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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
You're very fond of leaving dumbasses to the consequences of their actions, aren't you Barkey?
Controversial Myanmar visit "not an endorsement" of its government, Obama says
Understandable sentiment, Barkey, but there's a substantive difference between warning people that coffee is hot and leaving land mines in the baby's crib. There are consequences that a rational person should be able to foresee and those they cannot. Adequate product labeling is one of those areas where it does matter.
For example, labeling bleach "DO NOT DRINK" is probably something you'd classify under culling the gene pool thanks to blatant stupidity. On the other hand, a warning not to mix chlorine bleach with ammonia is a good idea because not everyone is going to remember their high school chemistry.
Taken farther, someone who is fatally allergic to peanuts needs adequate product labeling because there is no way to rationally anticipate which products might contain them in today's marketplace.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"^^
It was a turn of phrase. Obviously there are some dangerous things that a reasonable, intelligent, normal person cannot be expected to know, and those things need labels.
Cracked, however, is not one of them.
To rerail, this is why I call myself an independent. American Democrats are often the type of people who think we should all get participation awards that are considered "just as good" as first place, and that whenever people make mistakes, it's not their fault.
No. Some people are fucking morons, and they make stupid failure of common sense mistakes, and it's their fault. Our society is rewarding that behavior. We're embracing mediocrity, and we're not encouraging people to outperform others.
It's why I'm really growing to hate a lot of the people in this country, they want to baby the weak, and tie the hands of the strong, because we're all in this together guys! We're all supposed to cross the finish line at the same time!
Some of us don't want that. Some of us are competitive, and want to try and cross first, and strive to be better than others. It's healthy, it's human, and it's normal. Now I recognize that there are people that legitimately need help in order to get on their feet and get back to their lives. I've been unemployed before, I've been there(though I didn't use any government aid).
It's why I support social security, welfare, medicare, medicaid, I support those programs. But I think welfare needs its limits, because sometimes it isn't just the economy, I know people on welfare who are legitimate leeches of society who just don't do shit, or are too picky about where they want to work and thus botch the jobs they don't want on purpose to stay on unemployment, or a lot of people who are on "disability" when it's absolutely bullshit. Democrats don't know that sometimes, you have to cut the fucking cord and just let people go.
That's the problem I suppose. I'm a moderate Democrat who is against gun control, but into most democratic values, in moderation and not full blown everyone gets it style.
edited 19th Nov '12 7:20:24 AM by Barkey
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! Barkey, only you can make Machiavellian eugenicism sound so damn cool!
Well if The Determinator page needs a Real Life example....
edited 19th Nov '12 7:19:52 AM by TheStarshipMaxima
It was an honorWe don't have a Troper Tales anymore.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.I completely agree with Barkey's sentiments. I'm very displeased by a growing notion that some people "just can't handle it" and thus they need to be carried by the rest of society. It's an insult both to those who are forced to do the work of others and to the people who think they're getting over, but really are just sealing themselves in a tomb of underachievement.
I don't worry too much because the same so called "progressives" and "social liberals" who posit this idea that no one should have to work for theirs and that we're all somehow entitled to the same rewards will come to find that that is completely unsustainable. Everyone is Pollyana right up until someone comes to take their hardearned check to pass out among the masses.
It was an honorThat notion of the liberal mindset is a blatant strawman. You will not find any liberal who actually believes those things.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Howso? The idea that universal health care would be a good idea because attaching health care as a benefit of one's job is an unbelievably stupid idea? The idea that corporations should not leech off of the government by paying such low wages that even with work, workers cannot support themselves? Make the best opportunity for many to get decent wages a gamble that could destroy them financially...?
edited 19th Nov '12 7:56:59 AM by ohsointocats
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That's just a destructive Republican strawman to justify the rich failing to help those below.
While I see where you're coming from,yeah there are free riders,....and no matter what system you have.
Maybe you and that poster below you would love to see free riders take on the poor who really are suffering while doing nothing. But I'd rather have free riders,but still know that someone did something to help those who seriously need it.
