"WTF is wrong with Americans? This guy nails it"

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What are you trying to say? That the U.S. Government is going to provide healthcare for the U.S. populace, that all doctors in the U.S will be employed by the federal government? I don't understand how healthcare can be in the hands of the U.S. Government. Doctors deliver healthcare to patients and they try to make profit from doing it. Healthcare is big business with a lot of clout. Weren't you around when they debated the ACA, and it got watered down? Who do you think was responsible for that? Your fears are baseless.

The U.S. government has taken over industries e.g., the student loan industry. So, according to the above definition, then the U.S. is a socialist country ? Is it that simple? A single example of the government taking over an industry and then the country is properly labeled 'Socialist' ?



It is the platform of the Socialist parties to provide better social welfare for workers. People who call themselves 'Socialists' and promote 'Socialism" count 'increased welfare' as their ideas.

? "We call for increased and expanded welfare assistance and increased and expanded unemployment compensation at 100% of a worker's previous income or the minimum wage, whichever is higher, for the full period of unemployment or re-training, whichever is longer".

source, http://socialistparty-usa.net/platform.html

Funny, its the most charitable nation in the world, we give more money to poor people around the world than the entire rest of the world does. I get really sick of people talking like this some times. When is the rest of the world going to shut up with this crap and step up to the plate them selfs? Why is it that almost any time there is a massive national disaster or crisis in a land that most Americans cant even spell its always U.S. convoys bringing in the food and supplies? Why is it always medicine and clean water that is either paid for by US tax payers or donated by the millions from US corporations? On top of that have a look at where the most personal donations around the world come from when there is a disastrous in some far away land that cant fend for its self. You will find that the majority of personal donations come from us greedy U.S. citizens in a lot of cases.

I would really like to know. If the rest of the world wants to talk s**t like this we could save billions for our self and spend that money on "free education" instead of 3rd world villagers who have no national crisis response plan. Our poor people living on the street have a better quality of life than most of the rest of the world. I would rather be an uneducated hobo in American than living in a filthy shanty some where in India or China.

So really, WTF iswrong with Americans? Based on what I read on the internet it seems to be that we are wasting all of our free education money on crap like making sure people have clean water in Africa. The amount of money we spend on foreign aid is more than enough for all of us to spend on our selvs and get a free college education.

So I wonder, how hard does the rest of the world want to push this issue? My guess would be that foreign people wouldnt be willing to push the issue to the point where their own governments had to spend enough monies to fill in the vacuum that U.S. would leave if we decided to stop giving foreign aid.

There may be substantial financial aid for foreign students in order for the campus to advertise itself as an international hub of education. Also, many of the foreign students I met while in school were from wealthy families anyway. And they tended to come from countries where the universities were notoriously corrupt, so their diplomas would be worthless outside of the country they were earned in.

Sloppy generalisation.

According to the CDC, 39% of American high school students have even drunk alcohol in the last 30 days. Most of them will not be heavy drinkers. http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/ ... inking.htm

Hard drug use is on the way down, and cannabis is still a minority habit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/ ... 2Z20131218

Most American teenagers do not have sex until they are 18 - and have left school. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html

So the U.S donates some stuff, we're not the only country that helps other countries in times of need....sure the U.S has plenty of money to throw around. The U.S may be chairtible in some ways but how does that make up for all the problems in the world the U.S and U.S corporations contribute to. The U.S exploits resources and people of poorer countries in the name of 'making life better' while making chairitble donations so we look good while still doing just as much damage. Charity does not make up for everything else wrong with this country or the problems its contributed to in the rest of the world....people in other countries have every right to criticize this one, they are under no obligation to 'love' the U.S.

People who think like you are the problem with America.

You're kidding right?

Yeah they'll have different values alright, whatever happens to get them the most brownie points and 'likes' on Facebook. They'll embrace the cause du jour and won't think on their own because that might make them unpopular.

This is the generation increasingly being afraid to be on it's own or figure out how to solve it's own problems, they are used to mommy and daddy helicoptering in to save the day and basically monitor their child's activities from afar.

Then, not only that, but this will be the first generation that lives a shorter life expectancy because of how obese they're getting. You like the idea of legalizing cannabis? That's going to add to the obesity problem because it is well known to give people the munchies while using it.

