America = 20th Century, Rest of World = 21st Century

[MarkG]

getting answers
asking the proper questions

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Chicago doesn't have the money Singapore does.

Of course it does. I can't believe Frosty fell for that one and desregarded all the other common sense responses in this thread.

[Colon™]

Hafta say I don't quite get Rufus' reply either. The territory of the City of Chicago is barely smaller than that of Singapore so the distinction city/country hardly matters, unless he's saying the rest of the US (minus other cities?) is sucking Chicago dry of funds.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
Let's play a game.

Top is Singapore, bottom Chicago.

Singapore: Spot a car made in the 80's

Chicago: Spot a car made in the 90's.

That's a 1980s British road. Somewhere outside London I guess?

You've got an old style black cab and a Routemaster in the picture and everything.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Colon™
Hafta say I don't quite get Rufus' reply either. The territory of the City of Chicago is barely smaller than that of Singapore so the distinction city/country hardly matters, unless he's saying the rest of the US (minus other cities?) is sucking Chicago dry of funds.

I'm not sure why it would be confusing. In North America, cities collect very small fraction of the total taxes paid, and pretty much only taxes that go directly to the cities are used for urban infrastructure. In contrast, a city-state like Singapore benefits by getting a share of whatever national taxes are paid for infrastructure.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
It took 10 pages to get that answer.

A: Because it was ****ing obvious

B: because it's more fun making fun of you

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Colon™
Hafta say I don't quite get Rufus' reply either. The territory of the City of Chicago is barely smaller than that of Singapore so the distinction city/country hardly matters, unless he's saying the rest of the US (minus other cities?) is sucking Chicago dry of funds.

In the U.S., federal funds tend to flow away from cities and to the rural areas and away from the North to the South. Chicago does quite a bit of subsidizing of rural areas. Also, as most people who work in the city live in the suburbs, the cities also subsidize the suburbs as well, just not through the government. Tax money flows from suburbs back to the urban core, but not a lot because suburbanites are greedy ****ers with little social responsibility.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Kidicious


Of course it does. I can't believe Frosty fell for that one and desregarded all the other common sense responses in this thread.

Not really. Take the average income of a Chicagoan. Now, subtract from that income by the amount of money that a Chicagoan gives to the Feds and the state of Illinois in taxes (at least 30%, I'd guess). There's suddenly a lot less money in Chicago. Then factor in the fact that city officials are much easier to throw out of office than state or federal officials, even in Chicago, so there's a natural political limit to how much tax revenue cities can collect; so even if there is more money in Chicago, the government of Chicago has less real ability to extract it for its own use.

Now, by contrast, also consider the fact that Singapore is approximately the same size as Chicago, but has twice as many people living in it and so double the tax base. Now add to that the fact that Singapore is not just a city but also a sovereign nation, and so can collect taxes an American city can't -- like customs taxes, for example, which are no small thing given that Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world.

"More money in Singapore" may not be true (I have no idea one way or the other), but it was shorthand for "more tax revenues in the coffers of the government of Singapore," and that seems to me beyond dispute.

edit: Or, to think it differently, imagine if all the money paid in taxes by Chicagoans went soley to the city of Chicago, as it teh case with Singaporeans and Singapore. Chicago would be one seriously shiny place.

[FrostyBoy]

Originally posted by Kidicious


Of course it does. I can't believe Frosty fell for that one and desregarded all the other common sense responses in this thread.

You'd be surprised how filthy rich this country is.. kind of sickening

[DaShi]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


A: Because it was ****ing obvious

B: because it's more fun making fun of you

QFT

One thing you learn when travelling is that it's pretty dumb to make plain comparisons.

[FrostyBoy]

Strange. I thought it was more obvious that if someone was asking the QUESTION, then he wouldn't have KNOWN the answer?

And 11 pages of crap could have been condensed to say 1 page? Oh well!

In the end though, the answer still brings in good discussion, America has a problem, and that was the conclusion I had, and that is the conclusion the answer has.

[-Jrabbit]

You yourself admitted it was a troll. We just helped to make the troll successful, to the tune of over 300 total posts.

[DaShi]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
Strange. I thought it was more obvious that if someone was asking the QUESTION, then he wouldn't have KNOWN the answer?

And 11 pages of crap could have been condensed to say 1 page? Oh well!

Had you asked the question properly, then yes. Your way made you look like a brainless douche, hence 11 pages of crap. Refer to my earlier post on what you should have learned.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
Strange. I thought it was more obvious that if someone was asking the QUESTION, then he wouldn't have KNOWN the answer?

And 11 pages of crap could have been condensed to say 1 page? Oh well!

In the end though, the answer still brings in good discussion, America has a problem, and that was the conclusion I had, and that is the conclusion the answer has.

Rather, you discovered you have a problem with America.

[-Jrabbit]

QFT.