2016 Presidential Elections in the US

@Johnny,

Isn't it possible that as many Americans are as "jealous" of European social benefits as Europeans are of American (so-called) "success"??
It's all a question of the values regarding conspicuous consumption. If you're down and out, sure, you envy the guy who's "got it made", so to speak, yet do you
any more admire this dude for him or her rubbing your nose in their face?! I think not, at least, I hope not.

This problem is compounded by the presence of cheap labor being given advantages over white, middle-class wage earners who are finding it nearly impossible these days to so to say 'put money aside' as was once more manageable than it is now. With rampant inflation COMPOUNDING the advent of cheap labor, we've alread become a two- vs. three tier society in which the deserving middle class which earned its money by dint of skill and hard work is being squeezed out!!!

One of the many problems i have with capitalism is that it feeds negative human instincts i.e. people who are selfish, devious, power happy and downright criminal tend to fair quite well within this system.

People who are honest, righteous, generous, caring, like to share and who value strong moral codes tend to not be so successful (in a monetary sense) under a capitalism.

Its basically a look after number one and screw everybody else system. Completely unsustainable.

• 
  Trickle down economics
  

Couldn't agree more, actually.

Are you familar with the Yugoslav Third Way idea? It's quite interesting, because you get the benefits of capitalism along with the idea of workers being directly responsible for production, meaning that everyone in theory has the motivation to succeed because their earnings directly depend on it. It didn't work so well in reality, but I believe in the system.

The Trumpster wins Florida, Rubio's home State.
What a blow to Rubio as he naturally dropped out of the bid for the GOP nominee.
Now if Kasich would drop out, as he has no chance of winning, we could get it down to a two man race.
Most of his potential votes would go to Cruz giving Cruz a chance to bump the Trump off.
I see that The Donald may be charged for inciting a riot at his rally.
Gee, I wonder who will be going to jail first, him or Hillary. lol
Only in America...........

Ironically USA is my favorite tourist destination and Birmingham is indeed far away from the real racist civilizations like South Africa or Zimbabwe. Birmingham Alabama I'm talking about, I've been there too.


Yes, because blacks are usually busy being gang members shooting each other on the streets instead of educating themselves like do

Why Chinese people don't have this "racism" problem and usually get better jobs than whites?


I don't know maybe you know a single country in the world or even city, anywhere in the world: Africa, USA, Europe or some island like Jamaica, anywhere that is populated by black people in majority, let's say over 80% and this place is well prospering, people live on a high standard and it's free from excessive crime. Do you know place like that? if so let me know, I want to go over there for my next holiday.


Well, after your fail in catering business I can't blame you for not liking capitalism.

This very well written assessment of the situation in USA

Through the years, too many black people continue to show an inability to function and prosper in a culture unsuited to them.
Detroit is bankrupt, the south side of Chicago is a war zone, and the vast majority of black cities all over America are beset by degeneracy and violence.
And blacks never take responsibility for their failures. Instead, they lash out in anger and resentment.
cropped

And as I have already stated, "Most likely the hottest part of this coming summer."

mmhm, and it's got to stop. Taxes are high for the middle class and they pull a lot of the weight. Forcing others to pay for other peoples **** does not fair well, if government mandates taxes, those taxes should be expended into infrastructure and project beyond the individuals capability.

Charities should provide for the needy, not forced redistribution, and workfare needs to replace welfare. Capitalism can be a model of sustainability, in my mind it's more sustainable then socialism. If money is represented as resources available, economic motive would be in the interest to conserve and reuse resources.

There will always be those more qualified, more experienced, more efficient and ruthless, competitive nature is not inherently bad. What you have now is a few that inherited the earth, magnates so to say, throwing down pennies.

