It's both funny and saddening at the same time.ragestreet said:I love this. Its like watching a cockroach try and fight Kratos.
It's both funny and saddening at the same time.ragestreet said:I love this. Its like watching a cockroach try and fight Kratos.
I could (and would) write many different ways in which you fail at arguing your point, but I doubt it would be as good as the one Theseus32 did.Sonic Doctor said:I really shouldn't respond because you don't even know what fascism is. Any form of government can be fascist. Read your history, Hitler was big on social programs. Fascism is control, it is neither left nor right wing.Yoshemo said:Sonic Doctor said:super snip
You do realize the Nazis were fascist and not socialist, right? completely different things. And just because its socialist doesn't mean its bad.
Socialism cannot work with out taking away personal freedoms that are rightfully given to us by our Constitution. The whole basic idea of socialism is take away from the individual to give to the many. It is financial freedom restriction to the successful, and people that run their own businesses.
The individual has the freedom to help or not help people. Nobody should be forced to be charitable, charity is something that falls in the realm of free will. If people want to keep their extra money and profits for themselves, then they can, because they earned it, nobody else. There is way too much emphasis on the collective society. If we remove the individual aspect of life, then we will lose creativity and the strive to be better, we will lose humanity.
i doubt it though, if he didn't read it before why would he read it now? if he IS......then EPIC WIN.Theseus32 said:Ya know... I have to wonder if this one counts as an epic win for no other reason than I genuinely think he may be reading the Constitution for the very first time...
holy shit, someone did there homework in civics, lol, congrats Theseus32 for the fine read!!!Theseus32 said:Now, now. Go easy on Flamebait McCrazyperson. He's the symptom of a much larger problem. I believe that with extensive reeducation, possibly electroshock, possibly hypnotherapy, he may well be able to become a functional 24 year old again.
However Spin Doctor, as an upper middle class white American insurance executive there are a few things I really am forced to take you to task on.
Ok. Problem #1. (I'm enumerating them to help me keep track)Sonic Doctor said:There is also the point that depending on the situation, people have to accept lot they were dealt in life. This mentality that people deserve more than basic Constitutional rights, has to stop.
Think back. I mean way back to grade school. There may have been a moment where a beloved teacher uttered the immortal phrase "The great part about this country is that ANYONE could grow up to be president!" Do you remember that? I do. This was not, is not, and god willing NEVER will be a country content with accepting its lot in life. It's called the American dream[tm]. The idea that you can rise from poverty to riches. The idea that no matter how low your station, with hard work, grit, and dedication you can rise up and be a success. It's the entire god damned POINT of our country.
Problem #2Sonic Doctor said:The system has already been thrown off balance with this whole government health care crap. Yes the private sector health care has problems, but as I have said before on other threads, what the government is doing by making people pay for other peoples' health care, is forced charity.
Ok, this one pisses me off a lil. Since you clearly know buggerall about health care or health care reform, allow me a moment to educate you. The government is not paying for other peoples' health care. I would like to repeat that. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT PAYING FOR OTHER PEOPLES' HEALTH CARE. Effectively the only thing the bill does in its current state is make sure that major medical companies like the one I work for can't deny people coverage who need it. In addition it also forces policies to cover children. At no cost to you or the insurance company! All kids with health care! Nifty huh? The other thing is it'll require jobs to offer health care. And before you get a Beck sized hard-on about that killing small business, as someone who actually SELLS THESE POLICIES FOR A LIVING, they're nothing any remotely successful business can't afford. We're talking a couple hundred a week to cover about a half dozen people, depending on deductibles and co pays and... screw it. Point is, nobody's going bankrupt over it. And if you're not remotely successful, well there's your bloody free market. World needs ditch diggers too.
Oh, and there'll be the guys in army boots kicking down your door to kill your grandma, but screw it, she's old.
Oh also, this whole plan is actually going to cost the federal government a few billion FEWER dollars a year than they're spending now. I'd explain how that works, and I'm willing to, but methinks until deprogramming is complete, thine head would explode.
And the charity idea just really demonstrates a total and utter lack of understanding about how the insurance and pharmaceutical industries work. 'Sides, I'm the one needing tax shelters, not you. Incidentally, since you're looking for work, you should consider becoming a Fox TV pundit. Apparently they'll hire anyone.
