.dorian gray said:
haha! jeez! ruthless. yeah, so my point was that people (you) stop bitching about getting in trouble for drug usage and do something about it. what exactly is wrong with accountability and responsibility?cthulufhtagn said:
i'm against african debt relief for a couple of good reasons: 1) contrary to everyone's opinion, the US is absolutely broke. 2) Africa is indeed an unproductive country. exactly *what* has your average African country done in the past 25 years aside from provide the world with a poster child for AIDS, corruption, squalor, famine, and destruction of the environment? what exactly do you think african nations are going to provide for themselves and the rest of the world now that their debt had been relieved? what is so honorable about letting other nations relieve you of your debt? how is that a symbol of character and national pride? how is that a precursor to becoming a productive nation?cthulufhtagn said:
yeah ok sorry, i was kinda edgy that day, but i have a point. people throw around words like accountability and responsibility to blanket the legitimate concerns of those facing adverse conditions, but telling us essentially that it is we who are the problem is absurd. what, you're poor? tough shit, whatever happened to personal responsibility, never mind that you're already working two jobs to put food on the table? what, you're persecuted for smoking weed? tough shit, whatever happened to personal accountability, never mind that the laws are based on prejudices and studies have proven marijuana to be less addictive than tobacco and less potentially hazardous than alcohol, and it poses no threat to others around you? the war on drugs is wasting my and your tax dollars on ineffective programs and draconian penalties for harmless, recreational drug use. do i think crack should be legalized? no, of course not, it's incredibly dangerous. but weed? come on, we have a right to complain because the current situation is ridiculous. the puppets may be on left or right hands, but the people holding them aren't going to bow even to popular pressure. and popular pressure is not something that we smokers have going for us in the first place.dorian gray said:
I disagree, I paid around $12k in taxes last year and am more of a spend happy lefty commie than ever before.dorian gray said:
why is that our responsibility? maybe that's what *you* want to do but it should not be assumed that all 300 million americans feel the same way - which is what politicians do when they fork over billions of dollars in foreign aid (not to mention the billion a day to that shithole of the world - iraq). hey man, if you wanna help the rest of the world, do it. give money away or go work for the peace corps.cthulufhtagn said:
1) i pay taxesdorian gray said:
i'm sorry, i don't follow. don't you agree immigration is a problem? all i'm saying is the way to stop immigration is not to ignore it! that only increases the problem! read the post!dorian gray said:
completely incorrect and i'm surprised you would think this. have you looked at our current economic situation? for god's sake dude, america is completely broke. just because we have a bunch of *stuff* doesn't mean we are rich. it means we are in debt.One Inch Man said:
that's such a ridiculous, whitewashed, typically republican attitude--"all poor people are poor because they're lazy." seriously, if you have never been broke, living in the projects, with no job prospects, no food, and no future, you simply have no idea what it would be like in that situation. you're right, your tax dollars shouldn't pay for an able-bodied man to wander the streets in a drunken stupor, but they should go to help somebody working double shifts in a fast food restaurants trying to feed 2 kids while scraping together enough money to move out of their shithole single apartment in the ghetto. because that kind of shit should not happen in america.dorian gray said:
i agree with you but i don't see you offering an explanation - just compaining....and providing excuses for people who have to work "two jobs". my dad worked 70 hours a week in a factory to raise his family. never compained. just did it. could he have worked less if he didn't choose to have three kids and a lazy wife? yep. he knew it was his fault so he didn't bitch. my grandfather began working at the age of 9. fucking 9, man. fought in the battle of the bulge. came home from the war and worked. two, three jobs. never fucking complained. at age 93 he still does some farm work. no college degree, no government assistance. never bitched about anything. there are people like that who would find it a slap in the face to get help from taxpayers and then there are lazy ass people who think they are *entitled*. if you havent met them yet, you will. there's nothing wrong with socialism and i'm not faulting you for it, i just don't think it works.cthulufhtagn said:
haha! i thought you were unemployed?One Inch Man said:I disagree, I paid around $12k in taxes last year and am more of a spend happy lefty commie than ever before.
Why because I'm pro-poor? I started working at 16 and haven't stopped, that was 9 years ago (EDIT: oh shit I mean 10, whoopsdorian gray said:
). The more money I make the more I realize the system sucks and something should be done about it. The rich get richer and the poor are joined by more and more of their middle-class brethren every day. Eventually the upper 1% of America will completely rule the other 99%, if they don't already.
oh i agree, there are plenty of people who deserve assistance and find it repugnant and plenty who don't who feel entitled. but there's no denying that poverty is a serious problem in america and while our plan to relieve it may be far from perfect, you seem to offer no proposal at all.dorian gray said:
