Also, I'm kind of a secret Chomsky fangirl.
Believe it or not, I'm actually a capitalist. I do believe that the market is a game to be played and played well. My problem is that currently, people are being cheated out of the game, and that the game itself is spiraling into a self-destructive frenzy not seen since a brick was thrown into a dryer.
If I seem like a socialist, it's because I recognize that the market needs to take a bitter pill known as "Human rights" and swallow it.
Dirty Trotskyist (who woulda guessed?) bastard, with shades of left-communism.
Dirty Trotskyist (who woulda guessed?) bastard, with shades of left-communism.
Are you referring to me? How exactly do I fit the criteria for Trotskyism? If anything, I'm advocating a somewhat more practical-minded version of Social Democracy.
Dirty Trotskyist (who woulda guessed?) bastard, with shades of left-communism.
Are you referring to me? How exactly do I fit the criteria for Trotskyism? If anything, I'm advocating a somewhat more practical-minded version of Social Democracy.
Though as far as socialist ideologies are concerned, Democratic Socialism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism) is a pretty interesting model, perhaps the closest thing I've seen to a left-wing utopia. Pity it hasn't really been tried yet.
Art Vandelay is correct, I meant myself. Also, the term democratic socialism is crap. The socialism is about workers controlling the means of production in a democratic fashion. It's original use was meant to distinguish socialists (as the socialism-communism split didn't occur until Lenin) from anarchists.
My political beliefs are limited to this simple statement
"do what you fuckin want. Just leave me alone and I'll play by the current rules"
My political beliefs are limited to this simple statement
"do what you fuckin want. Just leave me alone and I'll play by the current rules"
This right here.
Ahh, I see...my humblest apologies. This is what happens when I wake up in the middle of the night and get on the internet due to insomnia. Well, that and I start looking for old out-of-print metal albums to download.
As far as terminology is concerned, I understand your objection (and I admire your grasp of history), but I was referring to the modern permutation of the ideology.
Funnily enough, I guess I'm also technically a bit of a nationalist, in that I believe the government has no business even sending out foreign aid (much less full-blown military interventions such as what happened in Libya) as long as there's even one homeless person within our own boarders, though everyone having a decent standard of living is a kind of an ultimate end goal we should all be aiming for (if that makes any sense).This kind of though makes me seriously confused. Foreign aid is immoral if there are homeless people in the country giving foreign aid? Are people not all people that deserve equal aid? I guess you can say that a government's responsibility is to its citizens, but that rule, like all rules, is made to be broken in particular circumstances; for example, when a dictator says "We will slaughter all men, women and children who have shown us resistance; Benghazi, we are coming", and you have the power to stop that, it is utterly immoral to not stop it, surely?
This kind of though makes me seriously confused. Foreign aid is immoral if there are homeless people in the country giving foreign aid? Are people not all people that deserve equal aid? I guess you can say that a government's responsibility is to its citizens, but that rule, like all rules, is made to be broken in particular circumstances; for example, when a dictator says "We will slaughter all men, women and children who have shown us resistance; Benghazi, we are coming", and you have the power to stop that, it is utterly immoral to not stop it, surely?I do believe that the government is obligated to ensure the population that supports it through both votes and taxes has a decent standard of living. This is one of the fundamental reasons we willingly support government in the first place. If it fails to do even that, it has no business trying to assist people who are basically the responsibility of their own government. I know that basically boils down to "government's responsibility is to its citizens", as you said, but I thought it may help if I said why I'm a fan of it.
The problem is that social democracy sold its soul over a century ago.
I believe such things as basic food/shelter, health care, etc are rights and not "privileges" to be "earned" or reserved for only the most worthy.
Believe it or not, I'm actually a capitalist. I do believe that the market is a game to be played and played well.I don't believe you. You're probably pro-capitalism or liberal (and here I use it in the classical way i.e. an advocate of laissez faire laissez passer). But I doubt you are a capitalist.
My political beliefs are limited to this simple statementProblem is that the ruling class doesn't leave you alone. They try to maximize theur profit, and soon or late (and rather soon than late) you come under fire too.
