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Title: Thoughts from Taiwan
Source:
Dissenting Opinions
URL Source: http://jwpegler.blogspot.com/2011/08/thoughts-from-taiwan.html
Published: Aug 19, 2011
Author: Eric Blankenburg
Post Date: 2011-08-19 08:36:27 by jwpegler
Keywords: None
Views: 85665
Comments: 163
I spent the last week in Taipei, Taiwan visiting a customer.
I've been all over Asia, but this was my first trip to Taiwan, other than catching a connecting flight at the airport.
I'm sitting here at Taiwan International Airport waiting for my 12 hour flight to Seattle, reflecting on my week.
I love Taiwan and its people. The city is on the move. People are hustling and working hard. Yet, they are extraordinarily friendly and caring.
Last night we went to Tower 101, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world. Until very recently, it also had the fastest elevator in the world. We climbed from the 5th floor to the observation deck on the 89th floor in a matter of seconds. The view was spectacular.
Taipei 101 is designed to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors. Inside the building there is a 660 metric ton steel pendulum (my pic is on the left) which acts as a mass damper that sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts of wind. It's the largest mass damper in the world and the building is an engineering marvel.
Afterwards, we had diner at a great restaurant that specializes in dumplings.
We were sitting at diner, looking at all of the energy in the city, the wonderful people, and everything that they've accomplished over the last 50 years. I couldn't help but think that if Chiang Kai Shek didn't lead 2 million people off of the mainland, all of these people and what they've accomplished wouldn't be here because the communists would have murdered their parents and grandparents for rebelling just as the communists murdered so many others.
Our thoughts quickly drifted to the problems we face in America. Although the American left haven't turned into mass murders (yet), they are killing the country nevertheless.
In Taiwan and the rest of Asia, you are expected to work and take care of yourself. If you can't, you rely on your family. In America (and Europe) the government's welfare system has destroyed the family by replacing it with a faceless, uncaring bureaucracy. They've also replaced our core values of hard work and responsibility with sloth and dependency. So, you've been on unemployment insurance for 2 years???!!! No problem, Obama and his minions will let you ride out the rest of your miserable life at the taxpayer's expense.
At one point last night I told my colleague that we should take every big mouth leftist in the U.S., and dump them off in Taiwan, the Philippines or elsewhere in Asia without a penny in their pocket. If they can manage to survive a year, both they and America would be better off when they come back. I seriously doubt that many of them could survive.
It's getting close to boarding time. I am so glad to becoming back to America with another shining example of how the American values of hardwork, thrift, and personal responsibility translate into success in every society. It is so sad that many Americans are losing those very values.
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#12. To: buckeroo, jwpegler (#11)
wpegler is not stumping to run for some political office or attempting to buy a vote.
He is spreading BS that affects the lives of Americans - some one reading this comes away saying, hey - why can't America be like the Taiwanese who don't have govt regulated social welfare to hold them back???
When in fact the Taiwanese have govt run social benefits up the ying/yang.
Facts are facts and no running for office does not negate one from stating them.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#13. To: Godwinson (#12)
He [jwpegler] is spreading BS that affects the lives of Americans - some one reading this comes away saying, hey - why can't America be like the Taiwanese who don't have govt regulated social welfare to hold them back???
ROTFL ... Hey, pal: I don't know about what you know or understand about this chit-chat channel but jwpegler's reflections on a recent experience to Taiwan will hardly affect anyone's political views. He pointed out a casual dinner meeting is all with attempts to summarize relational perspectives about the two nations.
Here is the statement that you don't enjoy:
Our thoughts quickly drifted to the problems we face in America. Although the American left haven't turned into mass murders (yet), they are killing the country nevertheless.
To me, he is dead-on target. If you analyze his statement, it does not take into account the two-party system in America but both political parties are on the left destroying America. Just look around America; we are no longer the vibrant economy we once were; our inner cities are trashed over; our educational system has been trashed; the leaders of our nation are nothing more than used car salesman; taxes CONTINUE TO CLIMB while the nation is focused on wars around the world.
#14. To: Godwinson, buckeroo, jwpegler, *Extended Clip Progressives* (#12)
He is spreading BS that affects the lives of Americans
You call everything that the gov does socialist. You're the biggest spreader of BS on LF! You've got a lot of dang gall, accusing anyone else of spreading BS.
When we pay taxes to gov to build a bridge, that's not socialist. When gov takes our tax money and gives it to socialists to do nothing, that's socialist!
