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Does Mitt Romney’s “Entitled” Remarks Change Your Opinion of Him?

ABC News U.S. 2012/09/18 12:09:25
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  • terry.edgar.58 2012/09/19 03:44:52
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    terry.edgar.58
    +133
    The Republican challenger speaks an uncomfortable truth — that it's hard enough to beat an incumbent president without almost half the electorate feeling dependent on him for some kind of government benefit.



    The conveniently timed release of a video taped in May and leaked by Mother Jones in September has the usual suspects in the mainstream media chattering that Mitt Romney's candidacy for president is now doomed.

    Even if it is true, you just can't say that 47% of Americans are dependent on government and that they're hard to reach politically because of that.

    In one clip, Romney describes how his campaign would not try to appeal to "47% of the people" who will vote for President Obama "no matter what."

    They are, he says, "dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them."

    No doubt there are people who are dependent on government due to circumstances beyond their control. But it's been a main thrust of this administration to make as many people dependent on government as possible — witness ObamaCare — and its motives haven't always been pure.

    This is the administration from which comes a steady drumbeat of class warfare, that rails against the evil "1%" while seeking to redistribute the...

    The Republican challenger speaks an uncomfortable truth — that it's hard enough to beat an incumbent president without almost half the electorate feeling dependent on him for some kind of government benefit.



    The conveniently timed release of a video taped in May and leaked by Mother Jones in September has the usual suspects in the mainstream media chattering that Mitt Romney's candidacy for president is now doomed.

    Even if it is true, you just can't say that 47% of Americans are dependent on government and that they're hard to reach politically because of that.

    In one clip, Romney describes how his campaign would not try to appeal to "47% of the people" who will vote for President Obama "no matter what."

    They are, he says, "dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them."

    No doubt there are people who are dependent on government due to circumstances beyond their control. But it's been a main thrust of this administration to make as many people dependent on government as possible — witness ObamaCare — and its motives haven't always been pure.

    This is the administration from which comes a steady drumbeat of class warfare, that rails against the evil "1%" while seeking to redistribute their wealth, that supports the mob action of Occupy Wall Street, attacks those preaching personal responsibility as asking people to "fend for themselves" and tells the people who roll up their sleeves rather than hold out their hands, well, "you didn't build that."

    Romney did not dispute that many Americans need and deserve the benefits they get. He merely recognized the fact that it's hard to run against an administration that says electing Romney would place those benefits in jeopardy, an administration that raids Medicare of $700 billion to fund ObamaCare while its supporters run ads showing a Paul Ryan look-alike pushing granny over a cliff.
    (more)

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Opinions

  • dickjones Laura 2012/10/04 02:36:32
    dickjones
    Well, in that case, he's got MY vote!!
  • frjm Laura 2012/11/04 22:50:49
    frjm
    Laura

    Repeat after me; "yes we can yes we can" and let's not forget "change we can belive in" and all the other BS phrases obama taught the sheep in this population. Lets see; yes we can ignore the constitution and write executive orders to make unconstitutional changes he wants, yes we can increase the national debt from ten trillion which was accumulated over a 235 span to 17 trillion in debt which obama created in four years. Yes we can ignore the requests from two Navy Seals and one Ambassador for help and watch them die. Yes we can give GM 230 Billion Dollars for a bail out and then accept over two million dollars in campaign contributions from that same company.

    Very few presidents have been worth a plug nickel but obama is an out and out traitor to this country. And you Laura are one of his "useful idiots". The term "useful idiots" comes from Russian Communist Leader Lenin who used the "useful idiots in Rissia to gain power in that country. Then he murdered approximately 3 million citizens to get rid of his opposition.
    frjm
  • michellelivigni 2012/09/26 03:20:46
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    michellelivigni
    +4
    like I'm going to vote for the jackass Obama puh-lease!
  • Scrappyang michell... 2012/09/26 11:25:08
    Scrappyang
    Because one isn't goiung to vote for MrRomney doesn't mean they are going to vote for Mr obama either.
  • Laura Scrappyang 2012/10/01 15:49:29
    Laura
    SHAME< SHAME ON YOU to think of not voting. You need to decide which of the two meet your expectations more, and will work for what you value.. No one candidate suits any of us in every way. People in other countries risk their lives for the right to vote, and have died trying. To many Americans have given up their lives, so that we can be free and have the right to vote. Pleaseeeeee don`t throw it away.
  • frjm Laura 2012/10/06 12:30:50
    frjm
    Laura

