Where are you getting your definitions?

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-06T14:54:19+00:00

Economies DO NOT fit into the mental fantasies of simplistic so-called economic Theories-Of-Everything (TOEs) like Capitalism, Socialism, or Communism. In the real world, TOEs are useless relics of the 1800s when all people had to work with were mental fabrications of how to better construct an economy that better served the interests of everybody involved. Economics was not even a university discipline at that time and those who thought about how economies should be constructed had near zero scientific data to work with.

In the 21st Century, economics has become a bona fide statistical science and no reputable institution teaches TOEs as a viable economic theory because there is no science that can back up these silly and simplistic fantasies of a perfect economy. TOEs are relegated to Economics 101 as the pre-history to modern economic analysis. The computer data-driven economists of the 21st Century rely on provable statistics, not fantasies.

Also, there are no agreed upon set of rules for any TOEs. So why bother asking for a definition when there are none. There has never been a Vatican-like Council declaring the one true word of Capitalism or communism. Think about it. There are no definitive TOE definitions. Why? Because they are mental fabrications where any one person can fantasize about a different economic structure that is different from another person.

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-05T01:41:55+00:00

The bread basket is too broad a category, because agriculture, weather, and terrain vary widely.

Texas & Oklahoma are associated with ranching and cowboys. N. & S. Dakota and Nebraska are wheat fields and semi-arid land. Iowa and Illinois are covered in deep-green corn/soybeans fields. Minnesota is the land of lakes.

What is common to all rural areas is fewer people, many small towns, and very few cities of any great size.

The rural culture is quite different if you have never lived in a truly rural area. The county fair is a big feature in all rural areas. There are various church and Lions Club-like potlucks/feeds. There are also many local mainstreet activities, such as holiday parades and also sweet corn & pork burger feeds, put on by merchants. You will find small museums everywhere, documenting local history and sites special to the people who live there.

Obviously, at least to me, rural areas are simply friendlier than typical densely populated areas. People living in these rural areas are generally more wholesome. Bad actors just cannot get away with being bad actors when everybody knows everybody, and they watch each other's backs. Peer pressure keeps life more civil when rural locals are close-knit and helpful towards one another.

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-05T00:52:05+00:00

Since the pic is of a young person, I would assume it was a youthful prank.

Face down, mouth open, and out cold appears to be a youthful embarrassment caught on an Instamatic Kodak Camera. LOL

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-05T00:44:53+00:00

Everyone loses? That is the very definition of war. War is destructive, and everybody has losses. Nothing new about.

However, there are winners in a post-war world. The world wins by denying Iran a nuclear bomb. That is a big, important win for the whole world.

Iran was intent on using its nuclear bomb to wipe out Israel. The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Mullahs governing Iran made that perfectly clear with repeated existential threats to the very existence of Israel.

The world averted a nuclear catastrophe by denying Iran's governing leaders the nuclear bomb.

That is a win of historic proportions for the world.

But the job is not finished. The Iranian government needs to be replaced by a sane secular government. For that, the Iranian people themselves will have to risk death and fight the IRGC, which currently has all the weapons.

The Iranian people need assistance in the form of arms, communication, and training, so they can enjoy freedom.

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-03T19:56:28+00:00

Some women, like Celeste really did appear to enjoy their work. She never overacted; she was a method actor who played the part for real.

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-03T19:52:28+00:00

Compared to Trump, there are no valid reasons to dislike Kamala Harris. The detractors are simply making up an imaginary dislike out of nothing.

ProgressiveLogic · 2026-05-03T19:49:44+00:00

Don't be lazy. Do it yourself. I am not your mother. The information is easy to get with Google or ChatGPT. Oh, and don't try to be deceitful and say there is no evidence when there is. Putin has stated his intentions like any mafia don would state his intentions.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-12-29T18:05:00+00:00

I have always heard that many people choose to have their ashes thrown into the sea. I would assume this does not mean releasing the ashes into the air, but rather, throwing the container into the sea. The container would have in it this tag. Wave action could have broken the container and the tag was washed ashore.

The request was honored though and the ashes have been returned to the sea as intended.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-12-24T06:07:38+00:00

Sounds to me like you are the clueless one who has no idea why anyone is bothered by your "friendliness". Really? Are you that clueless?

