Latest experiment is socialism ending the same as always...

What makes you think people openly admit to strangers how they actually feel?

What makes you think you understand basic emotions?

You realise this question is self defeating if you are trying to discredit the principle of the survey?

"It’s a sign of a very sick country when these ideas of fairness and helping your neighbor are considered radical."

I mean, I could bring up recent tragedies of capitalism like the bankruptcies that happen every day from our health system or the Flint situation or Bernie Maddoff ruining $150 million worth of retirement funds

Bankruptcies are not always tragedies. And crimes committed in a system doesn't on their own invalidate the merits of that system.

Who cares what I understand?

So all the corruption in Venezuala which has left people destitute can't be used as a criticism of socialism?

Depends. If you believe as I believe that a system of "socialism" is inherently corrupt then it obviously would be a basis for criticism.

Not sure what "inherently corrupt" means, but ok....

Does it therefore follow that the crimes committed within a capitalist system can, in fact, be used as a criticism of capitalism?

but what is the wind like in the prairie cities? for me that's the "game changer" in freezing my ass off. I hate wind! Hot wind, cold wind, you name it....wind sucks...or blows I guess.

I would put a bullet through Maddoff's head and not lose a minute of sleep over it.

A nonviolent white collar criminal? People sure get upset because someone took their retirement money.

pretty crazy at times as I recall.

aren't you originally from Nebraska or one of the other states that make up central southern canada?

starve a man or shoot him, he's still dead.

first method seems a lot crueler, too.

I think that the more people that are involved in advancing an agenda the more likely the system advancing that agenda is prone to corruption. Whether it be a socialist system or labor unions. Both of these at least on the surface try to "better" the lives of the largest number of people possible. This means the largest number of people who have a stake in the success of that system and the greater opportunity for corruption. Most people are not saints. They have a little bit of an inclination to grab what they can get for themselves. When you get to trying to better the lives of millions of people you greatly enhance the chances of corruption being present in the system.

On the other hand, the corruption in the capitalist system is generally a handful of greedy people with money. A handful of people trying to steal what they can is not nearly as corrupt as a million people each trying to grab their own handful.

Georgia, actually.... Which is far closer to Cuba than Canada.

Nebraska doesn't border Canada either BTW

he took millions of dollars from many people's retirement money. I have more respect for an armed mugger who can only take whatever is in your wallet than a shifty sleazy greedy bastard who takes everything you have ever worked for when you are too old to ever earn it back. At least you have a chance of escaping the armed robber (or fucking him up) but somebody like Maddoff? Sorry, fuck him and the horse he rode in on - but a bullet really is too much mercy - beating him to death with money bags filled with quarters slowly (maybe over a three day weekend) would be more appropriate in this case.

I lived in northern Wisconsin for a few years. Lakes are frozen solid from late November to mid April, so yes it gets a little brisk in the winter. Luckily there is not much wind in the winter.

I currently live in Georgia but I am not a Georgia native. Nebraska is another flat, windy place I hope I never have to drive through again.

Madoff was never going to panic and shoot someone to death. The armed mugger could easily do that.

I've never had a bit of sympathy for people lamenting that "he stole everything I owned" or even "he stole half of everything I owned".

Why the hell are these people risking "half of everything they owned"?!??! That is simply insane. Why do they do that?

Easy answer:

They...are...greedy.

No.

You're dismissing people who did the responsible thing by saving for a life after they were unable to work. That's not greed.

Not everyone has a family y that will perpetually bail them out when they continue to get fired from a career they are woefully unskilled at.

Yeah, it's funny how that works, isn't it?

again, why would someone risk a huge chunk of the money they had been saving? Why if they worked so hard to accumulate say 200,000 in savings would they risk losing 100,000 of that all at once?

Again.

They...were...greedy

Where do you keep yours, stuffed in the mattress? What if your house burned down?

You have no idea how pensions work, do you?

doh!!

Our brokerage firm has it all. Or almost all of it anyway.

no they weren't
you are

How am I greedy? I'm not making any big, high risk investments. I'm perfectly happy with doubling my investment every ten years. At the current rate if I can live that long and avoid touching it I'll have 800,000 when I turn 80 years old, enough to live well for the last 14 years of my life.

And @Spaceturkey after trying to make he entirely false claim that I'm greedy runs and hides behind a GFY negative rep. Typical.