What's new
  • ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!

A real tipping point in America...is about to be reached?

Hydrosun

I love my life
Veteran
Redusing his philosophy to the absurd (or even it's logical conclusion as they're both the same thing in this case) would surely lead to a Mad Max type distopia where everyone fights to the death for essential resources. Sounds like fun.

What is the difference between need and want? A need is something you socialists will steal from others to give to yourself. A want is what ever someone else wants and you collectivists don't feel they deserve / need.

How is the logical conclusion of no one may harm another and no one can force anyone to do anything lead to Mad Max? Does that mean if you collectivists can not be in charge you'll take to the streets with guns, but if you are left in charge to steal and lord over everyone else you'll only cage, enslave, or kill those that really need it, or only cage, enslave, and kill if there is something you need?

:joint:
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
U.S. Income Inequality Higher Than Roman Empire's Levels: Study

First Posted: 12/19/11 05:30 PM ET Updated: 12/19/11 05:33 PM ET

Many tout the U.S. as the Roman empire of the modern world. But as it turns out, that comparison may not be all good.

Income inequality in America is at levels even higher than those in ancient Rome, according to a recent study from two historians, Walter Schiedel and Steven Friesen, cited by Per Square Mile.

After analyzing papyri ledgers, biblical passages and other previous scholarly estimates, the researchers found that the top one percent of earners in Ancient Rome controlled 16 percent of the society's wealth. By comparison, the top one percent of American earners control 40 percent of the country's wealth, according to Vanity Fair. (h/t ThinkProgress)

The findings add to the growing chorus of studies and criticisms indicating that the wealth gap is hitting truly remarkable levels.

The top one percent saw their incomes rise by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office, while the bottom fifth of earners only saw their incomes grow by 20 percent during that same period.

In addition, the total net worth of the bottom 60 percent of Americans is less than that of the Forbes 400 richest Americans.

Perhaps even more shocking, the six heirs to the retail giant Walmart had the same net worth in 2007 as the bottom 30 percent of Americans. And the phenomenon isn't just limited to the U.S. -- income inequality is on the rise in most of the world's major economies, according to the Organisation of Economic Development and Cooperation.

The high levels of income inequality may help explain why both Rome and America wield so much power. Large wealth gaps actually helped early societies spread, according to an October study. That's because unequal societies crowded out more egalitarian populations, the study found.

Still, the income gap may hurt the U.S. in other ways. A September report from the International Monetary Fund found that greater income equality positively correlates with stronger economic growth.

Not only that, but it's also unpopular; nearly three-quarters of the respondents to an October poll from The Hill said they think income inequality is a problem for the United States. In addition, it's been one of the main rallying cries of Occupy Wall Street.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/19/us-income-inequality-ancient-rome-levels_n_1158926.html
.
 

Dorje113

Member
I think this is the crux of the problem.... greed.

It's not necessarily our system, it's policies put in place by greedy people. Policies like a ridiculously low minimum wage and the ability to buy elections. I know elections can't be "bought" in the true sense of the word, but research has shown that the better funded party wins over 90% of the time. Any system can be taken advantage of by people overcome with greed. A different set of morality and ethics exists for "business"... people shrug it off and say "that's just business" when a corporation does something that would otherwise be seen as unethical. People are more concerned with the success of their business than the well being of their family and other human beings.

As for the "individualists", they still care for their family... Take that kind of care and compassion and extend it to your friends, then your community, and the rest of the world... distinctions between who you care for who you are competing against have no basis in reality, they are subject to change at whim. Where do you draw the line? I'm not going to get into a debate about this here... at least not that much... but logically you will not be able to defend the "individualist" position. It is a losing position that one cannot hope to rationally defend without basing your position on your own short-term well being and ego, neither of which is a basis for a happy life. Putting others' well being equal to your own, as well as having unconditional love for all human beings has been taught by Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, and is a major cornerstone of many non-religious philosophies dating back to ancient Greece.
 

komrade komura

Active member
2012 might just be the year when we finally smash shit up enough to cause significant reform. The peaceful protesters had their 2011 and we all recall the photos of night sticks and pepper spray used in vengeance by retarded LEO bought and paid for by the 1% and their sheeple.

Hope that 2012 will be the point at which we finally force tanks out on the street to 'keep the peace'. The population cannot be ruled without consent and it comes down to how many body bags the 1% are willing to have their security forces fill with our bodies.

Then the unthinkable happens...maybe it is the sight of the first shot to the head that explodes like a watermelon or women being savagely stripped and beaten, Cairo style. The great silent majority, as Nixon called them, become disgusted with it all, like they did with the Vietnam War, long before the ego chamber of washington.


Then it only takes the first soldier and cop to lower their gun, refusing to open fire on fellow citizens. Unraveling fascism is hard to do...but we have many recent examples of success.

