Great Social Commentary

John Lee Pettimore III said:
Have you ever been to Latin America?

And all the countries you listed (aside from Costa Rica) have a significantly higher tax burden than the US. Canada would be the least taxy, but it's cold as shit and full of Canadians.
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I don't partake in the 3rd world, so no.

Tax burden aside, I thought you were talking about social mobility and access to opportunity. The blax don't like cold weather, so Canada need not worry about a flood of Atlanta natives moving in.
 
Rambo said:
Often, our strongest sailing teams are made up of the poorest, most rundown members of society. You know how they do love their boating so.
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Ah, I see where I lost you. Old white rich people have to get younger normal people who are good sailors to come sail their boats for them while the pose in their captains hats and attend yacht club functions. None of them can actually sail.

thruth said:
Taxation is higher in Canada compared to the US. Consumer prices are higher. Less crime but harder to buy guns (a wash in my opinion). Cops rarely shoot people of any racial profile. Riots only occur in cities that fail to win the Stanley Cup. Can't easily shoot someone who is robbing your castle. Better beer and better strip clubs. Netflix has a poorer selection. Cold as shit and full of Canadians. Even worse: French Canadians.
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Gospel right there.

Rambo said:
It never fails to surprise me how many people have yet to discover what a VPN is and how they can easily spoof a US IPN address.
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Truth. Or a UK one when trying to get BBC news streams.
 
OfficePants said:
I don't partake in the 3rd world, so no.
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Latin America has racism out the ass. Really. I remember being at my girlfriend's mothers house in Medellin, and two black people walk in the door and her aunt announcing loudly (in Spanish) "The Negritos are here!" No one batted an eye, that's just what they do.

But of course, America, with a black president named "Barack Hussein Obama", with the top three most successful entertainers are black, with more black politicians than any majority white country, is the most racist country on the planet.

I'm not saying we're perfect, but we're better than the rest of the West.
 
I have found mind boggling racism pretty much all over. Italy was some of the worst. Ask Mario Balotelli about it.
 
doghouse said:
If you want a more accurate and nuanced social commentary, read this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...714-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html?hpid=z2
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And it's only going to get worse. Really, income inequality is about to explode in this country. People always point to whatever political party they don't like as the reason for it, while ignoring the much bigger factor - demographics.

  • Middle class people are having one or two kids, tops. Those kids are going to get all the inherited wealth and, more importantly, all the parental focus and resources.
  • The poor and working class are having significantly more children and those children are usually just being raised by one parent.
  • We add a million or so uneducated, unemployed people from south of the border every year.
  • Automation is increasing, usually eliminating lower class jobs.
The black people referenced in that article are going to face ever steeper competition for the jobs available to them.
 
Hayden Hewitt, founder of LiveLeak.

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Russell Street said:
I agree with the hand-wringing about our paramilitary law enforcers, but the headline is a bit goofy.
First, if we target Muslims for terrorism in airports, it makes perfect sense for law enforcement to target young black males in inner cities for violent crimes and the like. Statistically, they are your man.
Next, let's be honest and not pretend that clean-cut, articulate, upright citizens are getting mowed down. If you choose to dress and act like a hood rat criminal, don't be shocked when you are treated as such.
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Quoted for use of "hood rat."

Bravo.
 


I wish he would shut the fuck up a bit more often. He interrupts like crazy. The ideas he spouts have some interesting aspects, but he has to learn to answer the questions.

15 mins of blowhard could be summed up in the passage at 9:50 where he says that the systems of government are totally dysfunctional, but are never going to change within themselves because they are working perfectly for the functions they now exist to support: maximize corporate profits and enhance the powers of the elites in control.

I agree with this point. The devolution of the police state in the US is now structured to protect the very rich.
 
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We in America seem pretty comfortable telling everyone else what to do.

His point is simple, when you see an Obama change bullshit logo, just know it marketing. You have and entire class of elected officials pretending to reform the problems with government. It's a lie.
 
