Swedish equality one way or another!

There is much going on in Sweden that many elsewhere are sort of kept in the dark
from knowing. There is a big inequality problem in Sweden.
And with the money up high it's easy to understand why many will do anything to keep the
road going where it is going. Any person trying to divert the road is making 
"a dangerous experiment in group hate." The rich will do anything to keep their money!
Sort of noted in the Bill Hicks video It's just a Ride "Shut him up! We have a lot invested
in this ride! SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account,
and my family. This just has to be real." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0

~~~"Swedish equality fades away as rich get richer."
Sweden has seen the steepest increase in inequality over 15 years amongst the 
34 OECD nations, with disparities rising at four times the pace of the 
United States, the think tank said. Once the darling of the political left, 
heavy state control and wealth distribution through
high taxes and generous benefits gave the country's have-nots an enviable standard of
living at the expense of the wealthiest members of society.
Although still one of the most equal countries in the world, the last two decades
have seen a marked change. Market reforms have helped the economy become one
of Europe's best performers but this has Swedes wondering if their love affair with
state welfare was coming to an end. The real tipping point came in 2006 when the
centre-right government swept to power, bringing an end to a Social Democratic era 
which stretched for most of the 20th century.

Swedes had grown increasingly weary of their high taxes and with more jobs going 
overseas, the new government laid out a plan to fine-tune the old welfare system. 
It slashed income taxes, sold state assets and tried to make it pay to work.
Spending on welfare benefits such as pensions, unemployment and incapacity assistance has
fallen by almost a third to 13 percent of GDP from the early nineties, putting Sweden only
just above the 11 percent OECD average.

At the other end of the spectrum, tax changes and housing market reforms 
have made the rich richer. Since the mid-80s, income from savings, private pensions 
or rentals, jumped 10 percent for the richest fifth of the population while falling one 
percent for the poorest 20 percent.
 
RICH MAN, POOR MAN
Critics say the changes have left many behind.
In a small, dim room in central Stockholm, about 20 homeless Swedes huddled
together for an hour-long radio show which they produce weekly to raise awareness 
of those on the streets. "The soul of a man" - a song from the Great Depression in the 
United States - plays in between speakers and poetry readings while they warm up
with free coffee and hot dogs. At a waterfront conference centre across town, 
the head of the region's biggest bank defended the hefty profits banks are making
on housing loans. The CEO himself will soon be moving into a more than $3 million
apartment which the bank recently purchased in one of Stockholm's ritziest
neighborhoods. Eurostat said recently that after Bulgaria, Sweden had the
second biggest rise in the percentage of its population deemed at-risk-of poverty.
Jenny Lindroth, who runs the social department at Situation Sthlm, a magazine
sold by the homeless and addicts, says welfare changes are hurting the vulnerable.
"Some people can't live up to it, they can't take it, they can't handle it," she said.
The number of people selling Situation has more than doubled to about 500 in 
five years and they are getting younger. A recent study by the National Board of
Health and Welfare showed a 25 percent jump to 4,500 in the number faced with
"acute" homeless situations - those who required emergency accommodation,
shelter or slept outdoors - compared with 2005.
 
NO UTOPIA
These diverging pictures of Sweden are increasingly common and are also
being seen in neighboring Finland and Denmark, albeit at a slower pace.
"I certainly don't think Sweden is a utopia. Sweden has become much more
of a fairly normal European country," said Stefan Folster, chief economist at the
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. On the class war safari, participants were 
first bused through a neighborhood south of Stockholm, where some 10 percent
of the residents are on social benefits. Then they headed to "The Sunny Side",
stopping by a luxury hotel next to a marina which is packed with gleaming yachts
in the summer before viewing sprawling villas in the area. 
"The differences were just so completely clear in these two areas," said 28-year-old 
Anna Svensson, one of the organizers. "We wanted to show what it really looked like,
and where the money and the power can actually be found."
The tour was heavily criticized. A columnist for the daily Dagens Nyheter called it
"a dangerous experiment in group hate".
"It feels like we are being treated like animals," a teenager from the area
interviewed by Swedish television.
Some believe the latest trends in Sweden may hurt the centre-right
government, especially if unemployment, running near 8 percent, remains high
as the country heads towards new elections in 2014.
"This is going to be ammunition for the opposition in Sweden," said 
Soren Holmberg, a political science professor at Gothenburg University.
He believes there is still fundamentally strong support for the welfare state
and that the jobless rate and changes to benefits such as healthcare will be
increasingly in focus. The government has defended its policies. 
Finance Minister Anders Borg called the rising income gap "troublesome"
but said it was still low relative to other countries. "While it is important to have
a cohesive society, growth and social flexibility are also important, so those 
must be balanced," he said. Markus Jantti, a Professor of Economics at
Stockholm University's Swedish Institute for Social Research, fears Sweden
will see a long period of rising inequality.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/21/us-sweden-inequality-idUSBRE82K0W320120321

There was also a law many wanted to get passed it had to do with pay, for the
high up, CEO's. As in a law that they can't make more in a month than their low end
worker makes in a year!
That was a good plan vs the end road of loss jobs by the issues of inequality making
many poor. Many customers poor makes less rich, slow growth as the most are poor
to the point of shutting down smaller towns due to the fact most of the residents
can not afford much closing down many places! So saying passing the law would
drive out their most savvy workers is still the same as the result of having many poor
driving down sales to slow growth why stay there and make something the
many can't afford to buy.

All of this in the end is just pushing more Squatters and I am talking about
the South American types in the 100,000's! And that is not bad it's a start of a
need for action as the people stand together they will not be walked over to make
someone richer!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting

