Originally posted by Dauphin
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Who are American politicians beholden to? The People? The Constitution?
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Originally posted by kentonio View PostI love when you guys mention Greece
Was reminded by watching the Aussie film 'Head On'- it had a well-known Greek song about the violent junta response to the students in the Athens Polytechnic on the soundtrack....Vive la liberte. Noor Inayat Khan, Dachau.
...patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. Edith Cavell, 1915
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Originally posted by PLATO View PostMy problem is that when you have these social contracts that a certain segment of the population begins to rely on them instead of relying on themselves...certainly a recipe for disaster in the long run.A lot of Republicans are not racist, but a lot of racists are Republican.
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Originally posted by kentonio View PostI love when you guys mention Greece to push your idiotic talking points about how terrible Europe is. It's kind of like using Mississippi as an example of how utterly backwards America must be.
None of which had anything to do with the subject. Capitalism isn't responsible for the problems Europe has faced in the last century or so, except in providing Marxists a target. Social policy spending is the problem in the countries I've listed. In Greece they gave government-job-for-life guarantees to left wing protestors who couldn't hold down a real job. These are the guys who've driven up labor costs, waste, and corruption in state-owned telecom, water, power, fuel and mining. The austerity program requires privatizing a portion of these industries to raise €50B and lower costs through competition.Let's be vaguely honest here, blah blah blah.
Many Americans came from oppressive regimes and war-torn Europe and now recognize the same creeping socialist tyranny they left behind. Quit whining about your past and using it as an excuse for failure.When you Americans talk about the evils of socialism, you just sound incredibly naive to people who actually lived through repressive regimes, domestic war and constant turmoil.
I don't know what country you come from. Try starting a business and you'll find out how much oppressive control your government exerts.Basic socialism to us IS freedom. The freedom to live, work and raise families without an oppressive level of control imposed by government or corporations.
No, socialism is the pyramid scheme, always thinking somebody else will foot the bill when the government promises fail. The government has no magical powers to make any guarantee a reality except in taking by force from somebody else, and even then sometimes there isn't enough to be seized to make good. That's what happened in Greece, and now everybody is whining about losing benefits their economy could never support to begin with. Cry me a river.How are you free if you are at the utter mercy of an employer who can fire you at will, pay you anything they like and leave you destitute and without access to medical care if anything goes wrong in your life? A basic level of socialism should be the ultimate American dream, all men created equal and with the same opportunities. Unfettered capitalism is the ultimate pyramid scheme.
The concept of an employer who can't fire you at will is absurdity. If you are dependent upon the government to guarantee your income and medical care you are no more free than if you are dependent on an employer.
Originally posted by molly bloom View PostWhich was ruled by a right wing junta between 1967 and 1974, and a Conservative government between 1974-1981 & 1990-1993. Rather pointless blaming Greece's financial woes simply on Socialism.(\__/) Save a bunny, eat more Smurf!
(='.'=) Sponsored by the National Smurfmeat Council
(")_(") Smurf, the original blue meat! © 1999, patent pending, ® and ™ (except that "Smurf" bit)
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Originally posted by Straybow View PostThe American success story is that you don't need a government program to get out of some backwater hick town. Nobody owes you anything, and the sooner you realize that the sooner you can get off your duff and do something for yourself in the workplace.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostNone of which had anything to do with the subject. Capitalism isn't responsible for the problems Europe has faced in the last century or so, except in providing Marxists a target. Social policy spending is the problem in the countries I've listed. In Greece they gave government-job-for-life guarantees to left wing protestors who couldn't hold down a real job. These are the guys who've driven up labor costs, waste, and corruption in state-owned telecom, water, power, fuel and mining. The austerity program requires privatizing a portion of these industries to raise €50B and lower costs through competition.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostMany Americans came from oppressive regimes and war-torn Europe and now recognize the same creeping socialist tyranny they left behind. Quit whining about your past and using it as an excuse for failure.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostI don't know what country you come from. Try starting a business and you'll find out how much oppressive control your government exerts.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostNo, socialism is the pyramid scheme, always thinking somebody else will foot the bill when the government promises fail. The government has no magical powers to make any guarantee a reality except in taking by force from somebody else, and even then sometimes there isn't enough to be seized to make good.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostThe concept of an employer who can't fire you at will is absurdity.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostIf you are dependent upon the government to guarantee your income and medical care you are no more free than if you are dependent on an employer.
P.S. Please stop talking about Greece, you're looking more and more idiotic every time you do it.