Let's face it, there is always gonna be someone well-meaning with a well-reasoned argument for this or that new rule for us to obey or some perverted shit that is formed from an initial good idea. Wrapped in a bow of common sense patriotism.

It is for our own good...like parents with prisons and guns...you don't want to be sent to your room with this type of government.

Tired of electing my fucking dictators.

Perhaps it would be better if we tried direct democracy for awhile. The current system only produces the best government money can buy...they have the receipt...top right pocket of the blue dinner jacket. At least with direct democracy we will get what we want/deserve for better or worse, although worse is hard to imagine.

If not direct democracy, then we should insist on the NASCAR RULE:
All politicians must wear the logos of their corporate sponsors at all times. As truth in advertising, we deserve to see who is talking to us and who paid for them be able to do so.

Limit the size of corporations and there will be a labour shortage...which means that those who missed the gravy years will finally catch up.

Microsoft broken into 50 pieces will need a lot of new people. We have perverted into a society which is run by corporations, an artificial sociopathic organisation that has only one goal. A place where collectively we can ignore our individual responsibility for our actions.

If one bank fails in a country with 5,000 banks I think we can handle it, don't you?

Remember, Victoria's Secret is the child labor on the cotton farms producing raw materials for their panties. Abomination, just a fucking abomination. Yet the death penalty is only used on humans.

The 2012 bad news: ****servatives will have guns and use them defending some myth or bumper sticker wisdom. Liverals will fret and wonder why we don't appreciate all they have done to us...('for us' in their minds).

THe 2012 Good News: none if we don't make it ourselves.

2012 allies:

Libertarians, Anonymous, Wikileaks, Tea Party (the non-bat shit crazy ones), hippies, alternatives to corporate media, anarchists, growers

2012 Enemies:

democrats/republicans, corporate media, LEO, communists (after the fighting is over), record companies, hollywood, anyone who says they have the answers and aren't talking about mathematics, anyone who likes Ayn Rand.

Rant.exe sponsored by Pure Power Plant taken at 55 days (test sample bud).
 

amannamedtruth

Active member
Veteran

kobi93

Member
Yo, Dog! Be careful what you wish for. I don't want no tanks on my street.


If you think the cruelty enacted by the governments of Syria or Libya on their people were something, you have no idea what the U.S. government will do to us. The groundwork has already been laid, and the people currently in power will not go quietly into that dark night.

The U.S. government will unleash a force on its own people that will make what Basher Assad and Moammar Ghadaffi did look like child's play. The only good part is that when the American people finally see those images and realize what's happening, they have the arms to stand up and start to defend themselves. I only hope they realize it before it's too late.
 

Grass Lands

Member
Veteran
Just look at the streets bro...kobi93 is spot on...

all ya gotta do is watch soylent green to see what we have for a future.
 

PoopyTeaBags

State Liscensed Care Giver/Patient, Assistant Trai
Veteran
Kobi is 100% correct... In fact as the law stands right now. If the president declares martial law then the constitution is SUSPENDED and the head of FEMA assumes role as president.... Once this happens the president of fema can LEGALLY call EVERY branch of government under HIS control. There are already outlines of what they are going to do when this happens... What role every government agency is suppose to play.

There all kinds of laws written on this... THe post office will do a national registration and it will not be good. Once the constituition is suspended you will NOT be able to bare arms.. They will slaughter anyone that resist..

The domestic terrorist law they are trying to pass is one of the LAST laws needed to make this so.
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
According to the Bush administration, the president becomes the 'coordinator' of congress and agencies. This law basically makes the president the commander in chief of domestic military operations.

I'm not even supposed to suggest what event has to take place before 'coordinator' bs happens.

Closing GITMO and ending military commissions for non-sanctioned international terrorists had more implications than for non-US citizens. Demanding that we keep military tribunals is why we have this crap in the first place. If a US citizen chooses to become an enemy combatant, he'll get a tribunal as opposed to civilian trial. FEMA going nuts on civilians assumes civilians go nuts on gub and that's only a small percentage of the population that considers that degree of actions.

Had Congress allowed JD to prosecute KSM in NYC, we would have gone back to civilian trials for terrorists - both foreign and domestic. Timothy McVeighs would be prosecuted in civilian courts instead of military commissions.
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Lol, my state just hit the news - 2400 convicted felons buy firearms just like non-felons. Sounds like we're raising Arizona.
 

Hydrosun

I love my life
Veteran
Lol, my state just hit the news - 2400 convicted felons buy firearms just like non-felons. Sounds like we're raising Arizona.

The tipping point has been passed. Where in the US constitution does it say a citizen may be deprived of his rights under the constitution?

How is denial of 2nd amendment rights to ANYONE not a sign of the collapse?

Can we strip 1st amendment rights from felons and non-felons alike?

The United States of America was a once great nation, now it is a greatly monstrous killer of all ideals it once espoused.

:joint:
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top