Even though I view the world from a completely different perspective than you, I enjoy and thank you for your thought provoking comments. I can't help but think, however, that the tones of Marxism suggested in your comment about "abilities" and "needs" is dangerous, given the disastrous results of totolitarianism/Marxism in the 20th century. For good reason, the framers of our constitution feared concentration of power in the government. Your solution of somehow nationalizing robotic production will concentrate too much power with the government. Human nature being what it is, it would not end well, as I would expect those in control of the government would abuse that power. Anyways, thank you for the interesting ideas. If I figure out the solution to these problems, I will let you know. Dan L
I can appreciate a hero who undergoes supreme self sacrifice for the greater good, such as alerting the American people to a serious domestic threat to our constitutional rights. If that is who Snowden is, then God bless him. My question for anyone more knowledgeable than me (the vast majority) is why did he also reveal secrets related to international spying? If he had any hope of winning the support of the majority of the American citizenry, he should have only blown the whistle on the domestic spying. Most Americans don't care about international spying. Other countries spy on us, our government spies on them. This isn't new or exciting and it doesn't involve constitutional rights. By disclosing information on international spying, he opened himself up to accusations of being a traitor. What was his goal in disclosing the international spying? It brings into question his motives. If we assume him to be altruistic, he would have had a better chance of accomplishing his goal had he just focused on the domestic constitutional issues. He seems smart enough that he should have foreseen this.
Professor Cole:
Even though I view the world from a completely different perspective than you, I enjoy and thank you for your thought provoking comments. I can't help but think, however, that the tones of Marxism suggested in your comment about "abilities" and "needs" is dangerous, given the disastrous results of totolitarianism/Marxism in the 20th century. For good reason, the framers of our constitution feared concentration of power in the government. Your solution of somehow nationalizing robotic production will concentrate too much power with the government. Human nature being what it is, it would not end well, as I would expect those in control of the government would abuse that power. Anyways, thank you for the interesting ideas. If I figure out the solution to these problems, I will let you know. Dan L
I can appreciate a hero who undergoes supreme self sacrifice for the greater good, such as alerting the American people to a serious domestic threat to our constitutional rights. If that is who Snowden is, then God bless him. My question for anyone more knowledgeable than me (the vast majority) is why did he also reveal secrets related to international spying? If he had any hope of winning the support of the majority of the American citizenry, he should have only blown the whistle on the domestic spying. Most Americans don't care about international spying. Other countries spy on us, our government spies on them. This isn't new or exciting and it doesn't involve constitutional rights. By disclosing information on international spying, he opened himself up to accusations of being a traitor. What was his goal in disclosing the international spying? It brings into question his motives. If we assume him to be altruistic, he would have had a better chance of accomplishing his goal had he just focused on the domestic constitutional issues. He seems smart enough that he should have foreseen this.
I am betting that the hunters released the cheetah in the open desert. Why else would a gazelle be walking around in an open sands desert?
Hitler was a Christian? Stalin was a Christian? To associate blame for the millions of murders that they caused with Christianity is clever sophistry.