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Our government is the cause of our problems. Too many rules and regulations. Capitalism gives everyone a shot, if they're willing to do the work and take the chance.
We have allowed ourselves to "be taken care of"...rather than opting to take care of ourselves. We have allowed ALL of this to happen, and unfortunately, I don't see enough citizens that realize this!
As far as guns...the reason we have a 2nd amendment is so our citizens will be armed against the government taking over EVERYTHING. Our forefathers KNEW this sort of thing would happen one day, and they wanted us to be able to defeat a takeover of our country....we are supposed to be FREE...not suppressed by our "rulers". They are not supposed to "rule"...they are supposed to protect and assist...that's all. Period.
That's maybe the problem. To many Americans still think that the U.S. is so modern or advanced. Even Joe Biden thinks that the rest of the world still considers the U.S. as a modern (infrastructure wise) country. Many Americans still think that the world envy the U.S. because the U.S. is so advanced.
Do you have electricitiy in Europe? Yes we have, and without almost no black outs.
That maybe shows how some Americans still tick.
New York is the world financial capital and should be a very shiny city with a high standard of living. But it looks in many areas more like a city that is rotting away. It's seems to be much worse than in poor German cities in the Ruhr area or old industrial cities in Northern England. I guess that rents in New York are very high, why the landlords don't invest more of the revenues to revamp those buildings? It's not only the infrastructure that is falling in disrepair, also the majority of the residential buildings are getting more and more outdated. Normally there should be scaffolds on about every 50. house per year, so that after 50 years all buildings are revamped. But the amount of scaffolds in New York is very limited.
Americans are great in building something new, but once the buildings are finished, there are mostly no further improvements. Instead of revamping the existing buildings and facilities they often build new suburbs miles away from the city center. That leads to even more infrastructure that have to be maintained in the future.
I can not believe that a city like New York isn't able to increase the tax receipts a little bit so they have enough funds to fix the infrastructure and other problems.
Americans are so patriotic, that should be a big advantage. It should be a matter of course, that everyone cares a little bit more about their surroundings. A little bit more cleanliness, why so many people just throw their litter on the floor? That isn't patriotic, it's just disgraceful.
The U.S. has plenty of ressources, very patriotic people and one of the biggest advantages, a rising population. It shouldn't be a problem to get the things on the right track.
That's maybe the problem. To many Americans still think that the U.S. is so modern or advanced. Even Joe Biden thinks that the rest of the world still considers the U.S. as a modern (infrastructure wise) country. Many Americans still think that the world envy the U.S. because the U.S. is so advanced.
Do you have electricitiy in Europe? Yes we have, and without almost no black outs.
That maybe shows how some Americans still tick.
New York is the world financial capital and should be a very shiny city with a high standard of living. But it looks in many areas more like a city that is rotting away. It's seems to be much worse than in poor German cities in the Ruhr area or old industrial cities in Northern England. I guess that rents in New York are very high, why the landlords don't invest more of the revenues to revamp those buildings? It's not only the infrastructure that is falling in disrepair, also the majority of the residential buildings are getting more and more outdated. Normally there should be scaffolds on about every 50. house per year, so that after 50 years all buildings are revamped. But the amount of scaffolds in New York is very limited.
Americans are great in building something new, but once the buildings are finished, there are mostly no further improvements. Instead of revamping the existing buildings and facilities they often build new suburbs miles away from the city center. That leads to even more infrastructure that have to be maintained in the future.
I can not believe that a city like New York isn't able to increase the tax receipts a little bit so they have enough funds to fix the infrastructure and other problems.
Americans are so patriotic, that should be a big advantage. It should be a matter of course, that everyone cares a little bit more about their surroundings. A little bit more cleanliness, why so many people just throw their litter on the floor? That isn't patriotic, it's just disgraceful.
The U.S. has plenty of ressources, very patriotic people and one of the biggest advantages, a rising population. It shouldn't be a problem to get the things on the right track.
I remember watching TV last 4th of July listening to all the people talking about how this is the greatest nation in the world, how amazing America is, why people come here yadda, yadda, yadda, and sadly I just thought "no, no it's not." We COULD be the greatest nation in the world, we COULD have the happiest, healthiest population, we COULD have the best education, we COULD be the most modern, technically advanced nation in the world, but we are not. We have the money to do all these things, we have people willing to work for these things, but we keep putting people in office who are raping our funds and either spending it on stuff we don't need (ahem, military funding) or banking it and sitting on it instead of sharing it with the rest of our citizens. It's preposterous! And it MUST stop before it's too late!
