yes, i'm running as a socialist

[Tehon]

Well, I can understand that. There's just something about Americans (and it may be true of other countries, of course), that we just love to knee-jerk too far in every direction whenever we get the chance.

To me, the question right now is about momentum. Those who demonize capitalism and success definitely have it, and I don't see much slowing that down.

Seems to me the discussion should be about where on the continuum we want to be, not about one end or the other. If we stay in a zero-sum discussion, my guess is that those who demonize capitalism and success will ultimately win.
.

It doesn't matter anymore, the cards are already on the table. Most folks live in the "present" but us capitalists live in the "future" - we saw the writing on the wall long, long ago and that's why we started moving our money out of the US.

I think you're right. This is most likely over, and that includes our culture.
.

I'm more worried about the nation than "culture." Freedom dies with America...

I've been there, I was ready to leave the country before Trump got elected - I was stunned honestly. While I agree the future is dim, I do still have some hope; the next generation is coming back to their senses. They can see how ridiculous the things the socialists want are. Even a lot of millennial can see how badly socialism is going to turn out and no longer vote left. If we can make it through a bit less than a decade of socialism I think we'll have the weight to pull out of the tailspin. I hope we have enough pull to do it, but it's not going to be easy given how fluid business is in the global market. (This is why I'm not complaining about Trump reigning in free trade a bit - I'm a "national" capitalist rather than a "free trade" capitalist.)

One things for sure, the [smart] businesses and us [smart] wealthy folks will ride the storm so /if/ America comes back to capitalism, we will return.

I look at the culture and the health of the country overall as two absolutely linked things.

As the culture has decayed, as we've continued to lower our standards and enable poor behaviors, the decay has spread to every corner of the society.

I look at our decaying culture, our willingness to lower standards everywhere, as the key to our decline.
.

Nearly everything you speak of is at least in part due to the invasion of socialism. In the old days, if you were a shitty person, you got shunned, shot, and/or ended up dying via natural selection. Socialism encourages weakness on purpose, because the weak are easy to rob blind and to control. The "culture" of the "stronger" individuals you are talking about still thrives in America, it's just hidden, because the weak have been given the reigns to the media - the individuals just keep their mouth shut because they've got work to do. There's a damn good reason I didn't start talking about my political views in public until /after/ I retired heh

Media moguls are weak in your mind? The very people that promote the national dialogue and sell you your delusions?

 

[Tehon]

Obviously you don't think about it, you want others to believe that socialism = totalitarianism which is a damn lie.

We will remain a Democratic Republic, and the people will respond every two years telling those in power what they approve of, and what they reject.

They believe that the Democrats promote a system of redistribution. They are not wrong nor are they wrong in portraying redistribution as theft.

And your representatives will continue to ignore you and do the bidding of those they actually represent, the ruling class. There is even truth in portraying our political system as totalitarian.

Inverted totalitarianism - Wikipedia

 

[EverCurious]

Truth is we started that shit out of kindness, to share the wealth, it was a combination of charity and good will toward fellow American's that deserved it.

Us capitalists did our part, we paid in faithfully pay check after paycheck knowing we'd get jack shit out of it - knowing that /we/ could have been a shit ton more productive with all the billions we put into these programs.

And the takers shit on us every turn, despise us for making something like this even a possibility - and then they throw this "charity" in our face as a reason we should give more and more and more.

We learned our lesson. Fuck em. Never again will I, and many other capitalists, stick our neck out to "help" our "fellow" American's who hate us simply for being successful. We will fight every law, every regulation, every tax, and every program because we know damn well now that it will come out of /our/ pockets alone. More and more take and take and never put in. THIS is why socialism /always/ fails - and here too these programs, these "charities," will fail because the government can't be trusted, the people cannot be trusted, and socialism, in any form, cannot be trusted.

Well, I can understand that. There's just something about Americans (and it may be true of other countries, of course), that we just love to knee-jerk too far in every direction whenever we get the chance.

To me, the question right now is about momentum. Those who demonize capitalism and success definitely have it, and I don't see much slowing that down.

Seems to me the discussion should be about where on the continuum we want to be, not about one end or the other. If we stay in a zero-sum discussion, my guess is that those who demonize capitalism and success will ultimately win.
.

