Trump's people have founded their Party:

[pbrower2a]

(09-14-2021, 05:30 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(09-13-2021, 10:39 AM)David Horn Wrote: Just so you know: there is plenty of wealth on both sides (all sides, assuming you split the GOP into Trumpers and Never Trumpers).  The point is simple: in a democracy it's people not money that's supposed to rule.  That hasn't been true for a long time.  Pick a topic.  A large majority (roughly 70%) favors vaccine mandates, but the minority is still blocking them -- even imposing anti-vacccine and anti-masking mandates.  On guns, roughly 60% wants actual gun controls, and over 80% want mandatory background checks.  On taxes, almost everyone wants higher taxes on the wealthy ... except the wealthy, of course.  I could go on, but you get the point.  Rule by the minority can't go on forever, but the monied interests have found these minority tubthumpers will back their desire to avoid taxes and regulation if they get to avoid vaccines, not wear masks and get to have as many guns as they wish, unimpeaded.

According to Eric, there isn't enough wealth to go around/trickling down on the Democratic side.

The general assumption is that people will still need to work to achieve something. It is impossible to have strawberry shortcake if nobody picks the strawberries. Of course wealth is not itself a cause of prosperity. It becomes a cause of prosperity only if it is invested in something that generates income. Wealth that goes into building a castle or palace is good for spreading a little wealth as income once. 

But know well: technical innovations are making machines more efficient than raw labor in manufacturing of every kind. Fewer hours will need to be dedicated to toil, especially as raw labor. If the manufacturing of goods remains essential to prosperity, it is becoming less a share of the economy -- much as was so with agriculture. This said, agriculture is still essential to the American economy, and it keeps the cost of living down -- way down -- from where it would otherwise be. One state, Alaska, is particularly expensive as a place in which to live because practically all foodstuffs must be imported. 

So long as people have incentives, even if the banality of participation in a consumer culture, they will do things to generate income if they can. If they can't -- well, SNAP turns many potential shoplifters into profitable customers, and even the right-wing Walton family prefers such at Wal*Mart.     
 

Quote:Eric has been saying/telling me that about the Democratic side for many years. So, why does the 70% favor vaccine mandates when they're already vaccinated themselves and the vast majority of those who get infected aren't severely impacted and don't end up in the hospital or end up dying  from it?

I wear a seatbelt, and I rarely speed. I have good cause to expect people to wear seatbelts and to not speed.  

Quote:I think the poll you referring to seems pretty skewed in favor of vaccine mandates.

I may not agree with Eric on the reasons, but I am sure that he concurs with most of them. 

1. Most of us abominate pointless, avoidable death. We all know that nobody lives to age 125, but we all expect harsh sentences against murder. We also recognize strong criminal sanctions against deeds that can easily result in pointless death especially of those deeds are criminal in themselves, such as DUI, arson, rape, kidnapping, bar-room brawls, and armed robbery as well as any attempted murder. As an example, the criminal code of the State of Michigan prescribes a 25-to-life sentence for armed robbery without the chance of parole for 25 years, which is the same sentence as for attempted murder. Many armed robberies result in murder, so the analogy fits. 

2. We who have gotten the desired inoculations are getting impatient with those who have resisted. The people not inoculated are the ones contracting COVID-19 and spreading it before they get expensive medical treatment in ICU's... and dying. People are literally throwing their lives away for at most a triviality of defying what the rest of us well know. I am old enough to remember a similar story with HIV/AIDS; as with COVID-19 there was much crank falsehood spread about a disease that was then a veritable death sentence. 

With 99% inoculation, we would find COVID-19 unable to sustain itself.

3. COVID-19 is extremely costly. So are cancer, Parkinsonism, Alzheimer's, and congestive heart failure, but none of these is preventable with some simple measure other than perhaps to avoid smoking. There is no vaccine against general cancers or Lewy-body diseases; these are predictable consequences of aging.  Un like these, COVID-19 is highly preventable with some simple inoculations. It's far easier than completing high school, which practically everyone knows is essential to a good life. 

So if something is costly and preventable, why do people not do what they can do to prevent the menace?

4. We can all be judgmental. Sometimes that is without foundation, as with sundry forms of bigotry. This said, we all know behaviors that we cannot excuse, like spouse abuse and child molestation. What most of us recognize as pointless and catastrophic we excoriate. Physicians are particularly prone to contempt for heavy drinkers and heavy smokers. 

5. Many of the anti-vax people are inordinately obnoxious.    Some are dying for practicing what they preach. 

6. Most of us for mass inoculations, masking, and social-distancing act out of at the least pragmatic concerns for our lives and those of loved ones... and pity those who die and the loved ones of those who died of COVID-19. We may fault people for violating simple rules that would have saved their lives. We can hold self-destructive habits in contempt yet feel sorry for those who die. 

Mask mandates, business closings, and a rush to inoculate have saved lives. Maybe mine! I got inoculated at the first time possible, and I got horrible side-effects from the vaccination: chest pains, flu-like symptoms, diarrhea, and overall malaise. In a way I am glad because that indicates that  (1) I had done a good job avoiding COVID-19, (2) it is a good thing that I didn't, and (3) the inoculation works on me as intended. Sure, that is a testimony which is not 100% trustworthy, but I can say to anyone who has not yet gotten vaccinated: 

TAKE THE INOCULATION BEFORE COVID-19 TAKES YOU!

7. Need I tell you that COVID-19 is a budget-buster in the sense that a war is?    

Quote:Oh well, I guess revenues and long term survival no longer matter to the corporations/institutions that are going along with the Democrats and supporting/implementing their vaccine mandates these days.

If the business owner dies, does the revenue matter? Businesses usually die when the owner does.  

Quote: As far as gun controls, the gun controls that already are in place didn't stop the last mass shootings that took place (all done by people who passed their ground checks)  or the shootings and the gun related crimes that are on the rise and taking place in blue cities every day either.

Without question we need to inculcate some values that make violence less thinkable. Criminality is not a political choice; it is instead a fault of character.