It affects the lives of Americans in a negative way. . When "progressives" push political correct communist doctrine in the schools... braindead diversity, tolerance, and multiculturalism they're destroying America. Some stuff is intolerable, and we should oppose it. Ethnic groups naturally segregate which is why you have chinatown, little italy, etc. sections in most cities. Gov tries to force integration and creates strife. It's hObama's progressive "change", for the worse.
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
#15. To: jwpegler (#0)
In Taiwan and the rest of Asia, you are expected to work and take care of yourself. If you can't, you rely on your family. In America (and Europe) the government's welfare system has destroyed the family by replacing it with a faceless, uncaring bureaucracy. They've also replaced our core values of hard work and responsibility with sloth and dependency. So, you've been on unemployment insurance for 2 years???!!! No problem, Obama and his minions will let you ride out the rest of your miserable life at the taxpayer's expense.
Excellent point.
It's the same in E.Europe, as well.
The two sides in America are people who work for a living versus people who vote for their living.
#16. To: hondo68 (#14)
You call everything that the gov does socialist. You're the biggest spreader of BS on LF! You've got a lot of dang gall, accusing anyone else of spreading BS.When we pay taxes to gov to build a bridge, that's not socialist.
LOL! I am just using the term socialist in the Rush Limbough/FOX news/Right wing Radio/ sort of way - they call everything the govt does - socialist - except the military - which is ironic since that is the most socialist of all govt institutions.
The fact that you are the only one who has objected to this example being called 'socialist' proves that because in the minds of the others on here - it is socialism.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#17. To: buckeroo (#13)
Just look around America; we are no longer the vibrant economy we once were; our inner cities are trashed over; our educational system has been trashed; the leaders of our nation are nothing more than used car salesman; taxes CONTINUE TO CLIMB while the nation is focused on wars around the world.
TAXES were cut you, nimrod. Spending may have risen but in the rest of the world it is spent on the people and in the USA more on defense. So we have awesome armies and fucked up health care, bridges and train service.
I will say something about free trade policies that allow capitalist pigs to exploit labor overseas at the expense of the American worker - but that is a whole can of worms in and of itself.
And his statement is not dead on target. Taiwan sees itself as a unit - socialist in outlook in that the weakest link in the chain holds everyone back so they pool resources to help via govt the poor so all can rise up and pull along on a common front.
Don't pretend you conservatives want to help the poor by pooling resources and creating govt programs.....like Taiwan does....
Taiwan is following the exact same policies any European export nation does like France and Germany - and they are the examples the GOP talking heads label "socialist".
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#18. To: Capitalist Eric, buckeroo, jwpegler (#15)
There we have as I said jwpegler fooling some idiot with his false statement. Taiwan and now "Eastern Europe" are some kind of non socialist - no govt welfare type of conservative paradise - when in earlity Eastern Europe right now is a shambles - and Taiwan is what any Republican would call socialist if their policies were transplanted to the USA. I know this for a fact because Taiwan copied Canada's health care system 100% and the Canadian healthcare system was called socialist by every GOP talking head I can think of.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#19. To: jwpegler (#0)
Where did you go? Answer Godwinson's points.
Also, ....
Although the American left haven't turned into mass murders (yet)
Oh, bullshit.
-------------------------------------
Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?
#20. To: Biff Tannen (#19)
Where did you go? Answer Godwinson's points.Also, ...
Jwpegler is such an astute debater that he probably has Godwinson on Bozo like he has almost every poster here who has called him on his BS. Pegler considers himself an esteemed teacher of economics and political theory, and beyond reproach.
I can't believe Bucky's ever actually read his posts.
#21. To: Biff Tannen (#19) (Edited)
American left haven't turned into mass murders (yet)Oh, bullshit.
The flash mobs have raised questions about race and class.Most of the teenagers who have taken part in them are black and from poor neighborhoods. Most of the areas hit have been predominantly white business districts.
In the flash mob on Saturday, groups of teenagers were chanting “black boys” and “burn the city,” bystanders said.
The latest outbreak of midtown mayhem - which the mayor Monday declared an episode of "wilding" - resurrected memories of the "bad old days of the 1970s."
Fifty-six youths were arrested or given summonses after hundreds of thugs rampaged through Times Square and Herald Square on Easter Sunday night.
Four people - a man and a woman in Times Square and two women outside Macy's - were shot in what cops say is becoming an annual tradition.
"It came out of nowhere. I just saw people running and I got hit," said Keanu Griffin, 18, a senior at Aspiration High in Brooklyn, who was shot in the thigh.
