We all know about the “Law of diminishing returns”,now arent we all tired of Uncle Sugar telling us we need to do this and that for job security for unelected Bureaucrats? I dont like somebody with a badge or uniform telling me I cant do something under the pain of incarceration.When did I become so stupid and callous,I couldnt be trusted?Hasnt this emission and safety standards went far enough,cant they trust me a little bit not to harm the enviroment or hurt someone?Am I too stupid to live? Isnt it time to start teaching respect and consideration for the other person ,rather then having uniformed Bullies insisting on the letter of the law,rather then the intent?-Kevin P S I laud the enviromental progress and safety progress,
make no mistake about it,but there comes a point when the gains are so infintisimal they verge on OCD
Can you be more specific about which exact emissions/safety standard we’re supposed to be protesting?
I don't know if you are stupid or not, but I do know there are a lot of people who are stupid and if a law can prevent them from being stupid in a way that would harm me, then I would like to see more such laws.
Of course in the real world it usually is not a matter of right or not.
In real life it is seldom 100% right or wrong. We will go on trying to find that middle ground or best possible answer.
These rants happen when someone loses their drivers license, gets a big speeding ticket or fails an emissions test resulting in not being able to register their car…
Did you hear that?
Probably not. It was the smallest violin in the world playing for Kevin.
In the tragedy of the commons every single individual also knew very well how to make their own intelligent and rational decisions that were both in their own best interests and not of harm to anyone else. And in the end every individual lost his/her livelihood because no one was around to add up the total effects from the decisions of each single individual only calculating his/her own costs and benefits.
I think ,I was misconstrued-none of the above!Havent lost anything, tired of being fed Pablam and being led meekly to the slaughter.Emission standards are good enough,safety standards are good enough,there are enough people in the world already(though I do not and never will condone abortion) back in the seventies,didnt have near as much,but was a lot more free.A decent person will not by intent harm someone else.Big Brother,the Bald Headed Bullies and the Unelected Bureaucrats,sure make it hard to make a living now,every few months or years VDOT changes our safety standards and we have to buy several thousand dollars of new safety equipment to comply.Seems like every year VDOT rediscovers the the wheel,in Charlottesville alone we have 5 different levels of police to deal with.Remember every law makes you less free.Morality not legality-Kevin PS Cigroller,do you think someone has to make the hard difficult decisions for the people? Guess who got richer this year.
Jesmed. believe me we are now good enough on emissions,time to invest our riches in other things,spend money on bang for the buck now,not chasing rainbows because of the Al Gores of the world.Yes JEM,there is certainly a lot of gray,not partisan Black and White-Kevin
@kmccune: Is there a specific example you can give re. how you have been wronged by this or what part of the law you disagree with? I agree that the world is over populated. And part of me thinks it’s silly that people are required to wear seat belts for their own good, but you can go out and ride a motorcycle, hang glide, mountain climb, etc. You can get drunk, but not partake of anything else legally. And maybe the biggest of all: You can have a child without taking an IQ test, having any training, or any measure of fitness to be a parent.
"PS Cigroller,do you think someone has to make the hard difficult decisions for the people? Guess who got richer this year. "
I have no idea whatsoever what you’re asking or saying or what it has to do with people getting rich. But on that note - the extent to which fat, balding, big brother bureaucrats run the world to make themselves rich - I could go along with that, but they are corporate not government.
It actually sounds to me like you are small/independent business getting pinched by a couple of things. One might be local police, but I wouldn’t “big brother” that. Often OOC local police are running around being overbearing because they feel like you - a squashed little bug in the middle of big machinery. The second is perhaps you are a small/independent business operator getting squashed by regulations put in place for reasons that probably relate to effects produced by very large businesses. It happens all of the time and it is a shame. But when small business people then interpret all ills in the world as emanating from government they ultimately shoot themselves in the foot. Find the real enemies.
Of course, you could also tell us all a story about whatever this is…
~ yet another glitch ~
I now see where you are coming from KMCCUNE and I agree with you. We have reached the point where all the non-productive government employees devote their time telling the rest of us how to live and it’s getting pretty oppressive…I moved down to Mexico 17 years ago to escape it. No building codes, no zoning laws, no income taxes, no government permits needed. No snowblowers needed either!
Just to fly from one U.S. city to another has become an ordeal that gets worse instead of better…
Generally speaking, I agree with you Kevin. The government never wants a pound of flesh; they want that pound and then some.
Speaking of diminishing returns, consider wind power. A year or so ago some towers were put up near me to study wind patterns as it is generally windy here. At this point those towers are down and by the end of the year there will be about 75 or so wind towers erected. Odds are I’ll be able to sit on my porch and see some of them about a mile out.
Here’s the diminishing returns part of this. I had no idea of the astronomical amount of materials and fuel being used to put those towers up, the associated chores to go along with it, plus the upkeep. There has been literally hundreds of truckloads of rock hauled in (from a 100 miles away) to cover dirt county roads to the sites and they’re still hauling as of today. Apparently they’re having to change transformers out on the utility poles and that’s been going on for a month or so. At this point we’re not even factoring in a multitude of upkeep tasks and all of the material and energy involved with manufacturing, installing, and maintaining those towers.
