Comments on: Taking Without Compensation

By: bozhidar bob balkas

bozhidar bob balkas — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:36:57 +0000

amers,
vote for dummest politicians; the smart ones after elected do not listen.
the dumb ones wld constatly badger u w. questions; unsure of what to do.
so they wld ask public. they even wld use bikes to visit their electorate.
obama is just too smart to listen to u. on tv he’s got answer to every question one is permitted to ask.
he came not to make even one mistake. who cld/wld ask for more? even pope or jesus cldn’t/wldn’t do better. thnx

By: Donald Hawkins

Donald Hawkins — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:22:44 +0000

Dear Caesar
Keep Burning, raping, killing
But please, please
Spare us your obscene poetry
And ugly music

– From Seneca’s last letter to Nero
Thank you Andrew Glikson and Emily Spence and James Keye

Brilliant in it’s simplicity

By: Ron Horn

Ron Horn — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:25:07 +0000

It never ceases to amaze me how much energy people can put into denying the existence of the elephant in the room—the capitalist economic system. I think that the author of this thoughtful article is doing this in spite of the fact that he obviously has personally suffered setbacks by not conforming to the demands of this system. Does he subscribe to neo-conservative notions that we are at the end of history with regard to establishing an economic system or that there are no alternatives?

The problem for the human race is that a small group of people, capitalists, have devised a system that provides them with fabulous material rewards. They not only own the wealth that is produced by working people, but they own productive ideas and even life forms that have been created. Worst of all, they control ideas regarding their system through their concentrated ownership of the media, and through their control of education. And anyone, group, or nations that get in their way, get whacked, fired, or invaded. This parasitic class has perfected a system which carefully disguises this thievery from working people and the environment. The author fails to see, or is in denial about, this elephant in the room that will doom us all if we fail to act.

By: corylus

corylus — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:32:49 +0000

James,
A more fundamentally sound and easily understood explanation of the human role in planetary ecology I haven’t read. I will promote this column as necessary reading material to my students and friends. Also, the appropriate synonym for “principle” is tenet, not tenant.

Thank you much!

By: bozhidar bob balkas

bozhidar bob balkas — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:26:47 +0000

i have a devil of my own; he protects me more than any god cld/wld.
all of them r mean bunch of bastards. but is there more than one devil?
after praying for decades to god (s) to make me a thief, liar, cheater, prime minister, clinton’s friend; and gods not listening , i finally turned to my devil for help.
things r now much better. i can now, at least, lie. for now, only to my wife.
i’v married a smart woman. big mistake. next time i’m marrying a dumb woman.
not only that stupid women spend less; they also ask for permission before buying anything.
and stupid women wear long pants to signify they’r not for sale or on sale.
thnx

By: Donald Hawkins

Donald Hawkins — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:00:56 +0000

Now I have to take a long walk. Helps me think.

By: David

David — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:59:45 +0000

Mr. Keyes:

Thank you for your detailed and reasoned argument for change in the face of disaster.

I have one question, though. A few doors up the street from where I live resides a fellow that owns and uses two Ski-Doos, two Harley motorcycles (his and hers, you know) , drives a Chevy Suburban so that he may tow his toy collection as needed, uses a riding mower (despite being overweight by at least 75 pounds) to cut his postage stamp-sized lawn, and has chain saws, weed wackers, a lawn mower and a snow blower, all gasoline-powered.

By my estimation, people in this life style number in the tens of millions in the United States. There are probably billions more around the world who want what my neighbor has and want it right now.

My question is should I give a copy of your article to my neighbor and hope for the light bulb to go on or should I read it to him personally?

By: bozhidar bob balkas

bozhidar bob balkas — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:15:49 +0000

let’s us please read what jesus said or been editorially quoted as saying?
yes, even jesus is connected to everything else.
he started a new religion. judaists were alarmed and put him to death.
he was quoted thusly:
u shall always have poor amongst u.
i came to uphold the law and the prophets;
thus approbating stoning, theocratic govt, genocides against semites (if they had been carried to whatever degree or at all)
he appears to have rejected goyim; looked down on samaritans because of their branch of judaism.
he also gave some good advise; however, every people i know of have abundant advice.
jesus just like bible/torah ‘teaches’ mostly by commandments.
and we r notorious for not learning from comandments.
actually, we may bristle w. ire when ordered to do anything. thnx