[jlisenbe]

this is the capitalism you love, enslave the population under the guise of doing something for them.

Is that the same capitalism that built the most prosperous country in history?

[talaniman]

Is that the same capitalism that built the most prosperous country in history?

Off the backs of slaves and immigrants doped, whipped, raped, ravaged, and beat down like animals.

[paraclete]

Off the backs of slaves and immigrants doped, whipped, raped, ravaged, and beat down like animals.

They don't get it, tal, but then the greedy never do

[jlisenbe]

Off the backs of slaves and immigrants doped, whipped, raped, ravaged, and beat down like animals.

The North was always the most prosperous, and they did not have slavery. At any rate, that ended over 150 years ago, last I heard.

[talaniman]

Slavery may have ended long ago but not all the animal treatment that followed, and they have invented better tools to enslave people, like the minimum wage.

[jlisenbe]

I don't think the minimum wage has enslaved anyone. The biggest problem most of us have is the person looking at us in the mirror. We live in the freest country in the world. Most of our failure is caused by the person in the mirror

[talaniman]

You're right, how dare those employees forced to work for nothing go to a food bank. Oh wait, these aren't poor people, they were middle class government workers. The nerve of those guys.

You must be bummed even conservative run states voted to give the poor a raise. The dufus gave himself one too.

[paraclete]

You're right, how dare those employees forced to work for nothing go to a food bank. Oh wait, these aren't poor people, they were middle class government workers. The nerve of those guys.

You must be bummed even conservative run states voted to give the poor a raise. The dufus gave himself one too.

Try to understand, the capitalists don't want the poverty of the worker inflicted upon themselves, so they hoard money rather than being generous. This frugal mindset is thought to be Christian, but it was never Christian since the early Christians had everything in common, an idea so foreign to the prosperous, American state as to be seen as communism. Ok, was Christ a communist?

[jlisenbe]

since the early Christians had everything in common,

Not true now and was not true then. They shared their possessions as each had need, but there was never common ownership.

2.5% of workers earn the minimum wage. Yeah man. So that is the great curse of capitalism, that the vast, vast majority of people working earn above, and generally far above, minimum wage? And you want to call that an economic failure? If everyone was driving a BMW, you would still find something to complain about. Most people in America who are poor are poor by their own doing. Might sound harsh, but it is true. Didn't bother to get educated. Had children out of wedlock. Not willing to work. Not willing to be responsible. Major problems with the law. They are still people and we should still be of help to them, but don't blame their poverty on capitalism. That's nonsense.

I help out at a drug rehab center. We recently had two guys graduate, meaning they completed a six month course. Both of them had a job within a week, even with addiction in their history. So yeah, I think anyone can get a job and take care of him/her self in this country if that person is mentally/physically sound.

[talaniman]

Mentally or physically sound is where most people fall through the cracks. Even those that are mentally and physical (Or EMOTIONALLY) sound are subject to things beyond their control like plant closings and government shutdowns. It is not an easy thing to adjust or cope with such outside changes and could take YEARS to overcome. That's with the proper love, support, help, and guidance.

There is a lot more to worry about than being the victim of some criminal immigrant. Not denying that it can happen, but focusing so much resources on slowing HIM down seems a denial of much more important priorities and resources. We just have the wrong leader to adequately and reasonably address the REAL issue, as the evidence says that the resources to process and help first time migrants that struggle yield many useful productive citizens in subsequent generations.

I don't want a guy like the dufus taking my money and forcing me to help build his wall when he has lied, cheated and stolen all his life, and even now his criminal buddies are being exposed and are going to jail, and forces honest workers to work for nothing bringing unnecessary hardship to them and their families and all who use the services they provide. Colludes in the interest of enemies and conflicts with our allies. His rich guy cabinet has no empathy or experience in managing the lives of ordinary citizens, and has brought more chaos than order to America.

And you wonder why most Americans refuse to follow and resist this dufus?

[tomder55]

In fact the minimum wage has been a failure . What is really does is prevent entry level people from getting jobs .It destroys entry level jobs ;denying them to teens who are in desparate need of learning basic job and life skills .Moderate increases in pay become a heavy burden to low margin businesses like restaurants and grocery stores, the places most likely to have low skill work that teens traditionally used as a starting point. You can stop your moralizing about it . The fact is that the real reason the left likes the minimum wage is because every increase become the new base for union negotiations .

