Unemployment almost 10% nationally

[newfoundland]

I think it would be a mistake to introduce import taxes. This only makes the other countries retaliate and what western economies don't need now is another barrier to increasing their export market. To compete with these new emerging economies we need to do what we do best. Manufacture and export those coveted brand names for which, as economies grow, there will be an increasing market. The kind of protectionism such as increased import taxes has been tried in Europe and failed, in fact the introduction of the EU was partly to guarentee a free market to it's member states. Our economies are in such a mess because for years we have both as individuals and as nations, lived above our means on money we didn't have. Now the chickens have come to roost!

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
I disagree. As stated earlier, Lumber barons harvested the trees. They did not replant or replenish the soil of the crop removed from our land.. They just made a large profit. Same with Cattlemen on and on. Indeed the businesses find safe haven from thugs and invading nations??? WHY? Because we the people lay down our lives as veterans and policemen to protect the nations security so they fat corporations can grow fatter.. We the tax paying public pick up the tab too...... THEY DO NOT OWE US..???

Also your example of hauling the feed is perfect. Yes we all start some where.... Now what if hauling that feed is done at your families business? Not at Purina mills or bags of GMO soy at Monsanto.. By hauling the feed you are learning your business from ground up. You are being paid little but learning much that you know you can apply to grow the family business later.
Very very different than when working for a multi national hey? They will just break your back and give you a kick in the behind when done with you...

Not to generalize but look at immigrant cultures that stuck to the family business concept. The Chinese with laundry mats for example. They are not on wealfar, they are not in jail.. Children help out with the business, which they will run one day..

SO phase out the Multi nationals and phase in small local independently owned businesses.. After all it is WE THE PEOPLES, Government, land, natural resources and the blood that has been spilled to protect it..................................................

Stop being enslaved by the politicians that fill you full of horse pucky, with fearful threats that if we do not serve multinational corps everything they want on a silver platter there will be no jobs.

... BULL... Simple supply and demand economics.. But on a local and regional scale. Keep the money in the family..

It is so sad we lost this as a nation... No actually it make me angry...

"I have been workin in the coal mine.. Another day older and deeper in debt...I owe my soul to the company store"

Is in not the time to change the tune?
ON

 

[Q9]

Quote:
I disagree. As stated earlier, Lumber barons harvested the trees. They did not replant or replenish the soil of the crop removed from our land.. They just made a large profit. Same with Cattlemen on and on. Indeed the businesses find safe haven from thugs and invading nations??? WHY? Because we the people lay down our lives as veterans and policemen to protect the nations security so they fat corporations can grow fatter.. We the tax paying public pick up the tab too...... THEY DO NOT OWE US..???

Also your example of hauling the feed is perfect. Yes we all start some where.... Now what if hauling that feed is done at your families business? Not at Purina mills or bags of GMO soy at Monsanto.. By hauling the feed you are learning your business from ground up. You are being paid little but learning much that you know you can apply to grow the family business later.
Very very different than when working for a multi national hey? They will just break your back and give you a kick in the behind when done with you...

Not to generalize but look at immigrant cultures that stuck to the family business concept. The Chinese with laundry mats for example. They are not on wealfar, they are not in jail.. Children help out with the business, which they will run one day..

SO phase out the Multi nationals and phase in small local independently owned businesses.. After all it is WE THE PEOPLES, Government, land, natural resources and the blood that has been spilled to protect it..................................................

Stop being enslaved by the politicians that fill you full of horse pucky, with fearful threats that if we do not serve multinational corps everything they want on a silver platter there will be no jobs.

... BULL... Simple supply and demand economics.. But on a local and regional scale. Keep the money in the family..

It is so sad we lost this as a nation... No actually it make me angry...

"I have been workin in the coal mine.. Another day older and deeper in debt...I owe my soul to the company store"

Is in not the time to change the tune?
ON

Bolded #1: You do realize that corporations pay taxes, too, right?

Bolded #2: You are mistaken - what I meant by starting somewhere is building up a little cash reserve to help out while I (hopefully) go to college. BTW, it's a local feed/farm store who's owners we have no connection to. Few careers start at minimum wage, but they're stepping stones to use to advance yourself. Sometimes, too, they function as safety nets if your job vanishes. Ask my dad, who never thought of drawing unemployment.

Bolded #3: I'm not sure whether to yell at you or ignore you. Have you not figured out yet that I do independent research?! In case you didn't know what that meant, that means generally ignoring politicians and talking heads on TV and looking at what differing points of view have to say, then weighing them against each other. I HATE the vast majority of politicians. I would have thought that you would have figured that out from most of my posts. Which, actually, brings up a question that I've been meaning to ask - do you read my posts or just skim over them and respond automatically? Sometimes, I've gotta say at the risk of offense, it really seems like the latter.

