November 6, 2012
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Various Rants
Before the election, I’ve had a lot on my mind and I don’t have time to write full blogs for each subject so I’ll just list them out in one “outlet” post:
1) Hurricane Sandy and tragedies like it can bring out the best in people, but it also brings out the worst. It’s disheartening and enraging to see people sink to the depths of predators taking advantage of the misery and misfortune of others. They are many accounts of looting going on in the areas impacted by the storm. And not just straight up looting, but thought and energy is being put into it. People are being caught with diving and snorkel gear that were planning to steal submerged valuables. A person posing as a Red Cross worker was found to be actually casing homes for things to steal.
There are also listed “tweets” of those getting “excited” about the prospects of taking advantage of the storm while requesting others to join in their criminal plans.
You have to wonder when tragedy strikes, what makes one person think about helping those in need while another thinks now is the time to strike for personal gain? The harshest penalties should be reserved for those type of rats.
2) This election season makes it even more apparent that despite the ease and fluidity we now have of getting and receiving information, the dark side is misinformation abounds as well. There are sites that will support whatever you want to believe as opposed to the actual facts. To make matters worse, most main stream media drops the ball by refusing to take sides and call out the lies from the truth.
Most unbiased polls show Obama as leading by a good margin, but to hear main stream media, it’s a neck and neck race. And propaganda station Fox has their followers thinking Romney will win by a landslide. I worry that these people are going to wake up angry and violent on Wednesday if the polls hold true and Obama wins.
You also have right wingers saying the same thing about the left if Romney wins, but the main stream media isn’t projecting an Obama landslide, or even an advantage, so if he loses, the shock factor should be low to the masses.
3) I am forever perplexed at people being fooled time and time again into voting against their best interests even as what little they have continues to be whittled away. The problem is too many people in the ship with holes that is sinking think they are members of the Yacht club.
4) I’m seeing quite a few articles justifying price gouging in disaster areas- here’s one. Simply put, this is just a pile of crap. You can be sure those trying to push such a “free-market” policy have enough money to be able to afford the resultant sky rocketing prices.
A weak attempt is made at using the concept of “supply and demand” curves to naturally regulate prices and that those who couldn’t afford it would just wait until process dropped, letting those who really need it get better access. What this ruse DOESN’T cover is that many people who are truly in need would be shut out of the system because they couldn’t afford it.
A person making $20K a year is more desperate to get gas so they can get to work than someone making $200K/year but these “let price gouging happen” folks don’t seem to realize that- or probably closer to the truth is that they just don’t care. Greed and elitist attitudes are the primary causes of most revolutions but mankind never seems to learn from their mistakes.
Comments (1)
1) I dont believe the media reporting on the looting and rise in crime. Sure, I dont doubt that there will be some criminals, but I think this type of media instills fear in people even if they dont recognize it. Indignance and wanting people to pay the highest penalty etc makes you more likely to agree to some type of security to protect the innocent. But in my mind this just makes people more willing to allow opportunities for the loss of more freedoms. just like the TSA is protecting you from “terrorists” aka getting you used to playing by their rules.