    I just have to horn in on you comments to Scrappyang. I maintain if Scrappyang is going to vote for obama, I would perfer Scrappyang stay at home.

    frjm
  • Scrappyang frjm 2012/10/13 15:23:52
    Scrappyang
    I wouldn't expect less from you frjm.
  • Fernando 2012/09/25 17:37:34
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    Fernando
    +1
    If America does not change now would be a disaster that all generations will feel. Americans need to rediscover the taste of what was America. We can not implement a system that was proven did not work. What we have is a time bomb in place. The essential is what we alowed to be taken away. What that being is doing is to win the election no matter if he gets us into more trouble. I invite America to go vote which would be the only opportunity to begin to regain the taste of America. And when we are voting for Romney also remember that we are voting against Bill Clinton who was the one who sold America to the Chinese in exchange for billions of dollars. Voting against Bil Clinton who bought the presidency for obama.
  • Laura Fernando 2012/10/01 15:54:51
    Laura
    What rock did you just CRAWL out from??? Why would Bill Clinton buy the presidency for President Obama, when he desperately want Hillary to win. Bill Clinton and President Obama have not always been on the best of terms. Did you expect the President to fix everything in four years that took many years to create the horrible mess, not to mention the wars that were not paid for. STOP AND THINK!
  • ♒ßεllεchεvεllε®♒ 2012/09/25 17:13:12
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    ♒ßεllεchεvεllε®♒
    +4
    Yes. It makes me realize how in touch with reality he is.
  • Superman ♒ßεllεc... 2012/09/25 19:01:09
    Superman
    Lol, I like that phrasing.
  • charles... ♒ßεllεc... 2012/09/26 16:17:42
    charles nelson
    +1
    His reality is out sourcing. At least in the past. Who know what his reality is today. Is that your reality?
  • Idiot repubs 2012/09/25 16:39:51
    Yes. I’m not voting for him anymore.
    Idiot repubs
    +2
    Actually hes just proving what an ass he is.
  • Jon Bergen Idiot r... 2012/09/25 18:41:11
  • PJ Swe... Jon Bergen 2012/09/26 19:04:15
    PJ  Sweet Cheeks
    +2
    Oh please...anyone can post stupid pics! Got any facts, links? Please prove you are smarter then that.
  • PJ Swe... Jon Bergen 2012/09/26 19:04:27
    PJ  Sweet Cheeks
    +2
    This one should be tough for the supporters of the current regime to swallow and it comes from ABC NEWS. In the U.S.A. Bridges and Roads are Being Built by Chinese Firms in CA- $7.2 Billion, AK $190 Million, and NY $400 Million. Not included in this video is I-635 in Texas is being rebuilt with underground tolls from I-35 to I-45 and is contracted to a CHINESE firm for over $5 billion.

    Our tax dollars are at work - for CHINA !!!

