So its sorta inspired by Disney.
I would have thought Beck would be more of a Warner Bros.
After all he is doing the Loony Tunes market

Except that it has never worked that way. People became prosperous and cities became wealthy when they started trading with each other. London, Tokyo, Moscow, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Paris, Madrid, Venice and every other city on Earth became prosperous through trade with other settlements. It is the reason that people moved to those places. Beck's fantasy of prosperity through internal trade is just that, a fantasy.

There are two business districts. The one near the entrance is the showy one for his apprenticeship scheme. There is also one near the residential district for the, well, residents. The showy one is more akin to Main Street USA in the Disney Parks. And if you have ever been to a Disney park, the first thing you notice is that those shops are corporate, and sell liscenced products. I would expect the same, as the market's position clearly dictates that the district is intended to be a revenue generator, and a generator through tourism, otherwise the settlement's economy is stagnant. I imagine that those shops will have to end up selling Beck merchandise, as I can't see people flying 3000 miles and paying to have their 10-year-old son apprentice to a guy making wagon wheels.

The resident market is a silly idea too. So Joe Sixpack works on the city ranch raising cattle. On payday he goes to the resident supermarket to buy beef for his family. The supermarket then pays the ranch for the beef, who in turn pays Joe his wage so that he can buy more beef. Pointless work for pointless pay is what made the Soviet Union fall apart. And that concept is anything but free market.

In regard to transportation, as far as I understood him, there are no automobiles permitted within the city, period. Aside from the incredibly creepy notion of 'no way out' that this gives, it does make it clear that Becksburg will need a large mass transit system. And, of course, the city will have to pay for the construction and upkeep, which means that taxes will have to be collected. Uh oh.

aaaahahhaaha that's another good one. He could have a big ED 209 with Reagan's voice.

Funny how this sort of concept seems to be big now with 2-3 more people/groups nowadays:

http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/comme...northern-idaho (The Citadel Project)

http://www.freedomship.com/ (The Freedom Ship project) - I think this has been out there for a while, if I recall correctly.

and these are 2 just off the top of my head.

So many want to "go Galt," it seems, yet they never get there.

So this gun nut heaven project is by a crook who is not allowed to legally hold firearms:har:

This is true, although in terms of trade I was thinking luxury items and machinery rather than the essential basics, food, water and heat. Certainly though there's room for the trade of food, if one city is focused on growing, say wheat and beef, and another city has sweetcorn and chickens, then trade between the two to increase the palette of the citizens diet would be a good thing. What I don't like is the whole idea of cities and indeed countries, relying on another nation in order to be able to eat, which is a situation that has developed in many western nations, particularly Britain. There's not even a stockpile system in force to protect against potential trade disruption, which admittedly is not very likely now that the Iron Curtain has fallen, but even so, in my mind at least, it's common sense to be able to have enough food in your nation or city to be able to feed your own people, and then trade the surplus, after storing some for emergencies that is. Of course with the large global population this means a lot of farms, but there are ways around that.


Alas I haven't been to any of the Disney parks but I have read about them and yes, there is a lot of corporation within it, which makes business sense in terms of big business, but goes against the whole 'little man' idea that Beck is putting forward, but this is hardly the first time that there have been a gulf between Becks dreams and reality.
There might be some novelty in learning 'ye olde crafts' but honestly I agree that it wouldn't carry its own weight unless the apprenticeship schemes were for employment that will actually be achievable in the outside world...which will be going in a completely different direction to 'Independence'.

That is the thing that has boggled me whilst watching this video, Glen Beck is supposedly one of the members of the American right, often described as far right, and vast elements of this city would be right at home in the 1970s Soviet Union, from the above example, through 'deprogramming' and right into removing class, and yet I expect that if you were to accuse Mr Beck of being a Communist he would probably explode. Strange world.

It reminds me somewhat of the Artilleryman from The War of the Worlds, this grandiose scheme to build a new America based on the values of 'the good old days', but who chooses who stays and who leaves? Who chooses what is taught, what is kept in the libraries?

Even with luxury items it doesn't work. The wealth of Venice was in luxury items imported from the east. While those items were sold within the city, the lion's share of them were again exported to cities around Europe. If Beck plans on doing this sort of thing, kind of like a Randian sweatshop, it kind of defeats the purpose of this gated commuinity as a retreat from the world.

You are right, but I think that it doesn't really matter at this point. This isn't about free markets and political ideology anymore. Beck has, over the past decade or so, used his political message to amass a sizable group of very devoted followers. And he became progressively more conspiratorial and paranoid. It's what caused Fox to part ways with him; they could see where this was going and it was going to be a bad thing. And now, like many cult leaders before him, Beck is planning their exodus, where the he and his followers will create their own utopia. And of course, that utopia is not about vision and ideology, but rather the leader of the cult. The whole thing is set up like a giant pyramid scheme, where everything is always flowing up the ladder to Beck himself.

Exactly. Schools will be dismantled in Becksburg and children will be taught proper Beckian values. He will even be generous enough to allow political leaders to visit for some good old fashioned indoctrination.

...and later, when Beckopolis retreats underground to avoid the ravages of WW3, the population will flourish and grow and all will be left to do as they wish...but at a catch; their life ends at 30.

Wonder if Beck will adopt a title like "Dear Leader," or somesuch too.

THERE IS NO SANCTUARY!

Jesus

I havnt paid much attention to this and dont care either way but you guys get one whisper of anything and its a knew jerk reaction to go on the attack.

DiCaprio and his left wing group wanted to build a green city - fine, good luck guys, enjoy the experience.

Glenn Beck wants to do anything but die - lets burn his ass.

:nope:

Sounds to me like you care very, very much.

Its not what he wants to do, but how he explains it that is "amusing."

He wants a self-sufficient city full of free trade blah blah, but he'll be putting it in a State in the United States which means he'll have to abide by State and Federal rules.

His explanation of other things, which is certainly more adequately covered by others upthread, is downright odd considering that he holds to a "patriot, freedom-loving, rugged individual," sort of ideal in the media.

DiCaprio's movie is about fracturing for oil. The movie is financed by OPEC if my sources are correct.

Fracking Dicrapio!

http://economy.money.cnn.com/2012/10...amon-fracking/

Conflict of interest no? Let's burn his butt as well!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean i really dont. I dont watch Glen Beck, i dont listen to him... i dont recall the last time i heard his voice or read anything he wrote or had anything to do with.

he is not my cup of tea.

Its just on my nerves at the moment with the GT forum that no matter what anyone says left or right its just an instant tear down of the person.

thats all

Did you watch the videos?

I briefly browsed enough of the article to get the basic idea that glenn beck wants to build a theme park/city of some sort based on American History (or at least his opinion of it). Obviously in order to participate in the thread even if in this limited capacity i would have to have done at least that much.:03:

no i did not watch the videos despite your instruction to do so... and have no interest in watching them.

honestly i have no interest in his project nor do i care if it is successful or not.

my opinion is "meh"

just pointing out that the general topics forum - while normally an opinionated and harsh place to tread - has been particularly callous lately.

we weren't even five replies in before images of "Germania" and comparisons to Hitler were posted.

just gets old. Obama is Hitler, Glenn Beck is Hitler, Bush is Hitler

I mean Jesus sometimes i wonder why i even come here

Okay then. Moving on....

Put the mouse down. Step away from the large humming box and glowing monitor. Go outside and enjoy the other wonders of the world free of electronic gizmos. :up:

Thats the plan bud, here i go :up:

sorry guys just in a particularly negative mood today.

later