I'm in between classes so I don't have long to respond, but anyway..
I pray to God that you're not really as stupid as you sound. People "like me" are to blame for Columbine? That kind of idiotic finger-pointing really makes my blood boil. In the wake of Columbine we had various extremist groups blaming everything from television to movies to computer games to gun ownership for what happened. And of course we had the self-righteous moral brigade led by people LIKE YOU who blamed the parents.
Yeah, I am as stupid as I sound. Luckily for me, that's not very stupid at all. You on the other hand just need to get a grip on your emotions. I'm not blaming the gun manufacturers, I have a rifle that was given to me long ago. I'm not a hunter, but I see the importance in my right to have one. I'm not blaming tv or games because even after playing Vice City all the way through and watching Terminator 2 when I was younger, I have yet to feel violent emotions towards *anyone* at all. HOWEVER, I do blame the parents because this is a special case. These kids entire appearance and attitudes were seriously screwed up, that shouldn't been the first sign the parents shouldve at least talked to their kids, and while I don't think you should throw someone into therapy for dressing weird, it does warrant a little parental snooping in my opinion. Sign number two shouldve been that these kids had weapons in their room that they should not have had, not to mention bombs and bomb making materials. All the parents had to do was open the damn door and see what was in plain sight. Lastly, if the kids parents would have done a better job teaching them morals, responsibility, and a reasonable amount of beneviolence (I'm not against self defense) then perhaps they wouldve just sucked it up and dealt with life like the rest of us.
What I never saw out of the entire media circus was anybody blaming the two kids who actually pulled the triggers.
I call BS here. Plenty of people did, not to mention it was obvious. However, how can you NOT blame the parents for not seeing what was in plain sight?? These kids were minors! They were living at home with their parents! Do you not believe in ANY parental responsibility?? I bet you let your kids run around unsupervised in the grocery store and don't care when they beat up other people's kids too right? Kids will be kids, even though they're not mature yet they know right from wrong right? Dumbass, don't you remember being
People like you make me absolutely sick. And what truly scares me is that it seems the majority of Slashdot moderators (and by inference, a large number of Americans) share your point of view.
First of all, pay attention to how the moderating system works. It has nothing to do with where you come from or who you are. There are mods from all walks of life, so please stop pretending like it's me and the mods vs the world. Just because you think you're right (and I think you're at least half right) doesn't mean you really are.
What's even worse is your hope that I don't have kids. That's a vile thing to say and I despise you for saying it. I can only hope that you one day wake up from your self-important righteousness and realise what an ass you are.
I'm sure I sound like a jackass for saying what I said. The thing is, I'm not some politically correct moron that thinks I should or should not say things just because of the way it sounds. That's not to say I don't have manners, but I will tell you like I see it. Until you decide that parents should have to take some responsibility, I hope that you don't have kids.
One more time for everyone out there like you.. PARENTS SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR BRINGING UP THEIR CHILDREN.
Once you decide to bring another life form i
No shit, Sherlock. However, it's commonly referred to as America. We in the United States of America are referred to as Americans, and there's a reason for that. I mean you don't honestly call yourself an american do you? You may be a north american, south american, or central american, but to be precise you are not what is commonly referred to as just plan american. I don't have any beef with you or your country, so what's the deal with bringing up a petty difference like that? The fact that I was talking about countries is precisely why I am able to say just America. The USA's founding fathers were saying just plain old 'America' before a large part of the world could even tell you what a continent is. Guess what? I hate to be an average american asshole, but we made the country, we live in it, and we can call it whatever we please because it's ours. You can complain if I ever screw up the name of YOUR country, but until then.. I'm following precedence and calling the country America.
*sigh* Why did I have to get involved in this offtopic/troll conversation anyway..
How about this.. By the time your kid is old enough to have a job and afford a $50-60 game without you loaning them the money, then HOPEFULLY you've done a good enough job in bringing them up that at that point they'll be ready for it. There are always exceptions of course, many kids can easily handle these types of games at an early age.. The parent has to decide, is my kid the kind that imitates everything they see, etc.. I mean it's like a lot of kids can't watch scary movies without nightmares, or watch a Jackie Chan (random) movie without karate kicking their syblings.. Then again, I was never that way that I remember and my parents let me watch both in moderation.. So far so good, all the trouble I've been in is a traffic ticket, but we'll see if I snap some day..
