What's wrong here?!

[crfriend]

Because of normal thread-drift -- and existential threats in one particular banana republic -- this has gotten "off topic" and, at the request of the other two mods (who were in agreement), I moved it this morning (2024-11-20). The reason it hasn't been locked is that so far it's remained polite and focused on policies and ideas, not personalities -- and we've kept personal sniping out of it.

[moonshadow]

No.

Sorry Moon, since you are neither Moderator or originator, you don't have that decision.
You can forward reasons in precisely the same way as anyone else.
Steve.

Neither does the person that called it out.

Nobody is fighting, there's no flaming going on, the conversation is moving along smoothly. It's just a couple of guys shooting the bull about the times we live in.... just like people do in real life. Everyone was behaving like adults

Then.... someone who wasn't even participating got offended and decided to play speech cop and put a muzzle on it.

It's annoying. People just can't walk on by.

When I say "no", I mean I'm not submitting to people who try to take authority over me who have no right to.

So here's the deal.... if nobody wants to hear what I have to say, just tell me to leave and I'll go. I won't stay somewhere I'm not welcome.

[moonshadow]

I admit I can be a firecracker. That's just my nature, I've always been this way... passionate about subjects that matter to me.

If you take that away from me, you're basically taking away a dog's bark. If you take it away, you're no longer interacting with me, you're interacting with the person you want me to be... like so many people that would prefer I wear pants in their presence.

But I generally don't hang around in situations where I can't me, so I'm quite serious, if I get the sense I'm causing too much of a problem just for being the person I am... I'll bow out gracefully. It's not a big deal.

[familyman34]

Moon, and others,

Please don't go.

Although threads sometimes seem to escape, I do value the way this community doesn't (usually) degenerate into abuse and nastiness; I agree with Carl's view that "The reason it hasn't been locked is that so far it's remained polite and focused on policies and ideas, not personalities -- and we've kept personal sniping out of it." Although I sometimes feel baffled by the great difference between the views of other members, particularly those in North America, and my own, I greatly value the whole mind-broadening experience.

[moonshadow]

Thanks, and I didn't plan on leaving. I was just saying if I felt like my presence was causing a lot of problems I would, but I don't feel that way at the moment.

Carl, Uncle AL, Anthony and I get along just fine.

I just get annoyed when someone barges into an otherwise civil conversation and tries to shut it down. I mean, I overhear stuff all of the time that I don't care for, but I'm not out to try to shut anything down.

In fact there was a thread not long ago that was completely out of bounds. It wasn't something I was interested in, not something I'm into, and thus, I just ignore it and don't follow the thread anymore.

I figured if it got too far in the weeds a mod would step in. It's not my job to police the group.

[Dust]

Moon, glad you're still with us. Maybe someday we can still have that beer together...

Sorry to hear about your dad. I can't say I know what that's like, but I lost a friend that I hadn't spoken to in far too long, similarly hearing about it from a friend who found the news online. The memorial service was already over at that point, and I may never know what happened, though I have a few guesses, none of them good.

As to the direction of the country, I'm a bit of an optimist or maybe a realist. I don't agree with everything our soon-to-be, new-again, Commander in Chief has promised, but I focus on the good stuff, and try not to worry. Worrying about things we can't change never helped anyone, anyway. And the first four years with him didn't end the world, so, here's my optimistic-ish take:

There was talk of doing away with income taxes. That would be helpful, even if it's offset by tariffs on cheap crap from China that I'm trying not to waste money on anyway.

There's RFK trying to get the nasty chemicals out of our food, so we can all be healthier. Seems like a long shot, but I'll gladly let him try.

There's talk of dealing with the drug and gang violence. Again, would be good. Plus talk of ending the wars going on in Europe and the Middle East. Less killing is always good, both here and abroad. And he didn't start any new wars the last time, so he might pull it off.

There is talk of cleaning house in the government, getting rid of a bunch of bureaucrats, and trimming the wasteful/corrupt spending. Might slow the economic implosion. He talked of this last time too, and it didn't get far, so even if you think that shrinking government is a bad thing (I don't), I wouldn't worry to much.

Social Security was already bankrupt, plus I seriously doubt they will go after any of those kinds of programs for those already in them. I wasn't going to see any of it anyway, no matter who got elected.

And honestly, I don't see your fears of strict gender role enforcement, mandatory religion, or whatever else coming to pass. The Biden administration tried to go after parents, Catholics, and vaccine refuseniks and it just backfired on them, so I don't see the new administration getting away with worse in any direction.

So everyone just keep your skirts on, take a deep breath, and pray for the best.

[Elisabetta]

I randomly found a song today and I'll share the link below. It may not be something you all listen to however the meaning of the song made me smile.

I think you can maybe understand why when I post the meaning behind it.

The song-

https://youtu.be/fkV9SH8IYoo?si=MvlTpAMf_SP64Csu

The meaning-

The meaning is quite simple. Let me quote the translation:

If you come with evil intentions, we will give you fight. It's about fighting for our country.

[Jim]

Social Security was already bankrupt, plus I seriously doubt they will go after any of those kinds of programs for those already in them. I wasn't going to see any of it anyway, no matter who got elected.

It actually would be a fairly easy fix (except politically) to keep Social Security fiscally sound. Just remove the cap when people with higher incomes stop paying into the system. The system could even be slightly expanded enough that seniors didn't have to live in poverty.

[crfriend]

It actually would be a fairly easy fix (except politically) to keep Social Security fiscally sound. Just remove the cap when people with higher incomes stop paying into the system. The system could even be slightly expanded enough that seniors didn't have to live in poverty.

That's always been the simple fix, but because of who controls the country it's an absolute impossibility. The super-rich don't like paying tax, so they don't.

[Faldaguy]

The social security "trust fund" has never been sacrosanct; the governments raids it continuously -- had it indeed been in trust and invested there would not any shortage needing other than minor adjustments.

I do concur that the intent on creation was to insure aged-out workers, but also to a guaranteed minimum wage where everyone would pay in without a significant cap, to ease inequality which in turn eases dissension.

[Jim]

The social security "trust fund" has never been sacrosanct; the governments raids it continuously -- had it indeed been in trust and invested there would not any shortage needing other than minor adjustments.

My understanding is that the trust fund is invested in US government securities, which are still considered some of the safest investments around. This lending to the general fund does not seem to be raiding.

Here's an analysis of this claim if you want to look into this deeper. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirem ... r-AA1mWnqT