--- In [email protected], Bhairitu <noozguru@...> wrote: > > The problem with the conservatives is that the individual weakness they > perceive is mostly imaginary.
No, it's not imaginary. I have quite a few friends and family who are in very bad positions in life right now. They all have some or all of the following things in common: disrespectful attitudes towards parents/teachers during teenage years, high school dropouts, fired from multiple jobs, quit perfectly good jobs, partied most of the time from 18-30 years of age, maxed out credit cards, bought homes WAY out of their annual income range....and the list goes on and on. When I say all my family and friends fall into at least one of these categories, I don't mean most of them....I mean every single one of them. I do love them, and wish them the best. But unfortunately for them, I know what they were all doing for the last 20-30 years, and it certainly wasn't anything in the category of responsibility. Now, that being said, are there no victims of circumstance out there? Of course there are some. Which is the majority? If I went off of my childhood memories, family experiences, and observation of co-workers and friends, my perception is pretty clear. But....I'll go ahead and give the benefit of the doubt that perhaps, for whatever karmic reason, I was simply attracted to people with weak DNA or bad karma themselves, despite the fact that none of them are mentally retarded or physically handicapped in any way. I guess some of them don't want the > money they paid in for Social Security and Medicare. We are owed that. I certainly wouldn't deny that. > It is not a welfare check. But it seems to take a baseball bat to knock > any sense into conservatives. > > They also think the 99% are lazy. No, many of those people have looked > for work, have had good jobs in the past and are highly skilled. Businesses going overseas probably has a lot to do with it, which dfinitely falls in your category of 'greed' being primarily responsible. Immigration to the states also takes 'some' of our jobs. But aside from that, if jobs are scarce, that means the private sector is simply diminishing. It's > like they have been purposely shut out of the job market. You have a > scenario for a violent revolution because highly educated people are not > going to put up with this situation much longer. We know this from history. > > > > >> They would most likely agree with higher taxes on the rich. Higher taxes is a start, but it also has to be accompanied by significant cuts in spending, which is where a majority of the reduction in deficit is going to have to come from. But taxing the rich a bit more, I don't have much of a problem with that, only with the illusion that we're going to balance our budget with that alone. They tried it in Britain a while back, and all the rich people fled the country, or stashed their money where it can't be taxed. > > Then as I have predicted for some time it will take the collapse of the > US for change. Don't forget that people in Europe get free medical > care, more vacation than US fools. We don't have enough jobs for > everyone either. So that issue needs to be addressed. And yes some > workers are spoiled. We heard recently that Apple was going assemble > one of their products in the US but then not to be missed that Foxconn > the next day announced a US facility. Now we here on FFL know the > difference between oriental mindsets and Jamie down the street. Which > do you think will assemble a Mac properly. Of course they may hire Frank > who was an account exec to assemble those machines rather than Jamie. > > Maybe the solution is a 10 hour week, guaranteed annual income and a new > leisure society. And demolish the empty McMansions. We would never maintain any form of productivity with a 10 hour week. In fact, at no time in history do I believe a mass group of individuals would have ever been able to take care of their entire life only putting forth 10 hours of effort per week. Now, you could work 10 hours a week for an employer if you grew your own garden, had a well in your back yard, and some form of solar/wind power for your home, and you didn't expect to do much (no extravagant vacations, luxaries, etc..). I do know a few people who lived somewhat like that, and yes...their lives are much more free than mine in terms of daily schedule. They just have to live with other inconveniences. seekliberation
