There is a war brewing...

a reply to: watchandwait410

It has nothing to do with one person being more morally worthwhile than another and everything to do with one mindset thinking that because they choose to believe that, they are perfectly justified to take whatever they see fit from me to give to that person on the corner.

They have no way of knowing why I have what I have or what I was going to do with it, but the general assumption among people with that mindset seems to be because I have it and the person on the corner doesn't, the person on the corner is somehow more virtuous and I am less virtuous and do not deserve it. Therefore, someone should be empowered to take from to me to give to him.

No one thinks to ask what I might have it for. Perhaps I was on my way to donate it to a specific charity. Perhaps I needed it for my own family, immediate or extended. Perhaps I was on my way to pay a bill with it ... NOOOOOO, no one asks after that. They simply see that I have and the other does not and that's unfair, so I must be forced to give it up to the one without because obviously I must have done something immoral to have it.

That is the common socialist mindset.

a reply to: EternalSolace

We conservatives believe in freedom.

The others believe if your freedom offends someone, it should be illegal... but it's not that simple. Identity Politics provides a caste system. They believe that, depending on your race, religion, sex, you have more or less of a Right to be offended.

Certain groups are allowed to be offended at nearly everything the lower groups do and cannot be criticized for it.

Someone lower on the totem pole can't complain about Anything, because they are perceived to have "had it too good" and "need to be taken down a peg" and so deserve less rights and shouldn't complain.

Isn't that a much more beautiful system than The Constitution as the Founding Fathers intended?

originally posted by: watchandwait410
I think a form of socialism is inevitable in the not so distant future. Future technology is going to change everything to the point of "why not "free" stuff". Artificial intelligence and nanobots will make it easier to accept because these things will be a game changer.

But for now I doubt a war will happen. Besides if people want to tax people who have tens of millions and I don't care I will never have that much and if I did I would gladly give a bunch to sleep better at night because the money is doing good instead of interest.

Instead of "free stuff" why wouldnt future technologies which create abundance just make things "extremely cheap compared to now"?

I don't think we are there yet, or close enough to be having a discussion, but I can see a time in the future where things like food, shelter and clothing are so cheap and easy to make that it might make sense to provide free housing, food, and clothing, and even eventually medical care and medicine will fall into this category. If the tax was so tiny as to be negligible it would be worth paying it just to not have to see and hear about homeless hungry sick cold people. It's depressing. I would pay $5 or $10 or more a year in order to solve 2 or 3 of those problems on that list.

Another reason this may become necessary is if all the jobs are automated, there wont be enough jobs for humans to do so... I dunno... But...If hardly any humans are working jobs, who will buy all the stuff?

a reply to: ketsuko

That's great the way you worded that, really puts it in perspective

The op has suggested that there is a new civil war, that the US is engaged in, and that it comes down to political ideology. That it is conservatism versus socialism. That neither can exist in the same country and that the conservatives are the true believers in freedom.


So while yes those who do not believe often feel slighted, yet shall we also ask the people of the state of Kansas how they fared under such a conservative strong leadership?


The reality is that neither side has all of the answers, and this country, even the very states, need both socialism and conservatism. There are many social programs in the country, that we all enjoy and have come to rely on. Education, and the libraries, were social in nature, the police, the hospitals, even the very roads and infrastructure that we have and all use.


Would it be so shocking to learn that at one time the very ideas of the parties were flipped, that the bastions of socialism were the Republican party, embracing many of the ideas that the Democrats today now embrace and the Democrats were the ones who were wanting to hold onto the status quo and keep a tight grip on the purse strings.


The sad thing is that at one time the Republicans were once the more fiscal minded of the 2 political parties. They looked for and fought over how to pay for various bills and laws. But now, that seems to have gone out the window, where once they bulked at a bill that would cost 3.5 billion, yet have no qualms about rubber stamping a bill for 5 billion without a second through. Where once the Republicans looked and held presidents accountable, even for personal actions, even the merest thought of anything that would look bad, or seem a scandal. But now even where there is the image of such, instead of investigating, they seek to protect, removing the one thing that is dearly needed a balance and a check. The doors have been opened, and now exploited. And the country is a mess, so the question is who is right and who is wrong.


The answer is both sides are wrong and the solution is going to hurt far more than we know.

a reply to: sdcigarpig

You can ask the people in Kansas, but Kansas isn't a good bellwether. I grew up there and continue to live within 20 miles of the border with lots of family there.

Kansas is not the deep red conservative buttress most people think it is. Just look at the history of Kansas governorships for the past few decades for perspective. They regularly flip between Rep and Dem, one after the other. The conservative reps in congress are likely to ally with democrats to advance big government measures if they feel it advances their goals. As a result, Kansas actually has a large administrative state. The reason the recent cuts hurt was because the congress was unwilling to cut said administrative state.

Small businesses in the state in the economically active areas actually thrived. I see this in my direct experience driving through the state.

Kansas has a state SCOTUS ruling that more or less means the educrats have a blank check in the state. All they have to do is whine about not having fair funding, and the SCOTUS mandates more must be spent. At this point, roughly 45%+ of the state's annual budget is eaten up by school funding alone thanks to this one ruling and court's intervention. It's gotten bad enough that even democrats will try to ally with republicans to reign in school spending, but so long as the courts refuse to overturn that ruling, their hands are mostly tied.

So while many of the people in the state are conservative, the state is not exactly governed that way more often than not. I really wish people would stop using it as the classic conservative case because it isn't, not really.