It doesn't matter anymore, the cards are already on the table. Most folks live in the "present" but us capitalists live in the "future" - we saw the writing on the wall long, long ago and that's why we started moving our money out of the US.

I think you're right. This is most likely over, and that includes our culture.
.

I'm more worried about the nation than "culture." Freedom dies with America...

I've been there, I was ready to leave the country before Trump got elected - I was stunned honestly. While I agree the future is dim, I do still have some hope; the next generation is coming back to their senses. They can see how ridiculous the things the socialists want are. Even a lot of millennial can see how badly socialism is going to turn out and no longer vote left. If we can make it through a bit less than a decade of socialism I think we'll have the weight to pull out of the tailspin. I hope we have enough pull to do it, but it's not going to be easy given how fluid business is in the global market. (This is why I'm not complaining about Trump reigning in free trade a bit - I'm a "national" capitalist rather than a "free trade" capitalist.)

One things for sure, the [smart] businesses and us [smart] wealthy folks will ride the storm so /if/ America comes back to capitalism, we will return.

Do you really believe Capitalism is under attack, or is that your use of the RED SCARE!

We live in a nation with a mixed economy. There is a private sector and a public sector, and both have existed for the entire time there has been a United States.

What this movement is about, has nothing to do with our form of government, we already have a wannabe despot in the White House! What makes you think that the sort of socialism which exists in China or Russian or N. Korea, in name only, is what this new movement is all about?

Obviously you don't think about it, you want others to believe that socialism = totalitarianism which is a damn lie.

We will remain a Democratic Republic, and the people will respond every two years telling those in power what they approve of, and what they reject.

If the reader fears an authoritarian government they will toss out Ryan and the other Republicans who passed the recent tax fraud, and offered nothing to curtail gun violence in America.

Aren't you full of talking points today. ~rolls eyes~ No one said jack about totalitarianism son, we're talking about the dismal economic future of America under socialism and "socialistic programs." And when America goes broke due to socialism, the nation will fall apart and freedom in the world dies with America. That's the reality of the planet, America was unique, freedom was unique, once it's gone, it'll probably never come back.

In any event, as for the idea that this is some "red scare" 2.0. Not at all, one just has to look at the numbers to see that the socialist ideal is not playing fair to all American's at all. And duh, that's what socialism does, it fosters greed, rather than a reasonable and fair approach to taxation. It "justifies" stealing money that doesn't belong to you, and wasn't earned by you, by claiming "oh it's the government doing it so it's not the same as stealing."

As I had noted in my first post, we fell for that "its for the good of the nation" line and got fucked by it. Just look at the numbers:

The top 40% pay 106% of all federal income taxes.

Individuals in the top 10% (folks who gross over $150k/y) pay 71% of all federal taxes. (The top 1% actually pay 46% of /ALL/ federal taxes)

Businesses, in addition to paying federal taxes, pay 6% of every single employees Social Security, and [typically] 1.5% (though they pay up to 2% depending on employees salary) of every single employees Medicare***, as well as the same local (state/muni) taxes that consumer folks pay (gas, property, sales, etc.)

***[edit for clarity, technically businesses pay 100% of every single employees social security and medicare tax which is based on wages. The total for FICA is 6.2% + 1.5% up to $1M and 2.3% over $1M - this is typically split equally with the employee. So it'd be 3.1% + 0.75%/1.15% ish.]


Meanwhile...

The bottom 80% pay nothing into federal taxes.

The bottom 40% actually have a "negative tax" and the government pays them [us rich peoples money] (via EIC, child tax credit, etc.)



Yet we rich and business folks are the "evil" and "greedy" ones...

 

[EverCurious]

It doesn't matter anymore, the cards are already on the table. Most folks live in the "present" but us capitalists live in the "future" - we saw the writing on the wall long, long ago and that's why we started moving our money out of the US.

I think you're right. This is most likely over, and that includes our culture.
.

I'm more worried about the nation than "culture." Freedom dies with America...

