The Liberal Advantage

In the 1920’s the Klan began to make inroads into the city of Denver. At first they infiltrated the police and fire departments, eventually drawing the mayor into their cause. Going from there they gained control of the state legislature and the governors office. Members were mostly Protestant. Something to do with the Hispanics all being Catholic.

The klan was promising a pure America with Protestant Evangelical values and all. Kind of like what Trump has been promising.

Anyhow the people of Boulder had long resisted the Klan and the mayor of Boulder was an outspoken critic of the Klan and the Klan members that held positions of power. In the end, that is mostly what put the Klan out of favor and destroyed their influence, public officials standing up to the Klan and calling them out for what they were. That and the fact that Klan-police-government official partnership led to charges of corruption and eventual arrests and downfalls.

 

Yet you support a man who is regularly telling his following how smart he is, how his big beautiful brain allows him to know more than all the generals, all the scientists, all the whatevers.


By the way, I was not saying I was the same as Jobs and Gates. I am saying that I am one of the perhaps thousands of engineers who made Jobs and Gates possible. If it wasn’t them it would have been someone else.

 

Yes and in the fifties the minimum wage was 75c to a 1.25 hour my dad's 4 bucks and - 160 a week cover his 83 dollar house payment with room to spare a big electric bill was 20 bucks bread was 10 cents a loaf and hamburger 50 cents a pound. The differentiation between skilled and unskilled labor was quite large pay wise. That's no longer the case. Because of continuing hikes in minimum wage Junior now makes about 2/3 as much an hour as dad, as a movie usher but mom and dad can't afford to go to the movies. Not that it matters because that job and the movie theaters themselves will likely be gone in a decade.

 

Back in the early 70's - my allowance was a quarter. I lived in a small town and there was a convenience story a block away.
You remember those jelly candies - blue whales - Red Hots ? - they were 5 for a penny. Now you are lucky to get them for 5 cents a piece.

The bottom line here is that productivity has increased - every year. Where did the profits from that productivity increase go ? Not to the worker - but the shareholder. The cumulative wealth of the rich (1%) has increased .. the wealth of the worker has decreases.

Back in the day - when many companies were private - if the company did well the worker got a bonus. Those days are gone - all the extra cash goes into the pockets of the shareholders.

If some of that extra cash was given to the worker - like back in the day - the worker spends that money almost immediately in the local economy. When it goes to some nameless faceless shareholder - who may not even live in the country never mind the local area - that money is siphoned out of the economy - like skimming the cream from the top of the milk - leaving the rest of us with skim milk.

This is just one example - I can give you many more - such as how manufacturing outside the Nation is more profitable from a tax perspective than manufacturing in the USA... That is crazy - as even if we could compete with the cheap labor in some slave labor nation - you are still way better off manufacturing outside of the USA - due to international tax loopholes. The Gov't is well aware of these loopholes - Obama threatened to close some of these right in the beginning of his first term. His handlers likely had a frank chat with him and the subject was dropped.

The tax laws and regulatory structure of our system favors the Oligopolies and is stacked against the little guy.

 

Be it Trump or Biden - both are doing some very dumb things on the basis of Politics - and not Science - Logic - and Reason.

One of the worst offenders in this respect is ... "Joe Biden".

Biden’s vow to kill pipeline puts Canada on defense

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/20/biden-canada-pipeline-271543

Biden - AOC - have no clue what they are doing with respect to the environment. Blocking this pipeline increases environmental pollution - not decreases.

 

Let me take a time to note something(from history) from the 60's onwards, there would be the "New Democrats"(today's Moderates or what's left of them.) Their movement had such political weight that they put a clamp on the House from the tail-end of the Eisenhower Administration, until the "Contract with America"(1996).

That is, America had over 35 years straight of Liberal rule of the House of Representatives. Where, by golly where is this PROGRESS? It can be evidenced in such tragedies as the 1965 "law"(that violates separation of powers) and the primary creator of the current immigration crisis. But other than such ruination, as you pointed out: Nothing.

We are to apparently blame conservatives for THEIR incompetence. The "Clean water act" did nothing to save the oceans(See: Enron). JFK couldn't even get moderate reforms to social security, at a time where it would have been most prudent.