~~~"A 45-Story Walkup Beckons the Desperate."
The office tower, one of Latin America’s tallest skyscrapers, was meant to be an emblem
of Venezuela’s entrepreneurial mettle. But that era is gone. Now, with more than
2,500 squatters making it their home, the building symbolizes something else entirely in this
city’s center. The squatters live in the uncompleted high-rise, which lacks several basic
amenities like an elevator. The smell of untreated sewage permeates the corridors.
Children scale unlit stairways guided by the glow of cellphones. Some recent arrivals
sleep in tents and hammocks. The skyscraper, surrounded by billboards and murals
proclaiming the advance of President Hugo Chávez’s “Bolivarian revolution,” is a
symbol of the financial crisis that struck the country in the 1990s, the expanded state
control over the economy that came after Mr. Chávez took office in 1999 and the
housing shortage that has worsened since then, leading to widespread squatter
takeovers in this city.

 Few of the building’s terraces have guardrails. Even walls and
windows are absent on many floors. Yet dozens of DirecTV satellite dishes dot the
balconies. The tower commands some of the most stunning views of Caracas.
It contains some of its worst squalor. “I never let my child out of my sight,” said
Yeaida Sosa, 29, who lives with her 1-year-old daughter, Dahasi, on the seventh floor
overlooking a bustling artery, Avenida Andrés Bello. Ms. Sosa said residents
were horrified after a young girl recently fell to her death from a high floor.
Some families have walled off their terraces with cinder blocks, blotting out the
sun to avoid such tragedies. Others, aware of the risks, prefer to let in the breeze
flowing off El Ávila, the emerald green mountain looming over Caracas.
“God decides when we enter his kingdom,” said Enrique Zambrano, 22,
an electrician who lives on the 19th floor. Mr. Zambrano, like many of the other
squatters in the skyscraper, says he is an evangelical Christian. Their pastor is
Alexander Daza, 33, a former gang member who found religion in prison.
Mr. Daza, commonly known as El Niño, or The Kid, led the occupation of the
Tower of David in October 2007. Back then, the building had already been vacant for
more than a decade. Its developer, Mr. Brillembourg, a dashing horse breeder, died
of cancer at age 56 in 1993, leaving behind hobbled companies.
The government absorbed their assets, including the unfinished skyscraper,
during a 1994 banking crisis. Robert Neuwirth of New York, the author of
“Shadow Cities,” a book about squatter settlements on four continents,
said the Tower of David may be the world’s highest squatter building.

Once one of Latin America’s most developed cities, Caracas now grapples with an
acute housing shortage of about 400,000 units, breeding building invasions.
In the area around the Tower of David, squatters have occupied 20 other properties,
including the Viasa and Radio Continente towers. White elephants occupying the
cityscape, like the Sambil shopping mall close to the Tower of David and seized
by the government, now house flood victims.
Private construction of housing here has virtually ground to a halt because
of fears of government expropriation. The government, hobbled by inefficiency,
has built little housing of its own for the poor. The policies toward squatters are
also unclear and in flux, effectively allowing many to stay in once empty properties.
On occasion, Mr. Chávez has called for squatters to be dislodged. But in January,
he urged the poor to occupy unused land in well-heeled parts of Caracas.
Then he qualified these remarks by asking them to have “patience” as officials tried to
build low-income housing. Many here refuse to wait. The Tower of David stands as
a parable of hope for some and of dread for others.
“That building is a symbol of Venezuela’s decline,” said Benedicto Vera, 55,
an activist in downtown Caracas. “What’s our future if our people are living
like animals in unsafe skyscrapers?”

Yet squatters, who live on 28 stories and plan to go higher, have created a
semblance of order within the skyscraper they now call their own. Sentries with
 walkie-talkies guard entrances. Each inhabited floor has electricity, jury-rigged
 to the grid, and water is transported up from the ground floor.
Strivers abound in the skyscraper. They chafe at being called “invaders,”
the term here for squatters, preferring the less contentious word “neighbor.”