 

[Alabama ee]

Quote:
I do agree with you on the over spending here. It needs to stop. There are just way too much "fat" that needs to be cut out. For every program that is cut, it seems two are added.

However, Europe is not the US. It is a socialist country. They are not pro business. Europe does not have the structure set up for business...especially new business. It is very hard for anyone to set up a business there. In the US, even today, we are much more small business friendly compared to Europe.

Creating import taxes does not do away with imports. But, it does give a more level playing field so that business here can operate. US business' would begin to emerge and fill the gaps. We need jobs here not in China.

There are a few companies, like Walmart that benefit from the low cost of imports. This video sums it up:

 

[Dunkopf]

The problem as has been pointed out is that American made goods cost more. The manufacturers always point out that they have a better product. The guy that owns that jean company is on Ed Schultz just about every day for a phone commercial. He talks about the quality and the fact that they have been tested and last 2x as long as the Chinese jeans that have what used to be American brands on them. I would like to order a pair and probably will after x-mas. I would like to see if they are better.

Labor cost in America is the reason we can't compete though. Those American made jeans are 40.00. You can buy Chinese with Lee on them for 18.00 at Wally World. Even if an American wanted to make the cheaper product using the same material, they couldn't sell it for 18.00. People here can't survive on what the manufacturer would have to pay them to make a competitive product. The only solution is to tariff incoming goods.

I've heard a lot of people express opinions that the EU is not doing so well these days. That they were doing better before. That they would have been better able to recover before. I don't know. Everything is based on opinion. Every politician that comes up with a plan can sell the heck out of it. Every plan is also subject to a scatter shot of adverse opinions. All I know is that we are currently doing is not working.

Promoting smaller businesses would sure be a start. The big corporations bringing inferior product in to our country in a race to the bottom isn't working. They need to stop the cheap imports somehow. Lumber was mentioned. It's the worst of all. They actually harvest American trees and put them on barges and take them out to wood processing ships that anchor outside our waters. They process the lumber and take it back to shore. We have all gotten used to all sorts of low priced items we would have never expected before. If they bring the jobs back we will have to expect higher prices. People with lower incomes won't be able to afford a lot of stuff they currently buy. We would all have to make things last longer. Hopefully things would be better made though.

Now for what will actually maybe happen. I think the jobs will eventually come back. When the unions have been completely taken out of the picture and they can get people working at or near minimum wage again. People with lower skills or skills that can be easily undercut will just live at a much lower level than they have been used to. Eventually the carpentry type trades will come back up a little as they eventually stop hiring of illegal immigrants. That's one business type practice that the Republicans will have to say goodbye to. Those of us with bleeding hearts will just have to live with it. Consumer goods will go up in price about 30%. Quality will stay the same because materials will still come from Asia. New Balance does that now. The corporations are slowly getting the message. They won't cut their profits though. It will have to be on their terms. Stores will be stocked with goods from all over Asia as well as about 40% American. Japanese and Korean cars will dominate the market. Toyotas will still cost about 30% more than their American equivalent. Disparity will be much greater than it is now. We will be spending a much larger amount of our money on food.

There are only about 20% of our people out of work right now. About 30% of working people are in jobs that pay a lot less than what they used to live on. So more than half the people are still making what they were last year and a lot of them are happy to be employed and are scared. The 30% in lower paying jobs are happy to be employed because they have experienced being laid off and being lucky enough to get a job again. So all corporations have to do is start bringing some work back and the US population is in the palm of their hands. This started with Nixon. Yes a conspiracy theory. Rich people plan ahead and realize that instant gratification is for the masses. They look at the big picture instead of 6 months ahead like most people. The whole world will be flat and we will have a whole world community eventually. Just like in the science fiction books and movies. We won't all be under 1 government, but our economies won't be able to exist independently. We got to the point where we are a little faster than I thought we would. I wish I was more prepared for it.

 

[Dunkopf]

Hope you can make it through college in time Q. Of course if your parents have the resources you're probably ok. I know you're against it,but kids like you should be given the means to go to school at government expense. Too many minds like yours are wasted because they can't afford school. Schooling our children is an investment in the future of our country. Rich kids aren't any more intelligent than poor kids. That's obvious in our country at the very highest levels of government. Yet, only a portion of our intelligent people get to further their education. One of the biggest reasons America is lagging behind other countries in innovation. We used to be the first. It's not because of stolen technology now either. That used to be the case. We have brought those countries up to the level where they could afford to educate their people here and now have learning institutions just as good as ours and more in number. They recognize their intellectually capable and send them to school. That's never going to happen though. If a poor person wants to go to school they better get some good breaks and be the type that wants to be President. They won't have a Daddy that can get them in the White House or hired as an executive in a fortune 5 company when they graduate in the lower 10% of their class. Something wrong with that picture if you give it any thought at all.

