Regarding, the subject of political and corporate 'lobbyist narcissism' and unethical lobbyist malpractices...
If there are 'corporate lobbyists' hanging around heads of pertinent government departments -- or 'power politicians' even above heads of government departments -- and 'contracts' or 'drug approvals' are at stake worth millions or even billions of dollars...and 'money' is either directly or indirectly (through 'political contributions') passing hands from 'private corporations' to 'government officials'...
then we all know that this is 'blatant conflict of interest', violating 'private competition laws'....and a form of direct or indirect bribery which obviously is illegal -- or should be.
However, like the 'back of the food package', often if not usually, we would just as soon not 'read or hear what we do not want to read or hear'....and when we read or hear these political-corporate scandals coming out in the daily news, we deem ourselves to be more or less 'helpless' on these matters, and eventually just let the whole scandal slide....which is what the accused and/or guilty politicians want us to do...
Meanwhile, the lost government money goes out the back door, or into the hands of some fired government official who walks away with a multi-hundred thousand dollar 'separation agreement', and to compensate for all the lost money, government just raises our taxes in the next budget meeting -- for example turning our 'Goods and Services Tax (GST)' into a more lucrative, all-encompassing, and hard-hitting 'Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)'....See, even the name of this new tax sounds nice and 'harmonious'...like the front of the package that says: 'No Trans Fats!'...
Every prime minister-to-be, or president-to-be has the greatest ideals for 'cleaning up government conflict of issue problems'...until they actually get into power...and then their 'ethical clean up program' seems to get swallowed up by the gigantic 'Government Establishment Whale'... Personally, I would create a whole system of new taxes geared towards reducing government and corporate corruption...
A brand new network of 'EHTs -- Ethical Harmony Taxes' such as: 1. The 'GOT' (as in 'GOT CAUGHT!') -- i.e., The 'Government Overspending Tax' -- this would be a 13 per cent 'Ethical Harmony Tax' applied to the personal income tax of any government official convicted of having a 'lavish and grossly inappropriate personal/government expense account' in any particular budget year. 2. The 'UGLYT' -- i.e., The 'Unethical Government Lobbyism Yearning Tax' -- this tax could be applied to either government officials and/or private corporate lobbyists who are convicted of any type of unethical government lobbyism malpractice -- such as:
Brian Mulroney and the 'suitcase full of money' episode with the German arms dealer.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/francis/archive/2007/11/19/brian-mulroney-stevie-cameron-and-sleaze.aspx
At the very least, the Government of Canada could have hit Mulroney with the UGLY Tax -- a 13 per cent surcharge on his personal income tax plus another 13 per cent corporate tax on any company owned by Mulroney or anyone else associated with this debacle (we would hope that, in this case, the German arms dealer would have been banned from any further business dealings with The Government of Canada... however, I doubt it......this might be partly laughable but at the very least, any 'contract chaser' inside or outside Canada convicted of UGLY (Unethical Government Lobbyism Yearning) would be hit with a 13 per cent 'EHCT'' (Ethical Harmony Contract Tax) on any further government contract dealings, as well as an additional 13 per cent corporate surcharge tax, and a personal income tax surcharge for the particular convicted lobbyist and the owners and/or shareholders of the company the lobbyist is working for. It could be applied to anyone 'reasonably assumed to knowing what shenanigans were going on'.
In Ontario here, there was the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Scandal in which the terminated CEO, Kelly McDougald walked away with a$750,000 termination settlement...
http://blog.toronto-employmentlawyer.com/toronto_employment_lawyer/2009/12/ex-olg-exec-gets-750000-wrongful-dismissal-settlement.html
And there was the EHealth Scandal which the auditor said was a '1 billion dollar waste'...
His report says the board of directors at eHealth Ontario felt it had little power over CEO Sarah Kramer because she had been hired by chair Alan Hudson "with the support of the premier." That, McCarter said, gave Kramer the impression she had approval to ignore normal procurement procedures.
It was revealed late Tuesday that Health Minister David Caplan resigned because of the report.
Just minutes after the release of the report, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews would take over the health portfolio.
Too much power in too few hands
McCarter's probe, which went back to 2000, criticized unnamed consulting companies for driving up each other's fees to artificially create a higher rate for their services and putting too much power in too few hands in awarding of contracts.
In his report, the auditor general also slammed unnamed officials at the Ministry of Health for thwarting his efforts to get investigators into the ministry for a routine audit in the summer of 2008. In the end, the audit didn't happen until February 2009.
McGuinty has since announced new rules to keep a closer eye on the expenses of about 300 top executives at 22 of Ontario's 615 arm's-length agencies, boards and commissions by having them approved by the province's integrity commissioner.
EHealth was set up in 2008 to create electronic health records after Smart Systems for Health spent $650 million but failed to produce anything of lasting value.
Smart Systems for Health was quietly shut down last September.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/10/07/ehealth-auditor.html#ixzz0jZX5E7cj
Sarah Kramer walked away with, I believe, around a $300,000 termination settlement...Meanwhile here was what was said about her 'government performance as former CEO for The EHealth Department...
Kramer's $114,000 bonus was double eHealth's allowable rate
Cancer Care Ontario CEO says no one there was getting such bonuses
Last Updated: Friday, June 5, 2009 | 2:26 PM ET
CBC News
EHealth Ontario CEO Sarah Kramer's six-figure bonus was double the maximum rate allowed at the Crown-owned agency, a spokeswoman for the organization has confirmed.
EHealth Ontario first came under scrutiny last week for nearly $5 million doled out in untendered contracts, with more than half questioned over personal ties to company executives. (CBC)
In early March, four months after Kramer started her post at the newly created agency, its board of directors approved a $114,000 bonus, on top of her $380,000 salary.
