tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post7034611144546401318..comments2023-12-29T15:25:46.925-05:00Comments on "THE VIEW FROM OUTSIDE MY TINY WINDOW": Post No. 111: Been There; Done ThatInspector Clouseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-5971404866791807022009-10-26T22:41:47.556-04:002009-10-26T22:41:47.556-04:00At this moment as we type this, PBS (in certain ma...At this moment as we type this, PBS (in certain markets) is airing a <a href="http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/" rel="nofollow">documentary on Herbert Hoover and the events leading up to the Great Depression</a>. Some of the causes of the Great Depression might surprise you.Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-41781001749050438752009-07-26T12:52:59.663-04:002009-07-26T12:52:59.663-04:00Today, Sunday, at 2:00 pm EDST, C-Span2 Book TV wi...Today, Sunday, at 2:00 pm EDST, C-Span2 Book TV will once again air a <a href="http://www.booktv.org/Program/10174/The+Tyranny+of+Dead+Ideas+Letting+Go+of+the+Old+Ways+of+Thinking+to+Unleash+a+New+Prosperity.aspx" rel="nofollow">book discussion</a> program involving "The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity."Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-30059648817920357872009-04-29T01:37:00.000-04:002009-04-29T01:37:00.000-04:00Yet, the more things change, the more they remain ...Yet, the more things change, the more they remain the same.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-56031783090105979582009-04-28T17:08:00.000-04:002009-04-28T17:08:00.000-04:00As a practical matter, the same forces that made t...As a practical matter, the same forces that made the Roman Empire great, contributed to its decline. It's the nature of most things. The trick is in recognizing when the decline is just beginning, and making corrections in a timely and surgical fashion. <br /><br />As you pointed out in one of your recent articles, there is a good side and a bad side to all conduct. Very few things are all one or the other.<br /><br />Think about how many of the exceptional athletes play past their prime. They always believe that they can pull it together, because the have exceptional talent generally far above their contemporaries. At some point, they can not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-90879967796829597932009-04-28T09:38:00.000-04:002009-04-28T09:38:00.000-04:00There seems to be a tendency for humans to want to...There seems to be a tendency for humans to want to maintain the status quo, yet be unable to keep it up. For whatever reasons (technology, increasing population, togas etc), society changes (which is why I'm more in the 'erosion' camp of imperial roman decline).<br /><br />I think the real difference today is the rate of change. A few centuries ago, your lifestyle wouldn't have been that much different to your grandparents, with the odd tweak hither and yon, but now the differences are far more extreme. <br /><br />Maybe historical decisions are just not dynamic enough to deal with modern dilemmas. It would be like using a rural village council's policies to decide on a global economic strategy.<br /><br />Although, that would be one hell of a village fete . . .The Juleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10051844634899994750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-32815854968574301792009-04-27T18:37:00.000-04:002009-04-27T18:37:00.000-04:00Some interesting observations, Coop. The last twea...Some interesting observations, Coop. The last tweaked my curiosity since I often muse about the so called fall of the Roman Empire. There seem to be as many reasons for the fall of that empire as there are historians. Some might even say it never really fell but simply eroded away over a hundred years or more.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-77430004678712281772009-04-27T16:55:00.000-04:002009-04-27T16:55:00.000-04:00We observe over time that when we set a pot of wat...We observe over time that when we set a pot of water on the stove and turn the burner on high that it takes 10 minutes each time to begin boiling. We might conclude that water boils in ten minutes. In reality it boils based on its temperature not time. When looking back at history we must use the same discipline to discern what is applicable and what isn’t. We can see through out history that whenever government spends money they must take property from someone to fund it. Taking capital from the private sector reduces the potential for growth and the possibility of new jobs. (Keynesian economics has shown through time not to work)<br /><br />We can see from history the socialism doesn’t work. (Eventually the socialists run out of other people’s money – Margaret Thatcher) We know that countries unable to protect commerce must eventually rely on others for their protection and will eventually lose their self rule. Not educating the majority of a population for the purpose of controlling them and causing them to become wards of the state will eventually lead to the secure continuation of the oligarchy at the expense of individual freedom (China). Unrestricted immigration without forcing the immigrants to assimilate (to learn the culture and language) will result in the decline and fall of the host civilization (Rome).<br /><br />Perhaps some of these historical events may not have application but being ignorant of their occurrence is a very dangerous position to take for our population.Coop's Commentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17642486904138648784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-46245963313001435752009-04-27T14:36:00.000-04:002009-04-27T14:36:00.000-04:00I don’t think it is possible to divorce oneself fr...I don’t think it is possible to divorce oneself from the past. That does not mean that we simply keep doing the same things expecting a different result. We are where we are because of the past we have experienced. There is value in the history, both in what we want to recapture with new energy, and what we have learned is no longer useful. To ignore these considerations is to lose part of our total strength. Also, it is impossible to do anything from this point forward that is not influenced by the past. The degree with which we are able to use it to thrust us forward and not as an anchor will determine how well we meet our future. While we may not put “new wine” in “old wineskins” nothing should keep us from using the old wineskin as a pattern for the new wineskin. It is the wine that is important.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16922205386878237678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-70278798938631950682009-04-27T14:22:00.000-04:002009-04-27T14:22:00.000-04:00Yet, that is what the current administration has d...Yet, that is what the current administration has done. And did it while demanding that spending bills be passed without deep consideration.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.com