AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

[Brother Mark]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

If we're appealing to God to make people throw off the voluntary shackles of slavery to big government, we might as well just pray for the messianic era already. Which observant Jews do, by the way.

...‘Therefore we hope in You, O Lord our God, to quickly witness the glory of Your strength, to remove idolatry from the land, and for the false gods be cut off, to repair the world under the kingdom of the Almighty. And all humanity will call in Your name to turn all the evildoers of the world to You. All inhabitants of the earth will recognize and know that it is to You that every knee bows and every tongue swears; before You they will bend and fall, and give honor to the glory of Your name. And they will all accept the yoke of Your kingdom, and You shall reign over them quickly and forever. As it says in your Torah: “The Lord will reign forever and ever” (Ex. 15:18). And it is said: “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; and on that day the Lord will be one and His Name will be one.” (Zech. 14:9).

Amen! We can all agree on this... and barring His quick return, may a revival break out restoring our trust in Him.

[Aviyah]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

Unfortunately, your generation has been exposed more to crony capitalism where government gives money directly to companies, and where companies make more money by doing business with the government than by competiting.

I would also include predatory business practices, especially in pharmaceuticals.

You all want wages when you work. None of you want to work for free. Ergo, profit matters to your generation too. Also, your generation wants someone else's profit sent to their pockets in the name of "what's better for society". It sounds nice, but it is still going after profit.

The difference IMO is that we aren't interested in profit for the purpose of accruing excess personal wealth. The mentality isn't "out of one pocket into another" but "out of one pocket into common interests." Public services already exist in education and environment and healthcare so it's a matter of expanding those at the perceived cost of "not owning three homes." Again, I'm being very general.

One thing that would help in a BIG way, would be if students could declare bankruptcy on student loans.

1000% Yes!

let everyone pay the same rate (if we insist on having an income tax, which is another discussion completely). Then everyone would be equally interested in tax hikes or tax cuts.

The problem is that 10% for someone with a budget of $1,000 is more significant than 10% with a budget of $10,000. The richer you are, the less proportion goes to the necessities like food and shelter. So actually a progressive tax makes everyone equally interested, if we need income tax at all like you said.

You might be surprised at how many people read your posts. There are a handful of people that I look for to read. You're one of them because your posts are so well thought out. And I like your approach to the scriptures.

Thanks!

[Brother Mark]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

I would also include predatory business practices, especially in pharmaceuticals.

Something proper regulation and competition would help attenuate.

The difference IMO is that we aren't interested in profit for the purpose of accruing excess personal wealth. The mentality isn't "out of one pocket into another" but "out of one pocket into common interests." Public services already exist in education and environment and healthcare so it's a matter of expanding those at the perceived cost of "not owning three homes." Again, I'm being very general.

What you describe IS moving from one pocket to another person's pocket. Prettying it up by saying it's a public service (i.e. education) still moves money from one pocket to the students. Lipstick on a pig....

The problem is that 10% for someone with a budget of $1,000 is more significant than 10% with a budget of $10,000. The richer you are, the less proportion goes to the necessities like food and shelter.

So? They still benefit from roads, police, firemen, etc. Want more money? Do something to make more money. Why do they get these things for free? The scriptures didn't seem to concerned about progressive ideals when it came to the tithe.

So actually a progressive tax makes everyone equally interested, if we need income tax at all like you said.

This statement actually amazed me. People are not equally interested in taxes or tax cuts. Almost 50% of earners pay no income taxes. They are not interested in cutting taxes because it doesn't benefit them. They don't care if taxes go up on the rich either, because it doesn't impact them. Remember the whole tax cut debate about it benefiting the rich? Well, when the rich pay most of the taxes, tax cuts impact them more.

Of course, the entire concept of progressive income taxes (which is an economically horrible way for a country to collect taxes) is based in communist ideals anyway. It's right there in the communist manifesto. A much better system would be some kind of sales tax or vat tax. We won't ever go there most likely. Barring that, a flat tax with no deductions would be better than what we currently have.



Thanks![/QUOTE]

[keck553]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

When everything has been taken from me, I have to remind myself that they can not steal my soul.

God won’t let them take that.

In the end that’s the only thing I posses that has any value. And they can’t take that.

Glory to God.

[Fenris]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

I would also include predatory business practices, especially in pharmaceuticals.

My wife works in the pharmaceutical industry.


Do you know what it costs to develop one drug, from design stage through experimentation and testing, and finally getting government approval to mass produce and sell?

About a billion dollars.

That's right. A billion dollars.


Pharmaceutical companies aren't charities. They exist for the same reason that every other company exists: To make money. At the bare minimum, they need to recoup the cost for developing the life saving products that they invent. That means by definition that their products are going to be expensive.


At that point it becomes the consumer's choice: Would you rather have expensive life saving drugs, or no life saving drugs. Because they're never going to be cheap.


I get so sick and tired of hearing people demonize an industry that saves millions of lives every year.

End rant.

[Aviyah]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

Again - A lot of Republicans have pretty much abandoned Conservative principles and ideals. It's hard to communicate what you don't truly believe and actions speak louder than words anyway. Conservatives feel just as strongly about social issues as anybody and know that not all social programs and systems are bad. They just know that that D.C. pretty much ruins everything it gets it's hands on so they don't want government in control of most of them besides Social Security and Welfare.

