Five reported dead in northeast Las Vegas police ambush
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60 members have voted
Yes, it's our fault, and it is hopeless. The things that created this country are lost. The path we're on now is only serving to drive us further from it, and towards disaster.
Dissatisfaction? Yup. By the truckload. We are taught to be dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction is shoveled down our throats by the cubic yard. Anyone with a media outlet is force fed the thought that without the best possession, your life is less than perfect. Jeans, tech devices, cars, electronics, makeup, if you don't have the best, you are less of a person. Just like a drug, your brain is forced to need it. Not only need it, but deserve it. Not only deserve it, but it is owed to you. Of course, acquiring it does nothing to soothe that ache for what you actually need. So begins the cycle of filling holes with things promising to make you happy, which they cannot do.
Politics? Is a #%^$ing joke. It's the oldest strategy of all strategic warfare - divide and conquer. This site is filled with highly intelligent, like minded people, all brought together for common purposes. Gambling, math, intelligent debate. And look how politics divides us. Many are so wrapped up in the game, they cannot see that both choices are despicably terrible. Red hates blue, blue hates red, everyone hates the independents and the independents hate everyone. And no one realizes that the very machine they fuel is the machine that destroys us all. You want to make a good political decision? Make the decision that lessens the power of gov. Red winning, blue winning, those are both losses for us, the people. The only way to win is to destroy the sides we cheer for.
I heard a comedian once joke that "the best thing you can do for a poor person is not be one of them". It's one of the wisest things I ever heard spoke. I can't change the world. I can't even fix my own home. But I can control ME. The best thing I can do for the mess we're in is not be a part of it. I don't vote, I don't support anything political. I'm arguably the biggest gun nut here, and not one dime of my money has ever gone to the NRA. I told TV to GTFO and dove into stuff that matters. Raising my son, learning valuable life skills like gardening, welding, automotive repair, becoming active in my neighborhood. As a result, many of the laments I've had in the "Remember When" thread are starting to fade as problems. Neighbors are no longer strangers, they're friends who support me and I them. Services I need are no longer paid for at exorbitant prices, they're things I do myself. That stress has turned into pride and self worth. Every day that goes by I am more happy than the last, every day I take back the power I have given up all of my life.
See if AZD doesn't agree. He cut the cord and dove into self sufficiency himself. Ask him if he feels better about most everything as his days go by.
I have no delusions of being a world-fixing leader. But the best thing I can do for this mess is not be part of it. Every bit of every argument here is "why doesn't someone...", "why, they should...", "there oughta be a law!". Keep looking for others to fix your problems, and you're sure to die in the same mess you're in now. Not me. I have the power to change my world. Getting enough people start thinking this way is the only way to change the world.
/crazy street preacher mode off.
Quote: FaceI'll be "that guy with the crazy theory" for a moment...
Yes, it's our fault, and it is hopeless. The things that created this country are lost. The path we're on now is only serving to drive us further from it, and towards disaster.
Dissatisfaction? Yup. By the truckload. We are taught to be dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction is shoveled down our throats by the cubic yard. Anyone with a media outlet is force fed the thought that without the best possession, your life is less than perfect. Jeans, tech devices, cars, electronics, makeup, if you don't have the best, you are less of a person. Just like a drug, your brain is forced to need it. Not only need it, but deserve it. Not only deserve it, but it is owed to you. Of course, acquiring it does nothing to soothe that ache for what you actually need. So begins the cycle of filling holes with things promising to make you happy, which they cannot do.
Politics? Is a #%^$ing joke. It's the oldest strategy of all strategic warfare - divide and conquer. This site is filled with highly intelligent, like minded people, all brought together for common purposes. Gambling, math, intelligent debate. And look how politics divides us. Many are so wrapped up in the game, they cannot see that both choices are despicably terrible. Red hates blue, blue hates red, everyone hates the independents and the independents hate everyone. And no one realizes that the very machine they fuel is the machine that destroys us all. You want to make a good political decision? Make the decision that lessens the power of gov. Red winning, blue winning, those are both losses for us, the people. The only way to win is to destroy the sides we cheer for.
