by Patrick ➕follow (60) 💰tip ignore
« First « Previous Comments 528 - 567 of 117,730 Next » Last » Search these comments
Everything is relative. US has “free markets†relative to other nations. You cannot have absolute free market. Establishing free markets is not easy. You need right kind of judicial system and political system. Even though we crib, there is no country on the planet as good as US in that regard. We are not perfect but better than other countries. been there and seen it in other countries first hand.Our struggle is to make US better and not get enslaved to bad ideas (socialism) like other countries. Free markets are the “primary†reason for our success. We cannot have free markets without other freedoms. Our contitution was written for making us free and equal.Socializing health care is step back in free markets.We never gave free markets a chance in health care ..how sad. You can have the best resources ( south america, parts of africa..etc) but without a framework to establish free markets you can never shine like US. BTW, Free markets also mean that the participants in the free market are also free !Story Once upon a time in a forest there was a huge uproar. It seems a new authority had come up and it started enforcing rules that meat eating animals can only eat certain number of other animals that mostly survived on grass. Lions and Tigers opposed the system completely. So far they have been enjoying fine deers and cows in unlimited number and suddenly this new rule had meant they will have to be contended with eating for survival. Without the rules so far, lions and tigers were having feast every weekends and obesity had become a major issue in the forest, not to mention the fact that population of animals surviving on the grass was coming down everyday. Lions, Tigers and Leopards clamored for free markets. It was the best system they said that ever existed. On the other hand deers, oxen and other grass eating animals hated free market, because free market meant that they were nothing but fodder for animals higher in the food chain. End of Story Moral of the stroy is that free market is like Jungle rule. What makes us humans and different from savages and animals is our capacity to reason and be compassionate to our fellow human beings. Socialism per se is not bad. Capitalism is not bad either. When "isms" are taken to extreme things become ugly. If you are such a huge proponent of free markets how do you explain 72 bank failures and the current mess that we are in now. How come free markets in financial world failed us completely. And who paid the price ? Not Vikrams Pandits, Henry Paulsons and Chuck princes of the world, but people on the main street. Were ordinary people in America responsible for the mess we got ourselves into. Now you would say well this happened because we did not have regulations. In a free market, regulations always come after the fact. Do you think this mess won't happen again. This is probably what they said during last bank failure era of 1907 too. Free market participants will always find ways to use others as fodder like in our forest story. Now I am not totally against free markets, but everything should be done in moderation. There are situations where free market is good and there are situations where socialism is good. Hey we just saw the fine example of socialist ideas used in saving wall street bankers. I bet likes of Sarah Palin did not find that evil at all.
How sad …that lot of people don’t understand free markets. free market does not just mean free “marketâ€. it also means (atleast by my definition) that market participants are free and EQUAL. there are no lions and dears in free market.everybody has equal oppurtunity and treated equal under law. BTW, health care in US in NOT free market.Don’t look at flawed systems in US and blame free markets. Just for the record, “Without the rules so far, lions and tigers were having feast every weekends and obesity had become a major issue †This is theoritically impossible and never happens. ask any ecologist. the more the deers the more the lions and the lions compete for food. Only when somebody interferes with the eco system , like killing lions that excessive grazing turns the land barren and forrest become deserts.Dude, You are so wrong on this. Health care cannot afford to have complete free market only. In your free market a begger hit by a car will have nowhere to go. You need to have money in a free market to go to a doctor. I am saying no problem in that. But we need a basic system where we can provide basic "free" (tax paid) health care to anyone who needs it. Be it the begger on the road. After all you don't want a begger on the road to die from excessive bleeding in your so called most successful society. If we can provide this basic common denominator, having free markets where henry paulson and steve jobs can get kidney transplant is fine.
You are so wrong on this. Health care cannot afford to have complete free market only. In your free market a begger hit by a car will have nowhere to go. You need to have money in a free market to go to a doctor. I am saying no problem in that. But we need a basic system where we can provide basic “free†(tax paid) health care to anyone who needs it. Be it the begger on the road. After all you don’t want a begger on the road to die from excessive bleeding in your so called most successful society. If we can provide this basic common denominator, having free markets where henry paulson and steve jobs can get kidney transplant is fine. We already have that..anybody can go to emergency and get treated. What about the rest of the stuff in heath care ( non emergency - non catastrophic cases) ? do you support free markets there ?"We already have that..anybody can go to emergency and get treated".... You can get treated but don't assume it is free. I just had first hand experience for this when I had to go to emergency just because of cough and fever which I happened to contract from a friend. My bill came out to be 2500 dollar...then they made me feel good by saying I will get 75% discount....so okay 500 bucks for prescribing few medicines....just when I was thinking it was not so bad after all ...I got another bill for doctor'ss services which was another 600 bucks...It seems previous bill was only for hospital..where I spent like 1 hour....so 1100 + 150 for drugs...for just regular cough and fever... You made this ludicrous statement without doing ample research...what made you think it is free... I am not for a govt only health care...I am for a mixed system where there is a common denominator health care and then there is also private health care where those who do not want to go with the basic system can choose to go if they can afford it... We pay thousands in taxes...at least we should have the option and security in the back of the mind that in case we lose our jobs and we fall sick with common stuff like fever we would be able to go and get treated with nominal charges like 50 to 100 bucks...That is not asking too much...Taxes are not just for building best defense system or bombing some countries across the world...they are also to provide basic services and I think basic health care comes in that... Tying health care to working for a company is another way to continue indentured labor system..... In a free country the freedom to quit your job should also be foremost .....
