Sunday, May 18, 2014

Fear of Fairness

I am reading more and more things from wealthy people decrying the idea of poor people being given a chance or being treated fairly. They don't couch it in those terms and don't see it in those terms. The basic tenets of their belief system are what is known as "Social Darwinism", they believe that they were successful because they were genetically superior because their family genes and race has made them somehow better than the rest of us. This is the basis of monarchies. They also believe the inverse, they believe that poor people are genetically inferior and therefore should not have children. This is also why they hate the autistic with High IQs, they cannot compete with them.

I want you to understand why powerful people are against a minimum wage high enough to allow people to live on it. It is the same reason why they decry giving anything to the poor. They have a bitter and cynical view of the world, one in which it is everyone for themselves; but, expect that they will have all the privileges and advantages that are derived from living in this society. Much of their philosophy comes from a woman named Ayn Rand. In fact one of her followers was the Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan. The same man that was against any regulation of Wall Street; but, was very much responsible for the bail outs of the banks which is far from capitalistic.

Bonner & Partners - Redistribute the Wealth!. The writer complains thatDrunken thugs to be fitted with tags that check them for alcohol: Bracelets will allow offenders to escape with a caution if they stay sober for 120 days the pope had called for helping the poor. He begins by dismissing God and religion as okay when not followed and that faith is just people faking it for etiquette's sake. He then wrongly states that the bible never called for giving away wealth. Maybe he doesn't understand the bible because he has never read the whole bible. One of the most important stories of the New Testament is where the rich young man came to Jesus and explained how he didn't sin and did good things and he asked Jesus what he needed to do to be saved. I cannot tell you if the young man was being sarcastic or sincere though the story is generally discussed as if the man was being sincere. In either case, Jesus responded by saying that the young man should give up all his possessions and follow him. They young man left because he couldn't part with his wealth. Jesus was asked about it and he said that it was harder for a wealthy person to be saved than it was for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

Mail Online - Drunken thugs to be fitted with tags that check them for alcohol: Bracelets will allow offenders to escape with a caution if they stay sober for 120 days. Your IWatch as tattle tale. In the future you will be required to wear an device that will monitor your physical condition and actions.

Yahoo - The Fiscal Times - 6 Housing Trends That May Surprise You. I have to start by saying that none of the trends surprised me and it makes me question why it surprised the writer. The trends are that home prices are going up, almost half of all housing purchases were in cash, young people and first time buyers are decreasing from the market, there are fewer people getting mortgages, jumbo loans are up and the housing market is not recovering. If one looks a little deeper they will see that hedge funds have been moving money out of the stock market and into assets including houses which they pay for in cash.

The Atlantic - Thomas Piketty Is Right About the Past and Wrong About the Future. There is a man named Piketty that wrote a book about income inequality. The book has shaken the financial world to it's foundations by questioning why income inequality exists. It is praised as being incredibly well researched and documented. It's basic premise is that capitalism leads to inequality and skewered wealth distribution or an unfair distribution of wealth.

The Atlantic - The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All Upgrade Our Brains. People believe that soon we will be able to improve ourselves by genetically or technologically upgrading ourselves. There are people fascinated by the fact that they hope one day they will be able to buy brilliance. Aspergers is a form of Autism and those who of that nature see things that others cannot, this frequently makes them fit in poorly with society. The world is currently seeking to cure autism and use chemicals or technology to create people with the same abilities. There is this assumption that somehow we can have our senses improved drastically and it not have a toll or overwhelm; but, watch some videos of people hearing for the first time and read up on how they quickly come to feel overwhelmed and often turn down or off their own hearing devices. Some Autistic people smash their heads into the wall to make all the noises and input go away and now we have transhumanists who seek to put themselves in the same position.

There are those who believe in transhumanism and are seeking rules for it's use. One person has suggested five rules. They are as follow:

1. The right to self-knowledge
2. The right to self-modification
3. The right to refuse modification
4. The right to modify/refuse to modify your children
5. The right to know who has been modified

The meaning behind and the lack of morality behind all of these are interesting; but, I wish to focus on number 4. The right to modify your children without their permission or understanding. True permission cannot be given without understanding. There are people who argue that one should not be allowed to circumcise their children; but, they should be allowed to genetically or technologically modify their children.

Mail Online - Forget PINs - now you can withdraw cash with your VEINS: Hitachi rolls out biometric scanning technology for ATMs. I had previously written about this in relation to Japan; but, it is now being tested in Sweden which has become a cashless society where your biometrics are your identification for you to use your electronic currency.

Hope you enjoyed the post and that it gives you some things to think about.