I've been there, I was ready to leave the country before Trump got elected - I was stunned honestly. While I agree the future is dim, I do still have some hope; the next generation is coming back to their senses. They can see how ridiculous the things the socialists want are. Even a lot of millennial can see how badly socialism is going to turn out and no longer vote left. If we can make it through a bit less than a decade of socialism I think we'll have the weight to pull out of the tailspin. I hope we have enough pull to do it, but it's not going to be easy given how fluid business is in the global market. (This is why I'm not complaining about Trump reigning in free trade a bit - I'm a "national" capitalist rather than a "free trade" capitalist.)

One things for sure, the [smart] businesses and us [smart] wealthy folks will ride the storm so /if/ America comes back to capitalism, we will return.

I look at the culture and the health of the country overall as two absolutely linked things.

As the culture has decayed, as we've continued to lower our standards and enable poor behaviors, the decay has spread to every corner of the society.

I look at our decaying culture, our willingness to lower standards everywhere, as the key to our decline.
.

Nearly everything you speak of is at least in part due to the invasion of socialism. In the old days, if you were a shitty person, you got shunned, shot, and/or ended up dying via natural selection. Socialism encourages weakness on purpose, because the weak are easy to rob blind and to control. The "culture" of the "stronger" individuals you are talking about still thrives in America, it's just hidden, because the weak have been given the reigns to the media - the individuals just keep their mouth shut because they've got work to do. There's a damn good reason I didn't start talking about my political views in public until /after/ I retired heh

Media moguls are weak in your mind? The very people that promote the national dialogue and sell you your delusions?

The people "defining the narrative" the media pushes are weak individuals, typically emotionally, but weakness manifests in many ways.

And actually the media's pretty weak, just look how fast they'll roll over on shit if there's a protest or push back. They have zero loyalty to their 'people' or any 'values' - they just do whatever the loudest people want - that's the folks defining the narrative.

 

[dblack]

It appears, though, that the trend is in their favor:

Poll Finds Nearly Half Of Millennials Prefer Socialism To Capitalism

The term no longer scares people.
.

Q. Why do you think it no longer scares people

Because its advocates have been successful in obscuring its nature.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Well, I can understand that. There's just something about Americans (and it may be true of other countries, of course), that we just love to knee-jerk too far in every direction whenever we get the chance.

To me, the question right now is about momentum. Those who demonize capitalism and success definitely have it, and I don't see much slowing that down.

Seems to me the discussion should be about where on the continuum we want to be, not about one end or the other. If we stay in a zero-sum discussion, my guess is that those who demonize capitalism and success will ultimately win.
.

It doesn't matter anymore, the cards are already on the table. Most folks live in the "present" but us capitalists live in the "future" - we saw the writing on the wall long, long ago and that's why we started moving our money out of the US.

I think you're right. This is most likely over, and that includes our culture.
.

I'm more worried about the nation than "culture." Freedom dies with America...

I've been there, I was ready to leave the country before Trump got elected - I was stunned honestly. While I agree the future is dim, I do still have some hope; the next generation is coming back to their senses. They can see how ridiculous the things the socialists want are. Even a lot of millennial can see how badly socialism is going to turn out and no longer vote left. If we can make it through a bit less than a decade of socialism I think we'll have the weight to pull out of the tailspin. I hope we have enough pull to do it, but it's not going to be easy given how fluid business is in the global market. (This is why I'm not complaining about Trump reigning in free trade a bit - I'm a "national" capitalist rather than a "free trade" capitalist.)

One things for sure, the [smart] businesses and us [smart] wealthy folks will ride the storm so /if/ America comes back to capitalism, we will return.

Do you really believe Capitalism is under attack, or is that your use of the RED SCARE!

We live in a nation with a mixed economy. There is a private sector and a public sector, and both have existed for the entire time there has been a United States.

What this movement is about, has nothing to do with our form of government, we already have a wannabe despot in the White House! What makes you think that the sort of socialism which exists in China or Russian or N. Korea, in name only, is what this new movement is all about?

Obviously you don't think about it, you want others to believe that socialism = totalitarianism which is a damn lie.

We will remain a Democratic Republic, and the people will respond every two years telling those in power what they approve of, and what they reject.

If the reader fears an authoritarian government they will toss out Ryan and the other Republicans who passed the recent tax fraud, and offered nothing to curtail gun violence in America.