Oil - We are so accustomed to using gasoline and our dependence on foreign oil is through the roof. How was Brazil able to completely cut any foreign oil dependence out in 8 years while simultaneously bringing 40 million to the middle class all by growing sugar and making ethanol/methanol mainstream? We have made no real strides at the pending energy crisis and likely wont since our government can be bought. We literally have the ability to produce enough ethanol/methanol to cut out all foreign oil today, but we don't. We allow companies like Exxon/BP to run our life while simultaneously draining our pockets.
Brazil could cut it because their economy is not nearly what ours is, so I guess we could drop to Brazil's standards and get your wish. Also, those bio fuels have come at a price, and Brazil does economically rely on oil as they are the 12th largest exporter and also have an equipment industry revolving around oil. The US's biofuel attempt has been a disaster in my opinion, yet you want to push it more? I think the US should stop the idiotic ethanol mandate, which is nothing more than a benefit program.
Exxon, BP, etc are pretty small players on a global scale...What they do does not have that much of influence compared to a country like Saudi Arabia for example.
Anyway, I do not see how this makes the US falling behind, the US is hardly the only country that uses oil, even Brazil relies on oil for a part of their economy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 02blackgt
War - We are so worried about policing all these morons in the middle east when they have been war-ing since the beginning of man kind. When is enough enough? Why are wasting this money with all the issues we have here. We could eliminate hunger, homelessness, infrastructure issues, ect. very quickly if we just stopped dumping money into that **** hole of sandbox to accomplish nothing. The fact of the matter is they don't even really want us there! Lets invest in ourselves for a change, lets go back to building this country and taking care of our citizens.
The US has generally been constantly at war since its founding, so this is not new. The US has made it a habit to interfere in other countries' business since the Monroe Doctrine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 02blackgt
Violence - Our country is wayyy to violent. I love guns, I have a gun, however who decided having a gun is a right? It is a privilege IMO not a right, one that needs to be restricted to those who can handle it. I am all for citizens having guns, but the truth is it is way to easy to acquire. Our violence is off the charts compared to the rest of the developed world. Culture needs to change, there is no logical reason Detroit alone should have more homicides than the entire country of Japan in a year, that is disgusting.
Violence is at historic lows...guns have always been easy to acquire, and they were much easier to acquire in the past.
You are correct, the violence is more so than many other developed countries, however, unlike other countries, political careers are made off of the violence, and as long as that keeps up, the US will never approach the level of Japan in its violent crime rate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 02blackgt
Middle Class - We have the rich and the poor and increasingly less in-between. In the long run this will not be good for either side. Something big and violent will likely happen eventually. Middle class is what made this country as great as it is, without it we lose our greatness. Socialism is horrible, I hate it, it gives no reason to push yourself. However there is no reason corporations/companies should not be paying a livable wage. There is no reason someone who works 40 hours a week should not be able to bring home even $20k in a year. We need to start being human again and being compassionate. Stock price is not more important than people. We throw thousands people into poverty by eliminating jobs just to save a buck and add a few pennies to a stock price. We pay people dirt wages that they cannot even afford their own food on while profiting billions on top of billions just to say we did. Its really ridiculous when you think about it.
Wow, you fail at basic economics. There is no definition of a livable wage, it is an idiotic term used by idiots; you fail to explain why the minimum should be $20,000 for 2080 hours of work per year; and you fail at not understanding the entire reason a company exist is to make money, not to provide jobs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 02blackgt
Government - All this wraps into my final rant. Democracy is what makes a country great, however we are losing our greatness. If our four fathers saw what was going on in Washington today they would be disgusted!! We completely stomp on greater good now in the name of money. Any one with a brain can see how corporations are literally buying policies that favor them. Our government is supposed to be for the people, but yet we pass bills that corporations literally buy that do nothing but benefit a handful and hurt the rest of the population. Does this really sound like democracy?
It is democracy as at the end of the day, it is the people that vote. If the dopes want to vote the same senator in for 40 years straight, so be it. If they want to vote purely on the basis of an R or D next to the name, so be it. No one is forcing anyone to vote for a specific person, they are doing this all on their own.
