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burntbridge

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Isn't this just saying taxation should be optional? Should paying for the military, police or roads be optional? Or are you suggesting the amount you have to pay is fixed and then you get a choice to allocate it to different budget areas you favor.

The Americans are the central power that keeps the world from falling into insane tyranny.

The U.S. has an actual history of creating and supporting tyrannical regimes. Just look to your history.

Presumably, if the CCP wanted to do so, they could put an end to the groups shipping this deadly substance into the United States.

Presumably, if the United States wanted to do so, they could put an end to the groups shipping this deadly substance from the China.

Just changed the wording a little to show the bias in this sentence. Why do think China would be more successful than the U.S. in prohibiting illegal drugs?

But the U.S. accepts other things that are regulated, a couple of examples:

Speed limits: Speed doesn't cause accidents just people who go faster than their ability to control the vehicle. Many people are sensible and wouldn't do this.

Drugs: Many people can take drugs and enjoy them and not descend into anti-social and criminal behavior.

The "uninhabited farmland" is just an analogy for some area of the economic landscape that when you spend money on it, can absorb labor and return a tangible benefit that is equal or more than what you spend. Maybe for example repairing worn out infrastructure or creating new infrastructure.

The vast majority of the money the Fed prints goes to financial institutions

You maybe thinking of Quantitative Easing. In which case financial institutions are just incentivized to cash in their Government Bonds, whereby they need to look for some place else to put the money, hence perhaps asset inflation. The Government doesn't just print a whole lot of money and give it away to someone.

I don’t pay taxes to help other people. I pay taxes to protect myself.

Helping people in other countries does protect yourself. Having stable regional neighbors for example is very desirable. Any money used to keep things this way is very well spent. Trying to stem the flow of thousands of refugees or dealing with conflict is hugely expensive.

When the US supported South Vietnam, it's not that they condoned everything south vietnam did, but had to make a tactical choice between lesser evils.

But why get involved at all? The US didn't have to do anything.

Most of the reason the U.S. gets involved in anything has to do with geopolitics. If there are human rights issues or "freedom" issues then this is just a bonus for justification purposes.

I highly recommend the Ken Burns documentary "The Vietnam War". I'm old enough to remember all the propaganda we were fed, it is just amazing how much we were lied to.

Prices only go up if the demand approaches or exceeds supply. If there is capacity in the system all is good, more jobs. This is how Franklin D. Roosevelt brought an end to the Great Depression (spending money I mean not UBI)

If the economy is running at capacity and you wanted a UBI taxes would have to increase to prevent inflation. This would end up being wealth redistribution.

[dead] 5 years ago

I think you are the one actually drinking the KOOL aid. Why is it impossible for you to believe that he likes China? Why do so many people like you that think everyone in China has a gun to their head when they say something positive about it.

There is a propaganda war going on that is for sure. So much exaggerated and negative media about China, all in last few years. This is all from C.I.A. playbook they did the same to the Soviets, Evil empire etc.

Knowing that the vaccine doesn't prevent the person from getting and spreading covid.

Vaccines reduce the risk of spreading the virus. People who are vaccinated are less likely to get seriously ill. This absolutely doesn't mean you won't die if you are vaccinated. Think seat belts in car accidents. It is all about reducing risk. On mass, at population levels, this means ICU have capacity to take in other seriously ill people. If ICUs are full and there is a plane crash or whatever where many people are seriously injured we are screwed.

Taiwan claims that it is China. So its territorial claims encompass all of existing mainland China and actually bits of India and other countries as well. They claim the CCP has been too soft on maintaining Chinese territorial sovereignty. So ironically the Government in Taiwan is actually more expansionist than the Government on the mainland.

I'm sure what you are saying is true but it doesn't really address the problem at hand. The bird has flown the coup and now action needs to be taken to save lives.

Absolutely agree with you about hospital/medical resourcing though, we have the same situation in Australia. In the name of efficiency these services get paired to the bone, and we have no capacity to respond to unusual events.

The Neo liberal worldview posits that redundancy is bad. I think Western countries in general are suffering from this Anorexia. It cripples innovation as well.