Under eHealth's regulations, however, executives are permitted to receive a bonus ranging from zero to 15 per cent of their salary, spokeswoman Deanna Allen told CBC News.
Fifteen per cent would amount to $57,000 under Kramer's current salary. However, she received a bonus worth 30 per cent.
Asked by CBC News whether she had an explanation for why Kramer's bonus was double the highest allowable rate, Allen responded, "No, I don't."
The letter notifying Kramer of her approved bonus was signed by Dr. Alan Hudson, chairman of the board of directors and the former head of Cancer Care.
Hudson and Kramer have been under fire since late last week for awarding more than $5.5 million in untendered contracts, more than half of which have raised questions about personal connections to the vendors.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/04/ehealth-ontario-cancer-care-bonus-kramer.html#ixzz0jZXobnoq
So who is paying for all of this overspent Ontario government money? The new 'Harmony Sales Tax' start on July 1st, 2010.
I think my 'EHT' and/or 'EHCT' ideas would have been, and still would be, much more appropriately suited here...There are a lot of potential 'ethical culprits' who could have, and should have, been taxed a new 'Ethical Harmony' tax....Without the McGuinty Liberal Government having to turn in the direction he has always turned in since he took power -- by taxing the citizens of Ontario more for his government's ethical transgressions and indiscretions...
Everyone maligned in 'The Gomery Report' regarding 'The Liberal Adscam Scandal' could have been hit with the EHT (Ethical Harmony Tax) and/or the EHCT (Ethical Harmony Contract Tax). You see, in Canada, Liberals and Conservatives alike have both been found guilty of such 'Unethical Lobbyism Scandals' (ULS). One might almost be tempted to say that it is in 'the blood of many, if not most, seasoned politicians'...not to mention the corporate lobbyists that they deal with behind closed doors, in bars, in alleys, and in untaped phone conversations...As far away as they can reasonably get from the probing public eye and ear...This is called the 'narcissistic capitalist subversion of democracy'... AIG....banks, mortgage companies, insurance companies, stock trading companies...which brings me to another two proposed taxes associated with the newly proposed EHT network of taxes...
3. The 'UGCBT' -- The 'Unreasonable/Unethical Government/Corporate Bonus Tax' -- charged against any and/or all government and/or private, corporate executives charged with, and convicted of receiving 'unreasonable and/or unethical bonuses' for performances not rendered...and/or not appropriate to their job...Sarah Kramer, are you listening? AIG, are you listening?
4. The 'UCSCT' -- The 'Unreasonable/Unethical Corporate Service Charge Tax' -- applied to any corporations and/or associated executives and/or shareholders who are found guilty of charging private citizens and/or employees for 'service charges and/or administration charges where there is no service delivered or delivered sufficiently to warrant the service charge'... Banks would probably be the number one offender here...
5. The 'CGT' -- The 'Corporate-Customer Gouging Tax' -- applied to any corporations and/or associated executives and/or shareholders who are found guilty of overcharging private citizens and/or employees for goods and/or services rendered (or not rendered)...
6. The 'RCBWT' -- The 'Rollover Contract and/or Bank Withdrawal Tax' -- applied to any corporation and/or executives and/or shareholders who are found guilty of coercing/seducing/manipulating customers into signing 'rollover contract agreements' that allow the particular corporation to keep withdrawing money from the customer's bank account even after year end and/or without any overt and/or direct consent on the part of the customer to continue with the contract basically until the customer is dead...or rather, the bank account is dead...All 'rollover contracts', or 'multi-year' contracts in cases such as 'gym memberships' and 'cell phone contracts' should be illegal and/or failing that, also hit corporations and their executives and/or shareholders who indulge in such 'unethical profit gouging' practices with a 13 per cent personal and/or corporate RCBWT...
7. The 'CMMMCT' -- The 'Corporate Monopoly and/or Collusion Tax' -- should be applied to any corporation and/or its executives and/or shareholders who are found guilty of artificially raising consumer prices because it is a monopoly goods and/or service company, and/or because it has found a way to 'manipulate the market' to artificially raise prices, and/or because two or more companies have banded together and colluded, in effect, to create a 'non-competition monopoly' in order to artificially raise consumer prices...
Let us add one more final Ethical Harmony Tax before I sign off for today...
8. The 'GSOTT' -- The Government's (President's, Prime Minister's, Premier's, Mayor's...) Special Over-Taxing Tax' -- designed particular for any and/or all of those politicians held accountable for creating and passing into law the existence of a 'new citizen tax' -- such as the HST -- which is deemed inappropriate by a court of law based on the government's (President's, Prime Minister's, Premier's, Mayor's...) own accountability in the government's waste of taxpayers money relative to government overspending and/or lobbyist and/or bonus and/or expense account overspending scandals that should put the accountability for such overspending squarely back on the government's broad shoulders -- and any and/or all particular officials within the government who are dutifully (or non-dutifully) held accountable for such scandals -- through the administration of the GSOT on any and/or all of the accountable government officials on his or her: 1. personal income tax; 2. private expense accounts; 3. salary bonuses; and/or the elimination of all such future salary bonuses and/or expense accounts all together....
9. One more thing: A 'three strikes and you are out' policy where any and/or all politicians and/or corporations and/or corporation lobbyists who are convicted three times for 'overspending transgression's -- if they have not been let go already after the first or second transgression -- will be removed from all government jobs and/or government-corporate business transactions...forever...
That is about the limit of my political-corporate ethical imagination for today...
-- dgb, March 29th, 2010
-- David Gordon Bain
-- Dialectic Gap-Bridging Negotiations...
-- Are Still in Process...
-- Democracy Goes Beyond Narcissism....
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
10 tips to get out of debt
10 tips to get out of debt
by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, For CNBC
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Provided by
From the internet...
