Janafeir posted:

The rich make up a very little percentage of the population .

devoy posted:

Janafeir posted:

The rich make up a very little percentage of the population .

Yet, at least in America, they create virtually all of the wealth. Go figure.

This veneration of the "American working man" has always confused me, since he/she is an economically insignificant unit.

digitalhuman posted:

{T]hey should be more grateful for us.

Janafeir posted:

this is about YOU and your comment that you've dehumanized the lower class people by referring to them as 'insignificant'.

devoy posted:

Janafeir posted:

this is about YOU and your comment that you've dehumanized the lower class people by referring to them as 'insignificant'.

You're being dishonest. I said "economically insignificant," which is different from being insignificant in an unqualified sense, unless you really believe there's no difference between being "economically insignificant" and worthless as a human being. I believe there is, which is why i qualified the distinction and said people were "economically insignificant." This is a crucial distinction and one that you need to recognize if this dialogue is to progress.

EDIT: as for your claim that there would be no upper class without a lower, I think that's part true and part untrue. For people who come into wealth within their own lifetime, they need the help of others either as employees, investors, etc. However, once you acquire about $10 million or so in assets, there's a decoupling that happens, and the wealthy person can survive without the not so wealthy, and they can pass on their wealth almost indefinitely through trusts and other tax shelters. But you have your relationships reversed if you think the wealthy need the middle class more than the middle class need the wealthy. The middle class need the wealthy to provide them with jobs through businesses to be run and investments to be managed. If the middle class doesn't like it, the truly wealthy can take their figurative toys home with them and suffer no real loss.

missylitt posted:

Trent,Rob,can we have a cheesy holiday update? maybe like a x-mas tree pic or, well,anything!To tell you the truth,the topic depresses me when I think about it, since the holidays are in a few I'm trying to cheer up for family, and you konow,x-mas is a depressive time of year for alot of people.

improper_pixie posted:

BlacklightFreakout

The Sesame Street song was used along with other children songs. Did you even read the article?

thirteen31 posted:

Gabriela posted:

...but the only true universal language is art...

Actually, it's self-expression - no matter what language you use, it says the same and it is neither right or wrong.

kyrceck posted:

Snarkypuss posted:

thom25 posted:

Answer this my liberal NIN friends: How do you get critical information from people who are hell bent on re-creating another 9/11 and destroying this country through chaos? (Ask them nicely? I think NOT)

In which case you'll agree that when US/UK military personnel and contractors are captured in Iraq/Afghanistan, it's ok for them to be tortured to relieve them of the information they hold about military operations.

You don't have to worry about that. When US/UK military personnel and contractors are captured, they're butchered, mutilated, and then hung for people to see. Don't make the mistake of thinking that we're on the same playing field as these people. What the guards at Guantanamo are doing is wrong, but it can't compare even remotely to what happens to US soldiers who get captured.

Janafeir posted:

marine200198 posted:

leo3375 posted:

marine200198 posted:

Really? I mean, REALLY?! Those devious little animals detained at GTMO Bay deserve any and everything they get. Torture? Come on. Pulling off someones toe nails, cutting off heads, limbs, testicles; that is torture, and that is what those animals do.

BOO HOOO they had to listen to music.

Guess how the US was able to get Noriega out without a big fight. That's right, they blared Metallica until he gave up, and probably saved a great deal of blood shed.

But was Noriega confined in a small space with absolutely nothing to occupy his mind and no way of telling if it was day or night? There's a huge difference between blasting music as a means to force someone out of a self-imposed barricade and surrender, and confining someone against their will to a small space and blare music at extremely loud levels in order to make them say exactly what you want to hear, even if it isn't the truth. That is what the difference is here.

Dude look, that was bad example. By definition, torture can be defined as anything, like a child's timeout. Let's keep our heads on. Cost benefit the whole picture. Omar the Shithead had to listen to NIN in order to extract the intelligence that keeps the civilized world safe.......hmmm, you do the math.

Did I ask the ' the civilized' Bush administration to keep me safe.As far I can see he is the very reason you are looking over your shoulder out in that big world there. Is racism part of 'the civilized' world as well. As far as I have read in the article it didn't say anything extracting anything from the man except for maybe his mind and hearing. I still don't see how 'torture is civilized.

le63sabre posted:

I would personally love to listen to NIN in jail. I hate jail but if I was able to listen to NIN then it wouldn't be that bad.