I heard a comedian once joke that "the best thing you can do for a poor person is not be one of them". It's one of the wisest things I ever heard spoke. I can't change the world. I can't even fix my own home. But I can control ME. The best thing I can do for the mess we're in is not be a part of it. I don't vote, I don't support anything political. I'm arguably the biggest gun nut here, and not one dime of my money has ever gone to the NRA. I told TV to GTFO and dove into stuff that matters. Raising my son, learning valuable life skills like gardening, welding, automotive repair, becoming active in my neighborhood. As a result, many of the laments I've had in the "Remember When" thread are starting to fade as problems. Neighbors are no longer strangers, they're friends who support me and I them. Services I need are no longer paid for at exorbitant prices, they're things I do myself. That stress has turned into pride and self worth. Every day that goes by I am more happy than the last, every day I take back the power I have given up all of my life.
See if AZD doesn't agree. He cut the cord and dove into self sufficiency himself. Ask him if he feels better about most everything as his days go by.
I have no delusions of being a world-fixing leader. But the best thing I can do for this mess is not be part of it. Every bit of every argument here is "why doesn't someone...", "why, they should...", "there oughta be a law!". Keep looking for others to fix your problems, and you're sure to die in the same mess you're in now. Not me. I have the power to change my world. Getting enough people start thinking this way is the only way to change the world.
/crazy street preacher mode off.
WORD!
Quote: FaceI'll be "that guy with the crazy theory" for a moment...
Mmm persuasive. I usually hate conspiracies but this might not be so crazy after all...
Oops I'm thinking too much again and my head hurts.
But I copied and saved your theory so I can digest it later.
Quote: FaceThe things that created this country are lost.
Unspoiled continent.
Primitive, technologically inept natives.
Religious persecution.
Outcasts and malcontents crossing the Atlantic, hoping for anything better than what they left behind.
America's crucible.
Quote: MrVUnspoiled continent.
Primitive, technologically inept natives.
Religious persecution.
Outcasts and malcontents crossing the Atlantic, hoping for anything better than what they left behind.
America's crucible.
I wasn't thinking that far back. "Today's America" I always looked at as having a birthday around 1935. The recovery from WWI and the depression, overcoming the dust bowl, and the ramp up for WWII. It's when America seemed, to me, anyways, to take that giant leap and made itself #1, with no one near position to challenge it. It's when America took off and became the place we think of when we say "America" a feel that pride in our hearts. It was the country that could do anything, where not even the sky was the limit, the true land of opportunity. And it was filled not with rich bankers and rich bureaucrats and puppet masters ruling the public. It was filled with men with strong backs and strong desires who put their heads down and worked. Their work created the greatest empire that has ever existed.
Then we got fat, got lazy, grew a big fat cancerous bulb of entitlement, and here we are. It ain't the bankers fault, not Wall St, not the evil energy corps or the big bad gov. It is ours. Every piece of us that we gave them to own and control was surrendered unto them in exchange for our own misguided and selfish desires. And here we are.
I'm taking mine back. This country might be falling to pieces, but my world will not. The one stitch of myself holding together my world won't fix the country. But enough of them? Just maybe.
Quote: MrVPrimitive, technologically inept natives.
They had little to work with.
People on this side of the Atlantic never had the animal and plant resources available to them that people on the Eurasian continent did.
There were no large animals such as the horse or cow available for domestication and use in farming, timbering and mining.
The bison is not suitable for domestication.
Chickens, goats and pigs were unseen.
The only animals available to them for domestication were the wolf, muscovy duck and the llama.
The only plants available to them for domestication were maize, beans, potato and squash.
Wheat, oats and rice were not found on this continent.
Despite this poverty of resources, they thrived and grew their population into the millions.