    Watch the news video for yourself:

    http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/vid...
  • whinny PJ Swe... 2012/09/28 11:06:45 (edited)
    whinny
    people if you believe what all that lying man says your and stupid as he is..ill bet if we lined up all the stupid people who want obhamamutt and asked questions about this election most of you wouldnt no your ass from your elbow! keep listening to the stupid one sided meadia...you vote for the half white half black guy you will get a dictator..look up what that means..!most of you wont get that word by yourselves DICTATOR...we need a leader not a RULER look that one up also..we need a believer that honers all of us ..a man or woman that will LEAD us look up lead...now try to understand the difference . good luck with that.you need a brain to do it. i have my doubts ((( sick world we live in hmmmmm!
  • frjm whinny 2012/10/06 12:57:02
    frjm
    whinny

    If your attacking PJ Swe, you might want to re-read the post!

    frjm
  • frjm PJ Swe... 2012/10/06 12:52:47
    frjm
    PJ Swe
    Excellent Post.
    Want To bet Jon Bergen will blame it on Mitt or Bush? Got to remember, in the minds of people like bergen, obama can "stop the rise of the oceans and heal the planet".
    frjm
  • Jon Bergen Jon Bergen 2012/09/30 16:48:10
    Jon Bergen
    Well, I WOULD post a response to PJ-Sweet-Cheeks, but I can't.

    Yes. Here's a shocker: She has blocked me.

    In spite of her inability to conduct a debate like an adult, however, a response anyway:

    Facts were part of the first two graphics, along with the fourth, supporting the first poster's statement that Romney is a jackass.

    As for the 'trickle down economics' of neoconservative Republicans, I have left a post up here documenting how the GOP engineered the Depression they left to Obama to solve.

    She chides me for not debating her ~ then refuses to debate me...

    documenting gop engineered depression obama solve chides debating refuses debate
  • frjm Jon Bergen 2012/10/06 13:14:58
    frjm
    bergen

    I can understand your having to post to yourself. You are living in a "alice and wonderland" world and your comments and posters are unsupported. You have got to be one of the leeches on society or you would be able to comprehend that we, as Americans, are not better off then when obama took office.

    Your apparent hero, obama, has made a total mess of America, and is intent on our destruction. If you can't see that, you are blinded with your love for obama. Take you head out of your backside and research what obama is actually doing not what you wish to perceive he is doing.

    frjm
  • Jon Bergen frjm 2012/10/09 01:37:17
    Jon Bergen
    Did you actually READ my comment?

    Please PAY ATTENTION. The person above has BLOCKED me, leaving me no means for responding in this thread other than to attach my post elsewhere.

    Wow, and the dumbing down of America continues, with you providing all the evidence anyone would ever need.

    responding thread attach post wow dumbing america continues providing evidence

    responding thread attach post wow dumbing america continues providing evidence

    responding thread attach post wow dumbing america continues providing evidence
  • whinny Idiot r... 2012/09/28 10:59:19
    whinny
    an ass he is???? look at the pic you choose to put here...whos the ass???takes one to know one i guess !!
  • frjm Idiot r... 2012/10/06 12:48:30
    frjm
    Idiot Repubs

    The first part of your title is correct, but dems needs to be the second part. You have got to be one of the 47% freeloaders Romney is speaking of.

    You probably go to sleep chanting "Yes We Can, Yes We Can". Oh, and let's not forget "change we can believe in." Facetiously, I must admit obama presentated a very intelligent campaign in 2008. It was just right for people like you to hang your hat and mental capacity on.
  • Xerxes,Phantom of PHAET 2012/09/25 16:33:16
    Yes. I’m not voting for him anymore.
    Xerxes,Phantom of PHAET
    +2
    If this really ABC, sign this couple up, definite hit sitcom
  • PJ Sweet Cheeks 2012/09/25 16:31:39
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    PJ  Sweet Cheeks
    +5
    There is only one choice in this election if you want this country back to being GREAT!!!
    VOTE ROMNEY 2012!!
    choice election country vote romney 2012
    I think America has wised up this time around, Obama has proven all he can do is spend 16 TRILLION!!!!!!

    country vote romney 2012 america wised obama proven spend 16
  • charles... PJ Swe... 2012/09/26 16:20:13
    charles nelson
    Why did he f*ck with America's greatness in the past, what was so good about out sourcing jobs.
  • PJ Swe... charles... 2012/09/26 19:02:39
    PJ  Sweet Cheeks
    who Obama? Yes he did!
    This one should be tough for the supporters of the current regime to swallow and it comes from ABC NEWS. In the U.S.A. Bridges and Roads are Being Built by Chinese Firms in CA- $7.2 Billion, AK $190 Million, and NY $400 Million. Not included in this video is I-635 in Texas is being rebuilt with underground tolls from I-35 to I-45 and is contracted to a CHINESE firm for over $5 billion.

