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I hope they invent the time machine soon. I’d like to travel to 2008 and bitch-slap anyone who says economic conditions are worse than they are now.
(Depression Era migrant workers)
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Cheezburger Network Blog
I think it has more to do with the advancement in technology that our “ability to combat poverty”. People living in poverty have running water, yes, but that wasn’t because we were good at helping the economy, it just means that the technology finally evolved to the point where it became cheap and efficient to install.
That’s the beauty of Capitalism, you end up helping the poor even though you hadn’t intended to. There is no better way to combat poverty.
What is the connection between running water and capitalism?
Well, not running water per se, but most inventions are created to make money and will eventually help everyone out. Most people have cars now, even though they may be an older model.
Doh!
And… given that the car represents a consumerist model of economic infrastructure that exceeds it’s inherent ability to provide for itself…
I think that’s where you jump the shark.
Stick to food, water, clothing and other 1st world assumptions, and then I might buy your argument.
Consider global economy… and you might have a harder time, dear.
But I was talking about Capitalism, and the rest of the world isn’t Captialist… But maybe they should consider it.
Have you not been told that this is a complete falasy?? 1) The majority of European countries (among others) would disagree with you. 2) There is no country that is purely Capitalist, not even the U.S.
China’s pretty close — it’s like Ferenginar over there.
You should put “\sarcasm” after your post to make sure everybody gets it.
Who’s being sarcastic?
China is not a Capitalist country. They have a state-guided economy. Some of the means of production (not even ALL means of production) may be privately controlled but their economy is not Capitalist. All of media is state-run.
True, but for the most part, the extent of their central planning is “if annual GNP growth falls below 10% a year, there’s going to be a revolution”. If you’re a private business owner, pay off the right Party bosses and/or Red Army officials and you can pretty much do anything you want. (If it’s egregious enough and you get caught, of course, you’ll be summarily executed, but them’s the breaks, I guess.)
“the extent of their central planning is “if annual GNP growth falls below 10% a year, there’s going to be a revolution”.”
That is not true. The NDRC makes very specific plans, monitors and adjusts the performance of the national economy, and controls so much more. This is not Capitalism. This is market socialism.
In recent years, it’s really only large-scale construction that’s centrally planned in the classic Communist style. Large industry and agriculture are much less closely controlled than they were, and they’re getting more independent all the time. Small and medium businesses, which are primarily responsible for driving real economic growth, are almost totally hands-off.
Still not Capitalism.
Look, if I start a small business in China, I own my means of production (in fact if not technically in name), I buy my supplies and sell my goods on an open market, I pay my workers their market wage, or very close to it, on a similarly open market, and I get to keep my profits (again, in fact if not technically in name). That’s pretty damn capitalist.
If you’re just being pedantic, that’s fine, but irrelevant. The point is, regardless of what the technical structure of the economy at large looks like, there are *huge* bubbles in which you can run a business as close to the “bare metal” of capitalism as has probably ever been possible in history.
“The point is, regardless of what the technical structure of the economy at large looks like”
Then you can’t say that China is Capitalist if you’re only looking at these “bubbles”. You can’t. And if a country’s government has set minimum wages then you’re already out of the running to be Capitalist.
“which you can run a business as close to the “bare metal” of capitalism as has probably ever been possible in history.”
In ALL of history? Or in all of China’s history? Because if you’re saying all of history than you need to look at the early days of the indurstrial revolution in Europe and the United States, before workers organized, and see blatant, almost pure Capitalism at work.
Sure I can — because most of China’s business are small businesses, and because they’re behind much of its growth. Academically, yes, you’re right, but if I’m looking at all of the businesses in the country, the centrally planned ones are essentially rounding error. (Think of it like Newtonian mechanics: it’s not technically correct, but you so rarely need to calculate the motions of subatomic particles moving at relativistic speeds that it works just fine.)
Yes, I was specifically thinking of early industrial Britain and the US. Even though the workers in a Chinese Foxconn plant might technically be organized, they can’t do sh!t. (And minimum wage is so close to market wage for an unskilled worker that I don’t think it really throws things off.)
All good points. I may not completely agree with you but I have enjoyed this discussion.
However, what started this discussion, and I will postulate that 3mmm is still ignorant by continuing to believe that except the U.S. “the rest of the world isn’t Captialist”
From the Wikipedia article on “minimum wage history” – “In the United States, statutory minimum wages were first introduced nationally in 1938.”
It also helps to specify which China you’re talking about.
There’s only one China, of course…
Actually there is two – The Democratic Peoples Republic of China – otherwise known as Red China, and the Republic of China otherwise known as Taiwan. (Actually before 1999 there were “kind of” 3, you had Hong Kong but that was a British Dependancy.)
Yes, that’s the idea. (Look up “One China Policy” — Nixon, specifically.)
And it’s a complete “fallacy” too.
I am not sure thats the beauty of capitalism.
“Hey the rich get whatever is new and millions are left to go without until whatever it is they had, be it education, medication, transportation, sanitation, communication, or any other -ation that people -need-. Then, once the rich have lost the thrill of whetever it is they have and as technology improves, we can dole shoddy Wal-Mart versions out to the poor.”
I think if anything, we would be much better off to simply “help the impoverished”, and then we can all move up together. So.. if anything, I would say the way its done is a down side.
Well, first of all, we do help the poor quite a bit. Second, having second hand is better than having nothing.
That all depends on what you are counting. Are you considering purely physical well being? aka. you have water? Or are we talking mental or social well being? aka. The media, pop culture, and social norms say ‘if you not able to drink fizzy flavored vitamin water, you are worthless’. Because I think we have to hold them all into account. There is clearly an underclass in America, and its even worse globally. We can’t pretend that they don’t exist and just let generations suffer just on the hope that one day Capitalism will “trickle down.” It just doesn’t work like that, and never has.
We have to provide “fizzy flavored vitamin water” or it’s no good? People will suffer?
Talking in the same abstracts? Yes? There are three kinds of people in this world.
1) Those who want and have the means to aquire. These are the “wealthy” if you will. They can buy pretty much anythhing.
2)Those who want and through work can aquire. This is the “middle class”. For the most part, if they work and save thhey can get that nice thing they have thier eye on. These are the professional class. The teachers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen.
3) Then there is the want but cannot aqquire. This is your lower class. Your hourly employee. Many of the things they want, they will never be able to aquire through legal means.
Now here in lies the problem. From the time we are born, we are force fed commercials. Its on TV, radio, magazines, your sports logos and the Coca Cola logos on them. We can help but want the things that are advertised, first of, because we are raised to believe that wanting is what we should do. Thank you materialist America. Second, we are also raised to believe that if you cannot aquire these things that your are ‘less’ than those who can. I am sure you remember high school right? Well imagien that lasting your whole life.
Now I am not saying we can give everyone fizzy flavored vitamin water. But what I am saying is that as far as having and not having is converned, its virtually the same thing. You are saying “They should be thankful my being wealthy eventually gave their great grandchildren running water.” I am saying the mental and spiritual damage being done to a whole class of people cannot be overlooked and noone should -ever- tell them to “consider themselves lucky” because its our culture that did it to them.
Now I have my own beliefs as to how to curb this, and I won’t list them here, but something needs to be done other than “Thank you capitalism” because in many ways, thats the original source of the problem.
