States wanting to Secede from the USA

And if that is the case, it looks like their money is being well spent. But, I'm curious to know in what way do you feel you are being "functionally retarded"?
And in what way, exactly, are the wealthy putting their money to use to accomplish that?

 

Indie

Oh indie we have been through this many times before –

(Oh and again not the wealthy but wealth, wealth can include ‘the wealthy’ but it also includes wealthy entities. )

One of the problems I see with the American political system is that there seems to be a lack of debate, and so many Americans seem to have lost the ability to debate, it seems that for many Americans ‘free speech’ is the right to say anything they want without criticism. So that political ‘debate’ isn’t real debate it is reduced to slogans and sound bites that often can’t be defended from criticism by the very people saying them.

But how has that come about? Well a possibility is indoctrination.

For example certain wealth backed lobby groups, like the Cato institute for instance produce propaganda ‘studies’ and ‘reports’ that can be full of spin, misrepresentation and ‘solution’ that are unrealistic or irrational.

These ‘studies’ are then picked up on by certain wealth backed media and reported as if ‘truth’ in headlines or incredibly simplistic ways, and I’m afraid that many just accept these things a ‘truths’ without question. Basically they have not been informed they have been told what to think and they accept that because they no nothing else, because there really is little opposition. They have been ‘dumbed down’ and don’t even realise it because they are constantly told being by the same wealth supported system that they are well informed (and any opponents are ill informed or motivated by hatred of the ‘American way’) and they accept those lies with the same unquestioning mentality.

It is only when they come to places like here shouting slogans or there incredibly simplistic arguments that they suddenly realise they actually can’t defend ‘their’ views from criticism.

And here is the strange thing – rather than addressing the possibility their ideas are flawed (can’t be defended) and begin questioning them (becoming informed) many prefer to close their eyes and stick their fingers in their ears and just carry on promoting the stuff they cannot defend, they seem to have become so indoctrinated to be unquestioning of their ideas they have lost the ability to do so.

 

^ Here here

 

Where's my lol smiley?

Social engineering at its finest!

This message was brought to you by the Corporate States of America.

...pass the popcorn...

 

We as a society are functionally retarded in that what Bal said of the US is true.

Also we're easily racially divided by wealth and fight among ourselves.

Bal gave a good answer to your question. What did you think?

 

I got a chuckle from this somewhat related cartoon (Atlas Shrugged... for you Individual ):

 

out,

Thanks for providing an example of your source of indoctrination. Have you ever given thought that you just may be reading the 'wrong' comic books?

 

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Hey........I hear that Tina Turner has handed in her passport and decamped for Switzerland........She is a Tax Exile. She "voted with her feet".

kinda doubt that the ethnicity of Our President had anything to do with her choice.
She joins composer Denise Rich as a recent tax exile. Mrs. Rich's Husband, Marc Rich was pardoned by President Clint during the last days of his term, so I doubt any animus toward Democrats is the reason.

Hippies know that confiscatory taxation brought John Lennon to NY, Keith Richard to Coknnecticut and was the reason that The Wall was produced in Greece by Pink Floyd.

yeah so creative people will " Take their baseball elsewhere" if confronted by punitive taxation.

It is tempting to ascribe all this to Racism, or just plain idiocy, we will all be porer if creative people leave cause they are persecuted by class warfare.



.........

 

AT THIS POINT OF THE GAME is there such a thing as "unnecessary controversy??" Lol or not

 

Piney

Tina Turner when did she last do anything good? (she is 74)
Denise Rich never heard of her till you brought her up (she is 69)
John Lennon went to NY yes and got shot, but Paul McCartney lives and I believe George Harrison lived in UK (do we care what Ringo does).
I believe the Wall was directed by a British director and filmed in Britian with British actors. (Roger Waters is 70)

“Before the welfare state, the options for artists were: have rich relatives, find a wealthy patron or starve in a garret. After the welfare state those who might never have had the option to create could do so while on the dole. There are high-profile examples. JK Rowling wrote the first instalment of the Harry Potter sequence while living on benefits. Many of the punk, post-punk and pop bands of the 1970s and 1980s were formed in the dole queue”

Thing is that there are many examples of artists, musicians and actors that have spent at least sometimes on what we over here call the dole and a lot more that have benefited from our NHS.

It seems to me that while some who have made a lot of money might want to become ‘tax exiles’ those further down the chain and especially those starting out benefit from a welfare state.

*

[edit] just a bit more on Denise Rich apparently she has given up US citizenship to become a Austrian Citizen, so she seems to have gone from the US 39% top tax rate to the Austrian 50% top tax rate. That’s moving to get a tax increase.

The maximum income tax rate in Austria of 50.00% ranks Austria as one of the ten highest taxed countries in the world.
http://world.tax-rates.org/austria/income-tax