Wither America's Technical Edge?
TonyaK911
We're well on our way to squelching what gives this country an edge.
What would it take to kill innovation altogether?
As a casual observer of what makes this country work and what stops it
cold, I hereby offer a few suggestions on how we can ruin American
competitiveness and innovation in the course of this century. I think
the reader will agree with me that we are already far down the road on
many of them:
1) Allow schools to fall into useless decay. Do not teach civics or
history except to describe America as a hopelessly fascistic,
reactionary pit. Do not expect students to know the basics of
mathematics, chemistry and physics. Working closely with the teachers'
unions, make sure that you dumb down standards so that children who make
the most minimal effort still get by with flying colors. Destroy the
knowledge base on which all of mankind's scientific progress has been
built by guaranteeing that such learning is confined to only a few, and
spread ignorance and complacency among the many. Watch America lose its
scientific and competitive edge to other nations that make a
comprehensive knowledge base a rule of the society.
2) Encourage the making of laws and rules by trial lawyers and
sympathetic judges, especially through class actions. Bypass the
legislative mechanisms that involve elected representatives and a
president. This will stop--or at least greatly slow down--innovation, as
corporations and individuals hesitate to explore new ideas for fear of
getting punished (or regulated to death) by litigation for any misstep,
no matter how slight, in the creation of new products and services. Make
sure that lawsuits against drugmakers are especially encouraged so that
the companies are afraid to develop new lifesaving drugs, lest they be
sued for sums that will bankrupt them. Make trial lawyers and judges,
not scientists, responsible for the flow of new products and services.
3) Create a culture that blames the other guy for everything and
discourages any form of individual self-restraint or self-control.
Promote litigation to punish tobacco companies on the theory that they
compel innocent people to smoke. Make it second nature for someone who
is overweight to blame the restaurant that served him fries. Encourage a
legal process that can kill a drug company for any mistakes in
self-medication. Make it a general rule that anyone with more money than
a plaintiff is responsible for anything harmful that a plaintiff does.
Promulgate the pitiful joke that Americans are hereby
exempt from any responsibility for their own actions--so long as there
are deep pockets around to be rifled.
4) Sneer at hard work and thrift. Encourage the belief that all true
wealth comes from skillful manipulation and cunning, or from sudden,
brilliant and lucky strokes that leave the plodding, ordinary worker and
saver in the dust. Make sure that society's idols are men and women who
got rich from being sexy in public or through gambling or playing
tricks, not from hard work or patience. Make the citizenry permanently
envious and bewildered about where real success comes from.
5) Hold the managers of corporations to extremely lax standards of
conduct and allow them to get off with a slap on the wrist when they
betray the trust of shareholders. This will discourage thrift and
investment and ensure that Americans will have far less capital to work
with than other societies, while simultaneously developing that contempt
for law and social standards that is the hallmark of failing nations.
Hold the management of labor unions to no ethical standards.
6) While you're at it, discourage respect for law in every possible way.
This will dissolve the glue that holds the nation together, and dissuade
any long-term thinking. Societies in which the law can be clearly seen
to apply to some and not to others are doomed to decay, in terms of
innovation and everything else.
7) Encourage a mass culture that spits on intelligence and study and
instead elevates drug use, coolness through sex and violence, and
contempt for school. As children learn to be stupid instead of smart,
the national intelligence base needed for innovation will simply vanish
into MTV-land.
8) Mock and belittle the family. Provide financial incentives to people
willing to live an isolated existence, vulnerable and frightened. This
guarantees that men and women of sufficient character to bring about
innovation will be psychologically stifled from an early age.
9) Develop a suicidal immigration policy that keeps out educated,
hardworking men and women from friendly nations and, instead, takes in
vast numbers of angry, uneducated immigrants from nations that hate us.
This, too, leads to the shrinking of our knowledge base and the eventual
disappearance of social cohesion.
