The Rise of the Rest – Newsweek

[surveyor]

(ha!)

The bases were pretty useful during the Iraq wars. 🙂

[greekfire]

In my relatively short life I remember a similar sentiment in the late 80s/early 90s as Japan was rising rapidly. My homeroom teacher in high school used to tell us that Japanese students attended more days of school, studied harder, and their government spent way more on education and much less on defense than the US did. This was post-Cold War and if we didn’t have a war to fight, we needed some other reason to become stronger, and we did this by building up fears of a dominant Japan. I am sure there were similar cases made during the Cold War about how USSR students and society were better educated, better trained, and that their gov’t was better prepared financially and militarily, etc.

The point here is that yes, I feel we are not as strong as we should be. With that said, it will always behoove us to work hard and smart, live within our means, save, and invest wisely. In my opinion we have failed on most if not all of the above accounts recently.

What’s more, I feel that America has turned into the land of “poor me” rather than “strong me”. Just watch some of the old movies (pre-1950s or so) and you will see what I mean. People back then that had a cold, addiction, disease, or some other deficiency were loathe to disclose it and were too proud (almost to a fault) to admit so and ask for help. Society expected individuals to do their best to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Asking for government handouts was a sign of weakness and akin to throwing in the towel in a sense.

Today, conversely, people are encouraged and even given an incentive to not try to be as strong or fit as they can be. They are rewarded more for taking themselves out of the game and hanging on the sidelines for whatever reason(s). This is not to say that there is not a need for gov’t assistance. It’s just to show that when gov’t assistance is encouraged and incentivized, generations of citizens are raised to become dependent on it. Why go to work or try to start a small business for yourself when you can kick back and accept a gov’t handout every month? Oh, and if you still want to do/earn more than the average person, the gov’t will tax you progressively higher than the rest. Where’s the incentive to excel here?

China has become the new Japan…
America has become the new Europe.

We need to reconsider what we think the role of government ought to be in our lives.

[greekfire]

In my relatively short life I remember a similar sentiment in the late 80s/early 90s as Japan was rising rapidly. My homeroom teacher in high school used to tell us that Japanese students attended more days of school, studied harder, and their government spent way more on education and much less on defense than the US did. This was post-Cold War and if we didn’t have a war to fight, we needed some other reason to become stronger, and we did this by building up fears of a dominant Japan. I am sure there were similar cases made during the Cold War about how USSR students and society were better educated, better trained, and that their gov’t was better prepared financially and militarily, etc.

The point here is that yes, I feel we are not as strong as we should be. With that said, it will always behoove us to work hard and smart, live within our means, save, and invest wisely. In my opinion we have failed on most if not all of the above accounts recently.

What’s more, I feel that America has turned into the land of “poor me” rather than “strong me”. Just watch some of the old movies (pre-1950s or so) and you will see what I mean. People back then that had a cold, addiction, disease, or some other deficiency were loathe to disclose it and were too proud (almost to a fault) to admit so and ask for help. Society expected individuals to do their best to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Asking for government handouts was a sign of weakness and akin to throwing in the towel in a sense.

Today, conversely, people are encouraged and even given an incentive to not try to be as strong or fit as they can be. They are rewarded more for taking themselves out of the game and hanging on the sidelines for whatever reason(s). This is not to say that there is not a need for gov’t assistance. It’s just to show that when gov’t assistance is encouraged and incentivized, generations of citizens are raised to become dependent on it. Why go to work or try to start a small business for yourself when you can kick back and accept a gov’t handout every month? Oh, and if you still want to do/earn more than the average person, the gov’t will tax you progressively higher than the rest. Where’s the incentive to excel here?

China has become the new Japan…
America has become the new Europe.

We need to reconsider what we think the role of government ought to be in our lives.

