Minimize

Welcome!

The New Paradigm for those of us over the age of fifty five. Many thanks to you JH Pace!

Big Al
February 18, 2017

Prof. Little brought up an interesting topic when he mentioned the “new paradigm pertaining to employment.” It certainly got all of us to think as did valuable contributor JH Pace. Here is how Mr. T and Big Al view this important situation.

Click download link to listen on this device: Download Show

Discussion
54 Comments
    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:13 PM

    Chris, with respect to your statement “you get back more than you put into the system” is, by constant value monetary units, quite false. When counted in dollars it is true, of course, but that is a facade that hides the truth.

    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:19 PM

    We have a bifurcated retirement system in which Government employees (Federal state and local) are treated entirely differently from average employed citizens.

      Feb 18, 2017 18:59 PM

      People who are aware of that need to get off their butts and take action to take care of themselves. That is what builds pride and I would bet that is what you did, Professor.

      b
      Feb 19, 2017 19:40 AM

      Whats with “bifurcation”?
      Ive seen the word used repeatedly this last few days.
      Funny.

        CFS
        Feb 19, 2017 19:46 PM

        b, you haven’t read the talking points?

      Feb 20, 2017 20:06 AM

      The govt employees ,congress, justice system, military, police, …..should have the same healthcare system as all the citizens are forced to have……

        Feb 20, 2017 20:08 PM

        Of course, Jerry, that seems only fair!

    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:26 PM

    I could not disagree more with Chris, in that he blames the monetary system.
    I would blame the philosophical, political, education system associated with liberal politics.
    The liberal political system is opposed to teaching individual independence, while at the same time removing religious teachings and concepts.

      Feb 18, 2017 18:55 PM

      I guess you mean modern neo-liberal politics and not classical liberalism?

        Feb 18, 2017 18:20 PM

        It is, and always has been, Orwellian to call any collectivists (leftists) liberal. They are totalitarians at worst and authoritarians at best.

        Ron Paul is a good example of a classical liberal.

        https://mises.org/library/what-classical-liberalism

          Feb 18, 2017 18:01 PM

          I would have to agree with you Matthew!

        CFS
        Feb 18, 2017 18:22 PM

        Corredt, Sir. I sit corrected. I mean neo-liberal multicultural socialist trash culture which is set at the lowest common denominated, so as to not offend anyone and be politically correct!. (Even though it de-emphasizes moral values)

          CFS
          Feb 18, 2017 18:26 PM

          denominator not denominated
          My Ipad has it in for me it auto-corrects incorrectly and misses to correct corredt.

          Feb 18, 2017 18:03 PM

          Now you are talking about mainstreaming. Guess why our kids went to private schools?

          All levels need to learn but that includes not only the lower end of the spectrum but also the higher end.

      Feb 18, 2017 18:00 PM

      I will talk with Chris about that I believe that you perhaps misunderstood his meaning.

    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:32 PM

    What has distinguished human evolution from that of other animals has been the constant improvement of productivity in all spheres of work; robotics is merely one further step along the road. we will meet that challenge and society will progress.

      Feb 18, 2017 18:58 PM

      I sometimes worry (only a little) that we have actually reached peak technology and are just fiddling around the edges. Case in point: the space program, in decline for 40 years. The air speed for a jet aircraft was set in 1976. There is no longer any supersonic passenger transport. The leading edge has retreated. This is a bad sign indeed. One could claim that technology is in consolidation mode bringing past developments to more people but you cannot back and fill forever. Almost all technology developments are in two areas: data handling and communication tech and energy efficiency tech (a consequence of Peak Oil perhaps).

        Feb 19, 2017 19:40 AM

        How about reading the book: ‘The Big Bang Never Happened?’

        GH
        Feb 19, 2017 19:42 AM

        Don’t forget medical and biotechnology (though I have plenty of issues with both).

        I think it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees as, for instance, in the case of the man who spoke of the ‘end of history’.

        Progress, or efficiency, are meaningless words in themselves. Many engineers do not seem to appreciate this. Efficient toward achieving what end? Many incredible technologies may not really represent progress.

        My personal opinion is that such seemingly simple things as techniques of organic agriculture that improve soil and the nutritional value of food, while at the same time increasing energy return on energy invested represent huge advances over our current system, and there is vast room for progress in this direction. Likewise regarding nutrition and ‘functional medicine’ which is directed at fixing problems rather than treating symptoms.

          GH
          Feb 19, 2017 19:51 AM

          Another thought along the same line is that we may be too narrow in what we speak of as ‘technology’. Just as we used to speak of ‘capital’ only as physical inputs, but now recognize such things as human and social capital, maybe such a thing as an improved political system could be considered as a form of technology.

          I haven’t gotten around to studying it but, for instance, it is said that the Iroquois developed a system of governance that was much more effective than ours at maintaining power in a distributed representative form.