She said she and five friends were heading to the subway after eating at T.G.I. Friday's when they were engulfed by the melee.
Check your Tweeter, there might be a cool flash mob you can participate in!
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
#22. To: Godwinson (#17)
TAXES were cut you, nimrod. Spending may have risen but in the rest of the world it is spent on the people and in the USA more on defense. So we have awesome armies and fucked up health care, bridges and train service.
They were? Exactly how when two different methods of clandestine taxation has been endorsed by American politicians: 1) rampant inflation controlled by the FED and 2) unimaginable borrowing. Both methods are not apparent to average American as they enjoy their "tax-free" paychecks.
I will say something about free trade policies that allow capitalist pigs to exploit labor overseas at the expense of the American worker - but that is a whole can of worms in and of itself. America got shafted by both political parties.
That is an issue America has failed upon. They have chased industry away with over regulation while minimizing any requirements for foreign imports. America got shafted by both political parties.
And his statement is not dead on target. Taiwan sees itself as a unit - socialist in outlook in that the weakest link in the chain holds everyone back so they pool resources to help via govt the poor so all can rise up and pull along on a common front.
From my perspective it is DEAD-ON TARGET. The statement is a rough comparison of nations is all.
Don't pretend you conservatives want to help the poor by pooling resources and creating govt programs.....like Taiwan does....
I am not a "conservative." I have never claimed to be and the term is thrown around too loosely. I am for smaller government, though.
Taiwan is following the exact same policies any European export nation does like France and Germany - and they are the examples the GOP talking heads label "socialist".
To some point, I agree. But jwpegler's casual remarcks did not take this view at all.
#23. To: mininggold (#20)
The current health care system in Taiwan, known as National Health Insurance (NHI), was instituted in 1995. NHI is a single-payer compulsory social insurance plan which centralizes the disbursement of health-care funds. The system promises equal access to health care for all citizens, and the population coverage had reached 99% by the end of 2004.[4] NHI is mainly financed through premiums, which are based on the payroll tax, and is supplemented with out-of-pocket payments and direct government funding. In the initial stage, fee-for-service predominated for both public and private providers. Most health providers operate in the private sector and form a competitive market on the health delivery side. However, many health care providers took advantage of the system by offering unnecessary services to a larger number of patients and then billing the government. In the face of increasing loss and the need for cost containment , NHI changed the payment system from fee-for-service to a global budget, a kind of prospective payment system, in 2002.
So, it looks like Taiwan had to change it's system to protect it from thieving private industry. Sounds familiar.
#24. To: buckeroo, jwpegler (#8)
If the Taiwanese are not working or in school they are with family and friends. One area that I despise is the Chinese New Year. It can last for a month about January-February; everything closes and forget about contacting anyone about business; they are off on holiday.
They get more time off of work than Americans do too.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#25. To: buckeroo (#9)
The Taiwanese are very industrious and really don't enjoy government interference; you don't see the Taiwanese begging to belong to China do you?
The same can be said of Scandinavians, but we always talk about them as socialist.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#26. To: lucysmom, jwpegler (#24)
They get more time off of work than Americans do too.
Oh, isn't that peechy-keen! Whats that got to do with any of this discussion? If anything America NEEDS to get back to work as Taiwan demonstrates based on jwpegler's article.
#27. To: hondo68 (#14)
Ethnic groups naturally segregate which is why you have chinatown, little italy, etc. sections in most cities.
Does that mean you don't think Americans should be free to purchase property and live where ever they want and can afford?
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#28. To: Godwinson (#12)
He is spreading BS that affects the lives of Americans
That's YOUR job! wtf, huh?
Always nice to see your ilk's button pushed.
Which (R) candidate do you hate the most? That may finalize my decision.
#29. To: buckeroo (#26)
Oh, isn't that peechy-keen! Whats that got to do with any of this discussion? If anything America NEEDS to get back to work as Taiwan demonstrates based on jwpegler's article.
It begins to look as if Americans work more and get less than the citizens of any other first world country. What is it again that makes us great?
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#30. To: buckeroo, lucysmom, jwpegler (#26)
If anything America NEEDS to get back to work
The American worker - if he has a job - is exploited work meat by the owner class.
The American worker is at work - works hard - for less pay and benefits like days off than in the pre - Reagan era. Since Reagan the American worker has worked harder but saw little increase in pay or benefits with a small blip in the Clinton era which did see a rise in pay and benefits for a short time.
