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[Doc]

Oh Goddamn, we are not descending into that varying text style point by point rebuttal shit, please. This is not goddamn Fark.

[littlefallsmets]

Man, look... I realize you're parsing out the word "monopoly" in a particular way because you want to win this as a debate, man, but how about "monopoly in all the ways that matter"?

Name any robber baron industrialist from the old days that you'd like or Sam Walton and you've gotten started. The collusion of the oil industry as a monopoly in everything other that admission. C'mon, man, seriously.

The Soviet Union "worked" to the extent that it was a nation and functioned as a nation for around seventy years and the post-Reagan clusterfuck version of America has "worked" that it has functioned as a nation for around thirty years.

How many millions has our economic model killed through the co-dependent allowance of murderous slave labour all over the globe in our colonies in everything but name? We haven't had nearly as many years, remember, our little China operation is going great guns, however.

But we might be coming from such different angles that proper communication on this matter might never happen, Ash may be well on this point.

I wanna talk about this on one level of it and you wanna talk about it on a different level of it.

I would taste the wind but there's rain in it and the rain out here tastes awful.

[lprkn]

I think A-CAP may have a problem with realizing that the economy is not the end-all and be-all determiner of our existence. There are other forces at work, man.

LFM just has some issues from when he was a pup.

Now that I've said this, Marvel will probably make a comic about how he was a panty-waisted 19th century cripple boy and disprove my theories, but whatever.

[littlefallsmets]

I think A-CAP may have a problem with realizing that the economy is not the end-all and be-all determiner of our existence. There are other forces at work, man.

LFM just has some issues from when he was a pup.

Probably right on both points. There are days I don't know where the issues end and I begin, fersure. Makes for good creative writing, also makes for being a cranky crusader other times.

To paraphrase ol' man Jasper: "That's a can-in'."

[Arachno-capitalist]

Man, look... I realize you're parsing out the word "monopoly" in a particular way because you want to win this as a debate, man, but how about "monopoly in all the ways that matter"?

Words have meanings, dude. I'm using the word monopoly and it has a real meaning.

[Nabubrush]

Words have meanings, dude. I'm using the word monopoly and it has a real meaning.

A game that everyone quits before it is over?

[theinevitable]

The term monopoly (from Greek mono(μονό), alone or single + polο (πωλώ), to sell) can bear two main definitions:

   1. In Economics, monopoly (also "Pure monopoly") is a persistent situation where there is only one provider of a product or service in a particular market. Monopolies are characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods. [1] Alternatively (a modern and less common usage), it may be used as a verb or adjective to refer to the process (see Monopolism) by which a firm gains persistently greater market share than what is expected under perfect competition. The latter usage of the term is invoked in the theory of monopolistic competition.
   2. In political discourse, the term monopoly is frequently invoked as a blanket generalization in criticism of firms with large market share or lack of what's perceived as "fair" competition. [2]

So.

[jaydub]

A game that everyone quits before it is over?

Try Monopoly Jr.  My daughter busted me yesterday, and cackled about it.

[littlefallsmets]

Words have many meanings and they vary upon context, along with other things.

Ain't no one thing that only means one thing under the sun.

Referring to the old robber baron types as having "monopolies" was probably not strictly true because they had some minor fringe competition that survived for being under the radar and incidental but they still functioned as such and still were refered to with that word.

There's precedent to referring to functional monopolies as monopolies... that's all I'm sayin' to that particular point.

EDIT: what 'Nev said.

[lprkn]

Well it is a discussion about economics. Do you bust into threads about punk music and say they are not realizing there is more to music?

All the time.

Well, I guess it was because I was thinking about the whole "no monopoly has existed outside of government" thing. Which is, as far as I know, true. But, it's also true that no economy has existed outside of government. There's a whole lot of synergy(to use a corporate buzzword) floating around in the relationships between businesses and government. I'm sure that you won't disagree that the partnerships between business and government have produced some shitty situations in the past, but to say, "Well, it's the gubmint's fault," that's a cop-out.

[V-Adore]

Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun, and bought it.

Thank you for making me grateful I read this far in this thread, Keith. Tiny can.

[smick]

Careful, A-Cap might shout at you, too.

"You are a salt-miner. Get back to the salt mines. Leave the talking about stocks to the smart people."

"I am a Gamma.  Gammas have always worked in the mines.  We have always looked up to the Alphas and Betas.  I am a Gamma..."

[side_show]

To paraphrase ol' man Jasper: "That's a can-in'."

Isn't it "a paddlin?" or is there a different episode where he's all about the cane?

