I escaped cuba to leave communism and now this!

[trader_arb]

Quote from saxon22:

If you think Obama is a communist than you are a political and intellectual moron. Our government is 9 trillion in debt, most of the nation is semi illiterate and you want Republicans to stay in power. No wonder our country is going down the drain.

He might not be 'communist' but when you look at his policies relative to other candidates, they do resemble socialism more than anyone else's.

The problems of debt and illiterate population did not just start in the past 8 years under Bush. Democrats will definitely not spend any less either, they will just shift spending from war to government handouts.

 

[FightTheFuture]

Quote from trader_arb:
...At first I couldn't understand how anyone on this board could support tax/spend tactics, but then I realized a ton of people here probably don't have to pay capital gains taxes because they are not profitable to begin with. If you are in a position to take money from other people in return for doing nothing, then by all means vote for "change"....

It sounds like the majority of people attracted to trading are pro tax and spend socialists. I suspect they first thought of trading as having little work involved, they were expecting easy riches, like getting lucky and winning the lottery. Most are attracted to an easy way of life, whether the lottery, trading or government support programs.

As you say, they are failing at trading, not worried about paying tax on such difficult to earn money, and those that make it big in trading must be lucky, never worked for it and should pay a huge percent in tax.

They have hope that if the socialists win the election, they will have a huge government safety net to prop up their failed dreams, an easy handout waiting for them on the road to that socialist utopia where no one but the rich have to work, produce and provide for them.

And absolutely failing to realize that increased taxes are taxing to the economy and therefore their standard of living.

 

[saxon22]

Quote from trader_arb:

I think Jesus would actually be in favor of a 10% flat tax

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe

Your quote does not support your argument. Tithe (10%) was used by the Church to sustain itself and spread and or maintain its influence during the Middle Ages in Europe. This was NOT Jesus' idea nor is this tax supported in the scriptures by him. Next time you paste a link to a quote, read it first.

 

[saxon22]

Quote from trader_arb:

He might not be 'communist' but when you look at his policies relative to other candidates, they do resemble socialism more than anyone else's.

The problems of debt and illiterate population did not just start in the past 8 years under Bush. Democrats will definitely not spend any less either, they will just shift spending from war to government handouts.

Using your logic, Bush might not be a fascist but when you look at his policies relative to other presidents before him, they do resemble something Adolph Hitler or Mussolini would try to implement.

As for the debt, you are right, before Reagan came to power we owe around 1 trillion after he left it was 4 trillion, Clinton created a surplus but Bushtook a U turn and increased the debt to over 9 trillion. Shit I am not only blaming Bush II but his papa and the cowboy/actor that had his wife and astrology run this country in the early 80's. Ronald R. increased the debt 400% pal. How do you like them cookies?

As for education, the elites of this country have had this dilemma for a while. Do you educate the citizens and risk having them creating a society where big business would be controlled and not allowed to influence our government so much? Also educated enlighten society asks for other things like social programs, better infrastructure, better working conditions and the list go on. Just go visit Germany or any Scandinavian country to see what can be done by government for the people. Clearly the elite in US do NOT want that. So we do what the Roman Empire had done before us. Give people entertainment and keep them stupid, that is why education will be on the same embarrassingly low level it has been for the past 100 years.

Funny, how countries with the highest taxation in the world and by far largest support from their prospective governments (Western Europe,and Scandinavian countries to be precise), have the highest standard of living and are clearly living a much more productive lives.

I wonder why is that pesky Euro so much higher than the all mighty greenback? Those "lazy" Europeans how do they do it?

 

[trader_arb]

Quote from saxon22:

Your quote does not support your argument. Tithe (10%) was used by the Church to sustain itself and spread and or maintain its influence during the Middle Ages in Europe. This was NOT Jesus' idea nor is this tax supported in the scriptures by him. Next time you paste a link to a quote, read it first.

Ok well you took the comment way too seriously... it was more of a joke, but i was actually supporting your original statement that Bush does not do as Jesus would do.

I actually read most of quoted page, not just the first paragraph- if you read further you'll see that the tithe was mentioned many times in the Old Testament (Way before the church started collecting it in the middle ages) and this document is supposed to be based on the word and teachings of God/Jesus. What seems to have happened is the church started to interpret it more aggressively during the middle ages because they needed more money (Probably using different parts of the bible as support to do so).