It wasn't long ago that I was 17. I never said that you had to watch your kids 24/7, but there are things which a parent should be able to notice easily. I never wanted to tell my parents what was going on in my life, but they always had ways of knowing what I was doing and such. I'm not saying you have to put a tracking device on your kid to be a responsible parents, I'm saying ask questions, pay attention to actions, and just because your kid says omg mom I'm 13 stay out of my room.. doesn't mean you have to listen. In any case, if you're 17, that's going to be totally different from someone who's in their early teens. Your parents aren't going to have to go oh you aren't going to see an R rated movie are you? or That isn't that GTA game I see you playing is it? At least, in my opinion if they did a good job bringing you up they shouldn't have to worry about that.. On the other hand, they should be allowed in your room, they should know if you're playing with shotguns or building bombs, they should talk to you to know where you're going and that you aren't doing drugs.. I mean come on, some things are obvious.. I'm not a drinking or a druggie, but I can smell alcohol and can tell if you're high or drunk..
Anyway.. You're just 17. You don't want to hear it, but you have a lot of growing up left to do no matter how mature you think you are.. Then when you think you're grown up, you'll have kids and (HOPEFULLY) realize the responsibilities involved.
I hope that you're just being a troll and that you don't actually have kids yourself. We have people like you to blame for Columbine.. Not to mention half the vandalizing, teen pregnancies, drug deaths, and the fact that my neighbor's 17 year old kid drives wildy down the road drunk every friday and saturday night..
The limit should define rich, and people who are too rich for their own good should pay more taxes.
As it is, if I use the democrats' anti-tax cut arguments as an exmaple, the government will consider a firefighter and a teacher 'rich' if they were to get together and continue working their full time jobs, so I don't particularly trust the government to set a limit. I don't understand what too rich for their own good is either. If you want to charge people a tax when they inherit money, that's not too bad, dynasties aren't a good thing, but if I make a successful business I don't see what right you have to tell me I can't make as much money as I want and do with it what I want. I mean you wouldn't be happy if rich people were coming in your house and telling you how to live now would you?
Microsoft does not have to employ people in India and you know damn well Bill Gates will never be able to spend all that money even in 10 lifetimes, the man is screwed up in the head and needs help, how can anyone be so greedy that they complain about taxes when they have BILLIONS of dollars, not millions, BILLIONS!!!
MS doesn't HAVE to, but the government let them and they see it as a way to make up for losses in other areas. I don't like Billy, but I'm not sure how he's screwed up in the head.. Also, I could come up with a list in about 15 minutes about how to spend ALL of his money;) The fact is though, a lot of his money is actually being used to run businesses and support the economy, it's not liquid. That's why he always gets hit hard when the stock market goes down. It's how most rich people are and that's why I put business/corporations in my argument. Rich individuals RARELY just put all their money in a big bin like Scrooge McDuck and sit on it. They usually put their money in corporations, bonds, startup business, charities, humanitarian projects, etc,. When you attack the rich, you're effectively attacking practically every large business and bank. The small business may be the backbone of our economy, but it's false to think that we (most large properous countries) could function as well as we have technologically and economically just based on demand.
You have a job right now because theres demand, because poor people buy a product or service which you provide, not because someone is rich. Rich people profit from demand, demand is the key, not the supply.
If economy and technology was just based on demand we'd still be pre-industrial. A lot of what we have today is here just because people with lots of money saw an opportunity and poured money into it to CREATE a demand for it. You have not addressed the fact that because of rich people donating billions we have many more free instittions including libraries, charities, school departments, and parks. I'm not saying trust the rich to do the right thing, but you're saying we shouldn't have people who can move that kind of money, and I believe it would hurt the economy more than help it. You're killing incentive in the upper end, and ignoring the fact that rich people generate taxes without us having to penalize them more. If anything, go for a flat tax, but you can't just say hey you're successful, so I'm taking 60% of your money instead of the 30% I take from everyone else.
Where I live you can also sit on your ass on government welfare and do nothing.
I'm glad you're proud of the fact that there are hundreds of thousands (conservative estimate) cheating the system and being allowed to be leeches when they could be working. Actually, since you're so glad about supporting deadbeats, I'll be more than happy to let you pay my taxes. I'll make a deal with you.. Just give me your checking account number and I'll let you pay for my groceries too.
I'm not just being an asshole either, I've honestly had to work with people collecting government funds, and I'll tell you.. For every hard luck case, single mother gets laid off and is really looking for a job, there are at least 3 deadbeats and 2 crackheads who have found ways of cheating the system to collect good money. The way our system is now, why NOT cheat it? I'm not totally against government support, I don't want to see that single mother get kicked out of her apartment, but I'm certainly not proud of the deadbeats in this country. Welfare and foodstamps aren't preventing muggers and beggers one bit, and I'd wager that most 'muggers' (>50%) are already on government support.
