And here we have an example of black and white thinking in the other direction. We have done some bad things, therefore, we are entirely bad. It's just as wrong-headed as thinking we are all good.
For the record, nothing you've posted here is news to me. I don't even understand why you would think I would not agree with you on any of this, but that does not make us entirely terrible.
People who see the world as black and white will see their country in black and white terms, because their country is part of the world. I never equated patriotism with absolute values. I, for example, am a patriot, I love my country, but I can still see it has correctable flaws. In fact, I would say that no true patriot sees things in black and white terms.
I'm curious now, what do you think Saddam had, and where do you suppose he got it?
Reagan was a total douchebag, and one of the worst presidents ever. The right wing can attempt to deify him all they like, but even Bush Sr. was better than Reagan.
Entrepreneurs are not capitalists. They may borrow money from capitalists, but they do not make their money through lending. Entrepreneurs are people who take risks, create things of value, and employ their fellow citizens. Capitalists lend money at no real risk to themselves (too big to fail, don'tchaknow) and profit from other people's hard work. To help understand the difference between capitalists and entrepreneurs, you should try to understand what "usury" is, and why it was considered a sin by almost all major religions.
Personally, I like real women, warts and... no, on second thought, I can do without the warts.
Nipples too pointy, TRIM IN HALF?!? No, no, no, just... no. Do not trim the nipples in half, please. I mean, they aren't, like, two inches long or an anything, right? Because, okay, if her nipples reach down to her waist, yeah, maybe trim those suckers.
He's not a real person, he's a troll-bot. Same reply, over and over, "You're pathetic, your mom's face, blah blah blah." Also, it is not one account. Notice how the number on the end increases.
I see the problem. We are having two different discussions. I was discussing income inequality. I'm not sure why you think I am against progress, there is nothing in any of my posts that even hints at that.
Technological progress is great. I love it. But it has not offset the theft of the fruits of our labor perpetrated on us by a small class of individuals. All that technological progress should have resulted in a wealthier middle class, and in most of the first world, it has. Here in America, not so much. We did not fight our way free from the tyranny of the nobility just to become vassals of the wealthy.
A company, like your power company, can not benefit, it is not a living thing, it is a collection of individuals. I do not spite "the power company," I spite the very few ultra rich who have profited from the increases in electrical efficiency rather than passing the savings on to us. Rich individuals are profiting from your labor and you are not. If you want to live like that, have fun. I don't.
Why compare us to third world self titled "socialists" and not to, oh I don't know, the socialist democracies of first world Europe? And why try to deflect criticism of the US with comparisons to socialism at all? As I mentioned, our political parties are not sports teams in need of blind boosterism. Black and white thinking does not mean "Non communist thinking." It means that you see thew world in black and white terms, something is either good, or bad, and there are no gray areas. Someone who sees the world in black and white terms will see their country either as wholly good, or totally bad. Seeing their country as wholly good, they will reject all criticism of their country.
Also, you DO realize where Saddam got that poison gas, right?
Specifically, take a look at the graphs on that page. And if you are one of those people who cry "You can't trust wikipedia!" then you can follow the links to the government sources. The data actually factors in new inventions like computers as an income fudge-factor. Without the fudge factor, things look even worse.
Worst of all, that is just income. Actual ownership is even more unbalanced.
Why do you insist on looking at the US in such absolute, black and white terms? Isn't it possible that we are good in certain areas, but bad in others? Are we so perfect that we need not change anything? Are we so insecure that any criticism is taken as a personal affront? Our country is not a sports team in need of rabid fanatics cheering her on, no matter what. Our country is a Republic in need of thoughtful citizens capable of honest introspection. We are a great nation, we can conquer any problem we set our minds to. But first we have to face it.
I will at least give you points for consistency. You defend Authority no matter what party it currently calls home. Perhaps you suffer from some variant of Stockholm syndrome, and identify with your oppressors?
Actually, anthropological studies show that men all over the world prefer a woman with a certain hip to waist ratio. The actual size of the woman is much less important than the fact that she has big hips relative to her waist. Culturally speaking, we may despise "fat" women and find them less desirable based on what others might think of them, but as long as she has a good hip to waist ratio, our cocks couldn't care less how fat she is.
I was making a funny when I called them stoner hippies. The grow ops in Marin are not outdoors, and are not run by hippie stoners. They are indoor grow ops, run by young urban professionals you would swear were investment bankers or real estate agents if you met them at a Starbucks. They tend to grow for the clubs exclusively, not for stoners. Or at least that's what I remember from six years ago, the last time I was in those parts.