Besides usually it's the societies that help the weak that manage to stay ahead,it's those rich that help the weak that can finish first. Those that leave the weak to fend for themselves lose out. Just look at the U.S. in education,health care,infrastructure,...and then look at Sweden and the UK.
It's just no damn wonder that they're doing better when you apply that to it. Nanny-state my ass.
edited 19th Nov '12 7:55:39 AM by terlwyth
Maxima, probably, but I think you'll find the percentage is rather low. What I'd like is equal opportunity - which we don't have in any real sense, or close to it. Opportunities are given by what school districts your parents can afford to live in, what help they can give you, what groups you belong to that people do or don't discriminate against for a million reasons. Opportunities to succeed are not equal. That doesn't mean, when they are, outcomes will be or should be equal.
edited 19th Nov '12 8:00:39 AM by TheGirlWithPointyEars
She of Short Stature & Impeccable Logic My Skating Liveblog![]()
UK? We need a lot of work on Infrastructure* and on Education*. Health Care always needs work...
But it will always be so, unless you make everywhere identical in every way.
edited 19th Nov '12 8:01:27 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling OnHonestly, I'm more worried about the Rich Idiot With No Day Job than about The Slacker. The slacker doesn't have the power or the authority to fuck your shit up; all they ask for is to be fed and have a roof. Better to have those lazy types in their basements than at a job where they'd just be a hindrance to those who actually want to work. But rich idiots are a threat to society.
edited 19th Nov '12 8:03:56 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.Well one of the biggest thing is that the risk of doing things is way too high. The risk for many people of getting a new, better job is too high when their health insurance is attached to their current job, and to a lesser extent, wages. It's too risky to innovate. There's a very real danger of small companies going under due to health insurance issues, and larger corporations claim it's too risky to innovate because of dividends etc. People are stagnating. And this is terrible.
Oh So, what you're talking about isn't what I'm talking about. Quite the opposite, I'm total agreement with you. If someone feels they should get shit for free, I'm only more pissed off that the company that thinks it should be rewarded for paying their workers shit, bankrupting them, and then riding off into the sunset with a million dollar bonus.
@Terlwyth please don't claim strawman, when you yourself are strawmanning. If someone actually said comprehensive healthcare, social security, and attainable education are bad goals then please show me where.
I'm talking about a specific problem. In any society there'll be people who need help and I agree with you that any halfway sane and decent society will help them. I'm saying there's a clear and noticeable trend of people who seem to view help as a given.
These very fora are an example. Take a look at the Job Search thread and see how many conversations pop up between people who are like "I can't get a job because [insert list of good, and bad, reasons here]". And then somebody goes "I had [insert identical list of reasons here] and yet I still found a job." Take a look at the Occupy threads, where in someone actually suggested their should be laws that prevent someone making over a certain amount of money.
I find it ironically appropriate you mention Sweden and the U.K. I've found that many of the Europeans I've met who emigrated here tend to be the ones that seize on the opportunities while many homegrown Americans are still shrugging their shoulders in indifference.
That seems a case of personal preference. Both the rich idiot and the slacker are consuming resources that can be redirected toward someone who truly needs the help. Hence both are dangerous.
edited 19th Nov '12 8:19:32 AM by TheStarshipMaxima
It was an honor@Greenmantle: I'm talking about things that 'systematically' ensure that a person will encounter more opportunities to succeed than another, not due to his/her own capabilities. Things like school districts funding depending on the wealth of the local community, or racial/gender discrimination.
She of Short Stature & Impeccable Logic My Skating LiveblogIt's things like this I'm against. Yes, there's some risk involved in going back to get a higher degree. There's risk in starting a business. There's risk in buying shares in a company.
Risk is a part of life and it's a part of advancement. When did it become this thing to fear rather than embrace?
It was an honor

Eh, this is becoming a derail, but Cracked's style is more of jumping to sources the first sight it sees them, and using them to construct something. So while it's well-sourced, it exaggerates to make points.