Any parent that can send their kids to school should. Even if they are a dunce. They can always become a cheerleader. You never know. Sometimes it can lead to being a President. I just feel strongly that any kid that is capable should be given a chance. As the saying goes "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". Just because you're smart doesn't mean you'll be able to make it in life. There's a lot of smart people that have mediocre jobs that could be contributing at a higher level. It would not only contribute to society, but he kids would make more money and hence a direct payback to the government in the form of higher income tax collection. It's an all around win win situation.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
John Taylor Gatto said in his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, "I have come to the conclusion that genius is as common as dirt."

You ought to read it - he has a very different solution.

Personally, I don't quite understand our cultures obsession with college. It's no effort at all to go to the library and do intensive reading in a subject. Heck, I know several true stories of people who have performed complicated surgeries just by looking at the instructions. However, it's difficult to get elected or to get books published without college credentials, so it seems necessary to the path I intend to take. (State legislature, if you're wondering. I think Congress is beyond hope.)

 

[Wifezilla]

I had a teacher that always said "A diploma and 50 cents will get you a cup off coffee." (it was a few years back

)

That meaning a diploma by itself is pretty useless. Lots of Liberal Arts Majors working at Chilis these days.

 

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
John Taylor Gatto said in his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, "I have come to the conclusion that genius is as common as dirt."

You ought to read it - he has a very different solution.

Personally, I don't quite understand our cultures obsession with college. It's no effort at all to go to the library and do intensive reading in a subject. Heck, I know several true stories of people who have performed complicated surgeries just by looking at the instructions. However, it's difficult to get elected or to get books published without college credentials, so it seems necessary to the path I intend to take. (State legislature, if you're wondering. I think Congress is beyond hope.)

You don't understand because you're home schooled and you buy in to a lot of stuff like that. You think that you are very well versed because you read books that reinforce your opinions. It's sad that people feel that way about higher education. I can understand feeling that it shouldn't be supported by the public dime but to say that it is useless as you and WZ are saying is just plain ignorant. yeah I've heard the diploma and 50 cents thing before. Coming from liberal arts majors. Liberal arts started out as the degree that wealthy people's daughters got, so they could keep up with their well bred husbands friends at parties. Then it was commonly used during Viet Nam to keep those kids with parents that had some money from having to serve. That's why Viet Nam was fought mostly by poor kids.

College is a requirement to survive now. Even people that have a fantastic entrepreneurial streak need college. Hard physical work doesn't get you nothing but tired muscles these days. I agree that most liberal arts majors won't earn much money. Some people don't want to earn a lot of money. Some are happy helping others, teachers come to mind. Please spare me the "College is a waste routine". The people that usually say that are the ones with a HS or less degree. That's where I'm at. I do quite well. However people in my job require a college degree now. Oh I almost forgot. The other people that say that, are the ones with degrees that don't want everyone else to have one. Does that attitude sound familiar at all.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
John Taylor Gatto said in his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, "I have come to the conclusion that genius is as common as dirt."

You ought to read it - he has a very different solution.

Personally, I don't quite understand our cultures obsession with college. It's no effort at all to go to the library and do intensive reading in a subject. Heck, I know several true stories of people who have performed complicated surgeries just by looking at the instructions. However, it's difficult to get elected or to get books published without college credentials, so it seems necessary to the path I intend to take. (State legislature, if you're wondering. I think Congress is beyond hope.)

You don't understand because you're home schooled and you buy in to a lot of stuff like that. You think that you are very well versed because you read books that reinforce your opinions. It's sad that people feel that way about higher education. I can understand feeling that it shouldn't be supported by the public dime but to say that it is useless as you and WZ are saying is just plain ignorant. yeah I've heard the diploma and 50 cents thing before. Coming from liberal arts majors. Liberal arts started out as the degree that wealthy people's daughters got, so they could keep up with their well bred husbands friends at parties. Then it was commonly used during Viet Nam to keep those kids with parents that had some money from having to serve. That's why Viet Nam was fought mostly by poor kids.

College is a requirement to survive now. Even people that have a fantastic entrepreneurial streak need college. Hard physical work doesn't get you nothing but tired muscles these days. I agree that most liberal arts majors won't earn much money. Some people don't want to earn a lot of money. Some are happy helping others, teachers come to mind. Please spare me the "College is a waste routine". The people that usually say that are the ones with a HS or less degree. That's where I'm at. I do quite well. However people in my job require a college degree now. Oh I almost forgot. The other people that say that, are the ones with degrees that don't want everyone else to have one. Does that attitude sound familiar at all.

Never said it was a waste. I just said I don't quite get why we're so obsessed with college. You "need" it only because people think you aren't educated enough if you don't go through it. I certainly haven't required an official college education to hold my own against college-educated adults. Do with that what you will.


And by the way (how many times do I need to explain this?), I read plenty of books, articles, etc. that do NOT reinforce my views, so PLEASE, for Heaven's sake, STOP using that one!