Then there are those who have learned not to want so much…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m mostly in agreement with you, but one of our society’s problems is over-consumption. I really don’t want to encourage it.
I agree with that statement. There are some ((I would say far less than half, maybe 10% )) that have learned not to want. But that takes some personal enlightenment, and many people don’t have the mental and spiritual energies left by the time they are middle aged to go through it. I also agree that over-consumption is a huge problem, and I wouldn’t want to encourage it either. But I also believe that the over consumptions isn’t coming from the lower class. It does come a lot at the middle class level, and then goes nuts as you climb the social ladder.
Part of the problem is the inability of some to distinguish the difference between “want” and “need”. I’ve noticed it especially in my generation. (I’m 25 for those who didn’t know.) I just had this conversation a few days ago with my cousin when he told me he “needed” a new car. When I asked him if his still runs and is safe he told me yes. So I asked why he needed a new on and his response was because he’s had it for 3 years and it was used when he got it, that it was simply time for a new one. *headdesk* I fear for my generation.
Don’t worry. Its not just yours. Its the one before yours, and the one before that. And its going to get progressivly worse. As long as we are being advertized to every second of every day we will want. ((Btw, advertising companies spend billions of dollars each year working on subliminal advertizing.))
But I also think that need is not just food, clothing, and shelter. Heck, the people in that picture above have all those things. In todays world we need those things as well as medication, transportation, communication, sanitation, education, motivation, as well as having our social needs met.
Some of those things that you see as needs, I still see as wants- at least to some degree. Medication, education, sanitation are all “needs”, and I don’t think anyone here (other than a troll) would disagree with that. But our ideas of basic communication and transportation have gotten so out of hand it’s ridiculous. And as for motivation, yes a person needs to be motivated to do something with their life, but is it really up to us to provide that? I’m more than willing to help someone who’s willing to put the effort into trying, but those who don’t care no matter how much you try to help them, then as far as I’m concerned, that’s their problem.
And I haven’t been here that long, so even though I’m sure you’ve explained it at some point in the past, I’d like to know what you mean by “social needs” if you have the time. Because when I see that, I think something that I’m pretty certain you don’t mean.
Most of that list are wants, not needs. And, I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I also have everything I need. That’s because I lived off Ramen, worked an average of 70 hours a week, and got myself through college. I didn’t ask for a handout, nor did I want one. I don’t know where you get your false sense of entitlement, or that the list you provided are needs. Again, I worked hard in the past, and I will continue to work hard to get ahead in life. I do not think you deserve any of what I’ve worked for.
Furthermore, where is your proof of all of these billions of dollars of subliminal advertising? And, even if they are, so what? It’s their money. Last I checked, this is still America, and you can do what you want with your money. And, it would be putting their money to good use. They are not in business to give you their earnings. They are in business to make money for themselves and their shareholders.
Subliminal advertising, huh? Now you’re just going off the rails.
Social needs are not something we can just give someone, like medication and shelter, but they are as follows :physiological (which are the physical needs), saftey, love/belonging, esteem, and self actualization. I just bring up social needs because its sometimes amazing all the things a human being needs to adequately survive. What I was arguing above is that our culture oftentimes doesn’t allow for the social needs of the lower class to be met. Without them, you literally become mentally deficient. Just as you can become delirious with too much heat or lack of water.
Also, being new is all the more reason to post something! As long as you aren’t looking for a fight, i think noone will care what you say/ask. They are usually too busy hushing me up!
Yeah. Subliminal Advertising. Look it up. Its there.
I’m all for a good debate, but I just don’t think that everyone needs to be told how great they are if they’re really not. How do you get better if you’re always told you do everything perfect? Criticism isn’t a bad thing if it’s done correctly. Also, what’s the incentive for doing better if everyone’s always equal and there’s no way to get ahead? Your world sounds nice, but it will become stagnant too. Also, socialism just leads to slavery. It’s just more subtle than it was 200 years ago.
Aren’t some of those needs meant to be provided by peoples parents? Maybe we need parenting classes?
This responce will just lead to an arguement. Nowhere above have I mentioned “my world”. I have only stated things that are happening in “the world”. Critisim done correctly is good. And I don’t think I have to remind you, but capitalism does, has, and currently involves slavery. So you aren’t gaining any footing there. But by all means, if you want to debate with me, try to make it seem less accusatory. You can say whetever you feel, but I won’t talk about “your world”. And secondly, who said anything about telling anyone how great they are?
How does capitalism promote slavery? If you make a better product or service, you’re going to make it big. That’s Capitalism. But, it’s all up to you. I guess that’s where the slavery is, but you enslave yourself.
And, “love/belonging, esteem, and self actualization” sounds great, but all you’re doing is telling people how great they’re doing, even if they’re not. It’s good to lose every once in a while. It’s okay to lose. It’s good that there is a “Best.” It gives everyone else something to work towards.
I do have a question for you though. If you get rid of all of the rich, and all of the evil capitalism, who’s going to provide the rest of us with jobs? The poor? The government?
I think there’s a difference between the human need for “love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization” and the type of artificial self-esteem bolstering that you’re referring to. There’s a difference between “let’s not have any winners in the spelling bee because it makes some of the kids feel bad” and “Wow, Johnny seems really sad over losing at the spelling bee — maybe I should remind him how good he is at math.”
The only reason for this is the lack of parents to hand down to their kids the idea of ownership for what they do and don’t do – in both the positive and negative. My parents taught me the difference between a want and a need. As long as my needs were met, I could then work towards the wants. I may not be rich, but I have a house, car, job, and savings. I have instilled those same principles in my kids, who are now putting themselves through college without any assistance. The problem as I see it today is that people some how feel that they are enititled to their mobile phones, computers, iPods and every other consumer want without taking care of the needs first.
A lot of parents have abdicated their responsibility of teaching their kids and have left it to the the government to to do so.
If my kids f*ck up, you can bet I’ll be there to lend support. But it’s not necessarily up to me to fix it for them. This is where the whole idea of entitlement comes from. Kids mess up and the parents jump in to bail them out at the first sign of trouble. On the other hand, if the kid has exhausted every means available, then maybe it’s time to help them out.
I’ve noticed that too. For a lot of people I know that are around my age, their parents spent most of the time trying to make up for something messed up going on at home, so they basically let the kids have whatever they want and get away with anything. These kids grow up feeling they are entitled to whatever they want. Not only material stuff either. They think that pepople should do whatever they want them to simply because they said to. I’m all for having good self esteem, but where do you draw the line? (<- rhetorical question)
The sad part is that these kids, now adults, are going to raise their kids the same way they were.
The tiny, dark, slightly less liberal side of me gets really pissed when I see people who don’t do anything, and make no money end up with really cool shit that I can’t afford. I have family members like that. My wife and I bust our asses to make ends meet, and yeah, we have our fair share of “wants” fulfilled (cell phones…which I broke another one already, that’s 3 this year, internet, cable, a relatively new car), but most of my clothes come from clearance racks, my glasses desperately need to be replaced, and I wish I had the money to go see the dentist about this throbbing tooth. These are people who claim to be trying to find jobs, but I know at least one of them limits his job search only to jobs he actually wants. It must be nice to be so picky.
