America- after 33 years of liberalism

[Mediocrates]

"The Greatest Generation" is one of the most selfish the world has ever created.

[Yala]

Just remember that is the mindset that every dictator that ever took power depended on. I don't really know why our founders wrote the Constitution with people like yourself around so willing to undo it.

Like I said, the Patriot Act hasn't affected me in the least and I'm not worried about it. I'd love to hear in what way it has affected you. In fact, our surveillance is nowhere near the levels that exist in the UK. They have not even implemented most of the changes suggested in the 9/11 commission after 5+ years.

A dictator is not coming to power in America any time soon so you really need to chill with the fear mongering.

[Yala]

Something happened after the Greatest Generation, something that I think a lot of well-meaning liberals brought about. They established a cult of victimhood, a very strange pathology where people obtain a sense of honor by claiming the status of righteous victim. Where is the accountability? Where is the dignity? Liberalism whether it came from the government, media or educational institutions became so paternalistic. It wasn't about creating opportunities and equality, or maybe that was the intention, but the design turned grown men and women into children. That to me has been the great failure of liberalism.

Exactly and don't forget that anyone who does rise above the rank of "victim" is not lauded and many times is in fact looked upon with scorn.

[Mira]

"They established a cult of victimhood, a very strange pathology where people obtain a sense of honor by claiming the status of righteous victim. Where is the accountability? Where is the dignity? Liberalism whether it came from the government, media or educational institutions became so paternalistic. It wasn't about creating opportunities and equality, or maybe that was the intention, but the design turned grown men and women into children. That to me has been the great failure of liberalism."

I agree.
Being a victim is not an accomplishment, it is not of itself honorable, and it is toxic to humor people who wallow in their victimhood.

As for the "Homeless Man", he would be better titled "Worthless Man".
Being a parasite is not an accomplishment.

The poor people who are NOT worthless are not normally panhandling, but doing something to help change their situation.

But now I should mention that I also didn't care for the Patron. He is a lot like the conservatives in America who ignore real problems. You know the saying, "give a man a fish and he has food for a day, teach a man to fish....," a bad liberal wants to give the man YOUR fish every day for the rest of that man's life and a bad conservative couldn't care less if the man starves to death.

[Mira]

"The Greatest Generation" is one of the most selfish the world has ever created.

Explain...

[Mediocrates]

Prior to that generation people took care of their own parents and their children. That generation has done neither. It set out to vote itself the biggest bag of free and discounted goodies in the history of the world.

It created the GI bill, the home loan act, frequent 'cost free' ratchets of SSI, Medicare and Medicaid. It institutionalized offset pension costs and threw the burden on everyone else. It created a generation of people who expected to quit work @ 55 and live more lavishly than they did when they worked and their own children as well. They created the biggest financial gap between the onset of retirement and the end of life, in term of years spent. They created an environment where expensive and extensive travel was the retirement norm. They instituted government programs that now spend 10x more per capita on seniors than they do on children. They saw and took advantage of the biggest long term real estate bubble in history and then whined and moaned when they 'only' made 1100% on their homes when they sold them, shortly before driving off into the Florida sun to play golf for 20 years. They broke the unions, including the municipal unions and shifted the local tax burden to all the new young families least able to foot the bill. And now that the middle class can't afford home ownership, college or much of anything else we have to listen to them complain about a $3600 gap in their own Medicare drug coverage.

Screw them. They should get in their bass boats and head off into the damn ocean.

[Alfred E Neuman]

Please send a check for 36-43,000 dollars to cover the next 3 years. Thanks.

Mira:

Look what you've done.....now Medio has fallen to Liberalism and expects a handout . A Homeless man with expensive tastes I see....

I always wanted to stand by a freeway on ramp, in a three piece suit, with a sign that said:
"BMW needs repair"

[Alfred E Neuman]

Prior to that generation people took care of their own parents and their children. That generation has done neither. It set out to vote itself the biggest bag of free and discounted goodies in the history of the world.

It created the GI bill, the home loan act, frequent 'cost free' ratchets of SSI, Medicare and Medicaid. It institutionalized offset pension costs and threw the burden on everyone else. It created a generation of people who expected to quit work @ 55 and live more lavishly than they did when they worked and their own children as well. They created the biggest financial gap between the onset of retirement and the end of life, in term of years spent. They created an environment where expensive and extensive travel was the retirement norm. They instituted government programs that now spend 10x more per capita on seniors than they do on children. They saw and took advantage of the biggest long term real estate bubble in history and then whined and moaned when they 'only' made 1100% on their homes when they sold them, shortly before driving off into the Florida sun to play golf for 20 years. They broke the unions, including the municipal unions and shifted the local tax burden to all the new young families least able to foot the bill. And now that the middle class can't afford home ownership, college or much of anything else we have to listen to them complain about a $3600 gap in their own Medicare drug coverage.