You know the reason why they tell you not to feed the birds? I'm sure people that do feed birds or other animals for that matter do it out of good intentions "social justice" or compassion so to say. But it ends up causing more harm then good, why? You created an artificial environment, one that caused the population to grow out of proportion, which then result in deaths, In humans it's poverty. Research also show that the birds that do get fed get bloody lazy or dependent and get out competed by other birds that did not depend on hand outs. Of course this is not my own research, but if you valued science and their opinions you would understand this world is not compassionate, that it works best when you can stand your ground and not depend on others, of course a little help here and there is good, but dependency is bad. Call me cold hearted, but this is what evidence suggests. Another reason I can not be a socialist, what makes socialism worst is that it becomes like a parasite so to say and will take from working people to supply those looking for the bird house, or the food stamps so to say. This is one of the reasons behind welfare abuse and poverty cycles, and will only collapse society under its weight. Even if you were to take all the wealth from the magnates, give it enough time, the population will grow and the same problem will arise again...just more intensified. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


It sounds like a good idea, is it based on as a collective or is each individual assessed for their work input? if it's a collective, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Perhaps you could provide a predominantly slavic country (or even city) - Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria where life quality is on par with Western Europe, where corruption and poverty are not common place. I wonder how well an African nation would fare if it became an EU member with all the benefits that brings, especially a country with vast natural resources.

The Virgin Islands seem like a pretty decent place to chill out for a few months, colonialism has worked a treat there, Barbados too.


Its a cultural phenominem. I also believe certain areas are quite simply behind the evolutionary curve of the more advanced nations. Racism and segregation is certainly not the answer, we need to embrace people for what they are and use their strengths not focus on their weaknesses.

Hungary is not a "predominanty slavic" country. In fact, it is not slavic at all. The list you have provided is an incomplete list of countries under Soviet influence until 1989. To that list you could add the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) whose economic level was similar to that of the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Of the predominantly Slavic countries, you can point to Slovenia whose economic level is higher than the level of some EU old member countries.

Yosemite did you just say that Poland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria is not corrupt and poverty are not common place and living standards are on pat with Western Europe? That is totally false... with the exception of maybe Slovakia there is rampant poverty and corruption in all those places. The human development index is far higher in western European countries than eastern europe. There are millions of desperately poor people in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, etc. The countries in eastern Europe that you didn't mention like slovenia and Czech republic are more on par with Western Europe in terms of HDI than your examples. If life was on par in Poland with England, Germany, France, US, etc. You wouldn't have millions of migrants.

The problem with socialism and communism is that it sucks for people who are ambitious. Why should an individual spend years and and a fortune to study medicine to earn little more than a welder? In most of these so called socialist utopia in Europe college is free but not graduate school.

Actually most of the section 8 welfare recipients live in very nice apartments and good neighborhoods. The section 8 guidelines are very strict so a lot of the houses in the ghetto don't qualify hence why in Chicago there's so many section 8 dwellers in middle class suburbs far removed from the inner city. The developers and apartment complex owners would rather rent to section 8 because they know they'll get the rent check in full and on time. With many of the working poor they can lose their jobs at a moments notice and the apartment owners know that. Welfare and section 8 needs to exist as a social safety net but generation after generation taking advantage of it needs to stop. If someone is on welfare and section 8 for years and years they're simply not even trying to get a job. I understand why, it's easier not to work and have society pay for all your needs and now even your wants too. A study found that in Chicago a single mother with 1 kid if she claims every available government program like section 8, welfare, snap, cash assistance, utility assistance, government cell phone, etc. It comes out the same as if she made 55k a year (with taxes then subtracted out of that 55k). So of course shes going to say screw it and survive off the government and teach her kid to do the same. I don't care what you call it, laziness is a choice. Living off the government and not wanting to work is a mindset. This is why people go crazy when they hear free healthcare, free education, etc. Because they haven't had to pay into these 'free' programs. We've essentially become a charity. Thankfully atleast many groups thay emigrate here like Asians and Hispanics come because they want to work and didn't have the same options back home. Success is available in the US, you just have to want it and be willing to work and sacrifice to attain it.

The fact is, however, that monetary success was never quite so "in one's face" as it has been in the US ever since Reagan took over! Unscrupulous doctors, slimeball realtors, shyster lawyers etc... had always been a part of the American scene, witness the Marx Bros. Abbott & Costello etc.... And of course, don't let's forget the great American horse traders, now there was a huckster's racket if ever there was one; tell the poor dude he's gettin' a great deal on a fine horse ('xcept ya never tell'em the horse has got a bum eye...) and so forth and so on.