10) Enact a tax system that encourages class antagonism and punishes
saving, while rewarding indebtedness, frivolity and consumption. Tax the
fruits of labor many times:
First tax it as income. Then tax it as real or personal property. Then
tax it as capital gains. Then tax it again, at a staggeringly high
level, at death. This way, Americans are taught that only fools save,
and that it is entirely proper for us to have the lowest savings rate in
the developed world. This will deprive us of much-needed capital for new
investment, for innovation and our own personal aspirations. It will
compel us to ask foreigners for ever more capital and allow them to own
more of America. It will also promote an attitude of carelessness about
the future and, once again, encourage disrespect for law.
11) Have a socialized medical system that scrimps on badly needed drugs
and procedures, resorts to only the cheapest practices and discourages
drug companies from developing new drugs by not paying them enough to
cover their costs of experimentation, trial and error.
12) Elevate mysticism, tribalism, shamanism and fundamentalism--and be
sure to exclude educated, hardworking men and women--to an equal status
with technology in the public mind. Make sure that, in order to pay
proper (and politically correct) respect to all different ethnic groups
in America, you act as if science were on an equal footing with voodoo
and history with ethnic fable.
My list need not end here. But I stopped at a dozen because I realized
that this is already, in large measure, the program of so many of our
elected representatives. The debauchery of our tort system is already in
place, and the rest of the agenda is under way.
___________________________________________________________
Benjamin J. Stein is a lawyer, economist, writer and actor,
and host of the game show Win Ben Stein's Money.
wf...@ptnospam.com
>By Ben Stien,
>
>We're well on our way to squelching what gives this country an edge.
>
>What would it take to kill innovation altogether?
>
>As a casual observer of what makes this country work and what stops it
>cold, I hereby offer a few suggestions on how we can ruin American
>competitiveness and innovation in the course of this century. I think
>the reader will agree with me that we are already far down the road on
>many of them:
>
>1) Allow schools to fall into useless decay. Do not teach civics or
>history except to describe America as a hopelessly fascistic,
>reactionary pit. Do not expect students to know the basics of
>mathematics, chemistry and physics. Working closely with the teachers'
>unions, make sure that you dumb down standards so that children who make
>the most minimal effort still get by with flying colors. Destroy the
>knowledge base on which all of mankind's scientific progress has been
>built by guaranteeing that such learning is confined to only a few, and
>spread ignorance and complacency among the many. Watch America lose its
>scientific and competitive edge to other nations that make a
>comprehensive knowledge base a rule of the society.
of course, it's the american right which is destroying science
education in the US. last week the ohio board of ed. voted to allow
the teaching of creationist theories like 'intelligent design'. thus
does religious fundamentalism, ala bin laden or jerry falwell, enter
the US public school.
>
>
>5) Hold the managers of corporations to extremely lax standards of
>conduct and allow them to get off with a slap on the wrist when they
>betray the trust of shareholders.
geez i havent seen anyone defend ken lay, or enron before. i guess the
plundering of the american worker is irrelevant.
This will discourage thrift and
>investment and ensure that Americans will have far less capital
it's already happened. american executives destroyed the telecom
industry in this country to the tune of 1.4 TRILLION dollars (yes,
ladies and gentlemen, that's TRILLION0, with the loss of 250,000 jobs.
>
>9) Develop a suicidal immigration policy that keeps out educated,
>hardworking men and women from friendly nations and, instead, takes in
>vast numbers of angry, uneducated immigrants from nations that hate us.
>This, too, leads to the shrinking of our knowledge base and the eventual
>disappearance of social cohesion.
>
>10) Enact a tax system that encourages class antagonism and punishes
>saving, while rewarding indebtedness, frivolity and consumption. Tax the
>fruits of labor many times:
of course, according to e. j. dionne, between 1979 and 1997, the
income of the top 1% of american went up (adjusted for inflation) by
147%.
the income of the middle fifth of american worker went up by precisely
10%.
so dont feel too sorry for the rich. it's the middle class paying all
the taxes.
>First tax it as income. Then tax it as real or personal property. Then
>tax it as capital gains. Then tax it again, at a staggeringly high
>level, at death.
and the majority of 'death taxes' are paid by
3000 families.
so, again, dont feel too sorry for the rich.
> >This way, Americans are taught that only fools save,
except the rich tax the middle class, and discourage middle class
saving.
