• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

income inequality debate

tjcmd said:
It always comes down to arguments like these when you are forcing someone else's property away from them for the benefit of yourself and your buddies. They are in some way bad, so you take what they have.
Click to expand...

When Team A gets the ball at the opponent's 20 every time and only get's penalized 1 yard for any infraction - while the rest of the teams in the league have to play by the regular rules and wash Team A's jocks after the game - just because they pay the refs and the rules committee, is it really taking something that is rightfully theirs?
 
PhDeac said:
Pretty much everyone but you feels that way so it's not special.
Click to expand...

Well, everyone except the market forces that greet the graduates of your department. Other than that, sure.
 
Deacon923 said:
The first sentence is not supported by anything in the story you posted. The second sentence is quantifiably untrue in many ways. While overall government outlays have grown with entitlement programs, employment by government is at a historically low point and the government has substantially less control over the economy than during much of the 20th century (when the Feds controlled, for example, pricing on airfare, interstate trucking, and many commodities). Without the entitlement programs we have, it's a good bet that inequality would be substantially worse.
Click to expand...

Every enlargement of government is justified by the trouble caused by the last enlargement. The government is much larger than it was in the past. Keep trying to even up everything and everything will get less even.
 
jhmd2000 said:
A couple of thoughts, actually.

First, I don't know anyone who seriously thinks the playing field is now or ever was level. That accusation is an ad hominem soundbyte of no value added to any discussion.

Second, just because we agree on the problem (and to review, we do), doesn't mean that I have to co-sign the first solution you came up with. There are several problems with the solutions you favor. De jure racial discrimination is against the plain meaning of the Constitution. I understand that great effort has been undertaken to read away the "equal" part of the equal protection clause, but treating two people differently solely on the basis of race should always be considered a no-fly zone for our government. This is that clause:

"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

I do not see an exception for states to deviate from that clause when enough well-intended people think that private business are committing bad acts that the sovereign is compelled to counterbalance with bad acts in the other direction. Any solution we propose should probably be legal, within the letter and the spirit of the rule.

I also will tell you that while much-maligned racism is to blame for many of our country's ills, the 15 year old high school drop out mother isn't getting passed over for investment banking jobs because of racism. Admitting her to college on a preference in the hopes that it will all turn out okay ain't going to fix what's wrong with her life. The changes needed to bring the playing field closer to balance are more structural and fundamental than simple ascribing everything to other people's prejudice. If you want to build sustainable growth for challenged groups, fix the most acute problems first: a complete breakdown of the family structure, failing public schools and an awful lot of self-destructive choices are a lot easier to address than other people's feelings.
Click to expand...

This post again just serves to underscore that you do not understand structural racism. I'm not having this discussion again. You can continue on your merry way
 
tjcmd said:
It always comes down to arguments like these when you are forcing someone else's property away from them for the benefit of yourself and your buddies. They are in some way bad, so you take what they have.
Click to expand...

"Property" is such a loaded word with too many meanings to have any valuable discussion. It's essentially an abstract term until you nail down what both people really mean.
 
PhDeac said:
jhmd, you keep posting articles that derail your own argument. When called out on it, you retreat to the margins of your own argument to try to find something you can stand on.
Click to expand...

jhmd2000 said:
I think it is special that you feel that way.
Click to expand...

PhDeac said:
Pretty much everyone but you feels that way so it's not special.
Click to expand...

jhmd2000 said:
Well, everyone except the market forces that greet the graduates of your department. Other than that, sure.
Click to expand...

How does that even make sense to you?
 
WakeandBake said:
When Team A gets the ball at the opponent's 20 every time and only get's penalized 1 yard for any infraction - while the rest of the teams in the league have to play by the regular rules and wash Team A's jocks after the game - just because they pay the refs and the rules committee, is it really taking something that is rightfully theirs?
Click to expand...

The government is the officiating crew. They have been doing a bad job.
 
If only the government could give out boot straps, right? Give a man a fish and he'll put 20 inch rims on it, teach a man to fish, two parent homes.
 
Deacon923 said:
I'm not sure why you guys are indulging the resident master of trolling and pivoting and goalpost moving, but I think he's having a great time at your expense. The problem of more than 100% of income growth in the current expansion moving to the top 10% and away from the bottom 90% has shit-all to do with median degree earnings and everything to do with stagnant bottom 90% paychecks, with little regard to the degrees possessed by the people within the 90%. Nobody has gotten a raise in real terms since about 1990, except the people at the very top of the income ladder, who keep getting more and more money trickled up to themselves in the form of increased after-tax returns on capital and executive compensation increases completely out of proportion to any value delivered by the executive to the organization.
Click to expand...

Employers continue to demand more from their employees while reducing compensation. There is a "suck it up, and be thankful you even have a job" mentality which employers and stockholders are taking well advantage of by lining their own pockets.
 
1) I need tax breaks to create business and therefore provide jobs!

2) Shrink the government and get them off my back so I can do business unfettered, ya Communist!

3) Americans want too much money to do the jobs I have created

4) I need to take the dollars I saved in taxes and invest in foreign labor in Communist countries where it is cheaper.

5) Damn these entitlements, the poors who wanted too much from me to work want food stamps from me now, well at least they're cheaper than wages and bennies.

6) You workers have the wrong degrees!

7) Cut spending on Education!
 
Last edited:
WakeandBake said:
1) I need tax breaks to create business and therefore provide jobs!

2) Shrink the government and get them off my back so I can do business unfettered, ya Communist!

3) Americans want too much money to do the jobs I have created

4) I need to take the dollars I saved in taxes and invest in foreign labor in Communist countries where it is cheaper.

5) Damn these entitlements, the poors who wanted too much from me to work want food stamps from me now, well at least they're cheaper than wages.
Click to expand...

you forgot "I can't find enough qualified Americans to work for me, the local government needs to spend more money training up my workforce." #ibuiltthat
 
WakeandBake said:
1) I need tax breaks to create business and therefore provide jobs!

2) Shrink the government and get them off my back so I can do business unfettered, ya Communist!

3) Americans want too much money to do the jobs I have created

4) I need to take the dollars I saved in taxes and invest in foreign labor in Communist countries where it is cheaper.

5) Damn these entitlements, the poors who wanted too much from me to work want food stamps from me now, well at least they're cheaper than wages and bennies.

6) You workers have the wrong degrees!

7) Cut spending on Education!
Click to expand...

You're getting there, but don't forget "bleed taxpayer money from education to private companies for tests, test prep, and textbooks that match up with the test so you can get high scores on tests. oh and gimme dem additional tax breaks for "contributions" I make to private school tuition."
 
Not trying hard enough or took wrong classes. THE GAME IS NOT RIGGED AGAINST ANYONE. MOVE ALONG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top