People who don't want to work/won't work are, after all, a minority and will never bring a society financially to its knees.
The minority you speak of is huge. They're sucking billions out of our economy, and the able bodied free loaders should be stopped. The working man and woman, no matter what they're doing as long as it's legal, should be proud of themselves. Just think of the programs which could be funded by spending the welfare/foodstamps/etc money on them instead of giving it away to people who do nothing to deserve it. Think of the extra tax money that would even be generated by the thousands of people that could be employed instead of freeloading.
And before the libertarians jump in and start spouting crap about how they should not be made to pay for these freeloaders, let me remind you that you are free to leave the society.
That's such a stupid comment.. It's like saying after I build and maintain a successful business I shouldn't be allowed in the building because people want to smoke inside and I don't want them to.
You can take your business and live outside it, all tax free, but you'll come crying back when you realize that you'd have to fund your own law enforcement, health care and rescue services.
1) I can protect myself if allowed. I don't want to have to use one, but I'd use a gun, baseball bat, kitchen knife, or pencil if I had to.
2) Uhm.. I already have to pay full price to go to the doctor, what's going to change? I'll still just walk into one and pay the price.
3) Okay you got me, if I fall into a well I'll just hope some good person walks by to save me.. It's a risk I'm willing to take
Don't buy into the garbage of if you want protection you have to have welfare for deadbeats, it just doesn't make sense. I'm tempted to ask if you even have a job and what it is..
I really like that collection.. The beach towels are cool, I remember when I was a little kid I had those.. Which I had kept them up instead of using them till they were faded and tattered.. I do still have a lot of old nintendo/mario oriented figurines and stuff I bet you'd like though =P One day I'll have to gather my collection of games/consoles/etc and make the 'storage room' look nice =P
You know when someone has billions of dollars that no one cares if we tax them, in fact they dont even care themselves in most cases.
To use a political term, it's a slippery slope. Whenever we discuss something you want, you say it has to be all or nothing. That's what I'm afraid of here. What qualifies as rich? Do you think you can just push the rich people as much as you want? They're already moving out of high tax areas, and obviously they do care about having money or their companies wouldn't have to employ people in India. Donating to india doesn't do anything for you, but you're not stupid so don't act like it, they don't only donate to India. Yes they create jobs in India too, but you know what? They have created and continue to create jobs HERE too.. What screwed up logic are you using to think that taxing them more is going to make up for outsourcing jobs? They'll just do it more to make up for the losses. If you want to tax them FOR outsourcing, that's something totally different and something I'd support. Tax them for the things they do, not to punish them mearly for being successful. Generating revenue does nothing for you? BS. Someone like Bill Gates taking a vacation in your city could generate more state tax revenue than 100 ordinary citizens in a day. Not to mention the people that come with him and the attention the city gets while he's there. We already leech off of the rich and famous. Why can't I defend the rich? It's because of someone rich that I have a job right now, it's because of rich people that my college is building new labs and such..
The same reason Bill Gates profits off of us. I'm not saying hes our daddy, but he makes most of the money, so he should pay most of the taxes.
Uhh.. What? Bill Gates forces us to give him money? No.. *feels dirty now* Anyway, he already pays more taxes just by making money, spending money, giving money, and I know you support a death tax so..
His class of people have more money than they can spend, at some point we need either a salary cap, or we need to raise taxes on them, which would you prefer?
Why do we have to have a salary cap or raise taxes on them? Fiscal responsibility, budgets, and enforcing the laws that are supposed to prevent monopolies is my choice. Exactly what is his class of people anyway? Bill Gates can be an evil jackass in his business practices, but we SHOULD have enforcable laws to keep a lot of garbage from happening (look at what Teddy Roosevelt did in his time, we need someone else like him these days).. but.. He's also donated over a billion dollars to charity.. That's a lot of zeros. Anyway I'm just using Gates as an example because you were talking about him, there are lots of other rich people that have done great things for this country.. They donate, they employ people, and they generate tax revenues just by existing.. Why penalize people even more just for being successful?