[greekfire]

In my relatively short life I remember a similar sentiment in the late 80s/early 90s as Japan was rising rapidly. My homeroom teacher in high school used to tell us that Japanese students attended more days of school, studied harder, and their government spent way more on education and much less on defense than the US did. This was post-Cold War and if we didn’t have a war to fight, we needed some other reason to become stronger, and we did this by building up fears of a dominant Japan. I am sure there were similar cases made during the Cold War about how USSR students and society were better educated, better trained, and that their gov’t was better prepared financially and militarily, etc.

The point here is that yes, I feel we are not as strong as we should be. With that said, it will always behoove us to work hard and smart, live within our means, save, and invest wisely. In my opinion we have failed on most if not all of the above accounts recently.

What’s more, I feel that America has turned into the land of “poor me” rather than “strong me”. Just watch some of the old movies (pre-1950s or so) and you will see what I mean. People back then that had a cold, addiction, disease, or some other deficiency were loathe to disclose it and were too proud (almost to a fault) to admit so and ask for help. Society expected individuals to do their best to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Asking for government handouts was a sign of weakness and akin to throwing in the towel in a sense.

Today, conversely, people are encouraged and even given an incentive to not try to be as strong or fit as they can be. They are rewarded more for taking themselves out of the game and hanging on the sidelines for whatever reason(s). This is not to say that there is not a need for gov’t assistance. It’s just to show that when gov’t assistance is encouraged and incentivized, generations of citizens are raised to become dependent on it. Why go to work or try to start a small business for yourself when you can kick back and accept a gov’t handout every month? Oh, and if you still want to do/earn more than the average person, the gov’t will tax you progressively higher than the rest. Where’s the incentive to excel here?

China has become the new Japan…
America has become the new Europe.

We need to reconsider what we think the role of government ought to be in our lives.

[greekfire]

In my relatively short life I remember a similar sentiment in the late 80s/early 90s as Japan was rising rapidly. My homeroom teacher in high school used to tell us that Japanese students attended more days of school, studied harder, and their government spent way more on education and much less on defense than the US did. This was post-Cold War and if we didn’t have a war to fight, we needed some other reason to become stronger, and we did this by building up fears of a dominant Japan. I am sure there were similar cases made during the Cold War about how USSR students and society were better educated, better trained, and that their gov’t was better prepared financially and militarily, etc.

The point here is that yes, I feel we are not as strong as we should be. With that said, it will always behoove us to work hard and smart, live within our means, save, and invest wisely. In my opinion we have failed on most if not all of the above accounts recently.

What’s more, I feel that America has turned into the land of “poor me” rather than “strong me”. Just watch some of the old movies (pre-1950s or so) and you will see what I mean. People back then that had a cold, addiction, disease, or some other deficiency were loathe to disclose it and were too proud (almost to a fault) to admit so and ask for help. Society expected individuals to do their best to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Asking for government handouts was a sign of weakness and akin to throwing in the towel in a sense.

Today, conversely, people are encouraged and even given an incentive to not try to be as strong or fit as they can be. They are rewarded more for taking themselves out of the game and hanging on the sidelines for whatever reason(s). This is not to say that there is not a need for gov’t assistance. It’s just to show that when gov’t assistance is encouraged and incentivized, generations of citizens are raised to become dependent on it. Why go to work or try to start a small business for yourself when you can kick back and accept a gov’t handout every month? Oh, and if you still want to do/earn more than the average person, the gov’t will tax you progressively higher than the rest. Where’s the incentive to excel here?

China has become the new Japan…
America has become the new Europe.

We need to reconsider what we think the role of government ought to be in our lives.

[greekfire]

In my relatively short life I remember a similar sentiment in the late 80s/early 90s as Japan was rising rapidly. My homeroom teacher in high school used to tell us that Japanese students attended more days of school, studied harder, and their government spent way more on education and much less on defense than the US did. This was post-Cold War and if we didn’t have a war to fight, we needed some other reason to become stronger, and we did this by building up fears of a dominant Japan. I am sure there were similar cases made during the Cold War about how USSR students and society were better educated, better trained, and that their gov’t was better prepared financially and militarily, etc.

