How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by crfriend »

Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 9:23 pmI am flattered that my post has lead to so many responses and frustrated that so many of you apparently weren't paying attention during your high school history and civics classes.
What astonishes me is that it's actually stayed reasonably polite!
There is no question that the role of money in our political process is pervasive and pernicious. In light of the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision, what, Carl, is your strategy for reining that money in? Keep in mind, Supreme Court decisions on matters like that have the weight of the Constitution. That is, you either have to be very clever in writing a law to circumvent the decision or pass a Constitutional amendment.
This is going to be a very tough nut to crack, and it'll likely take somebody of the calibre of Teddy Roosevelt to do it.

Put to it, I suspect I'd turn to tax law as the primary tool. You can't prohibit unlimited "donations" because of Citizens United, but you ought to be able to tax them into oblivion so as to make it highly unprofitable for the big donors to sway things. Taxing political "donations" at, say, 90% would likely put a stop to much of the practise, especially if the proceeds were then used to finance real public campaigns rather than the highly-staged spectacle we see today. I'd also see to it that PACs and the like are not tax-exempt like 501c3 enterprises.
Or, get the Supreme Court to change it's mind by electing a President and Senate that share your feelings about campaign finances, change the political composition of the Court and then pass a law contravening Citizen's United under the expectations that 1) someone will contest the law (slam-dunk), 2) the case will make its way to the Supreme Court (ditto) and then 3) this new court will throw out Citizen's United and uphold the new law (crapshoot).
Is this an attempt a humour? Satire, recall, is a dead art form. With the way things are stacked at the moment the idea of getting a President and a Senate that give one whit about the common man is entirely laughable. Even if it was possible, it won't come for years and years until the ideologues on the Supreme Court die off or retire, and are replaced with rational forward-thinking individuals of character and integrity.
So again Carl, pray tell, how do you propose we all work together to make all that happen?
There are a few options i can think of, all of which are long-shots in the face of Citizens United. Reforming the way that campaigns are handled now would be a good first step, if only by shortening the "campaign season" to, say, 6 weeks (this will lower the price-barrier to entry somewhat); switch to publicly-financed campaigns which would, again, tend to level out the playing field; mandate a certain absolute maximum amount of money allowed to be spent on advertising; mandate equal time for candidates in the media, irrespective of a media outlet's editorial bent. Finally, it's time for the general population to tell "both" major parties that we've had it. Pick the least toxic third-party and vote for that, essentially boycotting the "two" majors. If a major-party candidate is running unopposed, leave the box empty. (Change the election laws to reflect that a blank is a valid vote, and if nobody "wins" with better than 55% of ballots marked the seat goes unfilled.)
I spent another 2 hours giving thorough answers to a number of other issues that arose, but because our website arbitrarily times out a contributor after they've been on one tropic for an hour, all of that work was LOST.
Try using the "Preview" button every 15 minutes or so. The "problem" magically goes away. You do proofread, right? That's how you do it. It's also a great way to catch formatting errors like the one that turned the previous post into almost 100% italics (which I fixed by the insertion of a single "/" character).
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Jim »

Both posts above have good ideas. Unfortunately,
crfriend wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 9:56 pm ...mandate a certain absolute maximum amount of money allowed to be spent on advertising;
probably wouldn't work because spending money on advertising is classified as "speech" under Citizens United.

Having a President and Senate agree to work on ending Citizens United is more possible than you think, Carl, in my opinion. Even if they are more looking for their own power than looking out for the common man, the Democrats might do this thinking it would help them politically. I'm less cynical than you; I think some in Congress care about people.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

Hurrah Jim! I too believe most of the people on Capital Hill put all the time and effort into getting there to make things better for the country. One glaring exception is Mitch McConnell. I recently read a column by a journalist who has put years into trying to get to the heart of Mitch McConnell and enlighten the rest of us. He said that he was told by a friend of McConnell's that the man has no core beliefs, values, cause that drives beyond the naked acquisition of power for its own sake.

