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[QUOTE=Backbeach Jake;752784]I don't believe that it sucks here far more than the crappiest 3rd world country . Not at all and not by far. What I believe is that we can do a hell of a lot better than we are now, by far. After all we ARE the greatest country in the world, right? I truly believe so. Then it's time to put our money where our big mouth is. And that's not in some crook's pocket. That money, tax money, the people's money should serve the interests of the people (red citizens here), all of them.
Jake, I can agree with many of the things you say, and I can definitely relate to much of what you feel. But I disagree with some of your perspectives. I believe we are a great country, perhaps the greatest, but we probably don't agree why it is. I believe that tax money would best serve the citizens if it was not confiscated from them.
The reason we have so many on the streets jobless and homeless is that their chance at employment has either been sent overseas or overseas has been brought here. Some illegally. I don't remember in the 60s the feeling that I have now that a way of life is vanishing, or being stolen. That our government is not protecting the interests of the middle class, but rather big business. And business will tell their emplyees to their faces that they are the bitches of the company. I quit a job over that.
After jobs were "sent overseas" and even while illegals took jobs because they worked for less than we would, our unemployment rate was still low. The current spike in unemployment is a result of other failures. The 60's were a transitional period in which a large part of its generation rejected the then current "way of life", transforming "conservative" educational institutions into the disseminators of "liberal" social and economic ideas which developed into programs such as the war on poverty. The 60's inherited the wealth of the post war boom and business expansion that had shed some of the New Deal regulations and in a fit of love and guilt created the philosophy to which you subscribe--that government should protect the interests of the middle class rather than big business. And it should use the people's money to spread the wealth. Class warfare was approved on a grand scale in the 60's, and I believe that is the greater reason for unsustainable economic conditions.
And feel extremely lucky that I was able to quickly find a better job in less than a week. But I always have. In 40 years working I have never collected a frigging red cent from our government in umemployment insurance. Not one. But I am glad as all hell that it is there for those who need it. This country has never failed me. Others can't say that they've been so lucky. We are our brother's keepers.
Was it luck that you were able to find jobs? I would guess that who you are and what you have to offer had a lot to do with your success. The vast, vast majority of citizens find jobs, if they wish to do so. A safety net for those without work is a good idea. And the vast, vast majority of employers are decent people who don't tell their employees that they are bitches of the company. And the government should not interfere with that relationship by imposing overburdensome redistributive tax and regulatory policies. And employees should not add to those policies by demanding compensation that make shipping jobs overseas so attractive.
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