How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Renowned financial author and Til Debt Do Us part host Gail Vaz-Oxlade takes a tough-love approach to helping couples in a financial crisis to face reality. Here are Gail's top 10 tips to get out of debt..
Cut Your Credit Cards and Set A Budget
Every family that finds themselves in debt should cut up all their credit cards and live on a cash budget, keeping a log of each and every expenditure made. Use the following formula to set a budget. Keep in mind that the "life" category includes everything from groceries, to gadgets to entertainment. Housing: 35%, Debt: 15%, Life: 25%, Transportation, 15%, Savings 10%.
More from CNBC.com:
Top 10 Tips For Building Wealth
Biggest Types Of Personal Debt
Which Country Gets The Most Vacation Days?
Reduce Your Interest Rates
Reducing your interest cost is one way to fast track your way out of debt. Some people have interest rates as high as 30%. When they pay their monthly minimum, all they're doing is paying off interest rather than chipping away at the principal. By calling to negotiate with creditors, high interest rates can be brought down. If you call and a representative says they can't help you, ask to be connected to a supervisor until you get to someone with the authority to reduce your rates.
Bring In Extra Money
Do anything you can to bring in extra money to throw at your debt, even if you work a full time job. Consider overtime at work, dog walking, baby sitting, tutoring, or using any skill that's unique to you to bring home the bacon…some creative ideas we've seen on the show: web designing, party planning, teaching music lessons and much, much more!
Get Your Priorities Straight
When deciding how to tackle debt and putting a plan in place to save for the future, you have to consider all of your options. Ask yourself the tough questions and prioritize…if going to grad school is important, then maybe you can be a student but take on a part-time job. If having a child is important, do you need to take a full maternity leave? Should you consider buying a home - maybe renting is a smarter option? Make a list of things you want to do and discuss them thoroughly with your partner to help make the best decisions for you and your relationship.
Chip Away At The Debt
To reduce debt, make a list of every single debt that you have and rank them in order of the highest interest rate, not the highest balance. Pay off the highest interest rate card first. Every time you have extra money, throw it at the debt you've targeted until it's gone and then stop using that card! Reward yourself by making a checklist and crossing out the debt, you'll feel better as you start to see it disappear. When your debt is paid off, take the money you were allocating for debt repayment and put it towards savings.
Keep Things In Perspective
Getting out of debt isn't easy, but you have to remember that you cannot let debt consume you and hurt your relationship. You and your partner need to work through the debt together, making sacrifices but focusing on what's important as well - your family and your relationship. Get a babysitter and make time to do something special with your spouse so you can remember why you fell in love, set time aside to do group activities as a family to involve the kids as well. Don't let your debt get the best of you.
Getting Out of Debt Doesn't Mean You Can't Ever Spend Again
When working your way out of debt you can still spend on things that are important to you, you just need to plan and save for them. So for example, if you're planning to get married, don't rush out and cancel your wedding - re-think your wedding plans and see if there are cheaper alternative ways to spend on what you want. If you really love to travel, don't cancel your trip for the year, figure out a way to do it on a tighter budget and save a little each month for it so you don't have to put it on credit cards.
Stop Eating Out
Eating out costs way more than buying food and cooking at home, not to mention that the latter option is much healthier as well. Make cooking dinner a family activity, something that can be done to together to make the experience more enjoyable - and when you're done cooking, sit down and have dinner together, discuss the day's events and catch up. Having dinner parties at home is also a way to cut down on entertainment with friends. If you're planning a romantic dinner consider taking the kids to their grandparents' and having dinner at home rather than in a restaurant. If you're going to get together with friends, consider the same thing. Remember, it's not about the food, it's about the company.
Get Organized
When it comes to working your way out of debt it's all about organization - believe it or not getting your documents in order will help you pay down your debt because it puts you in control. Organize your paperwork so you know where every important document is and so that all documents are easily accessible. Use a collapsible file folder, label the tabs clearly and most importantly, do this with your spouse so you both understand the system.
Be Willing To Part With Toys
Sometimes to get out of debt you'll have to sell something that's really important to you or that you love. The reality is dealing with the heartbreak of losing material things will be far less than dealing with the damage that these things can do to your finances. If you have to sell a car, house, piece of jewelry, artwork or anything else, take a deep breath and realize that what you're doing will help your future and your finances - and just let it go.
by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, For CNBC
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Provided by
From the internet...
How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Renowned financial author and Til Debt Do Us part host Gail Vaz-Oxlade takes a tough-love approach to helping couples in a financial crisis to face reality. Here are Gail's top 10 tips to get out of debt..
Cut Your Credit Cards and Set A Budget
Every family that finds themselves in debt should cut up all their credit cards and live on a cash budget, keeping a log of each and every expenditure made. Use the following formula to set a budget. Keep in mind that the "life" category includes everything from groceries, to gadgets to entertainment. Housing: 35%, Debt: 15%, Life: 25%, Transportation, 15%, Savings 10%.
More from CNBC.com:
Top 10 Tips For Building Wealth
Biggest Types Of Personal Debt
Which Country Gets The Most Vacation Days?
Reduce Your Interest Rates
Reducing your interest cost is one way to fast track your way out of debt. Some people have interest rates as high as 30%. When they pay their monthly minimum, all they're doing is paying off interest rather than chipping away at the principal. By calling to negotiate with creditors, high interest rates can be brought down. If you call and a representative says they can't help you, ask to be connected to a supervisor until you get to someone with the authority to reduce your rates.
Bring In Extra Money
Do anything you can to bring in extra money to throw at your debt, even if you work a full time job. Consider overtime at work, dog walking, baby sitting, tutoring, or using any skill that's unique to you to bring home the bacon…some creative ideas we've seen on the show: web designing, party planning, teaching music lessons and much, much more!
