Health Care Reform passes US House

[Maes]

I wonder if these people are paid shills (a few of them must be) or are just stupid enough to believe what the signs say and start such a shitty protest on their own.

[Mr. Freeze]

I see your pics of dumbass far-right wingers and raise you Code Pink in response.

[Graf Zahl]

Stupidity really knows no boundaries, political or otherwise...

[Gez]

This... this thing is horrible. The belly... How is it even anatomically possible? Excuse me, I need eye bleach.

[Creaphis]

Gez said:

They say one can judge a man by his enemies. If this is also true of things, then we can judge from these enemies that the health care reform is the best thing since sliced bread.

Indeed. Such violently stupid opposition is almost a good thing; it is a sign that changes are being made (or are being attempted, anyway) for the betterment of society. The day that the streets are no longer thronged with the retarded is also the day when human progress ends. Obstinate fools will always exist, they cannot be converted, they cannot be destroyed, but they can be pushed, and we must never stop pushing. We must keep them angry, keep them parading in the streets, forever.

[Technician]

That's some deep shit Creaphis.

[Nomad]

Creaphis for prez, 2012!

[Creaphis]

Sorry dudes, I'm also Kenyan :(

[Sharessa]

Gez said:

Where we learn that Obama is Hitler and the Joker all-in-one!

Not to mention that we learn that socialism = nazism.

[Patrick]

Nomad said:

Creaphis for prez, 2012!

[The Ultimate DooMer]

I miss fodders.

[Patrick]

Just to scare everyone from the US here:

You are not a human, you are a number

[Mr. Freeze]

Danarchy said:

Not to mention that we learn that socialism = nazism.

Socialism = Nazism? No.

Socialism = Bad? Yes.

[TheeXile]

Creaphis said:

Indeed. Such violently stupid opposition is almost a good thing; it is a sign that changes are being made (or are being attempted, anyway) for the betterment of society. The day that the streets are no longer thronged with the retarded is also the day when human progress ends. Obstinate fools will always exist, they cannot be converted, they cannot be destroyed, but they can be pushed, and we must never stop pushing. We must keep them angry, keep them parading in the streets, forever.

Well technically they can be destroyed...

[Belial]

Mr. Freeze said:

Socialism = Bad? Yes.

There's nothing 'bad' about socialism.

Unless of course your idea of socialism is THE RED PLAGUE IS COMING.

[Patrick]

Mr. Freeze said:

Socialism = Bad? Yes.

Capitalism = Bad? Yes.

[Mr. Freeze]

Belial said:

Unless of course your idea of socialism is THE RED PLAGUE IS COMING.

No. That's Communism, but thanks for playing.

Socialism cannot work. It never had worked and it never will, only in limited amounts (such as Medicare/Medicaid and Welfare). A pure Capitalist society cannot exist, but neither can a pure Socialist. And quite frankly, my paycheck is low enough without every lazy asshole clawing at it.

[Gez]

Mr. Freeze said:

A pure Capitalist society cannot exist, but neither can a pure Socialist.

So what's the point in saying it's bad, if it cannot exist? Socialism is bad, capitalism is bad, whateverism is bad. There's no perfect system that works in all conditions all the times all over the world because society is an inherently instable thing, so the adequate mixture of the different models vary with time and place.

[Belial]

Mr. Freeze said:

And quite frankly, my paycheck is low enough without every lazy asshole clawing at it.

That's a very positive attitude to have towards your fellow citizen.

Not everyone living off welfare is a lazy bum, there are quite a few people that were robbed of their chance to have a successful life by circumstances they couldn't influence.

In a society I'd like to live in the people who are better off should participate in the cost of helping the less fortunate improve their living standards so that they or their children could get the chance they were denied earlier. Otherwise you end up with a downward spiral where poverty is inherited by the next generation which in turn has even less of a chance to make it in life and not end up a criminal, homeless person or other burden to society.

In the end that'll probably cost more than those few bucks going off your paycheck towards welfare now.

[Creaphis]

TheeXile said:

Well technically they can be destroyed...

Wrong. To attempt to destroy one's political enemies requires colossal vileness and stupidity. Even if we were able to destroy all of those who we (perhaps rightfully) consider vile and stupid, we would become the vile and stupid, equally worthy of destruction.

[Butts]

Something about welfare: I was taught in school that the US wants to keep the national unemployment rate at roughly 5% for some reason that I forgot. So... I guess welfare makes sense (even though I am against it).

I barely read the article by the way, not really sure what's up with the whole health care thing, besides the proposed health care reform will cost a large sum of money, will be a large amount of work, and pisses off a good portion of the US.

I better get weed from this bill, if it was to pass...