          Given the mess that our system of governance is, progress in this direction, or toward a better economic system, is probably much more important than more sophisticated gadgets, in terms of improving our quality of life.

        Feb 20, 2017 20:40 AM

        This has become a really interesting discussion page. I was playing the pessimist in my remarks about peak technology, though I do feel that there has been a decrease in the ethos to push forward meaningfully with space travel. For instance, Apollo was said to be cut short because it was too expensive; the Lockheed SR71 and Concorde were retired supposedly because of their need to expensive fuels and specialist parts as well as lack of demand. Well, they always needed expensive fuels and specialist parts! Maybe it has something to do with inflation and central banking and an overall fall in real incomes due to inflation and money printing. Maybe it has something to do with peak oil. Maybe it has a more cultural cause, a lack of adventurousness and courage in the society as it becomes atrophied culturally due to socialism, political correctness, etc. I hope the political courage shown by Trump, Farage, et al will leak into society as a whole, then maybe humanity will move forward faster again.

          Feb 20, 2017 20:11 PM

          Agreed Silverbug Dave – This was a very interesting thread on

          1) What is Progress?
          2) To What end is this “progress” taking us?
          3) The role of Robotics & AI
          4) The Role of Medical and BioTechnology.

          * I’d recommend people interested in this subject digging deeper in the rabbit hole of “Transhumanism.” A very controversial topic, of course, but something we must all prepare to face in the next decade or two…..

          _________________________________________________________________________

          “Transhumanism is an international and intellectual movement that aims to transform the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities. Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics[3] of using such technologies. The most common transhumanist thesis is that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into different beings with abilities so greatly expanded from the natural condition as to merit the label of posthuman beings.”

          Artificial intelligence and the technological singularity[edit]
          The concept of the technological singularity, or the ultra-rapid advent of superhuman intelligence, was first proposed by the British cryptologist I. J. Good in 1965:

          “Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an ‘intelligence explosion,’ and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make.”

          In 1990, More, a strategic philosopher, created his own particular transhumanist doctrine, which took the form of the Principles of Extropy, and laid the foundation of modern transhumanism by giving it a new definition:

          “Transhumanism is a class of philosophies that seek to guide us towards a posthuman condition. Transhumanism shares many elements of humanism, including a respect for reason and science, a commitment to progress, and a valuing of human (or transhuman) existence in this life. […] Transhumanism differs from humanism in recognizing and anticipating the radical alterations in the nature and possibilities of our lives resulting from various sciences and technologies […].”

          > The Transhumanist FAQ, prepared by the WTA (later Humanity+), gave two formal definitions for transhumanism:

          “The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

          “The study of the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers of technologies that will enable us to overcome fundamental human limitations, and the related study of the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies.”

          “A common feature of transhumanism and philosophical posthumanism is the future vision of a new intelligent species, into which humanity will evolve and eventually will supplement or supersede it. Transhumanism stresses the evolutionary perspective, including sometimes the creation of a highly intelligent animal species by way of cognitive enhancement (i.e. biological uplift), but clings to a “posthuman future” as the final goal of participant evolution.
          Nevertheless, the idea of creating intelligent artificial beings (proposed, for example, by roboticist Hans Moravec) has influenced transhumanism.”

          “Moravec’s ideas and transhumanism have also been characterised as a “complacent” or “apocalyptic” variant of posthumanism and contrasted with “cultural posthumanism” in humanities and the arts.[49] While such a “cultural posthumanism” would offer resources for rethinking the relationships between humans and increasingly sophisticated machines, transhumanism and similar posthumanisms are, in this view, not abandoning obsolete concepts of the “autonomous liberal subject”, but are expanding its “prerogatives” into the realm of the posthuman.[50] Transhumanist self-characterisations as a continuation of humanism and Enlightenment thinking correspond with this view.”

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

            GH
            Feb 21, 2017 21:30 AM

            Ex, I’m sure you’re right that transhumanism is a matter with which we will have to contend in coming years. But it gives me the creeps!!

            I recently heard an interview with Graham Hancock in which he made the point that we really don’t know what our full potential as human beings is, and that by melding with machines we might sabotage the possibility of that realization.

            For instance, the human body is electro-chemical, and there is a large and growing amount of literature on the negative effects of the increasingly pervasive electromagnetic fields in which we are bathing ourselves.

          Feb 20, 2017 20:26 PM

          Great comment Silverbug,

          I especially enjoyed and agree with your final sentence!

        Feb 23, 2017 23:52 AM

        This will teach me to read KER more often! Thank you for the honorable mention, Big Al!

        SilverbugDave, we have technologies, disruptive technologies, that would change the “box” of fiat currency and limited-resource dynamics we are all forced to live in, unless we are the 1% elite. While I could rabbit-trail and say we don’t “need” supersonic jet engines, we have Skype and telepresence, the reality is you are right in the premise but not the conclusion. We need new minds to think in new ways and connect what we already have in new ways that break the “box” and get us items formerly regulated to the realm of science fiction, much like 1899 not comprehending what the 20th Century would be like.

