No, I was speaking of little shit. Littering, jaywalking, pissing in the alley kind of stuff. Impolite or possibly misdemeanor as opposed to criminal or invasive. :)

I heard a story about a tourist who threw out some litter and was observed by a Swiss policeman. The policeman picked up the trash and ran after the tourist exclaiming, "Excuse me sir, but you seem to have dropped something!" The Swiss wouldn't have turned the guy in, but they sure would have bad vibed him. Looking at our own litter clogged streets, you think this is such a bad thing?

No, I'm not judging. I'm taking the opportunity to take advantage of having a couple of first hand sources to find out what I don't know about the Swiss.
Although, it's amazing they've been able to live in close proximity with the French, Italians and Germans without becoming contaminated. :D Anyone I've forgotten to piss off?

That is so fucking shitty, that they are charging you interest for their fuck up. :mad:

Ouch! Hang in there.

MotherFUCK that's soooo wrong! Sheesh! I send you vibes that a sudden stroke of luck falls upon you and you like...i dunno win the lottery or something...:D

[I think it is a creative idea, Radar. I think the theory works, but I have doubt that the real world implementation would be so ideal. [/b][/quote]

and what the strict libertarian view doesn't have a way to overcome is that the american public has become entitlement focused. people will vote for the politician who will take care of their personal priorities, even if it is exactly counter to the best plan for the nation.

it is a very good idea and on paper it works - just like most other systems. the downfall is that you have to involve people in this system and at the root of it all PEOPLE SUCK. we have the ability to screw up any good idea because the opportunity for corruption (even small scale) is too tantalizing for the majority of individuals.
if you think this is not true, just stop for a moment and ask yourself "did our (corrupt) politicians get into politics simply to screw the people over and steal us blind?" the answer is generally "no", even for the ones that i think are absolute slime. MOST (not all) of them sought positions of power to make a difference. as they climb the ladder that they themselves are corrupted a little at a time. sad but true.

Socialist communism - is a perfect system on paper, unfortunately the leaders will inevitably hold out special privilege for themselves at extreme cost to their "charges"

Representative democracy - perfect on paper until they people who are sent to represent us realize what they can gain personally by placing their needs ahead of ours.

benevolent dictatorship - even this is perfect until the per son on top realizes that they can benefit even more by screwing over the little people, just a little.


people suck. most of us don't mean to, but put in a position of power, most people will cave to the pressure, even if just a little.

as an afterthought - the best solution to radar's disgust for taxes is to drop the income tax and property tax altogether. a sales tax only system would be much more fair and equitable because with certain exclusions - food and medical care (necessities) the government can put into place a sales tax system that would pay for whatever is required for the maintenance of our nation and it is the citizen's choice to purchase goods and services resulting in tax revenue collections. this system would raise more revenue at less cost to the average american, because the thousands upon thousands of individuals not paying in any income tax(illegal industries, illegal immigrants...) would have to pay sales tax just like the rest of us.

this will never happen because the people who it would benefit the most (lower-middle class)will be led to believe it is meant to screw them over by their main sources of political info(union leaders and the grass roots political leaders)

And if that's the problem, the republic is doomed to collapse. Panem et circenses and all that.

i'd like to think i'm more of a realist than a pessimist, but i do believe our system (like all systems) is doomed to collapse. it won't be immediate, but it will happen. everything is cyclical. societies rise and they fall. i'm willing to bet the majority of the roman public thought their empire couldn't possibly collapse.

When I was kid growing up my mother use to smoke cigarette butts she found. The phone we had was a pay phone a 1/2 mile away. Pinto beans was the meal of the day almost everyday it seemed. We had a neighbor that had a few chickens. I borrowed my cousins .22 rifle one day. I sat outside the house and waited. Some of chickens were running up and down the dirt road by our shack and I shot one. Brought it into my mom and told her chicken tonight mom. No more beans for a few days thank god.

Well, you can hardly leave it at that, Pinto Bean. We need to know more to make some sort of suggestion. Why was mom so poor? Husband leave her? Mental illness? Substance abuse? All of the above? Oh, and welcome! Stick around, you'll like it here. Or, someone will mortally insult you and you'll never come back--it's always one or the other. :)

My father dumped my mother when I was 6. My mother was mentally ill and had suffered two break downs during her marriage to my father along with becoming addicted to prescription drugs. She tried to work but could not hold a job any length of time.

Just curious, Pinto Bean,.... do you feel your mothers' situation (mentally) is something genetically bothersome for your own self?

I'll admit I got lazy here and didnt read all 18 pages (hey, I read through every other thread I posted in, I deserve a break), but having lived in Hong Kong for a year and Beijing for three, and having travelled all around China, Tibet (it may be part of the PRC but I'll be damned if I'll call it China), and Mongolia, I've seen poor, and so if I have more than three outfits of clothes, enough food to eat whenever I'm hungry, and my guitar to play, I will never consider myself poor. Really, two out of three ain't bad, I'd sell some of my clothes for strings and/or food if I had to.

With my father in the military we've never quite been rich, but we've always had all we needed, and past... ten years or so, I'd go so far as to say well-off. Five laptops and a PC among four people sure ain't bad, even if two of those laptops are barely usable anymore. Especially when it comes to electronics, we spoil ourselves, even though it leaves us with less actual cash (and/or spending money) then we would like, and as much as I routinely complain about having no money, I've really got it good compared to a lot of people. I'd give up almost all of it in a heartbeat if it meant I could go back to where I lived before instead of staying here in Taiwan, but that doesn't mean I dont like it...