I don't recall claiming that. 
There are plenty who have abused the system, and plenty of crony capitalists and their accomplices in the elite ruling class. This is not wealth creation, it's redistribution.
There are plenty who have abused the system, and plenty of crony capitalists and their accomplices in the elite ruling class. This is not wealth creation, it's redistribution.Roger Hicks
Veteran
Schools: BAD! (Public service)
School desk manufacturers: GOOD! (Private companies)
Roads: BAD! (Public service)
Cars: GOOD! (Private companies)
So let's close down all the schools, rip up all the roads, and see what the 'wealth creators' do next.
Cheers,
R.
School desk manufacturers: GOOD! (Private companies)
Roads: BAD! (Public service)
Cars: GOOD! (Private companies)
So let's close down all the schools, rip up all the roads, and see what the 'wealth creators' do next.
Cheers,
R.
frank-grumman
Well-known
hmmm, don't know about you, but I went to private school (GOOD), and indeed our roads are BAAADDDDD. Can't speak for Aquitaine
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Roger Hicks
Veteran
Nor can I, as I was at school in England and Malta. But I've taught in the UK, and without state schools, a lot of kids would never learn to read or write. Of course this may not worry some of those whose parents were rich enough to pay for private schools. Most private schools are known for historic reasons in the UK as public schools: a 'public school' is where your parents sent you if they couldn't afford a private tutor.hmmm, don't know about you, but I went to private school (GOOD), and indeed our roads are BAAADDDDD. Can't speak for Aquitaine
Before I was 11 I attended a prep (= private) school, two state primary schools, and a Navy school. After 11 I went to a public school (Plymouth College and Mannamead School). Many of my friends went to state schools; and frankly, apart from the unearned privilege that comes from mixing with other rich kids, I see very little difference in the educational advantage of going to a public (=private) school as compared with a (state = US public) grammar school.
As I grow older, I sympathize increasingly with the view that abolishing private (UK = public) schools would be the best way to raise the standard of state schools.
As for roads, which would you prefer BAD roads (publicly funded) or NO ROADS AT ALL (privately funded)? Or maybe you'd even be prepared to pay taxes and get GOOD public roads.
Cheers,
R.
charjohncarter
Veteran
I definitely agree, we just had a county worker in Alemeda, CA retire at 63 with $470,000 a year. She left a job that paid a little over $400k.
lukitas
second hand noob
In a sane society, tax day would be a national holiday.
Hey! we 're all putting money together to build roads, educate our kids and heal the sick! What could be a better party, than a party where everyone gives for the greater good, according to her/his means?
The fact that taxes are felt as a tragedy is a clear symptom of a sick society.
If people truly believe that they shouldn't contribute to the greater good, that I is worth more than anybody else, they are in a state of social collapse. A state of social collapse engenders very ugly reactions to any crisis. 'All for one, and the rest can starve' transforms us all into prey, even those who would be predators.
Hey! we 're all putting money together to build roads, educate our kids and heal the sick! What could be a better party, than a party where everyone gives for the greater good, according to her/his means?
The fact that taxes are felt as a tragedy is a clear symptom of a sick society.
If people truly believe that they shouldn't contribute to the greater good, that I is worth more than anybody else, they are in a state of social collapse. A state of social collapse engenders very ugly reactions to any crisis. 'All for one, and the rest can starve' transforms us all into prey, even those who would be predators.
More straw arguments.
It's not a matter of no roads, vs roads. When Dell moved their headquarters to Round Rock, TX, and the road infrastructure (specifically a bridge over Interstate 35) was not sufficient for the traffic flow once the campus was built, who paid for the improvements? You guessed it: Dell Computer did. Private enterprise. Whether roads are built through taxes, or directly, the funds come from private enterprise. All government money does.
It's not a matter of abolishing public schools, it's a matter of giving students/parents a choice. Today's public schools in the US are so controlled by teacher's unions they are little more than houses of indoctrination. This is because the 'free' schools have an effective monopoly and the union does not want to give up the power.
Around here, property taxes fund the public schools. They could just as easily pay for students who choose to do so, to go to private schools. Competition is what would improve education. A poorly performing school would either improve the product, or fail, just like a private company does. A better product is the end result when there is competition, just as it is in private enterprise...like the competition that drives camera manufacturers to innovate. But the unions fight against school choice tooth and nail, and the liberals in Washington do the same (while at the same time sending their kids to exclusive private schools.)
For a good read on improving schools, how about Steve Jobs view.
It's not a matter of no roads, vs roads. When Dell moved their headquarters to Round Rock, TX, and the road infrastructure (specifically a bridge over Interstate 35) was not sufficient for the traffic flow once the campus was built, who paid for the improvements? You guessed it: Dell Computer did. Private enterprise. Whether roads are built through taxes, or directly, the funds come from private enterprise. All government money does.
It's not a matter of abolishing public schools, it's a matter of giving students/parents a choice. Today's public schools in the US are so controlled by teacher's unions they are little more than houses of indoctrination. This is because the 'free' schools have an effective monopoly and the union does not want to give up the power.
Around here, property taxes fund the public schools. They could just as easily pay for students who choose to do so, to go to private schools. Competition is what would improve education. A poorly performing school would either improve the product, or fail, just like a private company does. A better product is the end result when there is competition, just as it is in private enterprise...like the competition that drives camera manufacturers to innovate. But the unions fight against school choice tooth and nail, and the liberals in Washington do the same (while at the same time sending their kids to exclusive private schools.)