They are photoshopped to remove blemishes, expand breasts, erase fat knees, give them flatter butts, and so on.
Give... them... FLATTER butts? Flatter butts, really, that's what men want today, girls who look like prepubescent boys? Sorry, I'm with Sir Mix-a-Lot on this one.
As a professional care-troll, your lack of commitment to care-trolling offends me. Do you really expect anyone reading this pathetic attempt at trolling to believe you actually care about this issue? You, sir, bring disrepute upon the house of troll.
But we got shafted instead of getting rich, with a tiny minority harvesting all the fruits of our labors.
What stops you from joining that "tiny majority"? C*Os are not in a hereditary guild. I'm sure you can buy a failing garage and within a few years turn it into a top notch nation-wide dealership chain. Once you do that you will be a player in the next round of jobs.
I don't want to profit off of the labors of others. I don't want to be a slave owner or a slave, I want to be a part of a society of free citizens.
All the gains in productivity in the past 30-40 years have gone to the top one percent. The middle class has barely broken even, and the poor have gotten poorer. If increased efficiency meant that regular people had more, or paid less, then I wouldn't have a problem. As it is, I say they are screwing us, so we should take any opportunity to screw them.
But as far as I know, the idea that union meter readers protested was idle speculation by some anti-union propagandist.
I was counting regular electricity usage, as well as pumps and fans in there, sorry, should have been more specific. I may have overestimated a little as well, I don't know, it was a rough estimate.
Why is it not about hardship for th CEOs? Why is it never about passing costs on to them? I mean, if they could just raise costs that easily, they would have already, and lied about the reason. I don't think they can just raise prices.
Slashdot Mirror
And here we have an example of black and white thinking in the other direction. We have done some bad things, therefore, we are entirely bad. It's just as wrong-headed as thinking we are all good.
For the record, nothing you've posted here is news to me. I don't even understand why you would think I would not agree with you on any of this, but that does not make us entirely terrible.
Okay, I'll bite. What is the underlying message here, and how would we lose it by being more honest?
People who see the world as black and white will see their country in black and white terms, because their country is part of the world. I never equated patriotism with absolute values. I, for example, am a patriot, I love my country, but I can still see it has correctable flaws. In fact, I would say that no true patriot sees things in black and white terms.
I'm curious now, what do you think Saddam had, and where do you suppose he got it?
Reagan was a total douchebag, and one of the worst presidents ever. The right wing can attempt to deify him all they like, but even Bush Sr. was better than Reagan.
Why do you insist on looking at the US in such absolute, black and white terms? Isn't it possible that we are good in certain areas, but bad in others
Of course that's possible. But in the whole Wikileaks saga, can you name one thing that your country got right?
We haven't nuked anyone over this, yet. So there's that.
Entrepreneurs are not capitalists. They may borrow money from capitalists, but they do not make their money through lending. Entrepreneurs are people who take risks, create things of value, and employ their fellow citizens. Capitalists lend money at no real risk to themselves (too big to fail, don'tchaknow) and profit from other people's hard work. To help understand the difference between capitalists and entrepreneurs, you should try to understand what "usury" is, and why it was considered a sin by almost all major religions.
Personally, I like real women, warts and... no, on second thought, I can do without the warts.
Nipples too pointy, TRIM IN HALF?!? No, no, no, just... no. Do not trim the nipples in half, please. I mean, they aren't, like, two inches long or an anything, right? Because, okay, if her nipples reach down to her waist, yeah, maybe trim those suckers.
He's not a real person, he's a troll-bot. Same reply, over and over, "You're pathetic, your mom's face, blah blah blah." Also, it is not one account. Notice how the number on the end increases.
I see the problem. We are having two different discussions. I was discussing income inequality. I'm not sure why you think I am against progress, there is nothing in any of my posts that even hints at that.
Technological progress is great. I love it. But it has not offset the theft of the fruits of our labor perpetrated on us by a small class of individuals. All that technological progress should have resulted in a wealthier middle class, and in most of the first world, it has. Here in America, not so much. We did not fight our way free from the tyranny of the nobility just to become vassals of the wealthy.
