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Grex > Agora41 > #17: How much did the U.S. military spend while you were reading this sentence? | |
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| 25 new of 199 responses total. |
oval
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response 125 of 199:
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Mar 29 20:57 UTC 2002 |
cuz it would have to be in order to be true, now wouldn't it.
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jp2
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response 126 of 199:
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Mar 29 21:27 UTC 2002 |
Capitalism is economic theory. It has no relation at all on political theory.
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oval
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response 127 of 199:
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Mar 29 21:40 UTC 2002 |
and communism works pretty well! [in THEORY]
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jp2
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response 128 of 199:
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Mar 29 21:47 UTC 2002 |
Not really. People are rational actors in theory and rational actors fuck
up communism in a hurry.
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russ
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response 129 of 199:
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Mar 29 21:54 UTC 2002 |
Re #117, para 2: Obviously you're not paying attention. We justify
it because:
a.) The value-added doesn't justify higher wages;
b.) Such work is expected to be a stopgap or a supplement, not
a career; and
c.) There are plenty of people willing to take those jobs, so
it's good that they exist otherwise they'd have nothing.
We already know that when the pool of people willing to take those
jobs gets too small, the wages go up to keep them filled. The price
of burgers usually goes up too (I see considerable variations in
marquee prices from store to store), so the actual buying power of
the increased wages is no doubt diluted somewhat.
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janc
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response 130 of 199:
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Mar 29 23:54 UTC 2002 |
Does Jamie think communism is also non-political? If so, this will be news
to the communist party. If not, then apparantly Jamie thinks being
pro-capitalist is non-political but being anti-capitalist is political.
Capitalism is based on particular notions of property rights. Those notions
are established by politically created laws, not natural laws written into
the fabric of the Universe by God. The conditions needed for capitalism
are a product of a political process. The nature of capitalism has been
steadily changing due to political processes. Economics is politics, and
politics is economics.
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jazz
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response 131 of 199:
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Mar 29 23:56 UTC 2002 |
There is no such thing as an economic theory that does not have
political effects, or a political theory that does not have economic effects;
at heart, both deal with the acquisition and distribution of power.
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gelinas
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response 132 of 199:
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Mar 30 00:53 UTC 2002 |
(I'm going to give up on the discussion of Service compensation. The original
point was that certain members are paid so little that they qualify for
welfare IN ADDITION TO THEIR REGULAR SALARIES, ALLOWANCES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
Apparently, most here are quite happy with that situation. The same is also
true of some disabled retirees: they cannot work, but their retirement and
social security disability benefits STILL leave them qualified for welfare.
Such is the concern of a grateful nature. I'd hate to live in an UNgrateful
one.)
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gull
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response 133 of 199:
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Mar 30 00:56 UTC 2002 |
The DMCA is all about the political influences of capitalism.
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russ
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response 134 of 199:
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Mar 30 03:32 UTC 2002 |
Re #133: Sloppy thinking, Dave. Protectionism and cronyism were
a prominent feature of feudal economies also, and I'm certain that
you can find examples under communism as well. The DMCA is a
feature of (corrupt) government, not of economics.
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rcurl
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response 135 of 199:
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Mar 30 03:47 UTC 2002 |
I disagree with #130: any political system can choose from a variety of
economic systems. They are two parts of the machinery of government.
So one is NOT identical to the other, as Jan asserted.
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bru
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response 136 of 199:
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Mar 30 04:19 UTC 2002 |
Rhiannon works for the Pink Poodle People. If you don't know what that means,
wait till you see the next new Marshall's commercial. She is threatening me
with bodily harm If I release this information. Please be advised that these
retailers are part of this economy and thus fits in this discussion.
No, really! It does!
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raven
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response 137 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:08 UTC 2002 |
re #132 I actually think people in the military should be paid a living
wage, but I also think there should be far fewer of them sucking off the
public tit, and that there job should be to protect the contienetal U.S.
period. No more star waras, and no more U.N. based war keeping missions.
That should leave a lot of mnoey left over for both a tax cut and a pay
increase for servicemen. I suppose though that's not exactly what you had
in mind, eh?
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gelinas
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response 138 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:12 UTC 2002 |
I think you are short-sighted, raven. 'Tis almost always better to fight with
the water at your back, not on your front. Unless the water is narrow enough
to shoot over.
As for numbers needed, I don't have a useful opinion on how many we need.
"Enough to the do the job" is all I can offer.
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oval
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response 139 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:18 UTC 2002 |
again i ask why other countries don't station troops in the US.we are such
bullies.
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bdh3
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response 140 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:35 UTC 2002 |
re#139: Other countries do station troops in the US. For example, if
you visit El Paso, Texas it is not at all unusual to see German Air
Force persons in uniform nor is it unusual to see german military
aircraft.
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jmsaul
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response 141 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:36 UTC 2002 |
Or Ft. Campbell, KY. Or some bases in Hawaii I've heard about.
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oval
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response 142 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:39 UTC 2002 |
no middle eastern ones? any commies?
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jmsaul
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response 143 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:43 UTC 2002 |
Actually, we've had a lot of middle eastern troops here -- and a friend of
mine swears he met Vietnamese at Ft. Campbell in the early 80s.
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oval
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response 144 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:46 UTC 2002 |
whadda they do?
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jmsaul
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response 145 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:47 UTC 2002 |
Train.
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polygon
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response 146 of 199:
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Mar 30 05:55 UTC 2002 |
Re 135. Surely a choice made by a political system is a political
choice!
Re 109,129. You "expect" minwage work to be a stopgap or a supplement,
but you probably don't apply that kind of "expectation" standard to other
sellers of goods or services provided by business.
It isn't possible to improve one's position, acquire additional training,
etc., on the kind of life you get living on the minimum wage. Moreover,
there are always going to be folks who can't master other skills. The
decline in the purchasing power of the minimum wage has put them on such a
narrow margin that the chance of falling off and becoming homeless and/or
a public burden are much greater than previously.
(The problems of the low-wage population would be much less, even at
current wage rates, if there was some effective way to provide them with
cheaper access to housing. Of course, as you know, past efforts to
subsidize housing have had significant problems and externalities.)
"Considerable" variations in marquee prices from store to store have
presumably to do with the variation in the market price from one place to
another. The fast food places at Detroit Metro Airport charge something
like twice or three times as much for the same meal than other outlets of
the same chain in surrounding sites in Romulus, even though they
(presumably) exist in the same labor market.
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klg
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response 147 of 199:
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Mar 30 16:08 UTC 2002 |
re: "The problems of the low-wage population would be much less, even at
current wage rates, if there was some effective way to provide them with
cheaper access to housing."
Well, there is a way. It's called the earned income tax credit.
And it allows them to use the $$ in any way they see fit if they
should want to purchase something else instead of better/more housing.
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gull
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response 148 of 199:
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Mar 30 18:01 UTC 2002 |
Re #134: Being able to buy legislation that helps you make a profit
sounds like capitalism at work to me. Capitalism is all about profit
at any cost.
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i
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response 149 of 199:
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Mar 31 04:14 UTC 2002 |
Don't expect affordable housing in a country with huge income disparities
and lots of welfare-for-the-rich subsidies for megadollar housing.
But if we could yank the subsidies and put a seriously progressive national
property tax system in place....
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