Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ian Mason on January 14, 2012 at 12:05pm

They also rated Iceland's banks as AAA in 2008. As usual, too much power in too few greedy hands.

Permalink Reply by Patrick Moore on January 14, 2012 at 1:37pm

yessir!  And too many people being given benefits right and left that have learned to depend on the system.  In Greece, for example, serial killers and child molesters are actually able to receive the Greek equivalent of Social Security Disability-no freaking wonder they went tits up.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on January 14, 2012 at 2:15pm

I take it you're against social safety nets extending to convicted criminals. Presumably while in jail they don't need benefits. I take it that you mean here, after their debt to society has been paid you don't think they should receive benefits for which they paid? Is the issue that nobody will hire them, and there is no other safety net to prevent starvation?

Permalink Reply by Patrick Moore on January 14, 2012 at 3:58pm

Ruth-I can't say that it would terribly upset me if a serial killer or child molester starved to death.  "After their debt is paid to society"?  I know that society considers a certain degree of repaying of a debt presumed to be measurable through arguments about law, etc.  But seriously, when is the debt of someone who commits such a horrible act truly paid? 

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on January 15, 2012 at 12:17am

I consider Nelson Mandela a moral role on this issue.

If instead of truth and reconciliation, the black majority had punished everybody involved in the horrors of apartheid by removing them from social security nets like social security and disability, the country would have self-destructed.

It's not just immoral, it's dangerous to treat an entire group as undeserving, disgusting, and inhuman. As members of the most despised minority in the US, we need to promote reconciliation rather than persecution, for our own survival. Otherwise women who use the morning after pill after rape could be denied social security because they're "murderers", etc. The boundaries of despised groups become fluid quickly when it suits the most powerful.

Permalink Reply by Patrick Moore on January 16, 2012 at 3:36pm

  A serial killer is not the same as a woman who takes birth control; nor is a child molester a person who has any intention on not harming again.  To compare the two is asinine-even though many conservatives see fit to do so all the time (but still even Mississippi rejected person-hood for the "newly fertilized", so there may be hope for conservatives even yet.  Yes, I still see a person who goes out of their way to harm another as un-deserving and inhuman.  I probably always will.  When your country is already hurting economically (as Greece has been for years), I am all for economizing.  You can't keep increasing social safety nets unless you have the money to do so. 

Permalink Reply by Ian Mason on January 15, 2012 at 12:11am

There must be a hell of a lot of pedos in Greece if they've wrecked the economy! No, this is the usual right-wing bollocks about all economic problems being blamed on the unemployed/poor. Sorry, I'm wrong. Some of the problems are usually the fault of immigrants/ dark-skinned people too.

Permalink Reply by Patrick Moore on January 16, 2012 at 3:43pm

Once upon a time it was an actual social institution there (pederast and catamite).   No, I'm not blaming anything on the poor or unemployed-Ted Bundy was hardly poor for that matter nor were the Catholic priests who were involved in the huge scandal that rocked the Vatican over this past year.  So I don't exactly understand your premise that blaming them for their actions is right-wing talk for discrimination against the poor or unemployed.  If they find themselves unhirable AFTER the act(s) they commit, then that really is purely their own fault.  Oh wait no, I forgot- SOCIETY is to blame.  That's right!

Permalink Reply by G Smith on January 14, 2012 at 9:52pm

I've shifted a large chunk of my portfolio to physical possession of silver bullion, having guessed correctly that credit problems would continue for many major economies.  Time will tell whether this was a good move.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on January 14, 2012 at 11:44pm

Sounds like a good idea. Many people are also investing in gold.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on January 14, 2012 at 11:50pm

A lot of ads for gold investment are cons. The right wing loves these scams. People are frightened into seeking gold as a more secure investment. Then when the customer calls, he or she is switched to sales of gold coins (which are unregulated) at highly inflated prices.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on January 15, 2012 at 12:04am

They really push buying gold on the radio. They use fear in the ads. They do sell gold coins at astronomical prices. I have not bought any gold myself. I know some who have though.

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