Well, considering I was speaking of countries, and considering the post I replied to.. As well as what dictionary.com says 'America' is.. You're just being silly =P
The point isn't that minimum wage people should pay to make the city work, and the point isn't that you should have to pay as much as Gates, the point is that Bill Gates is not your daddy. Why should you profit extraordinarily because of someone else's success? I mean are you trying to say that if Billy wasn't alive, then all these billions would somehow automatically find their way into building roads and providing cheaper services? Seriously, what do rich people really DO that warrants forcing them to pay more taxes? I mean don't you think Gates had to pay taxes while he made his money? Sure, he started out a little better than everyone else, but he had to pay taxes like everyone else all the way up the ladder. I made a living between jobs trading stocks with my saved up money, and trust me, capital gains taxes and such aren't cool. He has more stuff.. Well.. Are you saying he's never paid state sales taxes? What about what rich people put back in the economy? Whenever they buy something, donate to a charity, or sponser a fundraiser.. How about how many people rich people employ? Just imagine if all the rich people in america said screw this and pulled out their money from the banks and stock market? If you think the economy's bad now, when the markets and businesses are still being largely supported by men and women with more cash than they can count..
Yeah, when I get traffic tickets and get hassled/occasionally frisked (scary, but yes even a white guy can get thrown against a cruiser and frisked just for being in the wrong place or speeding).. I wish that I could just say "It's okay! I'm white, it's just a bug in the suspect identification code!"
The thing is, when you go into an interviewer the boss or whoever is already going to have their own opinion based on your background and credentials. You can act as enthusiastic as you want, but if you get a supervisor that's used to getting burned, they aren't going to be nearly as eager to hire you based on eagerness to work.
It seems like a no brainer, person has a Phd in science and willing to work for BS degree wages, hire them. However, even if you act happy to get the job, what's to convince me that after I spend the company's time and money training you how our business works.. That when XYZ Computer Co. is offering triple digit salaries for Phds you won't walk?
What country do you live in anyway? You can get an MBA in America, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Korea, India, Mexico, Spain, France, Britain, Norway, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Israel, Brazil, Panama, and I'm not even searching google to find out more.. If you're over the age of 16, have gone to school, in a country with enough tech to have libraries and internet access, and unless you live in a hut or an adobe somewhere in a bombed out country, you should be able to find out what an MBA is pretty easily..
The official slashdot agenda is to support SUV driving? What Slashdot are you on? What the hell does the fact that melting the North Pole won't raise sea levels much have to do with anyone saying "You'll pry the steering wheel of my SUV from my cold dead fingers"?? I don't think you're an environazi, because I think most everyone here agrees that car exhaust emissions are bad, mmkay? However.. You might be crazy..
Signals blasted into your own house are one thing, but it's something else when you're going around with the intent of eavesdropping. I mean, if it was the government tapping your phone line or intercepting your wireless you'd be pissed as hell wouldn't you?
Re:And what's good, too, is that...
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The Diamond Age
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I doubt it's a false sense of rareness that makes them valuable.. I mean you can go to KMart or call QVC to get diamonds for dirt cheap now days.. When have you heard a woman go oh I love my engagement ring, it's so rare! I'd bet never, they like them cause they like how diamonds look.. The only reason they like the bigger ones is cause it means their mate was willing to spend a lot of money on them, and even then there's usually a limit in size before it becomes ugly.. At least in my opinion and from what girls tell me.. Some diamonds really are rare though.. The natural, large, clear, perfectly cut diamonds will still be worth millions..
I'm not trying to push any ideas on everyone else you moron. I said that people shouldn't have to do what you tell them. If they want to give out their ideas, that's great. If they don't, that's okay too, we'll get by. We should have the freedom to share or not share our own thoughts and ideas. Also, when I say you can steal an idea? I use steal as in to forcefully view a thought without consent.
The test for ownership is "would the person who claims to own this thing be legitimately annoyed if someone were to destroy the thing". Ideas cannot be destroyed.
This is your test for ownership, not mine. You are once again trying to push your opinions on other people. I mean, is it not rape when a woman isn't already a virgin? How about this for a test of ownership? It's mine and you can't have it, deal with it. It's not the most intelligent argument I can come up with, but seriously, you can't force me to share an idea, therefor it is MINE.
And if you did develop a perfect painless cancer cure, and you kept it to yourself, you would be no better than someone who went around giving people cancer.
Yes, I already addressed this. I'm not saying I would ever hold it back, but it was an example. You can make me feel bad all you want, but you don't have my idea, I'm not going to share it with you, and that's my right as a human being to die with that cancer killing formula if I want to. Why is it? Because you can't do anything about it.
You seriously seem to be missing the whole point. It's only YOUR opinion that ideas should be public domain. Why does everyone else have to conform to your plan for life? Even if I wanted to, I can't force you to stop distributing your works and ideas for free, and you can't force me to do...anything.
