Fear of a Black President

Advocate, The more important question is that the wealthy (should) have a vested interest in the security of the assets they own vs the middle class and the poor who own a very small percentage. It's no different than "insurance" to make sure that one's assets are protected; the more asset one has, the more insurance they "should" buy.

Look how our government has provided the banks and mortgage companies with billions to keep them solvent. Most of the money and investments are made by the wealthy. The middle class and the poor owes more than they earn or own. Why shouldn't the wealthy pay more taxes?

Righties use that old refrain about transferring wealth from the rich to the poor, but that misses the facts of how government spends our money. Exactly how much of our tax dollars are being transferred to the middle class and the poor? From my vantage point, those billions in bailout of banks and mortgage companies and those billions in subsidies to oil companies and farmers aren't for the middle class and poor.

Diest TKO wrote:

Thank you snood. Just a thought. You are in the military, how do you feel about African Americans in leadership roles? I know the Navy has come out and said that they don't feel like they've done more talking than action on diversifying the ranks.

Thoughts?
K
O

Not sure exactly what you're asking - It's sort of a broad question.

But I'll give a shot at an answer.

I "feel" like there is a wide spectrum of competency represented among blacks just as among any other group. There are people who are black who seem born to take charge and to whom people gravitate, and who lead with firmness and fairness. I've known a few. At the other end there are spineless idiots who are black that I wouldn't want to follow to the office water cooler, much less under arms into a hostile area. I've known some of them too.

Advocate, The more important question is that the wealthy (should) have a vested interest in the security of the assets they own vs the middle class and the poor who own a very small percentage. It's no different than "insurance" to make sure that one's assets are protected; the more asset one has, the more insurance they "should" buy.

Look how our government has provided the banks and mortgage companies with billions to keep them solvent. Most of the money and investments are made by the wealthy. The middle class and the poor owes more than they earn or own. Why shouldn't the wealthy pay more taxes?

Righties use that old refrain about transferring wealth from the rich to the poor, but that misses the facts of how government spends our money. Exactly how much of our tax dollars are being transferred to the middle class and the poor? From my vantage point, those billions in bailout of banks and mortgage companies and those billions in subsidies to oil companies and farmers aren't for the middle class and poor.

ican, if you read only a very little, you must know that the income and wealth of the rich have been really soaring for years, while the middle class has slipped somewhat, and the poor are sinking fast.

This is not true!

The incomes of all but the homeless have been increasing in terms of the amount of stuff they can buy with those incomes, while the incomes of many of the wealthy have increased substantially at the same time (within the last four decades the number of USA billionairs has soared from 13 to 500, according to Newsweek). I consider what I enjoy as a member of the lower middle class to have increased substantially within the last 4 decades. What I enjoy would not have happened had it not been for those who successfully grew to be millionairs and billionairs. Only one of many examples, are the achievements of my objectives. Had it not been for rich strangers, I would never have been able to earn my college degrees, employment in engineering research and development, pilot certificates, and my business's provision of a Learjet for my business's charter service (now retired).

The poorest among us, excluding the homeless, are far better off than the middle classes of most other nations. We've got to stop our envy of those accomplishing more than we do. It's a rotten character defect. I say God bless them all who do better than I do. Keep it up. I'm rooting for you.

My toys, your toys, everyone's toys (e.g., airplanes, cars, boats, cell phones, GPSs, other computer stuff, ) were available to me because of the likes of the Billionairs Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Bill Lear, Cessna, Piper, and Beech. I want them to get richer from producing the toys I in future will come to enjoy. And, do not forget the people who produced all those toys, employees. They too enjoy all those toys.

How can we best help the homeless? Private charities that measure themselves by how many homeless they save can best help the homeless. Government charities only make more homeless because they measure themselves by how many clients they have.

In view of this, what is wrong with some action to correct this? Do you really want the USA to be in essence another Latin country in which the income and wealth are concentrated in a few families, while the remainder of the population live in relative squalor?

Those latin countries you refer to are not free enterprise capitalist systems. They are governed by socialist or fascist (I really do not know the difference) governments like Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, and to a lesser extent, Mexico, that allegedly seek to equalize the wealth of all--except those comprising governing elites.

Keep in mind that history shows that terrible discord grows out of this situation, not to mention the terrible unfairness of it all.

This discord you speak of comes not from the freedom to achieve, but from the oppression by tyrants trying to suppress achievement. That is terribly unfair. It is not unfair for all those more capable than I or you to accumulate far more wealth. It is unfair to steal what they have earned to support me and you.

...
Look how our government has provided the banks and mortgage companies with billions to keep them solvent. Most of the money and investments are made by the wealthy. The middle class and the poor owes more than they earn or own. Why shouldn't the wealthy pay more taxes?
...
From my vantage point, those billions in bailout of banks and mortgage companies and those billions in subsidies to oil companies and farmers aren't for the middle class and poor.

snood wrote:

Diest TKO wrote:

Thank you snood. Just a thought. You are in the military, how do you feel about African Americans in leadership roles? I know the Navy has come out and said that they don't feel like they've done more talking than action on diversifying the ranks.

Thoughts?
K
O

Not sure exactly what you're asking - It's sort of a broad question.

But I'll give a shot at an answer.

I "feel" like there is a wide spectrum of competency represented among blacks just as among any other group. There are people who are black who seem born to take charge and to whom people gravitate, and who lead with firmness and fairness. I've known a few. At the other end there are spineless idiots who are black that I wouldn't want to follow to the office water cooler, much less under arms into a hostile area. I've known some of them too.

Sorry, I didn't realize how vague my question was. I started to ask one question and then changed mid sentence I believe.

What I meant to ask is, do you think that black officers are under greater scrutiny than others because of sentiments like the one voiced by your SGT T? Like, do you think a promotion comes with the added pressure to not "**** this up for all the other black soldiers."

T
K
O

Some of the scrutiny by whites is - well, let's put it this way: Have you ever seen any white US senator have his patriotism questioned or be treated as if he had gone beyond his station in life to dare think he might be president - the way Obama has?

snood wrote:

Some of the scrutiny by whites is - well, let's put it this way: Have you ever seen any white US senator have his patriotism questioned or be treated as if he had gone beyond his station in life to dare think he might be president - the way Obama has?

John Kerry comes to mind.

gustavratzenhofer wrote:

snood wrote:

Some of the scrutiny by whites is - well, let's put it this way: Have you ever seen any white US senator have his patriotism questioned or be treated as if he had gone beyond his station in life to dare think he might be president - the way Obama has?

John Kerry comes to mind.

Kerry's patriotism was more of a attack that his purple heart was too blue and not enough red.

T
K
O

...
A frightening double standard has developed, with the fulcrum at race.
...
People attacked Obama, and talked about what would he do in office. Would he put BLACK liberation ideas into effect? As if those ideas are any less dangerous than the extreme ideas we currently let in (and if you are a republican often encourage).

T
K
O

Did it become irrelevant before there was only one viable black major party nominee in the history of the country, or since?

ican wrote: Discuss that not the color of his skin. His skin color is irrelevant.


ican wants to take away who Obama is; an ignoramus through and through.