The point is, we have created bureaucracies (FDIC, SEC, FHA, OTS, etc.) as safe guards and our bureaucrats and elected officials do not enforce the laws and regulations we have.

Even at the detriment of the nation best interest or national security?

Not exactly, but we do have at least two sets of standards were as the Rule of Law is selectively enforced. You and I both know that if we ran our business like the Federal Government we would be bankrupt and in court. If we mislead customers and took their money we would end up in Jail. If we don't pay our taxes the IRS will confiscate everything we own and put us in jail without much conversation.....unless you have the means to legally thwart the authorities.




You are at least in the same ball park from what I read, though there may be subtle differences that set them apart. It deserves further investigation on my part.



Ordinary working folks are far less likely to riot.....but I do believe they would revolt if pushed, for say not listening to the wishes of the people and when elections fail to provide results........and it has been mentioned on several occasions on this board, by others that we are voting for the lesser of two evils and that increasingly there is little difference our two political parties.



Obviously we have learned little, in the 80's we had the S&L crisis and 20 years later we have multiple boondoggles.

The government did as you say, but they didn't create the fraud like junk MBS that were sold multiple times to investors.




People don't like getting screwed either. It is one thing to get screwed and have some recourse, but when individuals like Monzilo and Cassano are living the high life, you are scraping to make ends meet because your nest egg was pilfered and your Government is doing little to nothing to bring the crooks to justice......what is extreme?


How many centuries and generations will it take to pay off this debt? Could you operate your business in a similar fashion and keep doors open?

NO.

Michelle Malkin's take:
http://townhall.com/columnists/miche...of_icapitalism

These protests remind me of something my grandfather said.
About thirty years ago, he was watching the television, listening to newsmen bemoan the early '80s economy.

He didn't understand it.
Growing up quite poor during the depression, fighting with the 1st Marines in Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester, and struggling to provide for his family during the post-war recession and inflation must have given him a different perspective.

He just got up from his chair, shook his head, and said: "The problem with people today is they don't have any real problems".

If they let them assemble in large groups for too long, we might have a bigger problem:
A music festival.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full...die-hippie-die

Back on this...

I believe the two forms of government are similar, but are very different in one way as John Adams defined it ' a constitutional republic as "a government of laws, and not of men.' Where as Democracy, is defined by majority rule.

Democracy (in any form) is not mentioned in either the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or even the Pledge of Allegiance.

Liberal (Liberalism (is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights) Democracy (is a form of government in which all people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives)

Constitutional (A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed.[1] These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to comprise a written constitution.)

Republic (form of government, in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government)

They may be similar but they are not the same. So somewhere along the line someone decided to pervert or revised the facts as to what form of Government the United States is and/or was intended to be.



Thomas Jefferson said of Democracy, “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”

OWS......it may become a mob trying to achieve that 51% majority so it can write itself a paycheck ;)

Interesting Times
 

I wonder what those people would do (along with every sane person in this country) would do if those "evil corporations" just said "hey, you win, we quit, everyone who works for us is fired, we are going to Tahiti and drinking mi-ties till dooms day...". How about a 70% unemployment rate and a GDP of less than 90% of current......... on second thought, that may be exactly what they want...... humm........

The Atlas Shrugged premise... I'm not sure that the people in question really understand what those 'Greedy' Corporations really provide, or the 'Evil Rich' for that matter. The same groups that bemoan corporations and jobs relocating overseas are the same ones to cry over their profit motive. Look at California, where increased taxation and regulation led to a mass exodus of buisness to Nevada.

I'm not sure that these protests are really representative of the populace writ large anyway. The numbers are too small comparitively. I do agree that they are probably being organized nationally by the same people though. Just my .02.