^^^^
"Wow, you fail at basic economics. There is no definition of a livable wage, it is an idiotic term used by idiots; you fail to explain why the minimum should be $20,000 for 2080 hours of work per year; and you fail at not understanding the entire reason a company exist is to make money, not to provide jobs."
No a company does not exist just to make money. A business exists to provide a service. A service preformed by employees. Yes, money is exchanged for that service, but a company CAN NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT EMPLOYEES. Whether it's that Mom and Pop shop around the corner or multi-billion dollar corporation, THEY HAVE TO HAVE EMPLOYEES TO FUNCTION. Shelves do not stock themselves, food doesn't cook and serve itself, even self-check outs are monitored by a cashier. These big business guys like to think they built their empire alone, but their empires wouldn't exist if they didn't have people willing to work for them and if you can't pay your people enough to cover their necessities on a 40 hour work week, you are a selfish and ****ty businessman or woman.
^^^^
"Wow, you fail at basic economics. There is no definition of a livable wage, it is an idiotic term used by idiots; you fail to explain why the minimum should be $20,000 for 2080 hours of work per year; and you fail at not understanding the entire reason a company exist is to make money, not to provide jobs."
No a company does not exist just to make money. A business exists to provide a service. A service preformed by employees. Yes, money is exchanged for that service, but a company CAN NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT EMPLOYEES. Whether it's that Mom and Pop shop around the corner or multi-billion dollar corporation, THEY HAVE TO HAVE EMPLOYEES TO FUNCTION. Shelves do not stock themselves, food doesn't cook and serve itself, even self-check outs are monitored by a cashier. These big business guys like to think they built their empire alone, but their empires wouldn't exist if they didn't have people willing to work for them and if you can't pay your people enough to cover their necessities on a 40 hour work week, you are a selfish and ****ty businessman or woman.
Primary responsibility of a company is to the Share Holders, Business Law 101.
Since 1933, the USA has been a socialist paradise.
Also, operating under "emergency rules" that bypass the constitution.
If you're looking for a culprit, look no further than the generation of the 1930s who embraced the notion it was a "good thing" for government to TAKE from one to GIVE to another.
It resulted in a "benevolent" totalitarian police state. How else can you enforce such an abomination? Wheedle, "Pretty please with sugar on top?"
Now we "enjoy" an aggregate tax rate of 44% (local, state + federal). We need permission (license) and/ or pay a tax to live, travel, work, own, buy, sell, get healthcare, marry and own a dog. And we have the "right" to be groped when we fly on commercial airlines.
... And do not forget your government issued I.D. !
Since 1933, the USA has been a socialist paradise.
Also, operating under "emergency rules" that bypass the constitution.
If you're looking for a culprit, look no further than the generation of the 1930s who embraced the notion it was a "good thing" for government to TAKE from one to GIVE to another.
It resulted in a "benevolent" totalitarian police state. How else can you enforce such an abomination? Wheedle, "Pretty please with sugar on top?"
Now we "enjoy" an aggregate tax rate of 44% (local, state + federal). We need permission (license) and/ or pay a tax to live, travel, work, own, buy, sell, get healthcare, marry and own a dog. And we have the "right" to be groped when we fly on commercial airlines.
... And do not forget your government issued I.D. !
What is interesting is our 44% tax rate puts us on par with much of Europe (I think we're very similar to Germany). We don't tax as much federally but we levy a multitude of other taxes. But do we get affordable healthcare? No. Does our infrastructure suck in most of the country? Yes. Is education affordable? No.
Of course the rich don't pay anywhere near 44% The actual tax rate for the 1% after mortgage interest deductions and large capital gains is often lower than the middle class. But still where does all the money go? We have some of the most corrupt politicians of any first world country, and the fact that we have only 2 parties is a massive hindrance and more easily corruptible. It's much harder to create corruption with a Euro-style Parliamentary system where any party that gets 5% of the vote gets a seat in Parliament.
One thing people forget to mention? Due to its isolation the US was the only major industrialized manufacturing economy in the world after the world was destroyed in World War II. Now we have to compete with the rest of Europe as well as new economies like China and India. We no longer are the only game in town and our profit margins are getting lower. Consequently, wages are dropping, and with falling tax revenues local governments are going bankrupt.
The fact that we based over 40% of our economy on finance and shuffling money around instead of developing new technologies didn't help. Of course when we do develop things the Chinese government actually hires people to steal the patents and then sells it to local companies who don't adhere to patent laws. So international patent enforcement is probably important as well.
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