Screw them. They should get in their bass boats and head off into the damn ocean.

One can say that the Baby Boomers and Greatest Generation are opposites....


They suffered as children and made themselves comfortable in old age.

We got everything as children and may starve in old age.

[farmall]

"We got everything as children and may starve in old age."

I did, but I won't!

There is no reason a Boomer who didn't blow his/her opportunities should "starve" in old age, which many of us are approaching.

I simply copied the examples of the Old Farts (er, "Greatest Generation") who mentored me. It's not like they didn't repeatedly hint this was a Good Idea.

I didn't go in debt for consumer junk.
I always bought items that would last for many years. (Buy quality goods and you don't have to replace them often.)
I never bought a new car or truck.
I learned to fix/build/repair everything I own, saving tens of thousands of dollars over time.
I invested in tools and equipment over the years, so if I start a business I will not go in debt.
I made damn sure I had more than one job skill and could make money on my own if required.
I made an effort to live in areas (get out of the city) where property is EASILY affordable.
I bought "fixer-upper" homes that had several acres of adjacent land.
I enlisted and served out a full military career (retiring in 6 months ).

The net result is I have plenty of stuff, including toys, and can expect to remain quite comfortable.

The Old Farts who I learned from were happy to share what worked for them, and they gave us Boomers unparalleled opportunities and the environment in which to succeed. If we didn't listen, that's our fault.

[AmericanFanatic]

I thought it was very funny and very true, but I agree with Medio that it isn't all liberalism. I think the past generation has allowed government to interfere more and more into the lives of ordinary Americans. We no longer question that any law abiding citizen should even have a right to privacy. It's a given that all of us should give our most intimate details up to the government, whether it's our bank transactions, our phone calls, what web sites we visit, what library books we check out, where we travel, who we visit. And as for our Constitutional rights, forget it. The government now has a right to arrest any American citizen on charges that don't have to be put forth, prevent them from contacting a lawyer, fly them out of the country and have them tortured. Nobody seems to care that much.

America is being destroyed from within by Liberalism. Nobody cares because they have been brainwashed with the "Live and Let Live" ideology. There is no accountability anymore, serial killers can claim insanity to get out of being put to death...lawyers can file lawsuits against companys that serve their coffee too hot...you have government imposing their will on the lives of every single American in the country. Keep in mind that the Republicans have only had control of the House from 94-06 and the Senate from 02-06. The Democrats had ruled both Houses from the 60's up until 94 in the House and from the 60's until 02 in the Senate. They are to blame for the laws we no live in.

Andak01 likes to blame the one or two laws that the Republicans have enacted since 9/11, yet all the other laws that are in place were put in by Democrats. Every aspect of our lives is controlled, but Andak01 is a Muslim so all he cares about is the laws that affect his own Comrades. The broader issue proves that America has been destroyed already and the clock is ticking down to Totalitarianism. God Bless the U.S.A.! Andak01 was right about one thing - Nobody seems to care anymore...

[AmericanFanatic]

Prior to that generation people took care of their own parents and their children. That generation has done neither. It set out to vote itself the biggest bag of free and discounted goodies in the history of the world.

It created the GI bill, the home loan act, frequent 'cost free' ratchets of SSI, Medicare and Medicaid. It institutionalized offset pension costs and threw the burden on everyone else. It created a generation of people who expected to quit work @ 55 and live more lavishly than they did when they worked and their own children as well. They created the biggest financial gap between the onset of retirement and the end of life, in term of years spent. They created an environment where expensive and extensive travel was the retirement norm. They instituted government programs that now spend 10x more per capita on seniors than they do on children. They saw and took advantage of the biggest long term real estate bubble in history and then whined and moaned when they 'only' made 1100% on their homes when they sold them, shortly before driving off into the Florida sun to play golf for 20 years. They broke the unions, including the municipal unions and shifted the local tax burden to all the new young families least able to foot the bill. And now that the middle class can't afford home ownership, college or much of anything else we have to listen to them complain about a $3600 gap in their own Medicare drug coverage.

Screw them. They should get in their bass boats and head off into the damn ocean.

