On Thu, May 24, 2001 at 10:32:50PM -0400, Norbert Cartagena wrote:
>
> > Since I'm not in any mood to take shit from anyone right now (yeah, it
> > does happen once in a while), I'll end here. If I go any further, Norb
> > will reply with _two_ books' worth instead of one.
> >
>
>
> *LOL* Alright, then I'll let this one pass from you. But, let it be
> known that Daschle is an example of the far nutty Left - hell, the guy
> might as well be a Socialist. Even though, I do agree that we SHOULD
> have things like Universal Health Care and a workers rights system a bit
> more like Germany's where apparently family values are ACTUALLY valued
> (ie. Higer minimum wages let people not have to work as much which means
> they get to spend time with their kids more often. Now THAT's putting
> emphasis on family values. You don't get that from the morally corrupt,
> money driven Right).
>
Okay, now see, you say something sensible and I think you're going to be
all right, and then you dash it all with liberal drivel. ;-}
You're almost right about Daschle. But he's only a socialist because it
suits his purpose. I think he couldn't care less about the actual
issues. His rhetoric marks him as someone who's interested solely in his
own power, popularity and re-election prospects.
As for universal health care, two things. Show me a country where it
_works_. I don't know of one, and Canada is a good example of this.
Second, since when is it the government's business to be in the health
care field? It ain't in the Constitution, that's for sure.
You want universal healthcare? Who will fund it? Oh that's right-- the
government. Your taxes will have to rise by quite a bit. And the quality
of care will suffer, as it does in Canada. Foreign nationals don't come
to the United States for critical health care because it's so cheap
here. They come here because the health care is better than anywhere
else in the world. Why? Because it's _not_ nationalized.
You do realize that every function you add to government, every social
program that government does, adds more in tax money they must collect
to pay for it? That means less disposable income ( = fewer computers )
for you. And nothing the government does is cheap. No one ever looks at
providing goods or services to the government and says, "Oh, the
government? Okay, give them the _lowest_ price!" And by the way, the
only thing the government does really well is wage war. Everything else
they're mediocre at best at.
You want to increase the minimum wage? Great. In six months or five
years, this will ripple through the economy and everything will cost
more. Then they'll have to raise the minimum wage again. That's called
government-induced inflation.
Go back and re-study economics. The only economy that _works_ is a
laissez-faire market-driven economy. You can't impose wage and price
controls on an economy and expect it to function properly. Nixon (a
republican) tried this with disasterous results. You give these minimum
wage people more money in order that they can have a better life ( = buy
more stuff ). Great. But some or a lot of their goods rely on the labor
of other people who also now make a higher minimum wage. Sooner or later
all those nifty things that they want to buy will cost more because of
this. And soon, that advantage you've given these people by increasing
their minimum wage will disappear.
Again, the United States is not the sole superpower because we have a
socialist economy. That's Europe. We have a laissez faire market driven
economy. That's why we outperform the rest of the world. We are a great
country precisely because we _don't_ have the things you're advocating.
If we did, we'd be a second-rate country like France or Spain or
Bolivia.
Unions (which I presume you favor) are a walking disaster. They lessen
the amount of product produced and force higher wages. Don't wonder why
a postage stamp costs 34 cents or why you can't find a new automobile
for less than $10K. The very essence of union activity is the lessening
of work and the increase of compensation. How many times have you heard
the story of the guy who, new to a union, came in working his ass off?
Until some older union guy told him to stop working so hard. It's
common. It's no coincidence that union folks get paid by the _hour_, not
by the number of widgets produced.
Example: the NEA, one of the most evil unions in existence. You know
one of the things they fear most? Anything that seriously looks at their
performance as teachers. If students were actually tested and schools
and teachers graded based on student performance, that would be a
disaster for the NEA. And they know it. It's a typical union stance.
Not to mention the fact that unions engender an "us vs. them" mentality
among union members, an adversarial attitude toward managers. Why do
you think non-union companies fight desperately to stay that way?
And Germany is a socialist country, just like the rest of Europe. It's
beyond me why people worship socialism. It doesn't work. The soviet
states died because of it, and Europe is half dead already. The more
power you give the central government, the more they will take. In the
end, you'll have a nightmare that's for all intents and purposes a
prison. Do you realize that recently the British government passed a law
that gave the government the power to arrest anyone at will for any
reason? They're called "behavioural orders". If they suspect someone
could cause trouble, they can be detained. That's what happens in
socialist countries. And the more power and responsibility you give the
US government, the closer you move to this socialist ideal. The
politicians love this, because it gives them something to do and some
reason to hang around in Washington.
But much of this is moot. The Constitution says the federal government
is not to be involved in these things. So they are against the law. If
you want a different deal, you have two choices: 1) change the
Constitution, or 2) move to a socialist country.
Paul
PS. Damn. See what you made me do? I've written a _book_. Argh!
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