Why the left is against economic growth

ski2xblack

ski2xblack

Audioholic Field Marshall
I’m not trolling... The country that saved the West from Marxism is now the countrue that most wants to become Marxist.
Nah, you're not trolling at all.

Honestly, where do you guys get this stuff? Insanity Hannity?
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
I'm not going to feed that little troll anymore.
You sound more like the troll here. Actually, if I was in a mostly homogenous country of 5.4 million people sitting on a sovereign wealth fund worth about $1.1T or more, and defended by the US military umbrella for no cost I’d stay too.
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
Then move, troll.
The appeal of a Nordic country being mostly homogeneous is lost if you're not part of the homogeneous group, don't speak the language and have no intention of ever attending a herring muncher festival.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
You’ve chosen A small number of ways to define success so as to artificially make the US look bad.
No, I haven't, I just showed that we are behind on every metric which matters. Purchasing power for example. I can only assume that you don't understand the concept of it. This is not to say that things are grim, but falling behind on so many of these, means things are wrong and we should work to improve these.
I am genuinely curious and would love to know what other LARGE amounts of metrics the USA is so successful, according to you? (and @Irvrobinson). And please bear in mind that I am personally probably more financially secure than a good chunk of this country
 
R

radio3

Enthusiast
No, I haven't, I just showed that we are behind on every metric which matters. Purchasing power for example. I can only assume that you don't understand the concept of it. This is not to say that things are grim, but falling behind on so many of these, means things are wrong and we should work to improve these.
I am genuinely curious and would love to know what other LARGE amounts of metrics the USA is so successful, according to you? (and @Irvrobinson). And please bear in mind that I am personally probably more financially secure than a good chunk of this country
Hah, I’ve lived in 4 different countries with 4 different purchasing powers, salary rates, monetary customs, etc. I certainly know what purchasing power is. So what are the 3 most important things to you again, purchasing power, internet availability (hah), and what was the third? This is getting a little too childish for me. Is anyone here actually interested in having a conversation or is this like middle school or something? I haven’t seen a single post address one thing I brought up.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Hah, I’ve lived in 4 different countries with 4 different purchasing powers, salary rates, monetary customs, etc. I certainly know what purchasing power is. So what are the 3 most important things to you again, purchasing power, internet availability (hah), and what was the third? This is getting a little too childish for me. Is anyone here actually interested in having a conversation or is this like middle school or something? I haven’t seen a single post address one thing I brought up.
Avoiding answering, redirecting, and insulting. Talking who's being "mature" now.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
So what are the 3 most important things to you again, purchasing power, internet availability (hah), and what was the third?
Internet availability is not one of them.
This is one of the reasons you are being accused of being a troll. You should go back to refresh your memory before expecting others to repeat themselves (how many times does it take?)! That is very much troll behavior!
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
That is very much troll behavior!
This is the pig from your analogy come to life. He likes it!

Explaining troll like behavior to a troll isn't like wrestling with a turd or like teaching a pig to dance.

Your pig has learned to use a keyboard. God save us all. :D
 
R

radio3

Enthusiast
Internet availability is not one of them.
This is one of the reasons you are being accused of being a troll. You should go back to refresh your memory before expecting others to repeat themselves (how many times does it take?)! That is very much troll behavior!
Ah, it was internet SPEED. Yes. That’s the best way to compare countries. Am you still calling me a troll? Aren’t I like the only person here who has made any attempt to actually discuss things rather than insulting people and/or playing victim when insult responded to. This place is a laugh. Have fun guys with your little place here. Got better things to do tbh ;)
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Ah, it was internet SPEED. Yes. That’s the best way to compare countries.
Am you still calling me a troll?
You seem not to be playing with a full deck!
It was not internet speed.
I never, ever called you a troll.
I don't know if it is your lack of reading comprehension or inability to retain information, but your inability to understand what has been said and who said it (and your unwillingness to make the effort to find out) is a problem that I (and I suspect most others here) don't want to deal with!.
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
No, I haven't, I just showed that we are behind on every metric which matters. Purchasing power for example. I can only assume that you don't understand the concept of it. This is not to say that things are grim, but falling behind on so many of these, means things are wrong and we should work to improve these.
I am genuinely curious and would love to know what other LARGE amounts of metrics the USA is so successful, according to you? (and @Irvrobinson). And please bear in mind that I am personally probably more financially secure than a good chunk of this country
Which countries are you thinking the comparisons should be with? As has been discussed before, comparing the US to countries with small populations isn't interesting. For example, comparing France to the US isn't especially interesting. France has a smaller economy than California, and the gap is increasing. Comparing the entire EC to the US is more reasonable. Or perhaps Brazil, China, and India. Of the other top 10 countries by population the standard of living would be not comparable.

I just got off a plane, so I haven't had a chance to think about this much. For example, I read last month that the US has about 20 million people with a net worth of over $1M. I think that's comparable to the total population of all so-called Norwegian countries. It's about equal to the population of New York State. That's amazing.

The US has more cars & light trucks per 1000 people than any other significant country. We're about equal to the leaders in percentage of people with tertiary educations. Most of the world's biggest and most important high-tech companies are headquartered here, which is where the future is. For GDP per person we far exceed the EC, though our distribution is less "equitable", in the opinions of I suppose folks who think like you, I think it's a factor of the latest technologies enabling wider "audiences" than were ever achievable before. Until recently it would have been impossible for companies to have billions of customers. Those who figure it out can get massively rich. It is an interesting question if there should be a cap on wealth, as Sanders suggests, and what it should be.