        If the government would stop classifying any solar panel that gets more than 30% efficiency, if inventors were not bought out, their prototypes shelved (and/or destroyed), then we would see more geometric technological progression.

        We’ve waited for light-based optical computers now for 20 years. Why are we still using electron-based computing? Because the manufacturers still have inventory on the shelves that they must get rid of or lose money with the new technologies. Like automobiles sold with cassette tape readers or CD readers instead of mp3 plug-ins or even wireless adapters for your smartphone to use the bigger speakers.

      Feb 18, 2017 18:03 PM

      Of course we will meet that challenge and of course society will certainly progress.

    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:31 PM

    SilverbugDave,
    Maybe this will cheer you up…..

    http://podbay.fm/show/589864479/e/1487349000?autostart=1

    Elon Musk is, of course, targeting Mars occupation in his long-term plan.

    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:04 PM
      Feb 20, 2017 20:31 AM

      I am just wondering somewhere in an little corner at the back of my mind if Trump will get the US back into the space race.

        Feb 20, 2017 20:26 PM

        My guess is that, silly as this might sound, he has more important things to deal with!

    CFS
    Feb 18, 2017 18:15 PM

    https://srsroccoreport.com/

    Steve St. Angelo discusses Oil, Dow…

      Feb 19, 2017 19:20 AM

      Dow is a ponzi scheme ……is a better article……. jmho

    Feb 19, 2017 19:54 AM

    Swamp creatures……talking about using 25th Admendment article 4…….. suggest that Trump needs to get in line or else……..zerohedge…….

      Feb 19, 2017 19:57 AM

      Demoncrates need to take a chill pill………

    Feb 19, 2017 19:39 PM

    Getting to the very basics, and I don’t even know if it will work any longer,
    YOU HAVE TO LIVE BENEATH YOUR MEANS, WELL INTO YOUR 50s. Our generation, Al, had the best of all worlds, unfortunately most lived above their means, and will pay for it the rest of their lives.
    David McAlvany just released a book about leaving a legacy to your kids/ g’kids. To perpetuate legacy requires self sacrifice?

      Feb 19, 2017 19:02 PM

      I agree Marty, self sacrifice and self discipline have always been a commodity too scarce in society. The more people practice prudence, forbearance and wisdom, the more they become able to take care of own their needs and then become a resource to others. Living below one’s needs (or I would say desires rather than actual needs) is essential if one desires to have sufficient for the long run, because the unexpected will happen. I have always thought it prudent to first pay the Lord (tithing and charitable offerings etc.) then pay yourself (short and long term goals) then live on the rest. It has paid off for me and for my family even though we never earned very much and had challenges along the way.

        Feb 20, 2017 20:31 PM

        You and your family have a wonderful philosophy, Pardu. Thank you for sharing it.

      Feb 20, 2017 20:16 PM

      Great points Marty.

    CFS
    Feb 19, 2017 19:19 PM

    Socialism in practice……Venezuela:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UJlRRahNzw&t=1s

      Feb 20, 2017 20:46 AM

      I saw this a while ago:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOQb7Y5QVO8
      A couple of non-socialists in Venezuela. Jeff B.

        GH
        Feb 20, 2017 20:41 AM

        Luke Rudkowski, a very courageous journalist.

        I lived for a little while in Venezuela about ten years ago. This video is hilarious, in a sad way, because right off the bat it reminded me that when I lived there it was known that there was a frequent ambush point just leaving the airport at a hairpin turn where one needed to slow down. Sounds like that hasn’t changed.

        Its problems go deep. Socialism or the prior predatory capitalism under which they suffered, it would still be a mess, I’m afraid. And to get something better than that will be a long, hard road.

        I just recently talked to a seismic explorer who spent a number of years in Venezuela, before it went to hell. He’s worked in a great many countries, but there and Nigeria were at the bottom of his list in terms of where he would be willing to work.

        GH
        Feb 20, 2017 20:54 AM

        This video is almost a year old, but I have no doubt it is 100% accurate. It’s sad how far downhill Venezuela has gone in the past 10 or 12 years. And it was bad enough then.

    CFS
    Feb 19, 2017 19:24 PM

    https://youtu.be/1fmFz_Xg1S4?t=132

    TPP discussed on Infowars. Trump in Melbourne , Florida.

    CFS
    Feb 19, 2017 19:40 PM
    CFS
    Feb 19, 2017 19:45 PM

    Fox News Sunday…..Deep Statw:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5aHIxmD4Qc

    Feb 20, 2017 20:06 AM

    Fukushima is Hell Hole !!!!

    CFS
    Feb 20, 2017 20:52 AM

    Thin end of the wedge or stake in the heart of bankers immunity?

    http://wolfstreet.com/2017/02/18/spain-central-bankers-financial-regulator-in-court-bankia-ipo/