Conundrum

[Deepsouth]

Conundrum

Conundrum



Free people are not equal. Equal people are not free.(Think this one over and over…makes sense!)i

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing.
Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America:
1. America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
2. Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims.
3. They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government.
4. Their representatives run the government - yet the poor keep getting poorer.
5. The poor keep getting poorer - yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century.Makes you wonder who is doing the math.

These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Funny how that works. And here's another one worth considering...
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. !What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't and apparently won't.
Think about it.....and Last but not least
3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII,but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens. In fact we are suggesting more to come to America??

   

 

[Jogeephus]

Such fertile ground for a conversation but where to begin. I'm too tired to begin and have already started the day off right by pizzing one person off today and don't need multiple fronts.

Woman was complaining about the school not refunding half her little cupcake's money after he signed up to go on an ag field trip and changed his mind at the last minute. Everyone was listening to her bytch about how unfair this was of the school to cheat her little darling out $20 because her little cupcake changed his mind and decided not to go because his friends were not going. I blurted out that the school was doing a good job teaching the boy the importance of commitment and responsibility because it was obvious he wasn't getting this instruction at home. Surprisingly, this offended her.

For some reason I seem to think this relates to this thread.

 

[Nesikep]

On #4, that's the way it's set up.. Make a representative look like he's going to work for you, but behind the scenes that's not what's happening.
80 rich people in the world have the same collective wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest people.. that doesn't come about by accident.

Look at it as a Monopoly board.. 1 person owns 3 of the 4 sides of the board, all the good ones of course, and the other 5 people have what's left of the Baltic Avenue side. The money you get from passing "go" doesn't do a whole lot to help you get around the board. You're losing money every time around, and there's just nothing you can do about it.

That said, #5 is very true.

 

[inyati13]

Conundrum

Conundrum



Free people are not equal. Equal people are not free.(Think this one over and over…makes sense!)i

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing.
Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America:
1. America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
2. Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims.
3. They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government.
4. Their representatives run the government - yet the poor keep getting poorer.
5. The poor keep getting poorer - yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century.Makes you wonder who is doing the math.

These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Funny how that works. And here's another one worth considering...
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. !What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't and apparently won't.
Think about it.....and Last but not least
3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII,but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens. In fact we are suggesting more to come to America??

And all men are not created equal either! I think it is more realistic to say that all men are unequal.

IMO, you are using the art of exaggeration. You are getting too wrapped up in rhetoric. For example, your following statement:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.

The fact is this: Most of us do not judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. If this forum is a cross-section of America, would you make the supposition that most users judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. NO. Just because a politically charged group "encourages" us to make that leap is not as disturbing as you make it sound when you acknowledge that few of us make that judgement.

Your second point needs a modifier:
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. !What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't and apparently won't.

The first group got thousands of times more out of SS than they put in. My mom and dad are examples. They did not pay $10,000 in to SS in their entire lives. But they collected thousands of times that amount. That story has been repeated over and over for those first few generations of Americans that got in soon after SS was established. Many lived out their lives in nursing homes at the expense of the young workers paying high SS and Medicare taxes. Nursing homes are full of elderly who sign a meagar SS check over in exchange for total care worth thousands of times more than they ever paid in.

PS: The group hurt most by SS is the group that started paying SS and medicare taxes about 2000. They will work 30 to 40 years maybe 50 and never get the value out of their investment. If you run a "time value of money" on their investment, they would have done better putting it under their matress. :lol:

 

[Rafter S]

Look at it as a Monopoly board.. 1 person owns 3 of the 4 sides of the board, all the good ones of course, and the other 5 people have what's left of the Baltic Avenue side. The money you get from passing "go" doesn't do a whole lot to help you get around the board. You're losing money every time around, and there's just nothing you can do about it.

I'm going to disagree with you there. There are plenty of people who have drastically improved their financial situation through hard work, education, and determination. To say that all the poor are destined to stay poor is just not accurate. I'll agree that most of them will, but it's not pre-ordained (at least not in my country, or yours).

 

[TexasBred]

The first group got thousands of times more out of SS than they put in. My mom and dad are examples. They did not pay $10,000 in to SS in their entire lives. But they collected thousands of times that amount. That story has been repeated over and over for those first few generations of Americans that got in soon after SS was established. Many lived out their lives in nursing homes at the expense of the young workers paying high SS and Medicare taxes. Nursing homes are full of elderly who sign a meagar SS check over in exchange for total care worth thousands of times more than they ever paid in.Let's not get carried away now....you do realize that just "one" thousand multiplied by "thousands" equals at least one million???

