PayPal sparks furore over limits on "obscene" e-books

[denuseri]

That is easy.

And its not about religion per say either.

Though I know you will want to make this thread into a bully pulpit for atheism yet again if I don't miss what your implying...yet to do so is to miss the forest for the trees....since religion is only one of those trees the forest of oppression.

It's the same "they" that's always been there...the tyrants, the grossly and inordinately wealthy, the one's who hold all the chips ....those who hold the "actual" power over the rest of us.

Sometimes they rule well. Sometimes they don't.

They have been with us since the beginning. It's well known amongst anthropologists that such things are a byproduct of human group behavior in our dominance hierarchy relationships.

Whether we are aware of such things or not in our day to day lives depends upon how much it affects our own bread and circuses. For the most part the system works but it follows cycles where the one's in power become more and more corrupt over time and a societal reset button eventually gets pressed by the masses if things go too far or some other factors don't come into play to change the precieved inequalities.

It also is shown to transcend religious, philosophical and political afiliations (since it takes place universally regardless of such distinctions world wide in every culture to one extent or another) and is directed by the upper levels of society unto the lower to keep them productive and in line. Which in some cases; as in the example provided by the op, is directed upon one business by another due to fears of the general public's "perceptions" affecting one's profit margin.

[thir]

It's the same "they" that's always been there...the tyrants, the grossly and inordinately wealthy, the one's who hold all the chips ....those who hold the "actual" power over the rest of us.

Sometimes they rule well. Sometimes they don't.

They have been with us since the beginning. It's well known amongst anthropologists that such things are a byproduct of human group behavior in our dominance hierarchy relationships.

I think it neccesary to point out that anthropologists are by no means in agreement on any such thing, nor is there any proof of it. It is this new age wave of 'evolutionary' this-or-other that throws out ideas by the bucket loads with little concern of facts or proof.

I think it is important to draw attention to this, because it means that we do not neccesarily have to put up with firms such as pay pal - or the banks they work with - because we think it is some sort of divine or natural order, and we can do nothing about it. Democracy was thought of for a reason, and it means influence on our own lives and fighting people who for reasons of simply greed try to bully us.

Whether we are aware of such things or not in our day to day lives depends upon how much it affects our own bread and circuses.

Too true, unfortunately.

For the most part the system works but it follows cycles where the one's in power become more and more corrupt over time and a societal reset button eventually gets pressed by the masses if things go too far or some other factors don't come into play to change the precieved inequalities.

My thought is that it that were true, we would have seen this reset button in function years ago.

It also is shown to transcend religious, philosophical and political afiliations (since it takes place universally regardless of such distinctions world wide in every culture to one extent or another) and is directed by the upper levels of society unto the lower to keep them productive and in line. Which in some cases; as in the example provided by the op, is directed upon one business by another due to fears of the general public's "perceptions" affecting one's profit margin.

Greed is indeed the by-word of our times! But the reason these greedy people fear for their profit margin is the percieved ideas of how the public thinks, which, in this case, is directly related to religious ideas regarding sexual matters.

[denuseri]

I think it neccesary to point out that anthropologists are by no means in agreement on any such thing, nor is there any proof of it. It is this new age wave of 'evolutionary' this-or-other that throws out ideas by the bucket loads with little concern of facts or proof.

Proof that human physiology functions the way it does in relationship dynamics (both group and individual) as part of a dominance hierarchy is not by any means a new development in the field. It is actually very commonly accepted amongst the peerage in anthropology outside of a small very recent group of new ager's who try to paint all behavior with rose colored glasses. Its the standard model.



I think it is important to draw attention to this, because it means that we do not neccesarily have to put up with firms such as pay pal - or the banks they work with - because we think it is some sort of divine or natural order, and we can do nothing about it. Democracy was thought of for a reason, and it means influence on our own lives and fighting people who for reasons of simply greed try to bully us.

I said nothing about anything being divine or that because something has been working the way it has in the past through all of known human history that it by default must be accepted. Things evolve.



My thought is that it that were true, we would have seen this reset button in function years ago.

Blinks...crack a history book...we have seen it over and over and over...so much so entire multi- volume works have been written about sociological cycles in history. Group comes to power with enlightened intentions, becomes corrupt, gets overthrown or modified, becomes intolerably corrupt and declines again and again over and over.



Greed is indeed the by-word of our times!

It is actually the by word of ALL times when you get down too it.

But the reason these greedy people fear for their profit margin is the percieved ideas of how the public thinks, which, in this case, is directly related to religious ideas regarding sexual matters.

Focus on religion alone however is tantamount too missing the rest of the forest for that one tree.

[Thorne]

Focus on religion alone however is tantamount too missing the rest of the forest for that one tree.

True, as far as it goes. But you have to remember that the vast majority of those trees have religious roots, which affect not only the trees but the flowers which are forced to try to grow beneath them. By removing the religious forest we will be able to see the secular garden which is hidden beneath them.