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changeling 09-Apr-13, 20:28 |
The Conservative Way? |
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anomalocaris 09-Apr-13, 20:33 |
Change |
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changeling 09-Apr-13, 20:37 |
The serious part is the bit about more homes empty than there are homeless (all owned by banks presumably). Surely renting these homes out even at vastly discounted rates would give the banks some return? I suppose the cry would then be 'It devalues all our homes, so bugger them, let them live on the streets and suffer'! Capitalism at its best? |
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anomalocaris 09-Apr-13, 20:49 |
Change |
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What is your opinion ? |
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Foreclosure of homes and our nation's bankrupcy. |
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anomalocaris 09-Apr-13, 21:11 |
ace |
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Are they on unnecessary welfare?=========================================================== Joe Villanova · Follow · Top Commenter · 880 subscribers "In a capitalist society, the motive behind the production of food is not to feed people, housing is not made to give them shelter, clothing is not made to keep them warm, and health care is not offered primarily to keep people healthy. All of these things, which are and should be viewed as basic rights, are nothing other than commodities—to be bought and sold—from which to make a profit. If a profit cannot be made, usually due to overproduction in relation to the market, the commodity is considered useless by the capitalist and destroyed. In this case, it appears the bank simply did not care. For the banks that have made their profits through evictions and foreclosures, it is little surprise that they showed no remorse in leaving people staring in disbelief, with empty bags, as they watched the food that could be feeding their families dumped into a landfill instead." |
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changeI don't know the whole story here but it is not that the bank wasn't making anything on the deal and would rather see poor people starve. It doesn't matter if the bank was owned by one person or thousands of stockholders and it doesn't matter if he, she, they were conservatives, liberals, R's or D's... there is more to it than what this story says... and you should be grown up enough to figure that out. Is it possible that the bank is not licensed to distribute food? Could it be a violation of law to distribute food without the proper sanitary conditions, employee training? Is it possible that there is a union involved that would be happy to sue if their workers didn't package, move, distribute the food? Is it possible that any organization that distriutes food needs a business license in that particular SIC code? Without any number of prerequisites being satisfied, the bank would be in violation of one to many rules/laws. Having already suffered the loss of having to take over the store and inventory, they probably decided against violating some other conditions that would be costly. And, btw, any laws or union bargains that they were avoiding were probably instigated by Liberal politicians and unions. |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 05:59 |
softy |
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It seems that a church was to pick up and distribute the goods, but did not show. It seems that police stopped the crowd from getting the goods. It seems that there are laws that prevent the bank from distributing the goods. www.huffingtonpost.com |
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Two suggestions: (1) Could we set up childcare centers, paying a small group of otherwise welfare recipients as staff ... releasing the other mothers to gain employment elsewhere full time, say, or employ them half days doing "general work" while they're looking for employment during the other half. (2) Could we offer direct training to anyone on welfare for free while they're collecting their welfare ... those who attend and "pass" progress points, get bonuses; those who graduate get a bigger bonus plus more aggressive assistance finding work ... those who choose not to attend, get nothing extra (but no direct penalties). I'm just trying to address the issue in a positive way. |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 07:53 |
chazWe have had work for the dole schemes here in Australia, they were a farce. We now have government help to 're educate' workers into alternative industries (that little scheme only takes the unemployed off the unemployed register for the duration of the 'courses' they can take). The only problem being that alternative industry is not growing fast enough. I would imagine the same thing applies in the US. far too many out of work. "There is no work to be found" (Knoffler) springs to mind. |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 07:55 |
softy"...The bank ordered the food to be loaded into dumpsters and hauled to a landfill instead of distributed. The people that gathered had to be restrained by police as they saw perfectly good food destroyed. Local Sheriff Richard Roundtree told the news “a potential for a riot was extremely high.”..." |
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Change ... |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 08:09 |
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Chaz: Good post... something needs to be done. And, those are good starter ideas. Can you get any politicians to even think along those lines? Of course, you are supposing that the people on welfare, food stamps, or unemployment want to go back to work, or get off the dole. Probably some do. One of the problems I see however is that if you do create a huge government sponsored program, like back in the late 30's, you will be providing relatively low wage jobs which will be competition for existing job holders and will cause lower wages for those already employed. It will be very similar to the large influx of illegal aliens who have taken American jobs and caused lower wages already. The real answer, of course, is NOT for the government to try to create jobs, but for the government to create an atmosphere where companies and entrepreneurs can create jobs. A fair and equitable tax code, decent regulations and equal treatment for all by the government would do a lot to creating a roaring economy. |