A beauty salon operates on one floor. On another, an unlicensed dentist applies the
brightly colored braces that are the rage in Caracas street fashion.
Almost every floor has a small bodega. Julieth Tilano, 26, lives inside a small shop on the
seventh floor with her husband and in-laws.
They sell everything from plantains to Pepsi and Belmont cigarettes. Her husband,
Humberto Hidalgo, 23, has a side business in which he charges children from the
skyscraper 50 cents per half-hour to play PlayStation games on the four television
sets in the family’s living room. “There’s opportunity in this tower,”
said Mr. Hidalgo, who immigrated here last year from Valledupar, Colombia.

Some residents own cars parked in the building’s garage.
Others sanguinely point to their trim physiques, a result of going up and down the stairs
each day. For others, any roof over one’s head is better than none.
That is the view of Jordon Moore, 37, a squatter on the seventh floor whom everyone
simply calls “the American.” Mr. Moore, who speaks English with a hint of the
West Indies, regales visitors with tales of the “gang life” in Brooklyn, where he
says he lived for years, and of an attempt to break into the Venezuelan hip-hop
scene that went awry. “I ended up living on the street in this city, and this is better
than the street,” he said. A neighbor, José Hernández, 30, agreed.
Still, he said he wanted to leave the skyscraper one day.
For now, he sleeps with his wife and daughter in one bed under mosquito
netting, protection from dengue fever. In his apartment, once meant to be a banker’s
corner office, he showed the view, which included a mosque’s minaret and, in the
distance, Petare, the patchwork of hillside slums where he grew up.
Now Mr. Hernández dons a tie and jacket each day and goes to work at,
of all places, a bank. “They call me an invader and I work in the credit department
of Banco de Venezuela,” said Mr. Hernández, referring to the state-owned institution
that he says employs him. “Society hates us, and the government doesn’t know
what to do with us. Do they really think we want to be living in the Tower of David?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/world/americas/01venezuela.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Swedish equality one way or another!
Is it worth it to go as we all are heading for or just pay a living wage!
The poor has power to pull all down with them. Now if that is not a job loss what is?

Getting the word out is more than gold!
http://www.zazzle.com/squatter+tshirts

Environmental stimulus-Kids in the road of poverty!

I am sure many know about keeping sharp mentally is a matter of keeping your mind busy to not suffer deprivation. Use it or loose it. "Raised in a cornfield, your mind is only mushed as the cornfield you live in." So get out of it more. But there is just more to know than that.

Deprivation is a issue noted by the point of the Canadian CDI. "The relationship between individual-level deprivation and health-related quality of life. - Individual-level deprivation was assessed using the Canadian  Deprivation Index (CDI) and the Ontario Deprivation Index (ODI). HRQL  was assessed using the EQ-5D-5 L. Differences in problems  - scores  across levels of deprivation were examined." https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12955-019-1243-5

It's just a fact of having environmental stimulus. As if you lived in a
"Backwoods town" there can be a big lack of stimulus when you
compare it to a bigger town etc. "In an age where everyone is plugged into
social media, leading a life where nothing happens can be toxic.
You’ve got nothing to message about, and your urban friends’
Facebook pages are jammed with interesting news of clubbing and funky fashion."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-everyone-became-depressed/201604/is-the-countryside-now-more-toxic-the-city

It's about actions not just talk. Actions like in training, you have to get out there and do it!
"Just do it!" Like in the DC shoes youtube videos. Ken Block Gymkhana!
Gymkhana, is a training to make you better for rally car races. Stimulus, in training!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuDN2bCIyus

 Like piano lessons, music class, it makes you smarter!
"It's sure to be music to parents' ears: After nine months of weekly training in
piano or voice, new research shows young students' IQs rose nearly
three points more than their untrained peers.

The Canadian study lends support to the idea that musical training may
do more for kids than simply teach them their scales--it exercises parts
of the brain useful in mathematics, spatial intelligence and other intellectual pursuits."
http://www.vbsarts.com/index.php/27-education-news/42-sorry-kids-piano-lessons-make-you-smarter

The prediction that high stimulation seeking 3-year-olds would have higher IQs by 11 years old was tested in 1,795 children on whom behavioral measures of stimulation seeking were taken at 3 years, together with cognitive ability at 11 years. High 3-year-old stimulation seekers scored 12 points higher on total IQ at age 11 compared with low stimulation seekers and also had superior scholastic and reading ability. Results replicated across independent samples and were found for all gender and ethnic groups. Effect sizes for the relationship between age 3 stimulation seeking and age 11 IQ ranged from 0.52 to 0.87. Findings appear to be the first to show a prospective link between stimulation seeking and intelligence. It is hypothesized that young stimulati. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289609000634

Toddlers who physically explore their environment, engage socially with other children and verbally interact with adults are likely to have better scholastic and reading abilities as teenagers compared to less engaging toddlers. The reason, suggest the researchers who study predictors of intelligence, is that these children create their own stimulating environment thus facilitating their own cognitive ability. These findings are reported on in the April issue of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2002/04/toddler-stimuli

And too much homework making you stupid? Sort of, if it takes more of your time
vs educational training, stimulus. I mean if you stay in a box and do your homework
you would be missing on other resources of education like training for a Gymkhana!
Would Ken be able to do what he does if he spends more time in a box? No!
But homework is needed. Homework is not really for now it's for later in your life.
Like money in the bank, something you will be going back to use later in your life!
Or point to something that happened in your life!