    Our tax dollars are at work - for CHINA !!!

    Watch the news video for yourself:

    http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/vid...
  • charles... PJ Swe... 2012/09/26 19:48:34
    charles nelson
    Yes, Yes, you went to a lot of trouble to come up with that crap, well just think what ol Mitt could do with that, he's a pro you know.
  • daver PJ Swe... 2012/09/26 20:12:53
    daver
    Shows how misinformed you are . He came in with Bush's deficit of 10.7T it's now 16T. Learn some arithmetic . If he hadn't spent the 5.3t we'd be in a global depression, GM and Chrysler and all their suppliers would be gone, the financial sector gone, the dollar worthless, many more of our businesses would be gone, and unemployment over 50%. Just look at Clintons speech to the DNC. Since 1961, 66 million jobs were created in the U.S.
    Republicans 24m Democrats 42 m . Then go ahead and fact check it.
    You're dangerous.
  • dickjones daver 2012/10/04 02:39:44
    dickjones
    You sir are a moron, just like your god Obama.
  • frjm PJ Swe... 2012/10/06 13:17:03
    frjm
    That Poster Is Great!
    frjm
  • sunniday 2012/09/25 04:40:04
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    sunniday
    +1
    I have seen nothing to make me change my mind.Say what you will he will be our best chance but it won't be easy.
  • sidramo... sunniday 2012/09/25 15:35:16
    sidramone@ymail.com
    +3
    Isn't it sad that our best chance is a waffling piece of crap from the progressive RNC elite?
  • evergreen 2012/09/25 03:53:29
    No. I’m still voting for him.
    evergreen
    +2
    Obama's founding Fathers were. And Every one can google to verify.
    1. BARACK OBAMA SR. extreme left wing socialist , believes taxes even up to the 100 percent level. You will receive it back in the form of welfare.
    2. FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS,American Communist Party just after the 1939 Hitler-Stalin pact,Davis was on the FBI’s Security Index list, entailing that this hardcore Communist and “loyal Soviet patriot” would have been arrested if conflict started between Russia and America.
    3. WILLIAM AYERS and his wife Bernadine Dohrn, who hosted meetings at their Chicago home introducing Obama during his 1995 Illinois State Senate run. Responsible for bombing the pentagon and the capitol building in 1971.
    4. ALICE PALMER: Obama’s predecessor in the Illinois State Senate attended the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and came away favorably impressed by the Soviet system.
    5. GREGO...


























    Obama's founding Fathers were. And Every one can google to verify.
    1. BARACK OBAMA SR. extreme left wing socialist , believes taxes even up to the 100 percent level. You will receive it back in the form of welfare.
    2. FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS,American Communist Party just after the 1939 Hitler-Stalin pact,Davis was on the FBI’s Security Index list, entailing that this hardcore Communist and “loyal Soviet patriot” would have been arrested if conflict started between Russia and America.
    3. WILLIAM AYERS and his wife Bernadine Dohrn, who hosted meetings at their Chicago home introducing Obama during his 1995 Illinois State Senate run. Responsible for bombing the pentagon and the capitol building in 1971.
    4. ALICE PALMER: Obama’s predecessor in the Illinois State Senate attended the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and came away favorably impressed by the Soviet system.
    5. GREGORY GALLUZZO : schooled Obama in Alinsky tactics. The Developing Communities Project, Obama’s first employer in Chicago, was part of the Gamaliel network of organizations.
    6. MIKE KRUGLIK helped train Obama on Alinsky organizing methods. Kruglik was also involved in 2007 with indoctrinating Obama campaign volunteers on Alinsky methods 7. REV JEREMIAH WRIGHT: Rev. Wright was a close friend of the Obamas. He officiated their wedding, baptized their children, and Obama regularly touted his 20-year membership in Chicago’s . memorable anti-American screeds, Rev. Wright said, “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, G-D –D--N America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people
    8. Rounding out Obama’s social circle are various academics such as the PLO/Yasser Arafat apologists Rashid Khalidi and Edward Said, a professor of Obama’s at Columbia University, and Obama’s Harvard University Law School professor Roberto Unger, who proclaims himself in a self-description as a “leftist and by conviction as well as temperament a revolutionary.”