The point here is that yes, I feel we are not as strong as we should be. With that said, it will always behoove us to work hard and smart, live within our means, save, and invest wisely. In my opinion we have failed on most if not all of the above accounts recently.

What’s more, I feel that America has turned into the land of “poor me” rather than “strong me”. Just watch some of the old movies (pre-1950s or so) and you will see what I mean. People back then that had a cold, addiction, disease, or some other deficiency were loathe to disclose it and were too proud (almost to a fault) to admit so and ask for help. Society expected individuals to do their best to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Asking for government handouts was a sign of weakness and akin to throwing in the towel in a sense.

Today, conversely, people are encouraged and even given an incentive to not try to be as strong or fit as they can be. They are rewarded more for taking themselves out of the game and hanging on the sidelines for whatever reason(s). This is not to say that there is not a need for gov’t assistance. It’s just to show that when gov’t assistance is encouraged and incentivized, generations of citizens are raised to become dependent on it. Why go to work or try to start a small business for yourself when you can kick back and accept a gov’t handout every month? Oh, and if you still want to do/earn more than the average person, the gov’t will tax you progressively higher than the rest. Where’s the incentive to excel here?

China has become the new Japan…
America has become the new Europe.

We need to reconsider what we think the role of government ought to be in our lives.

[jonnycsd]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

Layer in massive immigration based on a lottery system rather than the merrits of the applicant, plus even larger inflows of illegal immigrants who have no interest in joining the melting pot (yet who are eligible for a full range of government services).

On top of that weigh in the fact that the public school system is in a state of total dysfunction and is unable to prepare children (imigrant or native born) for the reality of global labor competition.

And a political / social climate that puts ideology ahead of objective thinking – resulting in ebonics, creation science, bans on stem cell research, racial quotas, gender quotas, pointless wars, Nifong, bloated prison populations, ethanol fuel, 60% divorce rates, etc, etc. etc.

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.

Fast forward the trend lines a few decades and you have BRAZIL. In 2050 the USA will look like Brazil in its demographc and economic composition. The middle class is already dead.

[jonnycsd]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

Layer in massive immigration based on a lottery system rather than the merrits of the applicant, plus even larger inflows of illegal immigrants who have no interest in joining the melting pot (yet who are eligible for a full range of government services).

On top of that weigh in the fact that the public school system is in a state of total dysfunction and is unable to prepare children (imigrant or native born) for the reality of global labor competition.

And a political / social climate that puts ideology ahead of objective thinking – resulting in ebonics, creation science, bans on stem cell research, racial quotas, gender quotas, pointless wars, Nifong, bloated prison populations, ethanol fuel, 60% divorce rates, etc, etc. etc.

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.

Fast forward the trend lines a few decades and you have BRAZIL. In 2050 the USA will look like Brazil in its demographc and economic composition. The middle class is already dead.

[jonnycsd]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

Layer in massive immigration based on a lottery system rather than the merrits of the applicant, plus even larger inflows of illegal immigrants who have no interest in joining the melting pot (yet who are eligible for a full range of government services).

On top of that weigh in the fact that the public school system is in a state of total dysfunction and is unable to prepare children (imigrant or native born) for the reality of global labor competition.

And a political / social climate that puts ideology ahead of objective thinking – resulting in ebonics, creation science, bans on stem cell research, racial quotas, gender quotas, pointless wars, Nifong, bloated prison populations, ethanol fuel, 60% divorce rates, etc, etc. etc.

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.

Fast forward the trend lines a few decades and you have BRAZIL. In 2050 the USA will look like Brazil in its demographc and economic composition. The middle class is already dead.

[jonnycsd]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

Layer in massive immigration based on a lottery system rather than the merrits of the applicant, plus even larger inflows of illegal immigrants who have no interest in joining the melting pot (yet who are eligible for a full range of government services).

On top of that weigh in the fact that the public school system is in a state of total dysfunction and is unable to prepare children (imigrant or native born) for the reality of global labor competition.

