Comments by "Ōkami-san" (@mweibleii) on "Brunch with Bernie: June 18, 2015" video.

"Pay people pennies an hour". What a jerk. Free trade has lifted 100s of millions of humans out of poverty. This is a fact. Another fact is the Communusm/(a Progressive Socialists wet dream) has starved 10s of millions of hunans to death. IF Bernie ACTUALLY did care about humans loves he'd support free trade. Further Americans WANT to buy the items made in factories overseas. This has been proven time and time again. When offered a choice they choose made in Taiwan, Korea, Germany, Japan, China, etc.... Note, Germany and Japan compete against China and are still manufactoring powerhouses.
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dm9910 Preface: I believe most people (not all) want the same things. A rewarding life, security, love. You think using State violence is the way (i.e: Progressive Socialism). I don't. You're in luck. We're going YOUR way. We have been for over 100 years. Let's see where we end up. Oh, and just remember. The Police State you see springing to life all around us - that's the force needed to provide for Progressive Socialism. Don't forget that. 1) "Your opening statement is ad hominem". Hey, we can agree. That doesn't mean it isn't true. 2) Re: Kant I didn't say anything about 'justified' I said 'immoral'. Kant uses the word 'justified' because the action of stealing is immoral. Of course Kant also believed the only society we could live in is an immoral one because he couldn't imagine how humans could live morally. So, instead of using google, try reading Kant. 3) "Taxation" isn't always immoral. Gas tax is voluntary, paying a toll is voluntary, paying to enter a fair is voluntary. Being forced to work for someone as a slave is involuntary (example: Progressive Income/Labor tax) thus it is by definition immoral. If you think it's 'Justified' - then that's your 'opinion', it's still immoral. I'm sure plenty of Slave owners 'justified' Slavery (See: Thomas Jefferson). It's still immoral. 4) No, you are insane to think that free people will go on a rampage and murder and rape. Unfree, enslaved people do this when there is a break down in system that rules over them. As an example see your own example of Zimbabwe or closer to home, New Orleans. Freedom is NOT the same as free-for-all. Free people have Law and a police to enforce it. You simply don't understand what freedom is. Just like you don't understand what immoral and moral means. You also don't understand what valid or sound, cogent or strong means. My guess is you simply want to 'believe'. You want to hope that someone, preferably in the position of 'alpha male' (see: Pope, God, POTUS, King, Emperor, whatever) is going to fix everything for you. You'll get out our Made-In-China flag and wave it for Bernie, just like all the other zombies. Well, it's simply not going to happen. Sorry. Take a good look at Detroit or Greece. This is the end result of the Progressive oxymoron that thinking the use violence against innocent people is 'justified'. Enjoy our hyper-regulated Progressive Police State. Where we need a State licence to cut hair, sell arranged flowers, fix a PC. Where we have to pay the State to work. Where we have never ending Wars. Where the Progressive Central Bank sells T-bonds on you and your children's labor to bail out the Banking criminals stealing the most. So, again, take a good look at Detroit or Greece. This is the end result of Progressive Socialism. You'll see.
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Simon Mortensen Re: Inside Job Do you know what one of the (if not the) largest market in the world is? It's Government T Bonds. Do you know what those are? When the Government sells someone in China a 30 year T Bond - what IS the Chinese actually buying? I mean, it's not like they can't print their own money over there - so why buy ours? Suppose that money is frivolously spent today - why does a child born in 10 years time, have to work to pay back that Bond? THEY didn't vote on it. You do know the Government's Central Bank bailed out criminal Bankers to the tune of trillions - and continues to do so? How about our trillion dollar a year Never Ending Wars, who's paying for that? What about our Police State and Prison Industrial Complex, who pays for that? I know you think the problem is free markets and Capitalism. It's not. The problem is Democratic Socialism and all of the Governmental Institutions that have sprung up to use it to their own ends. And don't worry, we're not getting less Socialism and more freedom. We're getting less freedom and National Socialism. Which is EXACTLY what Bernie Sanders and Thom sell you each time they tell you the "Chinese" are somehow both stealing your job AND Slaves - at the same time. Yes, it's all the Chinese fault. Or the Walmart brother's fault. Or the Koch brothers fault. While in reality the Government is stilling trillions and trillions of debt obligations to pay off it's crony central bankers, MIC and Police State. ONLY a tiny teeny amount goes towards children s' education and anything else anyone under 65 actually cares about. Look up the numbers yourself.