The Original Bankster saysknewbetter saysSalary Shmarlary. We will monetize the debt and there will be no money. Wipe it out, then start making our own plastic crap again. If you can make it 20 years then what does it matter. I don't think there's a rush to buy for the next 5-10 years, but if you'd rather have kids when you're 30 than when you're 40, there are some "good" deals out there. Most of the doom-n-gloom about housing comes from spoiled bitches who think they deserve more than they can afford. That's what started this: Spoiled bitches. And with all those inflated money, did you see a salary increase?Money will be valueless before homes.BINGO!
nowhere but up from here saysSpeak for yourself.BTW, another sign of our nation’s DWINDLING ability to garner RESPECT: after a FIFTEEN YEAR ABSENCE the Russkies have at least TWO “nucular†subs patrolling off our West Coast. Must have something to do with Putin taking his shirt off…..No comrade, I think it’s most probably related to the fact that WE’RE BROKE, WEAK & STUPID.
I will never understand why some of you think that “owning†a house somehow makes you better than those of us who don’t play the debt game. Who cares what you think your house is worth? Does that make you somehow better or deserving of some kind of praise? I don’t care about your obsession with material “wealth.†You are spiritually bankrupt if you base your entire self worth on the supposed “value†of your home or you believe that somehow life is not worth living unless you can prove to everyone how “rich†you are, even if inside you know you are bankrupt. You are kidding yourself if you think that debt is good and that having a house is the ticket to pure happiness. It is far from it.There are billions of poor people who are morally and spiritually bankrupt. The sum total of your net worth does not make any difference when it comes to spiritual or moral questions.
While the rural poor are underserved, at least they can access the limited number of government-support medical facilities that are available to them. The urban poor fare even worse, because they cannot afford to visit the private facilities that thrive in India’s cities.You sit here and read about India in Pricewaterhousepoopers and think you know everything. The above is blatantly false. What do you think India is run by some Bush kind of idiot who has outlawed government-support medical facilities in Cities ? Does it even make sense ? Govt run medical facilities exist at both rural and urban level. Search for AIMS new Delhi and then figure out if new delhi comes under urban or rural area ? I hope you can figure out at least that ? There must be at least 10 govt hospitals in a typical metro in India. Agreed quality of care will be far worse than a private run hospitals, but at least it is there. Some health care is better no health care ? Even a fool will not argue with it ? Would you ?
bob2356 saysAgain all lies...SEZ are there to give favorable tax treatment to some industries to promote them. It is not free market, but then India is a mixed economy. Some aspects are free market, while others are socialist. They did not have a banking system collapse that US just went through. There are 2 sides to every story. So yeah when you go to a typical nationalized bank in India you see the employees don't give much shit to the customer...that is wrong...In a private system you get at least fake smiles when the person behind the counter sees a customer with cash...Try arguing this lack of a good customer service to a bank employee in India, he or she will immediately point to bank failures in US...So what is better: losing your money entirely or just dealing with few rude bank employees ? :-) Go figure and then post your answer here. Regarding your comment regarding SEZs having a separate political structure ..it is so full of crap ...that it is not even worth commenting.... Also do not assume that every software company in India is in SEZ (special economic zone), some are outside of it too...Even china has SEZ....and they also have some red communist willing to shoot anyone who does not agree with their point of view...At least India has a functioning democracy...When it comes to healthcare, there are two Indias: the country with that provides high-quality medical care to middle-class Indians and medical tourists, and the India in which the majority of the population lives—a country whose residents have limited or no access to quality care.thats true for more than just healthcare. For instance, the technology companies operate in what is called a SEZ ( Special Economic Zone ). They have a completely different tax schedule, basically a country within a country. Those who are not involved with the SEZ basically live in an entirely different political body, a much poorer, much more poverty stricken political body.
“More Good News….†I think we’re quickly approaching the point where the only ‘Good News’ left would be to read that Air Force One went down in flames with the President, ViceP & Treasury Secretary aboard. Of course if it crashed & burned right onto Goldman Sach’s main corporate offices, then it would be GREAT NEWS!!What is all with the presidential bashing. This problem started way before him. Although I do not agree with some of his plans, I am happy we actually have a person who is trying to fix things instead of pretending that nothing is wrong. I am against universal healthcare, but I like the fact that for once we have someone who has the guts to take on the problem.
« First « Previous Comments 528 - 567 of 117,730 Next » Last » Search these comments
patrick.net
An Antidote to Corporate Media
1,260,981 comments by 15,056 users - DOGEWontAmountToShit, Tenpoundbass online now