And a political / social climate that puts ideology ahead of objective thinking – resulting in ebonics, creation science, bans on stem cell research, racial quotas, gender quotas, pointless wars, Nifong, bloated prison populations, ethanol fuel, 60% divorce rates, etc, etc. etc.

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.

Fast forward the trend lines a few decades and you have BRAZIL. In 2050 the USA will look like Brazil in its demographc and economic composition. The middle class is already dead.

[jonnycsd]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

Layer in massive immigration based on a lottery system rather than the merrits of the applicant, plus even larger inflows of illegal immigrants who have no interest in joining the melting pot (yet who are eligible for a full range of government services).

On top of that weigh in the fact that the public school system is in a state of total dysfunction and is unable to prepare children (imigrant or native born) for the reality of global labor competition.

And a political / social climate that puts ideology ahead of objective thinking – resulting in ebonics, creation science, bans on stem cell research, racial quotas, gender quotas, pointless wars, Nifong, bloated prison populations, ethanol fuel, 60% divorce rates, etc, etc. etc.

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.

Fast forward the trend lines a few decades and you have BRAZIL. In 2050 the USA will look like Brazil in its demographc and economic composition. The middle class is already dead.

[CA renter]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

AND:

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.
————————-

Which one is preferable? The wealth disparity or the “redistribution of income”? You either want power and money to be further concentrated, or you want the income to be redistributed back to the working people (most of those who are truly wealthy do not work, they just live off the productive labor of others).

I think this is one of the issues that the PTB (mega-banks & corporations) try to manipulate in the minds of U.S. citizens. They try to convince J6 (that’s most of us, if we have to “work” for a living) that he, too, can be “rich” if only he works hard enough. This argument between fiscal conservatives & liberals keeps us fighting amongst ourselves while they (banks/corps) make off with the loot.

I can show you one example after another of people who’ve worked very hard and lived frugally all their lives, with very little to show for it. I can also show you one example after another of people who do very little work — even those who assist in the destruction of our economy (witness the credit bubble, and all the bubbles it’s created) — and they have many millions, if not billions of dollars.

The greatest determinant of wealth, IMHO, is how close a person is to those in power (already wealthy). Power begets money, money begets power, power begets money, etc. Those with money control Congress and can even hold sway over court decisions.

Everything is relative. If you make $100K, but everyone else is making $70K, then you are rich, financially-speaking. I don’t believe for a second that higher taxes prevent anyone from legitimately earning more money. Since all people over the given limits would be taxed equally, you’d still be wealthy and have all the advantages, when compared to others below you in income-earning capacity. Your lifestyle would still be significantly better than theirs.

Even if it were so, someone else would pick up the slack, and earn that money, instead. That would actually be better, as the wealth could be divided more equally, and people would have more free time (since they would somehow lose the incentive to work, if taxes were higher).

[CA renter]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

AND:

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.
————————-

Which one is preferable? The wealth disparity or the “redistribution of income”? You either want power and money to be further concentrated, or you want the income to be redistributed back to the working people (most of those who are truly wealthy do not work, they just live off the productive labor of others).

I think this is one of the issues that the PTB (mega-banks & corporations) try to manipulate in the minds of U.S. citizens. They try to convince J6 (that’s most of us, if we have to “work” for a living) that he, too, can be “rich” if only he works hard enough. This argument between fiscal conservatives & liberals keeps us fighting amongst ourselves while they (banks/corps) make off with the loot.

I can show you one example after another of people who’ve worked very hard and lived frugally all their lives, with very little to show for it. I can also show you one example after another of people who do very little work — even those who assist in the destruction of our economy (witness the credit bubble, and all the bubbles it’s created) — and they have many millions, if not billions of dollars.

The greatest determinant of wealth, IMHO, is how close a person is to those in power (already wealthy). Power begets money, money begets power, power begets money, etc. Those with money control Congress and can even hold sway over court decisions.