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Originally posted by kentonio View PostP.S. Please stop talking about Greece, you're looking more and more idiotic every time you do it.“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.â€
- John 13:34-35 (NRSV)
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Originally posted by kentonio View PostWhich is why you have people living in levels of poverty that would never be tolerated in western Europe, and hey they may have grown up hungry in a ghetto, but they should have just worked harder right? Pathetic.
I guarantee you, people living in poverty have choices. They're being told it isn't their fault, and they have a choice to blame "the man" or not. The ones who don't are the ones who make it out of the ghetto.
No, apparently you don't understand what you're talking about. You're very strong about voicing your opinion but strangely weak on actual argument. So tell me, what do you think the Greeks were spending all that government money on? Whose governing model were they following? You seem to think only evil capitalists exploit the people and cause such suffering.Firstly you don't understand what the hell you're talking about, and second its utterly irrelevant to any serious discussion about Europe. Seriously, please stop trying to use ****ty countries like Greece as an example of anything.
Apparently you do, since you are convinced your evil countrymen were poisoning the rivers and throwing little old ladies down staircases until the government stepped in to rescue you.I'm from England, and don't have any problems at all with my past.
Yes, your people, well-to-do or poor, know nothing else after 70 years. You're convinced that without the government nanny you'd be kicked to the curb when your kidneys fail or what have you. All political parties have a vested interest in not upsetting that apple cart. The fact is that the NHS sucks. The rich, of course, can fly to Switzerland, the US, or anywhere else they please for anything they don't trust to your NHS, or fly in the doctors and treatments it won't provide for them. And they do.Even in our highly capitalist country however we have a guaranteed level of socialism that the population would literally overthrow any government if they tried to remove. This is why I know that like so many Americans you are utterly retarded on the subject of socialism. We've had socialized medicine for over 70 years, and you could probably count on one hand the number of people in the country rich or poor who'd want to get rid of it. All your bull**** about evil government and socialism being the poor stealing from the rich is just that, bull****.
Originally posted by LA TimesIn April, the British Medical Journal published an article about two studies conducted by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund. The studies compared the healthcare systems of 14 advanced countries, and on the 20 measures of comparison, Britain's centralized National Health Service performed well in 13, indifferently in two and badly in five.
On several measures, the NHS came out the worst of all the systems examined. For example, it ranked worst for five-year survival rates in cervical, breast and colon cancers. It was also worst for 30-day mortality rates after admission to a hospital for either hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. On only one clinical measure was it best: the avoidance of amputation of the foot in diabetic gangrene.
This hardly seems like a cause for national rejoicing, yet according to the report, the British were the most satisfied with their healthcare of all the populations surveyed...
One explanation is ignorance... In my youth, I often heard the refrain that the NHS was "the envy of the world," and people in Britain are still inclined to believe that, even though they probably have never met anyone who envied the NHS and, indeed, probably know Continental Europeans residing in Britain who hurry home as soon as they require medical treatment, horrified by the prospect of subjecting themselves to a British hospital.
Oh, yes. Of course, evil capitalists are always keen to poison the land and people at every opportunity. Apparently you think that is a cogent argument, and then call me an idiot.Sure, it's much better to let factories poison the rivers and air, employers force their employees to work in dangerous unsanitary conditions, and to not worry about things like lead in kids toys or dangerous flammable furniture or any of the other million reasons why government regulations over business exist. We tried it your way for centuries, and people got tired of being treated like **** so some ****er with no sense of social responsibility could turn a buck.I don't know what country you come from. Try starting a business and you'll find out how much oppressive control your government exerts.
Second, I didn't say start a major manufacturing concern, I said, "start a business." Just try opening a shop and hiring one person, and you'll find yourself in a quagmire of bureaucratic nonsense. You'll find out how much the NHS really costs when you have to pay the employer's share of the employee's "contribution." You'll find out how much the unemployment and welfare system really costs when you have to pony that up. And here you are, arguing with me about how great your system is just because nobody you know is smart enough to complain.
If only it were a "small portion." In your case, much of it is hidden from you in the form of the VAT. It imposes a hefty tax at every level of commerce. You actually think that "the man" has to pay it, but the "the man" doesn't get a dime unless he gets it from you. You have to buy the product for him to pay anything, and if you buy the product you are paying the tax for him. I know it's a difficult concept to grasp. Keep trying and it may come to you.Socialism is civilized people contributing a small proportion of their wages to ensure that everyone can be provided with a decent life, including the payee. We recognize that civilization is about society not about selfish ****** with wild west fantasies believing that it's every man for himself.
