i see. i'm still skeptical on whether or not we can actually effectively eliminate scarcity using proper managing of resources though. i suspend judgment on this issue for now until there's more info provided.

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0

Do you see how long it took for them to get the spiral Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs into light sockets of the average home? Notice how long we used those inefficient ass incandescent filament bulbs? What like 100 years??? It hadn't changed since Edison! (Some people STILL use them!) That is fucking absurd. Considering that 90% of the energy emitted from the bulb is in the form of heat, the bulb wears out quickly and replacements must be purchased $$$$$$. Everything we have around us suffers the same damn problem: inefficiency, and needlessness. All it takes is the proper harnessing of technology. But of course the infrastructure of our society not only restricts the possibility, it makes people NOT WANT to do it. This system creates a barrier preventing us from anticipating or even imagining how the elimination of scarcity would work. We're so used to our backward ass unsane practices, we can't think outside of this insanity.

I latch onto Fresco so much because he has taken his understanding of the world into the future (engineering and technologically, philosophically, sociologically), and it allows him to look back on our current society and see how primitive and unsane we are. Some people might say "well there is no other way to be." Aside from the statement possibly being bullshit, we still are unsane regardless of our options. We're unsane because our civilization was never thought out and planned. The technological, economic, and sociological infrastructure was never a coherent blueprint. It simply developed piece by piece, afterthought after afterthought. That is why it is unsane. It is just one more primitive development of mankind, it only seems sophisticated because of its complexity (a complexity might I add, that we have no control over, unless we toss it out). I guess I latch onto Fresco's ideas because he has helped me realize how amazingly stupid we are and the arrogance mankind has for its petty accomplishments (most of which are illusory anyway).

LOL! GUILTY!

because i've already thoroughly countered this:

Texaco, founded in 1901 (the year oil was found in Texas and 11 years after the Sherman Antitrust Laws were created)
Havoline, founded in 1904
Sunoco, founded in 1880 but didn't become a competitor for Standard until 1901
ExxonMobil, which is made up of both Exxon and Mobil, is a direct descendant of Standard Oil
Shell Oil Company, which is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, was founded in 1907
Chevron is another direct descendant of Standard Oil

....and the list goes on and on.

Standard was at it's peak 11 years prior to these companies actually beginning to gain a marketshare and it steadily lost it's share from that point on due to being forced to restructure by The Sherman Antitrust Act which had been enacted that year.

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0

"trusts have made products cheaper, have reduced prices; but if the price of oil, for instance, were reduced to one cent a barrel, it would not right the wrong done to people of this country by the trusts which have destroyed legitimate competition and driven honest men from legitimate business enterprise"

-William Mason

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0

LOL!

the point is that the cutthroat tactics used by Standard forced the majority of their competitors to 1. remain small, 2. merge with them, or 3. go out of business completely. they were trying to rule the entire industry. what i propose is an economy in which competition is not the goal, but rather cooperation which, as i've shown, we are realizing more and more that it is superior to competition. and in case you want more evidence, here is a fully scientifically sourced essay on cooperation versus competition:

http://www.charleswarner.us/articles/competit.htm

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0

i'm not even specifically speaking of cooperatives here, i'm speaking of cooperation. when employees cooperate with each other rather than competing against each other, studies show that a more effective work environment is created, and other aspects that aren't even business related improve as well. here's an excerpt from the article i posted:

"If in fact competition brings out the "beast" in us, then research demonstrates that cooperation surely brings out the "best" in us. This finding has been held in virtually every occupation, skill, or behavior tested. For instance, scientists who consider themselves cooperative tend to have more published articles than their competitive colleagues. Cooperative businesspeople have higher salaries. From elementary grades to college, cooperative students have higher grade point averages. Personnel directors who work together have fewer job vacancies to fill. And, not surprisingly, cooperation increases creativity. Unfortunately, most people are not taught cooperative skills.

Dr. David W. Johnson and Dr. Roger T. Johnson, professors at the University of Minnesota and co-directors of the Cooperative Learning Center, concur and add that education and psychology have been at odds on the issue for years. Roger Johnson explains, "If we are to teach people to be cooperative, then education and psychology must work together. You see, a typical classroom teacher is taught to keep students quiet and apart, indirectly fostering competition. Yet ... people learn best when they work cooperatively with each other. Children who experience this type of learning at an early age carry it with them as they mature."

David Johnson adds, "More students feel good about themselves as learners when they cooperate. Their self-esteem goes up, they have a better sense of community, belonging, and acceptance. One can also extrapolate this finding to any setting."

i recommend this essay. it's a good read for anyone interested in business, schools, government, social studies, etc. this goes into what I_Guy has been saying as well. capitalists focus solely on economic factors. there are far more than economic factors alone involved here and sound economics alone cannot effect many important things in our society. and in the other direction, these other factors actually effect the economy in ways that even the best economists today do not account for. the truth is that cooperation, aka teamwork, is superior to competition on all levels.

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0

"Another area directly impacted by cooperation is, perhaps surprisingly, health. A fascinating study conducted by the Cooperative Learning Center took a statistical look at competitive hockey players. The study examined the relation between cooperation/competition and mental and mental and physical health. The Center evaluated 57 collegiate and semiprofessional ice-hockey players (aged 18-29 years) trying out for the 1980 Olympic team. Using sophisticated personality measures and a social-interaction scale, the researchers found that cooperation does much more than help people get along.

In this study, the more cooperative individuals were better adjusted psychologically and physically healthier than their more competitive colleagues. It seems that competition, or the constant feeling that you have to work against something, has unhealthy physical side effects. Cooperation, and other pro-social/unselfish behaviors, tend to have positive side effects."

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0

Smart & Final is one example. my friend, who is a supervisor of the night shift at a Smart & Final in San Fernando, said that the company required him to go through a seminar where they taught that cooperation within the work environment is superior to competition. apparently it is a fairly recent discovery (though it was blatantly obvious imo) and businesses are beginning to revert to this model. a free market system, however, is not conducive to cooperation on a B2B level because it's very core principal is competition. cooperation is in direct opposition to competition. a participatory economy is one example (and my personal favorite) of an ideal economy for allowing businesses to cooperate.

my new theme song



erikboyd60@hotmail.com

"True poetry can communicate before it is understood"

-T.S. Eliot

battle record:

7-0-0