Get Your Priorities Straight
When deciding how to tackle debt and putting a plan in place to save for the future, you have to consider all of your options. Ask yourself the tough questions and prioritize…if going to grad school is important, then maybe you can be a student but take on a part-time job. If having a child is important, do you need to take a full maternity leave? Should you consider buying a home - maybe renting is a smarter option? Make a list of things you want to do and discuss them thoroughly with your partner to help make the best decisions for you and your relationship.
Chip Away At The Debt
To reduce debt, make a list of every single debt that you have and rank them in order of the highest interest rate, not the highest balance. Pay off the highest interest rate card first. Every time you have extra money, throw it at the debt you've targeted until it's gone and then stop using that card! Reward yourself by making a checklist and crossing out the debt, you'll feel better as you start to see it disappear. When your debt is paid off, take the money you were allocating for debt repayment and put it towards savings.
Keep Things In Perspective
Getting out of debt isn't easy, but you have to remember that you cannot let debt consume you and hurt your relationship. You and your partner need to work through the debt together, making sacrifices but focusing on what's important as well - your family and your relationship. Get a babysitter and make time to do something special with your spouse so you can remember why you fell in love, set time aside to do group activities as a family to involve the kids as well. Don't let your debt get the best of you.
Getting Out of Debt Doesn't Mean You Can't Ever Spend Again
When working your way out of debt you can still spend on things that are important to you, you just need to plan and save for them. So for example, if you're planning to get married, don't rush out and cancel your wedding - re-think your wedding plans and see if there are cheaper alternative ways to spend on what you want. If you really love to travel, don't cancel your trip for the year, figure out a way to do it on a tighter budget and save a little each month for it so you don't have to put it on credit cards.
Stop Eating Out
Eating out costs way more than buying food and cooking at home, not to mention that the latter option is much healthier as well. Make cooking dinner a family activity, something that can be done to together to make the experience more enjoyable - and when you're done cooking, sit down and have dinner together, discuss the day's events and catch up. Having dinner parties at home is also a way to cut down on entertainment with friends. If you're planning a romantic dinner consider taking the kids to their grandparents' and having dinner at home rather than in a restaurant. If you're going to get together with friends, consider the same thing. Remember, it's not about the food, it's about the company.
Get Organized
When it comes to working your way out of debt it's all about organization - believe it or not getting your documents in order will help you pay down your debt because it puts you in control. Organize your paperwork so you know where every important document is and so that all documents are easily accessible. Use a collapsible file folder, label the tabs clearly and most importantly, do this with your spouse so you both understand the system.
Be Willing To Part With Toys
Sometimes to get out of debt you'll have to sell something that's really important to you or that you love. The reality is dealing with the heartbreak of losing material things will be far less than dealing with the damage that these things can do to your finances. If you have to sell a car, house, piece of jewelry, artwork or anything else, take a deep breath and realize that what you're doing will help your future and your finances - and just let it go.
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Essence of 'The Will to Power', 'The Master/Slave Relationship', and How It Affects Modern Philosophy, and Modern-day Living...The Dialectic of The Will to Power vs. The Will to Democracy
Life is full of opposites...and much positive energy and results can be derived from engaging opposites -- opposite perspectives, opposite concepts, opposite theories, opposite personalities, opposite characteristics...-- into contact with each other, playing both sides towards the middle in a way that brings creative new integrative possibilities into existence where none existed before...
As Carl Jung has stated, the energy comes from the tension of the opposites interacting with each other...sometimes in the heat of attraction, passion, and sexuality, other times, in the heat of argumentation, disagreement, and conflict...Either way, I call this the 'dialectic force of Nature/God/Evolution'...
The first 'dialectic philosopher' in the East goes back to whoever created the concepts of 'yin' and 'yang'...the 'feminine' and 'masculine' forces in Nature and Evolution...I have this philosopher pinned as Lao Tse. However, the roots of Chinese philosophy go very, very deep, and it could have been someone unknown before Lao Tse who created the yin/yang dialectic concepts...
Over in the West, back in Ancient Greece, before Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, I have Anaximander pinned as the first Western dialectic philosopher. Anaxamander's philosophy was both very mystic and primitive on the one hand, but interpreted in a particular way, it becomes very profound and wise, and just as relevant today as when he created it somewhere back about 650-700BC...
Anaxamander's idea -- and I am paraphrasing and interpreting -- was that opposites are born from Chaos (The Apeiron, The Universe, The Boundless, The Infinite, The Shadows...Jung/Gestalt Psychology)...From Chaos and The Shadows are born opposites (night vs. day, hot vs. cold, men vs. women...) which are differentiated from each other and enter the World as we know it, and experience their differences in contact with each other. From this contact of differences, boundaries become apparent, and a Battle For Power ensues...(Nietzsche's 'Will to Power'...)...
Out of this 'battle for power', 'winners' and 'losers' become apparent based on the difference of 'superiority' and 'inferiority' (Adler)...and based on this principle of superiority and inferiority becomes the beginning of what Hegel would come to call over 2000 years later, 'The Master/Slave Relationship'... Translated into Marxian Philosophy, this becomes 'The Bourgeoisie' vs. 'The Proletariat'...translated into Capitalist Philosophy, this becomes 'The Employer' vs. 'The Employee, The Union, The Workers'...translated into Feminist Philosophy, this becomes the old 'Dominant Husband vs. Submissive Wife role positions'...translated into Religious Philosophy this becomes the tension between the Catholics and the Protestants, the Christians and the Muslims, the Palestinians and the Jews...translated into Political and Economic Philosophy this becomes the tension between the Capitalists and The Socialists, The Liberals and The Conservatives, the Republicans and The Democrats...the Politicians and the Citizens...