>
>11) Have a socialized medical system that scrimps on badly needed drugs
>and procedures,
gee...we have 40million people uninsured. you have good medical care
if you're 95 years old and have 2 days to live. then you get the best
medical care in the world.
if you're the working poor, you get squat.
>
>My list need not end here. But I stopped at a dozen because I realized
>that this is already, in large measure, the program of so many of our
>elected representatives. The debauchery of our tort system is already in
>place, and the rest of the agenda is under way.
>___________________________________________________________
>Benjamin J. Stein is a lawyer, economist, writer and actor,
>and host of the game show Win Ben Stein's Money.
he was also, i believe, a speech writer for nixon.
which says alot about his sense of humor.
Mozart's Widow
>> saving, while rewarding indebtedness, frivolity and consumption. Tax
>> the fruits of labor many times:
>
> of course, according to e. j. dionne, between 1979 and 1997, the
> income of the top 1% of american went up (adjusted for inflation) by
>
> 147%.
>
> the income of the middle fifth of american worker went up by precisely
>
> 10%.
>
> so dont feel too sorry for the rich. it's the middle class paying all
> the taxes.
>
You just admitted that taxes went up astronomically for the richest
Americans while they went up moderately for middle class Americans, is that
fair?
El Paredon
billions of dollars and we will be where Argentina is now!
TonyaK911 <Tony...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:bf4ca8d4.02121...@posting.google.com...
uv376
"El Paredon" <pete...@fdn.com> wrote in message
news:YpxL9.53457$842....@news1.fdn.com...
wf...@ptnospam.com
hell yes. if my income went up one hundred and fourty percent, i
SHOULD pay more taxes.
and you just admitted the richest gained an astronomically high
percentage increase in income.
Steven DeMonnin
uv376 wrote:
> Who is we? You mean Canada?
No, all his different personalities.
Including Agigocabal, Rasputin, Saladin, El Paradon, even Alex Seredin,
veteran of all the wars between the Boer war and the Falklands as a
member of the SAS. (did england have the SAS in the Boer War. Alex
seems to think so)
And of course, all those odd voices coming out of his toaster, the
vacuum cleaner and the most dangerous voice of all, the toilet!
Mozart's Widow
> SHOULD pay more taxes.
>
> and you just admitted the richest gained an astronomically high
> percentage increase in income.
Did it ever occur to your feeble mind that they EARNED their extra income?
You know, they don't steal it contrary to what you were taught at Communist
camp in the Catskills.
Joseph Hertzlinger
<rey...@aracnet.com> wrote:
> uv376 wrote:
>> Who is we? You mean Canada?
>
> No, all his different personalities.
>
> Including Agigocabal, Rasputin, Saladin, El Paradon, even Alex Seredin,
> veteran of all the wars between the Boer war and the Falklands as a
> member of the SAS. (did england have the SAS in the Boer War. Alex
> seems to think so)
>
> And of course, all those odd voices coming out of his toaster, the
> vacuum cleaner and the most dangerous voice of all, the toilet!
"He may look like an idiot, and talk like an idiot, but don't let that
fool you. He really is an idiot." --- Rufus T. Firefly
Mickey
> billions of dollars and we will be where Argentina is now!
Right, we should cut off the $5 billion we give to Egypt, the $3 billion we
give to Arafat the Butcher, the $4 billion we give to Jordan. Time to make
the ragheads pay their own way.
Mickey
Dave Lister
news:j2AL9.7315$cR2....@nwrddc04.gnilink.net:
I'm all for the rich earning more money, but my experiemce has been that
most of those who become rich are merely lucky.
--
Oh, to have a President with a 75+ IQ instead of GW Bush,
who says:
"I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've
read, I understand reality. If you're asking me
as the president, would I understand reality, I do."
"...when I put my hand on the Bible, I will
swear to not, to uphold the laws of the land"
Mozart's Widow
> I'm all for the rich earning more money, but my experiemce has been
> that most of those who become rich are merely lucky.
What utter unmitigated BULLSHIT
TonyaK911
> I'm all for the rich earning more money, but my experiemce has been that
> most of those who become rich are merely lucky.