Carl, I can't make heads or tales of your proposal to tax political donations. For starters, who would pay said tax, the donor or the recipient? How can you limit a political campaign to 6 weeks? Or any other time period for that matter? It's a free country. There's no legitimate way you can stop a politician from touring the country giving speeches on what she feels are the most important challenges facing the country and what should be done to correct those conditions? And what on Earth makes you think any legislator is going to even introduce a bill to count unmarked ballots? Let alone that even one state would pass such a nonsensical measure? By the way, we've always had lots of independent parties with candidates on the ballot here in Oregon. As best as I can tell, they haven't budged the needle by so much as a micron. Please try again after you have gotten a good night's sleep.

As to the problems with the website's software, I'll try to keep this as simple as possible; in my book, tools are made to serve people, not vice versa. I haven't heard a single good reason why the system can't figure out that as long as I am pounding on letters on the keyboard that I am engaged with the system and should be timed out. Every other time-out feature works that way so it can't be that tough!

When I proofread, it's either as I typing or after I have completed the whole piece. Just as my English teacher for my Senior year said to do.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

They still got that ridiculous $15 per hour minimum wage passed though. That will sure kill off whatever few small businesses remain in SWVA after covid19 is through with us.... I've already spoken with several business owners about it, compared to the $7.35 that exist just over the state line in Tennessee (a state that Virginia democrats forget we border), these business owners all agree there is no way they will be able to compete.
Hello Moonshadow, in August I will turn 70 so I expect I have several decades of experience on you. Most of it has been spent working for the owners of small businesses either directly as an employee or indirectly as a small business management consultant or instructor/counselor. I even coauthored a workbook/textbook on how to start a small business. So please let me share with you a few things I have learned about them.

Nobody likes to be told what to do. Especially Americans. But American small business owners take that aversion to rules to a much higher plane; they ENJOY flouting the rules! Consequently, every time a major change in the legal environment was on the horizon -- whether it was a tax increase, minimum wage increase, changes in consumer, worker or environmental protections, you name it -- they solemnly assured me it was going to be the end of small business. Altogether. Forty, fifty years later, many of those businesses are still with us and as a whole we have more small businesses than ever.

But let's talk about your current situation, the increase in minimum wage to $15 per hour. To begin with, did any of these bellyachers talk to their local representative and state senator about what the minimum wage increase would do to their businesses? If not, shame on them! Especially at the state level, those people make themselves quite available to their constituents.

Is the new minimum wage going to just jump from what it is to $15 overnight? I doubt it. Generally, such big changes are phased in one way or another.

While we're at it, why do those business owners feel they'll go out of business if they don't relocate to Tennessee. Why are they so sure that once wages go up in Virginia that there will still be lots of Tennesseeans ready, willing and able to work for the same crappy wages they've been getting all along? Don't they think that there will be plenty of them more than happy to cross the state line every morning to earn that higher wage every hour?

In the meantime, while they're paying those higher Virginia wages what makes those business owners think they will just dry up and blow away? if they're offering value to the customer, they'll pay a little more to continue to get that product or service. If they're not providing value to their customers, why should they still be in business at all? Adam Smith called this process the "invisible hands" of the marketplace. The Nobel Prize laureate. Stieglitz refers to the whole process as "the creative destruction of capitalism."

In short, give that new minimum wage a year or two and I think you will find nearly everyone benefitted by it!
Last edited by Pdxfashionpioneer on Wed May 13, 2020 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by crfriend »

Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 8:22 amI haven't heard a single good reason why the system can't figure out that as long as I am pounding on letters on the keyboard that I am engaged with the system and should be timed out. Every other time-out feature works that way so it can't be that tough!
How about that we start with this simple fact: When one is reading, viewing, digesting, composing, typing, &c. -- i.e. anything that does not require the immediate and active participation of the server -- there is precisely no connection between the browser and the server. What little state there is is held in cookie-driven sessions, which time out in one hour mainly as a safeguard that an idle session not get hijacked. Altering that behaviour would be complex, intrusive, and potentially just as inaccurate as what's in place now.
When I proofread, it's either as I typing or after I have completed the whole piece. Just as my English teacher for my Senior year said to do.
Clearly that last line didn't get proofed else the, "as I typing" gaffe wouldn't have occurred.

