This free trade capitalism brought art patronage, the first of such beside the Church, that allowed freedom of subject, hence Rembrandt et all.

This also lead to religious freedom, by the way only in capitalistic societies do we see such freedom, bringing an influx of Jews from Spain and my Calvinist ancestors from England, who would go on to land on Plymouth Rock. My ancestors were aboard that vessel, all made possible by Free Dutch Trade in an open market!

I read the same science fiction that was read by Fr. Ernesto , but it seems i read a very different history book. My conclusions will not be based on fiction, but on an accurate history of capitalism, the system of democracy, art, science and free will. Think about it as you sit before the computer, a gift of capitalism.

“Everything everywhere from the beginning of time to the present day has a beginning and an ending, nothing lasts forever.” This forgets God, who is the beginning and the end.

“Everything on the planet and in the universe evolves.” No, things, develop, nothing evolves, God controls all.
“Most Fundamentalists of all orthodox religions appear to have tendencies that would prefer to retrogress backward into the time that existed in our ignorant past. They have always opposed scientific and techonological progress.”
OUTRIGHT PROPAGANDA, Totally untrue. To lump all religions together is a modern phenomena that shows great ignorance of religions in general. Christianity has been the very birth place of Science. Newton, Galileo, and so many others could be called Fundamental believers. Fundamental Christian does not mean a snake handling, KJO , buffoon.
The term can be used to mean someone who believes in the fundamentals of the faith, as do I.

Playing into these falsehoods shows a level of indoctrination to the left that disallows free thinking and makes one a echo of a lost culture, a culture that feels superior as they sink into Godless anarchy.
Despicable, stop repeating party platitudes, and think out your positions with an open mind, do your own thought work, you conclusions will change.
The “Progressive Political LEFT Wing” are the forward looking political wing that is the opposite of the reactionary fearful and hateful political rightwing!” No one hates more than the left. It is evident in their communications and lack of meaning full activities to fight against what they say they do not like. Where is the left wing version of ,Salvation Army, SBC disaster relief, Mission of Healing, etc. etc., they talk and talk while we fundamentals and right wingers act! They can not organize themselves into a usable group , rhetoric is their home, not action. I am sure Satan finds them “useful idiots”, a term out communist enemies used to rightly describe them until the fall of
the Evil Empire.

So, why do I find myself thinking about science fiction? Well, since the first beginnings of modern globalism, in the 1970′s, science fiction writers have been looking at this era in the Earth’s history and positing some type of serious change. However, they are not sure of where the change is headed.

Isaac Asimov even pre-dated the those writers and in the 1950′s foresaw a world run somewhat on the model of Sparta (Starship Stormtroopers). In the 1980′s Jerry Pournelle saw a world run by an alliance that was falling apart and also saw a war coming upon earth and a resulting semi-Sparta like empire (Falkenberg’s Legions).

Robert Heinlein in the 1980′s saw a world in which the multinational corporations behaved a lot like sovereign countries, right alongside sovereign countries because as the world globalized they had accumulated impressive political and real power. The world pictured was a wild mess (Friday).

The science fiction writers have been seeing a coming global social explosion for several decades now, even before the term globalization became widespread. Their imaginative minds, that construct worlds and consequences all the time, have been able to follow the threads of history towards a coming explosion.

No, I am not going towards an apocalypse scenario nor for the Second Coming of Christ (although one never knows). However, what is true is that a globalized free market presents some serious problems towards nations of whatever political stripe–no not challenges, outright problems!

You see, the large international companies are now able to fairly freely bypass “local” regulations, to manipulate markets, and to behave in a way that is only responsible to themselves, meaning to their corporate culture and top leadership.

But, historically, capitalism–meaning free market–began in the 1600′s with Dutch merchants who wanted the government to let them run their business with little interference. They successfully argued to the King that the freedom he would give them, from excessive control and excessive taxation, would result in a much more profitable middle class who would bring more to the King in taxes than the businesses could by themselves (sound familiar?).