[talaniman]

You would be a slave for rich guys if it weren't for unions, and lets face it, adults need a living wage, no matter their mental, physical or emotional soundness and regardless of where they work, or the condition of who they work for, but I understand your capitalist view that favors the business mans concerns over the people who work, and your aversion for worker uniting and expressing their needs, or worth. Is that why the minimum wage is a failure? You think there are still entry levels jobs JUST for teens to get their feet wet? Naw, that tradition is no longer a luxury in today's world.

Capitalism is what has been the failure.

[tomder55]

nah I would never be a slave . I have worked where I am as long as I have because as the company has grown ,I was given the opportunity to grow with them .Other places I came and went on my terms . I consider employment a contract . I give my best effort and get compensated accordingly . When that arrangement has changed I have moved on without any bad feelings . Each place I have worked allowed me to hone my skills . My new employer benefited from what I learned at my former employer and so on.

[jlisenbe]

Capitalism is what has been the failure.

Yeah. Just think what we could have done if we had socialism like Venezuela.

About 11% of American workers belong to unions, so that has not been the salvation of the American worker. For a person who works hard, increases his/her skill level, gets along with people, and stays out of trouble, the sky is still the limit, thanks to capitalism.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/how-so...ic-basket-case

[talaniman]

Yes union membership has shrunken over the years, but the benefits are still being shared by all. Venezuela is a failed state but like most communism it fails because of the way it is implemented. Just like capitalism. No different from any class and privilege system in the world, that favors some over others.

Maybe when you conservatives stop puffing your chests out about how hard you work you would see that and be grateful enough for your own blessing, because but for the grace of God you got those blessings.

You could have been the descendent of slaves, and still fighting for the freedoms you were promised centuries later, in a country that was built on the backs of those slaves while the master takes the ALL credit. The cafeteria workers and janitors work as hard as the school administrators. Who gets credit for the great school?

[jlisenbe]

You could have been the descendent of slaves, and still fighting for the freedoms you were promised centuries later,

Which lack of rights is responsible for 75% out of wedlock birth rates? You can keep blaming all those woes on others, for the greater part of the problem by far is cultural. But as long as people can be convinced their lack of success is someone else's fault, they will never change. That is the great evil of the "poor ole us" approach you frequently take.

in a country that was built on the backs of those slaves while the master takes the ALL credit.

How does that apply to the northern and western states? How does it apply to California? Answer: Not at all. It's a dead end argument and flatly untrue.

The cafeteria workers and janitors work as hard as the school administrators. Who gets credit for the great school?

Having been there, I can tell you that everyone gets credit. The "poor ole us" argument won't work there either.

[tomder55]

but for the grace of God you got those blessings.

nope there were as many other paths in life I could've taken and saw others of my "class" (how I despise that description) take turns that led to perdition and ruin. But yes blessed is the man who seeks God's grace . First you have to put yourself in the right path .

[Wondergirl]

You could have been the descendent of slaves, and still fighting for the freedoms you were promised centuries later, in a country that was built on the backs of those slaves while the master takes the ALL credit. The cafeteria workers and janitors work as hard as the school administrators. Who gets credit for the great school?

I wish I had posted that :) . And I learned first-hand that it's the bottom-of-the-pecking-order pages a.k.a. shelvers who are the heart of the library, who work as hard as -- and probably harder than -- the reference librarians, catalogers, and even the director. If library materials are not where they are supposed to be, the library can't function.

[jlisenbe]

I wish I had posted that :) . And I learned first-hand that it's the bottom-of-the-pecking-order pages a.k.a. shelvers who are the heart of the library, who work as hard as -- and probably harder than -- the reference librarians, catalogers, and even the director. If library materials are not where they are supposed to be, the library can't function.

Poor ole you.

[paraclete]

In fact the minimum wage has been a failure . What is really does is prevent entry level people from getting jobs .It destroys entry level jobs ;denying them to teens who are in desparate need of learning basic job and life skills .Moderate increases in pay become a heavy burden to low margin businesses like restaurants and grocery stores, the places most likely to have low skill work that teens traditionally used as a starting point. You can stop your moralizing about it . The fact is that the real reason the left likes the minimum wage is because every increase become the new base for union negotiations .

What a load of clap trap and old boll0cks