What Reagan, Trump, the Paul Ryans and Scott Walkers of this country are simply doing is enabling the worst, rather than the best, of free enterprise aka capitalism aka screw the other guy, take advantage of the weaker right and left, rob, cheat and steal and at the end of the day celebrate the founding members of Scumbags Anonymous!!!

Hitler too was an enabler who never claimed to have "invented" the ghastly stuff of anti-semitism, yet gave it free reign as nearly never before in history by pandering to the basest instead of the best instincts among the Germans, summoning forth their barbarian past (never far below the surface anyhow), not their Enlightenment past and turning them into animals of the most savage order!!!

Trump is threatening to do the same, which is why we desparately need a Lady Gallahad in the figure of Hillary to rescue our nation in distress and slay the Dragon Donald:-)

I don't like Trump's attitude or rhetoric, but I will say one thing - he has played into the anti-establishment crowd *perfectly*.

For someone laughed at by virtually everyone when he first started talking about making a run for it, you have to admire how far he's come.

Oh absolutely !
I have spent quite some time down there chilling.
The snorkeling is out of this world.
A smugglers paradise. :-)
I mostly stayed on the American Virgin Islands (St. Johns) not the British Virgin Islands.
Trump now is saying that there will be riots if he doesn't get the nominee.
I see a third party coming.

But she's the same type of criminal that you're deriding.. she lied, stole, and cheated her way to the top

. Yes, Donald hired some illegal poles, had some companies go bankrupt, said some things that could be thought of as racist, etc. but I mean his scandals or those of any of the other candidates don't even compare to Hillary's - benghazi, the looting of the white house and turning the lincoln room into a bed and breakfast, the email server issue right now, making nearly 10,000% ROI on a futures contract because she had a buddy at Tyson foods, hosting galas and saying they were worth less than they really cost so she could pocket the difference, having her husband release puetro rican terrorists to help her win support amongst that community during her senate race, the 'travelgate' issue, using the IRS against republican groups, putting people in jail that threatened to expose her, ignoring that her husband cheated on her... i mean the list goes on and on.. She's the same lady who claimed that they're dead broke yet she's charging like $300k per speech and demands a certain model of Gulstream jet or better to transport her and her staff around for these speeches. She is power hungry and will do and say whatever she needs to so she can win public support and gain the power and prestige of the presidency.

Do you think she really cares about whether we went to Iraq or didn't go, or whether sanctuary cities are a good thing or not - no she doesn't care and that is evident by her constant flip flopping on her stances - like even with the two topics I just mentioned. She will say go with whatever is popular at the moment even if it contradicts a statement or a vote she made in the past. If she really cared about a certain issue she would stick to her opinion even if it wasn't popular. She is the ultimate poser.


He's the least likely to be bought and influenced by lobbyists, special interests, etc. that is why I like him. He's the type of guy who will say 'Yeah you made fun of me for my hair, me being on WWE, and just generally being an abusive pr!ck, but you're the one who voted for me!'

A couple Simpson's episodes actually referenced Donald Trump being president too lol

The Cayman Islands and Bahamas are nice too. I went on a cruise to the Cayman Islands in like the mid 90s. I remember hearing that like the minimum wage was like $12.00 an hour at the time there compared to the $4 or $5 minimum wage at the time in the US. I never checked up on it but I can tell you the people really did live well there. These small island countries thrive because they have oil, tourism, secretive tax haven banking, and now many have moved into the lucrative 'online casino' business. Some of them like Trinidad do deal with a bit of corruption - like government giving contracts to their own people although I don't know of many countries where cronyism isn't rampant. Some do have crime and smuggling since it's a trans shipment point between South America and the US but again almost all countries deal with that in some form or fashion. Even Poland is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of amphetamines.

