I would like to make one thread with all the terrible things coming from the south

If large companies had not done this, I would have grown up without knowing any open-minded people at all. They were in my hometown because of their fathers' jobs.

 

My job kept me in and around Atlanta most of the time, but also Chicago IL, Sunnyvale CA, or Holmdel NJ, and cost was my primary determining factor when the company didn't provide me housing. Even now, retired and living in Asia, the people had nothing to do with my choosing where to buy, but I have many friends and we disagree on most everything politically and religious. It gives us something to laugh about when we get together.
You're right though, when I was young, most people lived out their lives where they were born and raised, and everyone in town knew everyone else, but that's a rarity today. I guess that's one reason I like where I live now, it's more like it was when I was young, and everyone is like family even when we disagree.

 

Political segregation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/opinion/age-of-political-segregation.html?pagewanted=1

 

Pretentious Northerners and HickBilly Southerners. WHICH SIDE U ON?

 

Human nature? There's power in numbers, but then again it's most often the individual who thinks for him/herself that produces and provides us with the innovations that allow us to advance in technology or just knowledge alone. I support the individual above the collective.

 

I believe you have stated that you live where you do because you think your life is better there than here. The reasons you've stated that you like it better there are a result of collective actions and cooperation of individuals. One man alone can build a house over time, but the collective efforts of a community of Amish men and women can have it up in a day. One man cannot fly to the moon, but the collective labor and innovation of a nation of individuals can.

While the individual's freedom is paramount, the collective must exist, and thrive, in order for the individual to prosper. The individual and the collective have equal importance, neither will prosper without the other.

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There is a difference between a collective by choice and a collective by mandate. An individual can live and prosper without need of a collective, but there are times and tasks when a collective effort is necessary to accomplish things which are beyond the capacity of an individual. The Federal government today attempts to expand the concept of community broadly to the nation as a whole, which removes individual choice.

 

This is not true. What individual choice have we lost to the collective? For my entire adult life I have lived where I chose, worked where I chose, played where I chose and have done everything I wanted to do. I still live my life exactly as I want. I've had a wonderful life, and believe me, it has not been what most would consider "normal."

To the contrary, the collective offers more individual choices. Together, we can all have better lives than we can separately.

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The primary choice we have lost is the choice of how we as individuals spend our money.

Only if you're talking about products and services we can freely exercise choice in purchasing.

 

On this end, it looks like you are contradicting yourself.

 

How so? What I am saying is that government continually takes and spends more of the money we earn, most visually that which is deducted from our paychecks, but also in hidden taxes on the products we purchase, and including the devaluation of the currency we use.

The remainder of a paycheck after taxes, is all that is free to be spent as the individual desires, although most often with additional tax burden.

 

my point was that you can make one long thread of all the terrible things comming from anywhere

 

Considering the events in the news today, I'm surprised no one has brought up Illegal Immigrants.

 

From the Times-Georgian newspaper in Carrollton, Ga. (conservative media):

Now, exactly who is so weighed down by taxes that their lives are disrupted?

If you were in the top 53% of wage earners last year and had to pay federal income taxes, you should consider yourself pretty damn lucky.

Now, in return for those income taxes you get what? A military to protect you from outside invaders, a police infrastructure to protect you from internal threats, a highway system so you can travel wherever you want to go, and a whole host of agencies and services that has made America so great. Until the recent past, America led the world in almost everything. The past couple of decades has seen a backlash against the very system that made us the leader in world affairs, and now we are falling woefully behind the rest of the world, in almost everything.

When you go to a restaurant and order the big steak, you pay the big steak price; order the small salad, and pay the small salad price. The rich in America want the big steak (wealth), but they only want to pay the small salad price (low taxes). The wealthy benefit more, in countless unseen ways, from the sweat of the poor and middle class, they should pay more.

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I was not one of the 53% who actually paid income taxes, but if you raise their income taxes, and business taxes much higher what effect, if any, would you suppose it might have on the price of the steak or salad?
How do you define equal justice under the law? How about a new law making it illegal to have wealth above some predetermined amount?

 

If you raise taxes on those making millions per year, there should be no increase. Sorry, but I have no sympathy for the wealthy. Most wealth is made from the sweat and broken backs of the poor and middle classes, who deserve a piece of the pie they make.

