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USA: The Banana Republic

And according to economist/researcher John Williams, the unemployment crisis in the U.S. is much more dire than the BLS’ 7.4% figure. Williams’ research counts the millions of Americans the BLS excludes, and his newsletter, Shadow Statistics, reported that in June 2013, the U.S.’ actual unemployment rate was a disturbing 23.3% (which is only slightly less than the unemployment rate in 1932).
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Fail. Anyone who cites John Williams has a blatant disregard for the truth, basic math, and the intelligence of his reader.
 
i don't really know much about John Williams, but basic common sense and observational skills should tell you that the "real" unemployment rate is quite a bit higher than the BLS rate. Millions of people who would be working in a healthy economy have retired, gone back to school (or are using student loans to keep food and shelter), or gone on disability for sketchy psychological issues and back pain because it's the only way they can get money to live on.
 
Deacon923 said:
i don't really know much about John Williams,
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Then you should investigate him a bit



Deacon923 said:
but basic common sense and observational skills should tell you that the "real" unemployment rate is quite a bit higher than the BLS rate. Millions of people who would be working in a healthy economy have retired, gone back to school (or are using student loans to keep food and shelter), or gone on disability for sketchy psychological issues and back pain because it's the only way they can get money to live on.
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The U6 Rate is 13.7%
 
800px-NYUGDPFinancialShare.jpg
 
Quote:
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What will it take for the United States to reverse its dramatic decline? Robert Reich, in a video released on Labor Day 2013, called for six things: 1) a living wage for more American workers; 2) an earned income tax credit; 3) better childcare for working parents; 4) easier access to good schools and a quality education; 5) universal health insurance; and 6) union rights.
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Sounds like the Tea Party platform to me.
 
That redneck dude w/ the son who played football approves
 
1. Rising Income Inequality and Shrinking Middle Class

In a stereotypical banana republic, income inequality is dramatic: one finds an ultra-rich minority, a poor majority, a small or nonexistent middle class, and a lack of upward mobility for most of the population.
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None of which applies to the US. Not even close.

2. Unchecked Police Corruption and an Ever-Expanding Police State
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Police corruption is as well checked as it ever has been. While we can argue about the Patriot Act and counter-terrorist measures until we're blue in the face, the author might want to examine previous actions taken during wartime and determine if we were on our way to Banana Republic-dom then.

3. Torture
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Total buffoonery here, and one that he should've been smart enough to analyze within the context of #4. That we all had an informed debate and controversy over the whole concept of torture demonstrates that we are not on our way to being a Banana Republic.

4. Highest Incarceration Rate in the World
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Banana Republics have high incarceration rates of political prisoners who are in turn tortured, thus the relevance to the previous point. Really, this guy's analysis is not deep enough to warrant a C in a lot of high schools.

5. Corrupt Alliance of Big Business and Big Government
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Welcome to the real world. There is always a degree of corruption there and always will be. When the states move in to "control" the corruption, they merely take the place of the corrupt institutions they aim to reign in. There can always be a debate about reigning in this abuse or that abuse or putting in such and such a check or balance, but they are merely band-aids. The world functions fine regardless of this unfortunate truth.

6. High Unemployment
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Yes, it is high and too high for too long a period of time for my tastes. But a quarter of our people aren't unemployed and those who are "poor" in this country would mostly live high on the hog in Banana Republics with their cell phones, cable television, etc...

7. Inadequate Access to Healthcare
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Yes, just throw in the token liberal complaint about health care. Health care is flawed, but it is fine.

8. Dramatic Gaps in Life Expectancy
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After the HC part, it should be obvious that he's really reaching to fill in the gaps here to get 10 things on his list. Let's quote some bumfuck town in West Virginia and then contrast it with Fairfax County. This is LOL bad. I'm guessing the biggest things to do in McDowell County WV are moonshining, meth-cooking, coal-mining, and sister-fucking. Not a lot of that going on in Fairfax County. Life expectancy is lower in the US because we eat a lot of unhealthy shit and we aren't a country full of white people. Life expectancy varies greatly depending on race, which is a product of both diet and crime.