On potentially taxing political "donations": As in the case of any other "sales tax" (because these are "fee for service payments" after all), the buyer (donor) pays. Also, since these are for-profit/power organisations the recipient (the "provider" of the service) would pay something as well, possibly tracking the "unearned income" spectrum which needs to be in the 50% range, not where it is now. The theme is to simply make it unprofitable to continue to do business as is done now in the political sphere.

Of course, none of this is going to happen because the system is self-feeding now and well beyond the reach of We The People (as in the society, not just the super-rich who can pay to play). I took my rose-coloured glasses off a good many years ago.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by moonshadow »

Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 8:58 am Hello Moonshadow, in August I will turn 70 so I expect I have several decades of experience on you. Most of it has been spent working for the owners of small businesses either directly as an employee or indirectly as a small business management consultant or instructor/counselor. I even coauthored a workbook/textbook on how to start a small business. So please let me share with you a few things I have learned about them.
With respect, starting the conversation this way is a little patronizing. Yes I can appreciate your experience on the matter, but let that stand on its own.

Frankly I struggle with confidence enough as it is, and in my short amount of time on this rock I've learned to not waste breath on closed ears. I do have thoughtful rebuttals, but I now feel like I've been branded a stupid kid.

So I have a decision to make, do I spend an hour out of my day firing up the old desktop and penning my rebuttal? Does anyone care? Or is the general consensus view that someone who is 39 years old has nothing of value to contribute, because after all... what does he know anyway... "he's just a dag blame kid".

I'll admit I'm wrong a lot more than I'm right. Such an admission is a rarity of any and group in 2020. I've conceded my share of debates, and I'm left to figure I've got to be the dumbest person on the planet, surrounded by genius all around me...

... and yet the world continues to spiral downward, so evidence seems to indicate that humanity isn't as intelligent as it likes to think it is, and the most probable cause of this comes down to a stubborn unwillingness to listen to one another, to dismiss all sides of an argument over various issues, age being one of them, lack of a college degree is another.

I don't have a college degree either. So...? I've never been trained how to think, I've had to figure it out as I go along, and I've got the scars to prove it.

So anyway, if anyone cares to know what I think about it ($15 min wage), reply thusly, PM, whatever, I am willing to share my thoughts if anyone is listening, but if the group has pegged me as a stupid kid, then frankly I'm just too busy to invest the time to prove them wrong (or right).

After all, one thing I do know.... it doesn't really matter what I think, I'm worth one vote... that's it.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Fred in Skirts »

moonshadow wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 12:56 pm
Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 8:58 am Hello Moonshadow, in August I will turn 70 so I expect I have several decades of experience on you. Most of it has been spent working for the owners of small businesses either directly as an employee or indirectly as a small business management consultant or instructor/counselor. I even coauthored a workbook/textbook on how to start a small business. So please let me share with you a few things I have learned about them.
With respect, starting the conversation this way is a little patronizing. Yes I can appreciate your experience on the matter, but let that stand on its own.

Frankly I struggle with confidence enough as it is, and in my short amount of time on this rock I've learned to not waste breath on closed ears. I do have thoughtful rebuttals, but I now feel like I've been branded a stupid kid.
First of all Moon you are not a stupid kid! You have and still do contribute a lot of good things to this forum. I have even learned a few things from you (even at my 77 years).
So I have a decision to make, do I spend an hour out of my day firing up the old desktop and penning my rebuttal? Does anyone care? Or is the general consensus view that someone who is 39 years old has nothing of value to contribute, because after all... what does he know anyway... "he's just a dag blame kid".

I'll admit I'm wrong a lot more than I'm right. Such an admission is a rarity of any and group in 2020. I've conceded my share of debates, and I'm left to figure I've got to be the dumbest person on the planet, surrounded by genius all around me...
You are not the dumbest person on the planet, He is the person who will not listen to anyone and always thinks he is right even when proven wrong. You know the local situation better than anyone else on this planet, so you have an edge on those who live thousands of miles a way from your area. You have contributed a lot more than you may think.
... and yet the world continues to spiral downward, so evidence seems to indicate that humanity isn't as intelligent as it likes to think it is, and the most probable cause of this comes down to a stubborn unwillingness to listen to one another, to dismiss all sides of an argument over various issues, age being one of them, lack of a college degree is another.