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vedant varma So did the tractor.
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Simon Mortensen I'd be more than happy to see Bernie Sanders elected. Then, after 8 years of failure, we might return to what does work in the USA. Limited government. Do you have Government run welfare ghettos in Norway? Places that are so violent that even the police don't patrol there? Do Norwegian Government schools graduate functional illiterates at a rate of 1 in 5? How about prisons? Ours are the largest in the world per population. Do Norwegians wave their flags at any and every chance to go to war? Do you need a State licence in Norway to cut hair? Are Norwegian kids required to purchase a State permit to sell lemon aid? Yeah, it'd be nice to think electing someone is going to magically fix things. But this is childish magic thinking. Electing Bernie Sanders isn't going magically teach Americans to read and write. He isn't going to fix a broken school system. He won't end the Wars because Americans support War. He won't empty the prisons because many of the people there would re-offend. The ONLY way we here in the USA can fix our problems is by NOT relying on the Government and fixing things ourselves, in our own communities. There is NO OTHER solution. Oh, and I've lived in many different countries from Japan to Australia. I can safely say what works for one country is not so easily implemented in another.
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vedant varma LOL Most people agree with all politicians, that's WHY they're politicians. Politician: Free education for everyone, housing for the poor, drugs off the street and a turkey in every pot. Electorate: Yay, we want that. Reality: Government schools graduate functional illiterates in the USA at a rate of 1 in 5. Further, the average reading level in the USA for an adult is grade 6, those going to University is grade 7. Housing for the poor is welfare ghettos filled with violence and crime. Drugs are worse than ever and laws against them ushered in the prison industrial complex. FDA approves boiled in ammonia off cuts of snout, hooves, ear, ground together with bone meal and wood pulp with food coloring (pink slime look it up) but makes raw organic milk illegal and raids farms with guns. Yes, I do agree with you, most people probably agree with Bernie Sanders. And? So what? They agree with most Politicians - it's why they're elected. They're bullshit artists. Bernie Sanders is no exception.
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vedant varma And? So what? Bernie can vote for 'free' education all damn day long for the rest of his life. He can talk a load of bullshit about wanting to give people 'free' good high quality education. In the REAL WORLD government schools graduate functional illiterates at a rate of 1 in 5. In the real world the government schooled voting public has a reading comprehension level of grade 6. Getting it now? Bernie is just full of as much bullshit as any other politician. Just listen to this very video where he talks about free trade versus 'fair' trade. THAT is called demagoguery. Yes, I agree we do not have free trade and probably the TPP is a load of bullshit pretending to be free trade. But this isn't the argument a liar demagogue like Bernie makes, he talks about 'fair' trade because he's pretending all the factories in China are returning to the USA. This isn't happening. Americans don't want made in America because the quality is too low and the price is too high. If Bernie was honoest he'd talk about the pathetic job Government schools have done educating the public such that they have the skills to create needed businesses. He'd talk about the over regulation making it impossible for kids to even sell lemon aid without a State permit. But why talk about that when he can bullshit. Which it what he does ALL the time. I've listened to him for years. He is NO different than any other politician. He's just spinning a load of bullshit because that's what you want to hear.
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vedant varma Government schools in the USA receive more money than in Japan - nearly double. Government schools in the USA were already crap BEFORE the Wars. Further, as an experiment the Government built the most expensive school in the USA without ANY regard to price. After 4 years the educational outcomes DECREASED. So, it's not about 'money'. The fact is Government schools are structurally unsound. They're pump and dumb factories. No one who actually wanted to educate children would structure a learning environment like a Government school. Loading more money onto a boat with a huge hole in the side is only going to sink it faster. Now, as to Bernie Sanders The Demagogue, you will NEVER hear him discuss ANY of this. He's just tell you what you want to hear. He wants to make sure everyone get's a fair chance, good education and blah blah blah ... just know, this is all a bunch of bullshit pandering. My job is educating medical students - I know exactly what I'm talking about. I know exactly what's wrong with the system and I know it's never going to be fixed because people like to magic think and believe in nonsensical bullshit like "Change We Can Believe In" or other such nonsense.
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vedant varma Two things: First, you don't know what the word 'argument' means. I'll give you a clue, some are deductive valid and sound while others are inductive cogent and strong. My personal favorite is modus tollendo tollens, which makes sense given my occupation. Second, because of your personal attack, I won't bother to read or reply to any further comments from you. (Note: This is an example of what could become the premise to an 'argument'). Vote for whomever you like. Hope and Change and all that jazz. Have a nice week, good bye.