Stop trying to push your ideas on everyone else. You aren't a god, so just because your idea of a perfect world differs from someone else's feelings and ideas doesn't automatically make them wrong and you right in anyone's opinion other than your own.
The fact is, just because you think you have a right, it doesn't make it so. Unless some great new mind reading machine is developed so you can steal their ideas, the creator will always have the right to do what they want with their own ideas/creations. If say I develop a painless perfect lung cancer curing drug tomorrow, you can make me feel bad all you want, but you can't make me publish the ingredients if I don't want to. It's my God-given right (even if you don't believe in God, heaven and hell, or karma.. you should still understand the expression) to decide myself whether I shall help, hurt, or choose not to affect humanity as a whole. Ethical or not.
Offtopic I know, but awesome to see someone else that played (or plays) Conquest.. I loved that game, just found the original diskettes the other day and planned to install this evening.. Graphics sucked, didn't get a variation of units really, but you had so much control over what was going on.. Something lacking in todays RTS games in my opinion, I always feel like.. Either the games are simplified for morons, or the complex options you get are just tedious things that you end up never using/hate using..
The more I read the way other people interpreted the original post the more I think *I* read it wrong, so I apologize if my last post looked like a flame. Anyway, I'm sure it does pay for vaporware often (especially in NASA and the military)..
Personally though I'm kindof split.. I love the open source movement, but at the same time I hope it wouldn't harm the ability for tech people to make a living any more than it's already being hurt by outsourcing overseas and such..
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, I am as stupid as I sound. Luckily for me, that's not very stupid at all. You on the other hand just need to get a grip on your emotions. I'm not blaming the gun manufacturers, I have a rifle that was given to me long ago. I'm not a hunter, but I see the importance in my right to have one. I'm not blaming tv or games because even after playing Vice City all the way through and watching Terminator 2 when I was younger, I have yet to feel violent emotions towards *anyone* at all. HOWEVER, I do blame the parents because this is a special case. These kids entire appearance and attitudes were seriously screwed up, that shouldn't been the first sign the parents shouldve at least talked to their kids, and while I don't think you should throw someone into therapy for dressing weird, it does warrant a little parental snooping in my opinion. Sign number two shouldve been that these kids had weapons in their room that they should not have had, not to mention bombs and bomb making materials. All the parents had to do was open the damn door and see what was in plain sight. Lastly, if the kids parents would have done a better job teaching them morals, responsibility, and a reasonable amount of beneviolence (I'm not against self defense) then perhaps they wouldve just sucked it up and dealt with life like the rest of us.
I call BS here. Plenty of people did, not to mention it was obvious. However, how can you NOT blame the parents for not seeing what was in plain sight?? These kids were minors! They were living at home with their parents! Do you not believe in ANY parental responsibility?? I bet you let your kids run around unsupervised in the grocery store and don't care when they beat up other people's kids too right? Kids will be kids, even though they're not mature yet they know right from wrong right? Dumbass, don't you remember being
First of all, pay attention to how the moderating system works. It has nothing to do with where you come from or who you are. There are mods from all walks of life, so please stop pretending like it's me and the mods vs the world. Just because you think you're right (and I think you're at least half right) doesn't mean you really are.
I'm sure I sound like a jackass for saying what I said. The thing is, I'm not some politically correct moron that thinks I should or should not say things just because of the way it sounds. That's not to say I don't have manners, but I will tell you like I see it. Until you decide that parents should have to take some responsibility, I hope that you don't have kids.
One more time for everyone out there like you..
PARENTS SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR BRINGING UP THEIR CHILDREN.
Once you decide to bring another life form i
HINT: the name of your country is not "America".
No shit, Sherlock. However, it's commonly referred to as America. We in the United States of America are referred to as Americans, and there's a reason for that. I mean you don't honestly call yourself an american do you? You may be a north american, south american, or central american, but to be precise you are not what is commonly referred to as just plan american. I don't have any beef with you or your country, so what's the deal with bringing up a petty difference like that? The fact that I was talking about countries is precisely why I am able to say just America. The USA's founding fathers were saying just plain old 'America' before a large part of the world could even tell you what a continent is. Guess what? I hate to be an average american asshole, but we made the country, we live in it, and we can call it whatever we please because it's ours. You can complain if I ever screw up the name of YOUR country, but until then.. I'm following precedence and calling the country America.
*sigh* Why did I have to get involved in this offtopic/troll conversation anyway..