Here is where I get mauled by Liberals. I think SSI is the worst idea ever enacted by the government. I pay thousands per year in this f-ing tax trap and I KNOW I WILL NEVER SEE A DIME OF IT. By the time I retire in 2041(63yrs old), SSI will be in ruins and millions of idiots who expected it to be there and never saved any money will be SCREWED! And our Politicians will ignore the problem until they can't fix it and then blame Bush for not doing something about it when he had the chance back in 2006. lol Freakin politicans, now I'm pissed off. Thanks for bringing up Social freakin Security. Thanks for reminding me that I am being ripped off every day of my life. Thank you for reminding me that even though my Grandmother has SSI, she must still somehow pay $750 a month for medical coverage. So she works at age 73 just to pay for her medical bills. MediCare is a rip off as well. The whole system SUCKS. Excuse me, for I must go bend over and take it from behind from Liberalism once again. (That was a beautiful analogy..Liberalism...Homosexual...LOL)

[farmall]

By the way, SSI was NEVER intended to be a full retirement pension. People who thought it was are grossly mistaken.

Even if they have to fund it with a printing press, SSI isn't going to be allowed to fail because it is a political necessity. The contention that it will is simply not supportable.

I defy anyone to invent a scenario where either party has the huevos to kill it and tell the beneficiaries they are out of luck.

[Alfred E Neuman]

The Democrats had ruled both Houses from the 60's up until 94 in the House and from the 60's until 02 in the Senate. They are to blame for the laws we no live in.

In my opinion, the Republicans have NEVER controlled the Senate. A more spineless bunch I have never seen before.

[Alfred E Neuman]

By the way, SSI was NEVER intended to be a full retirement pension. People who thought it was are grossly mistaken.

Even if they have to fund it with a printing press, SSI isn't going to be allowed to fail because it is a political necessity. The contention that it will is simply not supportable.

I defy anyone to invent a scenario where either party has the huevos to kill it and tell the beneficiaries they are out of luck.

I agree. Baby Boomers make a lot of voters....and we will probably vote ourselves the same "evil" benefits that the Greatest Generation voted themselves.

The difference is that there are a lot of us to support them. There will not be a lot of GenX and below to support us.

So taxes for our children will skyrocket. Or Congress will cut other programs to fund our retirement.

But between you and me....

I don't expect to get any SSecurity, because this country will be in anarchy before I retire. Thanks to: 1) Liberalism destroying the moral fiber of the American people; 2) millions and millions of poor people coming over the border and not assimilating; 3) corrupt politicians from both sides; and finally 4) terrorism, nukes, chem weapons and bio weapons.

So my big decisions will be....7.62x51 versus 5.56, and 9mm versus 40SW versus 45acp. Lots of extra food and clothing may be more important than a 401k sitting in NYC. But you gotta plan for nothing happening; so after food, clothing and ammo....save money.

[psyops]

Something happened after the Greatest Generation, something that I think a lot of well-meaning liberals brought about. They established a cult of victimhood, a very strange pathology where people obtain a sense of honor by claiming the status of righteous victim. Where is the accountability? Where is the dignity? Liberalism whether it came from the government, media or educational institutions became so paternalistic. It wasn't about creating opportunities and equality, or maybe that was the intention, but the design turned grown men and women into children. That to me has been the great failure of liberalism.

I think the greatest legacy of liberalism was....well....all those extra syllables. Don't forget this 70's liberal ethos bestowed a lot of victim dignity via the expedient of extra syllables. The deaf got a three syllable boost with "hearing impaired"; the blind a five syllable boost with "visually challenged"; and the lowly retail clerk a four syllable boost with "sales associate". Blacks, our traditional stalwarts of victim identity, got the biggest boost of all, a six syllable windfall under the banner of "African-American".

Alas, like all best intentions paving the road to liberal hell, victim groups are now growing weary of the stigma they suffer with such identity banners, so I understand from a faculty friend at Berkeley that a new plan is afoot to have all of us who don't suffer a particular handicap, to identify ourselves as such, and that way the handicapped will no longer labor under the yoke of an identity handle.

So if Moe, Larry, and Curly are at a faculty meeting and Curly is deaf, well then Moe and Larry will identify themselves as "Hi, I'm Moe, and I'm NOT hearing impaired", or "Hi, I'm Larry and I'm NOT hearing impaired". That way, if Curly DOESN'T identify himself as, "Hi, I'm Curly, and I'm NOT hearing impaired", well then, everybody else can assume that Curly is indeed hearing impaired, but Curly can impart such knowledge without suffering the stigma of a handicap identifier. Similarly, if Moe, Larry, and Curly are at a faculty meeting and Curly is blind....

....oh hell, forget about it.