Thanks for the video piercethevale.
Hmm, the snake-oil salesperson in the video reminds me of certain cell-phone agreements that people can't get out of without paying a huge wad of cash in the form of termination fees.
From what I've read about the 1950s, it sounded like a terrible time where authoritarianism and fear dominated America. And people didn't think enough about the consequences of DDT or tobacco, and holistic perspectives about daily life were lacking.
Yes, the US has a lot of cars. In fact there are too many cars, which is leading to traffic jams, the creation of too many impervious surfaces for parking lots (yes it can be permeable, but that would depend on the permeability of the soil beneath), intrusion into the spaces of other species (accidents involving deer etc.) and increasingly stringent parking laws because it's becoming more difficult to share the road between motorists (and the government wants to make money out of parking tickets). Sub-production is like being skinny, sufficient production (with reserves in the event of an emergency to ensure abundance) is like having a balanced body and overproduction is like obesity (which is what is promoted by the concept of infinite material growth...an economy requiring constant production with GDP indicators is unsound.).
Planned obsolescence is disgusting, and I think that if an update is needed to make a car perform better, pollute less, or even drive itself, people should be able to insert that update into their current car without having to buy a whole new one.
Interestingly enough, the losses of freedom suffered by the characters remind me of "communist dictatorship in the eyes of the West", but it also reminds me of the censorship and tyranny that exists in corporatism. Mike Gravel (he wasn't perfect, but he had one or two really good ideas, and this is an element of unfairness I have to mention) got excluded from some of the debates in 2008 because he challenged the profits of the military-industrial complex that fuels the revenues of the democratic party and MSNBC/General Electric. Something's very wrong when non-corporate voices are smeared or ridiculed to avoid being heard because Mike Gravel wasn't the only case. Third parties and independents who don't resort to getting conflicting campaign contributions/bribes struggle with ballot access, and it's an uphill struggle for the green party etc.
Plus too many employees think one thing, but are forced to oppose their convictions in order to keep a job.
Well, a lot of people did get conned by counter-reformationist Reaganism for the last 30 years (his name is being put on buildings and he has statues, but I think he will end up in the dustbin of history just like Stalin), and when I had the foresight to warn that Obama was no different than Bush, nobody listened to me until 2010, and even now...-_-
In some ways, Americans do have freedom, but not as much as has been claimed by the video, and the 4th amendment has been considerably eroded. Plus if people cannot speak up about problems that bump heads with corporate interests and profits without facing libel or intimidation, then the US is not a free country. Be careful of conmen, but don't push away people with genuine solutions either.
A lot of people are cynical about the way things are, but they do not trust people with real solutions sometimes because of the way the 1% media slanders anti-establishment people. No wonder the American people sometimes feel despondent!
And realistically, people need to be able to initiate their own projects without having to borrow money from other people. It's another gamble just like anything else in a wall-street based system because the sad part is that not every wonderful innovation or individual initiative is financially cost-effective, and even if it is, people can't buy stuff all the time without waste-inducing advertising (consumerism is promoted by manipulative advertising). If you have ever played the game Monopoly, you will realize that once powerful economic players are established, newcomers cannot promote their ideas as much, even with anti-trust laws that have been reduced to meaninglessness. Innovation shouldn't be limited by a monetary budget, but rather by a natural resource budget. If an innovation pollutes too much, a lighter design should be considered.
I am aware of the contradiction between the conservative sun in Cancer and the idealistic (at best idealistic, at worst hypocritical) ascendant of Sagittarius in America's chart, but I want to try to bring the best of those aspects.
The solutions I have developed result from my work experience (I had a short stint in a small business, I've been working in the non-profit world, and I may spend some time in government) and my scientific, geological and ecological background. Usually I'm the type of person who is skeptical unless I am confident an idea can work and can last. I don't think in -ism, I just combine the mindset I apply in science with a sense of ethics. I have mercury sextile saturn and mercury sextile uranus.