Problem #3Sonic Doctor said:To end this, the whole Progressive Era, the progressives where the worst thing to happen to this country. Progressives are destroying the rightful freedoms that were set up by our great Founding Fathers.
Here's a little mind bender for you. Which freedoms were those again? 'cuse the version of the constitution that I have doesn't have any listed. You're thinking the bill of rights which came later. I can understand the confusion though, most of em were overturned by the patriot act. Incidentally I double dog DARE you to name 10 of the "great founding fathers" without using the internet. And out of utter morbid curiosity, just what is it you think that the progressives did exactly again? Again, no google. Just get the hate rant out of your system without bothering to back it up with evidence. After all, that's the president.
Problem #4Sonic Doctor said:I really shouldn't respond because you don't even know what fascism is. Any form of government can be fascist. Read your history, Hitler was big on social programs. Fascism is control, it is neither left nor right wing.
Again, notice the part about fascism being to the far right? Just like Nazism? Not unusual considering that fascism was the Italian version of Nazism under Mussolini. It's a frigging Italian word for chrissakes. If you're still missing the point, the whole of world war 2 was us AGAINST RADICAL RIGHT WINGERS. And EVERYTHING backs the evidence on that. Again, am I saying that conservatives are Nazis? No. I'm saying the Nazis were conservative. Big difference.Teh Internets said:Fascism, pronounced /ˈfæʃɪzəm/, is a radical right-wing and authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to organize a nation on corporatist perspectives, values, and systems such as the political system and the economy. Fascism was originally founded by Italian national syndicalists in World War I who combined left-wing and right-wing political views, but gravitated to the political right in the early 1920s. Scholars generally consider fascism to be on the far right of the conventional left-right political spectrum.
Problem #5Sonic Doctor said:The whole basic idea of socialism is take away from the individual to give to the many.
No. No it is not.
In short, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. Who knew Spock was a frigging red eh? The shirt really should have tipped us off.Teh Internets More said:A more comprehensive definition of socialism is an economic system that directly maximizes use-values as opposed to exchange-values and has transcended commodity production and wage labour, along with a corresponding set of social and economic relations, including the organization of economic institutions, the method of resource allocation and post-monetary calculation based on some physical magnitude; often implying a method of compensation based on individual merit, the amount of labour expended or individual contribution.
The upshot is it basically says that abusing the shit out of your workers for your own individual gain might not be the best thing for society as a whole. Now I'm a pinko liberal commie, but still think about it. Damned near EVERY SINGLE ADVANCE IN THE WHOLE OF HUMAN HISTORY WAS BASED ON COLLECTIVE EFFORT. The industrial revolution? Socialist. The Roman Empire? Socialist. Britian? Socialist. Know why? Because if humanity hadn't ever banded together to form stronger groups we'd all still be living in individual huts beating each other to death with clubs. Socialism pretty frigging much = civilization if you're casting the net that wide.
Now don't get me wrong, Russia jumped the shark early on and frankly Stalin could have taught Hitler LESSONS about genocide. That's not the fault of the ideology, that's the fault of douche bags in government.
Ding ding ding!!! You got one! You're right! People should be able to keep the money they earn with their own blood sweat and tears! But....Sonic Doctor said:If people want to keep their extra money and profits for themselves, then they can, because they earned it, nobody else.
Problem#6
That's the exact same god damned thing that Karl Marx said. One of the founders of the socialist party. Oops.
Problem #7Sonic Doctor said:By definition, socialism takes away freedoms. It definition doesn't say it outright...
Then that's not the sodding definition of it.
See above.
Problem #8Sonic Doctor said:but a socialist government has to kill many individual freedoms in order to take care of the many. Mainly because their are many people like me that believe that nobody else deserves what I worked for, I earn the money (when I have a job) and it is my money. In order for the government to get money to yada yada yada...