    ALINSKY METHOD - WHAT IS IT AND HOW IT IS APPLIED

    You might ask what is the Alinsky Method ...Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals "Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul..."

    -- Thomas Paine
    Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer.

    -- Saul Alinsky
    "What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away."

    ***Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution.***( THUS THE 2008 ELECTION !!) sound familiar yet/// it will......
    To bring on this reformation requires that the organizer work inside the system, among not only the middle class but the 40 per cent of American families – more than seventy million people – whose income range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year [in 1971]. They cannot be dismissed by labeling them blue collar or hard hat. They will not continue to be relatively passive and slightly challenging. If we fail to communicate with them, if we don't encourage them to form alliances with us, they will move to the right. Maybe they will anyway, but let's not let it happen by default.
    (THE BRAIN WASHING0 For Alinsky, organizing is the process of highlighting whatever he believed to be wrong and convincing people they can actually do something about it. The two are linked. THE organizer from outside — must first overcome suspicion and establish credibility.

    Next the organizer must begin the task of agitating: rubbing resentments, fanning hostilities, and searching out controversy. This is necessary to get people to participate. An organizer has to attack apathy and disturb the prevailing patterns of complacent community life where people have simply come to accept a situation.
    Alinsky would say,The first step in community organization is community disorganization."

    Through a process combining HOPE and resentment, the organizer creates a "mass army" that brings in as many recruits as possible from local organizations, churches, services groups, labor unions, corner gangs, and individuals.

    Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. LACK OF ATTENTION TO THE ECONOMY !! “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
    AND LAST !!! Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. THIS IS WHAT YOUR PRESIDENT KNOWS ALL TO WELL HE WAS RAISE IN IT. MENTORED IT.. SOUGHT OUT FRIENDS , ASSOCIATES, HE STUDIED IT IN COLLEGE SOUGHT PROFESSORS WHO TAUGHT IT.. AND THEN BE CAME IT. AS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER !!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
    (more)
  • charles... evergreen 2012/09/26 16:21:21
    charles nelson
    And Mitt is a Mexican
  • PJ Swe... charles... 2012/09/26 19:05:44
    PJ  Sweet Cheeks
    Facts are indeed are to swallow huh, lol
  • charles... PJ Swe... 2012/09/26 20:00:19
  • daver evergreen 2012/09/26 20:01:11
    daver
    I checked some of this out . Didn't want to waste time on the rest. Here are some of the sources I found for the Glenn Marshall Davis conspiracy theory.

    The American Thinker (another right wing rag for non-thinkers)

    Free Republic (Freepers launched campaigns against CBS's Dan Rather, when he exposed Bush, truthfully but with faulty evidence, The Dixie Chicks when they protested against the war in Iraq, and for the non existent Whitewater scandal of Bill Clinton's that cost us 1/4 billion. Couldn't find anything so they had to resort to embarrassing Clinton into telling a lie about a personal affair and Impeaching him. (like I know no republicans ever tell lies.) costing us millions more, and some have even threatened to assassinate Clinton.

    Joseph Farah's " WND " ( another right wing hack and associate of Rush Limbaugh)

    Alex Jones's " Info Wars " (Conspiracy theorist from the right wing)

    Glenn Beck's " The Blaze". ( self explanatory)

    All of these are right wing rags I have checked in the past and found to be disreputable and packed with lies and conspiracy theories. If what they say were true about Obama's true origins, they could have easily picked up some of Obama's DNA left behind somewhere and compared it with some from his half brother to d...




