Hardly primitive.
They were not white skinned, blond haired , blue eyed, English speaking descendants or UK or European protestants therefore they are primitive.Quote: TankoHardly primitive.
Quote: TankoThere were no [various]
Nor did they have "the wheel"
Quote:Hardly primitive.
"primitive": you are taking that as pejorative; it doesnt have to be
Quote: mickeycrimmSome of the Mesquite locals warned Fox News that Cliven Bundy was a whack job. They didn't take the advice and ran with the Bundy/Public Lands story for days. But they dropped Bundy like a hot potato over his racists statements and had to take it on the chin from Jon Stewart and the left jeering them over their stupidity. Leftie Harry Reid called Bundy's backers domestic terrorists. Fox News lambasted Reid for it. But those idiots Jarad Miller and his wife sure did make Harry look good. I watch a lot of Fox News. Let's see what they do with this story that the cop killers were Bundy backers. It wouldn't surprise me if they ignore it altogether.
A very detailed report on the cop killers was given on Fox & Friends this morning. But they left out the little detail about them being Bundy backers. And they certainly didn't show the video of Jerad Miller speaking at the standoff. Lol! I'm a Fox News fan but I know hypocrisy when I see it.
Quote: TankoThey had little to work with.
People on this side of the Atlantic never had the animal and plant resources available to them that people on the Eurasian continent did.
There were no large animals such as the horse or cow available for domestication and use in farming, timbering and mining.
The bison is not suitable for domestication.
Chickens, goats and pigs were unseen.
The only animals available to them for domestication were the wolf, muscovy duck and the llama.
The only plants available to them for domestication were maize, beans, potato and squash.
Wheat, oats and rice were not found on this continent.
Despite this poverty of resources, they thrived and grew their population into the millions.
Hardly primitive.
They actually had a system to my liking. The brave would go out and kill a buffalo. Then he would make his old lady go out and skin it, cut it up, and tote the meat back to the teepee. She had to do all the cooking, cleaning, sewing and fetching the firewood while he layed around the teepee smoking the peace pipe. Then the white man came over here and messed that whole system up.
Quote: beachbumbabsSee, that's what I don't get. This country is blessed, truly, and yet people are SO angry, frustrated, hateful, outraged, nasty. Where does that dissatisfaction come from? I think it must be the advertising, conspicuous consumption, constant teaching that there's no such thing as "enough" that creates an atmosphere of discontent and intolerance. I don't know where else to look. Death of the soul by a thousand paper cuts of inadequacy.
Yep, everyone thinks they are entitled to live like a king without working for it.
Quote: FaceI'll be "that guy with the crazy theory" for a moment...
Yes, it's our fault, and it is hopeless. The things that created this country are lost. The path we're on now is only serving to drive us further from it, and towards disaster.
Dissatisfaction? Yup. By the truckload. We are taught to be dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction is shoveled down our throats by the cubic yard. Anyone with a media outlet is force fed the thought that without the best possession, your life is less than perfect. Jeans, tech devices, cars, electronics, makeup, if you don't have the best, you are less of a person. Just like a drug, your brain is forced to need it. Not only need it, but deserve it. Not only deserve it, but it is owed to you. Of course, acquiring it does nothing to soothe that ache for what you actually need. So begins the cycle of filling holes with things promising to make you happy, which they cannot do.
Politics? Is a #%^$ing joke. It's the oldest strategy of all strategic warfare - divide and conquer. This site is filled with highly intelligent, like minded people, all brought together for common purposes. Gambling, math, intelligent debate. And look how politics divides us. Many are so wrapped up in the game, they cannot see that both choices are despicably terrible. Red hates blue, blue hates red, everyone hates the independents and the independents hate everyone. And no one realizes that the very machine they fuel is the machine that destroys us all. You want to make a good political decision? Make the decision that lessens the power of gov. Red winning, blue winning, those are both losses for us, the people. The only way to win is to destroy the sides we cheer for.
