America in Decline

I'm not very good at baseball, but that doesn't mean I want to castrate those that are good at it.
That probably wouldn't make them much worse at the game. :mischief:
 
Small business owners work by day, administrate by night and spend time with their family on weekends. It's not something cut out for everybody as it demands a certain type of person.
 
That's how much China will put your country up for sale on EBay for soon anyway.
 
Small business owners work by day, administrate by night and spend time with their family on weekends. It's not something cut out for everybody as it demands a certain type of person.

And yet some here would say that people who aren't capable of such are lesser human beings...
 
Family, love, recreational time, etc. are communist ideas.
 
About half of new businesses fail within the first five years and two major problems in small businesses is (a.) poor management and (b.) insufficient operating funds. Not everyone is cut out to run their own business -- so does that mean you have to abolish business?

Is that what I said? No, it is not. I was simply noting that the attitude displayed by many here, that working for someone else is your own fault because you can always go start your own business and make millions just like Bill Gates is extremely silly, since most people can't do so.

I'm not very good at baseball, but that doesn't mean I want to castrate those that are good at it.

A very silly comparison.
 
(Here's a hint: Whole Foods got started with 20 people pooling their money. And it's now a profitable company in several American states)

money which they already had. Cant pool money you dont have (unless you commit robbery or something)

edit: I missed a page
 
BasketCase is a super intelligent dude.

He used to be a games tester don't you know.

They only accept the best of the best and most highly qualified people for positions such as those. Duties include - go and get me a pizza, go and buy me some cigarettes, try running into this wall for 10 hours and write down the coordinates you were at when you managed to run through it, go and get me another pizza, etc.
 
money which they already had. Cant pool money you dont have (unless you commit robbery or something)
And almost everybody does have money. I'm shocked I didn't see that earlier. You and others are predicating your entire argument on a false premise--that almost everybody is flat-out penniless.

About half of new businesses fail within the first five years
Random side note: instead of slaving for an employer, and instead of starting up a commercial farm, you could simply grow food for yourself. Hell, my family did that when I was younger. Total cost for the backyard garden: maybe fifty bucks a year. Seeds, monthly water bill, and a wooden trestle for the tomatoes to grow on. Hell of a lot cheaper than buying tomatoes at the corner store. Tastier, too.

Anybody can go back to nature, pretty much whenever they like. Once again, they choose not to because farming, even for yourself, is a pain in the ass.

BasketCase is a super intelligent dude.
Thank you. But no, I was never a games tester. I think I mentioned already--games testing sucks. You're playing broken games. If they weren't broken you wouldn't have to test them. The game is much more fun when I'm playing the not-broken version, while sitting on my fat lazy ass in a leather recliner, in MY HOUSE instead of an office, sipping a Dr. Pepper, and eating cheese puffs (except the cheese flakes get all over the mouse)
 
Is that what I said? No, it is not. I was simply noting that the attitude displayed by many here, that working for someone else is your own fault because you can always go start your own business and make millions just like Bill Gates is extremely silly, since most people can't do so.
It's only silly if you equate working for yourself to earning billions. Microsoft is merely a possibility, not a guaranteed outcome.
 
It's only silly if you equate working for yourself to earning billions. Microsoft is merely a possibility, not a guaranteed outcome.

In fact, it's about as close as you can get as a guaranteed-NOT-to-happen outcome. It would be as if Cheezy claimed that the great thing about the USSR was that you had a chance of becoming the first man or woman in space. Sure, literally hundreds of millions of people didn't, but two people did.
 
Hmm, page 16 is usually 15 pages too late to jump in. Nevertheless...

I think the article in the OP highlights an trend that is in no way new. Quality of the life for the poor has been better in the more advanced EU countries for a while now. I know for certain my life would have been significantly worse had I been born in the USA in similar circumstances.

What's with the discussion about starting new businesses?
 
What's with the discussion about starting new businesses?

Two fold, 1) Is Microsoft a realistic business model to emulate? NO
2) How likely are new start-ups to succeed? Not likely.

It all started from the batty suggestion from BasketCase (apt name methinks) that people in the current economic climate should use their savings to buy land and start farming. When Aimee stated the preposterousness of this notion, he/she (?) then claimed that since Microsoft started out of a garage (ignoring the fact that Microsoft started from stealing an idea Apple stole of Xerox) we should all be able to start businesses out of garages and emulate Bill Gates.
 
Two fold, 1) Is Microsoft a realistic business model to emulate? NO
2) How likely are new start-ups to succeed? Not likely.

It all started from the batty suggestion from BasketCase (apt name methinks) that people in the current economic climate should use their savings to buy land and start farming. When Aimee stated the preposterousness of this notion, he/she (?) then claimed that since Microsoft started out of a garage (ignoring the fact that Microsoft started from stealing an idea Apple stole of Xerox) we should all be able to start businesses out of garages and emulate Bill Gates.

Interesting.

Doesn't really help the case for America. I'd much rather try and start a business in the UK, simply because I'd much rather have my business fail in the UK. If you put all your savings and assets into one venture, you want to know that the state will support you if you fail.
 
And almost everybody does have money. I'm shocked I didn't see that earlier. You and others are predicating your entire argument on a false premise--that almost everybody is flat-out penniless.

Some people are after paying the bills to prevent the heat/electricity turned off or buy food keep starve. In fact, I remember when I was 5, quite a few times we would only have $1-2 dollars left after getting rent and groceries which was nothing but basics.

I know someone online who I wasnt able to talk to for a month cos her electricity got turned off. So dont say that duse not happen.
 
It seems in modern times, decline is a relative term, meaning approximately, continuing to get better, but not as fast as others.
It's not just in modern times. It has always been defined this way.

Britain declined during the 20th century. That doesn't mean that British people lived better during the Victorian era than they do today.
 
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