Yes, but look into the Fiat money we have.If they didn't ship the jobs overseas they couldn't keep the petro-dollar. Henry Ford would describe this as a battle between Nationalist and Internationalist.The http://www.cfr.org are Internationalist.  The support the banker class and central planners.They have been running our country for decades.They got spooked by Trump.Putin knows the limitations about capitalism and wanted open markets but with proper regulation.The bankers and central planners want open and unregulated markets for maximum profits. Look into Bill Browder and Larry Summers and what they did in the 90's for America afterthe fall of USSR.  Why did Putin ask Trump if he could speak to Bill Browder when he first saw him?They looted Russia and starved many Russians to death with the blessing of USA's CIA. With Nationalism, you develop the resources for the benefit of the population that resides within the Nation state.With Internationalism, you privatize resources and they are developed for the benefit of the shareholders.  Capitalism. By the way, Russia never wanted Marxism.  Guess who funded it?USA with the help of Jacob Schiff Adam Schiff's great Uncle.  The congressman from California.Leon Trotsky, aka Lev Davidovich Bronstein, got $20 million from Mr. Schiff. They killed the Czar and his family and it is still a bitter topic between Russia, America, and Israel because he was of Jewish decent. Why would a banker support Marxism?  What is in it for them? On Thursday, March 17, 2022, 04:39:41 PM MST, JD Austin wrote: High gas prices. unaffordable housing. many households living paycheck to paycheck. explosion in crime. explosion in homelessness. recreational drug use on the rise for a civilization like ours and you think this is normal? All the above are symptoms of the problem: our politicians sold us out to support foreign countries while pushing their own agendas. Politicians sold the trade agreements as a way for American businesses to make more money selling internationally, but they are competing with countries with much lower cost of living and much less stringent environmental standards. When politicians started passing laws that forced businesses to fund their agendas (like health care), the related overhead increase kicked off the migration of American manufacturing jobs to other countries. Within a decade, most of the manufacturing jobs left the USA. Politicians didn't think about 'the little people' and assumed they could just get training and other jobs; only some of them could. The current regime is really pushing green energy. I'm a fan of green energy, but it's just not ready to replace everything that already works. It costs more and doesn't work as well. Only upper-middle-class and above living in urban areas can afford green energy solutions; politicians are blind to that and so are a lot of proponents.  When our politicians created free trade agreements (that weren't fair to American businesses) almost all remaining manufacturing left the US along with the related jobs. Every time politicians meddle with businesses causing their overhead to increase, they cause a shift that hurts employees and consumers the most. We got cheap, crappy, Chinese goods that just don't last (made by people they have to put up nets to prevent them from committing suicide) and the 'throw it away' society that came with it. It hit a lot of American industries and I'm not sure we can get them back now.  With costs going up, decent jobs requiring more skill and education, far fewer places to work for low-skilled workers,and even the so-called help always has rules that keep the people we are 'helping' poor (make more than X and you get nothing). it's not surprising a lot of poor people become homeless, resort to crime, and take drugs. Politicians need to think about 'the little people' as real people. On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 4:03 PM greg zegan wrote: On top of that in case you haven't noticed the homeless population has exploded in the Phoenix area.Try ridding the bus-public transportation, with these people who sadly in some cases haven't had a bath or shower in some time. Its really sad that the American culture has been broken so badly that one has to help others see what is in plain sight.  We live adjacent to a state with arguably the worst homeless population in the country. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself or others what is the cause of all this??????? High gas prices.unaffordable housing.many households living paycheck to paycheck.explosion in crime.explosion in homelessness.recreational drug use on the rise for a civilization like ours and you think this is normal? $14 Billion in aid to Ukraine while all this is happening?Where is that money going?How about a hired mercenary army to fight Russia per the refuges from the Middle East.  Why do you think they pushed for EU to take in refuges from the middle East?By the way, EU doesn't have children like the previous generations did and thee now know it takes at least 2.0 children per couple to keep an empire alive so these peoplefrom Africa and others are nothing but blood and treasure to these neo-cons. Tech people are usually some of the smartest in a civilization historically speaking.As per Thucydides the country that rules in technology rules the world.  Surely the breadth  and width of your understanding goes further than these few talking points. How about this.There is a real effort to turn us all in the West into a Socialistic civilization based on Plato's Republic.Democracy?Try a empire ruled by a Philosopher king as he stated in his book.  The problem is there is no person on this earth that is perfect and never will be.  We have a Republic, not a Democracy in the USA. Dig a little deeper and try a little harder to understand your world.  If you don't find the truth there aremany out there looking for the naïve to take advantage of. Plato's Republic.Plato's Meno.Plato's Timaeus.Plato's Protagoras.St. Augustine's City of God.Aristotle's Ethics.Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The Social Contract.Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Discourse on Inequality. On Thursday, March 17, 2022, 03:35:25 PM MST, JD Austin wrote: It hasn't been near $2 a gallon for 1.5 years. https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=AZ https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 3:31 PM greg zegan wrote: Are you kidding?just over a year ago it was under $2 a gallon.furthermore, who is going to commute to work in Phoenix in the coming months? On Thursday, March 17, 2022, 03:22:12 PM MST, JD Austin via PLUG-discuss wrote: I just paid $4.49 at Costco which was only .07/gallon less than surrounding gas stations :(I can only hope our national politicians pull their heads from their rectum and open domestic oil production again soon. They're blaming Ukraine, but it was already approaching $4 before Russian invaded. If anyone had doubts that overreliance on foreign supply chains could be problematic, the last several years should have made it clear. I feel really sorry for poor people... how are they coping with these price increases everywhere? On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 12:47 PM Michael via PLUG-discuss wrote: What is gas going for in arizona? It is around 4 a gallon in florida. -- :-)~MIKE~(-: --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss