And I follow the laws. Therefore I am staying within the bounds of the contract.
Fight smart, not fair.And these folks aren't. At least, they're not following the rules set for people operating in America. What happens when two rule systems collide?
The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.Social Contract doesn't really apply anymore given that there isn't really anyplace left to escape society.
That said, I'd consider privacy pretty much null if someone within the organization comes forward with evidence of criminal action, thereby giving probable cause for further investigation.
edited 18th Jan '11 3:04:10 PM by Pykrete
Unless you build a small fuel processing plant.
We should probably steer back toward banks though.
Fight smart, not fair.Would you say "enough people want it, therefore doing it is the right thing" across the board?
Fight smart, not fair.How about "the countries that employ it (first world democracies) are MUCH more successful than the countries that do not"? And even those have some other philosophy that emphasizes the individual's obligation to society (like East Asian countries' famous collectivism). The closest things to a society where nobody is considered to owe the society anything are failed states like Somalia. Without some sort of obligation to the state/city/tribe/clan/band in which people live, a society will fall apart into chaos.
"Voluntary association" civilizations do not work. They have never worked. They never will work.
edited 18th Jan '11 8:30:41 PM by WoolieWool
Out of Context Theater: Mike K "'Bloody Pussies' cracked me up"As long as you believe results are more important that justice, since by your definition, it's impossible to build a successful society that is just.
Fight smart, not fair.Makes sense to me. Sacrificing interest rates for secrecy seems like a bad trade, but whatever.
Fight smart, not fair.I think there's special rules about taxing interest earnings. I think it was to help provide incentive to further invest rather than bury money in a mattress.
Fight smart, not fair.Well some of those rules only apply if you're rich. Most interest on bank accounts is treated as normal income, therefore taxed at your marginal income tax rate. On the other hand, the vast majority of the income of the richest come from stocks grants, options and so on, which are capital gains and taxed at only half the rate. So really, those super high income tax brackets they're in don't even matter.
That was it, it was capital gains tax, not regular interest. I knew it was some sort of "investment promotion" scheme.
Fight smart, not fair.Total justice is only a hypothetical concept because human beings are not perfect eusocial telepathic hive creatures who can all join hands and sing Kum Ba Ya no matter how large or varied a society becomes. Also, since when was not paying your debts "just"? Society paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and God only knows how many man-hours of labor to raise you, and you think you owe it nothing for that?
Hell, how do you expect society or government to even function if nobody pays for it? Militaries, police, healthcare, sanitation, transportation, telecommunications, plumbing, education, disease control, courts, and other features of civilization we take for granted are expensive.
We should pull all of our troops out of Iraq and deploy them to invade liberate the Cayman Islands immediately! Operation Cayman Freedom!
I just know Poe's Law is going to bite me in the ass one day.
edited 19th Jan '11 7:48:36 PM by WoolieWool
Out of Context Theater: Mike K "'Bloody Pussies' cracked me up"A person doesn't ow society anything for being raised because it was both mandatory and not a choice by the individual who receives it. And once the balance is equaled, either through payback or getting someone else to pay it for you, all societal obligations are met.
Fight smart, not fair.You can never fully pay back the debt, that's the trap. Every red cent an American earns is from the infrastructure society provides. Other countries work the same way, but with different colored moneys. Rich people are subject to this even more so than you (assuming you are middle class) and I. I can earn some money and only briefly skim the surface of the vast workings of the nations. Rich people operate with much larger sums, much larger costs, much larger groups.
So they owe me, for the money I have given the government such that they and others might have what we now do.
C'est la vie.

Unless they got me to sign a contract, it was a gift/donation/investment hoping I'd turn out better. Just because you have a justification for your actions doesn't mean they're right.
Fight smart, not fair.