Look. I get it. I totally understand your point. The problem is that YOU DON'T. You're 24 and unemployed. All of this, every blasted one of these programs is designed BY THEIR VERY NATURE to help people EXACTLY LIKE YOU. I had to pay more in taxes this year than you probably made. And ya know what? I'm ok with that! Tell you what. You can use your taxes for military defense, because lord knows the commies are gonna be invading ANY DAY NOW. In exchange for that, how about you give up your unemployment check, your low income housing, your use of the highways, schools, police and fire departments. I mean if defense is your only priority... Just understand that a good chunk of that is going to keep up the national helium reserve in case we need to build a zeppelin armada to fend off the third Reich's blitzkrieg. And no, I'm not making that shit up.
A brief history lesson on social programs from Britain. For you tea drinkers in the audience, you can sit this one out since most of you actually studied history, but clearly the good doctor did not. (And if I mess anything up, feel free to correct me here, college was a few years ago)
See round about the time James Watt was stealing the idea for the steam engine, a little filly by the name of Victoria took the throne of England. Now I could go on for HOURS about the dowager queen, but I'll keep it brief. She married a dude named Albert, had a buncha kids and died.
...
OK, that was too short. Little longer then. Victoria pretty much kick started the second British empire. She did this because Albert, who was a pretty hep cat for the time, had some crazy ideas about improving life for the subjects. That, thanks to a succession of really rather decent prime ministers (Some of whom were imperialistic bastards, but hell, no one's perfect) set up a series of social programmes (the e was for the brits listening. You know who you are) to kick start a burgeoning middle class. All of a sudden, poor lower classes got them some edumacation and started inventing shit. And this made everyone a flaming buttload of cash. That combined with India made England filthy rich, and they lived happily ever after... Well until some poncy duke got shot, but that's another story.
There are similar stories for the Roman empire and china during periods and well... pretty much every single successful civilization EVER. So saying progressives = socialists = teh debil... is frankly kinda retarded considering that pretty much every major advance in human technology was founded BECAUSE of them.
So sonic... seriously here. Really REALLY give this last bit some thought. Do you have health care? Do you have a 401k? Do you have a pension? 'cuse if not... All of this, all of it, is there to benefit You. And I mean you specifically. Just take one sec before you go back to your rabid soundbite-esque defense of conservatives and really ask yourself. How in gods name are they going to help you when the last thing they want is for you to succeed?
great! Now I want to move to Norway.... too bad I only speak english and spanishSinisterSpade|LH| said:Oh, so you're an idiot then.Sonic Doctor said:Truthfully, that is actually one of the best dreams I have ever had. In my dream, all the socialists and progressives moved to other countries, because they came to the realization they were in a minority and couldn't bring about control on people like me, people that want to keep their individual freedoms and want to have a say in how their money is spent. I actually cried when I woke up and realized that it was a dream.SinisterSpade|LH| said:I really hope what you just said was suppose to be satire.Sonic Doctor said:Glenn Beck is a genius in the fact that he is using commonsense to show how we will lose our freedoms if we don't stand up to the socialist agenda and show them that they can't tell us what to do.
We are Americans, we are free. We don't answer to the government, the government is to answer to us.
The problem that people have with Beck, is that they can't refute what he says because he has the facts on his side.
If not, then I'm so glad I'm moving to Norway here soon so I can get away from people like you.
Socialism is a fiscal system. It doesn't effect your damn 'personal freedoms' in any way. Socialism does not equal dictatorship or anything of the like.
In fact, Norway, a market influenced social state, has more personal freedoms than America. They don't have silly restrictions on what drugs you can take(Except for extreme ones for the most part), who can and can't get married, etc.
Let's look at some other things Norway has over America, hmmm?
Made up of about 70% non-religious/agnostics/atheists, global peace index rates it most peaceful nation in the world, second highest GDP per capita, an unemployment rate below two percent, average hourly wages among the worlds highest. Ranked first in life expectancy, literacy, and standard of living.
And it's smart socialism, by the way. Once again, it is a market influenced socialist state. Meaning it is about 60 percent socialism, 40 percent capitalism. And it's backed up by Norway having one of the largest oil reserves in the world, owned by the government. And the government doesn't spend any of the profit. They hold onto it for backup. They only spend the interest and such.
If you're not following, the only thing your precious America has over Norway is it's armed forces.
To peaceful, intelligent, logical people... that's not a very big plus.
Isn't that kind of ironic, though? One of the most Christian nations in the world is capitalist, and focuses so much on it's army. Yet the most atheist/agnostic/non-religious nation is socialist, and has the highest peace rating.