But, those businessmen were functioning within the context of country and culture. They were loyal Dutchmen not global entrepeneurs without loyalty and without some form of legal and cultural controls. A capitalism that functions within a national context–even if supposedly free market–actually has some controls built into it. That is why the sweatshops of Charles Dickens’ time, the Scrooges were able to be stopped eventually, and workers were able to be given some protections.

The increasing problem is that as globalization has become stronger and as multinationals have taken advantage of the possibilities, we now have lost those boundaries of context that the early capitalists have. Now protect workers in one place and the multinational quickly moves the jobs somewhere else. Thus any type of adequate protection against the depradations of “robber barons” and “Scrooges” become increasingly hard to implement.

Moreoever, as the collapse at the end of President Bush’s term shows, there is an increasing lack of loyalty toward either people or nation, with a concommitant inability to exercise self-control. In fact, with a very few exceptions, the top capitalist all were immune from the severe worldwide economic downturn.

Thus capitalism is no longer the capitalism that was defended by Adam Smith. And, I fear, the science fiction writers are correct. This will lead to one big social explosion.

Rob, did there not used to be a center?? We are really polarizing as a country.

“The political and provincial “RIGHT WING” are fearful of moving forward, away from their tribal beginnings and their established customs. What is on the other side of the mountain is met with suspicion and fear that translates into angry hate! People that are not of the same clan, religion, nation” etc. according to the immoral Right Wing “should be killed.”

There are several comments I would like to make regarding a number of your remarks. First, I would like to address your quoted remarks. Are those words you have heard repeated some where and you like to repeat it a lot, are they your words that you like to repeat often to others about those on the right, or are they the words of some great orator without manners and common sense? With any answer you might offer, it still seems as though these are words you likely believe as I read the entirety of your remarks. Often, those who think more fiscally conservative or right wingers are often psychologically analyzed by those with superior knowledge like yourself, without actually sitting down and talking to them. Of course I don’t know if you even allow yourself to be around such kind of (ughh) people like that. Of course you have probably guessed that like Rob, I am a conservative and all those words you used (quite hatefully I might add),do not describe me or any other conservative I know. I do know many. I do not consider myself hateful, fearful, stupid, full of rage, especially to the point of killing, nor am I afraid of others not in my own clan, here or across the world; quite the opposite. In fact, your remarks toward those of us who think differently than you sounded more of what you described about us. Shall I copy and paste?
“reactionary fearful and hateful political right-wing!…It is either us or them according to the bigoted torture approving genocidal fascist loving ignorant separatists that are the political right in every nation on the planet.” Those that say that the Political Left is precisely the same as the Political Right are politically ignorant of politics and are most likely are ignorant of most everything that exists on the planet.”

Hmmm, I don’t think I hear very many right wingers talk as ugly as that. In fact, often I have wondered why is it that people who are on the left so angry and radical about their every thought and word? Why is it that liberals who believe in a cause, can march up and down in the streets all day long, turning over cars, bashing in windows, saying ugly things, and carrying hateful signs, is considered a wonderful “grassroots movement”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am completely excited that we are able to have free speech without fear of government reprisals. Apparently for those who like to march & express their thoughts and ideology (as long as it is liberal or radical) it is completely the American thing to do. However, those who march with a different forum, though marching united in all political parties, are considered un-American and are not taken seriously. We have an “astroturf” movement and considered loons because we believe in The Constitution. At this point, all I have experienced is that those on the left have NO tolerance for differing opinion or diversity!

And yes, I do agree with you that change is inevitable, but I disagree with you about only one thing that remains unchanged. I believe you said that “change is the only constant on our planet”. Well, I also believe that history does not change. We might like to change it, none-the-less, we cannot erase the evils or goods of history, so before you think that all change is good, take a look back and see if you still believe that not repeating some very serious socialist, fascist, and communist past history is not relative even for today. Those who have failed to failed to see the relevance of history “are doomed to repeat it”!