Down with the Aristocracy! Viva la revolution! /sarcasm
My wife’s sister and brother-in-law have more money than common sense, but the one thing I will give them kudos for is not giving their kids everything they desire. If they have wanted something, they have to go out and get a job to pay for it. Consequently they don’t have the best, but they certainly have what they need to get by.
@Rando, I’m with you on the frustration. On the other hand, it makes you appreciate what you do have and the fact that you earned it. It’s the people that have stuff handed to them that end up trashing it because they didn’t work their ass off for it.
*looks at almost brand new, yet broken cell phone*
Sure, Eds, we’ll go with that. O_O
(Why won’t they warranty these damn things???)
If you quit playing “Keep Away” with your wife, maybe you wouldn’t have a broken phone.. just sayin’
You should be able to get insurance for your phone. Also, they do warranty them but it has to be something wrong with the phone, not something you did to it.
Without any sort of want or desire to succeed, we would never have any of the technologies, systems and standard of living that we have. The desire to achieve through the means of work and innovation are what keep any society functioning. Do you really think Edison invented the lightbulb it just happened? It took serious determination and WANT to fail over 1000 times and still keep going.
This is one of the key reasons capitalism, in some extent, is far more beneficial than any centrist or collectivist economic or government system. When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the honestly earned reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
And to go along with that, the main reason the U.S.S.R. was able to do the things it did is because it stole a lot of the technology from the Capitalist West.
you underestimate the curiosity of scientists. I honestly think if well funded and free in ther decisions concerning the research scientists will work eagerly under pretty much any system.
(I am NOT saying I want communism)
While I agree with the curiosity of scientists, people will still have little motivation to implement these technologies, contrary to the original post, if they “learn not to want.” Without a desire to progress or achieve, people will be reluctant or unwilling to fund the research. The scientist, due to his innate curiosity, will always explore and learn, because he has a desire to do so. Consequently, the people who are curious and ambitious are the ones who find meaning in life, while the “want-nots” find little meaning in life, if they have in fact learned not to want.
Victory, NotVengeance, I <3 you. I gives you a cookie.
Uh oh — that’s not good. You might want to get that looked at.
There’s an open room next to mine here at the “Nervous Hospital”- you’d fit right in, Comrade Allie!
In other words, you’re not that concerned about the poor at all, as long as there’s no one significantly richer than you. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t consider your personal wealth inequality to be a suitable macroeconomic metric.
I am not sure how you got out of all that “i’m not concerned about the poor.” The whole thing is totally based on my concern for them. But one has to look at causes of problems. You can’t just be sad cause you have a splinter. You have to pull it out and then make sure to me more careful next time.
Well, let’s see — mmm throws out an interesting point about capitalism necessarily helping the poor, and instead of responding to it on topic, you go off on a rant about the rich and Wal-Mart, followed up by further rants about the evils of advertising. I don’t see anything in there about capitalism’s efficacy as an anti-poverty program; you seem to have forgotten about the poor pretty quickly, in fact.
Like you say, “one has to look at causes of problems” and “…we can all move up together” — you’re not exactly shy about taking a top-down approach. As often as your rants mention the rich and evil advertising and subliminal messages, you seem to be using poverty as merely a means to push your social agenda.
I think you are getting things confused. Taking care of the poor -is- my social agenda.
You say that, but I have yet to see you propose anything concrete, much less explain how to improve the lives of the poor. All I see is some rich-bashing and a few anti-materialism rants.
gotta say, i kinda agree with dhoti on this one.
’sides, as nebton said above – there are those who are poor and dont want, or (to add), middle class and are content. shouldn’t lump all lower class or middle class together since there really are some who will try and just given certain circumstances are f*cked – those are the ones who, i would guess, would warrent a little hand up, not the ones who choose to mooch off the system because they’re just too damn lazy to take care of themselves.
i mean, if you’re happy with where you are, ain’t no shame in it be you a poor man beggin’ on the street or a wall-steet broker livin’ in a pent house, downtown NYC.
anyway.. not sure where in the post that fit bets, but i like this spot.
There you go again, putting words in peoples’ mouths. You really need to cut this out Dhoti, it doesn’t look good at all and it achieves nothing beyond pissing people off.
You again, huh? I don’t know why you bother — I’m not likely to put much faith in your interpretation, even if you weren’t wrong.
But, just so that you can’t accuse me of being unfair, I’ll give you an opportunity to state your case. Prove me wrong; show me where VNV shows some non-trivial social concern.
I’m not calling you unfair, I’m saying you read into things too much and assign unintended meanings to statements. If you thought I was insulting you I’m sorry, that was not my intent.
P.S. VNV is somewhat of a douche, but he’s not saying all you seem to believe he is. I’m not defending him at all.
That’s not a proof.
Triangle ABC is a right Given
triangle with right angle 3
C = 90 Definition of right angle
A + B + C = 180 Sum of angles theorem
A + B = 90 Subtracting equals from equals
Angle A and angle B are Definition of complementary
complementary angles
That’s a proof!
The maths! It burns us!
And you even showed your work…nice!
I made a math funny. *smug*
I prefer at least 80-90 proof. Wait, we’re talking about math? Oh. I was good at math in the long, long ago before adulthood and years in retail destroyed my brain.
But he’s right. Victory here does this all the time- starts an argument without posting any evidence to support himself while simultaneously poopooing any and all evidence thrown against him.
And now for something we think you’ll REALLY enjoy:
So a nun, a rabbi, and a preacher walk into a bar. The barkeep looks up and says “Is this a joke?”
It made me smile.
*snort* Hah! Made me laugh, twice. Because you are dead on with BOTH comments.
Hey!!!
A very good point Dhoti.
VNV: saving the poor and changing society, or sitting in front of a computer typing reams of drivel? I submit that life’s too short for both…
Sorry. That was trolly. Must restrain self in future…
Ok, then, instead of giving handouts, why not work on educating the poor so they can improve their lives? All you’re doing with handouts is keeping them in their social class and dragging the ones that have gotten ahead down. It’s not helping America at all.
“handouts” sounds like a bad political commercial trying to say “let the rich get richer and no one cares about the poor”. Noone has suggested that.
try to give the poor bread ” its a hand out”
try to give the poor a education ” its a hand out”
offer cheaper houseing for poorer area’s ” its a hand out”
Why is it when I give the poor food the call me a saint? but when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist?
No, you’re called a communist when you want to take something that’s not yours from people to give to someone else. Truthfully, if you want to give all of your money and worldly possessions to the poor, go right ahead. Leave mine alone.
dude, you don’t have enough for it to make a diffrence. you can keep yours.
You’re right, but you still want to take what I do have. And, I’m looking out for my future. Unlike all of these people that you want to save, I want to make my life better. And, I’m not bitter nor am I upset that there are those out there that can afford more than me. It just lets me know that it can happen to anyone, and challenges me to work harder.
I know you are only looking out for you and your mini existance. And thats great. Keep looking out for you. Noone is interested in taking what you have. Go be lower middle class, and enjoy it
Wow, that’s really condescending VNV…
Yo dick.
(I was expecting a nutso response, but not that. Color me surprised.)