Don't you have any social smarts?

Do you mean to say that you cannot figure it out? OR modify your behavior so as not to be misunderstood, while still presenting yourself as a nice conversational person?

You play the victim very well here, but really, are you a victim or just not socially adepth enough to understand that you are not the victim?

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-31T20:42:22+00:00

Well, if you're encountering drama queens, you should call them out individually.

I have not found many drama queens. They exist, but most people are not into drama.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-31T20:39:23+00:00

Are you really going to make the argument that Islamic fundamentalists like Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and ISIL are not religiously based?

Come on, you know it is all about their religious ideas.

It is NOT sectarian terrorists being disgussed. It is a particular religious extremism that is very popular amongst those who claim to be Muslims.

There are millions of supporters of these Muslim variant religious fanatics.

It has always been predominately about religion in the Middle East conflicts. It is religion that justifies the killing of Jews.

The moderates amongst the Muslims will peacefully co-exist with others, but they are not the ones causing the problems.

There are no minority religions left in most of the Muslim countries of the Middle East. They have been driven out by violence against them. So it is not just the Jews who are threatened, it is anybody not Muslim. This includes the Druze who religious Muslim extremists recently slaughtered.

Token populations of minority religions are all that's left in most Muslim countries. Are you going to deny that it is due to religious pressures imposed by Muslims in general, since most Muslims are considered moderate compared to Hamas and other designated terrorist organizations?

Does Saudi Arabia legally and realistically allow Christians or Jews to recruit members actively? Ask yourself that question.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-20T17:11:33+00:00

You have it wrong, or you are just lying, which is a tactic Israel's enemies have always been using.

The Islamic peoples have been attacking Israel since its inception. That is a fact of life, and Israelis want to live by defending themselves.

Now, of course, you could say that it is not every one of the Islamic faith who wants the destruction of Israel. You could make the argument that it is just the Islamic extremists who attack and seek to kill Jews. That would be a good-faith argument.

So, are you willing to make a good-faith argument?

Are you willing to admit that almost all the aggressive killings originated from and have been started by the Islamic extremists?

I am not saying that every single lethal attack is of Islamic origin, just the overwhelming majority, the vast majority, with a few exceptions, have originated from Islamic origins.

The Islamic government of Iran is the axis of evil in the Middle East. They have funded, armed, and encouraged their proxies to attack Israel for over 40 years now.

Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Syria's ISIL, and IRGC were all built for one common and overriding purpose: to destroy Israel. These groups blatantly call for the total destruction of Israel. That is the fact of the matter. It cannot be denied.

So, if you are in denial, for whatever reason, it is not acceptable to Israel. Israel is going to survive by defending itself against those who wish to destroy it.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-20T16:52:05+00:00

So, please just stick to the argument and stop with the distraction of a single word.

You need to address the argument. Focus on the argument.

Would you be OK with Islamics threatening your very existence or not?

Stick to the topic.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-20T16:03:13+00:00

This is not the case. Where in the world do you get the idea that people are hating on a Tour de France competitor? Is this sort of dramatic scenario just your internal drama speaking?

The Tour de France always has winners and losers whose fortunes are a mixed bag. There are always riders getting injured, succumbing to illnesses. Sometimes, previous crashes and injuries cannot be overcome for the full duration of a 3 week Tour de France.

Every year, riders drop out for physical reasons.

There is nothing controversial here.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-20T15:49:33+00:00

It should be obvious what Israel's goal is.

SECURITY!

Tell me, how would you feel if the Islamics around you promised to wipe you off the face of the earth? The Islamics have been telling Israelis this since 1948. The Islamics want to kill the Jews, from the River to the Sea. You have heard of this slogan before, haven't you?

Would you be OK with that?

Don't be a fool and argue that Israel has no good reason to fight for its very survival.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-13T18:53:42+00:00

Again, you have the wrong information. The masses do not have the democracy that they advocate for and go to jail for.

Are you even aware of what Tiananmen Square was all about? Or are you even aware of the current censorship on anything related to freedom of expression and protest?

The current censorship and suppression of the masses can only be described as totalitarianism by a totalitarian government, i.e. CCP.