How about this.. By the time your kid is old enough to have a job and afford a $50-60 game without you loaning them the money, then HOPEFULLY you've done a good enough job in bringing them up that at that point they'll be ready for it. There are always exceptions of course, many kids can easily handle these types of games at an early age.. The parent has to decide, is my kid the kind that imitates everything they see, etc.. I mean it's like a lot of kids can't watch scary movies without nightmares, or watch a Jackie Chan (random) movie without karate kicking their syblings.. Then again, I was never that way that I remember and my parents let me watch both in moderation.. So far so good, all the trouble I've been in is a traffic ticket, but we'll see if I snap some day..
It wasn't long ago that I was 17. I never said that you had to watch your kids 24/7, but there are things which a parent should be able to notice easily. I never wanted to tell my parents what was going on in my life, but they always had ways of knowing what I was doing and such. I'm not saying you have to put a tracking device on your kid to be a responsible parents, I'm saying ask questions, pay attention to actions, and just because your kid says omg mom I'm 13 stay out of my room.. doesn't mean you have to listen. In any case, if you're 17, that's going to be totally different from someone who's in their early teens. Your parents aren't going to have to go oh you aren't going to see an R rated movie are you? or That isn't that GTA game I see you playing is it? At least, in my opinion if they did a good job bringing you up they shouldn't have to worry about that.. On the other hand, they should be allowed in your room, they should know if you're playing with shotguns or building bombs, they should talk to you to know where you're going and that you aren't doing drugs.. I mean come on, some things are obvious.. I'm not a drinking or a druggie, but I can smell alcohol and can tell if you're high or drunk..
Anyway.. You're just 17. You don't want to hear it, but you have a lot of growing up left to do no matter how mature you think you are.. Then when you think you're grown up, you'll have kids and (HOPEFULLY) realize the responsibilities involved.
I hope that you're just being a troll and that you don't actually have kids yourself. We have people like you to blame for Columbine.. Not to mention half the vandalizing, teen pregnancies, drug deaths, and the fact that my neighbor's 17 year old kid drives wildy down the road drunk every friday and saturday night..
As it is, if I use the democrats' anti-tax cut arguments as an exmaple, the government will consider a firefighter and a teacher 'rich' if they were to get together and continue working their full time jobs, so I don't particularly trust the government to set a limit. I don't understand what too rich for their own good is either. If you want to charge people a tax when they inherit money, that's not too bad, dynasties aren't a good thing, but if I make a successful business I don't see what right you have to tell me I can't make as much money as I want and do with it what I want. I mean you wouldn't be happy if rich people were coming in your house and telling you how to live now would you?
MS doesn't HAVE to, but the government let them and they see it as a way to make up for losses in other areas. I don't like Billy, but I'm not sure how he's screwed up in the head.. Also, I could come up with a list in about 15 minutes about how to spend ALL of his money
If economy and technology was just based on demand we'd still be pre-industrial. A lot of what we have today is here just because people with lots of money saw an opportunity and poured money into it to CREATE a demand for it. You have not addressed the fact that because of rich people donating billions we have many more free instittions including libraries, charities, school departments, and parks. I'm not saying trust the rich to do the right thing, but you're saying we shouldn't have people who can move that kind of money, and I believe it would hurt the economy more than help it. You're killing incentive in the upper end, and ignoring the fact that rich people generate taxes without us having to penalize them more. If anything, go for a flat tax, but you can't just say hey you're successful, so I'm taking 60% of your money instead of the 30% I take from everyone else.
I'm glad you're proud of the fact that there are hundreds of thousands (conservative estimate) cheating the system and being allowed to be leeches when they could be working. Actually, since you're so glad about supporting deadbeats, I'll be more than happy to let you pay my taxes. I'll make a deal with you.. Just give me your checking account number and I'll let you pay for my groceries too.
I'm not just being an asshole either, I've honestly had to work with people collecting government funds, and I'll tell you.. For every hard luck case, single mother gets laid off and is really looking for a job, there are at least 3 deadbeats and 2 crackheads who have found ways of cheating the system to collect good money. The way our system is now, why NOT cheat it? I'm not totally against government support, I don't want to see that single mother get kicked out of her apartment, but I'm certainly not proud of the deadbeats in this country. Welfare and foodstamps aren't preventing muggers and beggers one bit, and I'd wager that most 'muggers' (>50%) are already on government support.