PS: The group hurt most by SS is the group that started paying SS and medicare taxes about 2000. They will work 30 to 40 years maybe 50 and never get the value out of their investment. If you run a "time value of money" on their investment, they would have done better putting it under their matress. :lol:

Prove it ;-)

 

[inyati13]

The first group got thousands of times more out of SS than they put in. My mom and dad are examples. They did not pay $10,000 in to SS in their entire lives. But they collected thousands of times that amount. That story has been repeated over and over for those first few generations of Americans that got in soon after SS was established. Many lived out their lives in nursing homes at the expense of the young workers paying high SS and Medicare taxes. Nursing homes are full of elderly who sign a meagar SS check over in exchange for total care worth thousands of times more than they ever paid in.Let's not get carried away now....you do realize that just "one" thousand multiplied by "thousands" equals at least one million???

PS: The group hurt most by SS is the group that started paying SS and medicare taxes about 2000. They will work 30 to 40 years maybe 50 and never get the value out of their investment. If you run a "time value of money" on their investment, they would have done better putting it under their matress. :lol:

Prove it ;-)

I had to say something to get Deepsouth excited. ;-)

Seriously, mom was a farm house wife so never paid her own SS taxes. Dad was a poor tenant farmer who never paid income taxes due to his low earnings let alone SS taxes. Later in years, Dad worked at the County Barn as a road grader operator and probably never made enough to have reached $10,000 in payments in his entire life. Mom and Dad began drawing about 1985. They both lived to reach their 90s and mom is living now in a nursing home where her care is provided in return for signing over her SS payment. The medical care they received in the past 10 years must be staggering. Paid under the medicare and medicaid plus their supplemental insurance. I don't have the numbers but the point is there.

 

[RMCDUFFEE]

Look at it as a Monopoly board.. 1 person owns 3 of the 4 sides of the board, all the good ones of course, and the other 5 people have what's left of the Baltic Avenue side. The money you get from passing "go" doesn't do a whole lot to help you get around the board. You're losing money every time around, and there's just nothing you can do about it.

The world is NOT a Monopoly board. The fact that Donald Trump or Sam Walton's kids or Oprah are getting richer has nothing to do with my ability to succeed. The socialist/progressive have been pushing the idea that the successful got that way by robbing the poor. That is like saying that because I got an 'A' on a test someone else had to get an 'F'. Anyone that has ever accomplished anything should be offended. I am not done succeeding yet and there is plenty of room for others to be successful right beside me.

If there were fewer government regulations getting in our way maybe even more would be headed in the right direction.

 

[dieselbeef]

in the case of most of these statements the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

all gun oiwners are bad because the biggest/richest can afford to be heard the loudest

muslims make the biggest explosions so they get the most notice...at one time it was the Japanese

whoever the media sheep would like to make popular has the most sway and a strong swaying opinion..whether it be right or wrong or you like it or not

 

[Nesikep]

Look at it as a Monopoly board.. 1 person owns 3 of the 4 sides of the board, all the good ones of course, and the other 5 people have what's left of the Baltic Avenue side. The money you get from passing "go" doesn't do a whole lot to help you get around the board. You're losing money every time around, and there's just nothing you can do about it.

The world is NOT a Monopoly board. The fact that Donald Trump or Sam Walton's kids or Oprah are getting richer has nothing to do with my ability to succeed. The socialist/progressive have been pushing the idea that the successful got that way by robbing the poor. That is like saying that because I got an 'A' on a test someone else had to get an 'F'. Anyone that has ever accomplished anything should be offended. I am not done succeeding yet and there is plenty of room for others to be successful right beside me.

If there were fewer government regulations getting in our way maybe even more would be headed in the right direction.

Actually, that is the case in university, where grades are based on a bell curve, depending on your classmates, getting 50% could be a fail, or it could be an A.

I'll take Sam Walton here.. He gets rich on low quality goods, produced in china, marked up 500%. The lower and middle class can't afford "good stuff", so they have to buy garbage. The problem is twofold.. First off this undercuts local businesses, and secondly, the 'goods' are of such poor quality they're going to have to be repeatedly purchased because they keep breaking.. it's a complete drain on a person's finances.

While the money supply may be infinite (it keeps getting printed), it's value is not. A big problem is that corporations can buy up ASSETS before the inflation hits the ordinary people, they're always ahead of the curve, and when the inflation does come around, the corporations are protected from it because they have tangible assets.. The person who just saved money hasn't gotten anywhere because the inflation is greater than what they can put away.

 

[dieselbeef]

[]

Actually, that is the case in university, where grades are based on a bell curve, depending on your classmates, getting 50% could be a fail, or it could be an A.


oh now ya wanna bring common core math into it..were really circling the drain now

 

[Nesikep]

haha... This was nearly 20 years ago!