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anomalocaris 10-Apr-13, 14:22 |
softy |
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Softy ... |
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ChazOne way we could create an incentive to work would be to cut off all welfare, food stamps and unemployment. That would work, don't you think? |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 19:42 |
softyThis was the serious part; "...The serious part is the bit about more homes empty than there are homeless (all owned by banks presumably)..." The thread has since morphed into a much better discussion. Your last post about cutting all welfare is a dangerous game to play. The jobs are simply not there for the mass of unemployed, particularly blue collar workers and the uneducated. What do you suggest they do starve to death? Or die from the cold in winter because they cannot afford to pay rent anywhere? If these people are left behind you will get your revolution eventually, and it will not be pretty. |
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Softy ... |
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change and chazI just thought I'd give you a little more fuel. |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 20:40 |
softy |
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changeI guess the rest of us will just get down and allow you to lead the way, oh wise one. You can see the crap put out by megalomaniacs and you can guide us to the better life. You are able to discern the differences between crap and the word of government. I think DM would say you are able to manage the nuances. I'd say that you are able to mangle the nuances. But, despite your clarity you have not been able to grasp the basics of economics, business, or anything about capitalism. (imho) You probably have the Union Workers Manual and Communist Manifesto memorized though. |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 21:34 |
softyI did however live under oppressive circumstances at some point in my life, as I assume many of us have. The workers manual and the Communist Manifesto? I have not read either of them. The basic economics of business huh? The deal is to make as much as possible for as little as possible. That includes paying workers who are dependent on said businesses as little as possible also. Working for the man mentality. There are two opposite ends of the spectrum, the trick is to find a livable middle ground which has slowly but surely disintegrated over the past couple of decades. Whose at fault? Probably all parties concerned, but the power still remains with those who own the wealth. The guys at the bottom of the pile do not get a say and now your Republican led states are decimating the unions (just like Thatcher did in the UK) things will only go from bad to worse for a whole generation of people (but not for those who have!). |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 21:36 |
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changeThat's not exactly how the world works however. Cost of things (like labor) is basically determined by supply and demand. If you have a lot of laborers relative to the amount of work needed, the cost for those workers go down. And vice-versa. Employers cannot reduce the cost below a going rate... or the workers will go to another company. If there is no other companies to go to, then the demand for workers goes down (and rates go down) because there are too many workers for the smaller demand. The government is a huge influence in determining the demand and the rates paid for things (including labor) because of their policies. It's not the companies, or the wealthy. It is mostly determined by fiscal policy, domestic policy, energy policy and regulations. The businessman only takes what he has to work with and plays with the rules he is given, tries to make a profit. It's not quite as easy as you seem to think. But, I do agree there are greedy businessmen, greedy corporations (corporations run by greedy men) but they are few in number compared to the many honest, fair and hardworking people who run most companies. But, it is disingenuous to blame them for the workings of the real world. If you are really interested in helping the out-of-work people then get government to create better policies, better (fairer) tax codes and regulations so that businesses can expand and create jobs. |
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changeling 10-Apr-13, 22:22 |
softy"...Whose at fault? Probably all parties concerned, but the power still remains with those who own the wealth..." I do not place the blame entirely on the rich, although they do have a lot to answer for. The ones with the money and the power to 'create jobs' (and by that I mean the super rich top few in business), as you say, are simply not doing it. Your take is because of restrictive government policies and the tax system. When the US became the giants of industry, your tax system and rates were very much higher. How do you account for this? Your minimum wage in the US is way below (comparatively) what it was during the early sixties. How do you account for that? Take away all the nonsense arguments about the social ills of a generation who you say want everything for nothing and think about the real issues of why it is so different today. American businesses paid far more in tax during the 'good years' than they do now. It is a misconception that they are being harder done by now. |
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