Richard Clarke

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  • Reply 301 of 401
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    Move to Zambia then.



    Seriously, I've had enough of this bullshit line. Yes, blah blah blah foreigners don't pay taxes in zambia blah blah blah shut up. When you boil it down you are simply telling me to get the hell out of the country if I don't like your welfare state and I'm fvcking sick of it.
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  • Reply 302 of 401
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dmz

    IOn Atheism having no rituals, I distinclty remember a friend at work who had a pagan marriage ceremony, performed by a witch, hands tied together with ribbon holding a lit candle, drum circle, the whole bit---pretty surreal.



    Pagans believe in gods and spirits. Atheists, by definition, do not believe in God. An atheist would hardly have a witch at his wedding. Atheism is not a religion.
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  • Reply 303 of 401
    faust9faust9 Posts: 1,335member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BR

    Seriously, I've had enough of this bullshit line. Yes, blah blah blah foreigners don't pay taxes in zambia blah blah blah shut up. When you boil it down you are simply telling me to get the hell out of the country if I don't like your welfare state and I'm fvcking sick of it.



    Your taxes pay for the highway system also, but you'll probably not use most of the roads paid for. More importantly, advancements in technology are more of a driving force on an economy than taxes, defecits, or direct government spending. To produce an innovating technologically advanced society we need a good public school system because even with vouchers not all people can pay for private schools. I guarantee YOU benefit from the public school system even if you don't use it. Why should you be allowed to benefit from the public school system if your not going to pay? Did you go to college, or do you plan to send your kids to college? Well killer, the cost of tuition at state universities is mostly subsidized by taxes. Tuition only covers a small portion of the overall cost. So, when your kids go to college, thank your tax dollars hard at work. Even if they go to a private college there are many programs in place that allow tax dollars to be used by students at prive schools.



    This idea that "My kid goes to private school why should I pay for public school?" is silly and short sighted. Imagine what economy we'd have if the public school system didn't exist. Countries throughout the world are putting out better students than here in the US and doing so with good public education. Like it or not, you tax dollars are being put to good use and improving your life.



    If we didn't have to pay for every little program we didn't like then the government would run out of money faster than it already is. I'm fully against pork barrel polotics except when it benefits me. Vouchers are pork barrel politics that don't benefit me because I don't have kids, and vouchers take money from the public school system that WE ALL benefit from. Complain all you want but realize your car was designed by people publically educated. Your house was built by people who were publically educated. Your internet was developed by people publically educated. The use of vouchers takes money from the public education system just so you can use the private education system.



    In most instances I believe the use of public funds for programs outside of national defense are a waste of $$$. The noted exceptions are the infrastructure funds, and the public education funds. We NEED educated people to improve our society. We NEED good roadways, and infrastructure to live the way we are accostomed. Public education is NOT a welfare state because YOU benefit from it like it or not!!!
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  • Reply 304 of 401
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    That's all fine and dandy but the problem with public education is that it is for the vast majority of the population a monopoly and as such the product is crap. It needs some healthy competition and vouchers would help provide for that. Anyway, it's not like a voucher system is taking away money from others. It's taking the money that would have been spent on your child in the public schools and putting it towards that child's education in a private institution. I don't see how that is unfair at all.
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  • Reply 305 of 401
    demanondemanon Posts: 54member
    An obvious example where some should not be arguing above their pay. We do need educated people to improve our society. Your post is proof positive. Thank you so much for your contribution.
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  • Reply 306 of 401
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DeManON

    An obvious example where some should not be arguing above their pay. We do need educated people to improve our society. Your post is proof positive. Thank you so much for your contribution.



    Support your claims.
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  • Reply 307 of 401
    demanondemanon Posts: 54member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BR

    Support your claims.



    faust9 already has. The post was addressed to him.



    On a related note..
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  • Reply 308 of 401
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BR

    Support your claims.



    I'd rather see the people who don't think "their" taxes should be spent on anything that doesn't directly benefit them explain how they think a modern democratic capitalist society functions.
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  • Reply 309 of 401
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DeManON

    faust9 already has. The post was addressed to him.



    On a related note..




    That's why we have the quote function.
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  • Reply 310 of 401
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BR

    Seriously, I've had enough of this bullshit line. Yes, blah blah blah foreigners don't pay taxes in zambia blah blah blah shut up. When you boil it down you are simply telling me to get the hell out of the country if I don't like your welfare state and I'm fvcking sick of it.



    Actually I'm just trying to get you to realize that everyone pays some taxes that don't give them direct, or necessarily any, benefits. It would be impossible to run the country if the government only collected taxes for programs that effected everyone.
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  • Reply 311 of 401
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    Actually I'm just trying to get you to realize that everyone pays some taxes that don't give them direct, or necessarily any, benefits. It would be impossible to run the country if the government only collected taxes for programs that effected everyone.



    Saying what you mean instead of playing games and making inflammatory "get out of my country if you don't like it" statements usually works better. I have no reason to be pissed at you for this statement. And yes, I do realize that but I also believe that exceptions to the rule can be made when it is necessary to foster competition.
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  • Reply 312 of 401
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BR

    ...but I also believe that exceptions to the rule can be made when it is necessary to foster competition.



    I'm not sure what you mean by this. Fostering competition with taxes/tax breaks? I don't get what you're referring to.
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  • Reply 313 of 401
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    I'm not sure what you mean by this. Fostering competition with taxes/tax breaks? I don't get what you're referring to.



    The public school system blows ass in large part due to it being essentially a monopoly. Forcing them to put together a better product to compete for the tax dollars is beneficial to everyone involved.



    I would say the same thing in reference to any shoddy government product. Allow it to be privately outsourced and maybe you might see an improvement in the government product if they want to keep receiving any funds at all.
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  • Reply 314 of 401
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    That's how taxes work. It kicks my ass to know that the cost of this next year in Iraq is more than the cost of converting our entire national oil system over to a modern system that can handle natural gas and ethanol.



    So it goes.






    great point.
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  • Reply 315 of 401
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dmz

    I'm DEFINITELY in cut-and-paste mode:



    Thanks. Shows he has some sense.
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  • Reply 316 of 401
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Hassan i Sabbah

    Pagans believe in gods and spirits. Atheists, by definition, do not believe in God. An atheist would hardly have a witch at his wedding. Atheism is not a religion.





    An atheist, by default, has made himself god. The answer for the Atheist to question of unity as the sum of all particulars remains. In politics, the atheist is as neutral as the Christian, the Buddist, the Pagan, the Muslim, etc, etc, etc.
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  • Reply 317 of 401
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Could you guys start a new thread?
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  • Reply 318 of 401
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    I'm not sure what you mean by this. Fostering competition with taxes/tax breaks? I don't get what you're referring to.





    I was thinking last night, duh!! Why should the elderly have to pay??



    So I guess that calls into question the hypocracy of the American public school system, and why people whould chose to go around it---why, when America, that supposedly has no established religion, teaches both ethics and natural science in ways that directly contradict, and are completely offensive to large segements of Americans?



    When these groups protest, they are derided as imbiciles, and told to "deal with it". The free exercise of their religion in the public school system is not permitted---it is actually against the law.
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  • Reply 319 of 401
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by giant

    Could you guys start a new thread?





    Sorry about that, I'm done.
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  • Reply 320 of 401
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dmz

    Sorry about that, I'm done.



    It's an interesting subject and there's no reason not to talk about it. It just clearly could use its own thread.
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