Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' behavior

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randy
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by randy »

The problem becomes "efficient" at what? There are certain government operations that I want to be as inefficient (and ineffective) as possible. (Actually I want those operations killed, but until then, I'd like to minimize the damage they do).

ETA: Sometimes I think that Frank Herbert had the right of it with his BuSab concept
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
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Termite
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by Termite »

Jesus Christ guys, :roll:

I said convince Joe Sixpack to save for his retirement. That means voluntarily, and Joe decides how to do it. I DID NOT say "take 15.3% by force of arms, and invest/spend it as the fed.guv sees fit".

Oh, wait...........the fed.guv aready does that with Social Security. :x

Aesop, 40 yrs ago one most certainly could buy gold as an investment. It was a matter of knowing where and how for bullion, and numismatic gold coins were never illegal.

And if ya'll are looking for the 100% perfectly safe never-fail retirement investment vehicle.........ya'll are looking for unobtainium. About the closest thing is land, and that's not 100%.
"Life is a bitch. Shit happens. Adapt, improvise, and overcome. Acknowledge it, and move on."
Aesop
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by Aesop »

You could invest in somebody else's gold, or buy the ridiculously above-market numismatic coins. (A pre-1934 gold eagle of 1 oz. sold for several million at auction.)
You could not have physical possession of personal gold for investment purposes.
You could look it up.
Nota bene this was done by presidential fiat, upheld by SCOTUS 8-1, repeatedly.
And was not repealed until December 31, 1974, which is only 38 years and 6 months from today. Also able to be looked up.
So, exactly as I wrote, 40 years ago, having monetary gold in your possession was "hoarding", and it was a federal felony.

No matter how random it may seem, I really don't pull this stuff out of my @$$. :D

I'm not asking for a perfect investment.
I simply want the feds to eff off, and let me take care of business myself.
If someone else wants to take responsibility for feeding the millions of future starving jackholes who wasted their lives and fortunes, that's their business. They're too heavy for me to carry, and my back hurts.

If they want to nudge someone, let's nudge Congress to make all federal agencies except the Coast Guard, NOAA, the FAA, and the DoD sunset annually, and all those other federal employees contractors hired for a one-year period of employment, and laid off every New Year's, with no preferential guaranteed re-hires.
Then they'd all be working for us instead of themselves, and trimming the budget would be an exercise in scratching off items, in about a hour.

On Day Two, I'd cut the federal government back to the size it was in 1960, which was hardly seen as hard times when famine stalked the land, even then.
Aw, but damned shame, about 82 federal agencies and half a dozen cabinet departments would cease to exist in a blink.
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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Jered
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by Jered »

Aesop wrote: If they want to nudge someone, let's nudge Congress to make all federal agencies except the Coast Guard, NOAA, the FAA, and the DoD sunset annually, and all those other federal employees contractors hired for a one-year period of employment, and laid off every New Year's, with no preferential guaranteed re-hires.
Or you end up with a spoils system.
The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
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arctictom
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by arctictom »

This is not going to end well.
You live and learn.
Or you don't live long.
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Termite
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by Termite »

Aesop wrote:You could not have physical possession of personal gold for investment purposes.
You could look it up.
Nota bene this was done by presidential fiat, upheld by SCOTUS 8-1, repeatedly.
And was not repealed until December 31, 1974, which is only 38 years and 6 months from today. Also able to be looked up.
So, exactly as I wrote, 40 years ago, having monetary gold in your possession was "hoarding", and it was a federal felony.

No matter how random it may seem, I really don't pull this stuff out of my @$$. :D
I know you didn't "pull it out of your ass". :lol:
I am well aware of EO 6102; I was 11 yrs old when it was repealed, and remember it being discussed.

I also know that quite a few people held "monetary" gold coins/rounds/bars(eagles, Krugerrands, Suisses, etc). Including family & friends. They simply didn't obey fed.guv fiat.

As I said, it was simply a matter of knowing where and how, while flipping the bird to the feds.

Let's run a different but similiar scenerio:
Aesop wrote:.......having more than 1 month worth of food in your possession is "hoarding", and it is a federal felony.
Or.....
Aesop wrote:.......having more than 100 rounds total of ammunition in your possession is "hoarding", and it is a federal felony.
Now,
Which of ya'll gonna obey that? ;)
"Life is a bitch. Shit happens. Adapt, improvise, and overcome. Acknowledge it, and move on."
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martini
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by martini »

randy wrote:The problem becomes "efficient" at what? There are certain government operations that I want to be as inefficient (and ineffective) as possible. (Actually I want those operations killed, but until then, I'd like to minimize the damage they do).

ETA: Sometimes I think that Frank Herbert had the right of it with his BuSab concept
We totally need a Bureau of Sabotage!
I can think of whole hosts of government programs that amount to anti-sentient behavior.
Justice Sotomayor, States may have grown accustomed to violating the rights of American citizens, but that does not bootstrap those violations into something that is constitutional. — Alan Gura
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martini
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by martini »

So how do we get control of this "nudge" team and use it to "nudge" people in the direction of self-sufficiency, gun ownership (though BO has already made significant progress here) and distrust for government?
Justice Sotomayor, States may have grown accustomed to violating the rights of American citizens, but that does not bootstrap those violations into something that is constitutional. — Alan Gura
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blackeagle603
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by blackeagle603 »

I love when the fed.gov tells people to live below their means and save for the long run. The irony, it burns.
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Aesop
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Re: Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' beha

Post by Aesop »

So does the stupid.

The feds created Social Security, and to this day there are vast swaths of clueless jackholes nationwide, many of them nominally in charge of things, who think the money they pay into it sits in a fund somewhere, instead of flying out the front door as fast as the checks clear coming in the back door, because for 70 years Uncle Screwus has been stealing the prior surplus, and replacing it with notes that say to the taxpayer "I.O.U. Gazillions of $$$". :roll:

And now, as they try to "encourage saving" for long-term goals like retirement, anyone with an IQ above room temp has heard that they're eyeing all that 401k pension money as something they can sieze after they've borrowed from everyone worldwide but Columbian drug lords.
Of course, they'll be sure to put more of those lovely non-negotiable "I.O.U. Gazillions of $$$" notes where formerly was actually retirement savings, owned by the investor.

Sh'yeah, I'll put my assets where they can get them, when monkeys fly outta my butt.

Every day, it becomes more and more rational to hope that local authorities will just post a bounty for non-DoD federal employees, and just get on with it.
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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