For a good read on improving schools, how about Steve Jobs view.
And it's things like this that explain why California, and towns in California, are bankrupt. And many other cities, states, and the federal government are headed down the same road.
Fiduciary irresponsibility with the people's money.
Al Patterson
Ferroequinologist
I just a bit ago check out my Cart at Adorama to see the status of shipping on the X100S. Notice the line on Taxes
Cart Summary
CartSubtotal: $1299.00
Shipping & Handling: Free
Taxes: $115.29 GRAND TOTAL: $1414.29
So, I'm in PA for now; not in NJ or NY under any circumstance. Order placed from PA. So looks as though the long arm of some government has gotten hold of another revenue source. For the heck of it, I ran an order through B&H. No sales tax came up in my cart.
One more "tax free" source down the tubes. Thankfully I live close enough to Delaware when I've over here, although I'm told DE just boosts the retail price by the amount equivalent to the sales tax - not a bad move, eh?
Get a Delaware address...
68degrees
Well-known
more tax revenue for them to waste on hot tub parties and sweetheart deals. no matter how much tax revenue they get they will always be over budget and thats a fact.
redisburning
Well-known
It's not really a 'point of view.' The government takes in revenue generated by private enterprise. It's not private enterprise that grows based on the largess of government.
well, actually we can look at a country that is spending money like crazy and their recent economic results.
after 2 decades of fighting deflation and near zero interest rates, the new Japanese government has nearly achieved their targeted inflation rate of 2% and the yen has fallen more than 10% against the dollar.
unsurprisingly, the news out of Japanese companies in the last round of quarterly reports was overwhelmingly positive.
this is a country with a debt to gdp ratio of over 200%.
there was never any evidence that austerity was going to work. like your posts, it was driven by a desire to impose a way of thinking that eschewed evidence to adhere to political ideology in a game where the stakes were people's livelihoods. and now, as it has proven itself to be a failure, its support has fallen dramatically throughout the world.
I spent an awful lot of my time and money to go to graduate school for economics, and I get frustrated not because people like you are wrong but because you protect your theories by denouncing the value of facts, evidence, and the like. and as a result, even when youre wrong, you arent wrong, because you're obviously right!
a better time? for whom, exactly? if like me you are a white male with money behind them then sure, there was a time when less of that money was taken to pay for poor people to not die on the streets and before that there was a time we could beat our women and murder minorities without much in the way of punishment.
thankfully even this backwards country is moving beyond that and hopefully soon our white privilege will have eroded completely.
Aristophanes
Well-known
Puts them on the hook vis-a-vis the IRS.
Spanik
Well-known
If I buy something in the US I pay 30% tax on sales value and postage + 8% import duty + 25 euro "paperwork charge".
68degrees
Well-known
but they are all so educated and smart with their many degrees in economics we should all just listen to they who are oh so smart but have never even ran a lemonade stand.. shame shame.. we deserve what we get for our apathy.
flip
良かったね！
It's like everyone just moved to the Golden State. ;-) Welcome to CA, everyone.
redisburning
Well-known
1. very few politicians have degrees in economics, fewer still graduate degrees
2. it's cute that you think that running one or two businesses somehow equates to studying the body of evidence at the high level needed to apply to public policy. a government is not like a business, and saying it is is willfully ignoring very fundamental differences (e.g. the purpose of its existence)
3. yes, we get the politicians we deserve.
it turns out if you elect a draft dodging, crack addled, drunk driving redneck then you get to pick up the broken pieces he left behind for years to follow. who would have thunk it?
mynikonf2
OEM
"Government exists to provide a service seeing as they produce nothing to make a profit and taxes provide it revenue to operate. I would be less resentful of taxes if the government actually followed that model instead of the reality it has become. Having lost all the idealistic notions of youth I have come to see the rampant corruption that tax dollars go to support. It is sad to realize that what could have been has been replaced by that's just the way it is. It's no wonder the world is in a constant state of turmoil and war when so few have so much while so many have so little. What the real insult of that is, is that the few have an army to "protect" & keep it that way and it's paid for by the labor of the poor..." Che
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...
68degrees
Well-known
no I did not say it equated, thats your emotional yet well meaning interpretation.
here's what I actually said.
This means that Yes politicians should have actually had jobs before being put in charge of people who work for a living and Yes politicians in general and economic advisors in particular should have actual experience in business not just theoretical ivory tower giberish that clearly does not work. (we are now 17 trillion in debt and growing)
There should be a minimum business requirement as the current leader has ZERO business experience and ZERO actual work experience as in NEVER EVEN HAD A PRIVATE SECTOR JOB (aka real job) BEFORE and ZERO MILITARY EXPERIENCE which also should be a requirement.
But we do agree on #3 we deserve what we got. I also agree that government is not a business and should not be run like one, and that would be fine and I would accept a leader without business experience IF the governement would keep their medling hands off business, then they could say they dont need experience in business. However, if they are going to meddle in the economy they should have actual business experience as in ran a successful business, otherwise leave hands off economic policies and related matters.
redisburning
Well-known
welp...
****ing ignored.
I thought people like this couldn't figure out how to register for a forum =/
68degrees
Well-known
Lots of hate coming out of you brother. Better check yourself.