"do what you fuckin want. Just leave me alone and I'll play by the current rules"
The problem is that social democracy sold its soul over a century ago.August 1914, to be exact. When they massively voted the war credits necessary for World War I
Politically speaking, I'm a populist, I believe that, first and foremost, the people should have the ultimate say in who stays in office. Now, that doesn't mean that, if you've got more money than the next guy, your vote should count for more, everyone's vote should be equal, one vote to one person, and they are all equal in measure and value.Odd I thought populism was giving welfare to good christian people
Philosophically speaking, I'm an ethical hedonist. Do as you will, so long as you don't harm anyone or infringe on their rights in the process.
Odd I thought populism was giving welfare to good christian people
File me more under #3 and #4 than the others. The common man isn't better than the rich man, and the rich man isn't better than the common man. We are born equal, we shall live as equals, and we all go into the same earth when we die.
Believe it or not, I'm actually a capitalist. I do believe that the market is a game to be played and played well.I don't believe you. You're probably pro-capitalism or liberal (and here I use it in the classical way i.e. an advocate of laissez faire laissez passer). But I doubt you are a capitalist.
Politically speaking, I'm a populist, I believe that, first and foremost, the people should have the ultimate say in who stays in office. Now, that doesn't mean that, if you've got more money than the next guy, your vote should count for more, everyone's vote should be equal, one vote to one person, and they are all equal in measure and value.That's very nice, but it keeps a blind spot on the importance of money. The ruling class has a bigger acces to media thanks to their money. If it is not that they simply own the media, they can at any time buy some media time. And by this influence the public opinion millions of times more easy than the poor. So a rich person is not equal to a poor person.
Philosophically speaking, I'm an ethical hedonist. Do as you will, so long as you don't harm anyone or infringe on their rights in the process.
-I support Fairtax.
My problems with taxes such as the fair tax, is 1. the prebate is somewhat cheap, 2.so are we going to get rid sales taxes at both the state and local level, because there are some areas of the country where sales tax is close to 10%, while other areas have very little. If we switch to any type of flat tax, I would like to see a "pro-family" flat tax where food items still would be tax free.No need to apologize. I agree with you completely.
I'm not really for any type of regressive tax, but I've gotten to the point in my life where I really don't give a shit, and I'm sick of hearing people whine, because 49%of people don't pay federal income taxes, blah,blah,blah. The thing is even if we were to go about doing this the whiners would still bitch. We've reformed "welfare" to the point that it's a jobs programs, and they still bitch. I've more or less have given up on this country, and I'm at the point that I really don't think anyone deserves any kind of social safety net, and I'll like to see the country burn more or less. Sorry for the rant.
I'd like to revise mine in light of the events in Wisconsin, and cumulatively the past few years.
Doesn't fucking matter. The game is rigged, the ride is broken, there's nothing left to save and nobody really worth saving. We were born into this game without a choice in whether we even wanted to play, and unfortunately, there's no good way to 'opt out' and try something else. Change things up if you can, it's still the same old broken system.
My problems with taxes such as the fair tax, is 1. the prebate is somewhat cheap, 2.so are we going to get rid sales taxes at both the state and local level, because there are some areas of the country where sales tax is close to 10%, while other areas have very little. If we switch to any type of flat tax, I would like to see a "pro-family" flat tax where food items still would be tax free.
I'm not really for any type of regressive tax, but I've gotten to the point in my life where I really don't give a shit, and I'm sick of hearing people whine, because 49%of people don't pay federal income taxes, blah,blah,blah. The thing is even if we were to go about doing this the whiners would still bitch. We've reformed "welfare" to the point that it's a jobs programs, and they still bitch. I've more or less have given up on this country, and I'm at the point that I really don't think anyone deserves any kind of social safety net, and I'll like to see the country burn more or less. Sorry for the rant.
Adopt laws that allow transgender people to under go transition and change their legal gender without question
Condoms should be available in school bathrooms
*Put criminals into involuntary servitude
*Harvest Organs of dead people no matter what.
*Place tariffs on foreign goods
*Subsidize clean energy
*Decentralize education.
*Ban Affirmative Action, as it is a violation of the Civil Rights Act
*Tax capital gains over 50%
*Tax the hell out of star athletes & actors.
*Reform our voting system to approval voting or proportional representation. If you don't win 51% of the vote, you don't win the election.
How we make no such thing as "legal gender"?
QuoteCondoms should be available in school bathrooms
...
Wat?
*Put criminals into involuntary servitude
That is slavery, you know that?
Like it or not, criminals are still human beings.
And this'll increase the incidents of people being killed expressly for their organs. Thanks.So what you're saying is increasing the supply of organs will somehow increase the number of people being offed for their organs? Even ignoring the bizarro-economics behind this logic, I was wholly unaware that this sort of thing was even a problem now (at least in 1st world countries), when organs are harder to come by than winning lottery tickets.
*Ban Affirmative Action, as it is a violation of the Civil Rights Act
I have no idea what to do about drug crime, though China seems to be doing alright.What, death penalty for anything more severe than dealing? I must say I never thought that sort of thing would be your bag.
I have no idea what to do about drug crime, though China seems to be doing alright.What, death penalty for anything more severe than dealing? I must say I never thought that sort of thing would be your bag.
*Put criminals into involuntary servitude
That is slavery, you know that?
Like it or not, criminals are still human beings.
Quote*Place tariffs on foreign goods
*Subsidize clean energy
I have no opinion on these.
*Decentralize education.
Quote*Ban Affirmative Action, as it is a violation of the Civil Rights Act
Why?
*Reform our voting system to approval voting or proportional representation. If you don't win 51% of the vote, you don't win the election.
QuoteHow about we make no such thing as "legal gender"?
I can't tell if you're asking a question or making a suggestion.
QuoteQuoteCondoms should be available in school bathrooms
...
Wat?
A more or less private place to obtain them so that there needs to be no sexshaming involved for either party.
Something else they do must be working. A friend of mine suggested that, during the Cultural Revolution's destabilisation of Chinese society, everyone stopped using heroin. Meanwhile, the government crushed all organised crime, preventing drug importation. Nowadays, the urban poor are too poor to use.Of course, during a period of destabilisation, the government crushed organised crime. Just like how my shit smells like freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Considering that even now, there are only 900000 registered drug addicts (of any kind) in a country of 1.2 billion people, I get the feeling they've by and large been ignoring it.
*Put criminals into involuntary servitude
That is slavery, you know that?
Like it or not, criminals are still human beings.
Yeah? So why do we put them in prison in the first place?
Obviously they need correction, not just detainment. They might as well put back into the system what they're pulling out and learn work ethic.
And this'll increase the incidents of people being killed expressly for their organs. Thanks.So what you're saying is increasing the supply of organs will somehow increase the number of people being offed for their organs? Even ignoring the bizarro-economics behind this logic, I was wholly unaware that this sort of thing was even a problem now (at least in 1st world countries), when organs are harder to come by than winning lottery tickets.
The minority tax: Simple enough. If your organization wants recognition for being a particular color, and essentially is begging for attention, they get taxed. hugely. We want a homogenized society composed of well-blended Americans, not a fragmented collection of cultures and races trying to get special treatment.
The gay tax: Shut up. I mean it. Everyone participating in a gay pride parade wherein anyone is dressed like they want sex right at that moment will be taxed. About fifty bills a head should do it. Plus a ten spot from everyone in the audience.
The reason why it happens is precisely because organs are harder to come by than lottery tickets,That's my point. That and if everyone were an automatic donor, organs wouldn't be rarer than lottery tickets, as far far more people die of natural causes with at least one or two still functional organs than those that die of organ failure. Nobody would need to take matters into their own hands as the waiting list for organs wouldn't involve stupidly long time frames.
The minority tax: Simple enough. If your organization wants recognition for being a particular color, and essentially is begging for attention, they get taxed. hugely. We want a homogenized society composed of well-blended Americans, not a fragmented collection of cultures and races trying to get special treatment.
The gay tax: Shut up. I mean it. Everyone participating in a gay pride parade wherein anyone is dressed like they want sex right at that moment will be taxed. About fifty bills a head should do it. Plus a ten spot from everyone in the audience.
So a tax on black people and a tax on gay people? Seems fair enough. It's not like cultural or racial difference is legitimate or anything.
The problem would be that anyone supporting said taxes would have to pay the stupid tax.
