NationStates

Fartsniffage wrote:

Great Minarchistan wrote:Fair enough, the effect is also present in there

What are you trying to say? Be specific.

That old-age care is expensive and part of why the US has higher costs is possibly because they offer more comfortable options for the very elderly, simple as

Great Minarchistan wrote:

Fartsniffage wrote:
What are you trying to say? Be specific.

That old-age care is expensive and part of why the US has higher costs is possibly because they offer more comfortable options for the very elderly, simple as

That's a fair comment since we just cast out elderly into the streets.

Fartsniffage wrote:

Great Minarchistan wrote:That old-age care is expensive and part of why the US has higher costs is possibly because they offer more comfortable options for the very elderly, simple as

That's a fair comment since we just cast out elderly into the streets.

You bastards!

The problem in the US is the conservatives LOVE to celebrate the military, police, firemen, etc. when it doesn't cost them anything. They LOVE them for doing the job to the point of 'murika F yeah!

The moment these people are dealing with the after effects of the job; the song changes to "but muh money!; taxes are theft; it costs too much!"

As Stewart mentioned; it took these people 5 seconds to respond. Congress is going on 18 years for not taking care of them.

It's cheaper they die off after all.

Great Minarchistan wrote:

Shofercia wrote:Generally speaking, we have those things called fire inspections, where big towers are inspected, and a response plan is written, with almost every possible eventuality taken into account. Apparently flying huge passenger planes into buildings was not one of the eventualities. A building that collapses due to demolition is different from a building that collapses due to earthquake.

Quite interesting since NYC is as far as possible from tectonic activity and near geological faults have been inactive for millions of years, ergo it's nonsensical to prioritize training in case of an earthquake collapse over a collapse caused by an eventual fire.

Shofercia wrote:The responses to each collapse would be different. Most of your training for a demolition collapse can be useless during an earthquake collapse. They weren't supposed to assess the damage due to planes hitting buildings and buildings collapsing as a result, until it actually happened. Thus they weren't trained for it.

Rather skeptical that NYC firefighters prioritized training in case of an earthquake, but I'll take your word. It's an immense fuckup regardless.

I was using the earthquake case as an example, considering that I'm living in California. And yes, it is a fuck up, but the people that responded heroically shouldn't be the ones paying for said fuck up.

The Black Forrest wrote:

Fartsniffage wrote:
That's a fair comment since we just cast out elderly into the streets.

You bastards!

They are bastards, since not only do they cast out the elderly into the streets, but they also rebrand all cast out elderly folks as Kenny

Great Minarchistan wrote:

Fartsniffage wrote:
What are you trying to say? Be specific.

That old-age care is expensive and part of why the US has higher costs is possibly because they offer more comfortable options for the very elderly, simple as

Yet the average American lives 2 years less than the average UK person, the comfort must be killing them.

Bombadil wrote:

Great Minarchistan wrote:That old-age care is expensive and part of why the US has higher costs is possibly because they offer more comfortable options for the very elderly, simple as

Yet the average American lives 2 years less than the average UK person, the comfort must be killing them.

Lies! We have that Adonis of manhood in the Whitehouse which proves you wrong!

Shofercia wrote:

Great Minarchistan wrote:Quite interesting since NYC is as far as possible from tectonic activity and near geological faults have been inactive for millions of years, ergo it's nonsensical to prioritize training in case of an earthquake collapse over a collapse caused by an eventual fire.


Rather skeptical that NYC firefighters prioritized training in case of an earthquake, but I'll take your word. It's an immense fuckup regardless.

I was using the earthquake case as an example, considering that I'm living in California. And yes, it is a fuck up, but the people that responded heroically shouldn't be the ones paying for said fuck up.

Indeed, although this sure makes me ponder about the fate of the public employees behind the training of the firefighters. It's not fair for taxpayers to pay for this fuck up as well.

Bombadil wrote:

Great Minarchistan wrote:That old-age care is expensive and part of why the US has higher costs is possibly because they offer more comfortable options for the very elderly, simple as

Yet the average American lives 2 years less than the average UK person, the comfort must be killing them.

Unhealthy living habits anyone?

Shofercia wrote:

The Black Forrest wrote:
You bastards!

They are bastards, since not only do they cast out the elderly into the streets, but they also rebrand all cast out elderly folks as Kenny

And they don't only cast out the elderly, but also the youths returning broken from war in far-off lands. Veteran Affairs is notoriously incompetent and slow to deal with issues; and many war-veterans are abandoned and/or neglected by the heartless and inept Bureaucracy. But let's not deceive ourselves: Veterans Affairs does not exist because the Government actually gives a damn about the men they send off to war, but because they don't want these men to return home, become dissatisfied, and potentially cause trouble, or God-forbid, overthrow the Government - its happened before, plenty of times, in plenty of other countries - so its better - from the point of view of these disgusting politicians - to give our veterans "just enough" to keep them satisfied, but not enough to actually help them; and many don't get the help they need anyways.