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the81kid Or, I could ask the Greeks.
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Jacob China's a great place. Many cities are very modern. Very free. It's much easier to open a business in China too. Particularly if it's a small local business. USSA: http://www.firstslice.com/police-shut-down-lemonade-stand/ I see China as a bright spot in the future of the US. Those Americans who make it through the Fascist State and resulting Progressive Communist nightmare, have a bright future in front of them.
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the81kid Greece is socialist. Borrowing money is debt not capital - and it was and is regulated. As a matter of fact, finance was and is the most regulated industry in the world, even more so than healthcare (second most regulated industry). The USA is also deeply in debt. Just like Greece, Americans want to spend more money than they make. America is nothing like Scandinavia - it is a lot like Greece though. One of the primary problems with Greeks reaching an agreement with their creditors is just how much money Greeks public servants / progressive socialists have promised themselves in social benefits and retirement. As a matter of fact, THIS is the primary problem, trying to get Government 'Servants' to cut their own pensions and benefits they gave themselves 'for the Good of Society'. As for Greek being 'Capitalistic' - um, no. Japan is Capitalistic, Germany is Capitalistic. Greece is a Socialistic basket case.
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mildred grossman I didn't say the TPP was a free trade deal. I said Bernie Sanders is a bullshitting politician more than willing to say and do anything to get into high office. No different than any other politicians. As for Bernie's so-called 'voting record' - so what? It's pretty easy spending other people's money. Thus, all you'll hear from Bernies is how he'll spend other people's money. This will NOT fix the problems facing us: (1) costly inefficient poorly run Government schools and their NeoNazi Teacher's Unions and (2) over regulation making it nearly impossible for functionally illiterate Government school graduates to get a job doing anything other than Police State thug or cannon fodder. Yes, we have a problem with finance, it's called the Progressive Central Bank - thank you Progressives, for sticking the middle class with labor tax and a central planning central bank.
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mildred grossman LOL Don't worry, I'm sure Bernie will 'inform' you and his 'information' will just coincidentally align with your cognitive biases. Progressive Socialists and Conservative Fundamentalists are two side of the same congame. My suggestion to you is vote Hope and Change. That'll fix things. I on the other hand will continue doing the actually 'work' that's required to make real change (I'm a medical researcher). Have a nice weekend.
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boutchie06 People like Bernie are the reason we're in the mess we are in. Outside of electing God herself, no politician is going to give you what you want. No one. 1) Manufacturing Bernie isn't going to stop the jobs from going to China, because Americans WANT their cheap throwaways made in China or other cheap nations. Putting up a tariff may mean you pay $2000 for an iPhone, and then Americans stop buying as many smart phones. It doesn't mean Apple will open a plant here to make phones. That is asinine. Those kinds of jobs are NOT coming back. It's that simple. Has Bernie made this clear to you? 2) Education Government has a near-monopoly on education. Our $100 billion a year DoED itself has released statistics showing 1 in 5 of its own graduates are functionally illiterate after 12 YEARS of 'education'. The average reading level of a college freshman is 7th grade. The average reading level of an American adult is 6th grade. Has Bernie made it clear that we need Charter Schools and to end Teacher's Unions? No. We could go on, but why bother? What you really like about Bernie is he treats you like children. He tells you what you want to hear. He blames the right people using simple analogy that simple minded people like to hear. Usually slips a 'Government is failing the middle class' and then it's yes yes yes, I agree, yes. Re: Anime all day. I'd love to watch Anime, at least part of the day. But, I'm too busy to do that. Re: Big Pharma. LOL. Yeah, that's what 'Big Pharma" does with it's time and money? Hahaha... lay off the Alex Jones. That aside, do you have ANY idea how much time and effort and money it costs to bring a drug to market? No. You don't. I do agree pharmaceuticals seem to be morphing into pill pushers, working with many AMA licensed GPs. 8 Years ago half of you were waving your flags for Hillary. What happened? She didn't turn out to be a 'Real' Progressive. Speaking of which, how'd Obama turn out? Or what about Bill 'I like raping my interns' Clinton? He signed deregulation into Law - he Progressive enough? You're no different than the Religious Conservatives who voting that idiot Bush I and II into office. Exactly the same. Haha... they'll probably vote for that idiot with the toupee. Good ole' 6th grader America.
