News and Politics Forum

Big Oil is making too much money
Big Pharma is making too much money
Big Healthcare is making too much money
Big * is making too much money

When I tell people I'm buying a boat, the usual response is "you make too much money."

My respose?

"Fuck you."

My favorite new one is "Predatory Lender"

Thundersnow wrote:

Caveat emptor only goes so far. Would you like to have to cross shop surgeons?

I'm having trouble figuring out why you wouldn't cross shop surgeons.

Thundersnow wrote:

I should have been more specific. Would you prefer it if the medical industry were not regulated?

You're comparing the medical profession to lenders?

As if the potential downside of a mistake or other malfeasance is equivalent between the two?

maxor wrote:

Here are a few to get started:

How would you categorize the following? Why?

Global:
* US Foreign Policy is terrible
* The perception of the US around the world is terrible
* The US is imperialistic

Domestic:
* Quality of life has been falling since 2000
* The middle class is shrinking
* Real wages have been on the decline

Add your own if you'd like.

What about:
The "misery index?"
Rich Republicans
Red states/blue states
"Talk" or "Negotiate"
Change

Dunno if this is how glfred meant it, but what irks me about it is the progressive penchant for claiming that negotiations... "without preconditions", etc... are -the- only way to go completely irrespective of whether or not the people they demand we negotiate with are operating in good faith.  No matter how many times a North Korea, or a Saddam, or any other country "negotiates" a deal with the US, and then takes us for everything they can get, and then turn around and do the exact opposite of what their obligations were, it never, ever matters. We must still "negotiate" as if they were honest actors. It's infuriating.

Qwinn

Last edited by Qwinn (07-20-2008 03:22 PM)

maxor wrote:

Here are a few to get started:

How would you categorize the following? Why?

Global:
* US Foreign Policy is terrible

Depends on your point of view and value system (and capacity for self-delusion).

* The perception of the US around the world is terrible

Objectively true, for most commonly agreed-upon definitions of "terrible".  The more important questions (IMO) are, why? and, so what?

* The US is imperialistic

Objectively false, for all rational definitions of "imperialistic".

Domestic:
* Quality of life has been falling since 2000
* The middle class is shrinking
* Real wages have been on the decline

Don't know; but I'd like to see data.

To the extent they are true (if they are true), I would ask what impact the influx of illegal immigrants has had on the data.

glfredrick wrote:

Only thing is that I would carry it over to the domestic side as well.  We need "talks" about the environment, talks about education, talks about how to solve poverty, etc., etc., etc.  At the end of the day, the ONLY action based on the talks is to solidify Marxist/socialist traits already in existence, i.e., the redistribution of wealth and the consolidation of power in the hands of the few.

So are you suggesting that we don't talk about domestic issues? I disagree with the redistribution of wealth, to a point. Certainly some exist. However the wealthy have become wealthier, there tax brackets have come down, and the poor get poorer. The middle class gets screwed by everyone.

I think that this thread illustrates one of the problems we have in the US.  The OP throws out a list of bullet points and asks whether they represent Liberal Myths or Conservative Blunders.

This is a binary approach to an analog world.  Over simplification like this can be entertaining, but it impedes constructive dialog.  When one starts to confuse political rhetoric with rational thought, communication breaks down irreparibly.

Take Rush Limbaugh. 

Please!

Question, what's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?
Answer:  Limbaugh has his own radio show.  The Hindenburg was JUST a nazi gasbag.

If you conclude that this makes me a Liberal, you are mistaken.  I'm not, not that there's anything wrong with being a liberal - it's just one political philosophy and not a perjorative.

But neither am I a conservative (and for that matter, neither are the neo-cons, but I digress).  I'm a US citizen who is concerned with the future of his country, I don't wear labels.

The problem with self-applied labels is the baggage that comes with them.  To wear the label is to subscribe to what someone else has decided is the approved way of looking at the world.  It's to start seeing complex issues through a filter, it's the antithesis of clear thinking and open-mindedness.  It's very similar to religion, and in fact, could accurately compared to a secular religion, lacking only a professed diety to be the complete package.

Thundersnow wrote:

glfredrick wrote:

Only thing is that I would carry it over to the domestic side as well.  We need "talks" about the environment, talks about education, talks about how to solve poverty, etc., etc., etc.  At the end of the day, the ONLY action based on the talks is to solidify Marxist/socialist traits already in existence, i.e., the redistribution of wealth and the consolidation of power in the hands of the few.

So are you suggesting that we don't talk about domestic issues? I disagree with the redistribution of wealth, to a point. Certainly some exist. However the wealthy have become wealthier, there tax brackets have come down, and the poor get poorer. The middle class gets screwed by everyone.

I'm not saying "don't talk."  I am saying that all the ballyhoo about talking in the "progressive" camp is over-rated and ineffective.  Study after study is commissioned to provide "talking points" for problems that most any citizen could figure out in, like, 10 minutes.

Oh, and your pointing out the various classes in America as part of your argument means that you have already bought into the class warfare aspects of the socialist campaign.

Thundersnow wrote:

Class warfare is encouraged by those who benefit from it politically. The poor would like to be rich etc etc.

Fixed.