10-06-2018, 10:08 AM
(10-06-2018, 06:49 AM)Galen Wrote:(10-05-2018, 11:10 PM)Eric the (Green) Wrote:(10-05-2018, 09:37 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Amicable divorce? In view of the sadistic tendencies in one part of American culture, I expect it to be as nasty as the dissolution of Yugoslavia. There are some very Red areas in some Blue states and very Blue areas in some Red states.
The obsession which you reds, Classic Xer, have, is entirely due to brainwashing. Taxes were not a big concern until Reagan, Prop 13, etc., the sleepening that happened near the end of the last Awakening 2T. That's ALL it is. It's neo-liberalism, libertarian economics, supply side, whatever you call it; it is nothing but BULLSHIT. YOu are brainwashed into thinking you should not have to pay taxes, because government is the problem, taxes are theft, taxes are coercion, job creaters create jobs, yadda yadda yadda, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, and more bullshit. And it's is the main cause of all our problems today in the USA. And you Gen Xers grew up knowing nothing better than what the charming actor and his successors and followers have told you.
Many of us Xers remember Nixon, Ford and Carter in addition to the stagflation of the seventies which is a legacy of the Vietnam War and the War on poverty which were both very expensive. These two things were paid for by monetizing the debt. Which is another name for printing a bunch of currency and then buying financial assets. The better informed will recognize this as basically the same process as QE.
Taxes became a concern in the late seventies because of the loss of purchasing power due to inflation and what was known as bracket creep. One of the things Eric the (Green) and the Keynesian types will never admit is that inflation tends to harm those with lower income simply because the purchasing power of currency decreases while financial and tangible assets increase in nominal terms. This increase in asset prices tends to benefit the wealthy since they are more likely to own such assets rather than simply hold cash which those with lower incomes tend to do.
But -- inflation serves people or organizations in debt by reducing its severity. Poor people typically go through their cash holdings quickly as the means of meeting the cost of living; poor people typically spend everything that they get. It's only with hyperinflation that the pay from Thursday morning loses a chunk of its value by the early afternoon that inflation starts hurting the poor. It is middle-class people who save who might get burned.
Debtors tend to be on the Left politically, as they want a more vibrant economy and can benefit from the real reduction in their burden of debt. Creditors tend to be on the Right politically, and farther to the Right to the extent that they are creditors. Creditors at their worst hold debtors in thrall, as with sharecroppers who typically fall just short of meeting obligations to pay off debt to the landowner and remain in debt -- but that allows the big landowner to keep in employ a good source of cheap labor. To be sure, small-scale creditors such as those who own a modest insurance policy or savings account have an interest in seeing that their asset not become a sick joke through heavy inflation, but such small-scale creditors need an income just to avoid devouring the assets that they own.
Quote:In many ways voting for Reagan was a rejection of the usual suspects from the political class as much as voting for Trump was in 2016. One thing that is not commonly recognized is that the GOP establishment has been at war with its own base for decades. Trump was not campaigning on a neocon platform which all of his GOP competitors and Hillary were. Even Rand Paul was sounding far more neocon than he usually does which was no doubt due to his campaign advisors. Given that red states provide so many soldiers it is hardly surprising that so many in the GOP want the wars to end and no one other than Trump in 2016 gave them the slightest hope of that happening.
Reagan was a lick pol, and he put an end to stagflation by compelling people with excessive expectations to lower theirs. Got a college degree and looking for non-existent jobs that you might like? Then take a look at the shopping mall or the fast-food restaurant. Oh, the pay is inadequate? Take two such jobs, where you are obliged to put on the moronic "Happy to serve you!" smile. You will be able to afford the rent and buy some groceries and the car that gets you to the jobs that you hate, and you might get a little extra as a minor salve. That promoted a little more productivity in the service sector.
I was there, and I hated it. But stagflation came to an end and many people were more comfortable with what they had.
Quote:Consider for a moment why evangelicals would continue to support Trump even in spite of Stormy Daniels. There is an easily accessible reason for this that the (Democrats or liberals) will never admit to.
H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y.
Trump may be a rogue, but he tells people what they want to hear. Evangelical Christianity is largely flim-flam, and people who get snookered for one thing often get snookered for another.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.