Turning Public Thought from Essentials to Non-essentials
xxx/ellauri085.html on line 466: It works well for a small rich elite, but for the majority and more importantly for the national economy? Well it has never worked in the past why assume that it would work now? This is a con perpetuated by the wealthy elite to keep more of the money they earn and give less of it to the government. Concentrating wealth in the hands of a few is actually really really bad for the economy. Less of it circulates. The poor/middle classes tend to spend everything they get, they can't not, they just have less disposable income. It tends to go on food, rent and essentials. If they don't have enough money to spend because a greater slice of the pie is tied up in fewer hands they don't have as much to spend and less money circulates through the economy. That is bad. They don't squirrel it away in the Bahamas or Swiss bank accounts or spend it on a second Ferrari Testarossa. They don't have that luxury. The myth of trickle down economics was discredited years ago.
xxx/ellauri091.html on line 694: When it comes to the essentials in life, no one does it better than the Danes. They might not have the museums of France, the cuisine of Italy, the beaches of Spain and Portugal, or the wine of Croatia, but the overall quality of life in this Scandinavian country is tops in the world.
xxx/ellauri148.html on line 177: The sages said that the only difference between this world and the days of the Messiah will be with regard to the enslavement to the kingdoms. It appears from the plain meaning of the words of the prophets that at the beginning of the days of the Messiah, there will be the war of Gog and Magog. And that prior to the war of Gog and Magog, a prophet will arise to straighten Israel and prepare their hearts, as it is written, Behold, I will send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5) And he will come not to declare the pure impure, or the impure pure; not to declare unfit those who are presumed to be fit, nor to declare fit those who are held to be unfit; but for the sake of peace in the world….And there are those among the sages who say that prior to the coming of the Messiah will come Elijah. But all these things and their likes, no man can know how they will be until they will be. For they are indistinct in the writings of the prophets. Neither do the sages have a tradition about these things. It is rather, a matter of interpretation of the Biblical verses. Therefore there is a disagreement among them regarding these matters. And in any case, these are mere details which are not of the essence of the faith. And one should definitely not occupy oneself with the matter of legends, and should not expatiate about the midrashim that deal with these and similar things. And one should not make essentials out of them. For they lead neither to fear nor to love [of God]. Neither should one calculate the End. The sages said, “May the spirit of those who calculate the End be blown away” But let him wait and believe in the matter generally, as we have explained.
xxx/ellauri261.html on line 259: Wilder and Steward were lovers for a brief period, but it was not a happy nor easy relationship. “If one accepts the essentials of Steward’s story....,” writes Gilbert A. Harrison, “the sexual act was so hurried and reticent, so barren of embrace, tenderness or passion that it might never have happened. Steward felt that for Thornton the act was literally ‘unspeakable’.” If Wilder ever experienced a deep and lasting relationship with another man, it has not been recorded.
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