The "Age of America" About to End?

[Guest monkeyhumper]

While I do wish big business would pass the share down the line more than they do, I tend to agree with CrimsonAudio in that there is no magic 40 hour week that anyone can work to be successful.

I spend most of my day finding ways to NOT do work. The industry I'm in is stuck in the 80s-90s, and there are dozens of people who mindlessly shuffle data back and forth. I've found a way to use my brain and my computer to do my job nearly hands free, and now I'm developing processes that will ultimately lead to those dozens with nothing to do.

I find myself blessed beyond I could have ever imagined, with a great family, two homes, and an income that exceeds my outgoing. I don't need the money being squeezed from the greater masses, but as a person that lives in, let's face it, the future, and not on Little House, I believe we have a common responsibility to live within our means, and to stop allowing the few to scrape so much from the pool of the general public.

I have made myself (mostly) irreplaceable, incredibly valuable, and while those around me are cursing me and sweating about tomorrow, I'm not worried very much.

As I said before, my qualms lie with the gap between those on the bottom, and those perched atop the heap. Those few people can leverage themselves to distance their wealth so greatly, and with such power, there is literally nothing left to scavenge.

To me, my argument reaches far beyond what has EVER been considered the poor vs the rich.

I would normally edit my ramblings into a more logical order, but this is from my phone, so my thoughts will simply be presented as is. I hope I'm clear.

Sent from my Etch a Sketch

[Guest mn32768]

**** Billionaires Flourish, Inequalities Deepen as Economies "Recover":***** Information Clearing House: ICH

What is striking about the recovery, growth, and expansion of the world’s billionaires is how dependent their accumulation of wealth is based on pillage of state resources; how much of their fortunes were based on neo-liberal policies which led to the takeover at bargain prices of privatized public enterprises; how state de-regulation allows for plunder of the environment to extract resources at the highest rate of return; how the state promoted the expansion of speculative activity in real estate, finance and hedge funds, while encouraging the growth of monopolies, oligopolies and conglomerates which captured “super profits†– rates above the ‘historical level’.

The sources of billionaire wealth are, at best, only partially due to ‘entrepreneurial innovations’. Their wealth may have begun, at an earlier phase, from producing useful goods and services; but as the capitalist economies ‘mature’ and shift toward finance, overseas markets and the search for higher profits by imposing neo-liberal policies, the economic profile of the billionaire class shifts toward the parasitical model of the established imperial centers.

[gregintenn]

When you are sick and hurting, and a hospital can turn you away, something is deeply wrong. /

Now I call B.S. on this one. In the United States, a healthcare facility cannot turn someone away who comes seeking emergency medical care, regardless of their ability to pay. You have now resorted to making things up in order to prove your illogical belief.

[Garufa]

When you are sick and hurting, and a hospital can turn you away, something is deeply wrong. /

Now I call B.S. on this one. In the United States, a healthcare facility cannot turn someone away who comes seeking emergency medical care, regardless of their ability to pay. You have now resorted to making things up in order to prove your illogical belief.

Thus driving up the costs of medical care to other consumers paying out of pocket or via insurance and the government who pays the Medicare/Medicaid bills.

[Guest ab28]

When you are sick and hurting, and a hospital can turn you away, something is deeply wrong. /

Now I call B.S. on this one. In the United States, a healthcare facility cannot turn someone away who comes seeking emergency medical care, regardless of their ability to pay. You have now resorted to making things up in order to prove your illogical belief.

It is very logical, and I didn't say emergency, I was speaking of regular care. A private hospital can indeed turn you away if they choose. You have been brainwashed, do research, and you will find you are wrong. The super wealthy run this country, everyone else is wage slaves.

[Ebow1]

*are

[Guest monkeyhumper]

*are

Seriously?

[gregintenn]

When you are sick and hurting, and a hospital can turn you away, something is deeply wrong. /

It is very logical, and I didn't say emergency, I was speaking of regular care. A private hospital can indeed turn you away if they choose. You have been brainwashed, do research, and you will find you are wrong. The super wealthy run this country, everyone else is wage slaves.

SO where do you draw the line? Should everyone have a new car? How big a house? A cell phone? Diamonds? You have the opportunity to do things for yourself. You aren't owed squat just because you are here and breathing. How about you take some of the time you spend hating and whining on the internet and try to improve yourself in such a way that you'd be in higher demand in the workplace?