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dm9910 1) The European country you're looking for is Greece, not the Scandinavian countries. We are nothing like Scandinavia. 2) Communism is NOT full of good ideals or ideas. It's immoral. The underlying premise of Communism is the use of State violence against innocent humans 'for the good of Society'. Communism is an oxymoron. It should be noted here that Progressive Socialism is the SAME in this regard. The underlying premise is to use violence to take from one group of people and give to another group of people. It is, by definition, immoral. 3) Communism wasn't undermined by greed. Communism doesn't and did not work because there's no price mechanism. Therefor it's impossible to have the information needed to produce the goods and services needed. This has nothing to do with greed. As a matter of fact, personal disposition has nothing to do with it. 4) Chinese factories are NOT slave labor. But what was slave labor, was Communist farms. China will soon be the richest nation in the world. Two decades ago, Socialist Chinese were starving to death. Now Capitalist Chinese have a problem with too much food - obesity. It should be noted Chinese bought 1 in 4 properties in the USA in 2014. Chinese line up around the block at a chance to work in a factory like FoxComm and here's a FACT, the suicide rate in comparable industries in the USA is HIGHER than in China. Here's another FACT. The USA spends more than most countries on education and the DoED itself released data showing 1 in 5 (20%) of Government high school graduates are functionally illiterate. You go on ahead and vote for Bernie the Bullshitter. I honestly would LOVE to see hom elected for 8 years. So that, finally, after 16 years of failed Statism, Americans might be forced to face up to reality. When that happens, remember this: The solution is MORE freedom. Not less. More. Freedom to trade INSIDE the USA Free markets INSIDE the USA An end to Labor tax. Elimination of most regulations and replacement with simple Law that protects property (body and land). Sound money. Until then, enjoy WWIII or whatever never ending War our Progressive Socialists on the LEFT and RIGHT drum up for us.
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dm9910 You really don't know what you're talking about. 1) Using force against innocent humans is immoral. That doesn't matter if you're taxing the 'rich', forcing people to pay a labor tax or forcing people to farm. This is simply a matter of defining moral and immoral. Which Ethicists have already done (See: Kant). 2) You don't 'need' to tax. We have the ability to print money. Thus, no one who is 'rich' has to pay a tax. We can instead choose to print money and use it as needed. You're being fooled into thinking we need to tax the rich. We don't. What we need are goods and services. Money is simple a means to facilitate transaction. Regulation reduces goods and services. 3) "Total Freedom" miss uses the term 'freedom'. So, let me be clearer: Freedom to act morally. We are NOT a free society. We are a hyper-regulated society. Mainly thanks to so-called Progressive Socalists. As an example. Progressives gave us the Central Bank - that just bailed out the rich. Progressives gave us labor tax - that steals 30% of most workers hourly wage. 4) You are INSANE if you think 'free' people would murder and rape. Which probably fits your world view as a Progressive. But, let me again clarify. Freedom to trade is NOT a free for all. Law that protects property and contract, sound money AND freedom is requited for a prosperous society. But hey, you needn't worry about freedom, it isn't returning. Enjoy the Progressive Socialistic Greek-Style craphole America has become.
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Stephen Martinez I don't disagree that the TPP is not a true free trade. But this is not what Bernie (or Thom) are peddling. Time and time again I've heard them both talk the evils of free trade. Over and over Bernie purposely let's his audience off the hook by feeding into their stereotype of poor Chinese "Slave" labor working in factories with suicide nets to keep them from killing themselves. Then Americans can feel good about putting up tariffs that prevent OTHER Americans from buying made in China, who otherwise would prefer to do so. Go to China, you'll find (1) Chinese are much freer inside China than Americans are inside the USA - you won't find a Chinese kid's lemonaid stand shut down by the police, you will here (2) Chinese are becoming rich (3) Americans LOVE made in China, which is why we can afford a new smart phone every two years (4) suicide is higher in the USA when compared to China. What we need in the USA is more free trade and an end to central planning - particularly the central banks. We need free trade INSIDE the USA. But this isn't going to happen. Why? Because Progressive's hate people having freedom. Conservatives hate people having freedom. Most Americans are one or the other.
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C/Gw Keep voting for Hope and Change you can believe in.
