From: devcarter@iinet.net.au   
      
   Only National Secularism will restore 'confidence '.   
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   The difference between plutocratic secularism what we have, and   
   national secularism what we need, hinges upon what is the more   
   adaptive evolutionary strategy- gene selection or group selection. The   
   plutocratic order has opted for the former as it means less government   
   intervention, unregulated markets, negligible inheritance tax, lower   
   income taxes, and the opportunity to exploit traditional theist   
   prejudices in its own interest.   
      
   At the individual level it comes down to a choice, should one act   
   opportunistically in pursuit of self interest to increase one's   
   prosperity and hence the survival prospects of one's heirs directly or   
   should one do what is in the national interest to increase the wealth   
   of and survival prospects of the nation state and thus, the survival   
   prospects of one's heirs indirectly.   
      
   The national secular consciousness is extensible to the international   
   secular level and we could also pose the question thus:   
      
   At the national level it comes down to a choice, should one act   
   opportunistically in pursuit of the narrow self interest of one's   
   nation state to increase its' prosperity and hence the survival   
   prospects of its citizens, directly or should one do what is in the   
   international interest to increase the wealth of and survival   
   prospects of all humans, directly and thus, the survival prospects of   
   the human race, indirectly by improving the condition of all nation   
   states.   
      
   Increasingly there is a tension between the political ideology of   
   individualism and what the human being is biologically- a social   
   animal. The asecularist cannot remedy the malaise this tension   
   ultimately produces as they perceives mankind as divine and above   
   nature, the natural world of heaven and earth being divinely created   
   to satisfy mankind's wants, existing 'out there' like a giant   
   smorgasbord for human opportunistic exploitation. Mass species   
   extinction, environmental degradation, nuclear weapons proliferation,   
   and global warming are the direct result of theism giving the green   
   light to unrestrained human opportunism.   
      
   The corrosive effect of theist ideology ill equips the average   
   individual for a broader fiscal and economic social responsibility,   
   fixated on individualism at all levels, one is skeptical about power   
   from above impacting one interest's positively and ever fearful of the   
   populist power from below impacting them negatively. The entrepreneur   
   knows that the big corporation will seek to eliminate competitors from   
   a level playing field and since money politics ensures they have the   
   ear of the party in power, any level playing field will be soon   
   unleveled against entrepreneurial interests. The entrepreneur also   
   knows the threat from the populist parties wanting higher wage levels,   
   health insurance, superannuation, improved working conditions, more   
   entitlements, and protectionist policies for the domestic market to   
   mitigate the impact of foreign competition.   
      
   Viable free markets depend on a vibrant entrepreneurial class, as this   
   class is essential to the growth and development of the peacetime   
   economy, it may pay higher wages and offer improved working conditions   
   to the underclass than offered by the multinational corporate sector   
   seeking to lower production cost by moving production to the low wage   
   economies. The social responsibility of the corporations is nil- their   
   obligation is to maximize profit for the bourgeoisie - the share   
   holders, not to provide adequate wages to workers. Having produced in   
   the lowest cost country, the multinational corporation seeks to sell   
   in the higher cost countries where they can undercut the   
   entrepreneurial class who produce locally at the higher wage cost.   
      
   National secularism is not 'socialism' - the political ideology that   
   puts the state above that of the individual, by another name. What   
   national secularism acknowledges is that the individual who cannot   
   organize his or her own economic activities to survive independently   
   in a profession, trade or other occupation, needs others who organize   
   a self-sustaining profitable or break-even economic activity for them   
   that offers them employment. Most of that work is done by the   
   entrepreneurial class who gather sufficient capital together to begin   
   a new business activity from scratch.   
      
   In competition with the entrepreneurial class is the plutocratic class   
   with their multi-national corporations who hire and fire not in the   
   national interest but in the more narrow interest of shareholders ever   
   keen on the immediate dividend and short-term profit that maintains   
   asset values. National secularism acknowledges the importance of free   
   markets but to keep markets free and sustainable in a functional   
   sense, market intervention to provide a counterweight to the   
   plutocratic and bourgeoisie classes is essential. Failure to do so   
   inevitably leads to the ultimate creation of a militarized economy as   
   the wealth available to the plutocrats and bourgeoisie via inequitable   
   taxation within the plutocratic political system cannot be increased   
   due to stagnation of the non-military sectors of the domestic economy.   
      
   Only national secular policies can provide the level of support   
   necessary to restore the level playing field and benefit the   
   entrepreneurial class and the other classes whose condition is   
   improved as a consequence. The key to achieving this goal is to   
   eliminate the welfare state scrap-heap indolent class by the creation   
   of a bill of rights and a secular infrastructure that provides the   
   means for individuals to survive in times of economic hardship by   
   moving from private employment to employment in government run but   
   privately owned businesses that would pay for acquired assets in   
   shares, and for labor by offering a living allowance slightly above   
   the level of unemployment benefit plus shares or options in the   
   business that would provide a future benefit- assets that would earn   
   dividend income or could be optioned or sold later at a profit to   
   achieve a similar outcome.   
      
   What percentage of a worker's wage should be paid on average for   
   rental accommodation? If the plutocrats and bourgeoisie classes have a   
   virtual monopoly control of the residential sector, they are free to   
   extort a maximum return. Not so where a government managed enterprise   
   competes in the rental market place by increasing the supply of   
   affordable accommodation. Such accommodation can be built in the   
   downturn of the economic cycle and sold off in the boom and help to   
   cool the type of economic conditions that created the US housing   
   bubble- where the poor borrow to excess in a futile attempt to escape   
   the monopolists and slum landlord sharks.   
      
   As profit and income is distributed from a government managed but   
   privately owned enterprise to the private wealth creators, a more   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)