Unemployment almost 10% nationally

[Organics North]

ivan 3,
I find your style of writing to be very pleasurable to read!
I also find myself in full agreement with many statements like this..

I believe Q9 rails against government subsidies. There is no more crass government `handout' to business than spilling American blood for a profit]

newfoundland

Dunkopf has it right in my book. The biggest enemy to our existence is the effects of pollution and global warming. ]

Indeed, However our species seems to have trouble seeing the end of our noses let alone the future.


ON​

 

[Organics North]

Here is some more comparisons for folks like Royd:
My concern is the standard of living for the average citizen. Not solely protecting the rights of the top 1%. It is my opinion that any GDP per capita chart and median income chart out there totally disables arguments that if we tax the higher income brackets the productivity will fall.


GDP per capita and median income
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:International_Median_Household_Income.png

Here is a link to the health care comparison published originally by National Geographic.. US is simply off the chart and not in a good way..
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/infographic-day-how-bad-us-healthcare

Just one more thing on this idea of having higher taxes on those that take the most from society.... How did the wealthy get wealthy? Often times by taking advantage of OUR (We the peoples) natural resources. (Lumber barons got wealthy on cutting our trees.. they did not replace those trees or the nutrients taken from the soil.) Who's roads and infrastructural do they use? Again WE THE PEOPLES.

Yes it should be a symbiotic relationship between people and employer... However the statistics point to the fact that the balance is off..


ON

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Too busy this morning except to congratulate you all on such a great and thought provoking thread!


I have students from China every year. Early this fall I found one standing in the courtyard outside her dorm videotaping straight up.

Utterly baffled I asked her why she was taping the sky.

She said, "NO one in Bejing will believe how blue the sky is here."

She had never seen a sky that blue. She did not know the sky was supposed to be that blue.

 

[Whispering Winds]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Too busy this morning except to congratulate you all on such a great and thought provoking thread!


I have students from China every year. Early this fall I found one standing in the courtyard outside her dorm videotaping straight up.

Utterly baffled I asked her why she was taping the sky.

She said, "NO one in Bejing will believe how blue the sky is here."

She had never seen a sky that blue. She did not know the sky was supposed to be that blue.

Now THAT is sad.

 

[Royd]

Quote:

Well, If we did not have an embargo the people would be better off! I do not give a rats behind about the dictator... It has been long enough.... I think the American elite that were booted out just want their resorts back. Spoiled rotten American wealthy, making Cuba suffer. After all we see that in China communism is waning.. Why, because of trade!!!! Modernization and technology do wonders in a peaceful way to do away with oppressive governments.
Enough of the embargo!

The rest of the world is free to trade with Cuba. Canada and Russia are loaded with agriculture and petroleum. China makes enough junk that that Cuban govt. could just start their own Walmart. Of course, it would be called Castromart and he and his cronies would get all the profits. You've got to love capitalism, when the govt. is in charge.

Socialism and Communism are not the same thing. I am an not an apologist for dictatorships... I find learning and studying systems like Chavez's as valuable and useful. No one has the answer for what works long term and what does not as far as economic models go.. So why not be open minded to learning about other systems, the good and the bad... I am no sheep that will be fed propaganda on how bad or broken another system is when ours in not really in better shape.

You say that you love studying all of these other systems and then, say that NOONE knows what works and what doesn't. I can tell you what doesn't work. When I put forth good effort to make my life better, and the neighbor, who does nothing, comes by, with the force of the federal govt. behind him, basically, at the point of a gun, and demands that I give up a portion, because the lazy man has nothing, I'm either going to protest, through violence or indifference, and just quit working, myself. Here's something that you should have been introduced to in grade school....It's a story called, "The Little Red Hen." It pretty much describes socialism, and sadly, it is so true.

Now on to Socialism.... IF I say if, we had no government and no favoring of the elite and wealthy then the world would not need Socialism..

. Since human greed is innate, I feel protections and balancing by a government is needed. I see our approach ending with a handful of Rich and a whole country full of uneducated peasants. Decay and collapse then mindless revolution.

I have said, many times, that there is no such thing as anarchy. True anarchy would be everyone living peacably and prosperously, with their neighbors...Each, doing his own thing, without the heavy hand of govt. intervention.

Today, when supposed anarchy breaks out and stores get broken into, he who is strongest and fastest and greediest, grabs the large screen tv and leaves the 10 incher for the weak.
Trust me, there are no such things as benevolent dictators.

You admit that humans are naturally greedy, yet you think that govt. should be the arbitrator of all good things......People are greedy...Govt. is made up of people. Therefore, govt. is greedy.

