Lions, and Tigers and Bears, Oh, My!

[daveman]

Of course, I'm doing none of that.

Correct, and that's the answer to your question as well. If you want answers, ask real questions, not "are you still beating your wife" bullshit.

You dishonestly edited out what makes my question valid. Tsk, tsk.

 

[Dragon]

You dishonestly edited out what makes my question valid. Tsk, tsk.

Oh, you want me to address this?

The left wants to take things away from people who earned them and give them to people who didn't.

The statement is bullshit, because it confuses owning with earning. The owner of a business, unless he also works for it, doesn't earn a thing; his employees do the earning. Even if the owner does also work (and many owners especially of small businesses do), that isn't why he owns the profits the business makes. He owns those profits merely because he has title to the business, and the same is true whether he works sixteen-hour days or sits on his ass eating Twinkies while others do the work.

Capitalism isn't founded on people who earn getting what they earn. It's founded on people who earn getting LESS than the full value of what they earn, so that those who OWN as opposed to earning can skim off the difference and pocket it.

The left, in pushing for higher wages and full employment, is in fact the champion of those who earn. The right, in pushing for maximum profits, is in fact the opponent of those who earn, and the champion of those who own.

 

[daveman]

You dishonestly edited out what makes my question valid. Tsk, tsk.

Oh, you want me to address this?

The left wants to take things away from people who earned them and give them to people who didn't.

The statement is bullshit, because it confuses owning with earning. The owner of a business, unless he also works for it, doesn't earn a thing; his employees do the earning. Even if the owner does also work (and many owners especially of small businesses do), that isn't why he owns the profits the business makes. He owns those profits merely because he has title to the business, and the same is true whether he works sixteen-hour days or sits on his ass eating Twinkies while others do the work.

Capitalism isn't founded on people who earn getting what they earn. It's founded on people who earn getting LESS than the full value of what they earn, so that those who OWN as opposed to earning can skim off the difference and pocket it.

The left, in pushing for higher wages and full employment, is in fact the champion of those who earn. The right, in pushing for maximum profits, is in fact the opponent of those who earn, and the champion of those who own.

So you want to take things away from people who own them.

And you can say with a straight face that's not thievery?

You do nothing but prove my point.

 

[Dragon]

So you want to take things away from people who own them.

And you can say with a straight face that's not thievery?

Well, let's look at it this way. Over the past thirty years, government policy has discouraged union formation while encouraging outsourcing, and discouraged investment in things that create jobs while encouraging investment in financial shell-games that only redistribute money.

Because of those policies, over the past thirty years real wages have stagnated or declined, while profits and the income of the richest people have soared. So over the past thirty years, government in collusion with big business have taken billions of dollars from most of the people, who once owned that money and still should, and given it to those who currently own it.

If someone picks my pocket, that's theft.

If I find myself able to take my money back, and do, is that theft?

 

[peach174]

It happens to be the day they're dedicating the MLK statue, so it might be interesting to note...

50 years ago Conservatives were accusing Martin Luther King of being a Communist.

Nowadays, you have Conservatives running around trying to claim Martin Luther King was a Republican.

Conservatives?
It was a Democratic administration, that accused him of being a communist.

During the Freedom Riders campaign Robert F. Kennedy issued a statement as Attorney General criticizing the activities of the protesters. Kennedy admitted to Anthony Lewis that he had come to the conclusion that Martin Luther King was closely associated with members of the American Communist Party and he asked J. Edgar Hoover “to make an intensive investigation of him, to see who his companions were and also to see what other activities he was involved in… They mad that intensive investigation, and I gave them also permission to put a tap on his phone.”

Hoover reported to Kennedy that was a “Marxist” and that he was very close to Stanley Levison, who was a “secret member of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party”. Hoover informed King that Levison, who was a legal adviser to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was a member of Communist Party. However, when King refused to dismiss Levison, the Kennedys became convinced that King was himself a communist.

 

[daveman]

So you want to take things away from people who own them.

And you can say with a straight face that's not thievery?

Well, let's look at it this way. Over the past thirty years, government policy has discouraged union formation while encouraging outsourcing, and discouraged investment in things that create jobs while encouraging investment in financial shell-games that only redistribute money.

Because of those policies, over the past thirty years real wages have stagnated or declined, while profits and the income of the richest people have soared. So over the past thirty years, government in collusion with big business have taken billions of dollars from most of the people, who once owned that money and still should, and given it to those who currently own it.

If someone picks my pocket, that's theft.

If I find myself able to take my money back, and do, is that theft?

What, exactly, was taken from you personally?

Hint: Nothing.

You're just trying to find a justification for your covetousness. You want what you haven't worked for.

 

[Dragon]

What, exactly, was taken from you personally?

What makes you think that this movement is all for my benefit, personally?

Since it's not, what makes you think that was in any way a relevant question?

In fact, though, the answer you supplied yourself is incorrect. Without the skewing of wealth to the top, most workers, including me, would have made about 50% more money over the three decades from 1980 to the present. All of that money that I would have made under more benign government policies was taken from me, personally.