Aren't you full of talking points today. ~rolls eyes~ No one said jack about totalitarianism son, we're talking about the dismal economic future of America under socialism and "socialistic programs." And when America goes broke due to socialism, the nation will fall apart and freedom in the world dies with America. That's the reality of the planet, America was unique, freedom was unique, once it's gone, it'll probably never come back.

In any event, as for the idea that this is some "red scare" 2.0. Not at all, one just has to look at the numbers to see that the socialist ideal is not playing fair to all American's at all. And duh, that's what socialism does, it fosters greed, rather than a reasonable and fair approach to taxation. It "justifies" stealing money that doesn't belong to you, and wasn't earned by you, by claiming "oh it's the government doing it so it's not the same as stealing."

As I had noted in my first post, we fell for that "its for the good of the nation" line and got fucked by it. Just look at the numbers:

The top 40% pay 106% of all federal income taxes.

Individuals in the top 10% (folks who gross over $150k/y) pay 71% of all federal taxes. (The top 1% actually pay 46% of /ALL/ federal taxes)

Businesses, in addition to paying federal taxes, pay 6% of every single employees Social Security, and [typically] 1.5% (though they pay up to 2% depending on employees salary) of every single employees Medicare***, as well as the same local (state/muni) taxes that consumer folks pay (gas, property, sales, etc.)

***[edit for clarity, technically businesses pay 100% of every single employees social security and medicare tax which is based on wages. The total for FICA is 6.2% + 1.5% up to $1M and 2.3% over $1M - this is typically split equally with the employee. So it'd be 3.1% + 0.75%/1.15% ish.]


Meanwhile...

The bottom 80% pay nothing into federal taxes.

The bottom 40% actually have a "negative tax" and the government pays them [us rich peoples money] (via EIC, child tax credit, etc.)



Yet we rich and business folks are the "evil" and "greedy" ones...

Nothing you've posted proves anything other than you are echoing the callous lack of understanding fiscal conservatism is. What I write about is not economics, per se, it is about empathy vis a vis greed and the lust for power.

I'd be happy to pay my taxes, and putting my real estate, sales, excise and income taxes to good use, but we've seen over and over that revenue given to The Congress and State Legislatures is proportioned greatly to benefit special interests and the Polls own job security.

More and more voters listened to Bernie Sanders (and no, I didn't vote for him in the primary) while watching their paychecks shrink while the rich get richer. Then Ryan&Co, and Trump pushed through the biggest fraud in history, taking from the many and giving to the few.

The efforts to kill the Affordable Health Act and the charade of a tax bill which they falsely claim is fair, will lead to the biggest sea change in memory, and could very well destroy the Republican Party.

That's no surprise to me, the GOP has gone way to far to the extreme, and the American voter has always rejected extremism.

 

[Wry Catcher]

It appears, though, that the trend is in their favor:

Poll Finds Nearly Half Of Millennials Prefer Socialism To Capitalism

The term no longer scares people.
.

Q. Why do you think it no longer scares people

Because its advocates have been successful in obscuring its nature.

Oh bullshit. Socialism is used by RWers as a pejorative, and biddable people believe it is something much more than a policy of government. And government can be democratic or despotic, but The social contract theory works when We the People control the government, not when the government controls the people.

We the People have the power to create law makers and executives to implement our nations vision statement, every two years. Watch now, as the Republican's seek to further suppress the vote, for they can never win on their track record.

The Vision statement of principles is clearly outlined in the Preamble to our Constitution. Nothing Trump&Co or Ryan and the H. or Rep. has done to govern with this moral imperative as a sign post.

 

[TheParser]

Personally, I love the idea of socialism.

As I understand it, it was started by people who were horrified by how much the common people were suffering in Europe.

And, I hear, it worked very well in Sweden during the 1930s and 1940s.

I do believe that every human has a right to decent housing, food, healthcare, etc.

BUT the history of socialism/communism seems to indicate that socialism does not seem to work.

Maybe it's due to the nature of human beings, rather than to the inherent defects of socialism.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Personally, I love the idea of socialism.

As I understand it, it was started by people who were horrified by how much the common people were suffering in Europe.

And, I hear, it worked very well in Sweden during the 1930s and 1940s.

