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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

AngelicBraeburn from Eccentric California Since: Jan, 2015
#93901: May 27th 2015 at 10:06:35 AM

Speaking of Santorum:

Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, will announce today that he will seek the GOP nomination for president in 2016.

Santorum really has no chance of winning this nomination, especially now that Huckabee has entered the race.

The only reason the Evangelical Christians backed his Catholic ass after Perry dropped out is because there only other choices were a Mormon, an adulterer, and Ron Paul.

The artist formally known as Deviant Braeburn
JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#93902: May 27th 2015 at 11:33:16 AM

US promises further inquiries into FIFA. Murica fuck yeah!!

edited 27th May '15 11:33:24 AM by JackOLantern1337

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#93903: May 27th 2015 at 12:04:37 PM

The FIFA thing seems like one of those odd international situations where it didn't really matter which country acted first, it could still be seen as overreaching from a legal standpoint. And given what I've read, there is enough genuine corruption at work there that someone had to make a move first, because FIFA wasn't going to clean its act up on its own.

While it would probably be better if more countries were openly supporting or assisting in the investigations or arrests, I'm not seeing anything major to criticize about the U.S. doing this.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#93904: May 27th 2015 at 12:06:18 PM

I don't mind that you guys finally found the dirt on Eduardo Li (From Costa Rica). If anything, I am glad someone can. Fucking criminals.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Zendervai Visiting from the Hoag Galaxy from St. Catharines Since: Oct, 2009 Relationship Status: Wishing you were here
Visiting from the Hoag Galaxy
#93905: May 27th 2015 at 12:10:53 PM

Switzerland being involved is a good thing for the image though. The country still has a reputation for neutrality, and the Swiss government structure makes actual systemic corruption kind of difficult, so it's way less hypocritical than if it was just the US involved.

Not Three Laws compliant.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#93906: May 27th 2015 at 12:47:58 PM

[up]

Agreed - and I can't help but think that John Oliver deserves partial credit again, what with that expose about corrosive practices within FIFA (e.g. "rainy-day fund" bigger than most countries' GDP, "get rid of your liquor ban!" to "We're disappointed in the violence resulting from the lifting of the liquor ban") that should have prompted investigations before this.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#93907: May 27th 2015 at 12:57:55 PM

I'm only sad they didn't get Blatter (yet)

"You can reply to this Message!"
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#93908: May 27th 2015 at 8:32:35 PM

So when is anyone gonna clean up the NBA or the NFL?

Linhasxoc Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
#93909: May 27th 2015 at 8:35:23 PM

I can't speak for the NBA, but from what I've heard the NFL's level of corruption, bad as it can be, is nowhere near as bad as FIFA.

storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#93910: May 27th 2015 at 11:27:24 PM

Given that Qatar pretty much openly bought the World Cup, FIFA always looked pretty shady.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#93911: May 28th 2015 at 4:06:47 AM

What we saw in 2014 was wins for left-wing ballot initiatives (like the minimum wage hike in Arkansas) while Republicans swept elected positions generally. All this says is that the Democrats need to build up some local infrastructure because they've got ideas that people love but either can't find candidates or can't get people to vote for them.
Also of notice is that there were Democrat wins in that election, but the ones most noticeable (bar Cumio being Cumio), is that Blasio and Wolf won big on essentially modestly left positions instead of running away from Obama/to the center. But that might be the North East

JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#93912: May 28th 2015 at 8:06:51 AM

How the hiring process favors the elites. Amongst other things you can kiss your employment chances goodbye if you don't play sports, have a regional accent, or are black and don't admit to having grown up poor,many interviewers will assume you are lying to them.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#93913: May 28th 2015 at 9:04:51 AM

[up] And is it worse, if you're a foreigner and fit one of those criteria?note 

Keep Rolling On
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#93914: May 28th 2015 at 9:29:12 AM

I was reading about Silk Road. I'll copy/paste what I'm gonna send my friend about it, since it's relevant to US politics:

One of the bigger things about Silk Road that sticks out to me, though, is ideology. The founder, going by the name Dread Pirate Roberts, is a libertarian and Austrian economist, who became huge on Ludwig von Mises and his belief that without government, the market will magically take care of itself no matter what and all problems will be resolved. Silk Road is based partly on that philosophy. It’s meant to be self-policed and the community is supposed to run it. Bitcoins are used for two reasons – their alleged untraceability (I know that’s not a word, but it is now), and the fact that governments didn’t control them. Which as I said before, makes them popular with criminals.