LOL, I love how you’ve gone from wanting to help people to being condescending of those you pretend to care for. Especially the ones that want to get ahead on their own. Do you think that we can’t do it without you? What you don’t understand is there are those of us that don’t mind getting our hands dirty and working hard because we believe in ourselves. We don’t want nor need you to “help” us. All you’re trying to do is eliminate the upper class so that the lower class feels better. That’s not what’s best for America.
Oh no?! I took “can’t have mine” and turned it around and said I didn’t have any use for it, and neither did the nations poor, and suddenly you are all upset? QQ
Seriously VNV, sometimes you’re a little bit of a dick. You really need to chill out and stop insulting people.
*sigh* This is the part where VNV is backed into a corner and starts getting nasty. It’s a pattern. Comrade VNV, shape up our we’re not letting you into our next dirty communist meeting.
DIRTY communist meeting?! Damnit I just showered!!
We don’t mean THAT kind of dirty. Heh.
I’ll bring the whips and chains.
Okay, charro has the h-whips and chains. Anyone else?
I’m glad my kids school forced them to “volunteer” at the food bank one day. They both came home incredulous that the people wanting free stuff “were dressed better than we are!”. (VNV’s head explodes!)
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Or something like that…
No, it’s “teach a man to fish and he’ll sit in a boat and drink beer all day,” or possibly “teach a man to fish and he’ll spend all his money at Orvis and bore you silly talking about fly-tying.”
lol! *dreams about floating out on a lake w/beer in hand*
You build a man a fire, he’ll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire…
provide said man with a replicator and he will conquer the world!!
Why can’t we do both? Why can’t we give him a fish until he’s got the hang of fishing on his own?
No one says you can’t!
Well, that’s what our social programs are *supposed* to do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The problem is, far too often it’s the times it doesn’t work that people remember.
or make him fish for all the poor people who dont want to!
-snickers-
Ooh, I love snickers!
-hugs up charro- heya sexy
-butterfingers-
Oooh I do love your butterfingers..
Teach a man to fish and he will teach others and then pay them to fish for him. Then when he has a surplus he sells the fish to everyone else. Eventually the Man becomes rich and has a family. He dies, his son inherits his wealth. Then he sells the fishery’s assets and fires the workers so he can sit up at the top of of the social ladder without actually having to work enough to deserve his wealth. This is the problem I have with America: the aristocracy who do nothing and have everything.
Oh noes! It’s the Man!
You just described about every polotitian in Washington…The Kennedy’s come to mind.
Every politician? Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not how our current president started.
Then the son sets up several other investers in the fishing businesses and they hire twice as many people and sell twice as much product.
You see its impossible to sit on towers of money without doing anything productive with it, you will eventually spend it out. So, you have to put the money to work which means jobs and product for everyone else.
Um, no, that’s not necessarily true. True wealth never goes away unless you really freaking try. True wealth can reproduce itself without lifting a finger. True wealth can spend millions a year paying someone to find ways to make true wealth even wealthier without so much as lifting a finger. I like what Chris Rock said about the difference between being rich and having wealth (paraphrasing). You can blow being rich with a weekend in Vegas and a cocaine habit. You can’t GIVE wealth away. Shaq is rich (and holding a panda). The guy who writes his checks is wealthy. See the difference?
Wrong, the son invests his money in ponzi schemes and rips off the desperately poor to make his money. I’m not saying all wealthy individuals are like this, but there are some real social parasites out there who haven’t earned a cent of their wealth. They’re the ones I’m attacking.
P.S. Yes, I’m well aware many of our politicians have a similar story, and I find it revolting.
But Rando, how do you think they make more money? It just doesn’t grow like mushrooms you know. They invest it with people who want to create businesses for the most part, or with banks who make loans to people who want to start businesses. Then they create jobs and products. Thats what real wealth does, do they get rewarded for putting theiry money at risk, yes they do, greatly.
No1, those people eventually end up in jail.
Also, if he’s ripping off the desperately poor he’s not making much there…
Yes, they end up in jail, but after the damage is already done.
So do murderers and rapists, what you gonna do?
Me? I sit here and complain about it.
*snort* At least he’s honest about it. And mmm, I’m sure there ARE people just sitting on immense amounts of wealth. You can’t blow that kind of cash in a lifetime.
You act as though it is really simple to do such a thing. You are horrifically mistaken.
People with lots of money put their money in the bank, done.
because asking questions leads to knowlage.
there is no knowlage that is not power.
the more power you have the less others have over you.
And knowing is half the battle.
YO JOE!
on a side note, bitter troll enjoyed GI JOE movie.
flawed sure but entertaining and you could take the kids to it.
But so very, very flawed — it hurt me. (I’ll show you on the doll where the bad movie touched me.)
wait did you go in expecting a good movie?
naw just sit back and want entertainment thats it, and it worked for the bitter troll
I didn’t expect it to be good, but I did expect it to be so bad that it would end up being awesome. (Maybe that’s just another way of expecting a good movie; I don’t know.)
the summer was loaded with movies that could of been pretty good, but turned out crappy.
all of them had good points thou.
GI Joe: ray parks being ray parks, and the chick who played scarlet bounceing around
Transformers: some cool toys atleast…on and hearing spongebob call someone a Pnssy
X-men, wolverine: Ryan Renolds as wade wilson…NOT HIS PART AS DEADPOOL. and cotton from scream was great as sabertooth
*breaks down laughing remembering wicket’s embedded GI Joe PSA from the other day*
No, giving someone something that they did not work for is a handout. It’s calling a spade a spade. If you really want to help someone, don’t just give them things. Teach them how to get it themselves.
Can you teach them how to make jobs locally availible that pay more? Can you teach them how to make it so there is more room in the middle class? You do realize that there are only so many doctors, lawyers, business, politicians needed right? You are aware that we have to have people working in retail and mcdonalds so we can use them to right? You are saying “teach them” when there is no amount of teaching that can magically make there be jobs availible that pay decent wages. You are using the same tired, i-have-no-sociology-experiance nonsense that keeps people like you sleeping at night. I never used the word “hand out” you did. It was purely political, and you obviously stole it from your sides tomb of 3 words. I am saying we have to restructure the system so that everyone can work and get paid enough to be able to not be the people in the photo above or todays modern equivilant. Teaching them is wonderful, if our schools weren’t so impoverished (I can give you reasons for that too), but that still doesn’t mean that there will be good paying jobs, and the way inflation and capitalism works is by taking who makes the least and ensuring thier getting such a bare minimum.
However, I can tell this will go on and on. You will say “don’t take my money” about 50 times, and then you will say “hand out” 50 times. Keep pretending all you want, but everything I have stated above is acutally researched sociological findings. Its not the trash you heard from where ever it is that you are from.
You could start by hiring a good local editor. (It’s actually a surprisingly difficult job to offshore well.)
I think we’ve all taken a little sociology in college, so don’t pull on the tweed jacket with the elbow patches just yet, Professor.
Then answer the question.
I got a C in sociology. That class was boring. Don’t ask me about sociology. I was a comm major. LOL
I’m still stuck trying to figure out VNV’s definition of sociology, since it seems to include both macroeconomics and public policy.
It’s because VNV doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, and he makes my side look bad repeatedly. I like his passion, however his ideas are hugely impractical.
I enjoyed Sociology. I don’t know where VNV is going though.
Yeah, I think we can all agree that VNV isn’t making much sense.
So, cite where you’ve got your research.
