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<blockquote data-quote="smapple" data-source="post: 1494623" data-attributes="member: 55535"><p>Total federal revenue for 2014 was $3.02 trillion and for 2015 it's expected to be ~$3.34. I'm not sure how you're getting that 50% figure. </p><p></p><p>I'm not saying Americans are riding the gravy train (since there no such thing), I'm saying that's what many want and by wanting that a lot of us lost sight of how to grow prosperity. Example, every job I've worked I saw about 7/10 people just there to run out the clock and get as little work done with as little effort as possible with the remaining 3 working their butt off to pick up the slack. </p><p></p><p>If you don't understand the conflict that the Sunni and Shia muslims have been having for centuries and how they've use the standing armies of other countries to attack the other in the past then you're not going to understand why 9/11 happened. It's not blow back, it's Persians doing what we do, what Russia does, what China does, and what Israel does, which is try to use other countries to attack their enemies. </p><p></p><p>Chomsky is a great linguist, but kind of shallow in the political department. A key factor of ownership is the ability to prevent others from using the thing that is owned. I disagree that without a state that capitalism would collapse since capitalism by definition is simply an individual having ownership of things and the futures gains from those things rather than the state. Without the state individuals would still own stuff and they would attempt with force to prevent others from exercising ownership over it. The US is going towards fascism because, like most institutions, government employees (President, Congress, courts, etc.) value the perpetuation of the institution known as government more than they value the individuals that are governed. </p><p></p><p>Minimum wage shouldn't only rise with productivity, you also have to calculate inflation (over 2280% cumulative since 1913) from devaluation of the currency which factors into a lot of current prices and test it against market forces that determine what price people would be willing to pay for said goods and services; you can't pay someone $50 to make a $20 products and sell it for $100 if people only have $30 to spend. Similarly, you can't charge $10,000+ for tuition if people only have $7,000 for discretionary income. Colleges in other countries are not free, they're paid through taxes. US colleges would lower their tuition if it seemed like enrollment would be so abysmally down that they'd have to cut down on building projects, research, and staff, but they know most high school graduates can get a loan both federally and from private institutions so they hike up the price to what the prospective student can afford to pay back based on projected income of a graduate from their college. Again, colleges aren't nonprofit. </p><p></p><p>Corporations don't control public education, the Department of Education does both on the federal and state level. They could stop all this nonsense if they wanted, but won't because they have something to gain, most likely a lobbying gig down the line (say it with me, corporatocracy not capitalism) while wringing their hands about homeschooling. </p><p></p><p>USPS doesn't work well, it would've been shutdown long ago if it weren't illegal to setup a rival postal service for letters. The beauty of FedEx, UPS, and other package deliverers is that they took over and expanded a niche market for package delivery, something that USPS should have done but didn't because it got complacent and instead griped about how email was making them lose volume.</p><p></p><p>I could go on a lot more but this already took about ~45 minutes of my time. If you're gonna be an autodidact I advise looking at source material instead of going off of what other's with agendas say.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="smapple, post: 1494623, member: 55535"] Total federal revenue for 2014 was $3.02 trillion and for 2015 it's expected to be ~$3.34. I'm not sure how you're getting that 50% figure. I'm not saying Americans are riding the gravy train (since there no such thing), I'm saying that's what many want and by wanting that a lot of us lost sight of how to grow prosperity. Example, every job I've worked I saw about 7/10 people just there to run out the clock and get as little work done with as little effort as possible with the remaining 3 working their butt off to pick up the slack. If you don't understand the conflict that the Sunni and Shia muslims have been having for centuries and how they've use the standing armies of other countries to attack the other in the past then you're not going to understand why 9/11 happened. It's not blow back, it's Persians doing what we do, what Russia does, what China does, and what Israel does, which is try to use other countries to attack their enemies. Chomsky is a great linguist, but kind of shallow in the political department. A key factor of ownership is the ability to prevent others from using the thing that is owned. I disagree that without a state that capitalism would collapse since capitalism by definition is simply an individual having ownership of things and the futures gains from those things rather than the state. Without the state individuals would still own stuff and they would attempt with force to prevent others from exercising ownership over it. The US is going towards fascism because, like most institutions, government employees (President, Congress, courts, etc.) value the perpetuation of the institution known as government more than they value the individuals that are governed. Minimum wage shouldn't only rise with productivity, you also have to calculate inflation (over 2280% cumulative since 1913) from devaluation of the currency which factors into a lot of current prices and test it against market forces that determine what price people would be willing to pay for said goods and services; you can't pay someone $50 to make a $20 products and sell it for $100 if people only have $30 to spend. Similarly, you can't charge $10,000+ for tuition if people only have $7,000 for discretionary income. Colleges in other countries are not free, they're paid through taxes. US colleges would lower their tuition if it seemed like enrollment would be so abysmally down that they'd have to cut down on building projects, research, and staff, but they know most high school graduates can get a loan both federally and from private institutions so they hike up the price to what the prospective student can afford to pay back based on projected income of a graduate from their college. Again, colleges aren't nonprofit. Corporations don't control public education, the Department of Education does both on the federal and state level. They could stop all this nonsense if they wanted, but won't because they have something to gain, most likely a lobbying gig down the line (say it with me, corporatocracy not capitalism) while wringing their hands about homeschooling. USPS doesn't work well, it would've been shutdown long ago if it weren't illegal to setup a rival postal service for letters. The beauty of FedEx, UPS, and other package deliverers is that they took over and expanded a niche market for package delivery, something that USPS should have done but didn't because it got complacent and instead griped about how email was making them lose volume. I could go on a lot more but this already took about ~45 minutes of my time. If you're gonna be an autodidact I advise looking at source material instead of going off of what other's with agendas say. [/QUOTE]
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