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C/Gw You stated you want to use State coercion to redistribute other individual human's private property. That is, by definition, immoral. Using violence (of any kind) against innocent people is immoral. It's why "Progressive" Socialism is an Oxymoron. Violence against innocent people is NOT "Progressive" and is actually ANTI-social. Try and 'justify' the initiation of violence any which way you like. By definition, it is immoral. There's no "Argument" here. It's a definition. Taken as axiomatic. Further, I gave you an out - as in offering the option of instead non-violently creating money as needed (as an example: See Bitcoin). Then leaving it up to free people to decide IF and WHEN they choose to use that money. But you don't like that do you? No. You prefer to steal. You'll call it 'Tax' and make yourself feel good. But in the real world it's actually stealing. Thus, the only person here who's attempting to make a false argument is you. If you find my pointing this out to you insufferable, good. It's still the truth. Oh, and your misuse of the word 'freedom' to suggest 'free for all' is, quite frankly, disturbing. There's a reason why the US Constitution was written, and that reason was to LIMIT government. In addition, the first 10 amendments were to further protect us FROM government. Not the rich. Not the British. Not cheaply made Chinese goods. Not internet providers. But from the US Government itself. A lesson it appears society must learn once every 250 years or so.
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C/Gw The 'idea at hand' is your desire to use coercive State violence to redistribute from one group of people, to another. You have the audacity to call this "Progressive Socialism". When it is anything but 'Progress' or 'Social'. It's Regressive Anti-Socialism. And it IS immoral - by definition. There's no argument here. History Lesson: The "Progressives" gave us the Progressive Central Bank that just bailed out the richest 0.01%, and are STILL bailing them out. Thank them also for the "Progressive" Income/Labor Tax which is being used to bailout the 0,01% - through generational T-bonds. Don't worry, you're not getting Bernie Sanders. You're getting Hillary Clinton. Lucky for you, she's just as bad.
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Simon Mortensen You're blaming the current fiscal problems on 1974? That was 40 years ago. Japan was nuked and became a powerhouse in half that much time. Germany likewise. You don't think Greece has enough regulations?!? Come on. Democratic socialism is NOT the solution, it does not work at all and ironically this was made clear in The Republic written by Plato over 2400 years ago. The problem is NOT that Greeks (or anyone) has too much freedom and sound money (capital). The problem is too little freedom (mainly due to regulations, licencing scams and government imposed limits) and fiat currency. Greece is the poster child for exactly what Democratic Socialism ends up like. The ONLY people who get elected are the politicians who promise to steal from Peter to give to Paul and by the end of the day, there's nothing left to steal. That's democratic socialism to a T. And it's really in no way different from NATIONAL socialism - which is what Bernie Sanders is selling when he talks about keeping low paying jobs in America. THAT IS Nationalistic Socialism. The best solution is the one the founders of the USA had in mind. A LIMITED government, sound money and freedom to trade. Limiting government kept socialism at bay and freedom allowed Americans to create the most prosperous nation in history. Oh well, none of that matters now. That America is gone. The next step is to elect a Nationalist / Socialism demagogue and start WWIII.
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Simon Mortensen The USA is NOT a free-market. The USA is hyper-regulated. Depending on the State, you will be required to obtain a State licences to cut hair, sell flowers, drive a taxi, fix a computer, sell BBQ chicken, etc... etc... etc... The USA has some of the biggest restrictions on starting a company and pays some of the highest tax rates. A FREE society is (in a sense) Darwinian - it's a survival of the most empathetic and kindest. Why? Because in a free society you make money by selling to people the things they want, to be successful you have to understand what people want and figure out how to get it to them legally and without using violence (basically the opposite of State socialism which uses the State to force you into buying something or simply steals it from someone and gives it to you). Anyway, you needn't worry. We are NOT getting more freedom. We're getting less freedom. And, we'll become poorer as a result. National Socialism here we come. Let me just be clear: What I support is freedom, sound money and laws that protect private property and uphold contract. This means people must work with one another if they want society to advance - because they are not able to use the State to steal from those around them (which is how Socialism works and why it fails).
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Simon Mortensen I didn't say in a Darwinian society full-stop. I said in a Free society. As in, the freedom to trade with people with sound money and within the law. In other words, a FREE market. In a free market there is a 'Darwinian' aspect to the people who succeed. The people who succeed are those people who provide other people with what they want, thus other's WANT to do business with (trade with) them. Examples would be Apple, Google, Toyota, Ben and Jerry's, etc.... Socialism OTOH is the use of State violence against innocent people who happened to, through no fault of their own, be born a Citizen of a country at a particular time and place. At the center of "Socialism" is violence. Violence against innocent people. It often goes hand in glove with Nationalism. If I do not want to buy an Apple phone, I'm FREE not to. If I do not want to pay a tax on my hourly wage to the State, and I keep working - I can be imprisoned and even shot. That is NOT socialism - THAT is the "Darwinism" you referred to. With the State playing the part of Predator and Citizens the role of Prey.