Like when I was in college in a humanity class
when the professor said Homer in my mind
I had the other Homer pop up.
Give it I was not ready for a humanity class
being I was weak in that in high school.
I learned about it later. Learn for later not, now!


There is also stimulus that makes you sort of stupid like multitasking!
In college I was listening to two different class tapes at the same time.
Two headphones one on each ear. They where on the same general
subject so I was able to put it together for both test.
But I scored lower than I could of, overall the point was to do better
on both test not just one! But that is me, it's better to plan ahead!

"Multitasking messes with the brain in several ways.
At the most basic level, the mental balancing acts that it requires
the constant switching and pivoting energize regions of the brain that
specialize in visual processing and physical coordination and simultaneously
appear to shortchange some of the higher areas related to memory and learning.
We concentrate on the act of concentration at the expense of whatever it is
that we're supposed to be concentrating on studies find that multitasking boosts
the level of stress-related hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and
wears down our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us.
In the short term, the confusion, fatigue, and chaos merely hamper our ability
to focus and analyze, but in the long term, they may cause it to atrophy."
http://science.slashdot.org/story/08/01/27/2221228/multitasking-makes-you-stupid-and-slow

And there is stimulus that makes you smarter like walking backward!
Walking backward and studying for a test, makes you do better on the test!
"Whenever you encounter a difficult situation, stepping backward may boost
your capability to deal with it effectively," Severine Koch, PhD, and colleagues
write in May's edition of Psychological Science.
Koch's team works for the social and cultural psychology department at
Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
They were interested in the effects that "approach" movements, like walking
toward something or pulling something toward you, and "avoidance" movements,
such backing away from something, have on mental functioning.
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/walking-backward-may-have-link-increased-cognition

***For kids in poverty that just don't have the resources to have a Gymkhana,
that does not make you stupid or anything relating to it.
I myself don't really have the resources to have one. I tend to make my own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50A9wjJ40Dk

And that is your stimulus to relate to your homework or learning something from school.
You can relate with your own life as a point of reference to something you are
trying to learn. Your experience, belief in life is just how you are raised,
what you have seen. That does not mean you have to live in a box! Get out and learn!

Sure you may not get a Berkeley or Harvard education but that also can be good
in a changing society when you keep getting the same educational road to no where!
Over all I say it's better to make your own road show! When you look at the whole
working system as it is. Who gets most of the money, the worker?
There needs to be a change. And everyone has the power to change it, low or high!
Just the facts to know "It's just a ride!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0

With that story I point to the story of "The myth of the Celestial Cow."
All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra,
who called each of them into existence by speaking their
secret names. Alternatively humans were created from Ra's
tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the
"Cattle of Ra." In the myth of the Celestial Cow it is
recounted how mankind plotted against Ra and how he sent
his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them.
When she became bloodthirsty she was pacified by mixing
beer with red dye.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra

There is always a way take your kid to see a waterfall, walk in the woods talk about everything you see. It's a world of stimulus out there if poor. Me and my friend went fishing with his dad once to us kids at the time that was high deprivation for us staring at the water looking at the clouds etc. We dropped our fishing poles and made a tipi out of sticks. Really cool we did that. 

At Home with, Cy Curnin, of The Fixx.

When you envision a successful star’s home, it seems logical to picture extravagance and luxury located in an upscale, and possibly secluded, California neighborhood. For Cy Curnin, vocalist for the New Wave group The Fixx—whose hits include "One Thing Leads to Another, " "Saved by Zero," and "Red Skies"—that image of his home life is far from his reality. Instead, the singer has chosen to reside on an organic farm in France with his wife, young daughter, horses, sheep and 150 goats—all permanent guests at his bed-and-breakfast.

Ask Curnin for the reason why he chose to get his hands dirty and live off the land and his answer sounds more like the beginnings of one of his songs: He did it for love. But he’s quick to say that it didn’t take long to find his passion for what he does and the land he calls home.

"This has been a discovery for me—like being at the right place at the right time," he says. "In 2001, Aurélia, my then-girlfriend and now my wife, decided just to pack her bags, leave New York and move back to France, where she’s from originally. When she got there, someone gave her a sheep, so she decided to go to school to study goat farming and make goat cheese."

Curnin missed his love and a few years later decided to move out and join her. The couple bought 20-plus acres of land and a 1790 longère style home that was once a cattle farm in the Loire Valley of France, two hours south of Paris. On the property, they built a bed-and-breakfast, decorated with a mix of rustic and modern décor. Its walls are three-feet thick, allowing the home and B&B to remain naturally cool. Additional insulation was added where necessary and wood-burning stoves and electrical heaters keep the rooms warm. "In France, electricity is very cheap because they’ve invested in nuclear power," Curnin says, "so the government gives you good tax kickbacks if you use electricity."