I do believe that every human has a right to decent housing, food, healthcare, etc.

BUT the history of socialism/communism seems to indicate that socialism does not seem to work.

Maybe it's due to the nature of human beings, rather than to the inherent defects of socialism.

It is due to the nature of human beings. Some have empathy and seek to make life better for all, and some Men serve, "the interests of no creature except himself.”
― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Socialism isn't an ism, per se, it has different applications dependent on the leadership which determines policy. It does not always, and never has, reached the theoretical state theorized by Marx, and in the 21st Century American citizens need not fear Communism, our greatest fear should be reserved for the autocrat in the White House, and to work hard to deny him a second term in office.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

It appears, though, that the trend is in their favor:

Poll Finds Nearly Half Of Millennials Prefer Socialism To Capitalism

The term no longer scares people.
.

Q. Why do you think it no longer scares people

Because its advocates have been successful in obscuring its nature.

More likely it is because we have been moving in that direction for as long as most people in this country have been alive.

Everytime we give more power to the Fed Govt and less freedom to the people we take a step towards socialism.

Young people today are not afraid of an overreaching central government because that is exactly what we the older generations have given them. It is what they have grown up with, why would they fear it?

 

[Tehon]

Maybe it's due to the nature of human beings, rather than to the inherent defects of socialism.

"it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence but their social existence that determines their consciousness" Karl Marx

 

[Dschrute3]

Socialism/Communism doesn't work. Only the few Political Elites end up being wealthy and powerful. The rest of the folks live a dismal existence. Just go back and research the old Soviet Union. The Political Elites had it all. But the average Citizens suffered immensely. You're currently seeing that in Venezuela too.

Socialism/Communism represents the exact opposite of Freedom & Liberty. It only ends up consolidating all the power & wealth for the few Political Elites. You can bet Communist pol elites like Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, and so on, would never stand in brutal long lines for their bread and essentials. That's only for the 'little people.' So i would strongly advise folks to not hop on the Socialism/Communism bandwagon. It never ends well.

 

[dblack]

Socialism/Communism doesn't work.

That depends on your definition of 'work'. The problem with socialism is that it requires ubiquitous government. If you have a society of people comfortable with that, it can work fine.

 

[Stormy Daniels]

What I write about is not economics, per se, it is about empathy vis a vis greed and the lust for power.

Nothing you've posted proves anything other than you are echoing the callous lack of understanding [of what] fiscal conservatism is.

 

[EverCurious]

It doesn't matter anymore, the cards are already on the table. Most folks live in the "present" but us capitalists live in the "future" - we saw the writing on the wall long, long ago and that's why we started moving our money out of the US.

I think you're right. This is most likely over, and that includes our culture.
.

I'm more worried about the nation than "culture." Freedom dies with America...

I've been there, I was ready to leave the country before Trump got elected - I was stunned honestly. While I agree the future is dim, I do still have some hope; the next generation is coming back to their senses. They can see how ridiculous the things the socialists want are. Even a lot of millennial can see how badly socialism is going to turn out and no longer vote left. If we can make it through a bit less than a decade of socialism I think we'll have the weight to pull out of the tailspin. I hope we have enough pull to do it, but it's not going to be easy given how fluid business is in the global market. (This is why I'm not complaining about Trump reigning in free trade a bit - I'm a "national" capitalist rather than a "free trade" capitalist.)

One things for sure, the [smart] businesses and us [smart] wealthy folks will ride the storm so /if/ America comes back to capitalism, we will return.

Do you really believe Capitalism is under attack, or is that your use of the RED SCARE!

We live in a nation with a mixed economy. There is a private sector and a public sector, and both have existed for the entire time there has been a United States.

What this movement is about, has nothing to do with our form of government, we already have a wannabe despot in the White House! What makes you think that the sort of socialism which exists in China or Russian or N. Korea, in name only, is what this new movement is all about?

Obviously you don't think about it, you want others to believe that socialism = totalitarianism which is a damn lie.

We will remain a Democratic Republic, and the people will respond every two years telling those in power what they approve of, and what they reject.

If the reader fears an authoritarian government they will toss out Ryan and the other Republicans who passed the recent tax fraud, and offered nothing to curtail gun violence in America.

