Politics & Stuff

[Thor 2,392]

3 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

Economy is never good - by definition.
Sometimes it gets worse but it's never good.
Remember the Charlie Chaplin speech about the economy, the one they considered pro-communist and deported him ?
Well, that period is now called "the golden period of the US economy".
This is because everytime, somebody has a grudge and believes things can get better.
Then the political opposition always takes advantage. The politicians job and that of their trolls is to make 20-30 statements a day. If it was me I would say "why all those superfluous statements ?" but it is how politics work.
Trump and his cronies in particular blame foreigners for everything, even the allies. But this buys votes, it's tested.

Trumps economic policies are actually more centric and left leaning. 

Regardless of who runs the country better, sentiment is(was) better under Trump. 

[cosmicway 1,323]

3 minutes ago, Thor said:

Trumps economic policies are actually more centric and left leaning. 

Regardless of who runs the country better, sentiment is(was) better under Trump. 

Well, the way all this reflects on the common citizen is mainly taxes.
Take for example the Greek economic crisis.
You are a company middle manager. Your salary was 3,000 per month - they make it 1,500.
What affected you is the new taxes, not the negative reports from Brussels as such.
Taxes are always unfair.
If you complain to your local taxman he will just say "please don't bring your personal problems here".

In Greece we have fun these days.
The entire staff of the tax authority of the town of Chalkida have been arrested and are now in jail.
Those had organized a mafia group, blackmailing local businessmen.
Those local businessmen it seems were facing fines of varying amounts for various misdemeanours-inaccuracies in their tax reports.
So the Mafia men -or women rather- were saying to them "you are to be be fined 100,000 euros, give us 20,000 and we are going to fix it".
This has been going on for years and they made themselves rich.
Until someone spilled the beans ...
Walked in with 10,000 euros in marked banknotes - then the police sept in - arrested everybody.
 

 

[robsblubot 3,502]

58 minutes ago, Thor said:

Trumps economic policies are actually more centric and left leaning. 

Regardless of who runs the country better, sentiment is(was) better under Trump. 

Heh there is no such 'sentiment" other than what the media, on both sides project for eyeballs. Trump presided over a pandemic where nothing was better than it is now; he also made ridiculous blunders (drink bleach, gone in the spring...). The only fact is that Trump hasn't done very well since he lost the last election.

People really don't care all that much about elections until it's happening, I mean real people that is.

[cosmicway 1,323]

The biggest exponent going on for Trump is racism.
Racism dierected against immigrants and particularly against hard working - money making immigrants.
If you think they are concerned with tramp immigrants who go round and round in the streets, it's a big fat lie.
It's theur smokescreen.
It's those people who are part of the economy but of foreign nationality they are against.
There are many such people and they are the product of the close ties and the alliances that were formed after the war.
Nobody in his right mind got up one morning and said "I will go to Tramp land, or brexit land".
It's the product of the alliances, but now even these historical alliances are questioned - the nazi revival.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

The CPI on things are skewed. Food and everyday items are still running rampant as far as prices. 

They cater to those numbers by controlling energy and oil prices. Makes things look a lot better. 

Also America is a poison on the world as far as "woke" issues. I can't believe we've gotten to a point where we can't say men are men and women are women. Its spreading all over the world. The quicker they stop pandering to 0.1% of people who yell the loudest about things that don't matter, the better.

The culture wars are nonstarters that republicans use to farm votes because they have NO solutions for real problems.

 

Nobody cares about men being called women or vice versa when interest rates are 7%+ and home prices are out of reach for the vast majority of Americans.

[Fernando 6,453]

11 hours ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

When was the last time you spent less than 50 dollars in a store to feed a family though? A few years ago you probably had respite with covid bucks, but you aren't getting that today.

 

 

Economists will say anything, but that simply isnt the reality on the ground.

 

There was a time when someone making 6 figures could afford a house and models and bottles in big cities. You aren't getting that anymore.

But that is called overall inflation in decades. Of course everything was cheaper in the 90s. But then again wage was also lower. 

What was minimum wage in the 90s in NYC? And take a look at minimum wage today? 

So yes it is true in the whole the federal reserve likes to keep inflation at 2% percent year on year as that is healthy and for the economy. But runaway inflation not cool and that is going down. 

[Fernando 6,453]

24 minutes ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

The culture wars are nonstarters that republicans use to farm votes because they have NO solutions for real problems.

 

Nobody cares about men being called women or vice versa when interest rates are 7%+ and home prices are out of reach for the vast majority of Americans.

But people are still buying. Despite the historical high value of owning a house. People have money and don't care. Take a look at one example:

One house was listed for 439,900. On April 9,2024 and was sold on 

May 15 2024 for 510,500.

So despite high interest people are still putting multiple offers and buying above the asking price. 

 

[Vesper 28,772]

12 hours ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

When was the last time you spent less than 50 dollars in a store to feed a family though? A few years ago you probably had respite with covid bucks, but you aren't getting that today.

 

 

Economists will say anything, but that simply isnt the reality on the ground.

 

There was a time when someone making 6 figures could afford a house and models and bottles in big cities. You aren't getting that anymore.

The numbers are the numbers, and now you are moving goalposts to areas I did not discuss.

In terms of housing prices, I agree, the US is absolutely fucked, same for rents in many areas.

It's all underpinned by corporate greed, manipulation and proft taking (especially via falsely raised margins).

[Thor 2,392]

2 hours ago, cosmicway said:

The biggest exponent going on for Trump is racism.
Racism dierected against immigrants and particularly against hard working - money making immigrants.
If you think they are concerned with tramp immigrants who go round and round in the streets, it's a big fat lie.
It's theur smokescreen.
It's those people who are part of the economy but of foreign nationality they are against.
There are many such people and they are the product of the close ties and the alliances that were formed after the war.
Nobody in his right mind got up one morning and said "I will go to Tramp land, or brexit land".
It's the product of the alliances, but now even these historical alliances are questioned - the nazi revival.

