Everyone here is familiar with the history of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. What is current is the astronimical inflation rate and the crisis that has caused. The inflation rate there is nearing the point of being the highest in world history.
Rhodesia was a prospreous country, but was forced by the rest of the world, mainly the USA, to change its government, establishing democracy; one man, one vote.
The result was not long in coming. The white run government was voted out in favor of a black government. White farmers were either run off their land, or murdered, with the result that the economy, which was largely agricultural, collapsed. Early signs of what was to follow were broken infrastructure. Now, it is quite likely that people are going to starve to death unless the same countries that broke Rhodesia step in and feed it.

Please do not consider this a racial diatribe, it is merely history.

What lessons should we learn from this?

1. Democracy will not work everywhere. There must be a proper foundation for it to work.
2. Pure democracy will not work ANYWHERE long term because of human sloth and greed. When the have-nots outvote the haves, the train wreck becomes imminent.
3. The ONLY way that democracy can function at all is when the preponderent majority of the populace have a strong work ethic, something impossible under Communism and several other philosophies.

At this point I am going to offend some of you and you will say this belongs in the religious forum.

4. In this country, at least, Christianity and its Jewish roots has been the greatest force promoting the work ethic. The work ethic, along with property rights, is taught in the Bible from beginning to end. Those who attempt to suppress Christianity are attempting to destroy the major engine that has propelled this country to prosperity and greatness.

Hello Gal:

Maybe if you understood some stuff, you wouldn't sound so bigoted or so righteous.

Inflation is caused by the government printing money. It has nothing to do with the governed, their form of government, their color, or their religion.

As a matter of fact, our white Christian president is inflating OUR currency as fast as he can too... We're not far behind those black heathen's..

excon

Ex, you bring up a good point. Why did the Zimabwe govt. print all that money? Do you suppose it could be bacause nothing was being produced? Might that not be the reason ANY govt prints too much money? If our govt stuck to supply side economics, made the business climate here friendly for commerce, encouraged free enterprise instead of taxing companies so much they go somewhere else to produce their goods, do you think MAYBE we would see more produced here with increased employment and wages? Why are you arguing with my post? I merely pointed out the problems with pure democracy. I thought you were in favor of our Constitution which ORIGINALLY set up a republic. One man, one vote? Originally, only real property holders had the vote. When I was young, I paid a poll tax to vote. Now, everyone feeding at the public trough gets to vote, and when they outnumber the rest of us, you can kiss it all goodbye. That is the lesson from Rhodesis/Zimbabwe. This phenomon has been observed from antiquity. Do you disagree?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Galveston1

Ex, you bring up a good point. Why did the Zimabwe govt. print all that money? Do you suppose it could be bacause nothing was being produced? Might that not be the reason ANY govt prints too much money? Do you disagree?

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Hello again, Gal:

I disagree with just about everything you say.

WE are the worlds largest producer!! If what you say is so, then we wouldn't need to inflate. But, we are - bigtime. Where do you think the money is coming from to rescue Bear Stearns, Fanny Mae, Freddie Mac, and to pay for TWO wars?? If you said out of thin air, you'd be right.

Why?? Simple. George Bush, the dufus in chief, is inflating the money supply because he doesn't want to tax the people for his wars or the bailouts of his buddies. So, he printed the money. That's why ANY government inflates. They want to spend MONEY they DON'T have.

It has NOTHING to do the people, their form of government, their color or their religion.

You've been listening to entirely TOO much right wing radio.

excon

And you call Bush a dufus!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Galveston1

And you call Bush a dufus!

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And I support excon in his explanations and conclusions.

:rolleyes:

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Hello again, Gal:

You have no answer, so you call me a name... Doesn't surprise me. That's what O'Reilly and Limprod do.

excon

No, Ex, you totally ignored, or didn't understand the main point of my post. You just didn't like #4. The reason I threw dufus back at you is because you went off on a tangent. Hard to have a discussion that way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Galveston1

3. The ONLY way that democracy can function at all is when the preponderent majority of the populace have a strong work ethic, something impossible under Communism and several other philosophies.

4. In this country, at least, Christianity and its Jewish roots has been the greatest force promoting the work ethic. The work ethic, along with property rights, is taught in the Bible from beginning to end. Those who attempt to supress Christianity are attempting to destroy the major engine that has propelled this country to prosperity and greatness.

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Hello again, Gal:

Like I said, if you knew some stuff we could have a better discussion.

I thought you were addressing inflation. Now, I see that you're just dissing anything other than Christianity...

Ok, I'll play that game.

Soooo, how do you account for Latin America languishing in the 3rd world? Aren't they Christians?? Can they own private property?? I think they can?

excon

Latin American work ethic is probably good. If you will re-read what I said, I said that Christianity and its Jewish roots has been the greatest force, not the ONLY force producing greatness. In Latin America it looks to me like a major problem is government corruption. That in itself says a lot about the lack of Christian ethics in the country. But you still miss my main point. One man, one vote was not the idea of the framers of our Constitution. It hasn't worked historically, it didn't work in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, and ultimately, it will not work here, especially if the work ethic is not reinforced in people's thinking. You will be hard pressed to find anything that builds the work ethic better than genuine Christian teaching.

PS. If we produce so much, why is it so difficult to find goods made in the USA?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Galveston1

If we produce so much, why is it so difficult to find goods made in the USA?

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Hello again, Gal:

Why?? Because WalMart buys its stuff in China.

Below are the top 5 producers in the order of their Gross National Products.

1. USA
2. Japan
3. Germany
4. UK
5. China

I don't know why you don't know this stuff.

excon

So where is all this stuff? I would expect the USA to be a large producer COMPARED to the rest of the world. I also expect a lot of this production to be agricultural. A lot of people would starve to death were it not for our farmers. Just a few years back, I went into one of the major dept stores in search of a red dress shirt. I found one. It was imported, and the price was $40. I didn't buy the shirt. People in the third world country it was made in probably did good to make $2 a day, and I told the saleslady (it wasn't her fault) that when I bought an imported shirt, I expected to pay an import price. Where is all this made in USA stuff. Electronics? Optical? Small kitchen appliances? Clothing? Toys? What?
Besides, you are avoiding my main point. I would expect that from a leftist, but I thought Libertarians were not leftists. Am I wrong?