Also, I am well aware that we need so many of certain professions. That’s the dumbest excuse that I’ve heard for taking money from the rich to give to the poor. So, you might have to move to get ahead. That’s part of the sacrifices people have to make. Again, you’re not promoting the poor. You’re telling them they need to stay where they are cleaning your floors and cutting your grass for minimal wage. But hey, here’s cheap housing.
So.. what you are saying is that we can’t pay them more doing the jobs they do, we can’t regulate the corporations who pay them low, they can’t make new jobs because of generations of poverty? So… correct me if I’m wrong… but what it sounds like you are saying is “fu(k em”. And if thats your attitude I don’t see any reason for me to be speaking with you.
And secondly, there is no way I am going to go through the effort to find all my sources so you can not read them and say “keeping my moneh”. No thanks. Actually do you own research and stop watching TV, you might be amazed at what you find.
Conceited troll is conceited.
(As a side note, what’s the consensus? Is it more fun to bait this guy, or just ignore him?)
Well, if we ignore him maybe the thread won’t become massively huge like a land fill.
Once again with no answers. I am so tired of people jumping in to argue with me but then not having any actual answers to respond to any of the questions posed. So ignore me, or bait me. Either way. Won’t change anything.
And for those of who who think I have “started a fight”. The picture did that. I’m outta here. Better luck next LOL.
I’m thinking ignore too…
bitter troll was thinking arby’s
I hear that, and maybe it’s just me, but this guy’s my kind of crazy — just the right mix of regurgitated talking points, half-remembered education, conspiracy theories, and egocentrism to be really entertaining.
But I suppose it gets old fast.
Actually, we do regulate the corporations. That’s what the minimum wage is. So if someone has to take a job making $5.75 p/hr and they can’t make it on that, they can always take on another job (I can well imagine that there are a lot people here alone that have had to do that.) The idea is you have to have a starting point and yoiu build from that. If you find your skill level going up based on the minimum you were paid, you will find at some point that you can get another job paying more based on the skills you learned. This is called advancement in the work place. If you start a person out making say, $10 p/hr this means that the cost of the goods you’re providing will have to increase as well.
I don’t have a f*ck ‘em attitude at all, but I do feel that you shouldn’t pay someone a damn good wage when they don’t even have a basic understanding of what the job entails.
Oooo Arby’s. I now want an apple turnover.
and curly fries.. Mmmmmmm with arby sauce
@Mina: Bring me back some Jalapeno bites, ‘k?
I’m pretty much going to have to agree with Eddie on this one — everybody has to start somewhere; many of us have ended up back at square one a time or two, but making the base minimum wage something that allows a person to comfortably support a family with a single job is probably only going to create inflation. There’s a place in the economy for the entry level worker (or, as Eddie points out, the barely-competent worker…) and their wage shouldn’t necessarily enable a comfortable lifestyle. It’s possible for a single person to get by on a minimum wage job if they live (very) simply.
*Hands Diss Jalapeno Bites w/ extra broncoberry sauce*
What kind of sauce are they getting from the bronco’s berries???
@ Mina: Thank you! Yes, broncoberry sauce is both oddly named and sweet, sweet HFCS evul.
-sniffs and sits in the corner pouting like a lil emo brat- no curly fries for the bitter troll
Um… um… *rumages through bag*
They must have forgotten them. But the remembered the Arby’s sauce. weird….
FVCK! What is it with you people talking about fast food!! If I could taste anything today (“I hab a code” as Garfield used to say) I’d so be going to Arby’s…except I don’t have the car. I miss Frankencar.
Don’t feel too bad. In reality, lunch today was saltines and ginger ale.
bitter troll had cup of noodles , with almost chicken flavor
I just discovered Potbelly’s. Mmmmm…
Oooh, stale Wheat Thins from the breakroom and Diet Coke, here. No wonder we’re all fantasizing about Arby’s.
What’s Potbelly’s?
Potbelly’s is a sammich place in Chicagoland. I had leftover Thai food and candy. But now I want curly fries with cheese.
“You are saying “teach them” when there is no amount of teaching that can magically make there be jobs availible that pay decent wages.”
See, that’s VnV’s problem right there: the “all or nothing” mentality. If it’s not perfect immediately, he/she/it/I dunno won’t even consider it.
It’s amazing VnV ever accomplished anything with an attitude like that. Or did VnV? Come to think of it, I’ve seen no evidence to that effect.
Sociology: Wishful thinking pretending someday it’ll grow up and be a science.
Was anyone else thinking of this xkcd when he said that?
Exactly.
Hahahahaha I love xkcd.
No one, not noone. I know it’s silly and petty, and I’m sorry, but it really bugs me. Noone is not a word.
are you sure? i thought noone was the feminine form of noon…
Well, I know it’s a singer’s name, Peter Noone. LOL
Something tells me I’m into something good!
According to VNV, Peter Noone wants to take all of slaggingham’s money.
I guess the royalties just aren’t coming in the way they used to.
Well he might have a child to support with Mrs. Brown’s lovely daughter. Although to me, he sounds like a stalker.
“People living in poverty have running water, yes”
Huh. No. People living in relative poverty in pretty damned rich countries (such as the countries of most – if not all – PK posters) might have, yes. :p
Wanna bet I can’t find a photo of someone living in worse conditions today?
I dare you NOT to find that photo!!!
Well, the photo is of migrant workers in the 1930s, so a good comparison would be migrant workers in California today. Oh, well, that’s better. They’re in color now.
Yes, being a migrant farmworker still sucketh balls. Enjoy your salad.
Another reason to love Diss… She’s ALWAYS up to a good challenge!!!
Hey, as long as it doesn’t involve living under a tarp with no running water and picking grapes for 15 hours a day, it’s all good.
Yeah, Diss is Teh Awesome!
Not to be preachy or anything but, in general, people in the U.S. take our cheaper and out-of-season produce availability for granted. There were a lot of workers mistreated to get that salad on our tables.
I keep meaning to look into getting a CSA share so I can get fresh locally grown seasonal stuff at a reasonable price….
I have one of those! I love it. Our one share is sooo huge that we divide it between three people. Everything is unbelievably fresh (usually picked within 36 hours of delivery) and I’ve been forced to try and cook veggies I may not have purchased on my own. There’s nothing better than a good CSA, especially if you’re dealing with one farm and not a CSA “distributor”.
That whole CSA thing sounds awesome. I shop at my local farmer’s market on Sundays, it’s such a pleasant experience I don’t feel like I’m “running errands.” Plus the food is fantastic
I shop mine too, nearly every Saturday. Even if I’m not getting any produce, there’s a particular bread vendor that I get something from every single time I’m there (along with a locally made wine. Man, now I really wish it was Saturday!).
I’m curious about the whole CSA thing. I’ve never heard of it before.
Take a look. Community Supported Agriculture:
{http://www.localharvest.org/csa/}
I highly recommend participating in one of your local CSAs.
I’m such an idiot. I’ve been to this website dozens of times looking for local farmers markets. There aren’t any CSA’s very close to where I live, but I’ll have to look into it more later this evening. It sounds absolutly wonderful though!
The CSA may not be located “close” to you but it may have drop-off points in your area. Good luck! I hope you find one that delivers close to you.
That’s what I’m hoping for. Thanks, I hope so too!
