Planetfurry BBS

[Cookie]

Watch and learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhJ_49leBw

Get your head on straight America.

In reality this isn't just Detroit. This is also Memphis, St. Louis, New Orleans. The list goes on.

(Also brought to my attention by the Princess)

EDIT: I DO NOT hate leftists. I don't entirely agree with his opinions on that aspect. However, this video still makes many valid points.

SECOND EDIT: What I mean to say is that in this case it is the effects of the leftists. HOWEVER, in other cities the same effects have spawned from rightist ideals. Partisanship in general is a BAD thing.

[Teric]

Dang...

[Cookie]

Pretty scary huh?

[Aslaug]

Leftists?

<--- card carrying socialist here. I'd appreciate it if we could somehow keep political attacks off this board? It only leads to flame wars.

[Cookie]

There is no attack in my comment.

[Aslaug]

no, but there's quite a bit in the link.

Edit: Ah, clarification Well, you're right. I rather tend to think that the problem comes from people ...

Today, politicians sprout ideologies left, right and centre, but they are mostly only out for number one. The romans had it right in the shape of the socalled Cursus Honorium. To be eligible for high office such as the senate, you first had to go through a specific list of administrative jobs so you KNEW what the hell you were working with. You had to have actual, hands-on experience.

Of course, you also had to be obscenely wealthy to be eligible, but the idea of politicians having to have actual experience at life as most of us live it would be HIGHLY attractive to me. Regardless of whether we're talking left-wing politicians, right-wing politicians or centrists, most of them today have little or no idea what it feels like to cash in an ordinary, average paycheck.

[Cookie]

He does attack leftists. But you should look past that and see the bigger picture.

This wasn't posted for the leftist dribble.

[Rabbit]

[Syrius]

Arizona has a mix of liberals and conservatives here. (Mostly a red state, IIRC), and we have both slums like those, and paradisiacal communities. I seriously doubt it has more to do with the people in power than it does with the people living there.

Now if you excuse me, I have to sweep the ghetto out of my new place. Because no politician, regardless of affiliation, is going to come do it for me.

[Styx]

I think the problems have more to do with people who are too lazy to do whats necessary to succeed and instead take advantage of polices and programs meant to give a leg up to those who suffer unfortunate circumstances (ie welfare mothers) then the policies themselves. Though I will admit that mismanagement of these programs are also to blame but not the policies themselves.

[anthony]

What's killed Detroit is the unions.

America's unions is a menace for any industry and have been so for at least 50 years, if not more.

My father once told me a little story from when he was a 'timberman'(doing carpentry, maintenance, securing cargo and a lot of other stuff) aboard different ships plying the seas.
One time on a grain-tanker, after they came to port in America they had local (union) workers build boxes to fit over the drains at the bottom of the tanks. (wood and burlap)
It took a team of 8 men a week to build boxes for the 14 holds.
And ALL of them were broken before they arrived with cargo in Rotterdam.
My father built a new set for all the holds on the return trip... Inbetween all his other tasks.

Another time, this was before cargo containers, they had a few boards with nails in them laying in a corner in a hold when they were to load up some cargo. No cargo was to be stored anywhere near the rubble, but the foreman still ordered his men out of the hold and of the ship until it was completely cleaned up.

My father has a lot of these stories, and almost all of them happened in ports in USA.

Everyone preferred arabian ports, because at least when they screwed you over, it was done with a smile...
And you knew that just a few dollars would remove all obstacles.

[Aslaug]

Knowing the state of American unions, and knowing that the history of trade-unions in the US includes a man like Jimmy Hoffa, it's no wonder that so many Americans consider Unions the scourge of workplaces.

Somewhere along the lines, someone really screwed up massively. The Scandinavian model of unions works, but it's a completely different system, as well.

[Concolor]

[Wulfie_Vulphyre]

Best part is watching a family come in and spend $900 in food stamps, have almost $400 remaining and then they whip out a wad of Benjamin's that looked to be roughly 6-8k and drop $2400 of that green on a TV, PS3, a stack of games, and a bunch of other stupid crap. Then they drive off from your local Walmart parking lot in a Freaking Caddy with 20k worth of rims on it, $900 worth of groceries that MY tax dollars paid for, and some crap that their drug money bought.

The best part is that when I got very sick, and was still trying to bust my tail making $8 an hour (working about 30 hrs weekly ) I was given TennCare for 6 months ( only because I had almost 4k in medical bills ) and $10 a month in food stamps to um I guess buy 2lbs of cheap bologna, and a loaf or 2 of cheap bread. LOVE the system That is so much fair. The freeloaders suck on all the hard working people's tax dollars, while the actual people who are sick, or disabled for a Legitimate reason get a boned.

This has been a public service announcement from a folf who never got to have faith in our government to begin with! ( my mom had 5 kids and was working 3 jobs to feed us and she was approved for food stamps, and then got denied in 6 months when it was time to renew. She was forced to repay the previous 6 months of food stamp "benefits" )

Is all I can say

[Cookie]

Wulfie's example is an ample one of just how "efficient" our country is.