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Simon Mortensen The world we live in is NOT a free society. We live in Democratic Socialist societies. There are literally millions and millions and millions of laws that regulate just about every single aspect of your life. From what you eat to who you can marry. From your ability to smoke a weed to the toilet paper you wipe your arse with. You aren't even allowed to drink raw milk in most States. Even though humans have done so perfectly fine for hundreds of thousands of years. On top of that the State sells T-Bonds 50 years ago, builds crap we didn't need, smashes 30 years ago and leaves you with the bill! And you WILL pay or you will get a visit by the BlueKluxKlan. We LIVE in Democratic Nationalistic socialistic societies. Bernie even sells the idea of stopping me from freely trading with Chinese - even though it has pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty! THAT is National Socialism! Also not the State have been in war for over a decade - for a LIE the State made up and it sells T Bonds to Banksters to pay for! We do NOT, I repeat do NOT, live in anything even remotely close to a free-market society. Although, that said, the Internet is the closest we have to a free market - and up until the State takes it over, it will be the best thing we have.
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Simon Mortensen I'm not sure of your point about Walmart. I personally don't shop at Walmart, but many POOR people do. And they do so because Walmart provides them with goods and services cheaply. At prices they can afford. Which, for many people, keeps them from starving to death. And, one day in the future, there will not be a Walmart. Instead we will have 3D printers that will print most things we need. We may even have small gardens that produce much of our food? When that day comes, will you say the same about the those technologies? Anyway, if you want to get rid of companies like Walmart then you will NEED free markets because that is the ONLY way to do so - through free market competition. As an example, Reason TV had a piece of a person who was on welfare and started a BBQ stand and within a single year he had saved $18,000! Guess what happened? He was shut down and the State stole his money. THAT is what Socialism does.
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Simon Mortensen I've seen Inside Job. If you think the financial system is a free market you are completely wrong. The financial system is the MOST regulated market in the world (a fact you can look up, it runs neck and neck with medicine). Because of all the regulations the financial system is now a financial casino. A free market is not the same as a market free of corruption. But corruption is most efficiently dealt with by free people, not a State regulatory agency (which many times is populated by the SAME corrupt people you want to get rid of). Look, it's obvious we agree to the end goals. But it seems to me you are under the delusion we live in a free society with free markets - we don't. We live in a Democratic Socialistic Republics with millions and millions and millions of regulations. 100s of millions of regulations. I promise you, more regulations is NOT going to fix the problem. It's going to make it much worse.
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Socialism: USA vs Finland and Norway Finland has one of the world's best government run schools. The USA, could in theory attempt to replicate this pedagogy, but we do not. Why? Teacher's Unions. As a matter of fact, the ONLY schools that attempt to replicate the Finnish system are Private and Charter schools (both of whom are viciously attacked both through the media and even legal attempts to make it impossible for parents to even choose them!). Also, look at Norway's sovereign wealth fund it is the largest in the world. Each citizen in Norway is (in theory) a millionaire. In the USA, each Citizen is born about $60,000 in DEBT obligations and these are expected to balloon 500% as the next generation retires with it's expected 'Social" benefits. Some States have passed Laws making it illegal for the voters NOT to pay these debt obligations (of course, Judges are directly the benefits). Compare the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund with the oil revenues in Alaska. Each Alaskan gets $1800 a year from the Alaska Permanent Fund. THAT is the American way. Not to save and invest, but to take now. Not to go without so that the next generation has more, but to sell Debt obligations (T-bonds and Municipals) STICKING the next generation with bills for goods and services LONG AGO GONE. What works in the USA is Capitalism and free market private enterprise. Neither of which exists any longer. We don't save capital, but take on debt. Free markets are LONG GONE. You can't even cut hair without a State licence. In some States you need a licence to sell flowers or fix a PC. We're not like the Finnish and Norwegians (and we don't sit atop an oil supply making us all millionaires). We are instead a broke nation of functional illiterates who haven't seen a free handout they didn't like. We are a nation of warmongers. And we're scared of our own shadow thus are happy to trade away our privacy and freedom for a police state and NSA. National Socialists like Bernie Scammers can be expected to make huge political gains in the coming decades - IF history is anything to go by. Only a Demagogue claims they want to help the poor, while at the same time trying to prevent the poor (Chinese) from being lifted out of poverty. Bernie will BOTH claim the Chinese are 'stealing' your job AND are slaves in factories. Neither of which is true. Keep that in mind as his story begins to unravel leaving only the promise of 'free' government handouts. A message perfectly suited to the Americans voter.