But whether we're talking about VA, or about Congress withholding what is due from the brave first-responders to 9/11, the underlying issue is fundamentally the same: that the United States Government - regardless of which puppet resides in the White House - has become a corrupt, anemic, inept institution, incapable of proper Government. It has become infested with lobbyists and special interest groups intent on sucking the Country dry, and pushing their own little private agendas. It is no longer a Government for, of, or by, the People; and I think as time passes, more and more people are figuring this out. If this situation does not change, it will be the death of America as a Republic; let us remember that the same thing happened to the Roman Republic, to Novgorod, and to the Athenian Democracy - that these became Oligarchies with a facade of popular rule, and were eventually replaced by populist Dictatorships and/or Monarchies (populist Dictatorships transition into Monarchies if they last more than one generation) - because once people realize that the Democratic-Republican (referring to the political system, not the Evil Party and the Stupid Party) Regime is a sham, they will turn to Strongmen to enforce their will for them. They'll turn to a Caesar, a Napoleon, or an Ivan Grozhny to get shit done, and make sure there's a chicken in every pot; and at that point, the Congress/Senate/Veches can cry "Tyranny!" all they want, nobody is listening to them anymore, and there's a good chance they'll get culled.

Nea Byzantia wrote:

Shofercia wrote:
They are bastards, since not only do they cast out the elderly into the streets, but they also rebrand all cast out elderly folks as Kenny

And they don't only cast out the elderly, but also the youths returning broken from war in far-off lands. Veteran Affairs is notoriously incompetent and slow to deal with issues; and many war-veterans are abandoned and/or neglected by the heartless and inept Bureaucracy. But let's not deceive ourselves: Veterans Affairs does not exist because the Government actually gives a damn about the men they send off to war, but because they don't want these men to return home, become dissatisfied, and potentially cause trouble, or God-forbid, overthrow the Government - its happened before, plenty of times, in plenty of other countries - so its better - from the point of view of these disgusting politicians - to give our veterans "just enough" to keep them satisfied, but not enough to actually help them; and many don't get the help they need anyways.

But whether we're talking about VA, or about Congress withholding what is due from the brave first-responders to 9/11, the underlying issue is fundamentally the same: that the United States Government - regardless of which puppet resides in the White House - has become a corrupt, anemic, inept institution, incapable of proper Government. It has become infested with lobbyists and special interest groups intent on sucking the Country dry, and pushing their own little private agendas. It is no longer a Government for, of, or by, the People; and I think as time passes, more and more people are figuring this out. If this situation does not change, it will be the death of America as a Republic; let us remember that the same thing happened to the Roman Republic, to Novgorod, and to the Athenian Democracy - that these became Oligarchies with a facade of popular rule, and were eventually replaced by populist Dictatorships and/or Monarchies (populist Dictatorships transition into Monarchies if they last more than one generation) - because once people realize that the Democratic-Republican (referring to the political system, not the Evil Party and the Stupid Party) Regime is a sham, they will turn to Strongmen to enforce their will for them. They'll turn to a Caesar, a Napoleon, or an Ivan Grozhny to get shit done, and make sure there's a chicken in every pot; and at that point, the Congress/Senate/Veches can cry "Tyranny!" all they want, nobody is listening to them anymore, and there's a good chance they'll get culled.

>government constituted of welfare checks for veterans is a government for the people
:yeahok: I'll take the form where bankers and megacorp CEOs manipulate the government into a corporatocracy

Cantor Fitzgerald did it right. They lost 70% of their workforce on 9/11, including several partners. The firm pledged to redistribute 25% of its future earnings to the victims and their families over the next five years, to the tune of $200 million, and today the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund is one of the best philanthropic organizations in the country.

Also, we should have rebuilt the Twin Towers as they were, but with modern internal engineering that would allow them to survive a future attack. It would have been a much better memorial and better symbol of strength than what we have now.

Great Minarchistan wrote:

Nea Byzantia wrote:And they don't only cast out the elderly, but also the youths returning broken from war in far-off lands. Veteran Affairs is notoriously incompetent and slow to deal with issues; and many war-veterans are abandoned and/or neglected by the heartless and inept Bureaucracy. But let's not deceive ourselves: Veterans Affairs does not exist because the Government actually gives a damn about the men they send off to war, but because they don't want these men to return home, become dissatisfied, and potentially cause trouble, or God-forbid, overthrow the Government - its happened before, plenty of times, in plenty of other countries - so its better - from the point of view of these disgusting politicians - to give our veterans "just enough" to keep them satisfied, but not enough to actually help them; and many don't get the help they need anyways.