    I checked some of this out . Didn't want to waste time on the rest. Here are some of the sources I found for the Glenn Marshall Davis conspiracy theory.

    The American Thinker (another right wing rag for non-thinkers)

    Free Republic (Freepers launched campaigns against CBS's Dan Rather, when he exposed Bush, truthfully but with faulty evidence, The Dixie Chicks when they protested against the war in Iraq, and for the non existent Whitewater scandal of Bill Clinton's that cost us 1/4 billion. Couldn't find anything so they had to resort to embarrassing Clinton into telling a lie about a personal affair and Impeaching him. (like I know no republicans ever tell lies.) costing us millions more, and some have even threatened to assassinate Clinton.

    Joseph Farah's " WND " ( another right wing hack and associate of Rush Limbaugh)

    Alex Jones's " Info Wars " (Conspiracy theorist from the right wing)

    Glenn Beck's " The Blaze". ( self explanatory)

    All of these are right wing rags I have checked in the past and found to be disreputable and packed with lies and conspiracy theories. If what they say were true about Obama's true origins, they could have easily picked up some of Obama's DNA left behind somewhere and compared it with some from his half brother to disprove who he says his real father is. Why not? This is all I had time for but I definitely see a pattern. Shame on you for spreading this garbage to the electorate. No wonder the people are so misguided. And if you want to demonize the left, first take a look at what a much smarter man than us (Albert Einstein) has said about pure capitalism.


    "Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires, and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows, and to improve their conditions of life. Only the existence of these varied, frequently conflicting, strivings accounts for the special character of a man, and their specific combination determines the extent to which an individual can achieve an inner equilibrium and can contribute to the well-being of society. It is quite possible that the relative strength of these two drives is, in the main, fixed by inheritance. But the personality that finally emerges is largely formed by the environment in which a man happens to find himself during his development, by the structure of the society in which he grows up, by the tradition of that society, and by its appraisal of particular types of behavior. The abstract concept “society” means to the individual human being, the sum total of his direct and indirect relations to his contemporaries and to all the people of earlier generations. The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself; but he depends so much upon society—in his physical, intellectual, and emotional existence—that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society. It is “society” which provides man with food, clothing, a home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought, and most of the content of thought; his life is made possible through the labor and the accomplishments of the many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word “society.”

    I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.

    The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals.

    For the sake of simplicity, in the discussion that follows I shall call “workers” all those who do not share in the ownership of the means of production—although this does not quite correspond to the customary use of the term. The owner of the means of production is in a position to purchase the labor power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. The essential point about this process is the relation between what the worker produces and what he is paid, both measured in terms of real value. Insofar as the labor contract is “free,” what the worker receives is determined not by the real value of the goods he produces, but by his minimum needs and by the capitalists’ requirements for labor power in relation to the number of workers competing for jobs. It is important to understand that even in theory the payment of the worker is not determined by the value of his product.

    Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.

    The situation prevailing in an economy based on the private ownership of capital is thus characterized by two main principles: first, means of production (capital) are privately owned and the owners dispose of them as they see fit; second, the labor contract is free. Of course, there is no such thing as a pure capitalist society in this sense. In particular, it should be noted that the workers, through long and bitter political struggles, have succeeded in securing a somewhat improved form of the “free labor contract” for certain categories of workers. But taken as a whole, the present day economy does not differ much from “pure” capitalism.

    Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an “army of unemployed” almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers’ goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals which I mentioned before.

    This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career."

    Albert Einstein

    Einstein is saying you right wing extremists are crippled souls.
    (more)
  • Rachel ... daver 2012/09/29 16:14:51 (edited)
    Rachel Thomas
    As said by some ignorant Socialist called...what's his name? Einstein..

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2013/06/19 23:28:30

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