America is a sick society

[David Horn]

(01-16-2020, 05:47 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(01-15-2020, 10:49 AM)David Horn Wrote: Bob, I have to take issue with your response, because some of Classic's premises are simply wrong.  First, the Blue areas of the US pay vastly more in taxes than they receive in return -- in any form!  Second, and no less important, is the fallacy of Perpetual Burden.  No, immigrants do not arrive and immediately produce more than they consume, but they do in short order.  By the 5th year of their residency they are typically net payors, having offset their initial cost to whomever helped get them on their feet.

So overall, it's the rural areas that are sucking the blood out of hard working urbanites (the incendiary language intended as a demonstration of how stupid it sounds in reverse).  Worse, most of the rural areas refuse to get help they clearly need, making their downward spiral inevitable and devastating.

I acknowledge the points you make, while sticking with what I say.  I don't see the conservatives as believing in big government, but many of them will attempt to exploit big government.  Their politics say low taxes, but at the same time they attempt to grab as much as they can from those taxes.

Part of that falls from the old slavery compromises.  The senate, where each state gets two votes, was in part an attempt to give small rural states more power, thus they would gain the ability to protect their slave economy better and longer.  The senate gives power to states, not power according to population.  If you are going to grant power according to population, you might give populous states like California more weight than you give less populous states like Montana.

And the conservatives will exploit these old compromises...

I fully agree.  The compromises in the original Constitution are set in stone, at least for now.  I don't see that changing until someone finds a way to flood small rural states with enough urban dwellers to get Amendments passed that correct the imbalance.  And it's not just the Senate; the Electoral College needs to go too.  I don't expect to see any of this in my lifetime, unless something really dramatic forces the issue.  Until then, we'll have to rely on demographics and patience.