The site has two rental homes (gites)—one that accommodates up to 12 people and another that can fit up to four—equipped with kitchens. The B&B is a popular, rural getaway for many Europeans who enjoy a holiday exploring the Loire Valley, which is home to beautiful chateaux, countless wineries and delightful villages. The property includes a lake for fishing, and children can participate in the daily farm activities. Rates vary depending on the season and the space.

Once he had the land, it was the tragedy of September 11, 2001 that turned Curnin’s attention to what he calls "food with barcodes," and he realized that this farm could allow his family to be self-sufficient. "There hadn’t been one drop of pesticides or fertilizer ever put on this soil other than natural," says Curnin. "We are now 100 percent self-sufficient, and it only takes an hour or two hours of work every day. It’s maintainable."
http://www.renovateyourworld.com/HowTo_Library/At_Home_with__Cy_Curnin-At_Home_with__-A3651.html

http://www.cycurnin.com

***It's good to know that happy landings makes happy lives!

I have always been a fan of The Fixx, going back to middle school, high school,
college. And it's good to see the Fixx is still going!

Steve Perry, Journey, in the middle.

Being that Steve Perry had a Birthday on January 22 and the Journey Frontiers LP
came out in February 22, 1983. Yes 30 years ago! Still shocking for me Steve is 64.
Makes me think of my age!

There are many points to the story here. As life is a Journey, and we do need
new frontiers in these times we need to move a long, and start a new path, a new road.
Get off the bad road. If it does not work get off it!
( ( ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ8UeYWkIQk ) ) )

You may not of known this part of Steve's past.

In his early twenties, Perry moved to Sacramento to start a band with a
16-year-old future multi-platinum music producer, Scott Mathews, who co-wrote,
played drums, guitar and sang. That band, Ice, wrote strong original material
and were poised to 'make it' as they recorded during the day at the
Record Plant studios in Los Angeles in 1972 while Stevie Wonder recorded
his classic Talking Book LP by night. Upon returning to Sacramento, Ice
melted as the band had no management, Mathews was stuck in high school
and the recordings went virtually unheard. Perry ended up in Banta, California
outside of Tracy, California, where he fronted the band Alien Project in his
mid-twenties. He nearly gave up music when the bassist of that band,
Richard Michaels, was killed in an automobile accident. Perry returned
to Lemoore and decided not to continue his singing career, but at the
urging of his mother, Perry answered a call from Walter "Herbie" Herbert,
manager of the struggling San Francisco-based band, Journey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Perry_(musician)

So came his Journey to today! So where is your Journey? Isn't it time we all
path a new frontier! The last one we had didn't do us very well.

***This story is to point you have the power to make things good for yourself.
Just get off that bad road and get on a better one!

Our Liberal founding fathers, Socialist and Agrarian Justice!

 

Much has been said about our founding fathers in recent years. The Tea Party has all of the sudden become historical scholars. They have become the defenders of our Country and our Constitution. Glenn Beck is their proverbial historical professor. Unfortunately their knowledge is fairly limited to specifically what their Fox News comrade regurgitates.

In 1797, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called “Agrarian Justice“. It was his last great pamphlet and it was addressed to the French legislature, itself in the throes of revolution. While he addressed the pamphlet to the French legislature, he meant the plan in it to be universal, as he said in his accompanying letter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarian_Justice

The plan contained in this work is not adapted for any particular country alone: the principle on which it is based is general. But as the rights of man are a new study in this world, and one needing protection from priestly imposture, and the insolence of oppressions too long established, I have thought it right to place this little work under your safeguard.

Paine starts his proposal by discussing poverty. First of all, he says poverty is not natural:

“Poverty, therefore, is a thing created by that which is called civilized life. It exists not in the natural state. On the other hand, the natural state is without those advantages which flow from agriculture, arts, science and manufactures.”

Paine decries the disparity of income just I have and many other liberals have today:

“Civilization, therefore, or that which is so-called, has operated two ways: to make one part of society more affluent, and the other more wretched, than would have been the lot of either in a natural state.”

http://www.politicususa.com/founding-fathers-liberal.html

***I am sure you get the point of that, more over when you look at the
Socialism part in the past! ***

What are the progressive aspects of last century’s socialism? And from where did the original ideas come? These are extremely relevant questions in light of the international economic and political upheavals.

Modern socialism was born alongside capitalism and in opposition to it. When the basic features of industrial capitalism first came into existence — in the early 1800’s — people instantly recognized that drastic changes needed to be made: the large industries that emerged created dehumanizing conditions for the majority of people — forcing people to work twelve and fourteen hours a day for starvation wages — while a tiny minority were becoming fabulously wealthy. This is not what most people had fought for in the English, American, and French revolutions.

