It is just a bit of history and a bit of the logic of how the world really works.

I agree that many problems are not solved by either government or private sector. Some issues are intractable and have no solution. Some are better solved by government and some by the private sector.

You are right not everyone is or was an Odd Fellow. You did have to be successful enough when you joined to pay your dues in advance and pay your initiation fees and degree fees. This partly protected the Odd Fellows by only allowing persons in who had at one time some success and might be expected to have success again. The fees weren't that much as the average working man was the majority of the members, but you did have to save.

Private prisons bother me. They bother me for an additional reason above your concerns. They bother me because the government creates unfunded mandates every time it passes another law making another thing illegal or it lengthens a sentence on an existing crime. They aren't forced to allocate additional funds for the prison beds this lawmaking will result in. Turning to private prisons to save money is proof that they have lost control of the penal codes.

The Odd Fellows system was working well before the 30's. It was pivotal in the 1840's and 1850's, in the US. Then a brother would "take a card" from his home lodge an run off chasing the gold rush or "go west young man". As he traveled he could get help from every lodge along the way. In other words he had friends, even if he had never met them before, all along his route. He could get assistance if he needed. When he arrived he would "deposit the card" with the lodge where he arrived, and they would help him get employment and settled. A pay it forward system.

Yes, not everyone was covered by the private systems. Then again not everyone understood the Ant and the Grasshopper and many still don't.

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Gary, again we don't disagree all that much -- but then again, certainly in the collection of folks who post here (including those who periodically get banished), I'd characterize you as 'center-right'. I suspect you'd recognize that my politics are not 'left wing' but rather 'center-left' -- so we are likely to find a certain amount of common ground.

Oddfellows sounds like religion without a God.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

is proof that they have lost control of the penal codes.

not everyone understood the Ant and the Grasshopper and many still don't.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, you right-wing extremist. I, too, am a right-wing extremist according to many folks.

You're the only one to call him an extremist.
And he has indicated before he's not siding with you.

is proof that they have lost control of the penal codes.

not everyone understood the Ant and the Grasshopper and many still don't.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, you right-wing extremist. I, too, am a right-wing extremist according to many folks.

So the Ants are communists right? ..errrr correct? and the Grasshopper is the laise faire capitalist.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Oddfellows sounds like religion without a God.

http://www.losangeles-goldenrulelodge35ioof.org/MEMBERSHIP_APPLICATION.pdf
Seems to me like God is a requirement ...

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is proof that they have lost control of the penal codes.

not everyone understood the Ant and the Grasshopper and many still don't.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, you right-wing extremist. I, too, am a right-wing extremist according to many folks.

My, I've never heard a "right-wing extremist" call for shortening criminal sentences and eliminating the War on Drugs before. This is a first.

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is proof that they have lost control of the penal codes.

not everyone understood the Ant and the Grasshopper and many still don't.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, you right-wing extremist. I, too, am a right-wing extremist according to many folks.

So the Ants are communists right? ..errrr correct? and the Grasshopper is the laise faire capitalist.

No, you have that wrong. The Queen Ant is the laise faire capitalist. The Grasshopper is a union worker and the ants are the non-union workers. ;)

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no the ants are communism in its truest form. they take anonymous orders and do them without thinking. They only work for the betterment of their society.

The Grasshopper on the other hand is the Capitalist. He uses all the natural resources available to him without regard to the future.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Oddfellows sounds like religion without a God.

http://www.losangeles-goldenrulelodge35ioof.org/MEMBERSHIP_APPLICATION.pdf
Seems to me like God is a requirement ...

I'm thinking more along the lines of, Why have this organization if all they do is exactly what a religion is supposed to do. are they a religion or religious organization?

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_fables_antgrasshopper.html

The Ant is the right-wing extremist.

The Grasshopper is the Obama supporter.

So ants are Conservatives? that doesn't fit. Ants are uniform and basically do as they are told...yep you're right they are conservatives.

Though a grasshopper must have means to support his habit of gluttony. This is clearly a corporate CEO

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

I'm thinking more along the lines of, Why have this organization if all they do is exactly what a religion is supposed to do. are they a religion or religious organization?

Some people call them right wing Christian, but they accept Jews and Muslims. Many of the lessons are examples from the Bible, but it was just a handy well known reference. The last line in the opening ritual prohibits political and sectarian debate in the lodge.

Perhaps the reason for this organization is, it does what it is supposed to do and doesn't exist as a support mechanism for charlatans.

for most of the world http://ioof.org/
for those in the UK http://www.oddfellows.co.uk/site/content/gen_content.aspx

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Oddfellows indeed!

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Them Brits are a funny lot :)

In California we are a bit more practical.

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Study: Obama’s plan would create more 1.1 million jobs in 2013. Romney’s plan would create 87,000.

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