Dennis Prager brilliantly articulates what is wrong with America today.

[visvaldisX]

The future of any nation is only as bright (or as dim) as the mentality of the population.

Good night America!

[mesauh]

Poor Palin looks more Dumb than ever. She is trying to keep up with all the big words he is speaking.

[lakeeriejew]

Have you checked the unemployment rates in Scandinavia? Much higher than US even in good times. How about the depression rates? (1 in 4 are clinically depressed.) I call that dysfunctional.

The capitalist system improves the quality of life for everyone and affords anyone with good work ethics and ambition to make it.

The poorest in my community wear Nike shoes and have I-Phones. Now that's real suffering.

You want to help the poor? Send your money to local foundations not Nancy Pelosi.

[jeb31415]

@lakeeriejew

What is your source on the unemployment statistics? I think it is higher in the US right now. Yeah--depression statistics--I am not sure how much you want to push that argument. The 1/4 statistic is a joke, and even if the claim has some basis in reality then there would be many interpretations of it outside of the political discussion. The rate of drug use is certainly higher in the US--if you want to blame such things on political/economic structure.



[jeb31415]

Capitalism is not some sort of magical concept that is best realized in it's purist form. Pooling tax resources to provide basic social services is necessary for any stable civilized society. Scandinavia shows that a fairly large government can work efficiently--good transportation system, strong education, fast government paperwork... Whether that is exactly what we should have in the US is a different question. However, the dogma that it can never work is wrong.

[lakeeriejew]

@jeb31415

It's silly to compare an undiverse nation of 15 million people to a very diverse nation of 300 million. On top of that countries like Norway produce much oil and resources and basically use that to fund their welfare state. It can work for  while but it's destined to fail. It's simply unsustainable.

(See Greece, Ireland and now Portugal and Spain.)

Very few people risk their lives to emigrate to Norway, but many do to the US.

You think there might be a reason for that?

[jeb31415]

@lakeeriejew

Sure Norway has some oil. On the whole, Scandinavia certainly has less natural resources than the US. Also, these little counties do not benefit from the large scale industries possible with a giant like the US.

How are people supposed to risk their lives getting to Norway? Parachute from the moon? Anyway, that is usually more of an indication of how messed up the political/economic situation of the home country is. For example, people risk fleeing to China from NK.

[PCGamerPortal]

@lakeeriejew "The capitalist system improves the quality of life for everyone". Not really, it improves the quality of life for the people who live within the capitalist superpower which leeches resources from the rest of the world, abusively reducing the global standard of living.

[jeb31415]

What studies have shown that the US is the most charitable per capita? It doesn't appear that way from Wikipedia. 

[lakeeriejew]

@jeb31415

See Arthur C. Brooks: Who Really Cares.

I wouldn't allow Wikipedia to be the final word on such issues. Broaden you mind a bit.

[jeb31415]

@lakeeriejew

If I thought that Wikipedia was the ultimate information source, then I would not have asked about the studies. The claim that Americans are the most charitable per capita as a percentage of income sounds very dubious. For instance, Northern European countries have a degree of compulsory charity built straight into their political systems though (surprise, surprise) taxation. It seems to work well for them.

[lakeeriejew]

@jeb31415

'Compulsory charity'? LOL you mean 'Robinhood charity'.

(If it's compulsory then by definition it's not charity.)

But if you like the idea of Nancy Pelosi deciding where to send your tax money, then by all means, send her a check.

[jeb31415]

@lakeeriejew

You are right about the strict definition of ``charity", but my example shows how murky comparisons on this topic can be. You may read ``support for poor" if you like. The poverty rate is lower in Scandinavia than in the US. The system that they have in place is not dysfunctional.

Since I make less than $250,00 a year, the taxes that I pay are not influenced by Obama's current proposal. Anyway, I am willing to pay something for education, roads, state parks,...

[eslaugh]

Thanks for the post. Dennis Prager is brilliant!