This is my response to Elisa. It'll be my last rant on politics for a while.
I'm focusing on economics because it has such a huge impact on the society. Other issues? I'll just say: whenever possible, let people be. You're against abortion because you're a Christian? Fine, then don't go through one. As for the other people, wouldn't your faith say "judge not"? Wouldn't it be a matter between them and God?
I think ideally the American government should be somewhere between the way it is now and socialism. Call me a pro-business liberal. Let me ask you, tho- what's so bad about socialism anyway? I'm not some beatnik from Berkeley who lives in a Marxist fantasy world. I've invested in stocks since I was a college freshman. I have some business plans. But one thing for sure, if I became wealthy, I would be more than happy to give up a chunk if it'd make people's lives better. I'm serious. Who needs that 254th yacht?
I used to be a "fiscal conservative". That was before few things happened: 1) I visited socialist nations and saw how refreshing the absence of poverty and crime was; 2) saw that businesses do prosper there (the biggest argument against socialism is that it's bad for biz); 3) realized that not everyone has equal opportunities. Lots of poor people do work hard- you've heard of mothers laboring at 2 jobs 16 hrs a day to feed her kids. She's poor because she's powerless to change the structure in which the CEO's pay's 200 times higher (he needs that 254th yacht, goddammit) than his employees. Why didn't that poor mother go to college? She might not afford it. She might not be aware of the opportunities. She might not be smart enough. Get over it. And what about her kids? Would it be their fault that they grew up in poverty? Growing up in poverty preceipiates a culture of poverty that isn't easy to escape, as evident in real life. It's a vicious cycle.
There's a few analogies of the leftist economy dreamed up by conservatives to bash it. I'm sure you've read at least one version, such as that girl getting a gpa of 4.0 being asked to give up a full point for a lazy 2.0 friend so they'd both get 3.0. Absurd. Nobody's talking about exactly equal pay.
And a reality that has nothing to do with school grades: it takes money (and connections) to make money. If there were a rich man and a middle class man, and both of them had an identical business idea. Can you say with a straight face that their chances of striking gold with the idea are remotely equal?
Mind you, I'm not advocating that the government toss out money to people like a favorite uncle. How about cutting down the minimum wage to like $2/hour so more workers can be hired, then the government pays the worker $5 for every $2 he/she makes? It's a win-win situation. Less burden on corporations, workers get paid more. People would have more incentive to find work. And with higher minimum pay, urban teenagers would be less tempted to deal drugs.
"Trickle down" economics...debunked by history. What about the reverse? Think about it: if wealth's slightly redistributed, the poor'd have more money to spend and that'd help bizs too. Call that the "trickle up" effect :)
I'm focusing on economics because it has such a huge impact on the society. Other issues? I'll just say: whenever possible, let people be. You're against abortion because you're a Christian? Fine, then don't go through one. As for the other people, wouldn't your faith say "judge not"? Wouldn't it be a matter between them and God?
I think ideally the American government should be somewhere between the way it is now and socialism. Call me a pro-business liberal. Let me ask you, tho- what's so bad about socialism anyway? I'm not some beatnik from Berkeley who lives in a Marxist fantasy world. I've invested in stocks since I was a college freshman. I have some business plans. But one thing for sure, if I became wealthy, I would be more than happy to give up a chunk if it'd make people's lives better. I'm serious. Who needs that 254th yacht?
I used to be a "fiscal conservative". That was before few things happened: 1) I visited socialist nations and saw how refreshing the absence of poverty and crime was; 2) saw that businesses do prosper there (the biggest argument against socialism is that it's bad for biz); 3) realized that not everyone has equal opportunities. Lots of poor people do work hard- you've heard of mothers laboring at 2 jobs 16 hrs a day to feed her kids. She's poor because she's powerless to change the structure in which the CEO's pay's 200 times higher (he needs that 254th yacht, goddammit) than his employees. Why didn't that poor mother go to college? She might not afford it. She might not be aware of the opportunities. She might not be smart enough. Get over it. And what about her kids? Would it be their fault that they grew up in poverty? Growing up in poverty preceipiates a culture of poverty that isn't easy to escape, as evident in real life. It's a vicious cycle.
There's a few analogies of the leftist economy dreamed up by conservatives to bash it. I'm sure you've read at least one version, such as that girl getting a gpa of 4.0 being asked to give up a full point for a lazy 2.0 friend so they'd both get 3.0. Absurd. Nobody's talking about exactly equal pay.
And a reality that has nothing to do with school grades: it takes money (and connections) to make money. If there were a rich man and a middle class man, and both of them had an identical business idea. Can you say with a straight face that their chances of striking gold with the idea are remotely equal?
Mind you, I'm not advocating that the government toss out money to people like a favorite uncle. How about cutting down the minimum wage to like $2/hour so more workers can be hired, then the government pays the worker $5 for every $2 he/she makes? It's a win-win situation. Less burden on corporations, workers get paid more. People would have more incentive to find work. And with higher minimum pay, urban teenagers would be less tempted to deal drugs.
"Trickle down" economics...debunked by history. What about the reverse? Think about it: if wealth's slightly redistributed, the poor'd have more money to spend and that'd help bizs too. Call that the "trickle up" effect :)
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