The minority you speak of is huge. They're sucking billions out of our economy, and the able bodied free loaders should be stopped. The working man and woman, no matter what they're doing as long as it's legal, should be proud of themselves. Just think of the programs which could be funded by spending the welfare/foodstamps/etc money on them instead of giving it away to people who do nothing to deserve it. Think of the extra tax money that would even be generated by the thousands of people that could be employed instead of freeloading.
That's such a stupid comment.. It's like saying after I build and maintain a successful business I shouldn't be allowed in the building because people want to smoke inside and I don't want them to.
1) I can protect myself if allowed. I don't want to have to use one, but I'd use a gun, baseball bat, kitchen knife, or pencil if I had to.
2) Uhm.. I already have to pay full price to go to the doctor, what's going to change? I'll still just walk into one and pay the price.
3) Okay you got me, if I fall into a well I'll just hope some good person walks by to save me.. It's a risk I'm willing to take
Don't buy into the garbage of if you want protection you have to have welfare for deadbeats, it just doesn't make sense. I'm tempted to ask if you even have a job and what it is..
I really like that collection.. The beach towels are cool, I remember when I was a little kid I had those.. Which I had kept them up instead of using them till they were faded and tattered.. I do still have a lot of old nintendo/mario oriented figurines and stuff I bet you'd like though =P One day I'll have to gather my collection of games/consoles/etc and make the 'storage room' look nice =P
1.jpg looks more like the collection of someone that hijacked a delivery truck for resale..
To use a political term, it's a slippery slope. Whenever we discuss something you want, you say it has to be all or nothing. That's what I'm afraid of here. What qualifies as rich? Do you think you can just push the rich people as much as you want? They're already moving out of high tax areas, and obviously they do care about having money or their companies wouldn't have to employ people in India. Donating to india doesn't do anything for you, but you're not stupid so don't act like it, they don't only donate to India. Yes they create jobs in India too, but you know what? They have created and continue to create jobs HERE too.. What screwed up logic are you using to think that taxing them more is going to make up for outsourcing jobs? They'll just do it more to make up for the losses. If you want to tax them FOR outsourcing, that's something totally different and something I'd support. Tax them for the things they do, not to punish them mearly for being successful. Generating revenue does nothing for you? BS. Someone like Bill Gates taking a vacation in your city could generate more state tax revenue than 100 ordinary citizens in a day. Not to mention the people that come with him and the attention the city gets while he's there. We already leech off of the rich and famous. Why can't I defend the rich? It's because of someone rich that I have a job right now, it's because of rich people that my college is building new labs and such..
Uhh.. What? Bill Gates forces us to give him money? No.. *feels dirty now* Anyway, he already pays more taxes just by making money, spending money, giving money, and I know you support a death tax so..
Why do we have to have a salary cap or raise taxes on them? Fiscal responsibility, budgets, and enforcing the laws that are supposed to prevent monopolies is my choice. Exactly what is his class of people anyway? Bill Gates can be an evil jackass in his business practices, but we SHOULD have enforcable laws to keep a lot of garbage from happening (look at what Teddy Roosevelt did in his time, we need someone else like him these days).. but.. He's also donated over a billion dollars to charity.. That's a lot of zeros. Anyway I'm just using Gates as an example because you were talking about him, there are lots of other rich people that have done great things for this country.. They donate, they employ people, and they generate tax revenues just by existing.. Why penalize people even more just for being successful?
Well, considering I was speaking of countries, and considering the post I replied to.. As well as what dictionary.com says 'America' is.. You're just being silly =P
The point isn't that minimum wage people should pay to make the city work, and the point isn't that you should have to pay as much as Gates, the point is that Bill Gates is not your daddy. Why should you profit extraordinarily because of someone else's success? I mean are you trying to say that if Billy wasn't alive, then all these billions would somehow automatically find their way into building roads and providing cheaper services? Seriously, what do rich people really DO that warrants forcing them to pay more taxes? I mean don't you think Gates had to pay taxes while he made his money? Sure, he started out a little better than everyone else, but he had to pay taxes like everyone else all the way up the ladder. I made a living between jobs trading stocks with my saved up money, and trust me, capital gains taxes and such aren't cool. He has more stuff.. Well.. Are you saying he's never paid state sales taxes? What about what rich people put back in the economy? Whenever they buy something, donate to a charity, or sponser a fundraiser.. How about how many people rich people employ? Just imagine if all the rich people in america said screw this and pulled out their money from the banks and stock market? If you think the economy's bad now, when the markets and businesses are still being largely supported by men and women with more cash than they can count..
Yeah, when I get traffic tickets and get hassled/occasionally frisked (scary, but yes even a white guy can get thrown against a cruiser and frisked just for being in the wrong place or speeding).. I wish that I could just say "It's okay! I'm white, it's just a bug in the suspect identification code!"