 

[Bigfoot]

Conundrum

Conundrum



Free people are not equal. Equal people are not free.(Think this one over and over…makes sense!)i

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing.
Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America:
1. America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
2. Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims.
3. They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government.
4. Their representatives run the government - yet the poor keep getting poorer.
5. The poor keep getting poorer - yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century.Makes you wonder who is doing the math.

These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Funny how that works. And here's another one worth considering...
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. !What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't and apparently won't.
Think about it.....and Last but not least
3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII,but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens. In fact we are suggesting more to come to America??

   

I agree wholeheartedly, the way the thing is turning, everything will continue to spiral down. I used to have tons of hope for our country, and our society. I'm ashamed to say that I don't anymore. I would like to say that I am part of the solution, but I'm not. I've largely given up. I no longer watch the news, I hadn't in years. I don't even speak up anymore. I do vote my conscious, but I'm not even sure if that is doing any good. We'll be a suburb of Mexico someday, just give it time.

 

[TexasBred]

Seriously, mom was a farm house wife so never paid her own SS taxes. Dad was a poor tenant farmer who never paid income taxes due to his low earnings let alone SS taxes. Later in years, Dad worked at the County Barn as a road grader operator and probably never made enough to have reached $10,000 in payments in his entire life. Mom and Dad began drawing about 1985. They both lived to reach their 90s and mom is living now in a nursing home where her care is provided in return for signing over her SS payment. The medical care they received in the past 10 years must be staggering. Paid under the medicare and medicaid plus their supplemental insurance. I don't have the numbers but the point is there.

Inyati my grandmother probably never paid in $20 in FICA. Drew a small social security check of about $80 a month til the day she died. She lived to be almost 101.

 

[MO_cows]

As far as what a person pays in versus draws out on Social Security, just pick up the newspaper on any given day and look at the obituaries. Many, many people die in their 50s and 60s. These are the ones who probably paid in for years and drew out little, if anything. This offsets the lower earners who paid in little or nothing but drew benefits to a ripe old age.

 

[Williamsv]

My grandfather paid in SS because my uncle made him. He would not agree to start drawing it until he was 75, as he did not believe in a check coming to your mailbox. He died before he ever got the first check. My grandmother drew it for many years,as she lived to be 93.
My dad was a railroad engineer for 40 years. He was also a cattle farmer for 22 years until he died at 68 in 1992. He retired from the railroad in 1984 and starting drawing his retirement. He continued in the cattle business until his death. He paid in SS for many years thinking he could draw it along with his RR retirement. He was still paying in when he died. He thought my mother would be able to draw it. She has never gotten a penny of it. You cannot draw it along with RR retirement. He paid it in for nothing.
Now my sister has been told that since she draws teacher's retirement,she will not be able to draw her husband's SS. I don't guess I will be able to draw my husband's either, since I draw teacher's retirement. The teachers in my county were not given a chance to pay in SS, as they did in other counties.
A lot was contributed, but very little drawn in our cases.

 

[D2Cat]

Here's an interesting link. http://www.ssa.gov/history/hfaq.html

Has the history. First payment was 17 cents, Jan. 1937.

My wife's grandmother was a single mother with 3 kids and she worked at the county office. She tells of how she had to pay in 10 cents for her first payment. People didn't have the money to pay and the county gave all the employees a raise to cover the additional cost. She also had to be one who paid much less then she collected. She lived to 96.

 

[JWBrahman]

Conundrum

Conundrum




1. America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
2. Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims.
3. They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government.


Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century.Makes you wonder who is doing the math.



   

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sxjo5keXAS0
I did the Math and cannot imagine ordering $10.01 worth of food from McDonald's. Haha seriously, this fits in with what you are saying. The girl loses her mind because she feels like the portion was too small. Any casual observer might notice she could benefit from smaller portions. Governor Jindal goes to Europe to lecture others on "No Go" zones while over half of Baton Rouge is off limits to white people after dark. And most of the Baton Rouge "whites" talk just like this poor maligned creature who wanted the jumbo portions she is entitled to have in our great state of Louisiana.

 

[dieselbeef]

america is right on track. the powers that be are driving..you dont think this is really an abstract course do ya. its how they keep society in check...we are right where they want us to be

 

[highgrit]

My Dad has been collecting SS now for 26 years. And he'll be the first to tell you he never figured he'd see a dime. All you have to do is live long enough to get your money's worth. I need to live till I'm 75 to get back what I've paid in so far. Not including interest. Hopefully our fine government won't screw the working folks that have paid SS all these years. Anyone know how much welfare recipients have to pay in on their checks?