To this, the OP has said those who converted from Liberalism are a tiny, insignificant number and/or a myth. No, it's no myth. Why would a seat in California, California go to a conservative?

Maybe, just maybe Californians are starting to realize: For all of our public referndums and our liberal stronghold, the party we've entrusted with our State has failed to meet the need of its citizens.

The same is true in Oregon, the need to take the governor to court(as the case is in Michigan) was a governor who failed to adhere to the will of the people. And they say that Trump is a danger to the Republic.

No, those who forgot the consent of the governed want to change America into something else entirely. And hey, if you want to put that up to a vote that's actually preferable. Let's actually debate these ideas as open citizens. But my clamor for an Empire is no longer an extreme proposition.

 

Well actually they favor those who are willing to spend a ton of money on CPA and tax lawyers. One of the reason I favor a flat tax withowith no deduction on everything earned above 35 k. The money saved just from tax accountants and tax lawyers being rendered obsolete over night would fund a huge economic boom and remove simultaneously one of the major advantages the big boys have over night.

 

The international loophole avoids the flat tax - as does the other problem mentioned with respect to publicly traded companies.

I like the flat tax idea in general - but the two above issues avoid this tax so it is not relevant.

How to put this in few words I will try ... Money gets siphoned out of the country in various ways - siphoned out - "untaxed".

There is a limit to how much cream you can skim off the top of the milk .. before you are left with skim milk.

This is about mass balance - The Pie is Yea Big. The slice that the 1% have - keeps growing. This means the size of the slice the rest of us have to live on - keeps shrinking.

Now the pie grows each year - but the rate of wealth transfer up the chain has been exceeding this overall growth.

Carrot top has continued this effort - as did Obama before him, Bush before him - and so on - at least to Reagan - when this outsourcing scourge really ramped up.

It didn't matter so much - "seemingly" - because the tech,internet, computer revolution kept revenues flowing - a white swan event x 2.. Clinton being a beneficiary starting roughly in 1995...one of the reasons why the they managed to bring the deficit to near zero.

When demand for labor is low - it becomes cheap. Losing our manufacturing sector had that effect... not only decreasing labor demand - but the supply taken off the table was higher salary jobs. Wage increases started to lag inflation .. and 60 years later ... 1-2% a year adds up.

Keep in mind we were substituting tech jobs - to some degree so the effect was muted. As with every business cycle - some of the computer - Tech - Internet cycles are long in the tooth.

In the beginning - demand is high - supply limited -during the rise - it is more efficient to manufacture closer to the market as you spread internationally .. over time - supply catches demand - you start to get pricing pressure ... at the same time - competition has sprung up - further increasing supply - margins start to shrink .. and that is the cycle.

What we then face ... is a slowdown in the one of the main areas that is keeping the game going... in a land where the emperor has no clothes.

This is the reason why Huawai 5G is such a big deal ... all this thrashing around that we see .. sanctions here - there - and everywhere - Trade wars, Protectionism

These are not signs that we are winning - these are the characteristics - of a declining empire - and if you want to read about these cycles in history - "Blood in the Streets" and "The Great Reckoning" - are two books I highly recommend... fantastic stuff - very easy reading.

One of the Authors is "Sir William Reec-Moog" - was editor of the London Times (second most powerful paper in the world at the time) and chairman of the BBC. Blood in the Streets came out around 1987 - When "Reckoning" came out round 1994 -- many of the predictions in the first book had come true.

Sir William had been Lorded in the interum - so it was one of the authors was now "Lord Moog"

Anyway - was not by any crystal ball that the predictions came true - it was simply the normal cycle in history playing out.
In the second book 1994 - They explain why there will be a housing/property bubble in the coming years .. and like clockwork - all the ducks line up .. as they always do.

They talk about the rise of terrorism - insurgent groups .. .. and like clockwork ... tick tick tock.

They talk about the natural tendency for the cost of projecting power to increase over time - as technology spreads. One example is the gatling gun.. With one gunship the Brit's could take over an entire African Nation - fighting back with sticks and stones. The Return on Investment (ROI) was very high.