The thing is, when you go into an interviewer the boss or whoever is already going to have their own opinion based on your background and credentials. You can act as enthusiastic as you want, but if you get a supervisor that's used to getting burned, they aren't going to be nearly as eager to hire you based on eagerness to work.
It seems like a no brainer, person has a Phd in science and willing to work for BS degree wages, hire them. However, even if you act happy to get the job, what's to convince me that after I spend the company's time and money training you how our business works.. That when XYZ Computer Co. is offering triple digit salaries for Phds you won't walk?
What country do you live in anyway? You can get an MBA in America, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Korea, India, Mexico, Spain, France, Britain, Norway, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Israel, Brazil, Panama, and I'm not even searching google to find out more.. If you're over the age of 16, have gone to school, in a country with enough tech to have libraries and internet access, and unless you live in a hut or an adobe somewhere in a bombed out country, you should be able to find out what an MBA is pretty easily..
The official slashdot agenda is to support SUV driving? What Slashdot are you on? What the hell does the fact that melting the North Pole won't raise sea levels much have to do with anyone saying "You'll pry the steering wheel of my SUV from my cold dead fingers"?? I don't think you're an environazi, because I think most everyone here agrees that car exhaust emissions are bad, mmkay? However.. You might be crazy..
Signals blasted into your own house are one thing, but it's something else when you're going around with the intent of eavesdropping. I mean, if it was the government tapping your phone line or intercepting your wireless you'd be pissed as hell wouldn't you?
I doubt it's a false sense of rareness that makes them valuable.. I mean you can go to KMart or call QVC to get diamonds for dirt cheap now days.. When have you heard a woman go oh I love my engagement ring, it's so rare! I'd bet never, they like them cause they like how diamonds look.. The only reason they like the bigger ones is cause it means their mate was willing to spend a lot of money on them, and even then there's usually a limit in size before it becomes ugly.. At least in my opinion and from what girls tell me.. Some diamonds really are rare though.. The natural, large, clear, perfectly cut diamonds will still be worth millions..
I agree, and I'm sure it comes natural. ;P
This is your test for ownership, not mine. You are once again trying to push your opinions on other people. I mean, is it not rape when a woman isn't already a virgin? How about this for a test of ownership? It's mine and you can't have it, deal with it. It's not the most intelligent argument I can come up with, but seriously, you can't force me to share an idea, therefor it is MINE.
Yes, I already addressed this. I'm not saying I would ever hold it back, but it was an example. You can make me feel bad all you want, but you don't have my idea, I'm not going to share it with you, and that's my right as a human being to die with that cancer killing formula if I want to. Why is it? Because you can't do anything about it.
You seriously seem to be missing the whole point. It's only YOUR opinion that ideas should be public domain. Why does everyone else have to conform to your plan for life? Even if I wanted to, I can't force you to stop distributing your works and ideas for free, and you can't force me to do...anything.
No, not really. They've been wanting to do this for years.
Stop trying to push your ideas on everyone else. You aren't a god, so just because your idea of a perfect world differs from someone else's feelings and ideas doesn't automatically make them wrong and you right in anyone's opinion other than your own.
The fact is, just because you think you have a right, it doesn't make it so. Unless some great new mind reading machine is developed so you can steal their ideas, the creator will always have the right to do what they want with their own ideas/creations. If say I develop a painless perfect lung cancer curing drug tomorrow, you can make me feel bad all you want, but you can't make me publish the ingredients if I don't want to. It's my God-given right (even if you don't believe in God, heaven and hell, or karma.. you should still understand the expression) to decide myself whether I shall help, hurt, or choose not to affect humanity as a whole. Ethical or not.
Offtopic I know, but awesome to see someone else that played (or plays) Conquest.. I loved that game, just found the original diskettes the other day and planned to install this evening.. Graphics sucked, didn't get a variation of units really, but you had so much control over what was going on.. Something lacking in todays RTS games in my opinion, I always feel like.. Either the games are simplified for morons, or the complex options you get are just tedious things that you end up never using/hate using..
The more I read the way other people interpreted the original post the more I think *I* read it wrong, so I apologize if my last post looked like a flame. Anyway, I'm sure it does pay for vaporware often (especially in NASA and the military)..
Personally though I'm kindof split.. I love the open source movement, but at the same time I hope it wouldn't harm the ability for tech people to make a living any more than it's already being hurt by outsourcing overseas and such..