This is a typical response of the lazy, the cowardly and the
uninspired.
Hard-working, rist-taking idealists who can inspire other people, -
create wealth for themselves and jobs for the rest, including even
those who do all the complaining.
That's called capitalism, baby!
If you don't like it - try N.Korea or Cuba.
TK9
wf...@ptnospam.com
did it ever occur to your feeble mind that the middle class also
works? while i admire your marie antoinette view of the world, i hope
you share her fate.
in addition, whaddya bitchin' about. you seem to think the more you
make the less you should pay in taxes.
---------------------------
check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/
wf...@ptnospam.com
care to tell us what percentage of millionaires EARNED their money
rather than inherited it?
wf...@ptnospam.com
of course, middle class folks work too. the rich just dont think of it
as work. thats why they get all the tax breaks while the middle class
gets the taxes.
TonyaK911
Baloney.
For direct answer to your question, please see:
http://www.cbpp.org/4-10-02tax.htm
Also, you might want to look at Bush's tax cuts FAQ at:
http://freedom.house.gov/taxcut/charts/
Regards,
TK9
wf...@ptnospam.com
you need to
1. read more
2. learn more economics
e. j. dionne has pointed out that the burden of taxes paid by the poor
is rising. he also points out the trap you've fallen in to.
the right focuses on INCOME tax. the percentage the poor pay in
federal taxes of all kinds has been rising. in fact, there was a big
hubbub a few weeks ago because a WSJ editorial complained tax burdens
on the poor were too low, thus they didnt have an incentive to get mad
at govt.
dionne analysed the taxes of all kinds paid by the poor and middle
class. thats where he found that in the last 15 years or so, the
richest have seen their inflation adjusted income skyrocket by 147%
while the middle class has seen theirs go up by precisely 10%.
---------------------------
check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/
updated 12/19
TonyaK911
More baloney, directed at those who can't read.
Top 50% of Wage Earners Pay 96.09% of Income Taxes
Wanna know who really pays the bulk of taxes?
take a look at the true IRS figures:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/irsfigures.guest.html
Save your tricks for the next DNC commercial, pal.
TK9
wf...@ptnospam.com
again, you fanatics never learned to read
as dionne pointed out, right wing fanatics focus on INCOME taxes
because the rich pay alot. of course, so does the middle class.
the problem is, when ALL taxes are added, the poor pay quite a bit in
taxes.
sorry sport. try again.
the rich have more money. their income went up 155% in the past 20
years. middle class income went up by 10%
i realize to you this means the middle class is communist...and should
be reduced to slave labor. but them's the breaks.
Phoenix Rising
Are you saying that the poorer people didn't earn their extra income? It
was just given them on sufferance, part of the magnanimity of the managerial
class? Harrrumph. The arrogance of the wealthy in this country is absolutely
stifling at times.
If you're one of the financial elite of the most powerful civilization in
world history, you ought to shut up and pay your dues, and be glad you have
someone in power who wants to make sure that your idiot children can inherit
all your wealth and never have to EARN (since that word can apparently be
shouted with impunity) a red cent in their pampered lives.
Incidentally, I'm no Communist, but I do believe that with power comes
responsibility, and wealth is a form of power.
--Phoenix Rising
Phoenix Rising
> > dionne analysed the taxes of all kinds paid by the poor and middle
> > class. thats where he found that in the last 15 years or so, the
> > richest have seen their inflation adjusted income skyrocket by 147%
> > while the middle class has seen theirs go up by precisely 10%.
>
> More baloney, directed at those who can't read.
> Top 50% of Wage Earners Pay 96.09% of Income Taxes
> Wanna know who really pays the bulk of taxes?
> take a look at the true IRS figures:
> http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/irsfigures.guest.html
> Save your tricks for the next DNC commercial, pal.
>
> TK9
TK9,
Are you seriously trying to imply that the gap between the rich and the poor in America isn't growing? I'd
seriously like to see some evidence of that that doesn't come from RushLimbaugh.com. If this continues, we're going to
have a third world country before long, where the upper 2-3% of the country have everything and no one else has
anything.
