Government Regulation is needed

Government Regulation is needed.

Nuclear power was supposed to reduce the cost of energy. People reduced their consumption to save on energy use and costs. That meant that the providers didn’t earn as much money. Therefore they increased prices. For the consumer, the more they saved on energy use, the more they paid.

Public utilities require government regulation to protect the consumer. Private enterprise has proven they cannot be trusted to provide needed services at reasonable prices. They are committed to providing their stockholders with profits. We have witnessed the windfall profits with the oil companies. Rumors of shortages cause the prices at the gas pump to jump immediately. No rebates for the manipulated profits. The rich will fight against control and spend money to brainwash the consumer that the government is impeding Free Enterprise. It appears that the only thing “free” is their freedom to screw the consumer. Deregulation got us into the big mess we’re in.
Our dollar was once backed by Gold and had value. Nixon eliminated that. Then along came Reagan who provided further deregulation that benefited the rich. The Free market economy was supposed to be good for America. We have witnessed that it was good for America’s upper crust. They even got a reduction in taxes. Those who could least afford to pay, were left with the burden, and it continues.

Where are the benefits of nuclear power? We know the dangers. Building more nuclear plants increases the potential of accidents waiting to happen. Spending money on safe alternatives makes too much sense to be considered. It does not calculate with fast profits.
Government regulation is needed.

Quote :

Private enterprise has proven they cannot be trusted to provide needed
services at reasonable prices. They are committed to providing their
stockholders with profits.

That pretty much sums up the heart of the problem.

Ann

Here is a reminder of how private enterprise can completely lose sight of public interest:

My aunt died from tobacco. My cousin died from tobacco - he was my same age and we had a history together, the southerner and his yankee cousin. My son is a chain smoker whose secondhand smoke is a threat to my own health when he is at my home, even though he smokes outside. A smoke cloud follows him on his clothes, in his hair, on his breath. "Just take medicine" he tells me as I cough and wheeze. It's my fault that his his smoke bothers me. Go figure...

Yet, smokers "demand" the freedom to smoke and kill themselves and claim their rights are diminished by no smoking laws It is that mentality that allows corporate power and profit to brainwash people into associating "freedom" with rights that are detriments to their health and their financial well-being while those with power thrive.

Those doing the brain washing already have their needs met. They are just trying to hang on to their wealth and increase it - survival of the fittest. They believe they are entitled, the superior race, the ones with the obviously greater intellect and working savvy since they have achieved their financial comforts. Why allow the rest of the inferiors to have more? They don't deserve it like the superior classes do.

Even in the philanthropic circles, those who do give to the aid of others only give a miniscule portion of their excess wealth. The small church on the corner probably has a greater per cent from the Sunday contributions from their poorest members.

If we provided proper health and nutrition, education, and the basic needs of safety and security for our citizens, the human striving for survival could be replaced with innovative and creative energies that would benefit everyone. Until basic needs are met, there is no energy left. Holes are filled with fanaticism and fears that are are played upon by those with the money to buy minds and hearts and turn them to their financial benefit.

Abe

Quote :

The rich will fight against control and spend money to brainwash the consumer that the government is impeding Free Enterprise.

James) Your statement speaks of conspiracy by the rich - when I spoke of scientists not being faithful to the causes of earthquake and Crop Circles you all condemned me for speaking of conspiracy

It would seem appropriate that a single set of standards be established
- least we find cause to dismiss Abe’s comments as conspiratorial

James

Poor camels I say Ann .

3/28/2011

They have found contamination in Japan's soil
and now the ocean, even on the USA's eastern
seaboard, what next ?


Cheers..Joe

Joe it can only get worse. There is vow of secrecy when it comes to nuclear power. It is one of the most dangerous forms of energy and hard to keep under control, fear of public outrage forces these nuclear operators to keep incidents secret or play down any risks. The news is not going to be accurate regarding what is really going on. We won't know the extent of it until people start getting cancers in years ahead, then it will be too late.

Even worse a super bug is in California. It is quite drug resistant.
Scary!

One set of standards would be nice -

James.

It would be nice if you would be nice. Could you at least try?

Deleted by the author due to a severe case of lack of interest.

E. Don,

I am glad you quit smoking and don't have to put up with second hand smoke. It wouldn't do your heart a bit of good.

I never smoked and find I should have. Suprisingly, smokers have less Parkinson's disease.

The restauarant owners should be able to say what happens in their building. Private property rights!

Don,
you make valid points.
In Germany, laws were enforced for smoking in restuarants. The restuarant must have a separate room for smokers. If not, no smoking.
There is a pub in a small village that has a sign posted outside that says, "Smokers welcome." Non smokers know not to use this pub.

There is always some bandwagon to get onto that has a cause. Common courtesy should play a role with smokers, unfortunately it doesn't. I agree. If they don't want people to smoke, producing cigarettes should be banned, however we know what happened with prohibition. It didn't work.

It's all about money as you mentioned. There are huge tax revenues from the sale of cigarettes. Another downside is the increased cost of healthcare for the smokers. There is another argument for the healthcare issue. The smokers then want people who are obese to suffer the same consequences. They abuse their bodies also.

It is not a win-win situation.

Abe,

The healthcare issue could open a whole new kettle of worms, The govt would have to mandate exercise, sleep and eating regulations.

It would give employment to people as enforcers.

The fines could finance the enforcers.
We would have full employment.

I agree with E. Don to the extent that this is an issue with two sides. I haven't smoked for 12 years now, and for some time before that, I voluntarily refrained from smoking around non-smokers.

My problem is not with smokers so much as with the tobacco companies, which have taken advantage of their product's addictiveness in order to make a profit. The studies that proved the dangers of nicotine have been around for a long time now, and the tobacco companies have had more than ample time to phase out of making products they know to be harmful and into some sustainable alternative. It's the same story as the oil companies and nuclear power plants.

I do think that smokers have a responsibility, too, and should limit their use to designated areas, and even to the extent that some places should be totally smoke-free. The harder it is to find a place to smoke, the easier it will be for the smoker to make the extremely difficult but clearly healthy choice to find the means to quit. And I can tell you from personal experience that quitting is far from a simple thing.

Sometimes we make scapegoats of those who are different from us in one way or another. Scapegoating and other forms of projection can provide us with an easy way to feel better about ourselves. I am reading, at this moment, an article on accepting our [Jungian] Shadows, so this projection thing is sitting right in front of me, and I have to recognize my own if I am going to keep reading and get beyond this practice of projecting.

Just where I am at the moment.

Ann

Ann,