6.23.2011

Blog: Don't Believe the Lies +Socialistic Strip Clubs and Socratic Irony

"Henry Ford:
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” 
-----Read more HERE----
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NOTE:  Geez - I wonder why Henry Ford said that?  

I am not a socialist or a religious person.  But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't read the thoughts of those who are.  In fact - perhaps I can benefit most by reading such things that I think I don't agree with.  Why?

So many times - when I thought I understood something - and was challenged by a person conversant on that topic - I discovered that I had either no knowledge of the position held by those supporting said cause - or incorrect information regarding.

So why not take a look at something I think or "know" I don't agree with?  Why not listen to what this person has to say - their perspective - their point of view - the reasons they think they "have the answers?"  Why not?  Unless one listens to the "enemy" - the "opposition" - etc... (insert propagandistic label here) - there is absolutely positively no opportunity to find points of common agreement - the very seeds of negotiated win-win "deals."

That said - here's my argument for free-marketism > socialism.  Not something to be proud of but I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't write it out loud: and by the way - if you are a feminist - easily insulted - or someone who still thinks I'm an Angel - I suggest you stop reading right now.

Please excuse my mis-spent youth - excess testosterone - "bad influence" (fun) friends - immoral, unethical and sometimes scum-of-the-earth-supporting past - but what the hell - I don't have a better argument against socialism than the following - and I don't even know if it's a good one- accurate - or anything - but it's something my buddy Thom and I (he loved "titty bars") would discuss while having beers - smoking cigarettes and watching the chicks dance on a stage at bar-level. My formative years were spent with a disproportionate number of military veterans - mostly US Navy - sometimes a brutal and crude bunch - sometimes exhibiting surprising critical thinking skills, loyalty - honor - decency - and an addiction to titty bars.  Our conclusion was that ....well we'll get to that... Here's the deal:

Given:  There are two titty-bars (this is a general-purpose term for "strip club") on the same street - sharing the same parking lot -  competing for the same pool of depraved customers socio-economically speaking.  We will call them TbarA and TbarB.

Before I get into the theory - for those of you that were not corrupted as was I from "hanging around with the wrong (fun) crowd" - let me explain how titty-bars work.

It's four o'clock in the afternoon - somehow you've escaped from work - and - gambling that your pager won't go off (nineties - cel phones were for the call-back and to talk to the customer) - you and the guys that crossed paths somehow decided to go to ...let's say the 1000 Club.  The 1000 Club is essentially a sign and a door - the windows are covered - and it is one of the retail spaces in a strip mall in intersection-ville in Northern Virginia.

You grab the black-tinted glass-aluminum-frame-door handle - and walk in - slowly - since it is sunny and 98 degrees outside - and inside it is pitch black and air-conditioned - and you can't see until your eyes adjust.  

Yes - there are people in this place.  Smoke-filled.  All ages of men - some central and South Americans, some illegal (I know 'cause I talked to them and they told me their stories) - some girls who came in with their boyfriends. 

OK - where to sit?  Anywhere.  Get a beer.  Bum a smoke if you aren't a real smoker - and wait for the rest of the guys to show up.

Let's see - who's dancing?  This is the fun part - and the part that gets to the point of this ramble.  Who?  "Who" has nothing to do with it.  All that counts is beauty - a relative term for sure - but - generally speaking not that relative.  After all - guys and gals alike all know when they are looking at a beautiful woman - I mean a really beautiful woman - physically beautiful - and then there is a hierarchy.  For example - there were some chicks that I couldn't stand to look at - but some guys I knew just thought they were great.  Then there were some girls that no one would deny were amazing - and they were the ones that made the most money - because - the only way to get the dancer over to your end of the bar so you could see them was to put money on the counter and then they would come over - dance a bit - then take it.  The best looking ones got the most tips.  There were even guys that knew which nights certain girls danced and they would visit on those nights to see their favorite.

Ok - what's the point of all this?  

Tbar A is based on the free-market system - if the audience likee - you make money.  If no likee - you can't earn a living and you either get a new job or starve.  Either way - The bar always has the best looking dancers available and the filthy depraved customers come back to buy more $10 dollar beers.

Tbar B is based on a socialistic system - where they rotate dance-time to a large pool of women - giving each equal time - and sharing the tips amongst them at the end of the night - that is - after the bar owner takes most of the cash and profit from beer sales.  All women are paid - no tips accepted - and they all can come back to work every day to earn their share of - nothing - because all the best-looking (as determined by the customers) dancers are dancing at Tbar A because that's where they make the most money - from tips.

Eventually there is only on Tbar - TbarA - and you'd have to see some of the dancers - and I know how cruel and rotten this is for me to say - well - I'm gonna' end this here.

Anyway - the linked blog has nothing to do with anything I've said here.  I also have no idea how I ended up on this topic.  I now live far far away from such places - haven't been to one in prolly a decade - but you never know when your gonna' run into your old friends.






8 comments:

  1. Let's compare "free-market" prostitution as practiced around the world with state-regulated prostitution as happens in Amsterdam.

    We all know what "free-market" prostitution looks like - 'voluntary' human trafficking of DESPERATE people, STDs and AIDS, sex-workers being abused and ripped-off by employers etc.

