Well, then starting a new company might not be for you.
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Yes, for several reasons. But the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs is out there somewhere, and what if the one thing keeping her from inventing the next paradigm shifting thing was that she had to keep her current job so her family had health insurance?
The flip side is the social contract (I think).
You live in a society. You have a responsibility to that society. Some have more means than others. Those with more means are a beneficiary of that society that lets them achieve whatever. Having them pay back into that society is right and proper.
The whole, “every dollar given to a starving kid on the street is a dollar not going to some entrepreneur who was creating an invention that could have improved the lives of a thousand people” is bullshit. We have tried trickle down economics and it has proven itself a colossal failure. On the flip side, this country prospered spectacularly in the 50’s when tax rates were ginormous for the rich. It has been shown that the economy flourishes more under Democratic leadership than it does under Republican leadership. More, while the Dems take more from the rich the rich still actually prosper more overall under the Dems. More poor people can buy their shit.
Look at Somalia and tell me the best solution is lack of government, the rich survive and poor get what’s coming to them. Is a Darwinian economic model the society we want?
Don’t blame Darwin. Natural selection is not survival of the fittest, or the strongest; it is survival of the most adaptable.
That’s a politically-correct explanation. The truth is that poor people simply like to eat fattening food.
Take a poor person. Educate them on nutrition. And then present them a bucket of fried chicken and a bucket of steamed broccoli and carrots. Trust me, they will choose the former.
The rich contribute to society just fine and still would even under a flat tax system…i.e., Joe Blow making $50,000 a year at 8% flat tax pays $4,000. Robert Gottrocks making $5,000,000 a year at 8% flat tax pays $400,000 dollars and contributes ten times as much to the economy as does Joe Blow.
Take away government-designed tax loopholes and institute a flat tax and the rich will ipso-facto pay their fair share (as anyone without a vested interest in greedily grabbing even more of their money for their own use can readily see).
:rolleyes:
This has got to be one of the stupidest things I’ve heard from you. (And I’ve heard quite a bit).
I know quite a lot of rich people who eat fattening food as well. Trust me, I know plenty who’d choose the chicken over the veggies.
MHO: [sub]I hate fried chicken[/sub]
The fattening stuff often tastes a whole lot better. AND often it IS cheaper.
Damn right I’d prefer the fried chicken. To me, salads are just something to keep busy until the real food arives, and veggies are just a side dish.
Then we are in agreement.
Some people think the reason people eat shitty food is because they are ignorant on the subject of nutrition. This is false. I have counseled quite a few people on how to lose weight, and I have had a 0% success rate - they go back to eating shit in a week or two. They know what is healthy to eat, and what is not, yet they choose to eat junk. Same goes for smokers… they know cigarettes cause cancer, yet they smoke anyway.
And the notion that poor people are fat because they supposedly can’t afford healthy food is BS. It assumes they would be eating healthy food if they only had a few more bucks in their pocket. Your (true) assertion that there are wealthy people who eat crappy food proves this out.
In light of this, perhaps you’ll agree my original statement was not stupid. Politically incorrect, to be certain, but not stupid.
That wasn’t my point. I was saying – it has nothing to do with being poor.
Although I guess I’m weird, because I’d prefer the salads. And I like veggies. But I like junk food too. So I guess because I’m middle-class, that’s why I like both healthy AND junk? 
Most people would.
According to the politically correct, poor people would eat healthy food if they only could afford it. So many times I have been in line behind extremely obese people at the supermarket who pay for their groceries using food stamps. Their carts are full of the fattiest crap you can imagine. I ask myself, “Why don’t they buy healthy stuff?”
The painful truth is that it has nothing to do with money, and nothing to do with ignorance. Fat people span the entire socioeconomic spectrum. They are fat because they have a habit of eating too much, and they eat the wrong kinds of food. You can educating them until you’re blue in the face, and 95% won’t change their ways. You can double the amount of food stamps a recipient gets, and I *guarantee *they won’t magically start eating healthy foods.
Have you ever come up with any explanation?
My Bi-curious Baha’i Building code inspector kick the shit out of your taxman…that’s how I avoid the bogeyman.
It is a bit of a surprise when you first encounter it, I agree. But, to me, it makes a lot of sense. Cell phones seem like a luxury but that is sort of 1990’s thinking. The world (vis-a-vis communications) has changed so fast–not only in terms of the technology and the economies of it (things have gotten way cheap)–but also the social implications.
In 199x it most people still used land-lines as their primary 2-way connection to the world. Cell phones were seen back then as a bit of a luxury. Over time, with prices coming down quickly and the realization of the importance of 24-hour communication availability (it is arguable how much importance, depending on whether you are talking about say, a journalist or some idle, chattering tweener), cell phones became the primary way to make phone calls (AFAIK).
If you mean homeless people when you say “street beggars” then consider that these folks don’t have the option of using a cheaper landline (pay phones aren’t generally cheaper and they are not a good way to receive calls). And consider how crucial voice communication over distance is to human beings. Then consider how cheap cell phones have become (notably pay-as-you-go phones) and it is really not at all surprising or inappropriate that “street beggars” use them.
Sometimes a common reaction to a homeless person is, “Why don’t you just get a job?” How are potential employers going to contact them about a job application they have filled out? Carrier pigeon?
Not true.
Historically there has been a correlation between income and obesity rates. The affluent have had the lowest rate, and the poor have had the highest rate. (Though it should be mentioned that the gap is shrinking.)
Why the correlation? Depends who you ask. There are the predicable PC explanations (which are wrong). The truth is that there’s a third cause. In other words, the condition that causes people to become poor also has a tendency to causes people to become obese. Generally speaking, chronically poor people are lazy and repeatedly make poor choices. That’s why they’re poor. If you are lazy and repeatedly make poor choices, being obese is probably in your future, too.
I’m at the opposite spectrum. I can eat like a starving animal, all sorts of fatty, greasy, starchy crap, and I can’t gain an ounce. I’ve gone to “all you can eat” places, and had people staring at me.
I imagine, a part of what they do, is they eat the food that is familiar and tastes right to them. And then, there is that “leftover” from childhood. The stuff you had to eat, was usually that icky healthy stuff you didn’t like. To this day, I HATE asparagus for example.
Yes. They like the taste of fat-laden food.
Missed the edit window. I see Blaron made the same point I did in post #153. Except he/she did it MUCH more succinctly!!
Damn I’ve envious. I have a very slow metabolism, and I have to watch every ounce I consume. I eschew all fried foods, and I can’t eat foods I love (e.g. ice cream). It’s a constant, daily struggle. But I’m 41, and I don’t want to be the stereotypical “short, bald, fat guy.” I can’t do anything about being short and bald, but I *can *do something about the fat.