American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullshit!

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

You're going to have to define the American Dream, first. Sure, there are some material objects I'd like to own, but can't have right now, but they're nothing I "need." We have two paid for serviceable automobiles that are <5 years old and our 4/2 house, in an amazing neighborhood, will be paid off before our youngest starts Pre-School.

If that means I can't have an iPad right now or go to Starbucks three times a week...

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

No, that means the capitalist greedmongers are hoarding too much wealth when you deserve it more than they do.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

A different argument entirely, one which you cannot help but use no matter what the topic, obviously. We were discussing whether it is appropriate to tell someone to move if they don't like the system in their own country.

A direct contradiction with your previous post. Running up debts greater than your initial investment and not having to pay them back is a bailout.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I think the question is not how much money is spent on welfare, but how effective the money is spent. I'm all in favor of helping those who truly strive to become better and more productive citizens. And it all begins with providing great education for those who are interested in education. A good education system brings in more money by helping citizens to be productive than it costs in taxes.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

And what do you do with those who are not interested? Our societies get kind of squeamish when people are dying in the gutter in front of your house.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I suppose you'll call it a hair-split to observe the difference between objecting to something happening in your own country, and harping on how much greater it is somewhere else.

Expanding it beyond my intent, in service of yours, of course. This is where it descends into you belaboring the obvious fact that things are not run the way I would do it, so I must be implicitly endorsing the status quo by not supporting your preferred recourse.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

You could only see a substantive difference between the two based on some misguided notion of nationalism. There's nothing wrong with observing that things are done better elsewhere as a means of showing how you'd prefer things were done here.

Nope. As I've told you countless times before, I wouldn't remove the corporate veil. I'm merely highlighting your utter hypocrisy.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

My "utter hypocrisy" exists only in your spongy imagination, twinkle tits.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

A claim not to be a hypocrite is a statment devoid of content, unfortunately for you.

In short, you would say that.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

And you really should suck my balls.

But a big on my part.

All I know is that the European part of my investment portfolio is in the shitter.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Ever notice how the "Europe sucks" arguments are invariably put forward by those who don't live in Europe and, odds are, have never even been there?

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I'll lay down hard cash that I've been to Europe a lot more than you have, and I'm probably half your age.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I'll remember this post the time time you criticize something happening in Libya, Honduras or West Virginia.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Actually, I'd be in favour of a more productive one. Mandatory job skills training, business start up programs, that sort of thing. In Turkeytopia, it'd probably take the form of a civilian corps of engineers and cover everything from apprenticing to tree planting.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I'd be for that IF they replaced city and state workers who would otherwise do the same jobs. But I'm not for "making work" for anyone.

As far as American vs. European mobility, I'll submit...

...we have 9% unemployment (over 10% in many places)...

...we have state investment in heavy industry like automakers...

...we have state investment in banks...

...we have a bureaucracy that's grown beyond all reason...

...and we have an absolutely unsustainable entitlement system.

We've BECOME Europe.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Trust you to lump all three together as if they're exactly the same. I doubt there's a saying in either Libya or Honduras that the definition of a virgin is a girl who can run faster than her brothers.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Not when you can profit by sending their work to other countries? Who cares if America dwindles and fades from posterity and prosperity.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Exactly, there is plenty of upward mobility. Every day, people think up ideas and take the risks of putting them into action and go from rags to riches. They can't do that in Europe because of the crippling socialism. There is a reason you don't hear stories about the European equivalent of Bill gates or Sam Walton. What I see as the problem is that people now do not want to work for upward mobility but want someone to give it to them or the government to require someone to give it to them.
By all means lets raise taxes and pour more money down the educational black hole. What the letter did not mention is that we spend a lot on education and don't see any return on investment.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

We have the same system in this country that we have always had. Its been good enough for the last couple hundred years or so, so if people don't like it and want socialism, there are plenty out there to choose from. Is it really more realistic for someone to expect the entire us capitalist based society to change for them? What seems to be suggested here is for the government to control the means of production by telling companies who they must hire and who they should promote.
One point that is missed is that the US is the most productive society by a long shot.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Did you read the article? It's not about income levels but social mobility.

The American Dream is about equality of opportunity. It's about the lack of a class system. It's about working hard and moving on up.

America is rapidly becoming a country where intelligence is not the biggest indicator of wealth, nor work ethic, nor education. But where parental income is the biggest indicator.

THAT is the death of the American Dream and the birth of a class based society.

You want a Revolution, you want Socialism, let that fully develop.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Debt-to-GDP is kind of irrelevant. What's more important is future growth rates of both GDP and inflation.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

What's relevant is the relationship between all those factors. What you want, with respect to a national government debt, is for the constant dollar ratio of debt to GDP to be bounded on the upside over time. That means that debt-to-GDP ratio, GDP growth, and inflation are all important.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I know the "New York Times" is a socialist piece of garbage. New York's other significant paper is the "New York Post". I forget what the other DC paper is, but my mnemonic is that DC is flip-flopped from NY and the "Washington Post" is the socialist piece of garbage.

I agree with the author, that America has problems. But his implication that they can be remedied by being more like Europe is 180 degrees from rational thought. We are becoming more "Atlas Shrugged" every day. In the book, the US was in decline, but far better off than Europe. That seems to be unfolding today. "Who is John Galt?" indeed.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

That sounds an awful lot like how some of the wealthy came to be wealthy...

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

I stopped reading at "Muad Dib".

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

We're pretty much in the same situation as Europe. And the mean time, the EU has a larger GDP than us.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

But half again as many people.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

That is what's known as a lie.

Paladin is a proven liar as of a long time ago, but especially as of now.

And if he doesn't admit it he's a coward as well.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

This isn't a new thing. Social mobility has been higher in Europe than the US for 30 years now.

Re: American Society now less Mobile than Europe or Canada OR Shit is fucked up and Bullsh

Reagan and his progeny killed the American dream deader than dead. People who disagree are ignorant fucks.