True, and there's a lot of overlap between the two sides, which makes the alternatives to socialism more vague. Both sides love government spending but just argue over where to put the money. Even on AOC there are "far right" voices that break with Republicans and agree with her on the wealth tax. What I'm still trying to figure out is why SS is acceptable to the con. mainstream since this is actual redistribution as opposed to public services. (I have a feeling it's because SS affects them but education doesn't).

[Brother Mark]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

True, and there's a lot of overlap between the two sides, which makes the alternatives to socialism more vague. Both sides love government spending but just argue over where to put the money. Even on AOC there are "far right" voices that break with Republicans and agree with her on the wealth tax. What I'm still trying to figure out is why SS is acceptable to the con. mainstream since this is actual redistribution as opposed to public services. (I have a feeling it's because SS affects them but education doesn't).

Lots of people don't like SS. However, left was right about one thing... by making everyone pay and everyone be a recipient, it would become accepted rather than look like wealth transfer or welfare. Many people believe that the money they paid into SS is what they will get out plus a return. They don't realize that it is a ponzi scheme where workers now pay current retirees. Your generation is going to suffer a lot because of it.

Also, conservatives have often tried to make it more private because we KNOW you can get a better return in the private sector. So does the left, but they don't want to give up the control IMO. Reagan wanted to, and GWB tried to. The voters are scared about it. If either of those presidents had been successful, SS would be in much better shape today. Chile's retirement system is fantastic.

[Fenris]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

Even on AOC there are "far right" voices that break with Republicans and agree with her on the wealth tax.

There are...………..?

[Brother Mark]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

There are...………..?

That would mean they are far left to us. It's really weird to me what folks consider "far right" any more. IMO, if you are for larger government, more taxes, more authority to government, wealth transfer, authoritarian, etc. that would be left wing.

[BrianW]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

True, and there's a lot of overlap between the two sides, which makes the alternatives to socialism more vague. Both sides love government spending but just argue over where to put the money. Even on AOC there are "far right" voices that break with Republicans and agree with her on the wealth tax. What I'm still trying to figure out is why SS is acceptable to the con. mainstream since this is actual redistribution as opposed to public services. (I have a feeling it's because SS affects them but education doesn't).

Social Security it not redistribution. You pay into every time you get a paycheck from the time you start working until the time you retire. It's pretty much a retirement account managed by the government.
The problem with it now is that our government mismanaged the money for a looong time and screwed it up. What amazes me is those they say it has to be changed or fixed or it will bankrupt us just about have a heart attack when any mention of cutting back "Foreign Aid" is mentioned.
Welfare on the other hand is a form a redistribution but it's one that's needed. The sick, disabled, mentally handicapped etc need a helping hand and the majority of taxpayers don't have a problem with that and actually support it.

What they don't support is the massive corruption and broader scope it was never intended to have.

[Aviyah]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

Social Security it not redistribution. You pay into every time you get a paycheck from the time you start working until the time you retire. It's pretty much a retirement account managed by the government.

Another way of thinking would be taking my money to give it to a retiree with "the promise" that when I'm older I'll be the one taking money from the youth. I think of it as redistribution in the sense that the dollar itself is transferring from one to another. But also I'm biased since SS will probably be gone by the time I'm that old. Welfare can be thought of the same way, as an "emergency" account for you managed by the government, but still redistribution to people currently taking from it. I agree on the foreign aid part for sure - that's another position I agree with Trump on for the most part.

[Aviyah]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

Lots of people don't like SS. However, left was right about one thing... by making everyone pay and everyone be a recipient, it would become accepted rather than look like wealth transfer or welfare.

I'm fine with it being a form of welfare since that was basically the intention and is how many seniors are utilizing it. I don't think everyone needs to be a recipient if that helps it survive.

[Jude]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

My wife works in the pharmaceutical industry.


Do you know what it costs to develop one drug, from design stage through experimentation and testing, and finally getting government approval to mass produce and sell?

About a billion dollars.

That's right. A billion dollars.


Pharmaceutical companies aren't charities. They exist for the same reason that every other company exists: To make money. At the bare minimum, they need to recoup the cost for developing the life saving products that they invent. That means by definition that their products are going to be expensive.


At that point it becomes the consumer's choice: Would you rather have expensive life saving drugs, or no life saving drugs. Because they're never going to be cheap.


I get so sick and tired of hearing people demonize an industry that saves millions of lives every year.

End rant.

They make synthetic drugs for profit while God provides natural remedies for free..

[Fenris]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

They make synthetic drugs for profit while God provides natural remedies for free..

That's fine, nobody is forcing you buy their products. If you would rather pray and not take any medicine, by all means go right ahead. Just don't bash them for taking risks with their own money and trying to recoup losses.

[Jude]

Re: AOC declares the end of the world is in 12 years

That's fine, nobody is forcing you buy their products. If you would rather pray and not take any medicine, by all means go right ahead. Just don't bash them for taking risks with their own money and trying to recoup losses.

I'm not bashing anyone just an observation from personal experience is all..God has provided us with fruits vegetables and herbs for healing science is trying to duplicate it for profit because they can't patent them..


The Lord Jesus Christ is the creator of all life..