Politics

[bob meadows]

At no point have I ever defended our trade policy with respect to China any more than I ever defended Europe's dependency upon Russian natural gas.

red leg not directed at you....a comment in general and yes I have never heard you defend our trade policy with china....bob

 

[Tanks]

So we have a plummeting birth rate which means that the current, and more worriedly, future workforce can't support our largely non-contributing aging population like you and me. And somehow a merit based immigration system rather than open borders is a "load of crap."

We may indeed very well be beyond help.

Exactly. For the future we need an educated workforce. AI will not be able to do everything. I guess for some any immigration policy is an issue.

 

[Certus]

Is there anything wrong with a declining population if it’s a global thing?

 

[Red Leg]

Is there anything wrong with a declining population if it’s a global thing?

Yes. It is a social security, medicare and anything else funded by the tax base thing.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Is there anything wrong with a declining population if it’s a global thing?

There are some issues with a declining population. In the US you need a younger, larger work force to pay for social security and Medicare for the elderly among other things. On the other hand, a shrinking world population would put less stress on the planets ability to function. Fewer people means fewer properties being farmed and more open undeveloped space.

 

[spike.t]

spike.t​

Wow you need to look at what you try to spell.
calm down and try again?

Looks fine to me

 

[Certus]

There are some issues with a declining population. In the US you need a younger, larger work force to pay for social security and Medicare for the elderly among other things. On the other hand, a shrinking world population would put less stress on the planets ability to function. Fewer people means fewer properties being farmed and more open undeveloped space.

For the elderly youd just need a larger aged care workforce for a bit, then that would balance out too. Social security if there’s less people also shouldn’t need as much $ so less pressure there. Building projects that are government $ would be less. Costs just scale with people, less people less costs?

Thanks for the answers. Certainly not chasing a debate just curious to downsides.

 

[cash_tx]

This is one of the most egregiously misleading headlines I've ever seen, when you consider what he was actually saying. Of course this comes as no surprise.

 

[Louis Toadvine]

Still can't believe these are real stories and not headlines from The Onion or another satirical news site. Unbelievable.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-bites-several-babies-halloween-event-1977799

Source:

White House defends Biden for touching mouth to several babies during Halloween event

The incident marks the second time this week the White House has been forced to defend Biden’s conduct.

abc3340.com

 

[Doubleplay]

Exactly. For the future we need an educated workforce. AI will not be able to do everything. I guess for some any immigration policy is an issue.

Most people don't understand that controlled immigration is net positive for the economy because they don't understand the facts and just listen to politicians.
Never forget, half of the Fortune top 100 companies are founded either first or second generation immigrants.
As far as educated workforce it won't happen in this country where a tradesman(not that anything wrong with it) makes more money than an engineer or a physician who are drowning in student debt like my daughter in law who is still paying for her med school after 10 years.
Why educate yourself when you can make more money without one?
However in the long run when your best and brightest stop becoming engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers economists, etc.. you realize it's too late.
That's what's happening here and I think we're on an irreversible path.

 

[Dirtdart]

If you have ten minutes, Jeffrey Sachs gives a good breakdown of the events that led to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and America's involvement in scuttling the peace negotiations immediately after the war started.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1852163971501166661

If it was not for the current owner of X I doubt we would have seen this. Thank you for posting that.

 

[Brent in Az]

Yeah, the Leftwing media lapdogs are going ape shit over Trumps comments of Liz Cheney.
And of course, all the flying monkey sycophants pile on as well.

 

[Red Leg]

Most people don't understand that controlled immigration is net positive for the economy because they don't understand the facts and just listen to politicians.
Never forget, half of the Fortune top 100 companies are founded either first or second generation immigrants.
As far as educated workforce it won't happen in this country where a tradesman(not that anything wrong with it) makes more money than an engineer or a physician who are drowning in student debt like my daughter in law who is still paying for her med school after 10 years.
Why educate yourself when you can make more money without one?
However in the long run when your best and brightest stop becoming engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers economists, etc.. you realize it's too late.
That's what's happening here and I think we're on an irreversible path.

