2003-06-09|1:26 p.m.
Another essay on a war again, this time World War II, for my final paper that I must write. Why must the gods punish me so?
I think I am going to pick the essay that �[explains] the logic of the democratic peace and its significance for explaining World War II.�
That sounds somewhat interesting to rattle on for a good eight pages or so.
republikitten: what's my political party
shesajarofcandy: republikitten (see [06-01-03] "democats and republikittens")
republikitten: ill write that in
republikitten: im not a democat?
shesajarofcandy: nah
shesajarofcandy: republikitten is cuter
shesajarofcandy: isn't that the BEST reason to pick a political party?
So, I was reading someone�s diary and they were talking about neopets. And then I felt compelled to check them out because I have some pretty important exams and a paper to write. Naturally when bogged down with important life changing responsibilities, one should find the least productive (though super fun) thing to do online and, well, waste time.
So, from neopets I bring you this.
What is most bizarre to me is the composition of republican voters.
On one side, you have the Christian Right. They are republicans because they support platforms that deal with issues of Christian morality like abortion, prayer in school, homosexual rights, and basically anything else they wish to dictate on how other people live.
On the other side, you have the Big Business whores. They will cheat and lie at any cost to become even richer. They have no qualms about sacrificing diffuse, yet vital, issues that help the largest amount of average people (with issues like education, healthcare, social security, veteran�s welfare, unions, etc.) to please the sources that line their wallets. They believe and practice wacky ideas that claim that taking care of other�s is not our responsibility (even though almost all of us will depend on our national community at one or more points of our lives).
And these two groups live within the platforms of one party. The funny thing is, the first set of people are the largest part of their voter base. And what is most sad is that they are the ones getting screwed over by the second group. Because the political (but mostly economic) agendas of the second are indiscriminant. Whether someone hates gays or not, if they don�t make �mega millions of bucks� they are gonna get screwed. And Bush�s tax plan is the best example.
Ahhhh, the topic of Bush�s (including the other big business whores�republicans and a few democrats) tax reforms. I am quite certain that anyone who thinks this is a good idea is either delusional OR they must be very, very, very rich and understand how this will benefit them. And the worst thing about this whole topic coming to light is that people are all shouting about how the rich are overtaxed! OVERTAXED! Can you believe it? I can�t.
K is about the smartest economist-minded person I know. It�s his expertise as a professional nerd.
He wrote this on ravynemyst�s (a good source of controversial news topics) comment page:
�The Wall Street Journal has recently lamented the "undertaxed" poor. The view that the wealthy bear an "unfair burden" is offbase. Two reasons. One, it looks only at income taxes, but ignores the many other forms of taxes that they do pay (sales tax, property taxes in the form of higher rents, tariffs). Many of these taxes result in the double or triple (or more) taxation on income (one of Bush's justifications for not taxing dividend income). And, of course the rich pay most of the taxes in gross terms, they have most of the money. But, if you take into consideration all the taxes paid, as a percentage of income that goes to taxes, it's relatively evenly spread out. Second, it's not like all government spending is simply transfer payments to the poor. Many people don't recognize the ways in which they benefit from the government. Courts to enforce contracts, police to ensure property rights, subsidized education and scientific research (eg. the internet), etc. These things are taken for granted, and it's hard to put a dollar value on them. But ask the people of Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, or Iraq what a stable, functioning state is worth. Not that all of this would disappear with the Bush tax cut, but people need to get over the government automatically equals bad view.�
And since I never really took an interest in these sorts of things like economics and other subjects with really boring math, I can�t say I could explain well how this plan is the worst idea. However, I believe most of why this tax stimulus plan sucks has nothing to do with math and numbers at all (unless if your actually counting all the lives that will be affected negatively by it). And K�s explanation is always brilliant. But, MM�s explanation probably sums up the BEST reason why we should all be upset about this latest reform:
�I think you've confused the liberal idea with the "tired old" conservative scare-tactic claim about liberals. The liberal idea, rather, is simply that nobody should live in dirt, whether or not they happen to be employed at the moment, because that's simple human decency. Few if any liberals want an entire class of people to stagnate on welfare, they just prefer that those currently in this situation not have to worry about being on the brink of homelessness or starvation all the time. It's ultimately the same goal: attempting to help members of the lowest classes find gainful employment, if possible (as we all know, it's literally impossible to have full employment at any time in a capitalist economy); it's just that liberals generally prefer methods that aren't horrifically cruel and inhumane to folks in the meantime. I won't say that every liberal is an angel by a long shot, but it's quite plain to me that every single economically conservative individual (who votes, I guess I should add) is exacting (intentionally or not) intense cruelty upon millions of people. There's not really room for argument there. If you prefer a system in which you can expect and are fine with so many people slipping through the cracks, then you are supporting a cold, brutal system.