The arrogance of richness

[_beastie]

Let's just wait until Ludwigm gets up tomorrow to let him answer. I didn't say that letting the "children" starve was justice. I asked the question because if Ludwigm has such disdain for people wearing jewelry and lavish things, how is he going to fit into the Democratic party's hip hop culture?

The democratic party's hip hop culture? LOL Tell me, just what percentage of the democratic party embraces the "hip hop" culture, and how did you arrive at this figure?

by the way, since welfare constitutes only 11% of our country's budget, and defense constitutes 23%, maybe we should be asking how we feel about spending money on this instead:

[_Quasimodo]

You have the option to save your own money in a bank account instead of paying premiums on health insurance. Do you do that?

I don't really have that option the way you put it. If I don't buy health insurance, it's not like the company I work for is just going to pay me the part of the premium they currently pay and allow me to deposit it. Secondly, the government isn't going to allow me to claim money put in a medical savings account on my taxes, yet it allows me to pay my health insurance premium pretax.

The reason you do not have that option is because your employers wisely realized that if you were in a bad car accident while you were young and needed surgery and a long recovery, you would not have enough funds in your bank to cover the costs. Insurance insures (hence the word) that costs would be covered.

Do you think social security should be means tested?

If I had paid into a mutual funds account religiously throughout my working years for my retirement and the funds company said they were not going to give me any money because I already had enough, I'd be pissed.

[_huckelberry]

One of the greatest moments in my television viewing experience was to watch live a Russian tank wheel and fire on the rump of the communist party holed up in the government offices in Moscow. A lifelong prayer and hope realized before my eyes.

[_Kittens_and_Jesus]

I never get sick of reading arguments about communism socialism and capitalism when so many people involved can't properly define any of the terms they're arguing about.

The USSR was not communist, neither is present day China or North Korea.

They operate under the guise of communism, but it has never been tried on the face of this planet. That fact, coupled with a popular love of unbridled capitalism, proves that it cannot work.

Any monetary system would work if we could get rid of our prosperity gospel notion that greed is good no matter how much harm it causes.

I think its likely that we wouldn't have a monetary system if we thought in such a manner. We pride ourselves in the fact that we don't have royalty here in the US, but we do. Show me upward mobility rates that suggest otherwise.

I was born into the top 10% in this country. I will probably die with the same status.

The fact is that if you are born poor you die poor, if you are born rich you die rich.

[_ludwigm]

I never get sick of reading arguments about communism socialism and capitalism when so many people involved can't properly define any of the terms they're arguing about.

The USSR was not communist, neither is present day China or North Korea.

They operate under the guise of communism, but it has never been tried on the face of this planet. That fact, coupled with a popular love of unbridled capitalism, proves that it cannot work.

Any monetary system would work if we could get rid of our prosperity gospel notion that greed is good no matter how much harm it causes.

I think its likely that we wouldn't have a monetary system if we thought in such a manner. We pride ourselves in the fact that we don't have royalty here in the US, but we do. Show me upward mobility rates that suggest otherwise.

I was born into the top 10% in this country. I will probably die with the same status.

The fact is that if you are born poor you die poor, if you are born rich you die rich.

[_beastie]

I never get sick of reading arguments about communism socialism and capitalism when so many people involved can't properly define any of the terms they're arguing about.

The USSR was not communist, neither is present day China or North Korea.

They operate under the guise of communism, but it has never been tried on the face of this planet. That fact, coupled with a popular love of unbridled capitalism, proves that it cannot work.

Any monetary system would work if we could get rid of our prosperity gospel notion that greed is good no matter how much harm it causes.

I think its likely that we wouldn't have a monetary system if we thought in such a manner. We pride ourselves in the fact that we don't have royalty here in the US, but we do. Show me upward mobility rates that suggest otherwise.

I was born into the top 10% in this country. I will probably die with the same status.

The fact is that if you are born poor you die poor, if you are born rich you die rich.

An interesting fact I recently read is that studies show that if you're middle class, and don't graduate from college, you drop into poverty. If you're upper class, and don't graduate from college, it doesn't make any difference at all. You stay rich.

The gap between the rich and everyone else has widened exponentially since the years of Ronald Reagan. If I recall correctly, that was around the time that greed was enshrined as noble.

[Guest]

Del

[_beastie]

Big, bold, brazen lies are the best, Beastie.

Entitlement spending, including SNAP, EBT, WIC, various housing subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security, now constitutes almost 62% of all federal spending, and if present trends continue, will consume virtually all tax revenue by 2048.

Learn to read.

[_Droopy]

by the way, since welfare constitutes only 11% of our country's budget, and defense constitutes 23%, maybe we should be asking how we feel about spending money on this instead:

Entitlement spending, including SNAP, EBT, WIC, various housing subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security, now constitutes almost 62% of all federal spending, and if present trends continue, will consume virtually all tax revenue by 2048.

[_Droopy]

The USSR was not communist, neither is present day China or North Korea.

These countries are socialist societies grounded in the theory of Marxism-Leninism, with the term "communist" used interchangeably with the term "socialist" throughout the 20th century.

They operate under the guise of communism, but it has never been tried on the face of this planet. That fact, coupled with a popular love of unbridled capitalism, proves that it cannot work.

Actual communism can never be "tried" because it is a purely theoretical utopian state that can never exist among real human beings. Socialism, in various forms, has been attempted, time and again, and the results are a matter of history.

Any monetary system would work if we could get rid of our prosperity gospel notion that greed is good no matter how much harm it causes.

Intellectually vacancy of this kind deserves no response. Suffice it to say, any monetary system, or economic organization of society, or structure of economic relations, will not work. Some will work better than others, others worse, and others, such as may be found in fully socialized societies, or where the attempt has been made to deeply socialize them, will destroy the economy and crush the human spirit. We know what happens when this is attempted at length, from the spiritual, moral and intellectual infantalization that has overtaken much of Western Europe (and major pockets of the American population), to the economic and human devastation wreaked within the communist world during the 20th century.

I think its likely that we wouldn't have a monetary system if we thought in such a manner. We pride ourselves in the fact that we don't have royalty here in the US, but we do. Show me upward mobility rates that suggest otherwise.

I have no idea what on earth you're talking about anymore, but, since its clear to me that you don't either, I'll bide my time for some future clarification.

The fact is that if you are born poor you die poor, if you are born rich you die rich.

If you're talking about the U.S., this is patent historical and empirical nonsense, easily refuted with publicly available data.