The overall cycle of Empire is this - Technological innovation leads to military superiority which leads to economic hegemony.
During the fall - Technology spreads - the cost of projecting power increases - to the point where the ROI is negative.

At some point - the African nation got the gatling gun - which turned out to be an even better defensive weapon than it was an offensive weapon. (Think of machine gun turrets in WW1-2) defending a hill)

Now - sending one Gunship will not be enough - you have to send an entire armada - and you will take many casualties - The cost of projecting power has increased. Same thing happened to the Roman Empire.. And this now where we sit.. wasting our money on what we know is an effort that has failed before it starts.

Most of our entire Military Machine is on the verge of obsolescence - Our Navy has no defense against the Russia/India/China consortia's missile technology - Iran is now a missile threat - this technology is spreading like wildfire.

Musk was 100% correct in saying that our fighters will be obsolete very soon - missiles are getting way too smart - and the unmanned fighter is already here. Wars will not be fought by sending in so many planes .. they send in thousands of drones that you don't see coming.

I have digressed.

The pie is shrinking - and it can only shrink so much - until you get civil unrest.

 

I don't buy that narrative - Primarily because I do not buy the narrative that Red and Blue Establishment differ on every issue. On some things they agree - and this is where you find the Devil - not in areas where they disagree .. "Hot Button Issues" - abortion- gay marriage- guns-the wall - and so on.

One recent example of a "Devil" - would be that Blue is all of a sudden "Neocons" ! If I said to you .. "Mate - do you think it is a good idea to give sophisticated military equipment - shoulder launched surface to air missiles - perfect for taking out civilian airliners - to Al Qaeda - the 911 Terrorist Group"

How many red blooded US citizens would say .. Great Idea Mate !

As luck would have it - this question came up to congress - This Bill - aptly named "The Stop Arming Terrorist Act" - went before the house with 13 bipartisan cosponsors - out of 435. When the Bill was introduced to the Senate - it achieved a total of ZERO - cosponsors.

Overwhelming agreement among the Establishment Political Class - Yes - lets give Al Qaeda those missiles.

Neither Red or Blue Establishment has made any effort to deal with the systemic issues - tax and regulatory in this case - that have led us to this place.

 

No one has ever paid taxes on overseas earnings. It's no more of a problem with a flat tax than anything else.

 

I am not talking about oversea's earnings. I am talking about siphoning profits out of the USA.

 

Won't happen if you have a flat tax. The truck is to encourage people to spend and invest here rather than somewhere else.

 

You are talking out your backside. It will happen if there is a flat tax ... just as it happens now with a graduated tax system.

I have explained this to you previously in other threads have I not - how it works ?

Your statement is demonstrably false.

 

You have argued a great deal of nonsense none of it constitutes proof that what I said was wrong.

 

You posited a flat tax on earnings about 35,000. The money that is siphoned out of the country is not classified as earnings - and so goes untaxed.

This is my last post on this - I am better off talking to my cat.

 

Above 35k not about and you probably are your cat doesn't talk back.

 

Of course my cat talks back .. and more intelligently.

 

well that explains a lot your views are are informed by hallucinations like talking cats...

 

Have you never heard a cat Meow ? - This is a form of communication. Just because we do not understand the language that well - does not mean this is not a form of communication.

 

Liberalism has all the good intentions of providing a pathway to Utopia. Are you familiar with the Scotsman Robert Owens and the town of New Harmony, Ind.? It had all the good intentions of a place where the "enlightened" could prevail. Part of New Harmony's failings stemmed from three activities that Owen brought from Scotland to America. First, Owen actively attacked established religion, despite United States' constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and the separations of church and state. Second, Owen remained stubbornly attached to the principles of the rationalist Age of Enlightenment, which drove away many of the Jeffersonian farmers Owen tried to attract. Thirdly, Owen consistently appealed to the upper class for donations, but found that the strategy was not as effective as it had been in Europe.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New Harmony, Indiana.