Hmmm. My son is one of that "uneducated" workforce. He has quite a few post high school college hours but is a graduate of Texas State Technical College with a wall full of certifications. He is considered a biotech engineer and he is that fellow that keeps all the exotic imaging equipment running in your local hospital. He is also one of the best read young men I have ever known, and with respect to history, government, and international relations better read and "educated" than many I have known with a specialist degree - particularly in the field of medicine. He is also very well compensated and owns a finer home than we ever did until leaving the military.

I would also argue his contributions to our society are certainly as valuable as many with those technical degrees.

I think we would be far wiser to direct more of our youth into such fields. With the right certifications some of our best and brightest languishing with their history degrees and voting for democrats could be highly productive and rewarded members of our economy.

 

[Red Leg]

If it was not for the current owner of X I doubt we would have seen this. Thank you for posting that.

He is basing that argument on a set of half truths that I and others have rebutted half a dozen times in this interminable discussion. There is nothing new here that hasn't been espoused by every Putin apologist who has taken the stage since the Russian invasion of the Crimean peninsula. I have no interest in doin it again.

Sachs is a superb economist.

 

[Dirtdart]

Yeah, the Leftwing media lapdogs are going ape shit over Trumps comments of Liz Cheney.
And of course, all the flying monkey sycophants pile on as well.

I watched the whole clip and it made me think of a time when her dear old dad was in office.

Public service announcement. If someone close to you happened to lose their life in a senseless war you can send to the following address and get a nice little certificate suitable for framing.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Social security if there’s less people also shouldn’t need as much $ so less pressure there

The issue is Social Security is set up as a ponzi scheme, and if there are less people paying in the whole thing collapses.

 

[Saul]

I was speaking with a group of black doctors finishing their residency. Their top concern was how to minimize future tax liability once becoming attendings. As we were working through some numbers, one even said, “I think I just became a Republican.”

 

[Dirtdart]

He is basing that argument on a set of half truths that I have rebutted half a dozen times in this interminable discussion. There is nothing new here that has been espoused by every Russian apologist who has taken the stage since the conquest of the Crimean peninsula. I am not doin it again.

Sachs is a superb economist.

I am sure that all Sachs needs to do is read your post and he would retract his half truths.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Is there anything wrong with a declining population if it’s a global thing?

Only the first world countries's populations are in decline, the third world is rapidly expanding. So of course they migrate and the net result is that the general levels of just about everything goes down in the first world country they go to. How far? I have lived in Africa all my life and I think seen the lowest level possible. But here is a thing I never thought I would say, or live to see, and that is the general population metricies here as measured by education, standard of living and personal aspiration are on the up and up. What then would the prognosis for a first world country like the USA be? Perhaps somewhere lower than the utopia years of the American Dream, but not that big dip. It all depends upon how you play the growth - aspiration thing. Quell the criminals, encourage and enable the hard workers, and highly educate the very smart. Like sorting out a mixed bag, which should of course have been done before they came across the border! But immigrants you need.

 

[Red Leg]

I am sure that all Sachs needs to do is read your post and he would retract his half truths.

Undoubtedly not, but I would happily debate him.

One small factoid as an example - the promise with respect to NATO he refers to was never part of any agreement or treaty. Dachs knows that as well as I do. Secondly, whatever was believed by either side, that nation - called the Soviet Union - no longer exists. The remaining rump state known as Russia agreed to the independence of former republics like Ukraine. As an independent republic, Ukraine has the right to determine with what nations it should ally. Russia has zero right to thwart those aspirations regardless what propaganda Moscow wishes to spread or through whom it spreads it.

Perhaps we should assess Gorbachev's actual 2014 assessment of the agreement with NATO.

“The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. … Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement was made in that context… Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was naked aggression. To the extent the US and West are at "fault" it is by not nipping Putin's ambitions in the bud when Obama had the opportunity - even responsibility. And I truly despise the "evil America" academics that the isolationist right has so recently discovered after vilifying them for decades.