Aren't you full of talking points today. ~rolls eyes~ No one said jack about totalitarianism son, we're talking about the dismal economic future of America under socialism and "socialistic programs." And when America goes broke due to socialism, the nation will fall apart and freedom in the world dies with America. That's the reality of the planet, America was unique, freedom was unique, once it's gone, it'll probably never come back.

In any event, as for the idea that this is some "red scare" 2.0. Not at all, one just has to look at the numbers to see that the socialist ideal is not playing fair to all American's at all. And duh, that's what socialism does, it fosters greed, rather than a reasonable and fair approach to taxation. It "justifies" stealing money that doesn't belong to you, and wasn't earned by you, by claiming "oh it's the government doing it so it's not the same as stealing."

As I had noted in my first post, we fell for that "its for the good of the nation" line and got fucked by it. Just look at the numbers:

The top 40% pay 106% of all federal income taxes.

Individuals in the top 10% (folks who gross over $150k/y) pay 71% of all federal taxes. (The top 1% actually pay 46% of /ALL/ federal taxes)

Businesses, in addition to paying federal taxes, pay 6% of every single employees Social Security, and [typically] 1.5% (though they pay up to 2% depending on employees salary) of every single employees Medicare***, as well as the same local (state/muni) taxes that consumer folks pay (gas, property, sales, etc.)

***[edit for clarity, technically businesses pay 100% of every single employees social security and medicare tax which is based on wages. The total for FICA is 6.2% + 1.5% up to $1M and 2.3% over $1M - this is typically split equally with the employee. So it'd be 3.1% + 0.75%/1.15% ish.]


Meanwhile...

The bottom 80% pay nothing into federal taxes.

The bottom 40% actually have a "negative tax" and the government pays them [us rich peoples money] (via EIC, child tax credit, etc.)



Yet we rich and business folks are the "evil" and "greedy" ones...

Nothing you've posted proves anything other than you are echoing the callous lack of understanding fiscal conservatism is. What I write about is not economics, per se, it is about empathy vis a vis greed and the lust for power.

I'd be happy to pay my taxes, and putting my real estate, sales, excise and income taxes to good use, but we've seen over and over that revenue given to The Congress and State Legislatures is proportioned greatly to benefit special interests and the Polls own job security.

More and more voters listened to Bernie Sanders (and no, I didn't vote for him in the primary) while watching their paychecks shrink while the rich get richer. Then Ryan&Co, and Trump pushed through the biggest fraud in history, taking from the many and giving to the few.

The efforts to kill the Affordable Health Act and the charade of a tax bill which they falsely claim is fair, will lead to the biggest sea change in memory, and could very well destroy the Republican Party.

That's no surprise to me, the GOP has gone way to far to the extreme, and the American voter has always rejected extremism.

In response to my pointing out that nearly half the country isn't paying federal taxes and nearly a quarter is getting money from the rich in tax rebates, leads you to call "capitalists" greedy and say that businesses and the rich aren't paying enough? That's some 'rich' shit you're smoking...

That kind of /greed/, plus shit politicians who buy votes is exactly what I was talking about as to why socialism in any form cannot be trusted. The rich & businesses already pay all the wages in the nation + the federal bills + [usually] the majority of the state bills too - but as /always/ with socialism, under any synonym, they will /always/ demand more other peoples money to buy them shit /they/ still want.

The general populous doesn't /actually/ give two shits about balancing the national budget, they never have and that's how it got so fucking stupid. Nor does the general populous actually care about what's "fair" - they will vote for "more free shit" 99% of the time. Shit politicians on both sides have allowed the situation to cross the tipping point, where the general populous of selfish, entitled, greedy people in the nation vastly outnumber the fiscally and fairly minded, who know that chasing businesses and rich people out of the country (or robbing them blind) is /wrong/ regardless if you stick a happy faced "democratic" sticker on it. But now these "socialist types" are the majority so they're able to convince themselves that such unfairness and robbery is somehow "morally" right. This is a systematic error of inductive reasoning known as a confirmation bias.

Psychology: people are biased to interpret the evidence in ways that are consistent with their desires. That means that people may ultimately come to believe that the weight of evidence supports the position that they already wanted to believe was true. And they will believe this without recognizing that their own desires influenced the evaluation of the evidence.