If you look at real GDP growth the curves show the interdependence of global economics. When the housing crisis hit the US everyone suffered. But there's a big difference between each of the countries, an offset that corresponds very closely to the degree of socialism each country has saddled itself with. I suppose that's just coincidence. It couldn't have anything to do with government inefficiency and waste in those lovely socialized programs. It couldn't have anything to do with siphoning off productivity and killing job creation through taxation.
Yes, it is representative of the people, and they are thoroughly ignorant. I'm willing to admit I wouldn't make a good health care administrator. But for some reason you think the blowhards you send to Parliament are qualified to appoint the bureaucrats who make all those decisions for you, and for all the other people including the ones who really could do a better job of it in the private sector. They have an incentive to tell you the NHS is "the envy of the world" even when it isn't: so you'll vote for them. Keep trying and the concept may come to you.Government is dependent on the people, it has no incentive to **** people. It IS the people. The government isn't just a small group of top people trying to turn a profit, it's actually representative.If you are dependent upon the government to guarantee your income and medical care you are no more free than if you are dependent on an employer.
Why, because it makes my point too well? Just because you disagree with me doesn't make me an idiot. It could very well be you who is the idiot. How would you tell the difference? The facts point are not in your favor. Greece was doing what the rest of Europe does, just not as well.P.S. Please stop talking about Greece, you're looking more and more idiotic every time you do it.(\__/) Save a bunny, eat more Smurf!
(='.'=) Sponsored by the National Smurfmeat Council
(")_(") Smurf, the original blue meat! © 1999, patent pending, ® and ™ (except that "Smurf" bit)
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Hey Stray, why not talk about socialist Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Austria, even Belgium?!? (with their constitutional crises) , actually more than half of Europe instead?
For one they are more! socialst than Greece, Spain, Portugal or Ireland... but surprise surprise are doing betterr than the US, lower levels of unemployment, raising wages. Probably the most socialist of them all is Norway, and it's doing the best. Noone mention the natural resources as many other coutries have them too, but are not doing nearly as well as they are.
An interesting point about NHS is that it is probably the worst !?! national health service in the western world, but it still beats the US system in most important ways, and people would rather overthrow the government as opposed to not having it, and they are right too. USians when they clearly cannot compare with the average (let alone the best), pick the worst and try to make their arguments.
Anyhow - your ball is in wrong court. There are issues with Greece, Spain, EU as well, but they are certainly not socialism, or actually the "social policies" that are not real socialism, at least not by textbook definition.
This has been discussed here to death, in other EU "issues" related threads and one of the main points for European problems is having a common currency without having common institutions (plus a way they are imposed on the continent through the crisis without proper democratic process in addition). The problems are pretty clear but due to the history of the EU as an organization they are not being tackled in a sensible way, but instead of with US republican type solutions (austerity to the hilt) which are creating the massive unemployment and years of unnecessary pain the the countries who are at the "uncompetitive labour" end of the stick - namely Greece (fully deserved on all levels, as Dauphin mentioned a third world country with access to first world finance) and Spain (purely private sector caused, or if anything to be faulted from the governmnent is lack of additional regulation of some sectors - mostly banking and construction, when the time to deflate the "obvious" bubbles wha right, which was before the US started crisis). In short socialism has nothing to do with Europe's problems.
Socrates: "Good is That at which all things aim, If one knows what the good is, one will always do what is good." Brian: "Romanes eunt domus"
GW 2013: "and juistin bieber is gay with me and we have 10 kids we live in u.s.a in the white house with obama"
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Originally posted by Straybow View Post
If you look at real GDP growth the curves show the interdependence of global economics. When the housing crisis hit the US everyone suffered. But there's a big difference between each of the countries, an offset that corresponds very closely to the degree of socialism each country has saddled itself with. I suppose that's just coincidence. It couldn't have anything to do with government inefficiency and waste in those lovely socialized programs. It couldn't have anything to do with siphoning off productivity and killing job creation through taxation.One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.
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Also for that graph, here is one from world bank, from 2003 to 2011 though, but you can see the divergence on the above graph allegedly happening all along.
I have added a few more countries, just to show how current socialist heaven - Norway, really performes in comparison... and again for the record, there are many other countries with natural resources which are not using them nearly as efficiently as this country which is socialist for Germany, let alone UK or US. This chart is in current USD.
