Comments by "wvu05" (@wvu05) on "Vermonters Discuss Issues they'd like Congress to Prioritize" video.

@timmarshall7292 They have done wrong by our veterans because too many people complain about paying too much in taxes, even though it's the rich who get their taxes cut with crumbs to the rest to try to appease us.
1
@timmarshall7292 While I have trouble with corporate welfare, I also realize that no one starts a business with the goal of trying to hire people, but to make a profit. This is why stocks tend to go up after layoffs. The simple truth is that it is demand, not supply, that causes businesses to grow and people to get hired. As far as "coming by their income honestly," how do you define "honestly"? If there is anything good that has come out of the last few years, it's that people are realizing just how much crime and trickery the richest among us get away with. Less accountability, more corporate corruption!
1
@timmarshall7292 Yes, there are corporate Democrats, but there are more non-corporate Democrats than non-corporate Republicans in the halls of power. As far as the Ten Commandments, it's interesting that you bring that up, because I saw two reports yesterday that bring into question their adherence to the Eighth Commandment. First was that the net worth of all billionaires increased by a total of $12 trillion last year, while the poorest 3.8 billion lost $11 trillion. Another stated that the richest 26 people in the world have more money than the poorest 3.8 billion combined. Even without the question of how certain industries use and exploit natural resources, this doesn't seem to me like benevolent action helping all.
1
@timmarshall7292 But that misses the question. Those people literally got money from the poorest 60% of the world. Would you consider that honest means? What do you consider wealth gained through honest means? You have mentioned that several times, and I have countered with arguments why a lot of said gains are not being gained via honest means. If someone makes more in a day than the average employee (without whom his/her wealth would be impossible) in a year, and that worker makes so little that he/she requires public assistance to avoid starvation, how is that not theft? Theft can come in many forms, and that is what I see as the main flaw in many libertarian arguments: morality and liberty are extremely narrowly defined, and there are a lot of things that many libertarians want to impose when it comes to both (i.e., the libertarian version of the non-aggression principle).
1
@timmarshall7292 You keep avoiding my fundamental questions with buzzwords. I'm asking you, in plain English, to tell me what you consider honest means. Do they have to pay fair wages? Protect the environment? Not practice corporate espionage? Not profit off the misery of others? If you can't answer these, "through honest means" is just words.
1
@timmarshall7292 I only saw the second response, so it makes more sense to answer the first. That's why I deleted it, because I came to realize that it was a response to something different entirely. As far as the Democratic Party solving all of society's ills, I don't think any individual or any party can do that. However, I think that, on the whole, the Democratic Party is the better of the two major parties in terms of its goals and what has happened when it has been the dominant party. I think it's interesting that you keep referring to "30-40 years," because that has been a time of dominance of the right. Yes, it is good business to do right by employees, but there is a lot of evidence that some cheaters do prosper, especially when given a free rein as they have been for decades. Watch what happens to a company's stock when it announces layoffs or outsourcing: prices go up, because it is seen as cutting expenses. There are a lot of members of the Fortune 500 that rely on sweatshop labor. As far as "make yourself more valuable," there is nothing in any job that makes its value inherent now and for always. At the turn of the 20th century, factories had some of the lowest pay rates and worst working conditions in the world. When it became unionized, those became the best jobs for blue-collar workers. As far as worshipping the King of Kings, did He not say that you cannot worship both God and Money? And, just to clarify, I'm not a socialist. Probably, the closest to my economic beliefs would be an updated version of Populism, the real kind, not this fake right-wing version that tries to divide and belittle workers. That, and a healthy mix of Keynes, the only economic theorist I've ever seen to actually to try to look at the real world instead of his ivory tower when formulating his ideas, and when we were closer to them, the economy grew faster and more people reaped those benefits than when we went to laissez faire.
1