I heard a comedian once joke that "the best thing you can do for a poor person is not be one of them". It's one of the wisest things I ever heard spoke. I can't change the world. I can't even fix my own home. But I can control ME. The best thing I can do for the mess we're in is not be a part of it. I don't vote, I don't support anything political. I'm arguably the biggest gun nut here, and not one dime of my money has ever gone to the NRA. I told TV to GTFO and dove into stuff that matters. Raising my son, learning valuable life skills like gardening, welding, automotive repair, becoming active in my neighborhood. As a result, many of the laments I've had in the "Remember When" thread are starting to fade as problems. Neighbors are no longer strangers, they're friends who support me and I them. Services I need are no longer paid for at exorbitant prices, they're things I do myself. That stress has turned into pride and self worth. Every day that goes by I am more happy than the last, every day I take back the power I have given up all of my life.
See if AZD doesn't agree. He cut the cord and dove into self sufficiency himself. Ask him if he feels better about most everything as his days go by.
I have no delusions of being a world-fixing leader. But the best thing I can do for this mess is not be part of it. Every bit of every argument here is "why doesn't someone...", "why, they should...", "there oughta be a law!". Keep looking for others to fix your problems, and you're sure to die in the same mess you're in now. Not me. I have the power to change my world. Getting enough people start thinking this way is the only way to change the world.
/crazy street preacher mode off.
This is great.
Quote: IbeatyouracesNo. If you take the same residents of Detroit and move them to Windsor and give them the Windsor economy, they won't change. Detroit is filth and they just don't care.
Some of that filth on the waterfront this weekend
http://www.wxyz.com/news/video-man-beaten-at-gay-pride-festival-in-detroit
Quote: NareedI wonder if there was ever any society in the history of humanity where some weren't convinced it was all terrible and getting worse. I'm sure even in Pericles' Athens large numbers of people complained about how lousy things were. Come on, Plato bemoaned the invention of writting.
It's part of what I said. Kubikulann said one of the most intelligent things in this thread when he said...
Quote: kubikulann
My constant point of view is that if YOU are shocked, then YOU are the one with a problem. Your mind is limited by your emotions. Work on yourself, free yourself, dont try to silence the other.
Our thoughts are not entirely ours. We are bombarded by the views of others through advertising, 24/7 news cycles, social media, etc. I do not in any way mean to say these things are bad. Capitalism, for instance, isn't evil. It is just a thing. It attempts to get as much revenue as possible. That is not evil. Their use of advertising to influence your decisions is not evil. It is not even bad.
But when you subject yourself to this onslaught through every waking minute of your day, you become changed. It's not voodoo or black magic, it's the same psychology used in self help. Remember "positive thoughts"? Remember "self affirmation"? "You are what you repeatedly do" is not some stupid inspirational quote, it is an absolute truth. It's basic advertising, and it's used because it absolutely works. Subject yourself to the constant opinions of others, and those opinions will become yours. "Birds of a feather..." and all that.
If everyone were to disconnect, step back, and look at this objectively, nearly everyone would see that we still have the greatest country in the world. I don't deny our problems, I don't ignore our issues. But who we are still lives. But when you bury yourself into the media machine, suddenly gays become the harbinger of doom, gas drilling becomes the next plague, illegals are going to drain us dry, gun violence is a scourge... everything becomes public enemy number one. And "everything" is exactly what they want you to focus on, because doing so keeps us divided and our attention off of them. They and them in this instance is the political machine.
Just stop it. Disconnect. Do what Kubikulann said and work on yourself, free yourself. Stop being controlled by others, stop looking to others to fix something. Focus on YOU. Do what YOU want, pursue YOUR dreams, increase YOUR value. Surround yourself with others who do the same. Being gay, being Republican, being Christian, being a hippie, these are not the details we should draw our borders and erect walls around. They're just details, the variety that gives life its spice. Those who work on themselves today so they are better tomorrow, that's where the productivity lies. That's what we should be encouraging. That's all that matters. All the rest is just divisive and weakens us all as a whole. It keeps us distracted from the real problems we face in our lives.