Data from World BankSocrates: "Good is That at which all things aim, If one knows what the good is, one will always do what is good." Brian: "Romanes eunt domus"
GW 2013: "and juistin bieber is gay with me and we have 10 kids we live in u.s.a in the white house with obama"
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Originally posted by Straybow View PostI suppose you think we don't spend anything on welfare, WIC, and dozens of other programs to help the poor.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostDo you really think your counsel housing is any better than the US ghettos? No.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostAnd for that you can only blame yourselves, because your socialism created the counsel housing instead of creating jobs so the poor schlubs could earn better housing. It makes you feel good to think you're "doing something" when really you are perpetuating the poverty just as much as the American system does. You cannot legislate poverty away, and the more you try, the more you spend yourself into the poor house with little to no effect.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostI guarantee you, people living in poverty have choices. They're being told it isn't their fault, and they have a choice to blame "the man" or not. The ones who don't are the ones who make it out of the ghetto.
Socialism is about trying to ensure that everyone has a fair chance at life, rather than the money and opportunity always rising up to an increasingly small elite while everyone else stays at the bottom. You may dream of a future where the privileged live in gated communities while the dirty masses rot in squalor, but to us that kind of dystopian future is the stuff of nightmares.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostNo, apparently you don't understand what you're talking about. You're very strong about voicing your opinion but strangely weak on actual argument. So tell me, what do you think the Greeks were spending all that government money on? Whose governing model were they following? You seem to think only evil capitalists exploit the people and cause such suffering.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostApparently you do, since you are convinced your evil countrymen were poisoning the rivers and throwing little old ladies down staircases until the government stepped in to rescue you.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostYes, your people, well-to-do or poor, know nothing else after 70 years. You're convinced that without the government nanny you'd be kicked to the curb when your kidneys fail or what have you.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostThe fact is that the NHS sucks. The rich, of course, can fly to Switzerland, the US, or anywhere else they please for anything they don't trust to your NHS, or fly in the doctors and treatments it won't provide for them. And they do.
The magic of the NHS is that nobody falls through the net. Nobody gets sick and has to start worrying about whether they can afford a doctor or whether they should just ride it out and hope its nothing serious. Oh and you know what? If people want to pay for faster treatment or better rooms, we also have a private healthcare industry that allows them to do so. The number of people who would bother flying to the US for treatment is so minuscule as to be irrelevant. Considering the US has some of the best top level treatment in the world though, good on them if they can afford it. The shame is that so few Americans can either.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostOh, yes. Of course, evil capitalists are always keen to poison the land and people at every opportunity. Apparently you think that is a cogent argument, and then call me an idiot.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostSecond, I didn't say start a major manufacturing concern, I said, "start a business." Just try opening a shop and hiring one person, and you'll find yourself in a quagmire of bureaucratic nonsense. You'll find out how much the NHS really costs when you have to pay the employer's share of the employee's "contribution." You'll find out how much the unemployment and welfare system really costs when you have to pony that up. And here you are, arguing with me about how great your system is just because nobody you know is smart enough to complain.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostIf only it were a "small portion." In your case, much of it is hidden from you in the form of the VAT. It imposes a hefty tax at every level of commerce. You actually think that "the man" has to pay it, but the "the man" doesn't get a dime unless he gets it from you. You have to buy the product for him to pay anything, and if you buy the product you are paying the tax for him. I know it's a difficult concept to grasp. Keep trying and it may come to you.
We're quite aware of what we pay out thank you, and we do so knowing that having to pay for those things ourselves would require a far larger proportion of earnings. This is why your healthcare is so utterly ****ed, by buying our services en masse we can ensure far lower costs for all. It's called single payer, you might want to look it up.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostIf you look at real GDP growth the curves show the interdependence of global economics. When the housing crisis hit the US everyone suffered. But there's a big difference between each of the countries, an offset that corresponds very closely to the degree of socialism each country has saddled itself with. I suppose that's just coincidence. It couldn't have anything to do with government inefficiency and waste in those lovely socialized programs. It couldn't have anything to do with siphoning off productivity and killing job creation through taxation.
Originally posted by Straybow View PostThey have an incentive to tell you the NHS is "the envy of the world" even when it isn't: so you'll vote for them. Keep trying and the concept may come to you.
Total Healthcare expenditure as % of GDP:
USA: 17.6%
UK: 9.6%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...PP)_per_capita
Life Expectancy:
UK: 79.58 Years
USA: 77.97 Years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ife_expectancy
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/News...Countries.aspx
Please tell me more about how efficient your system is.
Oh and let's not forget..
Originally posted by WikiPreventable deaths
In 2009, lack of health insurance was responsible for about 45,000 excess preventable deaths in the U.S. Since then, as the number of uninsured has risen from about 46 million in 2009 to 48.6 million in 2012, the number of preventable deaths due to lack of insurance has grown to about 48,000 per year.
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Originally posted by Sava View Postcapcom debates are perhaps the most idiotic
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Originally posted by kentonio View PostPlease tell me more about how efficient your system is.I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio
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