Post by
stebo0728 »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/stebo0728-u126596.html
Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:20 am
What I don't get, is what is so hard to understand about what capitalism stands for? You make business and entrepreneurship your primary focus, you keep the market free of any and all manipulations, except discrimination protections, you don't tax business and you don't make success have a higher price tag than failure. Capitalism is not about "trickle down" economics, sure there are some trickle down effects, but when the markets are free, and opportunity is maximized, prosperity does not have to trickle down, it can be injected, or created at any level.
We've never in our history had a time like this. We've had close, before the income tax, but we had oppression of opportunity due to our still evolving civil rights. But we made a mistake, we started reforming civil rights AND restricting the market at the same time. We put a price on success by instituting an income tax. Anti-trust law and monopoly protection is good law, but we let other market obstruction become part of our tool bag. Things such as overbearing environmental policy, overbearing business regulations. We've coddled the stupid with ridiculous tort policy, we've allowed ambulance chasers to logarithmically increase the cost business by forcing businesses to carry overbearing amounts of liability insurance. We've allowed affirmative action to reverse the discrimination tables, rather than just level them. Instead of NOT hiring based on skin color, we've enacted policy that require businesses TO hire because of skin color. We've buckled to the long arm of the labor union, jobs that should net someone $15 an hour now gets $30, which completely skews the costs of goods. We've forced businesses to pay jobs worth $5 an hour, to pay $7 or more because of minimum wage law. Businesses hire under the table, often illegal immigrants, rather than hiring a more expensive American worker. There's nothing wrong with someone earning what a job is worth, and we need to realize that. We've decided to completely ignore our own law, and reward those who break it by coming here illegally. They make use of our public programs and services, yet pay not a dime for them.
This nation will only work at peak efficiency with a free market, powered by a free people. We've never had that combination before, but if we want to survive, it is essential that we figure this out. We pretty much have the free people part down now, not completely, there's more work to do, and that IS a proper function of government, to ensure that its people are free, free from both domestic and foreign oppression. Free from any undue discrimination. But there is a clear distinction to be made. Government's role is not to CREATE opportunity, but to remove any obstruction to opportunity. It is the job of the market, of the people in the market, to CREATE opportunity.
Success should not come at a price, income tax is NOT the way to tax a free people. Consumption tax is unequivocally the ONLY way to properly tax a free people. It puts the power in the hands of the people, where it belongs. Corporations and businesses DO NOT PAY taxes. This is not debatable, this is fact. Though they may write a tax check, they have NOT PAID the taxes. You have, I have, we have, embedded in the prices of the products we buy. But you don't know it, you don't see it, its not on your receipt as a tax, its just part of the price, and that is the way Washington has grown to like it. Half our nations revenue comes from corporate tax, but that comes out of OUR pockets and we're so blindly ignorant to it that we are apathetic to it. The people are the only source of revenue, did you get that, the ONLY source of revenue. Why not make that clear. Why not make that a clear choice when the people use they only real power they have, their wallet? Regardless of the actual plan we may choose to adopt, be it the FairTax, some modified form of it, or a new plan altogether, a consumption tax is what we require. Income tax was supposed to be a temporary measure folks, but it put the blood in the water, and once a politician tastes blood, look out! The income tax is yoke upon our shoulders as a people. It is THE method of oppression at every level. But its even more of an oppression to the poor. Sure wealthy hate paying tax, who doesn't, but the wealthy aren't dependent on the government, when an election comes up, their sole purpose for voting is not making sure their income tax based entitlements stay in place, their purpose is not voting to further entitlements for an bigger piece of the pie. The wealthy may vote based on trying to lower their tax burden, but they have the freedom to consider other issues as well. The entitlements are not their livelyhood. THIS is how the income tax has oppressed our nation.