Yeah, except that a LOT of urban and suburban areas, especially in cold climates, have NOTHING near them. I’d LOVE to have the $$ to buy up a bit of land and open my own CSA right here in the Chicago ‘burbs. In the current locavore movement, I’d probably make plenty even charging barely over what the grocery store does…
That’s not true. I’m in Chicago and I know of at least FIVE CSAs that deliver to the city and about a dozen different suburbs. The CSA I use has about 15 drop-off points in the city and about 20 drop-off points in different suburbs.
Well, that’s good news for Dea!
I was surprised to find two in my area as we generally don’t have anything cool.
And one of them is takes applications for next season starting Dec. 1…I’m so doing this for next year.
Mine has a couple of different types of shares but 20 week one always sells out way before the deadline date.
Damnit what are all these people doing in Chicago?!
Shopping at farmers markets, of course.
Apparently I need to look again, as there was no one as of a year ago….doh! LOL! I like farmers’ markets and all, but wth, they truck it all in from Michigan – not exactly “cutting down” on the whole gas/exhaust thing….
Riiiight – ok, yeah – the 2 CSA’s that deliver to my area? Mmmhhhmmmmm….I’m sorry, but they are EXTREMELY cost prohibitive! I wouldn’t care about picking up, but no one offers one local pick up point, only delivery. And I’m not paying $200 a month for produce…hell, for that much, I should just convert my entire yard to growing produce and sell it….
Maybe you’re looking in the wrong place because I know that Angelic Organics and at least two other CSAs have been delivering to the city (all farms within a 100 mile radius of city center) for almost 5 years.
That is pricy — the one I’m looking at for next year is only $15 a week for a half share (which should be plenty for us…).
I split a full share between 3 people and it comes out to $30 a week for us.
@Dea – I was in no way suggesting that you should/must sign up for any CSAs, merely that there are numerous ones available in the Chicago area, and have been for several years.
I know I don’t HAVE to – I wanted to (rather have local, quite honestly – good for the health and all that). I’m bummed….it’s cheaper to go to the (few) farm stands and farmers’ markets here….which is ok….the stands in the 2 ‘burbs near me aren’t far, and are fairly reasonably priced.
I noticed that too. I think the closest one for me is about 2 hours away. I’m still going to look into it, but I may just have to keep relying on the farmer’s market to stimulate the local economy.
bitter troll loves farmers markets cept for one lil thing. you have to get up early to go to them…mind you early for bitter troll is noonish
Don’t think of it as getting up early — think of it as staying up late.
staying up late for bitter troll is going to be around noonish
Yes, but you get your pick of the tastiest farmers when you go early.
farmers are generally lean and stringy…give bitter troll a plump juicey city kid to gnaw on
I’m lucky because I have two close by, one is from 10-2 and the other from 2-6 on Sundays. No more getting up early on the weekend yipee!
Small world, I LOVE our Sunday farmer’s market, and not just because of the cute guy that runs the organic bison stand
) The peaches were great this year..
Organic bison?
Organic is anything that was once or currently living…
Bison are animals…
where do they sell the non-organic bison?
they’re made of wood
But wood’s organic…isn’t it?
doh!
yep.. wasn’t thinking. hm.. made of sand? but wait – is sand organic? i mean it is crushed up shell of animal.. so it was sort of alive… that means glass is out too. hmm.. i guess they must be metal bison.
I thought sand was the erosion of rocks over the course of millions of years.
probably that too, either that or it depends on the beach? at least some content of sand is made up of shell, how much, i dunno. you got me wondering now, though.. it’s reaching that time of day though where laziness is starting to kick in and that beer is lookin’ mighty tasty…
Plz to put beer thru modem fer Rando?
I agree, this sand dissertation needs to liquor. Whiskey for me please.
wood is organic…..-la sigh-
they’d still be organic as wood was once a living organism.
Inorganic bison are made of fiberglass, I think.
…and they taste terrible! Use lots of tenderizer.
fiberglass -> strands of glass -> melted sand -> former crustacean….
i dunno, maybe inorganic? how many steps from the animal origin does it have to be for it to be non-organic? or is it based on percentage?
like.. if you have half a slug in 10 tons of concrete, should the concrete be now considered organic, since it has a slug-bit in it?
But isn’t concrete made of limestone, which has calcite in it which mainly comes from marine organisms?
i was completely unaware of that, charro
at the very least, everything is coated and inundated with wee microbes, which are alive – so in that sense.. is not everything orfanic then?
**organic not orfanic…
Some sand isn’t made of crustaceans???
Out in the country we call that our back yard. Fresh veggies. Though people don’t can like they used too. Seems funny to me that “dumb” country people have been doing what the “smart” city people have rediscovered.
“Seems funny to me that “dumb” country people have been doing what the “smart” city people have rediscovered.”
Where’d you get that from what we’ve posted?
The newly discovered idea of farmers markets in the city, as mentioned above. Something us country folk have been doing for quite some time. And even trading off surplus with neighbors for what your crops lacked. Throw in who is good at canning this or that, and you have one of the staples of country living.
I think you’re projecting though. Nobody said that country folk were dumb or that city dwellers were smart. Also, during a good part of U.S. history even people living in the cities had gardens and did a lot of canning. And farmers markets are not newly discovered, just newly popular with a larger % of the population: in many European cities many people have always preferred to buy better quality and fresher food from the “farmers” markets rather than supermarkets or stores.
More comedy than projecting. Can I say that you are projecting to much into my comedy?
Not funny enough, JAC! Be more funny!!
More like I’m projectile vomiting into your comedy. Some of that canning I did must have gone off.
What can I say, that type didn’t work well on my stereo.
“Though people don’t can like they used too.”
I had to read that several times before I got it.
I keep misreading “canning” as “caning” and wondering why JAC is punishing people like they do in Singapore….
Hah, more truth to that then you know. Pressure cookers in the old days were dangerous. It’s easier now, the lids on jars now will seal without a pressure cooker, for most veggies. (Pressure cooking is still needed for some)
My mom taught me to can when I was little. Of course, I’ve slept since then, have no interest in cooking (outside of wanting a gourmet kitchen that I can pretend I know how to use), and depend on my sister who listened to Mom for any canned goods I have.
Now, when my sister decides she won’t let me have any pear preserves anymore, I’ll remember what Mom taught me and start canning again
Pear preserves………*drool*
Oh yeah. Funny though, the things I hated eating when I was a kid, I want badly now. And try as I might, I just can’t duplicate those flavors now.
Need to find a good deal on a pressure cooker so I’m not just limited to my jams and pickles! LOL! I love canning…
I’m also starting an indoor garden for the winter….there’s also frame farming people can do in winter in the north – it’s WILD the food you can grow beneath the snow…
Now if you can make real chow chow, I need your address, or actually, you need mine. The crap they sell in stores is just relish. My mother was Cherokee, and I haven’t had the real stuff since she died. I can’t eat it as hot as she did, but love it anyways. The jars she made for herself couldn’t be stirred with a wooden spoon. Just saying.
I grew up on a farm, so I had to mistreat myself if I wanted cheap or out-of-season food.
But there’s nothing that sweetens produce more than tasty, tasty pain!
*bites into mistreated worker’s apple*
Mmmmm…I can taste the blood, sweat, and tears.
I prefer to season my produce with Vicodin and crack.