According to officials the average on-time for wind towers is about 12% with the remaining 88% being basically dead time.
Considering the gargantuan amount of materials and energy being expended on this one project alone I fail to see where there will ever be any energy savings at all.
Well" OK" I tend to agree about the Wind Turbines,used to think they were the greatest thing since sliced bread,can see now were they are probaly not nearly worth the trouble,talk about Karma, I honestly think that my vehement support of wind turbines generated ill will and helped land me in the straits I was in formerly(people in high places and all that)(Do love my Solar energy though).Caddyman thanks for the support and consideration,some of the nicest people and some of my best friends in Prison were Hispanic and due to the job market and laws here and the fact that you are part owners with the gov’t here of your property,a lot these guys are going back to Mexico and Meso America.
Cigroller while not actually being part owner of my Brothers or my friends business(of which I’m currently employed) I’m close enough to the inside to see how new regulations have " cut into the pie" so to speak.you would probaly be aghast at the license fees and excise taxes.Anyway,whats good for them is good for me.The emission laws have actually helped us car lovers a great deal,we probaly wouldnt have standard fuel injection now for example,if it wasnt for the EPA,but unfortunately the same things that benefited the public as a whole helped put Mom and Pop out of business(every community needs a “cracker barrel” for the old guys to gather around.The real enemy is greed,could give an example but my facts would be heavily loaded with bias.Like Jimmy Dean said"Dance with the one that brung ya"
Man Oblivion,you sort of nailed that paternal thing,I really have a lot of empathy for the children of clueless parents.One crazy thing is the illegal drugs may claim 100 people a year while the legal drugs claim at least 40000 a year-Kevin
“unfortunately the same things that benefited the public as a whole helped put Mom and Pop out of business(every community needs a “cracker barrel” for the old guys to gather around.The real enemy is greed,”
See this is the kind of place where I think everyone just gets confused. People watch all sorts of changes going on in the world. Many of those are about little people getting squashed. Then when they see this big ugly stuff that disturbs them they start talking about “big brother” and “the man” and all of that. But most of it isn’t if bog brother and the man are supposed to be the state.
I come from a small business family and had the terrible experience of watching my father go down the tubes - slowly and painfully while he tried to protect his long time employees. A lifetime of hard work gone to crap. But it wasn’t the government that flushed him - or most any of the other mom & pops that have been flushed. It was the growth of massive national and global corporate chains. (I guess where your “greed” comes in?) WalMart. Target. Lowes. etc. When people decide that all of the bad crap in world comes from the state it makes me nuts.
And I’m not going to defend the massive, centralizing nanny state either. That also drives me buggy. But a good chunk of that the state does that ends up being cussed as “regulation” comes from regular little people trying to protect themselves from those massive corporate things. Of course, at the same time a lot of state activity is meant to do the bidding of those monsters - made easier by a bunch of people mad about regulation. The fact is that people in this country are very confused about what kinds of crap they have to deal with because of government, and what kind of crap they have to deal with that ultimately comes out of very large businesses. But it all ends up getting lumped into “its the gubmint’s fault” - which then clears the way for those monsters to continue to stomp.
And it was funny as I read ok4450’s comments about wind. He’‘ll probably bristle at me about it, but you can go back and find the same kinds of criticisms about a ton of the massive infrastructure projects that have been done - ones that most wouldn’t want to do without today - like railroads for instance. And before anyone wants to do a “but” and put in something about the government not doing that with taxpayers’ money or whatever - false. The US railroad system that we so celebrate never would have been built with massive push and capital and risk taking by the federal level government.
I was going to mention Wal-mart, but on the other hand they do employ a lot of people. But let the buyer beware some of their supposedly cheaper merchandise is made to their specs. But the phrase “being railroaded” has historical precedent, I used to go out of my way to support and help the little guy until I realized it was hopeless. Times change I suppose, but consideration and mercy are sweet. Altruism and chivalry are victims of the modern reality. Let’s hope our greed doesn’t destroy us.We can be smothered with good intentions,we can be killed with kindness so to speak.
-Kevin
Is there something we can help you with here?
With all due respect, Kevin, you are “all over the map” to such an extent that it is very difficult to deduce what your exact issue (or issues?) might be.
Yes were has our morality gone,when is enough, enough? We are supposed to be maturing as a race,is the future going to be more of the same? With increasing tax burden and regulation do they ever remove an obselete law from the books?We have some doozys here in Va,What happens when the top 1% of of the wealthy turn into the top.5%?(just rambling a bit-because I lost my previous post and inserted some filler,see that people are paying attention anyway)However I do not trust those who have the legal authority to take my life-Kevin
“I do not trust those who have the legal authority to take my life”
At the risk of getting more incomprehensible babble, I have to ask…
Who are these people “who have the legal authority to take” your life?
Are they following you?
Sounds like a discussion worthy of the most devote teabagger. ;=)
Neibborhoods hate the demands the towns place on them, towns hate demands of the county, county the states and states the fed. Like living in a family with lots of big brothers. If you are talking about cops, they have no more legal authority to take a life then you do. They just have the right to carry the means to do it.