Everywhere we look the 'fight for power between opposites' is evident....
In some cases, we at least partly strive to 'balance this power' in the idea of a 'democracy' or 'egalitarianism'... The idea of 'balancing opposite powers' goes back to Heraclitus in the West (following in Anaxamander's footsteps but taking Anaxamander's philosophy to a different level in the idea of 'balancing opposing forces'); and again to the East and the idea of 'balancing yin and yang forces for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining health'...In contrast, the idea of 'an imbalanced power force' between yin and yang forces -- either yin dominating yang, or yang dominating yin, becomes associated with the idea of 'medical pathology'...This idea can easily be transferred to psychology and to much, if not all, of life....
Thus, even in the realm of 'yin and yang (masculine/feminine; testosterone/estrogen) relationships', we can talk about Hegel's idea of the 'master/slave relationship'...which has roots in the ancient 'Power Philosophy of Anaxamander'...
Now this 'master/slave relationship' is a little more complicated than we usually assume it to be, and Hegel was the first to point this out...Indeed, the relationship of the 'master' and 'slave' is often a relationship of 'co-dependence'...and 'attraction' as well as 'repulsion'...People want freedom and yet they are afraid of freedom and in the words of Kierkegaard, Sartre and Eric Fromm often get 'terrified by freedom' and 'back up' to 'Escape From Freedom' (Fromm)...
They often 'retreat to the Master/Slave Relationship' in order to 'escape the terror of their own individual freedom'....
Regarding the issue of 'co-dependence', the Master and The Slave are often tied to each other in a co-dependent relationship in which both perceive that they need each other -- just as often, they resent and hate each other for the same reason. They both have a different type of 'power' and a different type of 'weakness'. The Master knows how to 'lead' and how to 'tell other people what to do' but at the same time, often he or she is either incapable of, and/or unwilling to, do the work the Slave knows how to, and is capable of, doing...
Thus, take away the Slave, and the Master becomes terrified -- he or she loses his or her power and doesn't know what to do because he or she doesn't know how to do the work that The Slave was doing...The Master feels a deep emotional and behavioral void and vacuum in the absence of the Slave...unless the Master knows how to, and is capable of doing, the work just vacated by The Slave...
Now the Slave may feel terrified of running away from The Master for any or all of a variety of different reasons: provocation, intimidation, prosecution, persecution, victimization, loss of food, shelter, and/or money...
Which heightens the Master's power....
Until the 'cycle of power' changes...
This was the essence of the wisdom of Anaxamander's 2700 year old philosophy...
The cycle of power always changes...
People do injustices upon each other...
The Master exploits injustices onto the Slave...
But The Slave, over time, learns how to exploit injustices back onto the Master...
And over time, the powerful (the Master) becomes weaker, while the less powerful (the Slave) becomes more powerful...
To the point, where one day the Slave becomes Master of either his or her own freedom, and/or the Slave becomes Master over The Master...(Adler, 'superiority striving', 'the mastery compulsion')...
But there are a lot of steps -- and steps backward -- to getting here....
For both the Master and the Slave...
The Master needs to learn how to 'give up control'...to 'listen' to the Slave...and to 'learn' from the Slave...to learn from the Slave how to do those things that the Master may not know how to do properly...
And the Slave needs to learn from the master how to take more 'initiative' and 'risk'...to have more 'courage to leap into the unknown'....'to take chances'....to 'jump across the Nietzschean Abyss from Being or non-Being to Becoming'...
In short, the Master needs to learn more 'social sensitivity skills', more how to 'give up self- control',
While the Slave needs to learn more 'self-assertiveness skills', more how to 'take self-control'...
The Master too often has no ears to listen...
While the Slave too often has no mouth to speak...
The Master usually has too much 'yang'...
And the Slave too much 'yin'...
They both have 'gaps', 'holes', 'voids' in their personality....
They both long for freedom and strive to achieve and/or maintain power, while avoiding self-accountability for their own respective 'weaknesses',
They both can learn from each other...
Such is the nature, essence, the ongoing dialectic, between The Will to Power and The Will to Democracy and Egalitarianism...
In the combined words of a number of historical, philosophical friends of mine...
'Thus, Anaxamander, Lao Tse, Hegel, Nietzsche, Zarathrusta
And dgb...
Spoke...'
-- dgb, March 5th, 2010,
-- David Gordon Bain,
-- Dialectic Gap Bridging Negotiations...
-- Are Still in Process...
As Carl Jung has stated, the energy comes from the tension of the opposites interacting with each other...sometimes in the heat of attraction, passion, and sexuality, other times, in the heat of argumentation, disagreement, and conflict...Either way, I call this the 'dialectic force of Nature/God/Evolution'...
The first 'dialectic philosopher' in the East goes back to whoever created the concepts of 'yin' and 'yang'...the 'feminine' and 'masculine' forces in Nature and Evolution...I have this philosopher pinned as Lao Tse. However, the roots of Chinese philosophy go very, very deep, and it could have been someone unknown before Lao Tse who created the yin/yang dialectic concepts...
Over in the West, back in Ancient Greece, before Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, I have Anaximander pinned as the first Western dialectic philosopher. Anaxamander's philosophy was both very mystic and primitive on the one hand, but interpreted in a particular way, it becomes very profound and wise, and just as relevant today as when he created it somewhere back about 650-700BC...
Anaxamander's idea -- and I am paraphrasing and interpreting -- was that opposites are born from Chaos (The Apeiron, The Universe, The Boundless, The Infinite, The Shadows...Jung/Gestalt Psychology)...From Chaos and The Shadows are born opposites (night vs. day, hot vs. cold, men vs. women...) which are differentiated from each other and enter the World as we know it, and experience their differences in contact with each other. From this contact of differences, boundaries become apparent, and a Battle For Power ensues...(Nietzsche's 'Will to Power'...)...
