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kengreen
Joined: 19 Jan 2011
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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I will not bother watching the video. However, I will say the United States is the wealthiest country to ever exist. Life expectancy is high in modern times. We have electricity with houses instead of living in caves and huts. Capitalism rules. It rewards hard work. Some people will end up richer than others, but humanity will advance and the standard of living for most across the globe will go up (and it has been going up for a while. That's what globalization does). A rising tide lifts all boats. (Most, anyways, but in general it is a good thing.)
One more thing: most millionaires in the U.S. earned their wealth rather than inherited it. Same with most billionaires.
If you are smart and ambitious, the U.S. is a great place to be. |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
One more thing: most millionaires in the U.S. earned their wealth rather than inherited it. Same with most billionaires.
If you are smart and ambitious, the U.S. is a great place to be. |
How does any of this mean that a person deserves to make 500,000,000 US a year while other people struggle on 7.50 US an hour? It's corrupt. Some of these big earners in addition could care a less about the interests of the companies they control or the stock holders. They only care about situations where they pull in more money for themselves. |
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littlelisa
Joined: 12 Jun 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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WT, some corrections: US is ranked 35th for life expectancy, 9 lower in the list than South Korea. As a country, the US is very rich. But the distribution of wealth is really unequal.
It's true that many millionaires and billionaires earned their way to being rich, but most didn't start out as very poor either. Social mobility is not as easy now in the US as it was a few decades ago. It's not about how hard you work, either. Many poor people work multiple jobs to make ends meet and some people put in lots of effort, but don't end up making much improvement from it. The truth is that you need money to make money. And the more money you have, the easier time you have making more. There are lots of government policies to keep it that way, too, beginning with taxation rates and what is taxed, and policies on minimum wages. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 12:17 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
I will not bother watching the video. However, I will say the United States is the wealthiest country to ever exist. Life expectancy is high in modern times. We have electricity with houses instead of living in caves and huts. Capitalism rules. It rewards hard work. Some people will end up richer than others, but humanity will advance and the standard of living for most across the globe will go up (and it has been going up for a while. That's what globalization does). A rising tide lifts all boats. (Most, anyways, but in general it is a good thing.)
One more thing: most millionaires in the U.S. earned their wealth rather than inherited it. Same with most billionaires.
If you are smart and ambitious, the U.S. is a great place to be. |
Too bad the US doesn't have a capitalist system. The game is rigged. Profits are private while losses are thrust upon the public. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| littlelisa wrote: |
| WT, some corrections: US is ranked 35th for life expectancy, 9 lower in the list than South Korea. As a country, the US is very rich. But the distribution of wealth is really unequal. |
Wealth is uneven? Has a lot to do with people in housing projects who can't afford children popping out more and more and having the government pick up the tab. (Doesn't happen in Korea, and is also part of the reason America's overall life expectancy is slightly lower than Korea's.)
Life expectancy for whites and Asians in the United States is very high. For example, life expectancy for a white male who graduated from college is over 80 years. The more educated a person is, the longer they tend to live.
Actually, my point was, people around the world (including Koreans) benefit from the innovations of the rich people.
The harnessing of electricity happened in the United States. Now, Koreans have electricity. See how that works?
Look at the percentage of self made billionaires/millionaires in the U.S. compared to Korea. You think upward mobility is easier for Koreans? You think Korea is a better place to make money? Why then is the number of Koreans going to the United States (both proportionally and overall) much higher than visa versa? |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:50 am Post subject: |
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| radcon wrote: |
| Too bad the US doesn't have a capitalist system. The game is rigged. |
Barack Obama came from humble beginnings and is now the most powerful person in the world. (He is a good person and good leader in my opinion.) The game is not "rigged". Hard working immigrants from around the world enter the U.S. and make a good life for themselves there. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:22 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| radcon wrote: |
| Too bad the US doesn't have a capitalist system. The game is rigged. |
Barack Obama came from humble beginnings and is now the most powerful person in the world. (He is a good person and good leader in my opinion.) The game is not "rigged". Hard working immigrants from around the world enter the U.S. and make a good life for themselves there. |
System not rigged? Why the bailouts then? Capitalism is supposed to be survival of the fittest companies. Why does the US govt bail out failed companies? Ironic you should mention immigrants. Unfettered immigration into the US is a way that the elites suppress middle class wages and take more of the pie for themselves. Wake up. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:27 am Post subject: |
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It's not unfettered though. There is a long waiting list with a lengthy but dignified and well constructed path to citizenship.
I like the immigrants a lot more than the ghetto gang bangers. You don't?
Skilled immigrants aren't being let into the U.S. enough. It's a shame really. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:35 am Post subject: |
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| About bailouts, well, you are not an economist, radon. Are you aware the companies had to pay back the money? The bailouts were the right choice. They helped the global economy from becoming worse than it did. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:37 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
It's not unfettered though. There is a long waiting list with a lengthy but dignified and well constructed path to citizenship.
I like the immigrants a lot more than the ghetto gang bangers. You don't? |
It is unfettered if you include illegal immigrants. Elites love illegal immigrants and the govt is just appearing to solve the problem when in actuality they aren't. Illegal workers have destroyed the trades. As for immigrants of the legal kind, the H1B visa program is a joke. It's just a method to suppress wages of tech workers. Ghetto gang bangers are not germane to the issue as they are American citizens, unless you count the thousands of illegal immigrants who are also gang bangers. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:41 am Post subject: |
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It's fair competition, unrigged capitalism if you will. Mexicans are willing to work for less and so wages go down. Can you fault them (or anyone else really)? They just want a better life for their family.
| Quote: |
| The Handbook of Crime Correlates states that unlike studies outside the US, a majority of studies in the US have found lower crime rates among immigrants than among non-immigrants. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:48 am Post subject: |
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Illegal immigrants coming to the U.S. isn't a secret conspiracy by the NWO Bilderbergs. It's just people coming to the world's richest country to make money. The U.S. is wealthier than Mexico with better opportunities to make money. That's why they come.
Why would the U.S. government want wages to go down? That's less tax money they can collect. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
It's fair competition, unrigged capitalism if you will. Mexicans are willing to work for less and so wages go down. Can you fault them (or anyone else really)? They just want a better life for their family.
| Quote: |
| The Handbook of Crime Correlates states that unlike studies outside the US, a majority of studies in the US have found lower crime rates among immigrants than among non-immigrants. |
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Good for them but they are not citizens. Have lower illegal immigrant wages led to lower consumer prices? Or do you think they contribute more to higher corporate profits?
Baliout being paid back? Myth. http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-17-25/tarp-overseer-debunks-bailout-myths-big-companies-haven%E2%80%99t-repaid-tarp-funds-%E2%80%A6
It's people like you and your ilk who are really damaging America: think they are temporarily inconvenienced millionaire elites waiting to rise to their true station in life. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:55 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
Illegal immigrants coming to the U.S. isn't a secret conspiracy by the NWO Bilderbergs. It's just people coming to the world's richest country to make money. The U.S. is wealthier than Mexico with better opportunities to make money. That's why they come.
Why would the U.S. government want wages to go down? That's less tax money they can collect. |
The people who control the US govt most certainly want wages to stay low as they are. They own the corporations that want to pay low wages to their workers. |
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