Isn’t that counterproductive? One just cancels out the other. Now me, I like a little Vodka with my Vicodin.
Vicodin on the veggies, crack on the fruit.
Note that the migrant workers pictured are not on the brink of starvation, however.
(Which is not the same as fair labor conditions, etc, etc. I’m just saying: it’s *still* not the 1930’s)
“Note that the migrant workers pictured are not on the brink of starvation, however.”
And you know this how?
Hey! You said you wouldn’t put that picture on the internet!!
bitter troll wants to see!
You were there!
pfft bitter troll took the pictures, dont mean bitter troll dont wanna relive a wonderful moment.
I still have to say that, in America, today most of our poor still have a higher quality of life than those who were poor during the Depression.
Our economy isn’t great but compaired to alot of places, both our country historically and other countries currently its still pretty dang good.
Our rich have a higher quality of life than the rich during the depression too…depression era rich didn’t have a yacht on south beach. They had a house and food, cigarretes, and maybe an automobile.
Quality of life has improved across the board.
Everything is relative, people living in a cardboard box on the street today are still poor. Just because the streets are paved now doesn’t make it any easier to feed their families.
I am with The Steve on this. It seems like we haven’t really solved any of our social problems in America. We have just grown up the technology around them.
We have quite a few more social programs now than we did then, actually I don’t think we had any government social programs back then…
Social Programs are a good start. They haven’t really put a dent in our problem, but its a start.
Many of our social programs that exist today are a result of the Depression.
Excuse me? No social programs in the Depression? Where did you learn your history? Ever heard of Social Security and Welfare? Yeah, those were created as a result of the Depression.
And don’t forget the WPA, The Federal Art Project, the FDIC – all created to help people get through and get the country out of the Depression.
I’d point out that created during and because of the Depression pretty much establishes that they didn’t exist at the beginning or in the early years of the Depression.
And a large percentage of them due to Frances Perkins, first woman Secretary!
And the CCC! Still some great stuff left in our National Forests, etc., that those guys built.
Plus rural utility and electrification programs. Sewers, running water and electricity to the poorest areas of the country. Of course, rivers needed to be dammed to generate the electricity, cables needed to be strung, pipes needed to be laid… wait a second, that means jobs! Created by government! But… but… that’s SOCIALISM!
No. No sane person ever says that jobs created by the government = socialism. You’re reaching. Wealth redistribution and full government control is.
Milton Friedman would, as would Grover Norquist. But neither one of those individuals could be classified as ’sane’.
Right now, the government is redistributing my wealth – into the pockets of private military contractors, insurance CEOs, Wall Street hedge fund managers, and so forth. Why do they deserve my money?
There are still cardboard boxes, and probably always will be to some extent, unless someone invents more permanent cures for crazy.
Money doesn’t really help people who think a dollar is talking to them.
If anyone is interested, the mother in this photograph is Florence Owens Thompson and the photograph was taken by Dorothea Lange.
Everyone cares.
Everybody cares, everybody understands
Yes everybody cares about you
Yeah, and whether or not you want them to
It’s a chemical embrace that kicks you in the head
To a pure synthetic sympathy that infuriates you totally
And a quiet lie that makes you want to scream and shout
So here I lay dreaming, looking at the brilliant sun
Raining its guiding light upon everyone
For a moment’s rest you can lean against the banister
After running upstairs again and again
From wherever they came to fix you in, but
Always fair city’s finest follow right behind
You’ve got a pretty vision in your head
A pencil full of poison lead
And a sickened smile illegal in every town
So here I lay dreaming, looking at the brilliant sun
Raining its guiding light upon everyone
Here I lay dreaming, looking at the brilliant sun
Raining its guiding light upon everyone
You say you mean well, you don’t know what you mean
Fcuking oughta stay the hell away from things you know nothing about
I said “Everyone”. Not “Everybody”.
Yeah, well that was really enthusiastic. *sarcasm*
Thank you SB. I feel enlightened.
The problem with this one is the people are discussing THE FUTURE. What?!
They’re too poor to discuss the future!! The nerve!!
I just noticed… these folks want to travel to OUR PAST to do some bitchslappin’, so I guess we’re all safe. WHEW!
I guess it depends how hard they bitchslapped you in your past. If they hit you hard enough, you might still be feeling the effects today!
Or they could bitchslap you INTO tomorrow.
Or they could bitchslap you so hard your grandkids will walk funny.
It’s a quantum LOL!!
I’m glad someone else noticed this.
I was just about to ask when this was captioned…
worst since != worse than
http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=%22worst+since+the+great+depression%22&word2=%22worse+than+the+great+depression%22
And note that the top hits for “worse than” are fears it MIGHT be (w/o for example gov’t intervention) and before the stimulus package.
But by all means, enjoy tearing down your fearsome straw man.
They’ll eat Pie, by and by, someday on that beautiful shore…
You know – those folks in 3rd world countries where they DON’t have plumbing, food, clothing, shelter… and have been dependent upon international charitable organizations.
– THAT’s today’s great depression, folks.
The fact that you can’t afford to go to the East-Bound Starbucks any more?
– THAT’s your own personal depression. Take it your therapist, baby.
“3rd world countries where they DON’t have plumbing, food, clothing, shelter… and have been dependent upon international charitable organizations.”
And the funny thing is, thanks to the charitible organizations (an experiment in socialism, by the way) it’s a self-perpetuating problem.
Give starving people food, and they will live and reproduce and in a generation there will be twice as many people for the rest of us to feed.
(You can’t, say, engineer food to grow in that barren infertile ground, because that’s “frankenfood” and the hippies freak.)
Give poor people free goods, and there’s no chance for local industries that could provide those same goods cheaply to compete, or even get started, so the cycle of local poverty continues forever.
(You can’t help them start businesses, because businesses can pollute and “exploit the worker” and the hippies freak. “Little Kwame works 8 hours a day at a shoe factory for half-a-dollar! It’s EVUL!” Yeah, and how was it not evil when he was walking around all day with no shoes or food AND no money? )
Solution: get rid of the hippies. We can distribute their resources FIRST.
dude, if they had something they would not be hippies to begin with!
Oh, nobody ever said hippies weren’t solid materialists, just like everybody else. Not all these kids are posting from the local public library. Plenty of them own their own high-end computers, cars, and other things their parents bought for them.
Hippie isn’t a lifestyle, it’s a sense of entitlement.
…and a faint smell of B.O. masked in patchouli.
in the end no matter what you do your going to piss SOMEONE off, dont worry about who or how many. worry about what bares teh fruit of the longest lasting solution for everyone in a whole. people will cry, some will cheer, in the end its the needs of the people, not the wants of the people.
and dammit i want curly fries now..with cheese…
Curly fries are also good with the buttermilk ranch, which I learned working at Jack in the Box.
(and when charro sees this, she’ll be hungry too)
ZOMFG why oh why did Jack in the Box EVER discontinue the Chili Cheese Curly Fries?! I loved those things. Damn Rando now I want Jack in the Box.
Just as predicted. *enjoys some bacon & cheddar potato wedges and a sourdough jack*
(Well, not really, it’s just fun torturing charro)
Why do you hate me Rando!? *sobs*
Hardee’s has them now.
*sigh* The closest one of those is up in Racine or something. But I doubt they are as good as Jack in the Box.
