prottog

15 ms·

91.
by prottog 3y ago
> it's continually implied the problem is merely that we're not following their simplistic prescriptions well enough Is this wrong? America was founded to be a federal republic composed of sovereign states sharing their power w
92.
by prottog 3y ago
> Because the US has an aversion to even think about the systematic reasons that cause crime, and prefers to pretend it's only about personal failings. A lot of people think the other way around, where it's unfathomable that an
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by prottog 3y ago
Malthus in the 1800s and Ehrlich in the 60s (and continuing thereafter), both renowned scholars of their times, also thought that limits were being breached right then. The latter thought the crisis was so urgent that he advocated for polic
94.
by prottog 3y ago
Economical progress is certainly no guarantee of happiness, and hardships do often foster a sense of camaraderie that brings people closer together. Soldiers who have been in combat, for example, find that they miss the foxhole, even though
95.
by prottog 3y ago
> From the air Tokyo literally just looks like a sort of denser LA I love aerial photos of megacities like this. But I would say "a sort of denser LA" is understating it a little; each of the small buildings in the Tokyo aerial
96.
by prottog 3y ago
What was the explicit intent behind the War on Poverty?
97.
by prottog 3y ago
Point taken around the guarantee of thriving. However: > it doesn't even guarantee everyone a job > everyone who has a job has a very real opportunity to make themselves a comfortable life I want to go further on this point. Ther
98.
by prottog 3y ago
Believe me, you and I cannot be more in agreement about the isolating effects of the typical modern suburban American life, though that does vary among subgroups within the US, and "we don't have this" is not categorically tr
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by prottog 3y ago
You're right that data is poor for the 19th century. The point I wanted to draw with my more recent sources is that there seems to be little empirical evidence to show that increased redistribution via taxation and expanded government
100.
by prottog 3y ago
> Things get worse unless you fix them. This is called entropy. All things towards tend toward disorder unless energy is applied upon. Insofar as degrowth advocates want to limit humanity's harnessing of energy, I find it very diffi
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by prottog 3y ago
> What if the average Texan could use 1/2 as much energy as they do now and still have a decent lifestyle? Absolutely! This would be marvelous, and can happen through technological advances. Imagine if a lifted F-250 could still get
102.
by prottog 3y ago
At the time of the Gilded Age, there was no income tax (personal or corporate), and government expenditure as a ratio of GDP was at single-digit percents; yet there was massive productivity gains and corresponding massive real wage growth a
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by prottog 3y ago
The history of human progress is one of harnessing more energy per capita in a mighty struggle to leave behind the disadvantaged state of man in nature ("solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"). We've done quite well so f
104.
by prottog 3y ago
Of course it doesn't. But there is no agreement on how close we are to reaching the limits of the finite planet, with degrowth advocates thinking that we're near, at, or past it already, and others thinking that we have a long way
105.
by prottog 3y ago
> Eventually, problems do solve themselves. One way or another. As Keynes said, in the long run, we are all dead. It would be nice to solve some of these problems within our lifetimes.
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by prottog 3y ago
> I drive around and see fucking flags for Trump People publicly display their support for Biden as well: https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DW... . Worth noting that this photo was from an art
107.
by prottog 3y ago
Thank you; I was unaware of this common parlance. I understood that UBI implicitly meant something that one could live off of. In that case, I prefer something like a Friedmanesque negative income tax, versus the absurd scenario of, say, a
108.
by prottog 3y ago
"Deserve" has nothing to do with it. I want everyone to have the opportunity to make something of themselves and keep more of their labor. I recognize that not everyone will succeed at that, and that there are no guarantees that I
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by prottog 3y ago
> Judging historically on blue states' treatment of some other issues like immigration Blue states don't have a great history on those other issues, either. Oregon literally prohibited black people from entering its territory.
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by prottog 3y ago
> It's not all about number limits. It's about healthcare and support. Sure, but numbers can be compared objectively. > there is no major stigma associated with abortion [in Germany] I agree, there is a lot more stigma in th
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by prottog 3y ago
> making the minimum wage a thriving wage What makes you say that someone should be able to "thrive" on the least-paying job? That's like saying that the dumbest person should be able to do get into selective universities,
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by prottog 3y ago
> The rich pay significantly less taxes than when America was in its prime. > The US will only get worse until citizens vote for corporations to pay their historical tax rates When do you consider America at its prime? Because I guara
113.
by prottog 3y ago
Not who you responded to, but I'll try and analyze GP's original points. It's up to you whether you decide this is sufficient evidence against the idea that certain demographics should be depressed given the present condition
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by prottog 3y ago
Please have some perspective ("touch grass", if you will). I live in one of the most socially conservative states in the union and there are openly married gay people here, gainfully employed and forming a part of society. Meanwhi
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by prottog 3y ago
> just do some smallish UBI Smallish UBI is an oxymoron; I'm assuming by "smallish" you mean something that's insufficient to cover basic living expenses (the B in UBI). I agree that we should do away with market-dist
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by prottog 3y ago
> Any high school graduate should be smart enough to file their own taxes. That this is not true today is simply insane. The tax code is stupid, yes, but on the other hand one-fifth of high school graduates are functionally illiterate, a
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by prottog 3y ago
The USD is the cleanest shirt in a pile of dirty laundry. Until another one emerges that is backed by both a significant military as well as a political and economic system that respects private property and rule of law, it will remain as s
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by prottog 3y ago
> why does an employer need to care? The IRS certainly doesn't care whether you're working legally or illegally, as long as they get their share. The employer is mandated to care by immigration law, since it's against the
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by prottog 3y ago
France, one of the most emblematic Western European countries, has a proliferation of 49-employee companies because of a boatload of regulations that kicks in starting employee number 50. Some estimates see almost two and a half times as ma
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by prottog 3y ago
> Gun control Sometimes the US truly is exceptional -- name another country that has more guns than people and, critically, enshrines private ownership of guns in its constitution.

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