The dumbass tax: Every other year, a test will be given to all personages over the age of 21. To avoid bitchy-ass whining from fucktards who hate cultural stuff and want no biases at all, it will be on general knowledge, critical thinking, standard logic, and the reading and speaking of the English fucking language. Those in the lowest bracket will pay a tax of about a hundred dollars. If they complain, they will be told it's for the fighting of terrorists, the blowing up of foreigners, and keeping Jesus in public. Chances are they'll want to donate more, because they're probably the same folks who give televangelists money to buy booze and hookers.
Gay tax? Did you not see the specific 'wherein anyone is dressed like they want sex right at that moment' part? Emphasis mine, since you seem to have missed that... want some more clarification?So... You want to tax people who's dress sense you find distasteful? You really don't see anything wrong with that?
Art? Let's be perfectly honest here. If someone were to walk down the street, in public, wearing nothing more than a bondage harness, a thong and piercings, what would be your first reaction? It sure wouldn't be 'oh, that's normal', it'd be 'holy shit, who decided to let you out of the house without realizing you're going to be among the general public?'
'the poor are getting fucked over on education'... have... have you not heard of a LIBRARY? That's where I did most of my learning, and nearly every library has at least one computer in it, in this day and age. Wikipedia is your friend. It's thanks to the internet (and books in general) as a resource that I know how to knit, how to smith steel, what the variance is on specific electromagnets, how many lumens the sun puts out... you CANNOT tell me you're getting screwed over for knowledge when you have the internet at your fingertips!
*just facepalms* This is why I don't get involved in political threads... I always get bitched at for my views, which, to me, seem like common sense.
To the minority tax, my friend (who's a triple minority himself, black (male) and Jewish) and I are both in agreement that if you get special preference over someone that's more qualified, but happens to be white, so you can meet some bullshit 'racial diversity' quota, that needs to hit a corporation in the pocketbook.
Gay tax? Did you not see the specific 'wherein anyone is dressed like they want sex right at that moment' part? Emphasis mine, since you seem to have missed that... want some more clarification?
The gay tax: Shut up. I mean it. Everyone participating in a gay pride parade wherein anyone is dressed like they want sex right at that moment will be taxed. About fifty bills a head should do it. Plus a ten spot from everyone in the audience.
Art? Let's be perfectly honest here. If someone were to walk down the street, in public, wearing nothing more than a bondage harness, a thong and piercings, what would be your first reaction? It sure wouldn't be 'oh, that's normal', it'd be 'holy shit, who decided to let you out of the house without realizing you're going to be among the general public?'I'd think they look like a complete fucking bellend, don't get me wrong. However, as long as they leave me alone, then they can walk around wearing nothing but clown make-up, nipple tassels and a wad of whipped cream over their junk for all I care.
*just facepalms* This is why I don't get involved in political threads... I always get bitched at for my views, which, to me, seem like common sense.Oh, of course. I mean, there's no way there's anything at all wrong with the idea that it's "common sense" to tax people just for dressing like pillocks, it's that you're totally being persecuted. Yep, makes perfect sense.
The minority tax: Simple enough. If your organization wants recognition for being a particular color, and essentially is begging for attention, they get taxed. hugely. We want a homogenized society composed of well-blended Americans, not a fragmented collection of cultures and races trying to get special treatment.
'the poor are getting fucked over on education'... have... have you not heard of a LIBRARY? That's where I did most of my learning, and nearly every library has at least one computer in it, in this day and age. Wikipedia is your friend. It's thanks to the internet (and books in general) as a resource that I know how to knit, how to smith steel, what the variance is on specific electromagnets, how many lumens the sun puts out... you CANNOT tell me you're getting screwed over for knowledge when you have the internet at your fingertips!
Every other year, a test will be given to all personages over the age of 21. To avoid bitchy-ass whining from fucktards who hate cultural stuff and want no biases at all, it will be on general knowledge, critical thinking, standard logic, and the reading and speaking of the English fucking language. Those in the lowest bracket will pay a tax of about a hundred dollars. If they complain, they will be told it's for the fighting of terrorists, the blowing up of foreigners, and keeping Jesus in public. Chances are they'll want to donate more, because they're probably the same folks who give televangelists money to buy booze and hookers.
and I think they deserve to be paid minimum wage.
I know this is a horrible position, but part of me feels there should be a opt out opition when it comes Social Sercurity, if you want to be an "individual" and not part of the team, all I have to say is fine, good luck, and go fuck yourself.