9. Hunger and Malnutrition
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Just fucking retarded.

10. High Infant Mortality
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Feel pretty sure you could break this down along racial lines too. I would also be curious about if the lower infant mortality in Europe is due in any way to their more liberal attitudes about abortion.
 
EatLeadCommie said:
None of which applies to the US. Not even close.



Police corruption is as well checked as it ever has been. While we can argue about the Patriot Act and counter-terrorist measures until we're blue in the face, the author might want to examine previous actions taken during wartime and determine if we were on our way to Banana Republic-dom then.



Total buffoonery here, and one that he should've been smart enough to analyze within the context of #4. That we all had an informed debate and controversy over the whole concept of torture demonstrates that we are not on our way to being a Banana Republic.



Banana Republics have high incarceration rates of political prisoners who are in turn tortured, thus the relevance to the previous point. Really, this guy's analysis is not deep enough to warrant a C in a lot of high schools.



Welcome to the real world. There is always a degree of corruption there and always will be. When the states move in to "control" the corruption, they merely take the place of the corrupt institutions they aim to reign in. There can always be a debate about reigning in this abuse or that abuse or putting in such and such a check or balance, but they are merely band-aids. The world functions fine regardless of this unfortunate truth.



Yes, it is high and too high for too long a period of time for my tastes. But a quarter of our people aren't unemployed and those who are "poor" in this country would mostly live high on the hog in Banana Republics with their cell phones, cable television, etc...



Yes, just throw in the token liberal complaint about health care. Health care is flawed, but it is fine.



After the HC part, it should be obvious that he's really reaching to fill in the gaps here to get 10 things on his list. Let's quote some bumfuck town in West Virginia and then contrast it with Fairfax County. This is LOL bad. I'm guessing the biggest things to do in McDowell County WV are moonshining, meth-cooking, coal-mining, and sister-fucking. Not a lot of that going on in Fairfax County. Life expectancy is lower in the US because we eat a lot of unhealthy shit and we aren't a country full of white people. Life expectancy varies greatly depending on race, which is a product of both diet and crime.



Just fucking retarded.



Feel pretty sure you could break this down along racial lines too. I would also be curious about if the lower infant mortality in Europe is due in any way to their more liberal attitudes about abortion.
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"Nothing to see here folks, move along."
 
The concept of trickle down economics the GOP put into position under Reagan and they have tried to implement ever since made this inevitable. As David Stockman said in his first book, the purpose of the entire scam concept was to further enrich the very rich.

Anyone who understands what makes capitalist economies work knows this was a scam and would lead to gross gentrification.

Until we convince the entire nation, to throw this out, throw away the term "class warfare" and start over, we will sprint towards being a third world economy.
 
1. Rising Income Inequality and Shrinking Middle Class

In a stereotypical banana republic, income inequality is dramatic: one finds an ultra-rich minority, a poor majority, a small or nonexistent middle class, and a lack of upward mobility for most of the population.

None of which applies to the US. Not even close.

Um, what? That is the United States.

2. Unchecked Police Corruption and an Ever-Expanding Police State
Police corruption is as well checked as it ever has been. While we can argue about the Patriot Act and counter-terrorist measures until we're blue in the face, the author might want to examine previous actions taken during wartime and determine if we were on our way to Banana Republic-dom then.

We have threads on this:
1
2

And the expanding police state or surveillance state is a constant gripe about current NSA news, and has been since before the Cold War. It has arguably been on steady incline for decades.

3. Torture

Total buffoonery here, and one that he should've been smart enough to analyze within the context of #4. That we all had an informed debate and controversy over the whole concept of torture demonstrates that we are not on our way to being a Banana Republic.

Huh? That we had to have a national discussion on torture doesn't say anything to you? That the President had to come out and say we aren't going to torture any more (but still hasn't closed down Guantanamo or other POW camps) doesn't say anything to you?