Out of this 'battle for power', 'winners' and 'losers' become apparent based on the difference of 'superiority' and 'inferiority' (Adler)...and based on this principle of superiority and inferiority becomes the beginning of what Hegel would come to call over 2000 years later, 'The Master/Slave Relationship'... Translated into Marxian Philosophy, this becomes 'The Bourgeoisie' vs. 'The Proletariat'...translated into Capitalist Philosophy, this becomes 'The Employer' vs. 'The Employee, The Union, The Workers'...translated into Feminist Philosophy, this becomes the old 'Dominant Husband vs. Submissive Wife role positions'...translated into Religious Philosophy this becomes the tension between the Catholics and the Protestants, the Christians and the Muslims, the Palestinians and the Jews...translated into Political and Economic Philosophy this becomes the tension between the Capitalists and The Socialists, The Liberals and The Conservatives, the Republicans and The Democrats...the Politicians and the Citizens...
Everywhere we look the 'fight for power between opposites' is evident....
In some cases, we at least partly strive to 'balance this power' in the idea of a 'democracy' or 'egalitarianism'... The idea of 'balancing opposite powers' goes back to Heraclitus in the West (following in Anaxamander's footsteps but taking Anaxamander's philosophy to a different level in the idea of 'balancing opposing forces'); and again to the East and the idea of 'balancing yin and yang forces for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining health'...In contrast, the idea of 'an imbalanced power force' between yin and yang forces -- either yin dominating yang, or yang dominating yin, becomes associated with the idea of 'medical pathology'...This idea can easily be transferred to psychology and to much, if not all, of life....
Thus, even in the realm of 'yin and yang (masculine/feminine; testosterone/estrogen) relationships', we can talk about Hegel's idea of the 'master/slave relationship'...which has roots in the ancient 'Power Philosophy of Anaxamander'...
Now this 'master/slave relationship' is a little more complicated than we usually assume it to be, and Hegel was the first to point this out...Indeed, the relationship of the 'master' and 'slave' is often a relationship of 'co-dependence'...and 'attraction' as well as 'repulsion'...People want freedom and yet they are afraid of freedom and in the words of Kierkegaard, Sartre and Eric Fromm often get 'terrified by freedom' and 'back up' to 'Escape From Freedom' (Fromm)...
They often 'retreat to the Master/Slave Relationship' in order to 'escape the terror of their own individual freedom'....
Regarding the issue of 'co-dependence', the Master and The Slave are often tied to each other in a co-dependent relationship in which both perceive that they need each other -- just as often, they resent and hate each other for the same reason. They both have a different type of 'power' and a different type of 'weakness'. The Master knows how to 'lead' and how to 'tell other people what to do' but at the same time, often he or she is either incapable of, and/or unwilling to, do the work the Slave knows how to, and is capable of, doing...
Thus, take away the Slave, and the Master becomes terrified -- he or she loses his or her power and doesn't know what to do because he or she doesn't know how to do the work that The Slave was doing...The Master feels a deep emotional and behavioral void and vacuum in the absence of the Slave...unless the Master knows how to, and is capable of doing, the work just vacated by The Slave...
Now the Slave may feel terrified of running away from The Master for any or all of a variety of different reasons: provocation, intimidation, prosecution, persecution, victimization, loss of food, shelter, and/or money...
Which heightens the Master's power....
Until the 'cycle of power' changes...
This was the essence of the wisdom of Anaxamander's 2700 year old philosophy...
The cycle of power always changes...
People do injustices upon each other...
The Master exploits injustices onto the Slave...
But The Slave, over time, learns how to exploit injustices back onto the Master...
And over time, the powerful (the Master) becomes weaker, while the less powerful (the Slave) becomes more powerful...
To the point, where one day the Slave becomes Master of either his or her own freedom, and/or the Slave becomes Master over The Master...(Adler, 'superiority striving', 'the mastery compulsion')...
But there are a lot of steps -- and steps backward -- to getting here....
For both the Master and the Slave...
The Master needs to learn how to 'give up control'...to 'listen' to the Slave...and to 'learn' from the Slave...to learn from the Slave how to do those things that the Master may not know how to do properly...
And the Slave needs to learn from the master how to take more 'initiative' and 'risk'...to have more 'courage to leap into the unknown'....'to take chances'....to 'jump across the Nietzschean Abyss from Being or non-Being to Becoming'...
In short, the Master needs to learn more 'social sensitivity skills', more how to 'give up self- control',
While the Slave needs to learn more 'self-assertiveness skills', more how to 'take self-control'...
The Master too often has no ears to listen...
While the Slave too often has no mouth to speak...
The Master usually has too much 'yang'...
And the Slave too much 'yin'...
They both have 'gaps', 'holes', 'voids' in their personality....
They both long for freedom and strive to achieve and/or maintain power, while avoiding self-accountability for their own respective 'weaknesses',
They both can learn from each other...
Such is the nature, essence, the ongoing dialectic, between The Will to Power and The Will to Democracy and Egalitarianism...
In the combined words of a number of historical, philosophical friends of mine...
'Thus, Anaxamander, Lao Tse, Hegel, Nietzsche, Zarathrusta
And dgb...
Spoke...'
-- dgb, March 5th, 2010,
-- David Gordon Bain,
-- Dialectic Gap Bridging Negotiations...
-- Are Still in Process...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Singer Billy Bragg to stop paying taxes over bank bonuses
Singer Billy Bragg to stop paying taxes over bank bonuses
Mon Jan 18, 10:52 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Billy Bragg has threatened to stop paying taxes, and called on others to follow suit, unless the government acts to limit bonuses paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The 52-year-old singer, well known for his left-wing views and political activism, aims to tap public anger over "fat cat" bonuses at U.S. and British banks rescued with taxpayers' money during the financial crisis.
