FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Azrael · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

What could make anyone think "we are totally fucked as a people?"

outofplace · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

TigerVols said:

Can someone point me in the direction of the politics thread?
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TP is too busy sharing the ideas that kept him out of the really good schools to allow it.

Azrael · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

No game. Simple question.

In what way - specifically - are we "totally fucked as a people"?

You're the one making the assertion, after all.

As regards your payment, the folks down in accounts payable are very confused. You keep telling us you're leaving but never do.

3_Octave_Fart · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Azrael said:

No game. Simple question.

In what way - specifically - are we "totally fucked as a people"?

You're the one making the assertion, after all.

As regards your payment, the folks down in accounts payable are very confused. You keep telling us you're leaving but never do.
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That's because I'm not leaving.
And I am not obligated to leave.
Oh, I may if I get sufficiently bored here as I have with most of the rest of the site.
But until that sad parting, you're stuck with me, Mr. Aristophanes.

Azrael · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

3_Octave_Fart said:

That's because I'm not leaving.
And I am not obligated to leave.
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Well, you made a promise to leave then didn't.

Then told us all - what, a week or ten days ago? - that you had to leave because you were jammed up with some sort of work project.

Even trolling needs to be based in a kind of truth, doesn't it?

Azrael · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

3_Octave_Fart said:

Moving on from the orcs, trolls and provocateurs.

Third and most important, the average hourly wage is held down by the great increase of women and immigrants into the workforce over the past three decades. Precisely because the U.S. economy was flexible and strong, it created millions of jobs for the influx of many often lesser-skilled workers who sought employment during these years.

Since almost all lesser-skilled workers entering the workforce in any given year are paid wages lower than the average, the measured statistic, "average hourly wage," remained stagnant over the years--even while the real wages of actual flesh-and-blood workers employed in any given year rose over time as they gained more experience and skills.

These three factors tell us that flat average wages over time don't necessarily support a narrative of middle-class stagnation. Still, pessimists reject these arguments. Rather than debate esoteric matters such as how to properly adjust for inflation, however, let's examine some other measures of middle-class living standards.

No single measure of well-being is more informative or important than life expectancy. Happily, an American born today can expect to live approximately 79 years--a full five years longer than in 1980 and more than a decade longer than in 1950. These longer life spans aren't just enjoyed by "privileged" Americans. As the New York Times reported this past June 7, "The gap in life expectancy between whites and blacks in America has narrowed, reaching the lowest point ever recorded." This necessarily means that life expectancy for blacks has risen even more impressively than it has for whites.

Americans are also much better able to enjoy their longer lives. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, spending by households on many of modern life's "basics"--food at home, automobiles, clothing and footwear, household furnishings and equipment, and housing and utilities--fell from 53% of disposable income in 1950 to 44% in 1970 to 32% today.

One underappreciated result of the dramatic fall in the cost (and rise in the quality) of modern "basics" is that, while income inequality might be rising when measured in dollars, it is falling when reckoned in what's most important--our ability to consume. Before airlines were deregulated, for example, commercial jet travel was a luxury that ordinary Americans seldom enjoyed. Today, air travel for many Americans is as routine as bus travel was during the disco era, thanks to a 50% decline in the real price of airfares since 1980.
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http://online.wSportsJournalists.com/article/SB10001424127887323468604578249723138161566.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

As someone who has traveled the world, I guess I never understood what makes the American middle class so sacrosanct.
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But you just said we were all fucked as a people. This would seem to indicate otherwise.

3_Octave_Fart · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

MisterCreosote said:

Azrael said:

Even trolling needs to be based in a kind of truth, doesn't it?
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LOLZ.
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Thank God we don't have to be subjected to your pictures on this thread.
A laugh track is bad enough, but no pictures, thankfully.

dog eat dog world · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Well it is nice to hear the strong response from the Obama Caliph- I mean White House, regarding the North Korean dog's latest actions on nuclear activity:

"If they want to that's their business."

Hey, Al-Queda, you all comfortable in America? Welcome. If you need anything, just call us.

Obama may be Kenyan for "Death of a Nation." It is very close in English to "abomination." And we're headed there, in national conscience and strength.

dog eat dog world · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

3_Octave_Fart said:

I am being serious here, for a moment.
What makes the American middle class so sacred?
Is it the belief it won WWII?
I'm holding the chalk, small man.
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Octave, I don't find much wrong at all on your arguments....you're on the "right" side....but the middle class is the backbone of what keeps the rich growing. Erase the middle class and the ruling/upper class becomes the sole consumer. Check out Cuba's economy. You have the elite, the party members and the non-party members who get rations as outcasts. We sent a missions team there a year ago. Very enlightening.

Uncle.Ruckus · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Yawn.

cranberry · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Azrael said:

What could make anyone think "we are totally fucked as a people?"
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I had too much tequila last night but that's just me.

dog eat dog world · Jan 24, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

cranberry said:

Azrael said:

What could make anyone think "we are totally fucked as a people?"
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I had too much tequila last night but that's just me.
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Depends on your definition of ruination. A once-great nation of a robust economy who was central to international stability, we ain't. But that's probably fine with you.

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FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Azrael Well-Known Member

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