What we need is retirement to start earlier - this will free up jobs to new employees. We need 3 days off so that the American can have more family time and reduce divorces, etc and we need manufacturing jobs that can hire people right out of high school - colleges have become money pits for many Americans who now have to go beyond their educational and monetary needs because service jobs need more education for the worker - while still paying less than manufacturing jobs used to.
If we put a 100% tariff on imported clothing we could reduce unemployment in America by 50% or more - the garment industry used to be a huge employer of workers - skilled and non skilled - for example.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#31. To: hondo68 (#14)
Gov tries to force integration and creates strife. It's hObama's progressive "change", for the worse.
Ummm - there was strife before integration, it just wasn't your strife.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#32. To: Godwinson (#30)
The American worker - if he has a job - is exploited work meat by the owner class.The American worker is at work - works hard - for less pay and benefits like days off than in the pre - Reagan era.
Just as slaves were less than fully human by law at our country's founding, today's wage slaves are less than human.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#33. To: lucysmom (#29)
It begins to look as if Americans work more and get less than the citizens of any other first world country.
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through: 1) taxation, 2) controlled inflation and 3) excessive borrowing. These scandalous methods are not used ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
You should get off your ass from your computer and get outside and SCREAM: 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' (borrowed from NETWORK, circa 1976) ... of course, you won't; it is too easy to sit there and chit-chat.
What is it again that makes us great?
It was WW2. After WW2, it has been downhill all the way particularly because of America playing world cop.
#34. To: buckeroo, lucysmom, jwpegler (#33)
It begins to look as if Americans work more and get less than the citizens of any other first world country.
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through....
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through.......allowing businesses to break up unions, export manufacturing overseas and depress wages and benefits.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#35. To: buckeroo (#33)
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through: 1) taxation, 2) controlled inflation and 3) excessive borrowing. These scandalous methods are not used ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
You can't be serious.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#36. To: Godwinson (#30)
The American worker - if he has a job - is exploited work meat by the owner class.
Can you cite any example of ANY nation around the world that does not perform similarly?
The American worker is at work - works hard - for less pay and benefits like days off than in the pre - Reagan era. Since Reagan the American worker has worked harder but saw little increase in pay or benefits with a small blip in the Clinton era which did see a rise in pay and benefits for a short time.
Yeah, so what? the American government (on all levels) has slowly extracted the tax base from the private sector in such a way that about 20% - 33% of ALL government structures are paying for retirement benefits. In the private sector , no such issue has occurred. But the real perspective is how the politicians have connived, lied, cheated, swindled America into paying retirement benefits for fat, lazy bureaucrats to begin with. They are ALL charlatans.
What we need is retirement to start earlier - this will free up jobs to new employees. We need 3 days off so that the American can have more family time and reduce divorces, etc and we need manufacturing jobs that can hire people right out of high school - colleges have become money pits for many Americans who now have to go beyond their educational and monetary needs because service jobs need more education for the worker - while still paying less than manufacturing jobs used to.
I don't agree. If anything, America needs to work harder, better, faster and cheaper in order to compete with the rest of the world.
If we put a 100% tariff on imported clothing we could reduce unemployment in America by 50% or more - the garment industry used to be a huge employer of workers - skilled and non skilled - for example.
Blame your Congress whom have systemically driven off manufacturing with excessive regulation while permitting off-shore imports on the cheap.
#37. To: Godwinson (#34)
allowing businesses to break up unions
You're so communal!
Workers and voters are rejecting Unions...and businesses benefit.
#38. To: jwpegler (#0) (Edited)
In Taiwan and the rest of Asia, you are expected to work and take care of yourself. If you can't, you rely on your family. In America (and Europe) the government's welfare system has destroyed the family by replacing it with a faceless, uncaring bureaucracy. They've also replaced our core values of hard work and responsibility with sloth and dependency. So, you've been on unemployment insurance for 2 years???!!! No problem, Obama and his minions will let you ride out the rest of your miserable life at the taxpayer's expense.
Taiwain has a national single-payer health insurance system, and a national pension system, so I'm guessing you told your associates how much better they would be working/living in the U.S.?
I assume you also discussed Taiwan's massive stimulus implemented in 2009?
Tagline for sale - inquire within
#39. To: Godwinson (#34)
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through.......allowing businesses to break up unions, export manufacturing overseas and depress wages and benefits.
As less than human, workers don't contribute and thus are not deserving. Employees are not producers, they are parasites.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#40. To: lucysmom (#35)
You can't be serious.