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Simon Mortensen Let me make sure I have your position correctly: You're against giving a select few the opportunity to be too powerful in society, and therefor you want to give a select fewer even more power to ensure this doesn't happen? That doesn't make sense. In a FREE society, 'powerful people' either serve the needs of society, or they go bust. In our society, they get bailed out by the Governmental Political Elites who wield much more power. The Democratic Socialists always bailout the Crony Capitalists because that's who pays the bill. As an example: The Koch brothers have about $ 120 billion. That's a lot of money and power. But get this, they also provide people will a lot of goods and services - including high paying jobs. And if they don't keep provinding society with goods and services, they would have gone bust. Now compare with the DoED. It has about $80 billion - that it spends each year. Each year. That's the lifetime of wealth the Koch brothers, and it's spent in a year. What do we get? Well, the average reading level in the USA is grade 6, the average incoming university freshman reads at grade 7/8 and 1 in 5 (20%) of Government school graduates are functionally illiterate. This is LOWER than it was in 1910. Oh, and as for pedagogical innovation ... there is none. NONE. ZERO. If anything Government schools get worse each year. Also, the Government just BAILED OUT those elites you worry about. They're richer under Obama than at any point in HUMAN history, and getting richer. So, if you want the powerful called to heel. Then you want MORE freedom and LESS government. Particularly, a LIMITED government that is not able to bailout crony capitalists. What you do NOT want is Democratic Socialism. It doesn't work. It just leads to Nationalistic Socialism. Which is where the USA is headed towards. Along with more Wars... never ending Democratic Socialistic Wars, like the War on Terror, War on Drugs, War on Privacy, etc.... It's simple: Freedom (free-markets), sound money and laws that protect property and uphold contract. That's what's needed.
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Simon Mortensen The USA government IS socialists. And yes, they are evil. As a matter of fact, they're not much different from the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party). Are you going to tell that NAZI's weren't socialists either?!? Maybe you need to read up on the history of socialism - I promise you, it's not pretty.
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Simon Mortensen Maybe you simply need to clarify with an example. Because I don't think we agree as to what socialism IS. Example: Suppose I work 80 hours a week for next to nothing and finally invent a cancer medicine. I sell it at a profit. It saves 100s of millions of people's lives. However, I refuse to pay any tax whatsoever at all. Tell me, what does a 'Democratic Socialist' government do to me?
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Simon Mortensen I'm still not quite clear as to your answer. So, I asked what would happen to a person who worked 80 hours a week and invented a medicine that cured cancer. She sold it and saved 100s of millions of people's lives. Suppose she made billions of dollars in profit. But she also refused to pay tax. So? What do you propose the government does to such a person?
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Simon Mortensen I'm saying she does refuse to pay any tax - what do you want to have happen to her? That's my question. IOWs, she determines an amount she wants as a profit, if the State charges a tax, then she simply raises the price of the medicine. Thus, the cancer patient will pay for the tax at the point of purchase - but not her. What do you propose happen to her?