When in the U.S Virgin Islands you can see the British Islands.
There is a lot more going on in the British ones as far as resorts and the bar scene.
They are much more "lively".
That area has some of the best snorkeling in the world.
Google Cinnamon Bay & Trunk Bay.
We stayed at Cinnamon Bay U.S. but took day trips over to the British Isles.
Summer time it is around 90* and VERY hot.

The Trumpster has now cancelled the GOP debates.
In my opinion the Donald has finished destroying the Republican party.
The T-Party started tearing it apart and Trump is now finishing the job.
Hillary is starting to get very nervous.
Cruz still has a chance.

The fact that Trump is even in contention to run the most powerful country in the world is reason to pause and evaluate some things. I suppose he's the broken leader that a broken system deserves.

Hillary's involvement with Whitewater was all but absolved nearly a decade ago or more! I think you, as with many others here on PF, have been subject to far too much right-wing propaganda:-)

Also, if you listen to WHAT she's saying, not HOW she's saying it, you'd realize before long that she is seriously interested in becoming Commander - and not Clown - in Chief!!

Slovenia or Czech republic, they live better than Western European Spain for example.

Slovenia though has always been more West leaning than most of either Central or Eastern Europe, save perhaps for Albania, often America friendly for the past several decades.

I don't consider the Czech Republic a Slavic country, they are a mixture of East and West Europeans, besides they have a massive German influence there. As soon as you cross the Southern border into Poland from The Czech side you notice the difference big time........which is why i left it out. I dont know much about Slovenia so i cant really comment on that, but its certainly not classic (Slavic) Eastern Europe, more Southern central.


You think the Czechs live better than the Spaniards? you're off your rocker mate.

There maybe some races ahead of the average evolutional curve Wulkan, but sadly yours isn't one of them. So youre not really in a position to hold the views you do on black people. and to top that off you're a bloody immigrant anyway, a first generation immigrant complaining about coloured immigrants who have been in the UK much longer than you. Take a run and jump, your Polish racism is not welcome in my country.

@Yosemite, the Czech Republic is most assuredly a Slavic country, it has simply been exposed to, i.e. leavened by, Western European influences, in large measure of course, from German-speaking Austria:-) While it belonged for centuries to what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czechs always maintained their proud independence from their Germanic, including other Slavic, neighbors, along with the completely non-Slavic (yet overwhelmingly Central European) Hungarians!

As far as the standard of living in either Czech Republic vs. Spain, when I was last in both places during the mid-90's, I found the general quality of life observable as a tourist to be nearly on a par with the other.

Don't seen though a lot of Czechs or Hungarians beating down the doors to come to America, do you?
:-)

Quite the reverse actually,

Anyone can ride the train but you have to do the honest thing and buy a ticket first. And that means having to work or invest in order to earn an income rather than effectively pickpocketing others by being a benefits scrounger or worse a fare dodger.

And nobody likes benefits scroungers or fare dodgers. Nobody.

I didn't mention whitewater... I mentioned probably a dozen other scandals she's been involved in. Also, she is notorious for flip flopping about just about everything...

I'll use her illegal immigration stances - yes stances, as she appears to have multiple stances..

In 2003 Clinton said, "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants,"
During this campaign, she said she wants to extend Obamacare to immigrants.

Around 2007, she fought against extending driver's license's to be given to illegals stating 'a license is a priveledge that ought to not be extended to law breakers' meaning illegal immigrants.
During this campaign in Iowa she told reports that she would grant citizenship to all illegal aliens.

In 2015, Clinton says she has no support for sanctuary cities when that waitress got killed in San Francisco by some CRIMINAL who was deported FIVE TIMES,
Then, during this campaign she said "I will go as far as I can, even beyond President Obama, to make sure law-abiding, decent, hard-working people in this country are not ripped away from their families."
In her previous bid for presidency she said she supported sanctuary cities because they allow for illegals to report crimes whereas otherwise they'd be scared to.