But whether we're talking about VA, or about Congress withholding what is due from the brave first-responders to 9/11, the underlying issue is fundamentally the same: that the United States Government - regardless of which puppet resides in the White House - has become a corrupt, anemic, inept institution, incapable of proper Government. It has become infested with lobbyists and special interest groups intent on sucking the Country dry, and pushing their own little private agendas. It is no longer a Government for, of, or by, the People; and I think as time passes, more and more people are figuring this out. If this situation does not change, it will be the death of America as a Republic; let us remember that the same thing happened to the Roman Republic, to Novgorod, and to the Athenian Democracy - that these became Oligarchies with a facade of popular rule, and were eventually replaced by populist Dictatorships and/or Monarchies (populist Dictatorships transition into Monarchies if they last more than one generation) - because once people realize that the Democratic-Republican (referring to the political system, not the Evil Party and the Stupid Party) Regime is a sham, they will turn to Strongmen to enforce their will for them. They'll turn to a Caesar, a Napoleon, or an Ivan Grozhny to get shit done, and make sure there's a chicken in every pot; and at that point, the Congress/Senate/Veches can cry "Tyranny!" all they want, nobody is listening to them anymore, and there's a good chance they'll get culled.

>government constituted of welfare checks for veterans is a government for the people
:yeahok: I'll take the form where bankers and megacorp CEOs manipulate the government into a corporatocracy

But that form of Government never lasts; its inherently corrupt and myopic and screws over everybody who isn't part of the Oligarchic Club; historically, Oligarchies are always rejected by the populace and create circumstances where a populist demagogue can and will seize power and set up a Dictatorship or Monarchy. Oligarchy always serves as the transition-point between Republicanism-Democracy and an Autocracy-Monarchy; it is the final stage of Republican decay, it is a cancer that has metastasized and begun devouring the wealth and productivity of a Society; and if left unchecked, it will devour the entire Nation until there is nothing left. The natural reaction to this is to put in a Strongman who can restrain the parasitic Oligarchs, and restore the Nation to good health. If one traces the careers of figures like Peisistratos, Julius Caesar, Andronikos Komnenos, Ivan IV "the Terrible", Napoleon, and even of some contemporary leaders like Putin, you can't help but see these patterns.

The problem is that the American Republic has also entered this phase of Oligarchy, and a Strongman leader is the only way out of the Oligarchic stranglehold. For these rulers to be successful in dealing with the Oligarchy, they usually have to accrue a lot of political power to cut the Oligarchs down to size, and if successful, they very rarely voluntarily lay down their powers after the fact, and usually become despots of one kind or another (but they tend to be very well-loved by their People).

Communist Zombie Horde wrote:Jon Stewart is not one to talk! Besides we already spend a lot and look at north korea were military get too much money wasted! Military personnel are not special compared to armed citizenry and this form of elitism is not needed. Ignore this stupid TV funnyman.

Hey, remember that time Communist Zombie Horde decided to disrespect the civil servant heroes of 9/11? The people who played a part in history trying to save strangers from one of the most evil attacks on America in its history?

And also made a nonsensical claim that somehow the US budget can't handle medical costs for heroes? Or how he dragged NK into a conversation that had nothing to do with NK?

Yet another of countless examples of the Alt right and its many echo chambers don't care about America.

Scomagia wrote:

The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp wrote:
My second source was SCImago Journal Rank, you didn't provide any source on the 60-70% numbers and, seeing that UNESCO isn't a think tank or an organization with left/right leanings i'm going to call you out on your use of a genetic fallacy here.



Publishing papers is a crucial part of research. Those drugs and treatments wouldn't have existed if no one wrote a paper on them.

So beacuse they can demand lower prices for the rights to sell and manufacture that means it's not part of the free market?

Hmm, demanding lower prices for the rights to sell something beacuse you have a lot of money, I wonder why a store chain made in the free market never had that idea before?

Also, sense monopolies are indeed a problem born out of the free market, yes free markets do operate with monopolies.


Not everything from communism was non functional or evil.

Socialized medicine being one such example.



I like Jon Stewart.

You're using Walmart, a company which has long received uncompetitive municiple, state, and federal tax breaks and incentives unavailable to smaller competitors, as an example of a company operating on a free market?

It started out as one store operating on the free market and grew under the free market.

It's an fact that Walmart is a product of the free market.

To say it isn't is denying capitalisms very real flaws while also being a no true scotsman fallacy.

Nea Byzantia wrote:But that form of Government never lasts; its inherently corrupt and myopic and screws over everybody who isn't part of the Oligarchic Club;

good tbh

Bear Stearns wrote:Cantor Fitzgerald did it right. They lost 70% of their workforce on 9/11, including several partners. The firm pledged to redistribute 25% of its future earnings to the victims and their families over the next five years, to the tune of $200 million, and today the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund is one of the best philanthropic organizations in the country.

Also, we should have rebuilt the Twin Towers as they were, but with modern internal engineering that would allow them to survive a future attack. It would have been a much better memorial and better symbol of strength than what we have now.

Make it out of rubber, so planes bounce right off.