Sur le conttrary mon ami je suis cadavérique sérieux. (Quite the contrary, I am deathly serious)
No other nation has ever undertaken the task of WORLDCOP as the USA has performed EVER! The costs have been enormous, too. There isn't one significant advantage to this excessive empire building for America, either.
#41. To: buckeroo (#36)
Yeah, so what? the American government (on all levels) has slowly extracted the tax base from the private sector in such a way that about 20% - 33% of ALL government structures are paying for retirement benefits.
In California, state employee retirement contributions were invested in the market.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#42. To: buckeroo (#40)
No other nation has ever undertaken the task of WORLDCOP as the USA has performed EVER! The costs have been enormous, too. There isn't one significant advantage to this excessive empire building for America, either.
There was the British Empire, but that isn't what I responded to, this was
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through: 1) taxation, 2) controlled inflation and 3) excessive borrowing. These scandalous methods are not used ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
#43. To: Godwinson (#7)
The dnc is running on liquor stores - food stamps - voting !
This isn't even apples - oranges !
If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons are for girlie boys !
#44. To: Godwinson (#34)
That is because American government on all levels have stolen the average American paycheck through.......allowing businesses to break up unions, export manufacturing overseas and depress wages and benefits.
Unions still exist and shall slowly have an epitaph: Rest In Peace. Unions created a remarkable improvement within industry at one time in America before government OVER-REGULATION took the lead; now they are just a vestige that most businesses/government want to eliminate altogether. They are unnecessary to modern business practices.
#45. To: buckeroo, lucysmom (#36)
The American worker is at work - works hard - for less pay and benefits like days off than in the pre - Reagan era. Since Reagan the American worker has worked harder but saw little increase in pay or benefits with a small blip in the Clinton era which did see a rise in pay and benefits for a short time.Yeah, so what?
So what? You must agree to this statement and not care - even though this proves America's philosophy regarding the economy is a failure.....
Since we agree on the facts the the bone of contention is if that is desirable an outcome or not. Let the people decide. At least you are not pushing the Republican line that these last 30 years were a golden age for American workers before Obama came along (bit rather 30 years of decline thanks to Reaganomics - which you are OK with).
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#46. To: lucysmom (#41)
In California, state employee retirement contributions were invested in the market.
Then they have to ride the equity/bond/commodity market ROLLER COASTER RIDE like I do. The only methods that balance my portfolio are gold/silver ETFs.
Nothing is guaranteed. Live with it.
#47. To: buckeroo (#44)
. Unions created a remarkable improvement within industry at one time in America before government OVER-REGULATION took the lead;
Businesses created a remarkable improvement within industry at one time in America before government DE-REGULATION took the lead and allowed for exportation of jobs and the creation of shoddy Walmart priced goods as the norm.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#48. To: Godwinson (#45) (Edited)
So what? You must agree to this statement and not care - even though this proves America's philosophy regarding the economy is a failure.....
I only know that we work hard, be responsible and learn to improve our own lives and those around us. It doesn't mean we get a faire share of any dividend whether guaranteed or not. What I am telling you is one of the golden rules, auxiliary codes. It means we don't sit on our butts waiting for something that never shall occur. YOU make things happen, not others whether the "others" are family, church, friends, some charity organization or a government.
Since we agree on the facts the the bone of contention is if that is desirable an outcome or not. Let the people decide. At least you are not pushing the Republican line that these last 30 years were a golden age for American workers before Obama came along (bit rather 30 years of decline thanks to Reaganomics - which you are OK with).
I refuse to let people decide on my future, so your comment: Let the people decide is almost perverse to me. It rings of mischievous atrocities which created the reasons for the trouble America is in; this is not in my playbook.
#49. To: buckeroo (#48)
I only know that we work hard, be responsible and learn to improve our own lives and those around us. It doesn't mean we get a faire share of any dividend whether guaranteed or not.
You have Stockholm syndrome.....
The Rich lied to America. We want our jobs and money back.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
#50. To: mininggold (#20)
I'm surprised to find out Bucky can read.
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Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?
#51. To: Godwinson (#47)
Businesses created a remarkable improvement within industry at one time in America before government DE-REGULATION took the lead and allowed for exportation of jobs and the creation of shoddy Walmart priced goods as the norm.
Blame the two party system in America. I haven't voted for any charlatan in either of the two large political parties for about 30 years.
Assuming Ron Paul wins the Republican nomination, I shall vote for him in the general election; my mind is already made up, too. So, he shall be the first in decades of voting that garnish my vote from either of these two headed.
If RP doesn't win the GOP nomination, I shall vote for a Libertarian candidate which is typical for myself.
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