    Contrast that with Amsterdam - sex-workers have legally protected labor rights, which they use to form unions (and even go on strike), so they get a fair share of their clients fee; the state mandates condom use and regular disease testing for sex-workers, limiting the spread of disease (and everyone has free healthcare anyways); ready access to public courts makes workplace violence almost unheard of. Sex-workers, like everyone else, have a strong social-safety net to fall back on, which means they aren't usually forced into their line of work because it's either that or starving.

    Seems like the Statist model of prostitution works a lot better than free-market, for both the prostitute and the client!

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  2. This is not a very good critique of socialism. In socialism, the titty bar would be run democratically by the people who work in it - the dancers and any support staff. They would decide in a directly democratic manner how to fairly distribute the funds they made. Under capitalism, owners and managers - none of whom do any dancing - get control over the workplace, get to run it as their own tyranny (no democracy under a boss), and make loads of money off of it without doing any dances. They make money off of other people's labor. Most cam sites, and Nevada's brothels, usually take _half_ of what a girl makes. That's exploitation and its inherent in capitalism. Under capitalism, not only is the workplace not democratic, but people who already have a lot of money can make lots more money without doing any work and producing something useful.

    See http://www.anarchyfaq.org

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  3. Sex drugs and democracy - a documentary about Holland:
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-465648840778949581#

    Even better than free markets is real democracy - which is another way of saying free people, people who are free to regulate themselves and the market. Please do not confuse "representation" with democracy.

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  4. Let's take a look at industries that really matter: manufacturing and construction. Since the 1980s when the US permanently abandoned manufacturing as the mainspring of our economy for the sake of enriching speculators. We have seen our nation's capital plant literally dismantled and reassembled in China. Until Ronald Reagan's loons took over, America believed in Protectionism, the fostering of domestic industries and a program of developing the nation through developing infrastructure and a trend toward manufacturing dominance by a near monopoly in the creation of capital goods (goods used to produce consumer goods). If you really believe in the myth of the free market, you should start learning Mandarin so you can take orders. The "Free Market" system is a race to the bottom. If AMerica wants to go head to head with China in widget production, we might as well re-introduce slavery. However, if you want all Americans to have a decent standard of living, well, then, yes there should be government intervention into markets.

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  5. Commenter one leaves out that in America prostitution is illegal.

    That's a big one to leave out. If Commenter one doesn't know that - commenter one isn't thinking clearly.

    The fact that pot is illegal in America distorts ALL STATISTICS about pot - regarding crime etc...

    Poor argument.

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  6. Commenter 2: I deliberately eschewed the term "capitalism" since, by definition, it doesn't apply here.

    We are talking about "the invisible hand" vs. socialism - which - and I'm not going to the dictionary here - I thought meant - "to each according to their needs, from each according to their abilities."

    I am not against government regulation - or government managed stuff overall - I am of the opinion there is a need for it - but not without the checks and balances of oversight - oversight ultimately originating in the will of the people. We have nothing of the sort in this land of the slave.

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  7. Commenter three: Regarding "democracy" - you can stick it where the sun doesn't shine. If we are to believe Plato Socrates was executed democratically - and in my opinion - unjustly - for doing what was good for his beloved Athens - but bad for the powers that be.

    A Republic protects the rights of the individual - especially the UNPOPULAR DISSIDENT - whereas if a democracy were in charge of Jack Rabbit's fate right now - I'd have to take a drink from the Hemlock bar - since the topics and opinions I discuss are presently UNPOPULAR - as the American population is presently hypnotized by a corporate-orchestrated media.

    So - thanks for the admonition - but you are preaching to the choir.

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  8. Commenter 4: I am in agreement with you - although this rant may not demonstrate such. Remember - as I said above - I must consider all points of view - even take them on as devil's advocate - join that debate team for the sake of intellectual growth - and I do it all the time - and I did that here.

    I understand that America was built on tariffs - and I wish we would get back to that policy IMMEDIATELY. I am aware that when I go to a store - doesn't matter where - every sonofabitchofathing I pick up says "made in China." Even with my limited observational skills - that's a hard one to miss.

    I have an Iphone - made in China. It is the best product on the market for what it does (my opinion) - so why isn't the device made here? Lemme guess - so we can have coolies like the ones that built the railroads and canned the salmon stamp them out at slave wages - rather than having well-paid Americans producing a product of American ingenuity.

    I think we are more in agreement than disagreement - I believe it was A. Lincoln who decided to make American iron rather than rely on the Brits. This country was built on tariffs - there is a great statement to the US Senate by a Senator from South Carolina - can't remember his name - who went through the entire history of increasing American power with tariffs - then - off the cliff with so-called "free trade."

    The situation we are in right now is not an accident - it is deliberate and by design. The money has to be there -

    I will stop there.

    I wish to thank all of your for your challenging contributions - and very much appreciate all of you taking the time to add comments. I don't mean to be so blunt and rude - the whole idea is to get the conversation going and hash all this out.

    I feel honored that each of you took the time to contribute your opinions - I respect them all - and deliberately write to pique the reader.

    Without comments the blog articles themselves are a complete waste since without critical comments there would be no counterpoints.

    JR

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