But it all falls apart. I mean, even as an ideological test, it fails. How can you truly police a community without “police”, so to speak? Someone has to be in charge. Doesn’t have to be government, of course; there are online game communities that are experimenting with semi-automated systems that ban players who are abusive or openly sexist or racist. But there does need to be leaders.

And then of course, the very nature of bitcoin, which makes it easy to pass around without interference from government, and therefore great for money laundering, also makes it very easy to steal. Dread Pirate Roberts was robbed. And what could he do about it? Call the police? Due to the nature of his enterprise, of course not. He hires a (fake) hitman to commit murder. In other words, the man who’d made a big deal about respecting his community, suddenly had to police it, suddenly had to take on a sort of government role.

I know better than to say that the story of Silk Road alone proves libertarianism a total fail. But it is based on the ideology, and does show flaws in it.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93915: May 28th 2015 at 9:34:44 AM

We've been over that a fair bit. Yes, Silk Road is prima facie evidence that a complete libertarian ideology applied to money cannot work. As I've said a few times, every time someone thinks they can reinvent society from a "nobody tells me what to do" basis, they run into exactly the same problems as every other time that's been tried, and are forced to adopt the same solutions.

I want to tell them, "Welcome to 10,000 BC."

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#93916: May 28th 2015 at 10:11:34 AM

What also stuck out to me was that Ross Ulbricht founded the site after multiple business ventures failed. I think he wanted to do something that would be successful for once. He became an ideologue afterwards, but I think being successful was his primary motivation, and proving libertarianism right was his secondary.

That said, what about Austrian economics and libertarianism would appeal to a multiple-time failed business owner? I'm wondering if it's somehow related to what about it appeals to my brother. I get wanting to reinvent yourself after multiple failures, but still, what about libertarianism specifically does it?

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#93917: May 28th 2015 at 10:13:36 AM

Being able to blame your failures on the state's interference and not your own stupidity or something?

Oh really when?
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#93918: May 28th 2015 at 10:13:56 AM

I'm thinking there's gotta be more to it than that.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#93919: May 28th 2015 at 10:15:34 AM

I dunno, I'm speaking out of personal experience but most libertarians I've met tend to be rather selfish and petty people.

And there's the whole thing that libertarian ideology has never failed, it can only be failed kinda thing going on.

Oh really when?
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#93920: May 28th 2015 at 10:17:22 AM

The big libertarian in my family is pretty selfish. Not 100% so (he's going to Costa Rica to help build houses), but by and large he is. His views on women and sex are of the "men are heroes, women are [I won't say the word] if they have lots of sex" variety. Well, his views on women are 100% self-serving and hate-filled. You know, they should have never had the right to vote, only marry an Asian wife, etc. <_<

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93921: May 28th 2015 at 11:05:23 AM

This conversation isn't about your brother, let's remind ourselves. But there is a fundamentally selfish aspect to all the ideas he espouses.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#93922: May 28th 2015 at 11:07:50 AM

Something that's always confused me about libertarians is that they never seem to consider what would happen if they got their dream society and it turned out someone was stronger or more cunning than they were. They could lose everything and there wouldn't be anything they could do because in their society the strongest can just do whatever they want.

Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#93923: May 28th 2015 at 11:08:43 AM

How exactly did Qatar buy the World Cup?

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#93924: May 28th 2015 at 11:09:09 AM

They believe that won't happen. They assume that the Free Market™ will prevent companies from joining together and forming essentially monopolies. They literally believe that monopolies can't happen without government and crony capitalism.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#93925: May 28th 2015 at 11:12:36 AM

[up][up]Good old fashioned bribery I think

Oh really when?

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