The rich get richer and so do the poor - you intentionally choose to conveniently ignore how well America's poor are actually doing. Capitalism is the /only/ long term reliable solution for poverty in America. Which is why socialists also try to undermine the previously amicable relationship between the wealthy, businesses, and the government - aka the 1% vs the 99% lie you spout.

It's like back in WWII America's wealthy sucked up a 90% tax rate just to keep the dream and capitalism alive, because we capitalists know that when America fails not only will we take a hit in our pocket books, but also that our liberal views (actual liberal views, not the bullshit touted as "liberal" these days) will be lost forever.

Because of that agreement we now have politicians like Sander's demanding that we should pay up to 90% again so that everyone can have free health care, free school, free everything on the backs of the wealthy. Not to save the nation and perhaps even the world from destruction this time though, this time it's to make the lives of the unskilled, the lazy, and idiots who make poor life choices, better. That's "empathy" in your book? Greedy is working and wanting to keep your money? Fucking LOL...

 

[Wry Catcher]

It appears, though, that the trend is in their favor:

Poll Finds Nearly Half Of Millennials Prefer Socialism To Capitalism

The term no longer scares people.
.

Q. Why do you think it no longer scares people

Because its advocates have been successful in obscuring its nature.

More likely it is because we have been moving in that direction for as long as most people in this country have been alive.

Everytime we give more power to the Fed Govt and less freedom to the people we take a step towards socialism.

Young people today are not afraid of an overreaching central government because that is exactly what we the older generations have given them. It is what they have grown up with, why would they fear it?

This fear, and fear mongering of government, is in my mind nothing more than anarchy lite. We live in a nation threatened by many things a man or women can not protect themselves from alone.

In November of every even year we have the Right to change the course set by the previous government; as long as we have the right to vote, and we fulfill our duty to study the candidates, there is little fear that our nation will ever suffer an authoritarian government.

Someone once said, a nation gets the government they deserve. Sadly, we got Trump and Ryan and McConnell, but only for a short time. The harm they've done can and will be overturned if we study the people running for office, and put men and women of good will into the seats of power.

 

[Anathema]

Excellent. That makes it far easier to determine the first politicans who need to be dealt with one the Revolution begins.

 

[Dschrute3]

Socialism/Communism doesn't work.

That depends on your definition of 'work'. The problem with socialism is that it requires ubiquitous government. If you have a society of people comfortable with that, it can work fine.

Never has worked. The few Political Elites end up with all the power and wealth. I mean, can you see Communist pol elites like Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, standing in long brutal lines for their bread and essentials? Not gonna happen. Only the average Citizens suffer that way.

So i'm not sure why so many are willing to hand so much power & control over to their Government. They're just giving their Freedom & Liberty away. Maybe it's about all the wonderful 'Freebies' they think they're gonna receive? But all they have to do is go and research the old Soviet Union. They'll quickly see that Socialism/Communism doesn't work. I strongly advise they hop off the Socialism/Communism bandwagon as soon as possible.

 

[Wry Catcher]

What I write about is not economics, per se, it is about empathy vis a vis greed and the lust for power.

Nothing you've posted proves anything other than you are echoing the callous lack of understanding [of what] fiscal conservatism is.

BULLSHIT ^^^

Fiscal conservatives passed a tax bill which will add trillions to the National Dept over ten years. Fiscal conservatives blasted Obama for putting money into our recovery which raised the debt, and now have raised the debt. The difference, a good deal of the money spent under Obama went to construction workers and making roads, bridges and tunnels safer, and much of the Tax Bill will go to stock holders and CEO's.

Fiscal conservatism has kicked the can down the road allowing our infrastructure to rust and fail. My analogy on not repairing a roof timely will eventually destroy the entire house has merit and is not a taking point.

We need to establish priorities and structure spending on a cost-benefit / cost-deficit reasoning. Also, not a talking point, unless you can find someone in the GOP or any poster using this example as I have.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

It appears, though, that the trend is in their favor:

Poll Finds Nearly Half Of Millennials Prefer Socialism To Capitalism

The term no longer scares people.
.

Because Millennials are historically dumb as a bag of hammers. I blame the educational system.