Education is a big part of the problem, and we've discussed this at great length, but its essential that we realize that our education system is far overdue for an overhaul. We can debate, discuss, argue, whatever, about how that overhaul is supposed to look, but at the end of the day, our education system needs to look alot different than it does today. One thing that is essential, is that when we start to fix inequalities, we CANNOT swing the balance past the fulcrum as we did with employment. We have to be careful to fix the system so that it works for all, not fix it so that it works for those it didn't but is now broken for those that it did work for before. We need to be sure our children are educated on personal economics, how money works FOR YOU, how credit works, how budgets work.
Finally, there's one more bridge to gap. Its little understood, and that's a shame. I'll open the issue with a quote:
"Wealthy become wealthy and stay wealthy by acting wealthy. Poor become poor and stay poor by acting poor."
Now there's a mouthful. It should be noted that the "become" portions of that quote do transcend generations. The point is, poor people characterize and stereotype wealthy people by what they see in the media, either news, or entertainment media. Its understandable, since that's all they see, but its part of the problem. A big part of the problem. Successful wealthy people got that way, and stay that way, buy embracing and understanding a certain behavior system. Just because you have money, does not mean you spend money. For one, you have to account for the future. Secondly, you have to weigh the importance of your purchases. Until successful wealthy people have a discretionary fund, they don't make very many frivolous purchases. They don't drive lavish vehicles unless they have taken care of the important stuff. Up until very recently, the number one vehicle for wealthy people was the Ford Ranger pickup. Now, is that the answer a poor person would give if asked that question? No, their immediate guess would be a Ferrari or Porshe or Bentley. That's because they have a failed impression. But this is a bigger problem than just what they think about wealthy people. This causes a false mindset in the poor that keeps them poor. Take an NBA player, who came from a rough town, family has always been poor. He runs into all this new money, but he still acts poor, he still acts based on his impression of how wealthy people should act. And sooner rather than later, he's broke again, filing bankruptcy on million dollar accounts. Call it envy if you like, I dont know what to call it, but the poor keep themselves poor because of broken pattern of behavior. This has to be fixed. If we can't make rent, we dont have a smart phone with 4G internet, we dont have 500 cable channels, and we don't drive a Navigator that drinks gas by the barrel. Rent comes first, or mortgage, you need a roof over your head, if the power's out for a bit you can get by. But you have to have a responsible rent or mortgage as well. Utilities come second, you can walk or bus or carpool if you need to, and get food from charity, food banks, whatever if you need to. Food comes next, you can still walk or whatever. Ok here's the important part, most would say car next, but no. Savings comes next, first to your rainy day fund. Once that is capped at at least 6 months worth of the previous expenses, start on retirement, kick in 10%. Now car comes in if you still have budget left. Again same as lodging, it has to be a responsible car note, or preferably not car note at all, only insurance fuel and maintenance costs, but if you have to have a note, make it as low as you can get by with. Now you can have play time with whatever is left. That is how the wealthy stay wealthy. Breaking these rules on a regular basis is how the poor stay poor. The left speak of this class of institutionally poor people, and they are there, but then the left have no interest in elevating them. The left wouldn't have anyone to vote for them if this class elevated themselves. We have to educate this class, show them how the real wealthy live, not just how the rock star wealthy live, so that when opportunity does knock at their door, they can make a permanent change with it, not just a temporary change, then back to the slums.
Sorry for the wall of text....
He was a second string draft pick with some sticky hands and showed good hustle in the preseason. He's wide open, nobody is covering him. NO! Priebus throws a long hail mary pass to Romney. Romney has been talking trash all season, but has yet to put up the numbers until the Republicans sued to have the rules changed that nobody could actually touch their anointed receiver and even then he's had several fumbles this season. Romney's got it, no, he's bobbling it. He's stumbling, still trying to get control of the ball and here comes Obama, the Democrat's star defensive back. Didn't he get the word that Romney is not to be touched? The crowd is on its feet, some because they are walking out in disgust some because they still think one of these teams deserves the trophy. Can, he, make it!?