[TheeXile]

Creaphis said:

Wrong. To attempt to destroy one's political enemies requires colossal vileness and stupidity. Even if we were able to destroy all of those who we (perhaps rightfully) consider vile and stupid, we would become the vile and stupid, equally worthy of destruction.

I wouldn't plan to survive after I reached that point.

[Maes]

Creaphis said:

Even if we were able to destroy all of those who we (perhaps rightfully) consider vile and stupid, we would become the vile and stupid, equally worthy of destruction.

Allow me to disagree. Wouldn't the world just become a better place for the ones that are not on the "wrong" side? The very least, in a localized manner (e.g. if I eliminate a particular thorn-in-my-side enemy with no further chances of retaliation by anyone, then my life will improve for sure. I'll have "won", so to speak).

I'm e.g. sure that nobody (except maybe their familiars and fellow gang members) would feel bad if e.g. all big time drug dealers, gansters and deviant criminals vanished at the snap of a finger. Let's face it, certain parts of society we could live without.

[Gez]

Butts said:

Something about welfare: I was taught in school that the US wants to keep the national unemployment rate at roughly 5% for some reason that I forgot. So... I guess welfare makes sense (even though I am against it).

To keep a pool of employable people for companies that need to hire. The lowest the unemployment rate, the hardest it is to recruit. Which means that you have to "steal" your recruits from another company, and so businesses end up competing not for customers but for employees.

On the other hand, the highest the unemployment rate, the easiest it is to find new workers. Which means that you can lower wages without fear. A high unemployment rate leads to competition between the employees rather than between the companies. It results in higher productivity, but also increased stress and all the associated social issues, such as increased rate of work accidents and workplace suicide (a recent example would be France Télécom, where they had one suicide every three weeks recently). Plus all the social issues from the unemployed, who might resort to illegal or clandestine activities in order to scrounge up some money, and even without welfare end up being a drain on society for that reason (e.g. informal economy networks).

In short:
Very low unemployment rate -> bad for the companies
High unemployment rate -> bad for everyone

So trying to keep it stabilized at about 5% allows just enough play in the social machinery to keep it running smoothly, or so it's hoped.

[Texas Libra]

Danarchy's previous post

My brain just shriveled up from confusion. You start by saying "this will assrape us all" thus making yourself sound like one of the teabaggers, then in your next post you rant about how people are dumbasses for not wanting to help out their fellow human beings.

Gay fundamentalist vs. Black Nazi, eh?

[myk]

Mr. Freeze said:
Photoshop

Also, the fat woman is quite unseemly, but we were discussing political stupidity, not looks.

Texas Libra said:
My brain just shriveled up from confusion.

Hey, Dan, it looks like you're learning from me :p

You start by saying "this will assrape us all" thus making yourself sound like one of the teabaggers, then in your next post you rant about how people are dumbasses for not wanting to help out their fellow human beings.

I don't really see a contradiction: So-called teabaggers complain about high taxes while he's pointing out that low taxes have caused issues, and at the end he says certain people are assholes because they refuse to help anyone except themselves.

[GreyGhost]

Maes said:

I'm e.g. sure that nobody (except maybe their familiars and fellow gang members) would feel bad if e.g. all big time drug dealers, gansters and deviant criminals vanished at the snap of a finger. Let's face it, certain parts of society we could live without.

It wouldn't work, nature abhors a vacuum and so does human nature. Most of the undesirable elements you'd eliminate from society would soon be repopulated by people who have the inclination but lacked the opportunity.

[TheeXile]

GreyGhost said:

It wouldn't work, nature abhors a vacuum and so does human nature. Most of the undesirable elements you'd eliminate from society would soon be repopulated by people who have the inclination but lacked the opportunity.

Change human nature then?

[Gez]

TheeXile said:

Change human nature then?

There are three ways to make a flying machine.
1. Have some mechanism that generates lift.
2. Toss overboard everything that's heavier than air until it floats.
3. Tell gravity to shut up.

You'll notice that #1 is frequently used, #2 is used infrequently, and #3 has yet to find a way in which it could be theoretically possible.

Now what this metaphor means for the problem at hand... :p

[Mr. Freeze]

Belial said:

That's a very positive attitude to have towards your fellow citizen.

Not everyone living off welfare is a lazy bum, there are quite a few people that were robbed of their chance to have a successful life by circumstances they couldn't influence.

Indeed. Welfare was made for the people you described. However, you have to admit there are a lot of lazy people out there. I'm sorry, but the priorities of my loved ones and future family will always come first.

Belial said:

In a society I'd like to live in the people who are better off should participate in the cost of helping the less fortunate improve their living standards so that they or their children could get the chance they were denied earlier.

But why force it? Would you not argue that optional charity could do the same thing without draining everyone's paycheck?