"Free your mind, and the rest will follow" - En Vogue =p
Quote: FaceOur thoughts are not entirely ours.
I categorically reject that.
If your thoughts aren't your own, it's because you refuse to engage your mind. So if you wind up repeating catch-phrases as timeless truths, you only have yourself to blame.
Beaverton, Oregon took an eigth grader out of class and turned him over to the police after suspending him for drawing a hangman game.Quote: IbeatyouracesJust saw breaking news of another school shooting. This in Portland Oregon.
Quote: FleaStiffBeaverton, Oregon took an eigth grader out of class and turned him over to the police after suspending him for drawing a hangman game.
I feel much safer now. Perhaps they should incarcerate the young man. Clearly, he is a huge threat to all of mankind.
Quote: soxfanIn America it is a FACT that blacks use 13.75$ worth of tax payer funded social services for every 1$ they pay in taxes, and non-White latinos are similarly parastic! So, how much more redistibution would you like? I've said it before and I will say it again, there are NO peaceful, non-violent solutions for America's problems, none, and people need to get that through their thick skulls, hey hey!
Links?
This article Benefits says Blacks, Latinos and Whites receive benefits nearly in proportion to their percentage of the population.
Whites make up 64% of the population and receive 69% of the benefits.
Blacks make up 12% of the population and receive 14% of the benefits.
Hispanic make up 16% of the population and receive 12% of the benefits.
Quote: TankoLinks?
This article Benefits says Blacks, Latinos and Whites receive benefits nearly in proportion to their percentage of the population.
Whites make up 64% of the population and receive 69% of the benefits.
Blacks make up 12% of the population and receive 14% of the benefits.
Hispanic make up 16% of the population and receive 12% of the benefits.
Tanko,
Thanks for pulling this up. I was challenging soxfan to do it, because my understanding was this is the situation, but I couldn't find a satisfactory link to credible information. Very appreciated.
Quote: TankoLinks?
This article Benefits says Blacks, Latinos and Whites receive benefits nearly in proportion to their percentage of the population.
Whites make up 64% of the population and receive 69% of the benefits.
Blacks make up 12% of the population and receive 14% of the benefits.
Hispanic make up 16% of the population and receive 12% of the benefits.
Interesting article, thanks. And that doesn't even include government subsidies (= government benefits) for farms, corporations, Hollywood and the like, so add another big chunk for the rich.
Quote: beachbumbabs
Tanko,
Thanks for pulling this up. I was challenging soxfan to do it, because my understanding was this is the situation, but I couldn't find a satisfactory link to credible information. Very appreciated.
They are not saying the same thing. Soxfan is relating it to contribution while Tanko is comparing it to percentage of population. They very well could both be correct and if they are I believe it states that whites are contributing 13 times as much to taxes and government and only pulling out the same amount as those contributing less..
Well that is perfectly logical and desirable! That is the meaning of the word SOLIDARITY. From an inequal starting situation, redistribute to compensate and help the unlucky. It would be no use if everyone received back what he contributes !! Tanko's figures show this "unlucky" status is not a question of race.Quote: DRichThey are not saying the same thing. Soxfan is relating it to contribution while Tanko is comparing it to percentage of population. They very well could both be correct and if they are I believe it states that whites are contributing 13 times as much to taxes and government and only pulling out the same amount as those contributing less..
Quote: HowManyI feel much safer now. Perhaps they should incarcerate the young man. Clearly, he is a huge threat to all of mankind.
So you can get suspended from school for:
hangman,
pointing your index finger like a gun,
bringing a plastic knife for lunch.
These are all real indcidents from the top of my head, there are probably many more.
My questions is: Is that related to U.S. gun violence in any way? Is somehow the public common sense just turned off when it comes to violence?