I'm not real keen on a cap on wealth, but I do like a severely graduated tax rate. The people who get the most should pay the most, and everyone deserves to have a minimum wage that covers their necessities of life, which would include health care.

I would like to hear your reasoning that the factory owner should have every comfort and amenity that life has to offer, while his employees, who do the actual work, should go home, eat beans and rice and suffer and die from curable diseases.

I'm happy that you make a good living, but perplexed that you think others who work just as hard, and probably harder, do not deserve to have the same quality of life that you do. I, personally, think that is just plain stingy.

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I guess you're talking of only individuals taxes and not business or corporation taxes? I guess I've never visited the area of the country you're talking about as I've not really seen that many people working up too much of a sweat or breaking their backs, aside from outside workers who may work up a sweat now and then. Actually I have little sympathy for anyone who is physically and mentally fit to work but remains poor. I retain my sympathy for those who are mentally and/or physically impaired. I don't think the government should try and make the American dream into the American entitlement. In reality I think a large portion of the American workforce is overpaid, and many achieve wealth by putting ideas to work, which creates jobs for many who produce a product desirable to consumers. The wages offered by these jobs must be adequate if the employer can attract enough workers to fill them. People are free to make their own choice of working for themselves or working for someone else. If the business creator makes millions why should that anger anyone? If greed is so bad, why then is not envy also bad?

What would be the incentive to invest money in a country that will heavily tax your earnings when there are other countries that will not? I think most elections now are won by the candidate who is seen as most likely to focus on taking money from the rich.

The factory owner is the one who took a risk, and I don't think it's as dire for the workers as you make it sound.

I've had ups and downs during my working life, but I spent rationally and always put aside all I could during good times in case of bad times. I've actually made more money during bad times by investing cautiously. The quality of life I had and now have is of my own doing. Call it stingy if you like, but I've never asked for or received help no matter how bad times were for me and my family.

 

The TV show 'Southern Fried Stings" on Tru-TV monday nights at 10:00 pm Est.



Hotwater

 

The only things I dislike that come from the south are northerners returning from vacation.

 

You are seriously out of touch with reality. In 2003 I took a job at a restaurant as a prep-cook until I could find something better. A friend owned the business, so I started at top pay, $7.00 an hour. It suited my needs at the time, BUT.....I own my home, live alone and get free health care at the VA. Throw in a wife, a kid and rent, and I would have had serious problems, like my co-workers had.

And, I broke a serious sweat every day on that job. The ironic part of that job was, this was the same restaurant I managed in 1982. As the manager, I made 3 times the money and worked very little.

You're not going to bullshit me on this issue. Most of my friends are decent, hard working people who just cannot have a decent life on the money they make. Most have medical conditions that need attention but they cannot afford to see a doctor. Most have lost many teeth because they cannot afford to see a dentist. Some of their children will have serious health problems when they grow up because they cannot get medical attention now.

One friend goes to work every day with a serious hernia. He buries people for a living. His wife has a deformed hand because she fell and broke her wrist and could not afford the operation to set it properly.

I could go on, but the point is, the average wage for a worker in the Southeast provides a pitiful living at best. While the employers feast at the table on the sweat of their employees labor, the workers fight for the table scraps.

We're not talking about entitlements, we're talking about a decent wage for a day's work. We're talking about the piss poor human condition of people who work every day. We're talking about the rich taking advantage of the workers.

This is only theory and fails when the work force exceeds production requirements.

Bullshit. A good example is the American farmer. The last of the independent farmers are in the process of being put out of business by the major corporations. When Wal-Mart comes to town, mom and pop businesses close down. When someone does build a better mouse trap, Decon buys their idea and burns it, or puts them out of business.

It doesn't, unless he pays his workers a poverty wage.

We're not talking about taxing businesses, we're talking about the wealthy sharing some of that pie their workers make.

It would be lovely if everyone had such opportunity, but they don't. I did pretty good myself, until the insurance company didn't want to pay for 4 years of cancer treatments for my wife.

In closing this reply, I would like to hear your justification for an oil company CEO's retirement package of $500 million. How about the banking CEO's multi million $ bonuses during the year their corporations failed and crashed the economy.

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