The fact that they pay 96% of the taxes means nothing if they own 99% of the assets.
--Phoenix Rising
TonyaK911
> On 22 Dec 2002 10:48:25 -0800, Tony...@excite.com (TonyaK911) wrote:
> >wf...@ptnospam.com wrote in message news:<3e03d770...@news.ptdprolog.net>...
> >> On 18 Dec 2002 09:49:27 -0800, Tony...@excite.com (TonyaK911) wrote:
> >>
> >> dionne analysed the taxes of all kinds paid by the poor and middle
> >> class. thats where he found that in the last 15 years or so, the
> >> richest have seen their inflation adjusted income skyrocket by 147%
> >> while the middle class has seen theirs go up by precisely 10%.
> >
> >More baloney, directed at those who can't read.
> >Top 50% of Wage Earners Pay 96.09% of Income Taxes
> > Wanna know who really pays the bulk of taxes?
> > take a look at the true IRS figures:
> > http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/irsfigures.guest.html
> >Save your tricks for the next DNC commercial, pal.
> >
> >TK9
>
> again, you fanatics never learned to read
>
> as dionne pointed out, right wing fanatics focus on INCOME taxes
> because the rich pay alot. of course, so does the middle class.
Is that why you people advocate the INCOME TAX cut to be returned to
those who, as you just confirmed, did not pay INCOME TAXES?
> the problem is, when ALL taxes are added, the poor pay quite a bit in
> taxes.
I stand for throwing away ALL sales taxes, gazoline taxes, if that's
what you're complaining about.
Do you support this idea? Yes? No? Maybe?
> sorry sport. try again.
>
> the rich have more money.
Brilliant discovery! That's why they're called rich, to start with!
> their income went up 155% in the past 20 years.
Why is that bad?
> middle class income went up by 10%
How much did the income go up for a Cuban or a N.Korean worker for the
same period of time? See - capitalism has its positive sides, wouldn't
you agree?
Of course, the very number - 10% - is a deception. But that's beside
the point.
Yet, the middle class couldn't catch up with the rich.
So, if I were a middle class person, I'd come to a conclusion to open
my own business and become rich...
> i realize to you this means the middle class is communist...and should
> be reduced to slave labor. but them's the breaks.
American middle class - slave labor???
Are you sure we're talking about the same country?
What the hell are you talking about?
TK9
wf...@ptnospam.com
>wf...@ptnospam.com wrote in message news:<3e060d0b....@news.ptdprolog.net>...
>>
>>
>> as dionne pointed out, right wing fanatics focus on INCOME taxes
>> because the rich pay alot. of course, so does the middle class.
>
>Is that why you people advocate the INCOME TAX cut to be returned to
>those who, as you just confirmed, did not pay INCOME TAXES?
gee...i guess you dont know what a 'tax' is.
the rich are fond of pointing out that they're over taxed.
they're not. they just pay different taxes than working people do. the
difference in marketing is they have folks like you to apologize for
them, and to tell those of us who work for a living that the rich are
to be pitied.
>
>> the problem is, when ALL taxes are added, the poor pay quite a bit in
>> taxes.
>
>I stand for throwing away ALL sales taxes, gazoline taxes, if that's
>what you're complaining about.
>Do you support this idea? Yes? No? Maybe?
>
>> sorry sport. try again.
>>
>> the rich have more money.
>
>Brilliant discovery! That's why they're called rich, to start with!
>
>> their income went up 155% in the past 20 years.
>
>Why is that bad?
i never said it was bad. you seem to think it's bad that the rich have
to pay taxes.
>
>> middle class income went up by 10%
>
>How much did the income go up for a Cuban or a N.Korean worker for the
>same period of time? See - capitalism has its positive sides, wouldn't
>you agree?
WHOA sports fans, i NEVER brought up capitalism at all. i happen to BE
a capitalist. BUT its ridiculous to say that people who work for a
living are undertaxed while the rich folks are having their wealth
threatened by confiscatory taxes. they're not.