Everything is relative. If you make $100K, but everyone else is making $70K, then you are rich, financially-speaking. I don’t believe for a second that higher taxes prevent anyone from legitimately earning more money. Since all people over the given limits would be taxed equally, you’d still be wealthy and have all the advantages, when compared to others below you in income-earning capacity. Your lifestyle would still be significantly better than theirs.

Even if it were so, someone else would pick up the slack, and earn that money, instead. That would actually be better, as the wealth could be divided more equally, and people would have more free time (since they would somehow lose the incentive to work, if taxes were higher).

[CA renter]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

AND:

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.
————————-

Which one is preferable? The wealth disparity or the “redistribution of income”? You either want power and money to be further concentrated, or you want the income to be redistributed back to the working people (most of those who are truly wealthy do not work, they just live off the productive labor of others).

I think this is one of the issues that the PTB (mega-banks & corporations) try to manipulate in the minds of U.S. citizens. They try to convince J6 (that’s most of us, if we have to “work” for a living) that he, too, can be “rich” if only he works hard enough. This argument between fiscal conservatives & liberals keeps us fighting amongst ourselves while they (banks/corps) make off with the loot.

I can show you one example after another of people who’ve worked very hard and lived frugally all their lives, with very little to show for it. I can also show you one example after another of people who do very little work — even those who assist in the destruction of our economy (witness the credit bubble, and all the bubbles it’s created) — and they have many millions, if not billions of dollars.

The greatest determinant of wealth, IMHO, is how close a person is to those in power (already wealthy). Power begets money, money begets power, power begets money, etc. Those with money control Congress and can even hold sway over court decisions.

Everything is relative. If you make $100K, but everyone else is making $70K, then you are rich, financially-speaking. I don’t believe for a second that higher taxes prevent anyone from legitimately earning more money. Since all people over the given limits would be taxed equally, you’d still be wealthy and have all the advantages, when compared to others below you in income-earning capacity. Your lifestyle would still be significantly better than theirs.

Even if it were so, someone else would pick up the slack, and earn that money, instead. That would actually be better, as the wealth could be divided more equally, and people would have more free time (since they would somehow lose the incentive to work, if taxes were higher).

[CA renter]

Government’s role in the USA is income redistribution. This creates massive disincintives to work hard and save and a huge incentive to sign up to be on the receiving end of the redistribution gravy train.

AND:

Add to all that the reality that wealth concentration is accellerating.
————————-

Which one is preferable? The wealth disparity or the “redistribution of income”? You either want power and money to be further concentrated, or you want the income to be redistributed back to the working people (most of those who are truly wealthy do not work, they just live off the productive labor of others).

I think this is one of the issues that the PTB (mega-banks & corporations) try to manipulate in the minds of U.S. citizens. They try to convince J6 (that’s most of us, if we have to “work” for a living) that he, too, can be “rich” if only he works hard enough. This argument between fiscal conservatives & liberals keeps us fighting amongst ourselves while they (banks/corps) make off with the loot.

I can show you one example after another of people who’ve worked very hard and lived frugally all their lives, with very little to show for it. I can also show you one example after another of people who do very little work — even those who assist in the destruction of our economy (witness the credit bubble, and all the bubbles it’s created) — and they have many millions, if not billions of dollars.

The greatest determinant of wealth, IMHO, is how close a person is to those in power (already wealthy). Power begets money, money begets power, power begets money, etc. Those with money control Congress and can even hold sway over court decisions.

Everything is relative. If you make $100K, but everyone else is making $70K, then you are rich, financially-speaking. I don’t believe for a second that higher taxes prevent anyone from legitimately earning more money. Since all people over the given limits would be taxed equally, you’d still be wealthy and have all the advantages, when compared to others below you in income-earning capacity. Your lifestyle would still be significantly better than theirs.

Even if it were so, someone else would pick up the slack, and earn that money, instead. That would actually be better, as the wealth could be divided more equally, and people would have more free time (since they would somehow lose the incentive to work, if taxes were higher).

[Author]

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