We should also make it illegal for congress to give themselves raises, I think the people should determine their salary
I actually agree with this. I do think that the government should have "safety net" programs in place such as social security, medicare, public school systems, etc. But if it's possible to avoid using it, then people should have the option of not paying taxes to those programs, but in exchange they cannot benefit from them themselves.Which will lead to an even bigger tax burden on the poor and middle class, as the rich would all opt out the instant they're able.
My problems with taxes such as the fair tax, is 1. the prebate is somewhat cheap, 2.so are we going to get rid sales taxes at both the state and local level, because there are some areas of the country where sales tax is close to 10%, while other areas have very little. If we switch to any type of flat tax, I would like to see a "pro-family" flat tax where food items still would be tax free.
I'm not really for any type of regressive tax, but I've gotten to the point in my life where I really don't give a shit, and I'm sick of hearing people whine, because 49%of people don't pay federal income taxes, blah,blah,blah. The thing is even if we were to go about doing this the whiners would still bitch. We've reformed "welfare" to the point that it's a jobs programs, and they still bitch. I've more or less have given up on this country, and I'm at the point that I really don't think anyone deserves any kind of social safety net, and I'll like to see the country burn more or less. Sorry for the rant.
to me it just seems like a good idea. Everyone pays. The rich may pay a smaller percentage, but they're also paying more overall, unless they have someone else do their shopping. I also did the math, and under Fairtax, I'd be paying a couple hundred dollars less in taxes each year, and that's counting the tax refunds we (are supposed to) receive under the current plan. And I don't even think I am middle class (I make under $30,000 a year). Granted this is just under my budget; I know everyone else's is different. I just feel it would be better than the one we have.
Is Political Correctness a liberal or conservative ideal?
I actually agree with this. I do think that the government should have "safety net" programs in place such as social security, medicare, public school systems, etc. But if it's possible to avoid using it, then people should have the option of not paying taxes to those programs, but in exchange they cannot benefit from them themselves.Which will lead to an even bigger tax burden on the poor and middle class, as the rich would all opt out the instant they're able.
Actually, anyone making under a certain amount would receive a tax Prebate which covers basic goods and essentials. So basically, they're paying less because they get more $ from the Prebate.
http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/PrebateExplained2012.pdf (http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/PrebateExplained2012.pdf)
You're right, they shouldn't have any wage, they manage well on their own while the rest of us eat cat food.We have a legitimate paid wage, because the idea was that this allowed poor people to run. The problem became that parties liked rich guys running, because of business connections and the ability to foot the bill for part of the campaign.
Also, paying politicians or public servants badly or not at all encourages corruption.
We're just saying, taking away what pay there is isn't going to do anything but make you feel better. It's more constructive to advocate public funding or some sort of alternative campaigning method that doesn't put politicians at the beck and call of campaign donors and the grace of party elities. There's corruption, because rich assholes run the show and we let them.Also, paying politicians or public servants badly or not at all encourages corruption.
Well, why is there so much fucking corruption in our system, and we let them give themselves wages??
They don't do shit for "the people" other than act like whine babies.
Also, paying politicians or public servants badly or not at all encourages corruption.
Well, why is there so much fucking corruption in our system, and we let them give themselves wages??
They don't do shit for "the people" other than act like whine babies.
Okay.Fuck yes. If the politicos didn't have government socialized medicine, don't you think they'd take more care with how they worked on American health care?
But then they have to buy their own insurance. As it stands right now, the people who are voting against public option are the ones benefiting from an exclusive version of it.
Okay.
But then they have to buy their own insurance. As it stands right now, the people who are voting against public option are the ones benefiting from an exclusive version of it.
Also, paying politicians or public servants badly or not at all encourages corruption.
Well, why is there so much fucking corruption in our system, and we let them give themselves wages??
They don't do shit for "the people" other than act like whine babies.
You know how the system is really corrupt now? Imagine how bad it would be if politicians had more of an incentive to steal. That's why you pay politicians.
Also, paying politicians or public servants badly or not at all encourages corruption.
Well, why is there so much fucking corruption in our system, and we let them give themselves wages??
They don't do shit for "the people" other than act like whine babies.
You know how the system is really corrupt now? Imagine how bad it would be if politicians had more of an incentive to steal. That's why you pay politicians.
So we should pay them, but pay them at a reasonable price?