4. Highest Incarceration Rate in the World
Banana Republics have high incarceration rates of political prisoners who are in turn tortured, thus the relevance to the previous point. Really, this guy's analysis is not deep enough to warrant a C in a lot of high schools.

You are making his point for him here, but additionally, we have the highest per capita incarceration rate of domestic criminals too, dude.

5. Corrupt Alliance of Big Business and Big Government
Welcome to the real world. There is always a degree of corruption there and always will be. When the states move in to "control" the corruption, they merely take the place of the corrupt institutions they aim to reign in. There can always be a debate about reigning in this abuse or that abuse or putting in such and such a check or balance, but they are merely band-aids. The world functions fine regardless of this unfortunate truth.

And maybe the point is that major governments in the real world that exhibit these kinds of qualities are like large scale banana republics. Your last sentence is like a case study in your "meh" worldview.

6. High Unemployment
Yes, it is high and too high for too long a period of time for my tastes. But a quarter of our people aren't unemployed and those who are "poor" in this country would mostly live high on the hog in Banana Republics with their cell phones, cable television, etc...

Generally agree.

7. Inadequate Access to Healthcare
Yes, just throw in the token liberal complaint about health care. Health care is flawed, but it is fine.

If anything, access to healthcare should be getting better these days, if quality or price is getting worse.

8. Dramatic Gaps in Life Expectancy
After the HC part, it should be obvious that he's really reaching to fill in the gaps here to get 10 things on his list. Let's quote some bumfuck town in West Virginia and then contrast it with Fairfax County. This is LOL bad. I'm guessing the biggest things to do in McDowell County WV are moonshining, meth-cooking, coal-mining, and sister-fucking. Not a lot of that going on in Fairfax County. Life expectancy is lower in the US because we eat a lot of unhealthy shit and we aren't a country full of white people. Life expectancy varies greatly depending on race, which is a product of both diet and crime.

You're equivocating. Just because you can rationalize or explain away the qualifications doesn't make them disappear. We have rural health and lifestyle health problems in this country, and a gap in education and economic access generally tends to cause those.

9. Hunger and Malnutrition
Just fucking retarded.

Haha didn't even attempt this one? For a country of our means, this is an enormous problem.

10. High Infant Mortality
Feel pretty sure you could break this down along racial lines too. I would also be curious about if the lower infant mortality in Europe is due in any way to their more liberal attitudes about abortion.

I am interested in your second point, but infant mortality rate in America has been a point that needs addressing for a long time.
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Your tripe in italics, my awesome responses in bold. I feel like your position is that none of these problems affect you or people you know, so America is not a banana republic.
 
I feel like the author of this piece has absolutely no idea what a banana republic is
 
The funniest part is the hunger crap. Where are all of these hungry people? We have the highest obesity rate in the universe. Do a little research on the average "poor" person in America. When we claim "American poverty" and then you take a real look at the conditions that millions and millions of people survive in every day it is really arrogant and sad.
90% of people in the country have "essentials" such as tvs, cell phones, computers, internet etc. When you compare that to kids sitting in dirt in Africa eating maybe once a week you should get a little perspective.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/well-being/publications/extended-11.html
 
89DeaconMike said:
The funniest part is the hunger crap. Where are all of these hungry people? We have the highest obesity rate in the universe. Do a little research on the average "poor" person in America. When we claim "American poverty" and then you take a real look at the conditions that millions and millions of people survive in every day it is really arrogant and sad.
90% of people in the country have "essentials" such as tvs, cell phones, computers, internet etc. When you compare that to kids sitting in dirt in Africa eating maybe once a week you should get a little perspective.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/well-being/publications/extended-11.html
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Yes, because if they aren't sitting in the dirt in Africa, they are not really poor or hungry. I can assure you the kids in my wife's fifth grade class that come to school hungry in the morning or tell her they ate one meal all weekend and rely heavily on the backpacks we send home with them on Fridays are both poor and hungry.
 
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