In the school suspension cases usually the phrase "zero tolerance policy" comes up. Is that a valid excuse for not using ones brain? Is the whole violence debate so emotional and toxic that people (on all sides of the issue) try to protect themselves by turning to complete morons?
Hey! that was a joke! There really has been a shooting in a school (as well as another in Seattle two weeks ago). There are so many that it does not even figure in the news?Quote: CanyoneroSo you can get suspended from school for:
hangman,
1. The CORPORATIONS
Aim: profit.
Means: having you buyi their stuff.
How: convince you that you are the most wretched unhappy people and that buying is the way to happiness.
2. The MEDIAS
Aim: profit.
Means: having you watch their stuff (and advertising; see 1).
How: build up all events as something very dramatic and important. Select negative news as it retains people to their TV set more than good news. Storytelling.
3. The POLITICIANS
Aim: official positions.
Means: having you vote for them.
How: convince you that the world you live in is horrible and you need them to fix it. Never ever concede that a situation is just as well as it is (or then, frighten people into believing the adversary is a dangerous revolutionary).
And you wonder why people are anxious and angry???
And you wonder why I am in favor of a system without profit and without elections?
Quote: DRichI believe it states that whites are contributing 13 times as much to taxes and government and only pulling out the same amount as those contributing less..
Where does it say that?
Doesn't matter. Whites are five times wealthier and have higher incomes. You expect them to pay more in taxes.
Whose shoes would you rather be in?
In any event, these benefits are Transfer Payments.
Cash payments these recipients spend on food, gas and other living expenses.
Transfer payments help drive the economy and sustain business.
Consequently, more jobs are saved and created, and more people pay more in taxes.
There is also something called the "Multiplier Effect"
Each of these dollars injected into the economy creates more dollars which also drive the economy.
Quote: TankoEach of these dollars injected into the economy creates more dollars which also drive the economy.
Depends where those dollars are injected, and where the dollars came from, as well. As they will also have a net drag effect when removed via taxation.
While the Utility of money shows that a dollar to a $20k/pa is more useful (and spent faster) than a dollar to someone earning $200k/pa, if you tax the top earner too much you are slowing down their multiplier effect. Which may or may not be relevant. However, injecting money back towards the bottom is far more beneficial than tax breaks for the rich... the trickle down effect is merely a trickle that dries up in harsh weather.
Quote: kubikulannAnd you wonder why I am in favor of a system without profit and without elections?
Yes, if only we were ruled by one person who seized and redistributed all our profit, the world would be a happier place.
But who gets to pick that person(s)?
I wonder whether the problem isn't the internet. Anyone can express their opinion and have it read worldwide; but rather than leading to reasoned debate of numerous ideas, it has resulted in people reading and subscribing to only those with which they agree. Eventually, those outside the circle are "extreme", and not worthy of consideration.
It's all Al Gore's fault. But please don't take this as an endorsement of the EU's "fixing" of the internet...
Quote: CalderYes, if only we were ruled by one person who seized and redistributed all our profit, the world would be a happier place.
Please tell me you are joking.
Quote: HowManyPlease tell me you are joking.
Think it was sarcasm.
It is only natural that a gambling site would attribute economic status to luck. And not intelligence, effort, honesty or hard work.Quote: kubikulannFrom an inequal starting situation, redistribute to compensate and help the unlucky. It would be no use if everyone received back what he contributes !! Tanko's figures show this "unlucky" status is not a question of race.
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
Quote: onenickelmiracleI think there are mass shootings because the people can't shoot the people they're really mad at. There would be less killings if liberty and justice was for all.
I've started doing the Pledge of Allegiance as "With Liberty and Justice for those who can afford it"
I am trying to understand your position. Do you oppose social services because it conflicts with free enterprise or because it transfers wealth from white people to African Americans and Hispanics? What violent solutions do you propose? Would this violence target all African Americans and Hispanics or just those that receive social services? What do we do about white "parasites"?Quote: soxfanIn America it is a FACT that blacks use 13.75$ worth of tax payer funded social services for every 1$ they pay in taxes, and non-White latinos are similarly parastic! So, how much more redistibution would you like? I've said it before and I will say it again, there are NO peaceful, non-violent solutions for America's problems, none, and people need to get that through their thick skulls, hey hey!
No Joke. The suspension for hangman was in Beaverton, Oregon. Happened. Real. Not joke.Quote: kubikulannHey! that was a joke!
Quote: FleaStiffNo Joke. The suspension for hangman was in Beaverton, Oregon. Happened. Real. Not joke.
The kid probably used a number 2 pencil which writes in black colors which is racist. Therefore we saved ourselves and the other students from a racist.
Quote: soxfanI said what I meant, meat what I said and I back up my play with FACTS, hey hey!
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
Useless.
Meaningless.
This is what you said:
Quote: soxfanIn America it is a FACT that blacks use 13.75$ worth of tax payer funded social services for every 1$ they pay in taxes, and non-White latinos are similarly parastic!!
The site you referenced mentions none of this.
It doesn't even provide a link to any report issued by the Dept. of Commerce or the Cato Institute..
Here's one Urban Inst. with a link to a report that says Social Security tends to redistribute money from Blacks and Hispanics to Whites.
Specifically, Whites receive $113 for every $100 paid in SS taxes, while Blacks receive $89 and Hispanics $58.
And of course under GodQuote: ncfatcatI've started doing the Pledge of Allegiance as "With Liberty and Justice for those who can afford it"
For instance, the 47% statement that was made should have brought an uproar from both sides. There is a world of difference between those drawing government checks for retirement (earned) and social security (paid into) and those living on welfare and other means of assistance. The 47% figure helps draw a picture of helplessness--everybody is on aid--and not reality.
We get bogged down in the details when we should look at the big picture--the big picture is that if you did government work and earned a retirement, you deserve the money. Does the program need adjusted? Are benefits too generous? Those are questions for discussion after we reject the proposition that 47% are living free off the government or getting aid. My military retirement is not "aid"--it is what I signed up and served 21 1/2 years to earn. Same with social security...we got all bogged down on a minor privatization thing that would have only been for something like 2% or so of the money you pay in social security tax when 2% and seeing how it turned out could be a great idea.
Looking at the big picture, we know 47% isn't really the number and the challenge, though daunting, is still a task worth taking on. It is worth fighting about (with words) and compromising where possible if the compromise really will better the situation. We aren't doing that. We demonize the other side and negotiate in bad faith. We aren't looking at helping people move up the ladder; we want to bring people down the ladder to meet the others in too many cases. We're looking at a falling tide lowering all boats rather than a rising tide raising all of them...we're letting politicians and media convince us the glass is half empty and we need to steal from someone else's glass to fill ours.
Is any of it going to be easy? Nope. We see where easy, do your own thing, and free love and all that crap got us...it is time to buckle down and do the hard work of being successful.
That is a strong enough reason to abolish the clearly badly designed program.Quote: TankoSocial Security tends to redistribute money from Blacks and Hispanics to Whites.
Obviously including non-qualified "Hispanics."Quote: TankoWhites receive $113 for every $100 paid in SS taxes, while Blacks receive $89 and Hispanics $58.
Some people are born pre-advantaged to be economically successful while others are not.
However, I find that it is happiness which is the most important factor in life, and if you look solely at your economic situation to define happiness, you aren't looking at the entire picture. You can make a million bucks a year and still be unhappy, because there are other areas in your life that you feel you are failing in (romantic, friendships, family, your relationship with the world (deity/nature/whatever), your own self-standards).
And I think the proliferation in mass-murders is because people are unhappy with life or are mentally ill and not being taken care of. Certainly, the difference between rich and poor is one factor. It is much harder today to be a part of the middle class. Entry-level jobs are harder to find. The road from making minimum wage to making a worthy income is difficult. There is more pressure to become part of the middle class.