I don't have a college degree either. So...? I've never been trained how to think, I've had to figure it out as I go along, and I've got the scars to prove it.
A college education is not all that it is cracked up to be. I know a lot of degreed college grads who are still looking for a place to work in their field. And yet there are a lot of high school and non high school grads who are employed and doing just fine.
So anyway, if anyone cares to know what I think about it ($15 min wage), reply thusly, PM, whatever, I am willing to share my thoughts if anyone is listening, but if the group has pegged me as a stupid kid, then frankly I'm just too busy to invest the time to prove them wrong (or right).

After all, one thing I do know.... it doesn't really matter what I think, I'm worth one vote... that's it.
I for one do care to know your thoughts on things, you are more on the ball than you think. You have a different prospective on life than I and everyone else and that is what really makes the world go around. You are right in that you and almost everyone else is only worth one vote but if we all get together we can and do make a difference even if it is a very small one.
So don't let the nay sayers get to you and get you down. You do make a difference and we care to hear it.

Fred the crazy one... (or am I) :lol:
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by moonshadow »

Well I appreciate that Fred, and let me say, I'm not trying to pounce on PDX, nor fan forum flames his way. He's a very intelligent man who has posted many thought provoking articles on this website.

Simply stated however, starting the discussion with the proverbial "learn, young grasshopper" approach rubbed me a little. I know he meant well, and I can't take it personal as frankly I've seen Dave employ that same line with other members as well.

Yeah, I've got a few turns around the sun before I can draw social security, but I ain't no spring chick either. And yeah, I'm a little loudmouthed some times and yeah I can let my redneck out now and then, but then again I do try, I explore and learn as much as I can.

When I get home tonight (time permitting) I will pen my thoughts on the local situation regarding government wage mandates, where I welcome anyone to contribute. I'll put it on a fresh thread so as we don't steer this one too far off base.

Dave, again, please do not take my post as a direct attack, but I've listened to that type of rhetoric all my life, and many older people get it in their head they have nothing more to learn, likewise this mentality breeds a feeling of worthlessness in the younger generations. If you want to know one of the reasons more millennials and zoomers don't vote (yes gen Z is old enough to vote too), this is likely one of the reasons, they live in a world that constantly reminds them of their ignorance, and that they should just vote the way the elders have.

Lest we forget there hasn't been a generation yet that has really solved anything. Millennials don't run the show yet, zoomers certainly don't. This world is currently in the hands boomers.

Now this isn't a jab at boomers. Indeed there are lots of intelligent boomers out there and they are doing great things, but the point remains that being 70 doesn't always mean being enlightened.

So let's just keep age out of it, we're all tax paying adults trying to survive in the same system. How 'bout it...?
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by beachlion »

Keep on writing, Moonshadow. You write from the heart and that is very refreshing. That attitude also shows in your pictures.

I have a lot of respect for people who got at a place where they can run a family, the hard way, all on their own. My father was such a person. With a little more than elementary school, he started as a turner at a lathe and ended up as the boss of a large workshop of high precision machining. His untimely death stopped this rising in the ranks.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by crfriend »

moonshadow wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 12:56 pmI'll admit I'm wrong a lot more than I'm right. Such an admission is a rarity of any and group in 2020. I've conceded my share of debates, and I'm left to figure I've got to be the dumbest person on the planet, surrounded by genius all around me...
Moon, I'd like to echo the sentiments of Fred and BL. Do not disengage, for by disengaging you are handing an opponent an undeserved victory. If you are debated to a standstill, that's one thing, although in this day and age one must factor in Asperger's as a problem in civil discourse. The ability to admit error is one of the most important things we can learn as adults -- and few seem to learn it; you've already got it.