A company, like your power company, can not benefit, it is not a living thing, it is a collection of individuals. I do not spite "the power company," I spite the very few ultra rich who have profited from the increases in electrical efficiency rather than passing the savings on to us. Rich individuals are profiting from your labor and you are not. If you want to live like that, have fun. I don't.
Why compare us to third world self titled "socialists" and not to, oh I don't know, the socialist democracies of first world Europe? And why try to deflect criticism of the US with comparisons to socialism at all? As I mentioned, our political parties are not sports teams in need of blind boosterism. Black and white thinking does not mean "Non communist thinking." It means that you see thew world in black and white terms, something is either good, or bad, and there are no gray areas. Someone who sees the world in black and white terms will see their country either as wholly good, or totally bad. Seeing their country as wholly good, they will reject all criticism of their country.
Also, you DO realize where Saddam got that poison gas, right?
I seriously believe this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States
Specifically, take a look at the graphs on that page. And if you are one of those people who cry "You can't trust wikipedia!" then you can follow the links to the government sources. The data actually factors in new inventions like computers as an income fudge-factor. Without the fudge factor, things look even worse.
Worst of all, that is just income. Actual ownership is even more unbalanced.
Why do you insist on looking at the US in such absolute, black and white terms? Isn't it possible that we are good in certain areas, but bad in others? Are we so perfect that we need not change anything? Are we so insecure that any criticism is taken as a personal affront? Our country is not a sports team in need of rabid fanatics cheering her on, no matter what. Our country is a Republic in need of thoughtful citizens capable of honest introspection. We are a great nation, we can conquer any problem we set our minds to. But first we have to face it.
I will at least give you points for consistency. You defend Authority no matter what party it currently calls home. Perhaps you suffer from some variant of Stockholm syndrome, and identify with your oppressors?
I prefer the term care-troll, like care-bear.
Actually, anthropological studies show that men all over the world prefer a woman with a certain hip to waist ratio. The actual size of the woman is much less important than the fact that she has big hips relative to her waist. Culturally speaking, we may despise "fat" women and find them less desirable based on what others might think of them, but as long as she has a good hip to waist ratio, our cocks couldn't care less how fat she is.
I was making a funny when I called them stoner hippies. The grow ops in Marin are not outdoors, and are not run by hippie stoners. They are indoor grow ops, run by young urban professionals you would swear were investment bankers or real estate agents if you met them at a Starbucks. They tend to grow for the clubs exclusively, not for stoners. Or at least that's what I remember from six years ago, the last time I was in those parts.
They are photoshopped to remove blemishes, expand breasts, erase fat knees, give them flatter butts, and so on.
Give... them... FLATTER butts? Flatter butts, really, that's what men want today, girls who look like prepubescent boys? Sorry, I'm with Sir Mix-a-Lot on this one.
As a professional care-troll, your lack of commitment to care-trolling offends me. Do you really expect anyone reading this pathetic attempt at trolling to believe you actually care about this issue? You, sir, bring disrepute upon the house of troll.
I believe his full name is Tim "Tools Head" Muglia.
But we got shafted instead of getting rich, with a tiny minority harvesting all the fruits of our labors.
What stops you from joining that "tiny majority"? C*Os are not in a hereditary guild. I'm sure you can buy a failing garage and within a few years turn it into a top notch nation-wide dealership chain. Once you do that you will be a player in the next round of jobs.
I don't want to profit off of the labors of others. I don't want to be a slave owner or a slave, I want to be a part of a society of free citizens.
Shouldn't you be toiling in the underground sugar caves rather than posting on Slashdot? Don't make me tell the Ants on you.
All the gains in productivity in the past 30-40 years have gone to the top one percent. The middle class has barely broken even, and the poor have gotten poorer. If increased efficiency meant that regular people had more, or paid less, then I wouldn't have a problem. As it is, I say they are screwing us, so we should take any opportunity to screw them.
But as far as I know, the idea that union meter readers protested was idle speculation by some anti-union propagandist.
I really don't know. I asked the guy who had a "fireman" badge on what an electric train needed with a fireman, he said it was union rules.
I was counting regular electricity usage, as well as pumps and fans in there, sorry, should have been more specific. I may have overestimated a little as well, I don't know, it was a rough estimate.
Why is it not about hardship for th CEOs? Why is it never about passing costs on to them? I mean, if they could just raise costs that easily, they would have already, and lied about the reason. I don't think they can just raise prices.
Ssshhh. Watching two idiots argue is hilarious good fun. Don't spoil it.