That's not to say that I think the US is perfect by any measure, or that improvement wouldn't be welcome in so many areas. I think there are numerous improvements that could be made in tax laws (I hate our tax policies), our healthcare system, environmental laws, school systems and education policies, housing laws... the list is long. But bribery-like bullshit promises like Medicare For All, forgiving tuition loans, basic universal income, and whatever else the current crop of Democrats who chased me out of the party are advocating are not helpful in finding the way forward. These promises postpone the real discussions that have to take place while we argue about unrealistic nonsense.
 
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Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
The appeal of a Nordic country being mostly homogeneous is lost if you're not part of the homogeneous group, don't speak the language and have no intention of ever attending a herring muncher festival.
I agree. I didn't say homogeneity was appealing, but given that humans are so tribal it does tend to make consensus on a path forward easier. As I've pointed out to many, many people over the years who like to quote it, the plaque on the base of the Status of Liberty was written by an idealist American poet (Emma Lazarus), and was not a policy of the US Government. In reality, the US was not an especially welcoming country for many immigrants over our history. One thing I have learned over the years, Americans like immigrants who assimilate quickly and deeply. (France is like this too.) Anyone who doesn't quickly assimilate into US culture and values, and some immigrants take two or more generations to do that, find out just how true my observation seems to be.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
The US has more cars & light trucks per 1000 people than any other significant country.
As usual, your post is well informed, but I have to point out that the number of vehicles per capita is not a worthy metric for comparison. The reason is that much of the US affords little to no public transportation options and our residence/work areas are spread out such that a vehicle is sometimes a necessity and almost always a higher priority in the US than other countries. So depending on your economic position, car ownership could well be more of an economic hardship for the owner rather than an indication of wealth.
When I was in college and participating in cooperative education (working for Georgia Power), securing reliable transportation to the nuclear plant (located out in bum-f*ck, GA) was a serious challenge. I could not afford a car that was new enough to be reliable. I did all repairs myself, but predicting the failures left me on the highway more than a couple of times. I bought several cars in the $400 price range over those years. The total of those (maybe 4 ea.) $400 cars would have easily bought one reliable $1600 car, but I never had enough money at any one time to be able to do that. I was being careful with my money, but I knew how much I needed saved for college and especially senior year when co-op employment had stopped!
Honestly, in most jobs, I probably would have been fired because of attendance (due to car failures). My supervisors liked me and could afford to be understanding because my tasks were not critical to the plant, and the co-op program was recognized as more of a means of grooming future employees than having to pay for itself! But if I worked production, any business would have fired me!
My senior year, I sold my car to be able to pay for the second semester of school. I was living 2.25 miles from school for $125/month rent and road my bike into school rain or shine (but still needed to bum a ride with one of my roommates if it was icy - I had a late class which made them have to wait for me to get out, so this was only when the weather forced it). The last month, my budget was $0.62/day for food - boxes of generic Macaroni & cheese were my main food staple and I would splurge and add a sliced hot dog every fourth box. I never felt like a victim of my circumstances. It was a game of sorts and even a little fun to see how cheaply I could live. Many would say that is a testimony to my character, but honestly, I think knowing it was a temporary situation (until I graduated and started work full time) is what allowed me to take it in stride. I also knew friends of my deceased dad who would have probably loaned me the money to get through my last semester if an unexpected expense had come up (like if my bike had been stolen), so I was relieved of that type of stress.
Sorry about the discourse, but I think it is good to share such experiences, because there are far too many who would superficially look at my car buying history during that time and conclude I was an idiot for buying POS car after POS car when in the end I spent enough money to get a nice car. I was very aware of my budget and simply did not have the option to "do it right"!

Understand that I do not mean this to be a refutation of your overall post. I picked that one statement out of many good ones. I just wanted to do the reality check that having more cars per capita in the USA compared to he rest of the world is analogous to having more snowshoes per capita in Alaska than the lower 48!
 
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Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
As usual, your post is well informed, but I have to point out that the number of vehicles per capita is not a worthy metric for comparison. The reason is that much of the US affords little to no public transportation options and our residence/work areas are spread out such that a vehicle is sometimes a necessity and almost always a higher priority in the US than other countries. So depending on your economic position, car ownership could well be more of an economic hardship for the owner rather than an indication of wealth.
I hear you Kurt, and see your perspective, but I think as a general indicator of wealth and standard of living vehicle ownership is a legitimate factor. Not the most important one, but a factor that shouldn't be dismissed.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
I hear you Kurt, and see your perspective, but I think as a general indicator of wealth and standard of living vehicle ownership is a legitimate factor. Not the most important one, but a factor that shouldn't be dismissed.
We will have to agree to disagree. Hell, in Atlanta and the surrounding burbs, I even see homeless people who have cars packed with their worldly possessions.
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
One thing I have learned over the years, Americans like immigrants who assimilate quickly and deeply. (France is like this too.) Anyone who doesn't quickly assimilate into US culture and values, and some immigrants take two or more generations to do that, find out just how true my observation seems to be.
The reason it takes so long is that some immigrants don't care what Americans like. Growing up I saw some aspects of American culture that appealed to me. Being Cro is a very singular thing but you guys have cowboys, symphonies, ballet, guns, Blacks, Hispanics, The South, New England, Red Necks, Swamp Yankees ... I'm never leaving. This place is a cultural Baskin Robbins not to mention the scale of landscape.

I think as a general indicator of wealth and standard of living vehicle ownership is a legitimate factor.
You might be a Redneck if you own a home that is mobile and 5 cars that aren't.

I was referring to your comment about the direction of, well, you know....
Ah ... my being crass doesn't lend itself to perceiving nuance. Thanks for the explanation. :)
 
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