The huge bailouts have left the British government holding 84 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and 43 percent of Lloyds Banking Group.
"I understand that the Treasury had little choice but to use taxpayers' money to safeguard savings and stabilize and restore confidence in the financial system," Bragg wrote on his page on the Facebook social networking site.
"What I don't understand is why, now that we taxpayers are the majority shareholders of these banks, we seem totally powerless to curb their excessive bonus culture?"
He quoted reports estimating RBS will pay its investment bankers around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in bonuses next month.
At the same time, he added, Britain's main political parties are warning voters that national debt will mean tough cuts in public spending after the next general election.
"I believe that the government have their priorities wrong.
"I have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister), Alistair Darling, to inform him that I am no longer prepared to fund the excessive bonuses of RBS investment bankers. Unless he acts to limit them to 25,000 pounds, I shall be withholding my tax payment on 31st January." In his Facebook campaign titled "NoBonus4RBS" he invited other British tax payers to do the same to exert pressure on the government to curb bonuses.
RBS has been forced to agree to slash payouts and hand the state a veto on its 2009 bonus pool, but the government has also said that going too far to restrict pay could dent the bank's ability to compete.
When asked about Bragg's initiative, a Treasury spokesman said: "We can reassure people there will not be a significant amount of taxpayers' cash going to bonuses at RBS."
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Mon Jan 18, 10:52 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Billy Bragg has threatened to stop paying taxes, and called on others to follow suit, unless the government acts to limit bonuses paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The 52-year-old singer, well known for his left-wing views and political activism, aims to tap public anger over "fat cat" bonuses at U.S. and British banks rescued with taxpayers' money during the financial crisis.
The huge bailouts have left the British government holding 84 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and 43 percent of Lloyds Banking Group.
"I understand that the Treasury had little choice but to use taxpayers' money to safeguard savings and stabilize and restore confidence in the financial system," Bragg wrote on his page on the Facebook social networking site.
"What I don't understand is why, now that we taxpayers are the majority shareholders of these banks, we seem totally powerless to curb their excessive bonus culture?"
He quoted reports estimating RBS will pay its investment bankers around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in bonuses next month.
At the same time, he added, Britain's main political parties are warning voters that national debt will mean tough cuts in public spending after the next general election.
"I believe that the government have their priorities wrong.
"I have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister), Alistair Darling, to inform him that I am no longer prepared to fund the excessive bonuses of RBS investment bankers. Unless he acts to limit them to 25,000 pounds, I shall be withholding my tax payment on 31st January." In his Facebook campaign titled "NoBonus4RBS" he invited other British tax payers to do the same to exert pressure on the government to curb bonuses.
RBS has been forced to agree to slash payouts and hand the state a veto on its 2009 bonus pool, but the government has also said that going too far to restrict pay could dent the bank's ability to compete.
When asked about Bragg's initiative, a Treasury spokesman said: "We can reassure people there will not be a significant amount of taxpayers' cash going to bonuses at RBS."
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Friday, December 11, 2009
Health bosses accused of flu-mongering
Health bosses accused of flu-mongering
December 11, 2009
Comments on this story (32)
Theresa Boyle
HEALTH REPORTER
Related
H1N1 pales against earlier...
Health bosses accused of...
Where to get vaccinated
Your H1N1 questions
Complete H1N1 coverage
More on SwineFlu
H1N1 pales against earlier... Most flu-shot allergies... Clinics offer both... Severe H1N1 reactions in 48... Seasonal flu shots added at...
Most Read
From selling sex to Osgoode...
$2 billion in tax revenue...
$1,400 eatery bribe sought...
RCMP plays cat-and-mouse...
Garlic outperforming gold...
Public health officials are misleading Canadians by continuing to characterize the H1N1 virus as a threat in the hopes of unloading millions of doses of unused vaccine, charges Ontario's former chief medical officer of health.
They are trying to save face because of an expensive overreaction, Dr. Richard Schabas said Thursday as lineups for the vaccine continued to dwindle.
He made his comments the day after the Public Health Agency of Canada unveiled a new advertising campaign aimed at encouraging Canadians to get vaccinated.
"Spending Christmas in bed or in an ICU unit is no fun and the only way to actually avoid that is for a large number of Canadians to be immunized," agency head Dr. David Butler-Jones told a teleconference.
He also said discussions are underway with the World Health Organization on what to do with the surplus vaccine.
Schabas, who is medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, estimates that 35 million of the 50.4 million doses of vaccine that Canada has ordered, at a cost of more than $400 million, will not be used.
"They bought 50 million doses of vaccine and it's an embarrassment to them that it's not being used," he said, adding that it became available too late.
"I think if you are going to make that push, you at least need to tell people that the outbreak is essentially over and you have to say to people any future risk of H1N1, at least this year, is extremely small. ... You shouldn't mislead people." Schabas said.
The number of Canadians visiting doctors with flu-like symptoms peaked in late October, he noted.
"The real story is the disconnect between what the senior public health officials, provincially and nationally, have been saying to people and what's actually been going on," Schabas argued. "They have been misrepresenting the state of the outbreak and the level of risk."
Schabas said health officials have been preparing for years for a deadly avian flu pandemic and have had trouble switching gears to respond the mild H1N1 pandemic.
He added, people aren't buying into the fear as is evidenced by closing flu clinics. Toronto's eight remaining clinics were all to close Sunday but three of them shut their doors earlier this week because of little traffic.
While government officials now acknowledge the pandemic has turned out to be not as bad as initially feared, Schabas said they have been slow to adjust their responses.