...I wonder which your Jesus would agree with more?
Good game, sir.
While your right in how socalism develops, its still not going to happen in America any time soon. No single group of people is anywhere near complete, the massive struggle to get the health bill passed is a good example of that. What ever happens it has to get past the sentate and the media, the government wont suddenly become socialist just because a few people want to.Sonic Doctor said:Because a socialist government has to eventually take away those economic freedoms, that makes the inevitable fact that in the long run, a socialist government will become a totalitarian government. It is commonsense.
Thank you, Theseus, for joining in order to verbally kick the crap out of that other guy. It was entertaining as hell.Theseus32 said:Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment ? that which they cannot anticipate. -Sun Tsu
Being that it's been 30 minutes... I declare the debate, and thread hijack over. Discussion over Lewis Black's awesomeness may resume.... now.
By the way, did you hear about that 85 year old woman that Glenn Beck allegedly raped and murdered back in 1990? The assailant was unidentified, but apparently was in tears at the time and kept repeating that he was doing it "because he loved his country so much." It probably wasn't him, but he still adamantly refuses to deny the allegations.
On your problem #1: The problem with your response is that, yes that is the mentality that this country was built on, but not everybody has the desire to do the work to get their. And since they don't want to do the work, they deserve nothing else except basic freedoms. Those freedoms don't include the government handing them things, like free health care.Theseus32 said:Now, now. Go easy on Flamebait McCrazyperson. He's the symptom of a much larger problem. I believe that with extensive reeducation, possibly electroshock, possibly hypnotherapy, he may well be able to become a functional 24 year old again.
However Spin Doctor, as an upper middle class white American insurance executive there are a few things I really am forced to take you to task on.
Ok. Problem #1. (I'm enumerating them to help me keep track)Sonic Doctor said:There is also the point that depending on the situation, people have to accept lot they were dealt in life. This mentality that people deserve more than basic Constitutional rights, has to stop.
Think back. I mean way back to grade school. There may have been a moment where a beloved teacher uttered the immortal phrase "The great part about this country is that ANYONE could grow up to be president!" Do you remember that? I do. This was not, is not, and god willing NEVER will be a country content with accepting its lot in life. It's called the American dream[tm]. The idea that you can rise from poverty to riches. The idea that no matter how low your station, with hard work, grit, and dedication you can rise up and be a success. It's the entire god damned POINT of our country.
Problem #2Sonic Doctor said:The system has already been thrown off balance with this whole government health care crap. Yes the private sector health care has problems, but as I have said before on other threads, what the government is doing by making people pay for other peoples' health care, is forced charity.
Ok, this one pisses me off a lil. Since you clearly know buggerall about health care or health care reform, allow me a moment to educate you. The government is not paying for other peoples' health care. I would like to repeat that. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT PAYING FOR OTHER PEOPLES' HEALTH CARE. Effectively the only thing the bill does in its current state is make sure that major medical companies like the one I work for can't deny people coverage who need it. In addition it also forces policies to cover children. At no cost to you or the insurance company! All kids with health care! Nifty huh? The other thing is it'll require jobs to offer health care. And before you get a Beck sized hard-on about that killing small business, as someone who actually SELLS THESE POLICIES FOR A LIVING, they're nothing any remotely successful business can't afford. We're talking a couple hundred a week to cover about a half dozen people, depending on deductibles and co pays and... screw it. Point is, nobody's going bankrupt over it. And if you're not remotely successful, well there's your bloody free market. World needs ditch diggers too.
Oh, and there'll be the guys in army boots kicking down your door to kill your grandma, but screw it, she's old.
Oh also, this whole plan is actually going to cost the federal government a few billion FEWER dollars a year than they're spending now. I'd explain how that works, and I'm willing to, but methinks until deprogramming is complete, thine head would explode.
And the charity idea just really demonstrates a total and utter lack of understanding about how the insurance and pharmaceutical industries work. 'Sides, I'm the one needing tax shelters, not you. Incidentally, since you're looking for work, you should consider becoming a Fox TV pundit. Apparently they'll hire anyone.
Problem #3Sonic Doctor said:To end this, the whole Progressive Era, the progressives where the worst thing to happen to this country. Progressives are destroying the rightful freedoms that were set up by our great Founding Fathers.