As far as experience goes, that's fine -- if one stays up with the times. 50-year old experience is somewhat less than useful in this brave new world we inhabit now. This is one of the things that's wrong with the political power structure of today: it's still mired in the "Father Knows Best" world of its childhood and hasn't moved beyond it. One of the reasons it's rare to see Gen-X types, much less Millennials, in postitions of power is that the early-era Boomers are refusing to cede it gracefully. As my father famously put it to me one time when I'd won a compelling argument against a couple of elders but still lost the decision, "Age and treachery will best youth and brains every time." It was a bitter lesson.
... and yet the world continues to spiral downward, so evidence seems to indicate that humanity isn't as intelligent as it likes to think it is, and the most probable cause of this comes down to a stubborn unwillingness to listen to one another, to dismiss all sides of an argument over various issues, age being one of them, lack of a college degree is another.
The standing joke about this is that "The amount of intelligence in the universe is constant; the population is expanding." Of note is that it is not spiraling downwards because of your actions; it's doing that in spite of your actions, guided and shepherded by minds only interested in expanding their own personal holdings of power and money. This is not your fault, and speaking truth to power is worthy. Keeping the big-picture issues in the forefront is valuable. Even if the odds of anything actually getting done about the matter approach nil.
I don't have a college degree either. So...? I've never been trained how to think, I've had to figure it out as I go along, and I've got the scars to prove it.
Congratulations, you're a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks -- and that's actually a stellar way to learn how to use that wonderful organ between your ears. You're ahead of the game on that count.
So anyway, if anyone cares to know what I think about it ($15 min wage), reply thusly, PM, whatever, I am willing to share my thoughts if anyone is listening, but if the group has pegged me as a stupid kid, then frankly I'm just too busy to invest the time to prove them wrong (or right).
Evidentially, there seems to be little indication that it actually causes the sort of calamity that it's portrayed to. Most of the noise is coming from the big chains like Walmart and McDonalds because they have and require large payrolls. They also pull in billions in profit, so it's only right that some of that sticks to the folks in the stores that make it possible rather than having it all stick to the board and the stockholders.
After all, one thing I do know.... it doesn't really matter what I think, I'm worth one vote... that's it.
It matters, if not in the grand fallacy we live in today, it matters in your heart and in your mind. Don't capitulate.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Uncle Al »

Age has nothing(really) to do with knowledge and/or wisdom.
The perfect example(from my aviation background) is that William T. Piper,
founder of Piper Aircraft, achieved his Multi-Engine rating at the age of 70.
He was a General Aviation, single engine, pilot for most of his life.
If he can do that, then YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO DO :!:

So........Anyone can learn something at any age :!:

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P.S. - When I started working for the airlines, I was making $5.77 per hour.
After 15 years I finally made $15.00 per hour. When I retired, I was making
$21.00 per hour. $5.77 to $21.00 took me 26 1/2 years. YEARS. YEARS :!:
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by crfriend »

Uncle Al wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 8:55 pmYOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO DO :!:
Indeed that is true (so long as it doesn't violate physical laws), but it also depends on that mind being open to new things. To use an aviation-related quip, "Minds are like parachutes. They only work when open."
So........Anyone can learn something at any age :!:
Indisputably -- with the proviso of an open mind.
When I started working for the airlines, I was making $5.77 per hour.
Here's where things can get dangerous indeed, because you're comparing too many things at once.

in the early 1980s, $5.77 was a pretty decent starting wage. I just ran the numbers, and I started off in the then-booming computer industry at $5.69/hour. And I flourished on that. The buying power of a dollar then actually meant something, and the tax code at the time did not actively penalise wage-earners the way it did in the late 1980s. The '80s were a deeply screwed up period of time financially. My salary and take-home pay shot up meteorically during that time, but all the while taxes were biting deeper and deeper and inflation was pretty much out of control. I crested six figures sometime in the mid 1990s, but at that point in time between tax and inflation, my buying power was actually measurably less than it was in the mid '80s. Wage stagnation then started setting in, and now what I take home is less than half of what I supposedly earn, most weekends are spent at least part-time working, workdays went from 8 hours to 9 (at a minimum) to insane levels, commutes got longer, and the number of holidays were reduced. I'm not starving by any stretch, but I am not happy with the way things have panned out. It's not pretty, and one really cannot directly compare the situation of 1980 to the situation of 2020 -- a mere 40 year difference.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by moonshadow »

Well.... I was going to write my rebuttal... but Aquarius seems to be indicating that I need to chill for now.. and give her luvins....