"I think they got their knickers in a knot because they responded to their preconceptions. There was a preconception that a pandemic was going to be a terrible event," he said.
Ontario's 600-plus-page pandemic plan, like pandemic plans around the world, is modelled on a "moderately severe" pandemic with assumptions based on the 1957 flu pandemic. It anticipated 13,000 could die and up to 54,000 could require hospitalization.
The latest provincial numbers show 104 H1N1-related deaths and 1,656 hospitalizations so far.
Toronto Star
December 11, 2009
Comments on this story (32)
Theresa Boyle
HEALTH REPORTER
Related
H1N1 pales against earlier...
Health bosses accused of...
Where to get vaccinated
Your H1N1 questions
Complete H1N1 coverage
More on SwineFlu
H1N1 pales against earlier... Most flu-shot allergies... Clinics offer both... Severe H1N1 reactions in 48... Seasonal flu shots added at...
Most Read
From selling sex to Osgoode...
$2 billion in tax revenue...
$1,400 eatery bribe sought...
RCMP plays cat-and-mouse...
Garlic outperforming gold...
Public health officials are misleading Canadians by continuing to characterize the H1N1 virus as a threat in the hopes of unloading millions of doses of unused vaccine, charges Ontario's former chief medical officer of health.
They are trying to save face because of an expensive overreaction, Dr. Richard Schabas said Thursday as lineups for the vaccine continued to dwindle.
He made his comments the day after the Public Health Agency of Canada unveiled a new advertising campaign aimed at encouraging Canadians to get vaccinated.
"Spending Christmas in bed or in an ICU unit is no fun and the only way to actually avoid that is for a large number of Canadians to be immunized," agency head Dr. David Butler-Jones told a teleconference.
He also said discussions are underway with the World Health Organization on what to do with the surplus vaccine.
Schabas, who is medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, estimates that 35 million of the 50.4 million doses of vaccine that Canada has ordered, at a cost of more than $400 million, will not be used.
"They bought 50 million doses of vaccine and it's an embarrassment to them that it's not being used," he said, adding that it became available too late.
"I think if you are going to make that push, you at least need to tell people that the outbreak is essentially over and you have to say to people any future risk of H1N1, at least this year, is extremely small. ... You shouldn't mislead people." Schabas said.
The number of Canadians visiting doctors with flu-like symptoms peaked in late October, he noted.
"The real story is the disconnect between what the senior public health officials, provincially and nationally, have been saying to people and what's actually been going on," Schabas argued. "They have been misrepresenting the state of the outbreak and the level of risk."
Schabas said health officials have been preparing for years for a deadly avian flu pandemic and have had trouble switching gears to respond the mild H1N1 pandemic.
He added, people aren't buying into the fear as is evidenced by closing flu clinics. Toronto's eight remaining clinics were all to close Sunday but three of them shut their doors earlier this week because of little traffic.
While government officials now acknowledge the pandemic has turned out to be not as bad as initially feared, Schabas said they have been slow to adjust their responses.
"I think they got their knickers in a knot because they responded to their preconceptions. There was a preconception that a pandemic was going to be a terrible event," he said.
Ontario's 600-plus-page pandemic plan, like pandemic plans around the world, is modelled on a "moderately severe" pandemic with assumptions based on the 1957 flu pandemic. It anticipated 13,000 could die and up to 54,000 could require hospitalization.
The latest provincial numbers show 104 H1N1-related deaths and 1,656 hospitalizations so far.
Toronto Star
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
On The Prospect Of Any 'Ultimate, Final, Absolute Synthesis'
There will never, ever be any 'Ultimate, Final, Absolute Synthesis'. Hegel was dead wrong on this account.
The only 'Ultimate Synthesis' -- is death.
What I mean by this, is that as long as we are living and breathing, we will always be in a fight for restoring 'balance in our lives' in a way that keeps us alive and fighting for life -- at least unless, or until, we decide to give up this fight.
Thus, the 'teeter-totter' or 'swinging pendulum' process in life is always with us -- both internally and externally -- until our life is over.
Only then can we talk about any 'Final Synthesis' -- complete entropy.
Until then, nothing is ever, ever going to be 'final'.
Any thought of a 'final ultimate Life Utopia' is completely bogus -- and simply gives new fodder for the gristmill of a whole host of new 'Counter-Utopias'...and 'New Syntheses' which in turn may be either warmly or coldly perceived and received...or both...and nothing ever ends unless or until there is some ultimate Holocaust...and even out of the ashes of this potential Holocaust new forms of life will likely spring anew...like new saplings springing out of the remnants of a Giant Forest Fire...
-- dgb, Nov. 17th, updated Nov. 22nd, 2009.
-- David Gordon Bain
The only 'Ultimate Synthesis' -- is death.
What I mean by this, is that as long as we are living and breathing, we will always be in a fight for restoring 'balance in our lives' in a way that keeps us alive and fighting for life -- at least unless, or until, we decide to give up this fight.
Thus, the 'teeter-totter' or 'swinging pendulum' process in life is always with us -- both internally and externally -- until our life is over.
Only then can we talk about any 'Final Synthesis' -- complete entropy.
Until then, nothing is ever, ever going to be 'final'.
Any thought of a 'final ultimate Life Utopia' is completely bogus -- and simply gives new fodder for the gristmill of a whole host of new 'Counter-Utopias'...and 'New Syntheses' which in turn may be either warmly or coldly perceived and received...or both...and nothing ever ends unless or until there is some ultimate Holocaust...and even out of the ashes of this potential Holocaust new forms of life will likely spring anew...like new saplings springing out of the remnants of a Giant Forest Fire...
-- dgb, Nov. 17th, updated Nov. 22nd, 2009.
-- David Gordon Bain
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