[Ebow1]

Seriously? Yes.

[Guest monkeyhumper]

Seriously? Yes.

Ok.

Oh well, at this point the argument has turned into nothing more then northern high school kids trying to justify the civil war without any real knowledge of it.

*than

Something about glass houses.

[Guest ab28]

SO where do you draw the line? Should everyone have a new car? How big a house? A cell phone? Diamonds? You have the opportunity to do things for yourself. You aren't owed squat just because you are here and breathing. How about you take some of the time you spend hating and whining on the internet and try to improve yourself in such a way that you'd be in higher demand in the workplace?

I'm not hating and whining, I was never talking about this for me. I have what I need, which is very little. And there is really no place to draw the line, which is why wealth redistribution won't work. I am arguing for more affordable basics, or better pay, not wealth redistribution. I was mentioning the rich thing to make a point.

I am a minimalist, which means I have cut myself off from the greed and overconsumption that marks our society. I own this computer, a car, two guns, and hiking gear. That is literally it. I have known for years that possessions do not bring happiness. I don't want to be chained down to a house. Most everyone else in society seems excessively materialistic and brainwashed. Advertisers are psychologists, they know how to get people to buy stuff.

I don't get why you think people should stay sick, suffer, do without medicine when there are doctors and hospitals everywhere. Why people should go hungry when there are semis full of food on the interstate 24 hours a day. We more than have the means. There is no reason healthcare should cost as much as it does.

Edited April 27, 2011 by ab28

[Ebow1]

Is and are is easier to remember then then and than. That one always gets me.

[gregintenn]

I don't get why you think people should stay sick, suffer, do without medicine when there are doctors and hospitals everywhere. Why people should go hungry when there are semis full of food on the interstate 24 hours a day. We more than have the means

Because these aren't rights!!! These people are free to purchase the healthcare, food, or whatever you think they need. Many of them would prefer to spend their income on beer, cigarettes, or ilicit drugs. I'll give you an example. You stated that you own two guns. Why should you have two guns when there are people out there who don't have a gun at all. Would it be fair to confiscate one of them from you and give it to someone else? Same difference.

[Guest monkeyhumper]

Is and are is easier to remember then then and than. That one always gets me.

I see what you did there.

[G27]

I am a minimalist, which means I have cut myself off from the greed and overconsumption that marks our society. I own this computer, a car, two guns, and hiking gear. That is literally it. I have known for years that possessions do not bring happiness. I don't want to be chained down to a house. Most everyone else in society seems excessively materialistic and brainwashed. Advertisers are psychologists, they know how to get people to buy stuff.

I don't get why you think people should stay sick, suffer, do without medicine when there are doctors and hospitals everywhere. Why people should go hungry when there are semis full of food on the interstate 24 hours a day. We more than have the means. There is no reason healthcare should cost as much as it does.

It's because those other folks who don't make much money AREN'T minimalists - I guarantee virtually everyone 'without insurance' has a cell phone, a computer, internet service, cable, etc. If they focused on needs before wants, they'd likely be able to afford the basics.

That is, if they stopped getting hung up on a 40 hour work week as if that magic number somehow should make ends meet...

[Guest ab28]

It's because those other folks who don't make much money AREN'T minimalists - I guarantee virtually everyone 'without insurance' has a cell phone, a computer, internet service, cable, etc. If they focused on needs before wants, they'd likely be able to afford the basics.

That is, if they stopped getting hung up on a 40 hour work week as if that magic number somehow should make ends meet...

That is true. I do agree that a big part of it is self discipline with finances. However, a huge medical bill is still a huge medical bill, no matter how cheap you are. A 40 hour work week should be more than enough, is what I am saying. If you are running your own business or doing something different, then that is another story. I am talking about the "average" person. I have worked 60-70 hours a week when I did construction. It sucked. I was tired all the time, never got a chance to just relax and have leisure. You gotta have some off time as well, to enjoy life.

"You stated that you own two guns. Why should you have two guns when there are people out there who don't have a gun at all. Would it be fair to confiscate one of them from you and give it to someone else? Same difference."

It's not, a handgun won't do the job of a rifle. I am not speaking of the people that waste their money on cigs, beer, crack, whatever. I am speaking of the people that work hard, and save, and still don't manage to get by. Rent is way too high, just around M'boro, not to mention other cities. Healthcare is incredibly expensive, and people can die if they can't afford the treatment. A person's life is worth more than money.