Dave Lister
$3t6....@nwrddc03.gnilink.net:
>>
>> I'm all for the rich earning more money, but my experiemce has been
>> that most of those who become rich are merely lucky.
>
> What utter unmitigated BULLSHIT
Why? How many rich people do you know? Most all the ones I know would
confirm this statement - they happened to fall into wealth on the
coattails of someone else.
Dave Lister
news:bf4ca8d4.0212...@posting.google.com:
> Dave Lister <retsil...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:<y3JL9.82699$jf7.5...@news2.west.cox.net>...
>> I'm all for the rich earning more money, but my experiemce has been
>> that most of those who become rich are merely lucky.
>
> This is a typical response of the lazy, the cowardly and the
> uninspired.
Not at all, silly. I know quite a few millionares at such places as
Broadcom, not any harder working or brighter than anyone else, but who
happened to interview for yet another startup at the right time. Of
course you can say the founders were inspired, but the majority of those
who got rich were merely along for the ride.
TonyaK911
Ok, my friend.
As long as class warfare works for you...
wf...@ptnospam.com
>wf...@ptnospam.com wrote in message news:<3e066d83....@news.ptdprolog.net>...
>>
>>
>> WHOA sports fans, i NEVER brought up capitalism at all. i happen to BE
>> a capitalist. BUT its ridiculous to say that people who work for a
>> living are undertaxed while the rich folks are having their wealth
>> threatened by confiscatory taxes. they're not.
>
>Ok, my friend.
>As long as class warfare works for you...
funny..when the middle class says it should have decent wages, the
rich, and their apologists call that 'class warfare'.
---------------------------
check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/
updated 12/23
TonyaK911
> Tony...@excite.com (TonyaK911) wrote in
> news:bf4ca8d4.0212...@posting.google.com:
>
> > Dave Lister <retsil...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:<y3JL9.82699$jf7.5...@news2.west.cox.net>...
> >> I'm all for the rich earning more money, but my experiemce has been
> >> that most of those who become rich are merely lucky.
> >
> > This is a typical response of the lazy, the cowardly and the
> > uninspired.
>
> Not at all, silly. I know quite a few millionares at such places as
> Broadcom, not any harder working or brighter than anyone else, but who
> happened to interview for yet another startup at the right time. Of
> course you can say the founders were inspired, but the majority of those
> who got rich were merely along for the ride.
I said:
Hard-working, risk-taking idealists who can inspire other people, -
create wealth for themselves and jobs for the rest, including even
those who do all the complaining.
I may add: including even a few of those who merely get along for the
ride.
Some also get lucky buying lottery tickets. Some inherit a fortune.
But people who move this country are hard working, dedicated people,
and at the end - the society as a whole owes them the way of life not
achieved anywhere else in the world.
> Oh, to have a President with a 75+ IQ instead of GW Bush,
> who says:
>
> "I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've
> read, I understand reality. If you're asking me
> as the president, would I understand reality, I do."
>
> "...when I put my hand on the Bible, I will
> swear to not, to uphold the laws of the land"
I understand: you liked Clint0n better. After all, he's not done
anything wrong, except he
- Directed Arcansas State Police to fabricate incriminating evidence
against a political opponent (Terry Reed.)
- Conspired with David Hale and Jim McDougal to defraud the Small
Business Administration.
- Tipped off Governor Tucker about upcoming criminal referral.
- Violated Arkansas campaign finance laws.
- Fired all U.S. Attorneys to appoint Paula Casey to prevent Judge
David Hale from testifying against Clinton.
- Appointed friend and now-convicted felon Webster Hubbell to number 3
position in Justice Department in order to be able to block Whitewater
criminal referrals.
- Turned the Oval Office into a bordello.
- Organized bombing and destruction of Serbia, securing Muslim
rat-holes on the territory of former Yugoslavia.
- Was impeached for purgery and obstruction of justice.
- Refused to take care of Usama Bin Laden when his head was offered by
Sudan.
- Brought FBI and CIA to the point of utter ineffectiveness.
- Allowed sensitive strategic military information transfer to Chinese
Communist regime in exchange for influence-buying donations to DNC,
and a few other minor transgressions... but who counts, silly?
TK9