“Frankenfood”? Is that like Frankenberry? Do the hippies hate Count Chocula too?
Dang it, and now I’m hungry again.
Frankenfood = derogatory name for plants that have been genetically altered to produce more food.
Yes, they hate Count Chocula. As a Count, clearly he’s a throwback to the days of exploitative feudal-imperialist cereals.
Also, to sugary. Sugar is an exploitation food. Cereal should be bland and unfun healthy stuff, like mueslix or bran, the foods of the proletariat!
Keeping those health care costs down…
But, but, but… Genetic engineering tastes so yummy!!!
And, as a woman I can understand hating the Count as well all major cereal representatives. Clearly they have no intentions of allowing a woman into their little cereal “boys’ club” anytime in the near future. I don’t know why the Countess puts up with his butt. [ end sarcasm for the moment ]
WHAT??? Anyone who hates Count Chocula is a lifelong enemy of mine!!!!
“And the funny thing is, thanks to the charitible organizations (an experiment in socialism, by the way) it’s a self-perpetuating problem.”
Know what else is a self-perpetuating problem? Apathy. Also, really bad sarcasm.
Hippies would rather they get food and stop starving to death on the streets because they can’t afford to go to the local market.
(actual hippies- You talk about hippies, but you’re using the word wrong. Like communist! and socialist!)
Or you know, they do have a garden or live in a good community, it’s just, you know, the LRA keeps coming by, raping their women, and stealing their goods, conscripting little boys with the weapons/funding they get from us, and who we keep voting for (gasp, both sides!)
So, actually, if you think about it, the REAL problem IS capitalism, because it favors companies that make you know, weapons. And the only way to make more money (which is capitalism) is to sell more, so the more weapons/death you sell, the more money you make.
Actually, with the LRA, the problem would seem to be RELIGION. Personally, I have no problem doing away with that, either.
Of course, with other conflicts, say. Ethiopia in the 80’s, the problem is a Glorious Socialist Leader who wants to keep all the goodies for himself and his army.
Wait, wait, wait. Did you just say that charitable organizations should stop helping the poor? A bit of a social darwinist are we?
‘Give starving people food, and they will live and reproduce and in a generation there will be twice as many people for the rest of us to feed.’…I have heard that sort of reasoning for not feeding, say, pigeons, or badgers (here in UK) but not for people…..Oy vey!
I say we don’t have to stop helping the poor. No, we keep helping….And start eating them!!
You were Swift to come up with that modest proposal, weren’t you?
If you’re going to borrow, borrow from the best.
So, is it NOT true of the badgers?
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger.
No, I’m saying they should help the poor BETTER. In ways that don’t actually cripple them on the downside.
You don’t FEED people, you help them grow their own food.
You don’t GIVE things away, you help build local infrastructure and manufacturing industry so that they can make their OWN things.
You don’t try to ship aid to a nation run by a kleptocrat, and HOPE that they don’t intercept and steal the aid. You get a few other countries together, blow the kleptocrat to hell and gone, and then make sure the food gets in. (After a few ‘disproportionate responses,’ they should get the idea that it’s a bad idea to try to stop the aid convoys.)
Also? That Gordian knot thing? The answer is “use a sword.” Just in case anybody forgot.
Not all charitable organizations just hand out free food. Many, if not most, of them spend money on building schools and wells, sanitation, teaching people trades so that they can support themselves, etc.
Yes, those are the ones that, to coin a phrase, “U R doin it rite.”
I’d like to travel to the depression era!
Riding the trains with hobos, shooting up banks, and watching dust storms!
THEY were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t’ mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep wi’ his belt.
Luxury! We used to have to get out of the lake at six o’clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of ‘ot gravel, work twenty hour day at mill for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would thrash us to sleep with a broken bottle, if we were lucky!
And you try and tell the young people of today that ….. they won’t believe you.
They won’t!
bah, no one believes you old man!
Bitter troll is not sufficiently nerdy to realise that this sketch is OVER and now it’s time for something completely different.
-sniffs- bitter troll is too mighty white and nerdy…
Don’t worry, bitter troll, I believe you.
Whistles theme tune, then crushes keithybabes with a giant cardboard cutout foot.
Is anyone actually saying that the economic conditions today are worse than in the 1920s and ’30s?
Only those who don’t really know their history.
I.e. politicians.
Hey! It’s 2009, not 2008! Talk about right wing capitalists being out of touch and behind the times . . .
Who’s said it’s worse? I’ve heard the phrase “the worst economic downturn since the depression” but that means the worst one we had AFTER it, not that it’s worse than the depression. (Not claiming whether *that* claim is true or not since I haven’t really done heavy study of economics, just pointing out what’s actually being claimed.)
Also… it is not 2008. In 2008 most people were still stuffing fingers in their ears and pretending the economy was still fine.
“In 2008 most people were still stuffing fingers in their ears and pretending the economy was still fine.”
WHAT??? WHAT??? YOU NEED TO SPEAK UP, I STILL HAVE FINGERS IN MY EARS IN 2009.
*snerk* As far as I can tell, everyone except for a very few are pretending that September 2008 never happened.
Rather like how the media conveniently forgot some of the pre-Iraq promises, like ‘The oil revenues from Iraq’s wells will pay for the rebuilding, don’t worry!’. –I’m not using that example to pick on the Republicans, or on a Republican. I’m using it to pick on the media, and on the general American public!
WHAT??? OMG! You mean to tell me that AIG will never give that bailout money back?? I think I prefer having my fingers in my ears and my eyes closed, thankyouverymuch!
Sorry.
Would you prefer an ear worm?
“Girls just gotta have fu-un! Girls just gotta have…”
Actually, that’s not what people are saying. What people are saying is the fact that we have been in the worst economic downturn SINCE the Great Depression. It may do you very well to learn what words mean.
Is that photo really from the Depression era? The young woman in the rocking chair seems to have 70s hair (uses conditioner, has a hair band) and clothes including what look sort of like bell bottom jeans to me. Is this a still from a movie?
Are you serious???
It’s obviously a photoshop job.
Obviously, you’re a moron.
Way to not know jack shit about anything. It’s from the 1930’s. Not Photoshopped, either.
Way to not recognize sarcasm, either. I guess I was being a little too subtle.
It’s a genuine photograph, genius. There was a set taken by Dorothea Lange. You’ve probably seen the chosen photograph before.
Uh, there’s a big difference between “economic” conditions and “living” conditions.
Actually, i vote conditions worse now. Try living out of a tent in L.A. (just don’t eat any sunflower seeds, or 15 cops will put you in the hospital, and no, you won’t be in the mental ward. It’ll be the ER.)
This photo was taken by Dorothea Lange.
Do you people EVER read previous comments??
I think if anything, we would be much better off to simply “help the impoverished”, and then we can all move up together. So.. if anything, I would say the way its done is a down side.
Wooh, Migrant Mother. She’d be exploited just as she was back then, actually.
This wasn’t funny. Just because you make someone in a picture say something with a word bubble doesn’t make it funny. Even if you have a good point, you’re not expressing it comically. Just kind of a blunt, unfunny way that is just…aggh…
Nice post – depression pictures ..Keep Posting– Tip: Keep your post active- commenting helps it – Ron depression pictures