Here's a little mind bender for you. Which freedoms were those again? 'cuse the version of the constitution that I have doesn't have any listed. You're thinking the bill of rights which came later. I can understand the confusion though, most of em were overturned by the patriot act. Incidentally I double dog DARE you to name 10 of the "great founding fathers" without using the internet. And out of utter morbid curiosity, just what is it you think that the progressives did exactly again? Again, no google. Just get the hate rant out of your system without bothering to back it up with evidence. After all, that's the president.
Problem #4Sonic Doctor said:I really shouldn't respond because you don't even know what fascism is. Any form of government can be fascist. Read your history, Hitler was big on social programs. Fascism is control, it is neither left nor right wing.
Again, notice the part about fascism being to the far right? Just like Nazism? Not unusual considering that fascism was the Italian version of Nazism under Mussolini. It's a frigging Italian word for chrissakes. If you're still missing the point, the whole of world war 2 was us AGAINST RADICAL RIGHT WINGERS. And EVERYTHING backs the evidence on that. Again, am I saying that conservatives are Nazis? No. I'm saying the Nazis were conservative. Big difference.Teh Internets said:Fascism, pronounced /ˈfæʃɪzəm/, is a radical right-wing and authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to organize a nation on corporatist perspectives, values, and systems such as the political system and the economy. Fascism was originally founded by Italian national syndicalists in World War I who combined left-wing and right-wing political views, but gravitated to the political right in the early 1920s. Scholars generally consider fascism to be on the far right of the conventional left-right political spectrum.
Problem #5Sonic Doctor said:The whole basic idea of socialism is take away from the individual to give to the many.
No. No it is not.
In short, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. Who knew Spock was a frigging red eh? The shirt really should have tipped us off.Teh Internets More said:A more comprehensive definition of socialism is an economic system that directly maximizes use-values as opposed to exchange-values and has transcended commodity production and wage labour, along with a corresponding set of social and economic relations, including the organization of economic institutions, the method of resource allocation and post-monetary calculation based on some physical magnitude; often implying a method of compensation based on individual merit, the amount of labour expended or individual contribution.
The upshot is it basically says that abusing the shit out of your workers for your own individual gain might not be the best thing for society as a whole. Now I'm a pinko liberal commie, but still think about it. Damned near EVERY SINGLE ADVANCE IN THE WHOLE OF HUMAN HISTORY WAS BASED ON COLLECTIVE EFFORT. The industrial revolution? Socialist. The Roman Empire? Socialist. Britian? Socialist. Know why? Because if humanity hadn't ever banded together to form stronger groups we'd all still be living in individual huts beating each other to death with clubs. Socialism pretty frigging much = civilization if you're casting the net that wide.
Now don't get me wrong, Russia jumped the shark early on and frankly Stalin could have taught Hitler LESSONS about genocide. That's not the fault of the ideology, that's the fault of douche bags in government.
Ding ding ding!!! You got one! You're right! People should be able to keep the money they earn with their own blood sweat and tears! But....Sonic Doctor said:If people want to keep their extra money and profits for themselves, then they can, because they earned it, nobody else.
Problem#6
That's the exact same god damned thing that Karl Marx said. One of the founders of the socialist party. Oops.
Problem #7Sonic Doctor said:By definition, socialism takes away freedoms. It definition doesn't say it outright...
Then that's not the sodding definition of it.
See above.
Problem #8Sonic Doctor said:but a socialist government has to kill many individual freedoms in order to take care of the many. Mainly because their are many people like me that believe that nobody else deserves what I worked for, I earn the money (when I have a job) and it is my money. In order for the government to get money to yada yada yada...
Look. I get it. I totally understand your point. The problem is that YOU DON'T. You're 24 and unemployed. All of this, every blasted one of these programs is designed BY THEIR VERY NATURE to help people EXACTLY LIKE YOU. I had to pay more in taxes this year than you probably made. And ya know what? I'm ok with that! Tell you what. You can use your taxes for military defense, because lord knows the commies are gonna be invading ANY DAY NOW. In exchange for that, how about you give up your unemployment check, your low income housing, your use of the highways, schools, police and fire departments. I mean if defense is your only priority... Just understand that a good chunk of that is going to keep up the national helium reserve in case we need to build a zeppelin armada to fend off the third Reich's blitzkrieg. And no, I'm not making that shit up.
