tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post4380410882730303781..comments2024-01-16T03:42:46.705-05:00Comments on The Downward Spiral: "Me First" Economics Versus "Spoiled Rotten" EconomicsBill Hickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-86728041516474352992012-01-16T12:52:36.013-05:002012-01-16T12:52:36.013-05:00@signalfire - I'll admit that I'm not that...@signalfire - I'll admit that I'm not that familiar with the Zeitgeist Movement or its proposals. They seem to have their hearts in the right place. Trouble is, how do you convince 312 million Americans, to say nothing of the rest of the industrialized world, to completely abandon the customs and ways of living they have been taught since birth?Bill Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-34417404228003283282012-01-16T12:49:12.920-05:002012-01-16T12:49:12.920-05:00@starskeptic - agreed, but they've got a $15 t...@starskeptic - agreed, but they've got a $15 trillion national debt to pay off first. It might take even them awhile to do that.Bill Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-31029644340255040002012-01-16T12:35:32.307-05:002012-01-16T12:35:32.307-05:00OK - but if it's a fairness issue, then it'...OK - but if it's a fairness issue, then it's not "merely to bring down the deficit". The folks who benefit from the system the most are the ones who should bear the burden of 'paying it forward'. Great discrepancies in wealth are not good for society as a whole.starskeptichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02661141833059602897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-65498018717771224362012-01-16T11:53:39.791-05:002012-01-16T11:53:39.791-05:00Maybe the US gubermint should consider drastically...Maybe the US gubermint should consider drastically lowering the retirement/SS age; if all the 50+ year olds were out of the job market, there'd be jobs for the college grads coming up. A large cash stipend to everyone of a certain age would jumpstart the economy both leisure and business, and maybe a bunch of people would start up new businesses with them, further creating new jobs. Seems like a few bail out claw-backs and Pentagon budget cuts would pay for it all, and there's always the ever-popular printing of money. <br /><br />Bill, I'd be interested in knowing what your take is now on the Zeitgeist Movement proposal of totally eliminating money...signalfirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15318361590633535352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-1561773928996151242012-01-16T11:40:39.595-05:002012-01-16T11:40:39.595-05:00@starskeptic - I favor taxing them to merely to br...@starskeptic - I favor taxing them to merely to bring down the deficit, which was greatly exacerbated by tax cuts for them and wars that greatly furthered their business interests--NOT to "stimulate" the economy.Bill Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-42777360800361625732012-01-16T10:43:07.203-05:002012-01-16T10:43:07.203-05:00I'm confused - when you suggest "taxing t...I'm confused - when <b>you</b> suggest "taxing the living fuck out of the 1%" - it's because it's a fairness issue, but a Keynesian doing that would be "robbery"?starskeptichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02661141833059602897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-31299956380596785922012-01-16T08:25:07.427-05:002012-01-16T08:25:07.427-05:00@voiceinyourhead - yep, that pretty much has been ...@voiceinyourhead - yep, that pretty much has been my experience as well.Bill Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3862216000300765627.post-83688996802343922092012-01-16T08:14:19.238-05:002012-01-16T08:14:19.238-05:00A better perspective of the true economic conditio...A better perspective of the true economic conditions in the U.S. from foreign news sources than we do from our own?<br /><br />Uncontroversial facts are too distressing for most people in the US, so there you cannot actually speak about them in public. Very few people, I have found, can get past very simple statements of fact about energy, about the climate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com