She has not moved from this spot for a half an hour... I put her down... she hops right back up...

Sorry guys.... maybe tomorrow... the cat's in charge tonight... :mrgreen:
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

Hello Moonshadow,

I'm sorry that my opening sentence came off as condescending; that wasn't my intent, I was just trying to establish my bona fides. I felt that need because plenty of times the responses I get back from my posts suggests to me that I'm not taken seriously or given credit for my expertise either. That was all.

Just like Fred, I have learned plenty and had plenty more thoughts provoked by your posts.

I hope you see that in fact I did take your first reaction personally; I personally got called out for having hurt your feelings, as well I should have been. I apologize for having done that. Again, it was not my intent.

What I was hoping you would take from all that is that you and your neighbors have a whole hell of a lot to gain by that increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour and I don't want you to be taken in by the bullsh*t those business owners have been peddling you. It's how they think they can make maximize their profits, but in fact all it does is keep ALL of you down; not only you working stiffs, but them as well. They're just too stupid to know that a rising tide lifts all boats, just so long as it's coming from the bottom up. If you expect it to trickle down, you never even get damp.

I've said this before and I hope you don't forget it: My father's academic education ended with his graduation from high school. However, he became a journeyman electrician through the IBEW apprenticeship program, which even when he went through it I believe included classroom work. One thing that confirms that for me was that when he went through the ship's electrician's training for the US Coast Guard during WWII he was the guy everyone turned to after class for an explanation of what their instructor had just lectured on. After the war, he taught apprenticeship training for his union as an extra job. And because he loved his trade and loved to teach.

In case it isn't obvious, I'm damn proud of my father and what he accomplished in his career. So don't ever think I don't respect people who get their hands dirty for a living, because I do. I also have a lot of respect for any man who can support his wife and kid(s), get said kids through high school and keep them out of serious trouble. (I believe any kid who hasn't gotten into at least a little trouble, broken a few rules or created some mischief has been deprived.)

I hate it that guys like you have to work as hard as you do for so little because there is no economic reason for it. None. So don't let business owners, politicians, media bloviators or anyone else tell you that if you don't settle for crappy wages you won't have a job at all because it's JUST NOT TRUE!

Is that better?
David, the PDX Fashion Pioneer

Social norms aren't changed by Congress or Parliament; they're changed by a sufficient number of people ignoring the existing ones and publicly practicing new ones.
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Re: How Did the Country (USA) that Could Do Anything Turn Into One That Can't Do Anything

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

crfriend wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 9:56 pm
Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 9:23 pm
Or, get the Supreme Court to change it's mind by electing a President and Senate that share your feelings about campaign finances, change the political composition of the Court and then pass a law contravening Citizen's United under the expectations that 1) someone will contest the law (slam-dunk), 2) the case will make its way to the Supreme Court (ditto) and then 3) this new court will throw out Citizen's United and uphold the new law (crapshoot).
Is this an attempt a humour? Satire, recall, is a dead art form. With the way things are stacked at the moment the idea of getting a President and a Senate that give one whit about the common man is entirely laughable.
I'll agree with you that the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live show how very talented they are when they manage to find a way to satirize the current Administration.

But no, I wasn't trying to be humorous. I was trying to make the point that what you regard as hopeless is precisely what it may take to rein in the corrupting power of money in our political system.

These problems certainly won't be fixed by the fantastical ideas you threw out in your response to my post.

As I tried to get across before; there's a world of difference between a realist and a dyspeptic cynic.

So please, do us all a favor and put that prodigious brain of yours to work on some PRACTICAL solutions to our current challenges and stop spreading despair!
David, the PDX Fashion Pioneer

Social norms aren't changed by Congress or Parliament; they're changed by a sufficient number of people ignoring the existing ones and publicly practicing new ones.
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