And losing their religion? Unlikely. Believing that they are little more then a pile of animate meat that has no point to exist or purpose might suit some people, but it won't suit many. Like it or lump it, religion is the predominate tendency of most of the people on the planet, not the exception. And many of the immigrants currently entering the country are deeply religious, even more then Americans are now. Catholicism underpins a lot of their culture. Their children will very likely be the same way.

Gay marriage? It comes and it goes. It's been known in history. People thought the same thing with abortion, that it would become a 'standard' belief with the next generation, but there are young people increasingly turning against it. Even some states have started closing down most of their abortion clinics. I don't have any interest in abortion, but I'm just throwing it out because it's assumed that just because an idea or cause is popular today, doesn't mean that it will automatically be so a generation or two later.

While I agree with you that both sides in DC are corrupt, bought and paid for puppets, I have to point out (for the sake of accuracy) that the Dems have been trying to pass bills to increase funding and expand veterans services for over 5 years but have been blocked by the Repubs on every front.

The government doesn't run the student loan industry, they just guarantee loans are available. The student loans are financed by separate independent financial institutions (most of which provide a crapload of campaign funding for both sides of the aisle).



Flawed comparison. Using only one tiny part of a political platform to paint everything with a broad brush simply does not work. By that standard you could assume that Republicans want the US to be a fascist nation if, or a theocracy for that matter.[/quote]

So you're saying that it's normal?

When I last checked, 'normal' was't the standard being used. Graduates are given privilege for the rest of their lives based on a test that they took between the ages of 18 and 22. I have no qualms about making it a strict one.

Who's "sloppy" here?

I live in a very crappy part of Cleveland. The vast majority of the people in my neighborhood are minimum wage, full time working poor. Most of them get some form of government assistance, but it's not because they're "working the system," it's because they are poor as sh*t. There was a little girl who had rickets in this neighborhood a few years back, and scurvy is not an infrequent occurence. Considering the food options within walking distance and the affordability of actual healthy food around here, it is hardly surprising.
Welfare pays squat. Food assistance pays squat. Disability is probably going to pay squat unless you've been paying into the system for a long time.
Thinking that most people on government assistance just want free money is assuming that people would voluntarily live a life of squalor in a sh*t neighborhood to be crapped on by the rest of society just to avoid a little work.
A new WalMart opened up not too far away, and almost 10,000 people showed up to fight over 600 minimum wage, no benefit jobs. I'm sure all of them were just pretending to look for work and are really just so happy that they get to sit around and collect government benefits.

And by the way, a little something that many anti-assistance people never seem to remember: welfare has a 5-year total lifetime limitation. The whole idea of a lifetime welfare collector is 100% BS.

This does not change human nature.

As I asserted earlier, when social programs are offered, then people will examine every angle to get the easy money, and go through the contortions I mentioned previously.

You say these programs "pay squat" but you are missing the full picture. I know people who "day trade" stocks and have their stock portfolio in their divorced spouse's name, while they sit at home, collect maybe three different welfare programs for the "poor".

I know someone who runs a wood working business from home while collecting disability and truly has a back injury.




You can collect social security disability your whole life - which is why they are so appealing.

People get the disability and earn money on the side doing what they can.

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page7-11.html

Last edited by LoveNotHate on 14 May 2014, 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This article seems to disagree ?

Feds take over student loan program from banks

Instead, the U.S. Department of Education - which already makes roughly a third of these loans through its direct-lending program - will make 100 percent of them starting July 1
"Students who previously had to choose a private-sector lender for their guaranteed loans will now have only one choice: the government".


source, http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth ... 193888.php




The question asked of me was, 'What does social welfare have to do with Socialism' ? I made no 'comparison'. I answered the question.

I believe the reason Socialists want the government to have the means of production is to lower perceived economic inequality. Thus, the social welfare of "sharing the wealth".

I know people who are on disability, but they seem to legitimately need it. I don't know of anyone who is "taking advantage" of it, beyond making sure they can live and have at least a half-decent life, and I don't know anybody who is "cheating" on the side.

It appears we have completely different social circles.

Just to note that the social security administration allows people to earn I believe $770 / month and still receive benefits. So, it would not be surprising to me to see people earning money on the side. [see source below it says $770 /month can be earned without considering it 'work']

For example, I have known some people get on "disability" because of alcoholism. Alcoholism is not an impairment of the body, so these people can work on the side.

However, I am sure it is bursting with people who earn a whole lot more, but just don't report it.

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10095.pdf