Dude at 20 seconds looks like Obama

99.9% of people have no idea banks have a license to invent money.
 
Russell Street said:
Fractional reserve is dependent on an ever-expanding economy.
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I'm deeply, deeply confused as to why anyone would ever use David Icke in an attempt to support an argument or a point of view.

The man's as mad as a box of frogs.
 
Journeyman said:
I'm deeply, deeply confused as to why anyone would ever use David Icke in an attempt to support an argument or a point of view.

The man's as mad as a box of frogs.
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Dunno who the guy was, but as an outsider to his infamy, he made sense to me.
 
Journeyman said:
I'm deeply, deeply confused as to why anyone would ever use David Icke in an attempt to support an argument or a point of view.
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I needed a short, clear video on fractional reserve banking.
To be curt, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
I'll not delve into the more fantastical claims here, but suffice it to say that there is much indisputable fact along with the more incredible claims.
 
Russell Street said:
I needed a short, clear video on fractional reserve banking.
To be curt, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
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It's been quite a while since I studied economics, but to the best of my memory, fractional reserve banking doesn't require an ever-expanding economy. I do think that the way our global economy is currently structured requires ever-expanding economic growth to continue - which I do not think is sustainable in the long term - but FRB is only part of the economy.

All fractional reserve banking means is that a bank can have (as an example) $100 dollars on deposit and that it can lend out $90 of that amount, keeping only $10 in reserve. That clearly involves risk management as, if the original customer suddenly presents themselves at the bank and asks for their full $100 deposit back, the bank won't be able to give it to them.

Perhaps I'm part of the problem or one of the "sheeple", but fractional reserve banking is actually a significant driver of economic growth as it enables people to borrow money. Let's face it, if a bank had to maintain full reserves, then it would be very, very limited as to the amount of money that it could lend out, as it would have to keep the full amount of deposits at the bank in reserve all of the time. Of course, that's not to say that FRB is perfect and I do think that lending standards should be tightened substantially, but FRB and lending standards are two separate discussions.

Thoughts?
 
Journeyman said:
It's been quite a while since I studied economics, but to the best of my memory, fractional reserve banking doesn't require an ever-expanding economy.
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Interest rates alone imply that the economy is expected to, must, grow in the foreseeable future. Otherwise, where does this larger repayment sum come from? It is indeed a bit chicken and egg, as the multiples of lending leads to the currency growth, and that leads to inflation.
It is just one part of the puzzle, but the reliance on perpetual expansion leads to other problems. The heavy focus on the housing market and new home construction is mostly because this market steadily swells. Hence, banks love lending there, and needless to say that eventually caused issues.
 
Russell Street said:
Interest rates alone imply that the economy is expected to, must, grow in the foreseeable future. Otherwise, where does this larger repayment sum come from?
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I understand what you mean, but simply because you borrow money and you then have to repay that money with interest does not mean that you must have more money. Nor does it necessarily mean that you expect capital growth on the asset that you have purchased with the money that you borrowed - although, of course, most people do expect their investments (such as housing) to increase in value over time.

Most people borrow money for a simple reason - they want something now, instead of saving up for it and purchasing it in the future. When you borrow money, you don't necessarily expect your income (or capacity to repay) to increase, nor does the bank typically take that into account (at least, not in Australia). All the bank (the lender) wants to know is, do you have the capacity to repay now, in your current circumstances, and are your circumstances likely to change suddenly in a way that would make you unable to repay? As long as your financial circumstances stay the same, then you can keep on making the same repayments. My mortgage repayments haven't increased over time, so I don't need to worry about where a "larger repayment sum" is coming from.
 
John Lee Pettimore III said:
Not sure how that video was supposed to be taken. Eastwood, Voight, and Trump are all well-known Republicans. Their disagreement with Obama is hardly surprising and is for very, very different reasons than Damon's disagreement.
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What I found interesting was how different their core viewpoints are, and all are disappointed. Mostly Damon's comments in this particular vid. The other ones were just part of the video, though Eastwood is not exactly a raging conservative.
 
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