She goes from being against illegal immigration and against 'law breakers' that got into this country illegally, not give them a license since they didn't deserve it because they got here by breaking the law, and supposedly having no support for sanctuary cities to suddenly making sure that illegal immigrants' families aren't ripped apart, says in Iowa she'd grant these 'law breakers' citizenship, and give them obamacare .. So WHAT exactly is she saying - I guess she's saying WHATEVER is popular. HOW she's saying it is the same - it's always one polar opposite or the other. She voted for the Secure Fence Act yet derides Trump for wanting to build as he calls a 'big beautiful fence'

This is what I mean, no Clinton supporter can even debate that she is by far the most scandal ridden candidate... It's like hiring Bernie Madoff to recoup assets lost by his own Ponzi scheme or Bill Cosby to investigate his own rape accusations

In the first example you cite, Clinton said she was "adamantly against ILLEGAL" immigrants, not immigrants in general. Furthermore, she never once said (neither have any of the other candidates, remaining nor former) she wanted to "ban" an entire group/ethnicity from gaining entry to the United States, merely based upon the bigotry of suspected involvement MERELY because this group happened to be from a certain background!!

In addition, he's said more than once that leadership to him is telling subordinates what to do and having them do it. Someone ought to remind Mr. Know-it-all that there's a little thing called the US Constitution and mandates are followed by votes and if that other little detail known as the Senate doesn't reach a 2/3 majority, NO DICE THERE DON!!

Trump has to eventually learn you don't conduct a presidency exactly like a board meeting and that Commander in Chief doesn't translate literally into Chief Executive Officer with exclusive privileges granted no other.

Uh-uh, pal. Trump's bad news...for everybody

Yeah which is my whole point to Wulkan, if the Czech Republic can become as successful as they have based on Western influence so too can black people given the appropriate environmental conditioning. Wulkan has been trying to claim that black people are inherently lazy.

Such conjectures, Yosemite and Wulkan et al, are fraught with fallacies! Kindly avoid pigeon holing any particular group as "lazy" or "gifted" etc., as this only leads to a bigoted worldview.

Implying for instance that only through Germanic influences could, for example, the Czechs, the Hungarians etc. become successful
or culturally acceptable is as prejudiced as saying that not without the influences of the Greeks and Romans could the inherently "primitive, barbaric" Teutons have eventually amounted to anything:-)

This is fallacious logic, even if containing some kernel of truth.

Another subject that you fall way short on Yose.
The Blacks in America have been given more then appropriate environmental conditioning and they destroy it as fast as it is given to them.
They don't want it, is the part you don't get Mate.
We need more money, more time, more understanding, more programs, and more opportunities.
But nothing changes no matter how much money is spent, no matter how many laws are passed, no matter how many black geniuses are portrayed on TV, and no matter who is president.
You argue its a problem of the environment, as if environment creates peoples behavior instead of the other way around.
Did you think Adrain was lying when he said that Blacks destroy government subsidized housing projects faster then they can build them ?
Have you ever heard of the Watts project ?
Just what "appropriate environmental conditioning" are you suggesting Yose that hasn't already been tried ?
And please answer that question.
Since 1965, when the elites opened Americas doors to the Third World, immigrants from Asia and India people who are not white, not rich, and not connected have quietly succeeded.
While the children of these people are winning spelling bees and getting top scores on the SAT, black youths are committing half the country's violent crime, which includes viciously punching random white people on the street for the thrill of it that has nothing to do with poverty.
Please explain to us why these people can succeed without any special "environmental conditioning" and Blacks can't.
What is your answer or that Yose ?

Hmm but what about the people who own the trains? Whats worse - a person who has accumulated enough money to own a train or the poor person who can't afford the ticket?


I didn't.


My answer is: we don't have that problem in the UK. Over here poor people behave inappropriately in line with their financial situation not their skin colour. The more equality a nation achieves the more balanced their populous. Racism is alive and well in the US and the black people feel it, big time. People like you perpetuate this segregation through Grand Dad mentality ignorance.

I think as usual you're massively over dramatising the situation anyway and using your biased mind to suit your agenda and limited world view. Doesn't New York City have a diversified culture where different races live along side in relative stability?

Imagine how a black person would feel living in a white world and reading this forum with all the racist Poles on here for example. Put yourself in their shoes. One world one people.