The Ten Cannots

[ablamj]

There are maxims called The Ten Cannots that are usually attributed to Abraham Lincoln but were actually by a William J. H. Boetcker. My sister did not like them so she revised them as follows. The originals are in black and my sister's are in red. What do you think?

[SheilaT]

1. Very good.

Your sister's amendments are a huge improvement over the originals, which are clearly intended to prop up right wing conservative culture.

To me the most interesting one is "You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer." That's the way corporations see requests for better wages, as pulling down the wage payer (the corporation). In reality, the better paid the wage earner, the better off the wage payer ultimately is. Henry Ford figured that out a century ago when he started paying his assembly line workers a decent wage, one they could not only support their families on, but could afford to buy the cars they were building. He took a huge amount of criticism from his fellow automobile manufacturers, and even though there were many more battles to be fought over wages in that industry, it laid the groundwork for a long run of working class prosperity.

[badtoworse]

2. These are not mutually exclusive. There is wisdom in both.

[rock]

3. There is some truth in these

But they strike me as general and not particularly well thought out. I would characterize them as more rhetorical than helpful. I am not trying to start a fight, just give some critique.

[ablamj]

4. which ones?

The originals or my sister's? Or both?

[rock]

5. Unfortunately, all of them

Some points.
1) I agree with SheilaT above: they have a conservative ring to them.
2) How would you put them to use; they don't tell me how to implement the ideas that seemingly underlie them.
3) Your sister's renditions are improvements but the effort is wasted as the ideas are not that deep nor effective.
4) Choosing one more or less at random: You cannot enhance the rich by destroying the poor. Yet this is exactly what has been happening for over the last decade.
5) Another: You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money. You certainly can.

In summary, All in all these maxims do no show much in the way of critical thinking. Again making them sound extremely conservative to my ears. Sorry for the harsh comments.

[ablamj]

6. it's Ok

The originals were by a conservative so, of course they have a conservative ring to them. And since conservatives by nature aren't very deep, then of course these aren't all that deep. As far as your point 4 I would say in the short term you may be right. Long term I'm not so sure. Point 5 I'll need to think about some more. You may be right on that one.

[rock]

7. Well, you're certainly a good sport

And one thing to keep in mind I'm absolutely sure I can be wrong, so don't necessarily take me too seriously. Anyway, welcome to DU! Stay a while.

[ablamj]

9. Thank you!

I plan on staying a long time.

[HughBeaumont]

8. Geeeeez . . . always hated these 1%er-fluffing axioms by Boetcker.

Wingnuts and Austrian Schoolers love this blame-the-victim bullshit and think this cliche garbage actually has merit. Which they do, if you're one of them "temporarily embarrassed millionaires", or worship at the Blessed Temple of the Free Market, or actually think the Re-Branded Feudalism we practice resembles the same Capitalism you grew up with or something.

One of my wingnut relatives posted this meme online and of course I shat all over it. He told me to "shoot myself in the face and end my miserable life". Charming guy. And these are the people I'm supposed to REASON and find middle ground with?

* Uh, you can't bring about prosperity by FORCING thrift either, stupid. You know, unless you think we DON'T live in an economy that's 2/3rds dependent on consumer spending.

* RIGHT, because the whole "Strengthening the Strong" thing we've been doing for the past 40 years is just working out GANGbusters for the weak. COME on.

* My GOD . . . anyone who thinks America's winner-take-everything economics "tears down big men" really just needs to shut the fuck up like Silent Bob. This one is absolutely insulting and despicable.

* If it wasn't for the wage earner, there would be no wage payer. Chicken or egg, guy?

* Don't tell the M.I.C., the wealthy or the corporate welfare queens that!!!

* Read Buffett, Warren regarding "class warfare", please and thank you.

* . . . and if, after degree upon degree, trade upon trade, skill upon skill, cert after cert they're told "Well, sometimes it's not about how hard you work, it's how much you're going for . . . and you simply cost too much money.", WHAT THEN, FREE MARKET SNAKE WAVERS???

OWN UP. Your religion is a sham.