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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Dan TheBookMan<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, February 27, 2019 10:44 PM<br><b>To:</b> ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Michael Cohen<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Feb 27, 2019, at 9:57 PM, <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>…</b><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>>>…Having a US government at war with itself is perfectly acceptable to me. The economy roars right on along, technology advances, all is well in my world.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>>…There’s a problem there. Why would War be acceptable to you simply because it followed, say, the Constitution’s declaration process? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Ja. If the US government forces itself into the strict confines of the constitution, this is the best way. Reasoning:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>… It would simply that a bunch people elected to office all agreed to go to war…<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>They never do. In our system, that never happens. Especially in our times, our congress and much of the rest of government is focused on how to oppose POTUS rather than anything else. They won’t all agree to anything, not even on damaging the current POTUS. Many will, but not 2/3. Even if 2/3 do agree to damage POTUS, they will disagree on how to do it. Result: the government is consumed with its own urgent business, and business can focus on its own urgent business. Result: the continued growth and prosperity we have seen since the US government went to war with itself. Second result: government checks its own power. Third result: free (and valuable) education in civics to the proletariat.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>… I hope you’d be against, say, a genocide policy…<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Of course. I know they won’t do that.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> >…or a reinstatement of slavery even if either passed constitutional muster… Dan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Funny you should ask, since we have a charismatic young representative who is promoting slavery. She calls it a 70% marginal tax bracket starting at 10 million bucks a year, but we know that trick. Establish a 70% tax bracket that only applies to 2000 Americans, hurray!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Then why do we even bother, since it doesn’t raise much of anything? Because the government can dilute its own currency. So next year it applies to 20k Americans, and the year after that 200k, then 2 million, then pretty soon that 70% applies to anyone willing to work, and slavery is back and standing tall.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>So yes, I oppose that. But a deeply divided government at war with itself will not agree to do that, or anything else. They will continue to flap around in a useless attempt to impeach the current POTUS until he is gone in either two or six years. Until then they are too preoccupied to cause as much harm as if they focused their attention on creation of law.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A divided government is OK. Business charges right along without their “help.” When congress does things like focusing on removing a POTUS, it reinforces the notion that the Federal government already gets too much tax revenue. Why should we pay all this money for their silly Quixotic quests which are sound and fury, signifying nothing?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>