The “utopian socialists” in the early 1800s tried to correct these social inequities by proposing grand schemes that, if adopted by governments, would help harmonize society. These reformers, however, soon learned that those in power wanted little to do with their ideas. They also learned that “alternative economic models” set up next to the large capitalist enterprises were soon crushed by these corporations, due to the superior wealth encapsulated in the giant machines the capitalists owned, as well as the state machinery that the corporate elite controlled.

The Utopian’s failure was partially due to a lack of understanding. At the time, people were attempting to grasp what was happening to society; capitalist industrialization was happening at a lightning pace, with little preparedness or understanding from the majority of people. Blind economic forces seemed to be advancing uncontrollably.

In fact, modern socialism can be theoretically reduced to correcting the economic contradictions that inherently exist in capitalism. Marx listed these contradictions in his Capital; the “socialist solution” is merely the correction of these fundamental problems of capitalism.

For example, in capitalism’s embryonic stage, the capitalist ran a small shop, where perhaps he sold wagon wheels. But as capitalism evolved, a thousand times more goods were produced after the whole town was organized to make wagon wheels, each person performing a different, very small task, but all working cooperatively to produce the final product. The profit, however, went to one person — the owner, or owners. The result was that wagon wheels were immensely cheaper, and those who could not afford the high cost of the factory-approach of production — machines, labor costs, and raw materials — were pushed out of the market.

Eventually, those capitalists unable to compete evolved into workers, while more and more money was needed to purchase the giant machinery and infrastructure needed to stay a competitive capitalist; through this dynamic wealth increased at one pole and decreased at the other.

This shows a fundamental contradiction of capitalism: all of society is organized to produce goods and services; workers work “collectively” to build products, i.e., they work “socialistically,” but the vast majority of the wealth produced goes to a small minority of non-working, very wealthy shareholders. Thus, to correct this problem, the wealth produced by society should be distributed to those who create it, not funneled into the pockets of the rich. This would require transferring the vast majority of the productive machinery from private ownership of a few to the control of vast majority.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-origins-of-modern-socialism/16739

***Not many people know about the paper "Agrarian Justice." It's like many want it to be not known!
Well it sure seems like it to me! Like going from High school into college and finding out,
hoover wore a dress! That points to a selective education and missing out on a lot. Why?

Getting real, can't afford to use my insurance!

There is a need for a change in the health care system but there will always be people like
in my town that won't be able to afford their medicines, that pushes why go to the
Doctor if I won't be able to get the medicine to get better.

So they have insurance but won't use it. That is really the same as being uninsured!
When they have to go to the Doctor it's bad like they had no insurance in the first place!
It cost more to fix just like not having insurance!

I have been like that much of my time. I am really poor myself, I worked a lot of time
at poor places like Walmart. My rent at the time was $360, Car payment $160,
Car insurance $130 Internet $25, food, gas for the car etc,
I would only have $45 in my bank.

With my job now and my bills I have its more like $4 in my bank most times.
So with that view you see the not being able to use my insurance, with the co-pay,
Dr bill in the mail, being able to buy the medicines, you see the mess!

I got sick once went to the DR that gave me a DR bill for $50, and my medicine at
Walgreens was $130+ I only had $45 in the bank, I only got the antibiotic that cost
$30, leaving me $15 for rest of the month!

So why did I go to the DR in the first place? Was it worth $80? No!
I found out a guy I knew put a small spoon full of Neosporin in some hot tea and
drank it. It helped him he said!
Also heard about getting antibiotics at a pet store for fish. It works!
Superglue to fix cuts with out stitches I did that many times!

Anyway you see it It's about income! ObamaCare is needed, but in low pay towns
it won't work. The workers will still be like uninsured but with insurance they cant use!
In fact it's not Obama making it bad it's your low pay.
If you got paid better you could afford to go to the Doctor,
but your pay won't let you!