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Simon Mortensen 1) We both agree that the Government doesn't pay for anything itself, it only redistributes other people's wealth? 2) We also agree hospitals are not 'free'? Someone provides a service (say a nurse) and someone pays for the service. I think these first two points are very important you get clear in your mind. The government doesn't create wealth - it redistributes other people's wealth. Medicine is not 'free'. Someone pays. If a tax is levied, then that item costs more. If it's an income tax, then the laborer has less money to spend. If it's GST, then the buyer pays more. If it's currency expansion, then everyone pays through inflation (which hurts the poor more than the rich). Nothing is 'free'. 3) Re: Go to jail. And there you have Socialism in a nutshell. Violence. She's a morally innocent person. On top of that she made a medicine that saved lives! The government's use of violence against her is immoral. It may be legal, it may be the will of the people - it is still immoral. I happen to think a moral society is preferable to an immoral one. The initiation of violence against morally innocent people is immoral by definition. Finland is oil-rich. I wouldn't compare them to the USA. A more accurate social democracy would be Greece. See Detroit as an example of Greek style socialism in the USA. While we both want the same ends, I want to get there without resorting to violence whenever possible. See, I think providing the medicine is itself a virtue. I think it's great if that scientists keeps are her money. All that happens is it's put in a bank and lent out to other people in society. Which is a good thing and much more efficient than using a Police State to redistribute it. Money doesn't sit in vaults collecting dust. The majority of it is 0s and 1s. And the internal motivation of the person is irrespective. Who knows? Maybe she would have donated much of it to a charity? Or maybe most of it would be in stocks? Who cares? It's being put to use one way or another and it is HER property. Now imagine if this woman was from a different country and she charged that same amount per pill. Well, now I'm sure you think she doesn't "owe" anything in tax - do you? That's the interesting thing about in-group normality bias. As soon as she's not in your 'country' suddenly she owes you nothing. Even if that country is only 0.1 mile away. Just down the street. Whereas if she lives 2000 miles away but in the same country - you feel she 'owes' you something and she should pay 'tax'. And you're even willing to use violence against her - and if she resists, the government, they'd kill her. That's sick. That is NOT pro-social. That is ANTI-social. If you want to know what's wrong with society, this is your answer.
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vedant varma Greece is a socialist state. As for Norway, it's an oil rich nation. Can 'socialism' work well while oil profits are rolling in? Sure. But only because non-oil rich nations have to pay for the oil and in exchange produce goods and services Norwegians enjoy. It's why the Norwegians use the Krone. Which is something to think about. Norwegians are so 'socialist' that they refused to joy the Euro and share their wealth. Thus, "Socialism" doesn't even work in Norway. Norway is really Nationalist. If Norwegians really felt 'Socialism' was so wonderful, they'd share their wealth with the other Scandinavian countries. Something you may want to consider. Oh, Norway (like the other Scandinavian countries) also doesn't have a State mandated minimum wage. My questions are: 1) Is NOT having a minimum wage "Socialistic"? You just gave Norway as an example of so-called "Socialism:, they don't have a minimum wage. 2) So, given Norway was your example, you'd also like to eliminate the minimum wage in the USA? Yes, Norway does have a really great educational system. If we were to model ours on theirs, most Government schools would be shut down as inadequate and most Government school teachers would have to be fired as they wouldn't have the qualifications nor the aptitude to be a teacher. Are you in favor of firing 99% of the public school teachers in the USA? IF Bernie wasn't just a bullshitter, he'd say as much. Is he going to? No. DO you have any idea what the Teacher's Unions would do to him? If not out-right put a hit on him. So, no, don't expect Bernie to say anything other than we need to give more money to a failing system. Note: Japanese spends less PER Student than the USA. Having a smaller or larger population has nothing to do with it. We spend about 20% more per student with MUCH LOWER outcomes (See: The 1 in 5 functional illiteracy rates of students who graduate from a Government "High" schools). Yes, Norway spends more, and they can afford to, they have a lot of oil. Lastly, Norway is nothing like the USA in terms of people. They don't have the huge Government welfare ghettos. They don't have the massive regulations - in most ways, they're freer Capitalists than Americans. So are Japanese. While both Japan (where I've lived) and Norway are nothing like the USA socially. What works there does not work in the USA. As an example: Japanese save a ton of money NOT having a Police State. Japanese kids can walk through any area of any city with no fear of being harmed. It's NORMAL in Japan to see school kids walking home. Japan has a ton of trains and this saves them a ton of money. The cities are close to one another. They work very hard and are very honest people. Japanese sit their iPhone on a table to 'save' their seat and go buy coffee knowing their phone will still be there. No, the example from Europe that best represents the USA is Greece. As for Bernie, he's no different than Obama - just full of bullshit. If he wasn't, he'd have attacked the Teacher's Unions decades ago as this is the single biggest problem in the USA. He'd have attacked regulations in the USA as this is the second largest problem. He doesn't, because he knows he'll be kicked out of office the next day. So, like any other politician, he bullshits the public with airy fairy "Socialism" and other magic thinking nonsense. There's no magic bullet. Electing a person as a Civil Servant, POTUS or otherwise, is NOT going to fix anything. We need LESS public servants and more personal freedom - particularity monetary freedom and freedom to trade (free trade). We also need freedom FROM Government schools (see: Charter Schools).
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