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Thorgi Duke of Frisbee
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20 members have voted

  1. 1. Death Penalty

    • Yay
    • Nay
    • Case-by-case
    • I judge from afar in my death penalty-less country


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Time to drag this thread down into hell again...

 

Yeah, and I'm sure that Sweden may be great for people without ambition but personally I don't think that makes for a great country. Ambition and opportunity were two of the main ideals that made America great. Flushing them away to achieve a better "baseline" seems like a step backward IMO.

 

In all honesty this is sort of offensive. It is not just people without career ambitions who benefit from that security net. Shit happens to people of all mindsets.

Also, it is wrong to say I have no ambition. My ambition is to lead a rewarding, and hopefully long life. That I lack ambition for MONEY of all things does not mean I lack ambition. I am however indecisive and have trouble figuring out the details.

 

And it's not like you can't become rich in Sweden just because we have high taxes. If you rake in 2 millions a year before taxes, and the taxes take 50%, you're still making one million a year after taxes.

I would also argue that having safeguards to prevent shit like sudden illness from completely fucking someone's life plans over probably makes it easier for people who start small to make it big, because it's the small people that need those safeguards the most. Though this is admittedly just my own speculation.

 

 

Opportunity is definitely there for people who just seize it and I think that's what makes America great.

 

Class mobility is something that's probably pretty hard to measure. Aside from people with genuine physical and mental handicaps pretty much everyone can improve their financial situation in America through a bit of hard work.

 

http://www.forbes.co...ates_Self-Made_

 

That some individual people have made it does not prove that class mobility is actually high. You're a nation of an estimated 313 million people (according to Wiki.) 400 people only proves that it is possible, not that it is something you can realistically hope for starting out as an average person.

 

I also strongly disagree that all that you need is hard work. You need luck, timing, position. Really, a huge deal of it is down to chance. Being at the right place at the right time. Sure, hard work goes into it, but most hard workers will never become rich.

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Two chicks. At the same time.

 

office+space+lawrence.jpg

F'in A man.

 

We brought on a guy at work whose name is Michael Jackson. I'm wondering how long it is before I can ask him "are you related to that singer guy" and "why don't you just go by Mike?"

 

I'm glad someone else got the reference. (assuming Hotty was going for it).

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I know what it's like to have hard times but I also know that my parents never would dream of accepting welfare or food stamps.

 

A misplaced sense of pride?

 

Nope, just not lazy people who sit on unemployment for years and do nothing to better their situation.

 

The great thing about America is that all of that is within my grasp even though my parents didn't give me any financial help at all. Opportunity is definitely there for people who just seize it and I think that's what makes America great.

 

Class mobility is something that's probably pretty hard to measure. Aside from people with genuine physical and mental handicaps pretty much everyone can improve their financial situation in America through a bit of hard work.

 

I forget who originated the quote (I heard it from Andrew Wilkow on SiriusXM) that says "Capitalism is a race. Some are at the front and some are at the back but everyone is moving forward. Socialism has everyone at the starting line standing still so they are all equal."

 

Oh and two chicks at once ... EPIC!

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I know what it's like to have hard times but I also know that my parents never would dream of accepting welfare or food stamps.

 

A misplaced sense of pride?

 

Nope, just not lazy people who sit on unemployment for years and do nothing to better their situation.

 

Yes, everyone who's ever accepted any form of state assistance whatsoever is a lazy asshole who's never worked a day in their life. That certainly is an intelligent and reasonable stance.

 

Battra, how can you say that they would never use food stamps when there were "times when the church food basket kept us fed"? Your parents clearly aren't above taking a freebie when it's offered.

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I forget who originated the quote (I heard it from Andrew Wilkow on SiriusXM) that says "Capitalism is a race. Some are at the front and some are at the back but everyone is moving forward. Socialism has everyone at the starting line standing still so they are all equal."

 

I don't know who originated that quote either, but I can already tell he's never set foot in a "socialistic" country.

My post further up the page should clarify exactly why I think this is utter bullshit.

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Battra, how can you say that they would never use food stamps when there were "times when the church food basket kept us fed"? Your parents clearly aren't above taking a freebie when it's offered.

 

Simple, it's not the government's job.

 

Also, Ethan I wasn't referring to everyone who hit hard times as being lazy, just some fat assholes who sit online all day whining about how they don't have a job and how they might lose their unemployment or government services.

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Also, Ethan I wasn't referring to everyone who hit hard times as being lazy, just some fat assholes who sit online all day whining about how they don't have a job and how they might lose their unemployment or government services.

Get the fuck out of here with that shit. There's no place for personal attacks here.

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Also, Ethan I wasn't referring to everyone who hit hard times as being lazy, just some fat assholes who sit online all day whining about how they don't have a job and how they might lose their unemployment or government services.

 

 

You said your parents wouldn't accept welfare or food stamps because they're "not lazy people who sit on unemployment for years and do nothing to better their situation." That pretty strongly implies that you think that people who DO accept those things ARE that way.

 

Battra, how can you say that they would never use food stamps when there were "times when the church food basket kept us fed"? Your parents clearly aren't above taking a freebie when it's offered.

 

Simple, it's not the government's job.

 

Why not?

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Also, Ethan I wasn't referring to everyone who hit hard times as being lazy, just some fat assholes who sit online all day whining about how they don't have a job and how they might lose their unemployment or government services.

 

Hmmm. I've seen this before. Too bad you can't just delete the entire conversation like you can with a status update...

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