So comes the self sufficient way of Superglue it and take some fish antibiotics!
Go to a Doctor? Not with my pay!

~~~FYI Fish-Mox!
"How To Use Fish-Mox (to treat your sick fish, of course)"
Over the years, I have discussed the importance of having a stockpile of antibiotics to deal with the common infections that we might encounter in a survival situation. Simple activities of daily survival, such as chopping wood, could easily cause injuries that could be contaminated with bacteria.  Today, we have access to antibiotics through our healthcare providers that nip problems in the bud.  Unfortunately, these “minor” issues can become life-threatening if we are denied such access:  Skin infection bacteria could enter the blood, causing “septicemia”.  In the past, this was not uncommon as a cause of death.

Therefore, it’s important to accumulate antibiotics.  I have told you about my experiences as an aquacukturist (tilapia at present) and the availability of aquatic and avian antibiotics that can be used to treat your sick “fish” in times of trouble.  The classic example I have used is Fish-Mox (Amoxicillin 250mg) and Fish-Mox Forte (Amoxicillin 500mg).  Some of you may have purchased some for your medical supplies, but do you know when and how to use this medication?

Amoxicillin (veterinary equivalent: FISH-MOX, FISH-MOX FORTE, AQUA-MOX):  comes in 250mg and 500mg doses, usually taken 3 times a day.  Amoxicillin is the most popular antibiotic prescribed to children, usually in liquid form.  It is more versatile and better absorbed and tolerated than the older Pencillins, and is acceptable for use during pregnancy.
Ampicillin (Fish-Cillin) and Cephalexin (Fish-Flex) are related drugs. Amoxicillin may be used for the following diseases:

• Anthrax  (Prevention or treatment of Cutaneous transmission)
• Chlamydia Infection (sexually transmitted)
• Urinary Tract Infection (bladder/kidney infections)
• Helicobacter pylori Infection (causes peptic ulcer)
• Lyme Disease (transmitted by ticks)
• Otitis Media (middle ear infection)
• Pneumonia (lung infection)
• Sinusitis
• Skin or Soft Tissue Infection (cellulitis, boils)
• Actinomycosis (causes abscesses in humans and livestock)
• Bronchitis
• Tonsillitis/Pharyngitis (Strep throat)

You can see that Amoxicillin is a versatile drug. It is even safe for use during pregnancy, but all of the above is a lot of information. How do you determine what dose and frequency would be appropriate for which individual? Let’s take an example: Otitis media is a common ear infection often seen in children. Amoxicillin is often the “drug of choice” for this condition. That is, it is recommended to be used FIRST when you make a diagnosis of otitis media.

Before administering this medication, however, you would want to determine that your patient is not allergic to Amoxicillin. The most common form of allergy would appear as a rash, but diarrhea, itchiness, and even respiratory difficulty could also manifest. If you see any of these symptoms, you should discontinue your treatment and look for other options. Antibiotics such as Azithromycin or Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (Bird-Sulfa) could be a “second-line” solution in this case.

Once you have identified Amoxicillin as your treatment of choice to treat your patient’s ear infection, you will want to determine the dosage.  As Otitis Media often occurs in children, you might have to break a tablet in half or open the capsule to separate out a portion that would be appropriate.  For Amoxicillin, you would give 20-50mg per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight (20-30mg/kg for infants less than four months old).  This would be useful if you have to give the drug to a toddler less than 30 pounds.

A common older child’s dosage would be 250mg and a common maximum dosage for adults would be 500 mg three times a day.  Luckily (or by design), these dosages are exactly how the commercially-made aquatic medications come in the bottle. Take this dosage orally 3 times a day for 10 to 14 days (twice a day for infants).  All of the above information can be found in the Physician’s Desk Reference.

If your child is too small to swallow a pill whole, you could make a mixture with water (called a “suspension”). To make a liquid suspension, crush a tablet or empty a capsule into a small glass of water and drink it; then, fill the glass again and drink that (particles may adhere to the walls of the glass).  You can add some flavoring to make it taste better.

Do not chew or make a liquid out of time-released capsules of any medication; you will wind up losing some of the gradual release effect and perhaps get too much into your system at once.  These medications should be plainly marked “Time-Released”.

You will probably see improvement within 3 days, but don’t be tempted to stop the antibiotic therapy until you’re done with the entire 10-14 days.  Sometimes, you’ll kill most of the bacteria but some colonies may persist and multiply if you prematurely end the treatment.  This is often cited as a cause of antibiotic resistance. In a long-term survival situation, however, you might be down to your last few pills and have to make some tough decisions.

Don’t use veterinary equivalents (except on your fish) in normal times. Consult your physician or other healthcare provider. Overuse of antibiotics is one of the main causes of antibiotic resistance today.
http://www.doomandbloom.net/how-to-use-fish-mox-to-treat-your-sick-fish-of-course

~~~FYI Superglue!
"Can I Really Use Superglue to Close My Wound?"

Using superglue to close a wound is possible, but not advisable. While using glue that you can buy in the store to close a wound would work, it also may produce extreme skin irritation and skin death when purchased in over-the-counter form. There are medical superglues that are often used in place of stitches to close certain types of wounds.

Superglue is made of a substance called cyanoacrylate. When it comes into contact with liquids like water, it forms a plastic mesh that will keep skin, or anything someone wants glued, neatly bonded together. Regular superglue has methyl alcohol, however, which creates heat in order to produce the bonding effect. Using this type of glue to close a wound in deep tissue could result in killing some of the surrounding skin cells.

It is true that the US military used superglue to close wounds during the Vietnam War. Most of the studies of problems resulting from use were recorded during this time. It is likely that doctors did save many lives with this procedure, however, because it gave them time to transport patients to M.A.S.H. units where they could have needed surgery.

Today, many medical facilities do use a medical form of superglue to close a wound, but only of certain types of wounds. This medical form includes cyanoacrylate, but also butyl, isobutyl, or octyl. These are thought to help prevent bacteria from infecting the wound. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved the use of a few types of glue to close wounds.