 

[crgarcia]

Quote from saxon22:


Funny, how countries with the highest taxation in the world and by far largest support from their prospective governments (Western Europe,and Scandinavian countries to be precise), have the highest standard of living and are clearly living a much more productive lives.

I wonder why is that pesky Euro so much higher than the all mighty greenback? Those "lazy" Europeans how do they do it?

Europeans DO NOT have a higher living standards than the US.

Many can't afford cars, they just drive scooters, or take the metro.
Many can't afford a house, so they live in their parents home. Maybe they can do it because their population is declining and some couples don't have kids at all.

A devalued dollar is a GOOD thing. It boosts exports, thus employment.

 

[trader_arb]

Quote from saxon22:


Funny, how countries with the highest taxation in the world and by far largest support from their prospective governments (Western Europe,and Scandinavian countries to be precise), have the highest standard of living and are clearly living a much more productive lives.

I wonder why is that pesky Euro so much higher than the all mighty greenback? Those "lazy" Europeans how do they do it?

Wow. That really depends on your definition of "productive". They may have very productive personal lives, but thats at an expense to their economies since they work so little.

One thing for sure is that the countries you mentioned were more productive at suicide: average suicide rates 50-100% higher than the US.
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/

That does not sound like paradise on earth to me. (Although you would probably respond by saying the US govt understated their numbers). Maybe the US has a lower rates because ignorance is bliss and everyone is so dumb and illiterate?

 

[saxon22]

Quote from crgarcia:

Europeans DO NOT have a higher living standards than the US.

Many can't afford cars, they just drive scooters, or take the metro.
Many can't afford a house, so they live in their parents home. Maybe they can do it because their population is declining and some couples don't have kids at all.

A devalued dollar is a GOOD thing. It boosts exports, thus employment.

Some statistics for you:


Standard of Living
Country
Norway
Sweden
Canada
Belgium
Australia
United States
Iceland
Netherlands
Japan
Finland



The Top Ten Happiest Countries:

10. Canada
9.?? Brunei
8.?? Bhutan
7.?? Sweden
6.?? Finland
5.?? Bahamas
4.?? Iceland
3.?? Austria
2.?? Switzerland
1.?? Denmark



Most Livable Countries, 2007


The Human Development Index (HDI), published annually by the UN, ranks nations according to their citizens' quality of life rather than strictly by a nation's traditional economic figures. The criteria for calculating rankings include life expectancy, adult literacy, school enrollment, educational attainment, and adjusted real income.

Rank Country
1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Sweden
7. Switzerland
8. Japan
9. Netherlands
10. France

Somehow most of the highly desirable countries are high tax/socialist oriented/entities.

 

[saxon22]

Quote from trader_arb:

Wow. That really depends on your definition of "productive". They may have very productive personal lives, but thats at an expense to their economies since they work so little.

One thing for sure is that the countries you mentioned were more productive at suicide: average suicide rates 50-100% higher than the US.
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/

That does not sound like paradise on earth to me. (Although you would probably respond by saying the US govt understated their numbers). Maybe the US has a lower rates because ignorance is bliss and everyone is so dumb and illiterate?

My definition of productive is being able to fully develop oneself to be a true renaissance man who enjoys life to the fullest. However, I am aware that in the US productive means something totally opposite. Having two jobs, three cars 5 TV and working your ass off to pay for it .I am sure I do not have to provide you with statistic on the US personal debt to illustrate my point as I am sure you are familiar with recent and not so recent credit problems in the land of uncle Sam.

As for suicide, the US way seems to be doing it Rambo style shooting up auditoriums, and/or killing of the students while taking a stroll through a univ. campus. Oh yea that is so much better than just regular suicide.

 

[trader_arb]

Quote from saxon22:


As for suicide, the US way seems to be doing it Rambo style shooting up auditoriums, and/or killing of the students while taking a stroll through a univ. campus. Oh yea that is so much better than just regular suicide.

Oh cmon, how many people die in the US per year due to school shootings (and only because of a couple idiots with guns)? Now compare that number to Japan where you have more than 30,000 people killing THEMSELVES every year.

The standard of living in the US is definitely on the decline - cant argue with that, but Im not sure Europe's will be maintained either.