The problem is that cars and housing are to a large degree unsubstitutable goods. When lobster became a delicacy instead of prison food, wardens weren't wondering how they could afford the newly expensive goods, they were substituting them for cheaper replacements.
History can't convince a nerd until you show that history was caused by an intrinsic quality, not an accidental one. I think it touches too closely to 'decline of pirates linked to increase in global warming' without any explanation of how their ice cold hearts kept us cool.
I'm not so sure that it's clearcut that personal/selfish ambition is exactly identical to financial ambition. Further, there's probably a few different configurations of societies that distribute wealth evenly that are compatible with financial ambition. As for corruption, you probably need to convince someone that capitalist corruption is better :)
I'm not so sure that it's clearcut that personal/selfish ambition is exactly identical to financial ambition.
It really doesn't matter if they are or not. In order for communism to truly work, you'd need to abolish all rewards. That is, the very act of having hockey players and cosmonauts and musical talent recognized by the state at large - regardless of financial reward - creates the very imbalance that communism is supposed to address. As I said: self defeating.
People may seek different rewards based on their character, but the very nature of man is that we work best when challenged and respond will to the rewards earned when overcoming those challenges, financial or not.
If your economic system essentially requires a man with a gun to ensure and enforce its existence, there is something wrong.
There are real health concerns about changing the ph by adding ammonia as well as the actual safety of pink slime bacteria wise.
The meat they use for it was thrown away before the ammonia process because it often comes from the edges of the animal and bacteria has had more of a chance to take root (I assume from more oxygen being available?). And the USDA decided that the ammonia process was so full proof that they didn't need to test the meat but some independent testing of meat with pink slime has shown higher levels of bacteria than is acceptable in some cases.
This is a real issue not just a emotional knee jerk reaction. We NEED to study our food processes and their effects on human health before we approve them for use. And I mean real studies not half-assed ones funded and ran by the company selling the product due to the obvious conflict of interest.
Consumers should have the right to know what is in the food they purchase and our governments need to do a better job at giving us that right.
I don't think you'll find any arguments that the US government doesn't have insane double standards and sexist laws. But I doubt you can make that kind of claim for any government, really, since they're constructed by people - to get rid of it, you'd have to get rid of it in people, and I'm not aware of that ever having happened.
You can separate commercial rights from copyrights.
You can see this in anyone who finds a difference between
"Hey, listen to this mp3 of Rihanna's We Found Love",
"Hey, buy this unofficial mp3 copy of Rihanna's We Found Love", and
"Hey, listen to this mp3 of grellas' We Found Love"