And amazingly, one of the most outstanding models of greed, which was supposed to lift up the common man, and make things equitable, is the unions...The biggest business, in this country, run by unions, couldn't even manage a simple retirement account...Why? Because of greed. And now, they, who made outrageous wages and benefits, want to reach into the pocket of a hardworking, self employed man, with the help of the federal govt. and resecure their retirement / benefits package....How long are you going to put up with this, as a free man...Unless, maybe, you are one of them?



Europe is getting way ahead of us... The only reason they had an economic crisis is because when a giant like the US falls in the pond, the smaller economies get knocked around by the waves..

I worked for a very successful company from a Socialist country.... I saw the differences in detail, I lived the differences... I understand what Socialism in Europe is.... We better get on the bus soon, before it is too late.

As I said before I am open minded.. I am willing to give anything a try, if reducing government services, and giving more to the wealthy, helps close the gap on income disparity, our failing education system, and our embarrassing incredibly expensive health care system that gives us shorter life spans than almost any other first world nation... I am willing to try.

So Royd, You never answered my question on if you have ever been to or spent time in a country that has a Socialist system.. Canada or most of Europe come to mind..

ON​

Yeah, I've been to Canada, in the '90's and the cost of fuel was through the roof, and they sold it by the liter, so that the meter on the pump ran so fast, you couldn't even see the price. And I've been to Oregon, where they think that you are too stupid to even pump your own gas...Actually, it's a govt. mandate, under the quise of saftey, just to keep people employed, thus, causing me to have to pay more for my fuel.​

 

[Royd]

Quote:
He who takes the most, is the one who does nothing to contribute. Please tell me how places like Detroit and New Orleans got into the shape they are in...It sure wasn't because 1 or 2 people grabbed all the money and held onto it.
By your measure, all I should have to do, to revive those cities, is show up with some lumber, sheetrock, tools and a food wagon, to feed everyone, and say, get to work, it's all yours, when you are done....What would happen, is what happens everday. As was pointed out, humans are naturally greedy, and, may I add, naturally lazy. The food would get eaten, and they would go back to the easy chair or the street corner.

Sadly, value, in today's society, is measured by how many green pieces of paper you have in your pocket, or how many of the same, you think your house is worth.

How did the wealthy get wealthy? Often times by taking advantage of OUR (We the peoples) natural resources. (Lumber barons got wealthy on cutting our trees.. they did not replace those trees or the nutrients taken from the soil.) Who's roads and infrastructural do they use? Again WE THE PEOPLES.

Yes it should be a symbiotic relationship between people and employer... However the statistics point to the fact that the balance is off..

We are talking about men who had access to a wide open country, full of natural resources. Men who were dreamers, visionaries, big thinkers, and jumped at the opportunity in front of them.
Are you telling me that if, in turning over soil to plant some shrub, which your wife demanded, you happened upon a 1/4 oz. nugget of gold, you wouldn't be turning over the whole yard? If the answer is no, then, there is no hope for you, in the real world.

ON​

 

[RabbitMage]

Quote:
Canada's cost of fuel, if I remember correctly, is on par with most other first-world nations, where it's also typically sold by the liter (litre?, I love that spelling). And while I'm certain this depends on where you are in Canada, I understand in the cities there's a greater emphasis on public transit. Having a car where I live in central California is almost a necessity. My Best Canadian Friend, who is my same age, finally broke down and bought a car for the first time in his life because he felt he was traveling out of town enough to need one.

And hey, imagine how many people would be on unemployment if those gas-pumping jobs didn't exist.

 

[Alabama ee]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Too busy this morning except to congratulate you all on such a great and thought provoking thread!


I have students from China every year. Early this fall I found one standing in the courtyard outside her dorm videotaping straight up.

Utterly baffled I asked her why she was taping the sky.

She said, "NO one in Bejing will believe how blue the sky is here."

She had never seen a sky that blue. She did not know the sky was supposed to be that blue.

I can understand. I have been there several times. In China, it is imposible to see the sky in many areas. Pollution is horrible. When I went there in the winter, many people burn coal. The air is so thick with the fumes from that and factories. It is so bad that when I brushed my teeth, it turned my toothbrush BLACK. You should see what the water ways there look like . Many of the rivers and streams are like a huge open sewer filled with human waste.

Once, I walked though a park over there. I kept thinking something was missing... Then, I realized what it was. I saw no insects, no birds, and no frogs. I did not see one grasshopper, ant or spider. That is both scary and sad.​

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
How about petitioning congress to eliminate tax breaks for outsourcing jobs, seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[knjinnm]

Tell the new house leadership not to surrender to China and Chinese banks ... end GWB's tax cuts.