I'm not sure what you're alluding to - but illegal immigration is a huge problem in the USA. 

I don't think it is racist to not want illegal immigration. 

[cosmicway 1,323]

10 minutes ago, Thor said:

I'm not sure what you're alluding to - but illegal immigration is a huge problem in the USA. 

I don't think it is racist to not want illegal immigration. 

Not sure ...
What an odd expression when you actually do understand perfectly.
The illegal bit is second-third-fourth consideration.
Because who knows who is illegal or not ?
Only the cops after they have looked into their computer.
They don't care about legal or illegal status more than they care about the local tramps - clochards.
The workers and the professionals is they are after.
Put that in pipe and smoke.

 

[Thor 2,392]

28 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

Not sure ...
What an odd expression when you actually do understand perfectly.
The illegal bit is second-third-fourth consideration.
Because who knows who is illegal or not ?
Only the cops after they have looked into their computer.
They don't care about legal or illegal status more than they care about the local tramps - clochards.
The workers and the professionals is they are after.
Put that in pipe and smoke.

 

I'm not sure I understand. 

Letting people into a country illegally is what over time causes a downtrend in a country - both economically and values/safety wise. 

Same way you wouldn't invite strangers into your home without vetting them. 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

53 minutes ago, Vesper said:

The numbers are the numbers, and now you are moving goalposts to areas I did not discuss.

In terms of housing prices, I agree, the US is absolutely fucked, same for rents in many areas.

It's all underpinned by corporate greed, manipulation and proft taking (especially via falsely raised margins).

The numbers are bullshit though which can be manipulated to say anything. there's not a single American you can talk to, who isnt rich out of their mind, who feels inflation is better right now than in 2021 when folks were being given cash for covid relief.

 

My friends and I all make over six figures and our standard of living now is worse than what are parents had making half as much in the 90's during the dot com boom.  Its like the people during BLM who would come in, with numbers, and preach to unhappy people that "The cops actually kill white people more". Perception is reality. There is only so long you can tell people living in shit that things are actually good before they reject you outright.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

2 hours ago, Fernando said:

But that is called overall inflation in decades. Of course everything was cheaper in the 90s. But then again wage was also lower. 

What was minimum wage in the 90s in NYC? And take a look at minimum wage today? 

So yes it is true in the whole the federal reserve likes to keep inflation at 2% percent year on year as that is healthy and for the economy. But runaway inflation not cool and that is going down. 

What was the average home price in NYC in 1994 and in 2024?

 

There is actually nothing healthy about the price for everything going up but wages remaining stagnant. Minimum wage in my state is 5 bucks, but the federal minimum of 7.25 pushes it to that. It actually hasn't risen at all since I was in high school and im in my 30's now.
 

Has inflation gone down in your shopping prices?

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

2 hours ago, Fernando said:

But people are still buying. Despite the historical high value of owning a house. People have money and don't care. Take a look at one example:

One house was listed for 439,900. On April 9,2024 and was sold on 

May 15 2024 for 510,500.

So despite high interest people are still putting multiple offers and buying above the asking price. 

 

Rich people looking to shelter their money in foreign countries(the absolute influx of Chinese buyers on the west coast) and private equity/corporations are buying for sure.

The average person? No chance. We have turned this nation into a nation of renters. And as Rome falls republicans want us to sit around and cry about some kid wanting to be called a different gender. 

[cosmicway 1,323]

11 minutes ago, Thor said:

I'm not sure I understand. 

Letting people into a country illegally is what over time causes a downtrend in a country - both economically and values/safety wise. 

Same way you wouldn't invite strangers into your home without vetting them. 

Well, you do understand what I 'm saying better than a preacher understands his bible.
Begin your replies with some other more decent expression in the future I would suggest.
We are talking about the racists mentality here, not about me vetting visitors to my home.

[Thor 2,392]

22 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

Well, you do understand what I 'm saying better than a preacher understands his bible.
Begin your replies with some other more decent expression in the future I would suggest.
We are talking about the racists mentality here, not about me vetting visitors to my home.

You're conflating things that aren't the case. 

If someone says they don't like a BMW, that doesn't make them a hater of all cars. 

These distinctions are important. 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

I'm not sure what you're alluding to - but illegal immigration is a huge problem in the USA. 

I don't think it is racist to not want illegal immigration. 

Not any bigger of a problem than "Legal" Immigration where a company will hire someone from overseas into a slave H1B contract to where they have to do whatever the boss says or face fear of being deported.

 

Hell, an undocumented immigrant could go work on a farm for cheap and actually keep American's produce prices lower. What does the average American get from an immigrant taking a skilled labor job?

Edited May 26 by Sir Mikel OBE

[cosmicway 1,323]

20 minutes ago, Thor said:

You're conflating things that aren't the case. 

If someone says they don't like a BMW, that doesn't make them a hater of all cars. 

These distinctions are important. 

About illegal immigration the open border fanciers in Greece were supposed to be the woke SYRIZA government of 2015-19.
Everybody things they are a joke of a party now (which to my mind is not so funny anymore because Greece needs a serious opposition party - must n't become the undisputed property of one party, the present government party).
Yet in 2017 it was them jokers who brought the EU special force, the FRONTEX, whose task is to prevent illegal crossings of the borders.
So illegal immigration is always illegal immigration, for me, for you, for everybody.

But this is not the mind of the racist. 
The mind of the racist is what I describe.