I am bringing the paddlin' here today.  I am mod paddlin, so listen up, because I only spank when it must be done:

Arach-no: LFM said something a while back about not wanting to be a "playwriter" and I only went so far as to correct him on the terminology - that there is no such occupation and that the term is "playwright."  When it comes to the area you are training in, or the one I have a degree and years of professional experience in (and when it comes to plenty of other professions) people on the outside will look at such roles in society with the tiny scads of knowledge they need to know to feel that they do not need to know any more about the things we do and why we do them.  They will dismiss what we do, because it is easier.  You can call that ignorance on their part, or you can come to terms with the basic truth that there is more information out there than any one person can ever know.  Even though you love something, even though it defines who you are and even if it is the reason you get up in the morning, even if the things you are doing are "right" to you, are things you know to be "true" through the study of long proven knowledge from great minds that really matter, none of this matters when you're speaking to the broader community.  While many will welcome what you have to share, other people will dismiss these things, maybe even come to totally uneducated conclusions about these things, because their energy is meant to go elsewhere.  If you choose to specialize in a particular field, especially one that takes extensive training to comprehend, the only way you will reach those outside your field is by doing brilliant work that actually changes lives.  You can go through life carrying an "I'm with stupid" sign, pointing it at all the right people, or you can put that energy into better things.  No matter what people will dismiss the things you value - on this board and in life.  So you can fly off the handle and attack, alienating even those who might otherwise agree with you or want to learn from you, or you can speak/write/post with a tone that doesn't shut people down and set off a flashing red asshole light over your head.  There have been a variety of times since your arrival here where I have agreed with you on an intellectual level, but where your lack of tactfull expression has made it impossible or at least uncomfortable for me to want to stand by your side.   TOUAMB is not a competitive debate club, and it is not your duty to pounce and rip your opponent to shreds.  There are no opponents here, and you are way off the mark if you think otherwise.  It is your approach that is way off.  You have been here long enough that you should have picked up the intricacies of how things work here, so you are either being insensitive to the balance that keeps this a place worth posting to or you are intentionally ignoring what has worked and are choosing to be a dick.  I don't know which one it is.  I have often felt that you express your intelligent and at times valuable insight in a way that lacks consideration and maturity.  It is fine to take pride in and stand up for what you care about.  It is not okay to be a dick about it.  I am asking you to a) put more thought into your tone, and b) to not call out specific board members until you've figured out how to do so more gently and/or with good humour.  You are basically on watch.  I am not just speaking for myself here.

LFM:  Seriously.  seriously...  I have edited everything from novels to plays to short stories to essays to news papers, and you honestly need to focus on editing your posts.  If it takes you three to four sentences to get a single thought out, that might work for other writing styles, but not for the person to person communication of a message board.  I have noticed other posters are excited and inspired by the things you have to say, and it's often a specific sentence or two.  You need to distill it down.  Seriously.  Come on.  You are a writer and you know this shit.  You know that style and voice vary in each medium you write in.  You also know that you don't trust yourself and that you don't like to flat out say what you mean because you are self conscious.  I promise you will be all the better at mastering TOUAMB if you say "I think/believe/heard from Nabu that __________" then follow it up with some LFM style sparkling wit or self deprecation, rather than leaving us to kinda, sorta, maybe know what you're getting at after half a dozen sentences or more.  Being vague and leaving things open to the reader can work hella well for a novel, but when it comes to communicating person to person, that sort of shit leads to misunderstandings.  And if "misunderstanding" is the common defense you have for people getting irked by your posts whenever it happens, then take responsibility and put in the work to ensure that it is impossible to be misunderstood.    

Look folks, I am teaching theatre and writing to the HIV positive crowd right now, folks who have lived in the gutter, who live in the gutter, don't have stuff to eat and wake up everyday knowing they are dying and that almost no one gives a fuck and that they will not be getting fucked.  And they can write their truth.  Through all that they can get their shit together and show up at a meeting place with their "A" game.  So basically don't act like you don't know your shit.  I am asking for your "A" game, because you have had awesome opportunities and the educational tools to be able to express yourself properly.  Because by now you should be schooled in this board and how it works.  You may have had a bad day, this may be a bad year, but for fuck sake take some time to put care/and or humanity into what you are writing here.  I am not up for piss ****** shit like this thread.  You've got the skills to use the written word to express yourself in ways that don't need to lead to this.  You've got the brains to know when to walk away. Look at the time frame between some of these snappish posts!  Three minutes?  Ten minutes?  Do you need time out like three year olds?  Calm youself.  Put some thought and care in to your posts. Or if you can't and too many buttons are pushed for you, step back and move on to another thread or another board or use that tension to beat off or something.

I do not have the motherly qualities of our noble JL, and she has far more important things in her near future.  I am unwilling to change your diapers or powder or asses.  I am ready to call you on your bullshit.  Stop this.  It's annoying and it's a waste of your talents.

[KeithHernandez]

OH SHIIIIIIT

[Doc]

Some days there are just not enough cans.
Thankyou for being you Smells.