1 hour ago, charliearon said:

I see we have progressed PAST Free College and now discussing the social economic conditions in the world. 🤔

Agreed.
 

There are so many ways to obtain college without financial debt. It’s available for anybody to EARN. 

3 hours ago, charliearon said:

I see we have progressed PAST Free College and now discussing the social economic conditions in the world. 🤔

And I see the handwriting on the wall.  I just started a new topic we can chew on that is completely politic free.

Noel

3 hours ago, Camsdad13 said:

My Dad is disabled from the Vietnam War. He’s not homeless. He has food. He has great medical care. He has a caregiver paid for by the Govt. Tell me something, if large corporations (billionaires) pay higher taxes, do they pass them off in increased costs on products that they provide us?

Fr Bill answered the part about taxes on billionaires for me so...

I'm glad your dad is not nor apparently ever was homeless but what does that have to do with the many mentally ill people who end up on the street because their is no safety net system that is strong and apparent.

These safety nets are operated by states and many of those states do not want to help people.  They discourage people from asking or receiving help.  They make it very difficult to get any help at all.

Housing assistance for example has a very long waiting list and funding for housing has been cut repeatedly.  This means that a person unable to work can ask for help and then wait for years to get it.  In the meantime, waiting, they can easily lose their apartemnt or any place they may have to live.

The mentally ill especially are often thrown out of places - especially if they are having increased synptoms due to not having enough money to ever see a doctor in the first place.

again - im glad your dad is doing fine but his story has no bearing on the large nnumbers of others who never got help.

4 hours ago, charliearon said:

I see we have progressed PAST Free College and now discussing the social economic conditions in the world. 🤔

And so it is. How many of us have sat in a real-life hangar and talked about the same thing for any period of time? The conversation always moves on to something else. I can't count the times that we started talking about XYZ and it morphed into the ex-military guys swapping old war stories and the other guys telling lies about how many women they've known. Such is the nature of human discourse.

9 hours ago, dave2013 said:

It is true that the Northern European countries do a better job at managing their public expenses and debt.  I would beg to differ that they promote personal wealth as their taxes are very high on the middle class.

Dave

You know the funny irony is that when I spend time in Europe and meet people they ask where I’m from. When I tell them I’m from the US around 8 out of 10 that are around 35 or younger always respond that they want to move to the US. Because I love Europe so much, I always ask, why would you want to leave this? The answer is always the same. Opportunity to make more money. 

So it seems that for the younger (under 35 crowd) they’d rather forfeit their social safety net and higher taxes, to keep more of what they make. 

I guess no matter where people live, they always think the grass is greener on the other side. 

Rather than try to remake the US into something else, maybe we just need a complete reshuffle of population. All the people who live in the US who want that system can move to Europe and all the Europeans who want to live in a more capitalist society can trade places with them and move here. 

On 11/6/2021 at 8:58 PM, Fielder said:

Student Aid is a very old idea. Kwai Chang got into Kung Fu U on a musical scholarship!

 

 

Changing the subject totally, and briefly, for which I apologise. Irritates me something rotten that Bruce Lee came up with the concept for the TV series Kung Fu and wanted to be in the staring role, which would of course have been AWESOME. Trouble was, the TV executives didn't like the idea of a Chinese man in the leading role. So David Caradine got the job.

Now back to college fees and sorry for the brief interruption. Normal service is now resumed. 

On 11/7/2021 at 5:01 AM, Afterburner said:

I also don't think that free college "for everyone" is a good idea because someone else has to pay for it one way or another, and something that's seemingly free is not valued by students and their parents as much.

 

Disagree. At least in the UK that's not true. University education was free here between 1960 and 1990's. And yes, it was valued. In fact it was valued more in those days. A university degree was really something. Now its common place, as is the debt and in the US enormous debt you guys are often still paying off in your 30's so I'm told. 

And in Scotland, if you are Scottish, its still free.

Our young people are our most vital resource and thus their education is paramount, so no, they shouldn't be in debt for decades as a result. The contribution a well educated person makes to their nation is significant, that's payment enough in my opinion. 

 

Edited November 9, 20214 yr by martin-w

This post was stolen by aliens. 

 

Edited November 9, 20214 yr by martin-w

On 11/8/2021 at 4:04 AM, sightseer said:

you seem unaware that our US healthcare system is the most expensive in the world per person.

 

Including how you guys are absolutely ripped off with drug prices. 

24 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Our young people are our most vital resource and thus their education is paramount, so no, they shouldn't be in debt for decades as a result. The contribution a well educated person makes to their nation is significant, that's payment enough in my opinion. 

 

I just wish I could have given this 10 upvotes. Right on Martin. Well said.....Doug

 

11 hours ago, W2DR said:

And so it is. How many of us have sat in a real-life hangar and talked about the same thing for any period of time? The conversation always moves on to something else. I can't count the times that we started talking about XYZ and it morphed into the ex-military guys swapping old war stories and the other guys telling lies about how many women they've known. Such is the nature of human discourse.

The "General Rule" in the forums is to try, as much as possible to stay on topic.  New topics can always be created. 😀

I also agree with Martin.  A good education for the young crowd is essential to keep the country growing and not becoming stagnant.  I occasionally look back through my High School yearbook and read some of the things written by the graduates about their goals or ambitions for college or work.  Very few with intentions of further education.  Most of the girls wanted to be homemakers or IBM keypunch operators.  A lot of the guys were going to L.A. Trade Tech to become auto mechanics.  The ones with higher aspirations were going for Liberal Arts degrees or Political Science.

8 minutes ago, W2DR said:

I just wish I could have given this 10 upvotes. Right on Martin. Well said.....Doug

 

 

10 upvotes you say. I think you know what I'm going to say... I can do better.

Here I give myself 10 cat points which are better than upvotes.

😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺

Now isn't that better than upvotes? Of course it is. I hope you guys are keeping a record of the cat points I award you... 😐

 

14 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I hope you guys are keeping a record of the cat points I award you..

I do Martin.  And my four cats thank you too.  Whenever you give me a cat point I show it to them.

Noel

 

6 hours ago, cmpbellsjc said:

So it seems that for the younger (under 35 crowd) they’d rather forfeit their social safety net and higher taxes, to keep more of what they make. 

That's not surprising, and I was no different when I moved to the US. But that's more a reflection of focusing around current needs and expenses rather than any sort of long-term planning. In your 20s and 30s you by and large don't care about pensions and retirement. Your health care needs between 20-40 are typically next to zero so insurance is wasted money. Childcare, schools, or college? That's for people with kids. The cost of a house with a yard is irrelevant - that's for old people. You're happy with a small flat in the city!

In America we already have a limited option to trade present dollars for a future safety net in terms of retirement savings. I can choose how much I want to contribute each year (up to a limit) and I have the option to withdraw my savings when I change employers or with an individual plan at any time - with a penalty and tax hit, of course. The number of people who cash out an employer plan when switching jobs is amazing - and equally amazing is the low average balance.

Of course in your 20s and 30s none of this matters, because you're going to get rich and it will all work out. Didn't Supertramp say that everyone's a millionaire in America (or maybe that was just Texas).

Cheers!

23 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I hope you guys are keeping a record of the cat points I award you..

I'm still stuck at two.  but I'm not jumping through hoops for a cat point.  If I get one, I get one.

still don't know what good they are though...  kinda like cats 🙃

EDIT: actually we have stray cats here that control both mice and snakes.  very helpful.  not sure how the lizards feel about it.

Edited November 9, 20214 yr by sightseer