priciples.
Next, keep in mind that govn't isn't supposed to be the force behind helping thy neighbor. Man is. I've said it before, we 'are our brothers keeper'. WOE unto those who refuse this God given edict.
"He who is first shall be last". "He who thinks he is something, is nothing". "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to get to heaven". Need I go on?
I'm the last person most people on here would call religious, but by my own way of thinking, I've always found the following words in the Gospel rather compelling: "the last shall be the first, and the first shall be the last."
Perhaps that's the approach we need to take in solving the problems with our economy. The poor should be given the first consideration. The wealthy should be given the last consideration.
priciples.
Next, keep in mind that govn't isn't supposed to be the force behind helping thy neighbor. Man is. I've said it before, we 'are our brothers keeper'. WOE unto those who refuse this God given edict.
"He who is first shall be last". "He who thinks he is something, is nothing". "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to get to heaven". Need I go on?
...I find these values important. And I agree that we should be our brother's keeper. All I'm saying is that it would be nice if gov't was on the same page since they can do more about this problem then I could ever hope to.
Just take care of these people, because they can't fend for themselves? We are already a nation of entitlements. I really don't want to hear about your top marginal tax rate of 94%, or trade protectionism measures. That shit ain't going to happen in your lifetime. Got it?
We have a huge segment of society that unfortunately can't compete in a global competitive environment. They lack the education, skills and competencies to succeed. Just transferring money from one group to another and using the government as the middle man to dictate who gets what and when is not the answer.
The government cant resolve this economic situation as long as the capitalist class sees no problem with it. The US needs to come to terms with a 9% permanent unemployment rate.
with your 2nd sentence. Bet you did a double take for a second.
St. we have a government that with each and every decision they make, the one thing they always ask is "how can this benefit the wealthy." They manage to figure that out pretty easily. I'm sure they can figure something else out.
If you think the problem is that Americans can't compete in a global environment, then try living off 10 cents an hour like they do in Vietnam.
If the Vietnamese can live on 10 cent an hour and be OK with it the US would do well to get some economic advice from them. After all, The Vietnamese are really good at teaching the capitalist class how things should be done.
stopping and rethinking misplaced priorities and brain dead ideas. There are many government programs that is been going on for 50, 60, 70 years. They keep get funding due to lack of courage by our brain dead politicians. We have dumbed down our schools to the lowest common denominator and our teachers hate accountability. Universities have to go outside and recruit to fill science and math classes.
Like John Kennedy said, the time has come for us to ask: "Ask not what the country can do for you, ask yourself". We have become nation of selfish pigs!
This is an intersting one. Seems a gate to the old city of Jerusalem, not sure but the East gate was actually called the "Eye of the Needle". It was rather narrow and covered with a Roman Arch. The quote then refers to a rich man, one who has heavly laden camels packed with goods to enter thru the Eye of the needle or east gate.
And some ppl are living off less than the poverty amount established by govt guidelines. I wonder if it will ever get better. Its so sad. I know ppl who've lost literally everything.
should make the running dogs of capitalism very proud. All you capitalist's lackeys can point to this economy and explain to everyone why you thing capitalism is so great!
The market is forward looking. It is increasing because current economic vectors portend better times ahead. I am a supporter, not a fan, but a supporter of President Obama. Obama could have made wiser decisions like focusing on jobs before health care, but his overall direction is right and in the country's best long term interests.
I am a capitalist lackey. No other system improves lives as fast or provides sustained well being as efficiently. Today's problem is not capitalism as much as it is greed. A capitalist sees needs and envisions ways to meet those needs and make a living for him or her and for employees. The goal of a capitalist is not to own a large home with multiple luxury cars, but to build products and organizations that will exist, produce useful products and prosper long after he or she is dead. To often today we see business people like an Ellison or a Trump bastardizing capitalism, turning it into what you claim to loath.
I have a challenge for you. If you hate capitalism so much, change it to what you feel it should be. As way to provide useful and even life saving products to your fellow humankind. Put your ass on the line and start a business that mirrors your values and serves as a testament to the best in human values. Work your ass off to grow that business while having profits made from it provide your employees with excellent salary and benefits, and most importantly, a piece of mind against economic uncertainty. You can spend your time and life complaining about how fucked up capitalism is, how it rapes poor and middle class americans. Or you can transform business in america to what you believe it should be. What is your choice? Regardless of what choice you make, there are men and women out this very minute transforming businesses of all types. Those are the people that I am glad to be among and admire.
My initial point was the difference between what motivates the 2 economic systems. Capitalism is motivated by profit. End of story. I don't hate capitalism any more than I love communism. I think your perception of what capitalism is, is incorrect. Capitalists are a class that have devised a set of rules that give them ownership of surplus value produced by the working class. All profit is derived from surplus value which is derived from low wages. Microsoft pays a group of workers $100 to create Windows. Microsoft sells each copy of Windows for $200. Microsoft sells 1m copies of Windows. The workers get $100 and Microsoft gets the rest. There is $199.9M in surplus value in that transaction that is withheld from the workers that created Windows. That sir is how capitalism works. The motive for using capitalism is always profit.
