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From	Message
bears1 14-Jul-12, 23:33	The cost of living!! Noticed how everything has gone up..EXCEPT wages and social security! Ever wondered why we need to put up with this ? We are all human..so do the big people sitting on their big protected jobs that are earning mega bucks care.. NOT!!! your view?
petemellor 15-Jul-12, 00:41	When, on the whole, we (the British) only elect people who come through Public School (bizarely named private schools for the rich - translation for the Americans amongst us) and the States only the rich (not sure what you Aussies' do) how can we expect the poor things to understand everyday life?
kneilca2 17-Jul-12, 22:16	I think Colbert had it right when he was asking for donations for his presidential campaign: his freedom dollars. Politics in western democracies have become a rich people's game. We need to make getting elected a community affair where anyone can run, not just the rich and backed by conglomerates.
johnclark 17-Jul-12, 22:32	With the cost of living rising, I guess it's time to increase corporate welfare.
thumper 17-Jul-12, 22:42	My view from here Must they care for you? Are they to care for you as you care for them? Do you expect what you do not give? Why do you care if they care? What have you done to make them successful? What have you done to make them care if that is what's important to you? These are some of the things that come to my mind when the rhetorical question, "Do the rich care about the poor?" is posed. Or the 'accusation'; "The rich don't care about the poor". For me it comes down to this; I don't care if they don't care. I don't care if they do care. Pete- They don't understand everyday life? Really? Don't you mean to say they don't understand YOUR everyday life. What is it about your everyday life that you think they don't understand? What is it about your everyday life that you think they should understand? Why? Do you understand their everyday life? You sure?
kneilca2 17-Jul-12, 22:54	To Care, or Not to Care If by "caring" we mean "to be concerned with the welfare of" and "interested in the fate of", then perhaps the rich need not care, but certainly those who offer themselves as leaders and decision-makers for society in general need to "care" about those who collectively have placed their trust in them and promoted them to power. If, on the other hand, we wish that power be a commodity and that politics a market, then no, we need not ask for nor concede caring, since we are merely engaging in commercial exchange.
petemellor 18-Jul-12, 14:07	Thumper - you ask if by every day life do I mean MY life? I do not. I mean the life of the vast majority of people they have had the ambition to want to represent. The people who's cash pays for their wages. The people who's cash is used to pay for the actions they initiate based on an experience so narrow and privileged. An experience that, even if they are individuals of good intent, does not equip them to understand what their policies and decisions do for people that are so much more unfortunate than themselves. I do not believe that David Cameron has any concept of what it might feel like to wonder where he will get the money from to pay the mortgage. He has never needed a mortgage. Cuts in our Health system are inevitable but neither he nor his family will ever have to rely This has nothing to do with MY life. I am not rich but with a modest lifestyle unless we have total financial meltdown or some head called d*** (to paraphrase marko) plunges us into all out war or something I will remain comfortable, secure, happy with my lot, and have no ambition to be otherwise. I may have missed the best pension packages and may have to work till 70 to maintain our lifestyle if we so choose but I do have a choice. Others are less fortunate - they are the ones' who's everyday life needs to be understood most. I am fortunate in that I fall into the band that is called the floating voter. Maybe at the lower income end but a floating voter never the less. This is one of two sets of people that all British governments and political parties have policy makers working hard not to upset. The second set are the party donors. Combine privilege and a total lack of working experience outside of politics with an inbuilt bias towards the better off and we get what we've got. I use David Cameron as an example because he is the current little rich boy - cut and paste Tony Blair in if you like
mrmarmalade 18-Jul-12, 14:20	Although I'm steering clear of any topic considered political and/or religious, I will state this: that was an excellent, honest message, Pirate Pete. Thanks.
onepocket 19-Jul-12, 04:21	I am on the Work Until You Die retirement plan. Unless I want to live under a bridge or in a tent, I will be working forever. At least I like what I do so that's a good thing.
mrmarmalade 19-Jul-12, 08:40	What do you do, Onepocket? If ya don't want to write this in public, or if too personal, a Pirate understands.
onepocket 19-Jul-12, 08:47	I am the estimator for a construction company that does site work (clearing, grading, ponds, underground storm drain or water or sewer work, paving & concrete). We basically do all the work to take an existing site and construct everything except the buildings. Then the guys like Sad-But-True take over and do the vertical stuff. I work a lot with blueprints / plans and have to deal with some pretty ignorant people in different levels of power (engineers, municipal geeks, etc). Spent about 20 years in my first life operating heavy equipment and the last 23 years in a second life estimating the same kind of work. I have 4 back surgeries in my past from doing this stuff.
mrmarmalade 19-Jul-12, 08:54	Cool. My father was an estimator for Northrup Grumman, when living in your area... I always wanted to operate some heavy equipment... I really think I'd like that.
onepocket 19-Jul-12, 09:00	I loved it but after my second back operation I had to change to being an estimator. At least I can still use my knowledge of equipment and what machines can do to create bids. I still do some finish grading with a grader now and then or operate a backhoe if I have to help out. Haven't forgotten how to operate equipment even though the newer machines are set up different sometimes from what I am used to. One of the most fun things I did was cube a car using a D8 Caterpillar bulldozer. It was the size of a big coffee table when I got through with it.
onepocket 19-Jul-12, 09:02	For people who are not familiar with heavy equipment, a D8 bulldozer weighs 100,000 lbs (50 tons) and can really squash a car
mrmarmalade 19-Jul-12, 09:09	"One of the most fun things I did was cube a car using a D8 Caterpillar bulldozer. It was the size of a big coffee table when I got through with it." -Outstanding! If ye weren't a Crab, Dem Pirates would offer up a hefty contract offer for yer services.
thumper 19-Jul-12, 10:49	Many years ago my dad was grading our side yard with a D3 and ran across the top of our septic tank... The weight of the dozer exceeded the load bearing capacity of the tank... Because of my relatively low position in the family rank structure and knew how to operate it, I was the one appointed to rescue the dozer.
mrmarmalade 19-Jul-12, 11:22	I bet your football coach let you play in the next game after that one... Let this be a reminder not to smoke near a septic tank.
onepocket 19-Jul-12, 13:36	thumper: I saw a similar thing happen when I worked for a paving company. We had the annual paving contract for the county and a county bigshot had us paving an old gas station site he owned. Of course, the county was paying for it but they didn't know that. We were paving it on a weekend. While a dump truck had his bed raised all the way up and still half full of asphalt the truck fell through an old underground gas storage tank. Ended up on it's side with a big hole in the ground. Hard to hide from that. That slippery county guy still wiggled his way out of getting in trouble for that. The truck driver had a big black eye.

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