A brief history lesson on social programs from Britain. For you tea drinkers in the audience, you can sit this one out since most of you actually studied history, but clearly the good doctor did not. (And if I mess anything up, feel free to correct me here, college was a few years ago)
See round about the time James Watt was stealing the idea for the steam engine, a little filly by the name of Victoria took the throne of England. Now I could go on for HOURS about the dowager queen, but I'll keep it brief. She married a dude named Albert, had a buncha kids and died.
...
OK, that was too short. Little longer then. Victoria pretty much kick started the second British empire. She did this because Albert, who was a pretty hep cat for the time, had some crazy ideas about improving life for the subjects. That, thanks to a succession of really rather decent prime ministers (Some of whom were imperialistic bastards, but hell, no one's perfect) set up a series of social programmes (the e was for the brits listening. You know who you are) to kick start a burgeoning middle class. All of a sudden, poor lower classes got them some edumacation and started inventing shit. And this made everyone a flaming buttload of cash. That combined with India made England filthy rich, and they lived happily ever after... Well until some poncy duke got shot, but that's another story.
There are similar stories for the Roman empire and china during periods and well... pretty much every single successful civilization EVER. So saying progressives = socialists = teh debil... is frankly kinda retarded considering that pretty much every major advance in human technology was founded BECAUSE of them.
So sonic... seriously here. Really REALLY give this last bit some thought. Do you have health care? Do you have a 401k? Do you have a pension? 'cuse if not... All of this, all of it, is there to benefit You. And I mean you specifically. Just take one sec before you go back to your rabid soundbite-esque defense of conservatives and really ask yourself. How in gods name are they going to help you when the last thing they want is for you to succeed?
alrihgt, break it up, but i would like to say somthing..... sonic. your gettin pwned!!!! by more than one person, so its a pwnedge gang bang, only with logic. LOGIC FTW!!!!!!SinisterSpade|LH| said:Oh, so you're an idiot then.Sonic Doctor said:Truthfully, that is actually one of the best dreams I have ever had. In my dream, all the socialists and progressives moved to other countries, because they came to the realization they were in a minority and couldn't bring about control on people like me, people that want to keep their individual freedoms and want to have a say in how their money is spent. I actually cried when I woke up and realized that it was a dream.SinisterSpade|LH| said:I really hope what you just said was suppose to be satire.Sonic Doctor said:Glenn Beck is a genius in the fact that he is using commonsense to show how we will lose our freedoms if we don't stand up to the socialist agenda and show them that they can't tell us what to do.
We are Americans, we are free. We don't answer to the government, the government is to answer to us.
The problem that people have with Beck, is that they can't refute what he says because he has the facts on his side.
If not, then I'm so glad I'm moving to Norway here soon so I can get away from people like you.
Socialism is a fiscal system. It doesn't effect your damn 'personal freedoms' in any way. Socialism does not equal dictatorship or anything of the like.
In fact, Norway, a market influenced social state, has more personal freedoms than America. They don't have silly restrictions on what drugs you can take(Except for extreme ones for the most part), who can and can't get married, etc.
Let's look at some other things Norway has over America, hmmm?
Made up of about 70% non-religious/agnostics/atheists, global peace index rates it most peaceful nation in the world, second highest GDP per capita, an unemployment rate below two percent, average hourly wages among the worlds highest. Ranked first in life expectancy, literacy, and standard of living.
And it's smart socialism, by the way. Once again, it is a market influenced socialist state. Meaning it is about 60 percent socialism, 40 percent capitalism. And it's backed up by Norway having one of the largest oil reserves in the world, owned by the government. And the government doesn't spend any of the profit. They hold onto it for backup. They only spend the interest and such.
If you're not following, the only thing your precious America has over Norway is it's armed forces.
To peaceful, intelligent, logical people... that's not a very big plus.
Isn't that kind of ironic, though? One of the most Christian nations in the world is capitalist, and focuses so much on it's army. Yet the most atheist/agnostic/non-religious nation is socialist, and has the highest peace rating.
...I wonder which your Jesus would agree with more?
Good game, sir.