered part of our world. Even the tea party recognizes SS and Medicare as required. While I have not traveled greatly in Europe I see it as a kind of liberal success. Obviously they need to control spending and entitlements, but they seem to be grounded in what can be done and not just a materialist universe that is shown and propagated daily on American TV. They actually take vacations. (This liberal has too and even if just camping, it is food for the soul.) We need to step back from a money and sports worship to a simpler life. Don't ask me how we get there, that part is hard when keeping up with the Jones is the America goal. So America then would look more like Massachusetts or Vermont, only even nicer if we were all liberals. LOL

PS left out is environmental, medical, religious, and technological effects of progress. These too complicate a simple reply.


Worth a read if you are interested in modern history and ideas, how we got here. Check out used as they are often cheap a good source for your library. Alibris as source too.


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Dream-Narrative-History-1932-1972/dp/0553345893/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_9]Amazon.com: The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972 (9780553345896): William Manchester: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Mind-Intellectual-History-Century/dp/0060084383/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century (9780060084387): Peter Watson: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-late-Isaiah-Berlin/dp/019924989X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Liberty (9780199249893): the late Isaiah Berlin, Henry Hardy: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-New-Deal-Introductions/dp/0195326342/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (9780195326345): Eric Rauchway: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/United-States-since-World-Since/dp/0521677556/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The United States since 1980 (The World Since 1980) (9780521677554): Dean Baker: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Joyless-Economy-Psychology-Human-Satisfaction/dp/0195073479/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Joyless Economy: The Psychology of Human Satisfaction (9780195073478): Tibor Scitovsky: Books[/ame]



"I would say quite seriously, that I am a socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture." Daniel Bell