I lost everything in CAlif. in an earthquake, and I mean everything. I walked away from my apartment with my life savings of $300, the clothes on my back. The building collasped, job gone, car gone. After the doctor bill for stiches I didn't have enough for a stand up whore and $5.00 bottle of booze.
You get a new job, save, invest and with a little luck and a little time the cars I drive are paid for, the Brandy comes in a velvet bag and my ATF wears Prada. That's why most of the commie bastards want to move to America. Yea were down no but we will surive, come back, we always have.
As for the really poor, if you able to work and all the qualifications you have is to pick fruit, then pick fruit. People make choices, we all did. Mine was to get a college degree somehow, work 18 hr days for 30 years save and invest. Others choose to fuck off, drink, drugs and wallow in the shit.
Those that are destitute due to bad luck and can't provide for themself have charatable instutions and Gov. assistance for the most part. Yes I'm sure there are a few who fall thru the saftey net just as there are a few who live off the system and are capable of working at some menial task.
Like Communism, the war on poverty didn't work. You can't give anyone success. The absolute best thing you can do for the poor is give their children a damn good education.
Medicare was an anti poverty program that has worked, the poverty rate of elders has been cut to one third of what it was when the program was launched. The minimum wage is an anti poverty program that has lifted many beyond the reach of depravation.
All for capitalism, but not letting it get out of hand where deflated wages due to too many immigrants and foreign outsourcing willing to work for much less and then the dollars are sent to those foreign countries where the dollar is gold in terms of buying power anyways. I suggest it's both a runaway capitalism and government problem. corporations are becoming like 19th century again and jobs are sweatshop jobs again even though everyone is far more educated. But education isn't helping much as we see now. internships and corporate training are gone or mostly going to foreign workers. Government wasteful overspending is adding to the 11 trillion+ debt causing the Fed to print more money inflating the dollar and adding to the problem of living costs and costs of doing business and the vicious cycle of taxes again on individuals and businesses. GDP growing more slowly but yet still higher than it ever was. Because workers are forced to be more productive sometimes doing the work of other laid off workers. what happened to those days where one spouse could support the family back in the 50's and 60's. Put the military on the state borders with Mexico. Radical idea heard: why not just invade and annex Mexico. it's a corrupt drug trafficking dictatorship country anyways and all it's citizens all want American benefits and health technology. If it's part of the U.S. maybe they can all pay taxes and jobs will be made processing the oil there instead of it now being sold to China.
...class mobility in the United States is lower than in any other industrialized nation. In other words, we have an economic system that is the best out of any other nation if you're poor to becoming middle class, and if you're middle class from getting rich.
You'll also notice that most of the immigration to the United States is from 3rd world countries. The fields look more green here if you're from Ghana, but not if you're from Germany.
The war on poverty actually cut poverty in half. The extrapolated projections from the early 70's had poverty eliminated by the turn of the century. Of course, then it was abandoned, and then called a failure after it was defunded.
But I'm not talking about establishing new entitlements. I'm talking about turning the tables so that the economic rules of the game benefit the little guy instead of the rich.
I'm saying that JL is the exception to the rule, assuming he's telling the truth.
Pelosi's Democrat predecessor as House Speaker that claimed the successful were simply winners in life's lottery.
Why is it that the mark of "success" is being wealthy? I've seen a lot of wealthy failures in my life.
But the very essence of your response rings true for a dictatorial socialist.
what you say. Upward mobility is damn difficult. My grandparents came here from Norway. Damn poor. My father had a 3rd grade education. Damn poor. I left home when I was 17 day after graduation. It takes on average 3 generations to move up. My sister is married to a doctor and lives in a million dollar house.
I live pretty damn good. Her is the point that is very hard for the liberals and help the poor crockadile teary eyed do gooder's never understand. When you give money to the poor all you are doing is raising rabbits. Most of them are uneducated and will throw the money away, loose it, spend it on drugs or liquor.
If we would provide the absolute best education to the children of the poor, really all children, we could cut the poor in this country by a hell of a lot and it would last a lot longer. But it would take a generation or two.
Surely not the capitalist class. You will educate your children for the capitalist. The capitalist class will then exploit your children. People come to the US because the US economy has room to support them.
Labor regulation in the US is lax to non existent.
Doubt Charlie's down for that.
It is the mind of the secular statist that sees this need and thinks that using the power of government to impose it's will on its subjects to carry out his religious convictions. Then they elect schisters who make a living off the skim.
(with an exceptional cover by Rage Against The Machine)
Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest
The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct
The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
took on a life of his own outside of the page of The Grapes of Wrath.
Don't think Woodie Guthrie read many books but he read that one, and wrote the first song about Tom Joad. Bob Dylan used to sing that song in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s to a "who's who" audience of unknowns who would late be some of our greatest folk artists.
Bruce got to the essence of the character when he reinvented the song and his version is my favorite. Don't care much for the rock covers of the song, however, this is one that should be done with just pure acoustic guitar. Hard not to think of an incredibly young Henry Fonda whenever I hear it.