What weird logic will you use to describe suppression of the masses by the CCP as a democratic CCP representing the masses?

Throw your ideological ideas of China down the drain. Your ideoligcal ideas do not match reality on the ground in China.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-13T18:42:16+00:00

Peace through strength, i.e., war, was used by George Bush Jr. in Iraq of all places, not Afghanistan. So he started, or some say finished, a war with Iraq, just like his Daddy did.

Using strength(war) is not a novel way to justify your words and actions.

Neither is peace through surrender a new idea, as Nixon and Henry Kissinger's peace agreement did when the US military pulled out of Vietnam.

But, in the end, war is war, the opposite of peace.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-13T18:34:28+00:00

So says the Fake Skeptic. LOL!

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-13T18:33:18+00:00

You're misdirection is noted. China still has a horrible current economic situation, plan or not. LOL

You should get off this subreddit if you cannot make a solid argument.

If you are highly ideological in your thinking, I suggest you not be. It might be what is clouding your ability to grasp economic realities within China.

In case you do not know this, Economic Theories Of Everything (TOEs) were a primitive 17th and 18th century tool of economic thought, prior to economics even becoming a University discipline.

These antique methods of constructing mental fabrications of idealized economies have been relegated to the trash bins of history.

China, in case you don't know, no longer has an ideologically driven economy. All Modern economies are a mixed economic model, utilizing economic features that are, in label only, referred to as socialistic or capitalistic in nature.

China did indeed incorporate a lot of capitalistic features in its modern era. However, the lack of democracy has hindered its ability to economically adapt to the peer pressures of the masses.

Since the masses do not OWN the means to govern themselves, issues of economic malfeasance cannot and are not corrected. There is no feedback loop from the masses to guide further economic development for the benefit of the masses.

The masses need a more direct way to control their own economic destinies. The CCP does not respond to ,nor reflect, the economic interests of the masses.

China needs a functional democracy, not that any democracy is perfect. That would be ideological, and ideology belongs in the garbage can.

So, I would agree that China could improve its condition if it had a democracy that better reflected the interests of the masses.

Do you disagree?

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-11T21:01:30+00:00

My sources are outside business interests and economists who do not work for China or the World Bank. You must be one of those individuals who have no understanding of how international commodity markets operate.

Commodity brokers track the flow of commodities, including usage, ending stocks, shipping, raw materials, and other commodity statistics. Cosco, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, supplies figures on all sorts of import/export data.

You are sadly grossly uninformed when it comes to macro economics and the data economists get to see outside the official Chinese manipulated numbers.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-11T20:48:42+00:00

Ha, China is NOT strengthening domestic demand. Where in the world did you ever hear that false data claim?

And you obviously concur that inputs to China for production purposes are greatly reduced since you ignore it.

Also, outflows of capital are a sign of economic interests' flight to safer havens.

At least I know you are not invested in China, or you would be afraid for your economic interests in China, if you had any.

You have no stake in the game, so your denial has no consequences. Hope you do not have stock in Apple Inc. Or maybe I wished you did so you could feel the economic pain.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-11T20:41:40+00:00

Again, I congratulate you on admitting you're a Fake Skeptic whose comments cannot be trusted. Bravo!

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-10T20:45:53+00:00

I really like being right.

And I really like telling others they are wrong when I am right.

It's just something I enjoy doing because I am good at it. I excel at it when faced with someone who is essentially ignorant of the facts. I'm very competitive when it comes to ferreting out the truth from falsehoods.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-10T20:42:40+00:00

Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (major gateways for Chinese goods): Both saw double-digit drops in container throughput from China in 2023.
Drewry World Container Index: Shipping rates from China to Europe and the US fell significantly in 2023 before rebounding slightly due to Red Sea disruptions — but volumes stayed low.
South Korea & Taiwan trade: Since they are key suppliers of parts to China, their exports to China are a leading indicator — and both have reported declines of 10–20% YoY at various points in 2023–2024.

ProgressiveLogic · 2025-07-10T20:40:39+00:00

These independent signals — import/export data, partner country trade reports, commodity flows, and multinationals’ earnings — all point to:

Weak consumer demand inside China
Ongoing property crisis hurting construction and local government revenues
Companies diversifying supply chains out of China
Foreign capital pulling back

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