And once you are there, there is all kinds of pressure to "be normal" and to "fit in". Some people don't develop the social skills to do that and become loners or have one friend. They may develop a mental illness and develop a warped view of the world, caused by too many hours in front of a video game and very low self-esteem.
I look at my 16 year-old daughter and all she feels is stress and anxiety: stress to do well at school, stress to choose the right path in life, stress to say the right things to the right people, stress to maintain her relationships and friendships, stress over things that were out of her control as a child that permeate her soul. And she's a good kid under alot of pressure.
Anyway, these two who killed the police officers clearly had a warped view of the world, ultra-right as they were. And the Portland shootings and all of the other mass murders are perpetrated by those who are mentally ill or have a warped view of the world. Homocides happen because people are angry and aren't thinking straight. Suicides happen because people are depressed and aren't thinking straight. People kill people, but guns make the act of killing much easier than any other weapon, drug or cliff. I am excepting the gang, criminal, and drug warfares from the list above, because the causes of those murders are due to power struggles, territorial disputes, and economics.
To those gun activists out there, it may be true that the only people who can kill a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. The problem with that notion is that while it may increase the possibility at meting out justice to those bad people, the fact is that plenty of innocent people still die because of guns. The fact is that despite the deterrent of more "good guys" with guns, for those who are warped, mentally ill, angry, depressed, or not thinking straight, they don't see that deterrent at all because they are beyond reason. This is why the presence of more guns doesn't prevent mass murders from happening. It just increases the odds of a gun getting into a bad person's hand at the wrong time.
The solution may not be to get rid of all guns, but to somehow take the guns out of the wrong hands at the right time. If we can magically do that, then there would be no reason for gun control. So the government enacts gun control measures to attempt to minimize the effect of getting the guns out of the wrong hands (there is no law that can control "time") . The end result is that 99.9% of people feel like their rights are being violated while a very small percentage of mass murders might not happen because the gun was not available. And the societal tide right now is to save the .1%.
Okay, feel free to pick it apart now.
Quote: RonC
For instance, the 47% statement that was made should have brought an uproar from both sides. There is a world of difference between those drawing government checks for retirement (earned) and social security (paid into) and those living on welfare and other means of assistance. The 47% figure helps draw a picture of helplessness--everybody is on aid--and not reality.
Much snipping to make this post shorter, but well put. I think the 47% did cause much uproar both silently and in the press, and some of it was for the very reasons you expouse. I saw commentary from vets and pensioners who were 'lumped into' that 47%, and it continues to be used as a semi-insult by some of the right, but without realizing what it means.
Sure. You never met people who work hard, are honest and intelligent, and still remain all their life in the social class where they were born? You really believe that all those billionaires are "intelligent, honest and hard working"?Quote: SanchoPanzaIt is only natural that a gambling site would attribute economic status to luck. And not intelligence, effort, honesty or hard work.
Just one question: which planet do you live on?
I'm accustomed to people not reading or not understanding what I write precisely. Please note that my comment did NOT advocate the rule of one. There are enough examples of democratic societies who choose their decisions without elections. Or less democratic ones, but who nevertheless are well-considered in the Western world (think the Catholic Church, for example).Quote: CalderQuote: kubikulann
And you wonder why I am in favor of a system without profit and without elections?
Yes, if only we were ruled by one person who seized and redistributed all our profit, the world would be a happier place.
But who gets to pick that person(s)?
Also, there is no seizing nor redistribution of profit when there is no profit. I understand profit in the limited economic sense of what is extracted from customers and/or employees after the true costs and work revenues have been paid for. (Example: when you pay your Microsoft suite, you don't add anything to the employees' revenue or the material costs. You just add to Bill Gates & friends' heap of gold. That is "profit". We can easily run a modern economy without it.)