The Constitution surely did have it's share of "Enlightened" founders like Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and Washington. You have to wonder how such enlightened people could draw up a Constitution that made the Negro only 4/5 human, gave woman no rights to vote and many who had plantations maintained by slaves and indentured servants. To their credit, seeing they were probably Diest's, they did include protections for churches from government interference.

I am more inclined to think that republicanism had more influence in helping curb those who would have liked more Federal control. I liked George Masons written version of a Declaration of Rights for Virginia over our Preamble.

"That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."

Jefferson's Preamble:
"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Thankfully we are a Republic and made provisions to overturn some of the discrepancy's to protect minority rights and not a Democracy where the majority rule.

The Clause to separate Church from State is not what many think. It does not stop the church from using it's influence in matters of morals and input into "the rule of Law".

It is there to protect the Church from the government. We rejected monarch's and the establishment of state religions.

So here we are in 2020 and even though we have laws against discrimination you wouldn't know it by listening to the press or politicians.

The question or discussion should be "why"?

 

Yes unintelligible seems to be your forte. You seem to believe that the guys with the tanks guns and cops, who, by the way print the money, are being controlled by people with money rather than that the people with the money are paying protection to the people with the tanks planes and cops.

 

You say - that I think ..

"That those at the top - who print money - are being controlled by people with money" This makes no sense.
Please do not project your unintelligible gibberish on to me.

You then say - something equally unintelligible. Something about people with money paying protection to those at the top.

Where is my cat .. perhaps she can make sense out of this

 

Of course it makes no sense but that's what you are constantly saying. The government which prints money are controlled by rich people and corporations. Never mind that those with power can always obtain money especially when they have the power to tax.

 

I have not talked about printing money. in this conversation about a flat tax. You have gone down some rabbit hole in your own mind and you are mumbling unintelligible gibberish that has no relation to your flat tax idea.

My claim - was that the flat tax does not address loopholes which allows profits to be funneled out of the country - untaxed.

Nothing you have said relates to this conversation. I am going to consult my cat and see if she can figure this out

 

Seems to me that Harmony first tried as a religious utopia, failed, and then became the failed utopia of an idealistic businessman. Not exactly a good example of supposed failed liberalism.

From a purely political science point of view the Right refers to the rule by few and the Left refers to the rule by the many. Thus, even though socialism and liberalism are both Left wing ideologies, they are not the same thing. I can understand your confusion as the right wing, the aristocracy, has spent considerable effort to cause that confusion.

In any case, Christainty is a dying religion, at least among White people. When I graduated from high school, more than 40 years ago, no more than 5% of the population rejected religion and something like 80% attended church services with some regularity. Nowadays more than 20% have rejected religion and churches have had to close. 40 years ago, comedians who made fun of God and religion would be booed off the stage. Nowadays they draw large audiences. The East Coast is far more religious than the West Coast. On the West Coast the lack of religiosity is closer to 40%, with it being closer to 45% in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. In Boulder Colorado, the most liberal and most educated and healthy city in America, over 60% reject religion.

I am a teetotaler, meaning that I live a lifestyle where alcohol consumption plays no part. I do not participate in those activities that are centered around the consumption of alcohol. I have heard that the word "nerd" was derived from writing the word drunk backwards, "knurd", with a silent k. It was used to describe those students who stayed in their dorm rooms and studied, rather than go out and get drunk, as many college students tend to do. Ever notice how nerds always tend to heavily lean liberal?

In the same manner I am a liberal because I live a lifestyle where religion plays no part. I'm pretty sure that the reason most innovators tend to be rather liberal leaning, is because when one's mind is free from religious myth, most of what doesn't seem to square with reality, one's mind is free to create, to go beyond the restrictions on thought that religions tend to cause. That is to say, if instead of wasting one's time and thoughts with religion, one spent that time studying nature and reading text books, one would be far ahead of those who wasted their time with religion.

That is what we see in places like Boulder, which is full of those who rejected religion and instead studied nature and read text books. Same with places like the San Francisco area and Seattle. Stir and wha-la, the tech industry, and advances in medical science. No religion involved. No religion needed. In fact, when I first started getting into electronics and digital circuitry, Christian preachers were on the television set telling their flock that the computer was the work of the devil.