Deciding to use medical superglue to close a wound is usually based on the type of wound. A long straight skin wound where the tissue naturally flaps back together is the ideal choice. Generally, it is not appropriate to use it to close a wound that is deep and reaches far into the body. Even with the medical form, some skin deterioration or irritation may occur and delay healing.

The best application of superglue to close a wound is on minor skin lesions. For someone who is not a medical professional, this should be a last choice decision, rather than a first choice one. It is far better to allow an expert to decide how to treat a wound when it is severe and bleeding may be occurring internally.
http://www.wisegeek.org/can-i-really-use-superglue-to-close-my-wound.htm

My Walmart story!

It has been long enough. 5+ years ago I worked at Walmart.
At the time there was retaliation there, for some workers.
They would check on you every 30 mins to ask you are you done yet,
are you done yet. A lady support manager went to the bathroom, where my girl friend
at the time was, doing her business, & yes the manager asked her, something like
"Are you done yet?" She told me she wanted to fart so bad at that time.
"Oh-yes, fart, I will get righ,aaaaarrrg on it!"
(Walmart humor, you have to work there!)

So you get the point of how bad it is there!

Around X-mas, all night they gave gifts they where giving away.
They would call out your name if you won something, I did.
There where many workers allover the store doing their job, helping
customers etc. A while later I helped a guy get a TV to his car. A "Team Lift"
kind of thing we do.
After that me & a few other workers where working doing what we
do at Walmart, but in a different part of the store, we where done where we
normally work & it was getting time to get off work.

Well the 2th manager in charge a rude person anyway, walked by
& asked us what are we doing? (Rudely) We all looked at the 2th manager
& went back to work.
The 2th manager took us all in the "AD room" (Office), where they made
a big thing about it, they talked to each worker etc.
After my turn, I set my gift I won on desk on the office & went out the door.

Then came the door greeter. A 70, 80 year old man.
He was in the back talking to the Manager about taking time off to take
care of his dieing 90 year old ex-wife what was in a nursing home.
The manger said he can't he has took off to many days already
& he couldin't use the Family med leave act. (Ex-wife)
The old guy took off his name tag etc & handed it to the manager,
he wouldin't take it so it dropped in front of him
& the old man quit!

Then a few months later came the Water issue!
The workers could have bottled water with them at work.
And some bottles ended laying around. Well the manger did not like that, so
they said we could not bring the water with us we all had to drink
from the water fountains.
But being 55 workers for overnight & with the support managers bugging
you every 30 min etc. That would not work. There where a few diabetic workers.
And for the rest of us it was just to long of a shift to deal with that.

A few weeks later I ended up in the "AD room again for a warning because
I got sick & missing too many days. (Retaliation) Well when I was there
I noticed on a paper sitting there, the times for the
Walmart executive walk through that was going to happen at 7am.
It was some big guys coming. I now knew what time day etc.

That was sort of the last straw with me, I have seen the light!
So with the water issue going on & the executive walk through coming I
called OSHA with a complaint. Let them know what was happening, with
all the stress of work! That we all had to drink at the few water fountains.
The person at OSHA took the case & wanted to know when was a good
time to get a hold of the Walmart Manager.
I said 7:15am on this day... It was only a few days away.
I didin't think OSHA would take the case!

So I went to work like normal, I was pumped but normal the first night went good.
Then came the day! I worked that night always looking at my watch, peeking
around corners etc. Before I knew it, it was 7am! then, 4,3,2,1.....
then on the overhead a message MR(Name here) important phone call line one!,
important phone call line one!, important phone call line one! for about 5 mins.
Then it stopped, then again on the overhead, but in a panic voice!
IMPORTANT PHONE CALL LINE ONE! etc. Oh god!

All of that time I was holding in my laughter, but some let out.
A support manager heard me a bit. The pages on the over head was aggressive
so he ended up walking to the front to see what was going on.
He stopped at my aisle I was working at & looked at me.
I was holding in my laughter & didin't show much!
Then he walked to the front & found out who was on the phone,
he ran to get the Manager with the Walmart executives to tell him a
Government agent OSHA high up wants to talk to him, their pissed!

After that the support manager went back to my aisle I was working
& just looked at me! But had no proof, I did it, but he knew! I hid my face
like I was busy working I was red in the face from my laughter. My lungs hurt etc.

After all this & ended up quitting over being sick with a unknown virus, I missed too many days.

A few months later I went to a BigLots store & there was a worker that worked
with me at Walmart, he held up a lighter for me, he heard what I did!
I was a rock star!

It was not all for me but for the workers also!
It was for the workers that 70, 80 year old man, everyone that works there!

You will get this with a hostile work environment as Walmart!
From the outside you do not know!

What I did was needed & fair. It makes up for the mistreatment in a way.

I just wanted to say this story to say that one worker makes a difference, give it for a small time but yes, as one worker! After me the OSHA complaints came easier!

http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/walmart.jpg