Following in the footsteps of Greece - bankrupcy that is....

Troy,

the system is dysfunctional, you have very bad results with one party control of the government, and with a "bi-partisan" two party system. You do not think there are no special corporate interests that support Democrats? Go look at who makes campaign contributions to Obama, where do you think that Billion dollar re-election fund came from? Do not be so ignorant. Our law makers are supposed to be the gate keepers to look out for the citizens' best interest, but it appears all are sell outs to corporate interests, just different ones. Elections have become a contest to see who gets the spoils of ill-begotten wealth. It would take the very lawmakers who benefit from such a system to vote to change it, what do you think the chances of that happening will be? I would say Zero.

 

Especially with the Supreme Court ruling on corporate donations. We are in trouble....

 

The system is nearly dysfunctional... there's a world of difference. And it was set up from the get-go not too be too efficient. An efficient government is a dictatorship or absolute monarchy.

The authors of the Constitution went to a great deal of trouble to balance out individual, state and federal rights, responsibilities and power. They gave us a House of Representatives with short-term politicians reelected every two years, to ensure responsiveness to public opinion and short-term events. Then they added a Senate to represent long-term and state interests, with staggered six-year terms to ensure some contemplation and continuity.

They added an executive branch, to run the day-to-day business of the country and handle foreign policy -- and incidently, gave the President veto power in case Congress gets too rambunctious. Finally they added the Judicial branch, to referee the whole shooting match.

Does that sound like they wanted an efficient government?

And despite what you believe, the two political parties aren't just tweedledum and tweedledee. There are genuine ideological differences between them, and which one is in charge does make a difference. Witness Obamacare and Bush's invasion of Iraq, to cite just two examples.

That doesn't mean one is all left and the other is all right; there's obviously a lot of overlap. And there should be.... after all, whoever runs the country has to deal with those corporate interests, no matter what party they belong to. As well as the interests of a whole lot of other groups.

You know, a good chunk of every generation since this country was founded has been convinced it was on its last legs, that democracy was dead and dying, etc. But we're still here; lighten up and relax a little.

 

I didn't like that one, either. But you'll notice the exhorbitant amound of special-interest money spent in this last election cycle didn't really budge the Presidential results, like everyone was convinced it would. If corporate money was what it took to win elections, Romney would be getting sworn in this month instead of Obama.

What concerns me more is the amount of outside money that's getting poured into local and state politics and elections. Instead of trying to elect Senators and Congressmen in their own states, a lot of big-money donors are pouring their money into other states, to tip the balance of power in Congress by taking out vulnerable politicans no matter where they're running.

 

And a ton of dead weight, entitlements, pensions, and people who aren't employable.

 

And everything else that affects the entire country. That's why any party that becomes too narrowly focused on ideology instead of pragmatic government eventually starts losing elections, until it comes back towards the center and the real world.

 

Pensions, benefits, entitlements, high salaries, vacation time, etc. are fine ideals. Will we be able to maintain this quality of living and working competing with developing countries and China? Only time will tell.

 

As developing countries develop, it becomes harder to exploit their citizens for cheap labor.

 

Can we hold onto our standards and keep things rolling until the developing countries raise their quality of life to ours though? Or will it be 20 or 30 years until they're wanting $50 dollars an hour and safety, benefits, pensions, etc. instead of $5/

 

Well, the way I see it, China is catching up fast, but has a looooooog way to go in reality.
The especially good thing the USA has, is the workforce (what is left of it anyhow), cos you are very clever at what you do, be it boatbuilding or manufacturing , or inventing (not copying), or automotive etc. There is decades of great achievements that are on the scorecard, I am sure the resolution of the people will overcome the greed and incompetance of the government and the banks etc.
Get rid of the priests, politicians, accountants and lawers and you will all prosper again.

 

You mean like focusing on a constitution written 300 years ago

 

No, that isn't what I mean. But maybe we should get all modern and up-to-date, like the Brits with their monarchs and their hereditary nobility....

 

The earth is 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years old.

Humans have been around for 130,000 years.

We have been using tools for 50,000 years.

Agriculture has been around for 20,000 years.

300 years is the blink of an eye.

 

Fine be me ------beheading or hanging? worn out dysfunctional retards.

Not suitable for todays governmen,t useless and impotent, a draw on tax that we can little afford.

When old people that fought the war can keep from dying of hypothermia this winter without sitting over a 1 bar electric fire then we can afford a monarchy.

Thats shocked you hasnt it.?

You would drop the constitution in a heart beat too if it didnt contain one mere sentence that may improve your chance of keeping a gun.

 

As posted in the Ocean Conditions and Climate Change thread where this seems to be continuing from, rather than bloating out the Boat Design Forums database too much, there are many political forums where the political and gun debate (for and against) can be continued in great detail.

Here is a list of other forums where political topics would be welcome:
https://www.google.com/search?q=politics forum

Here is a list of other forums where religious topics would be welcome:
https://www.google.com/search?q=religion forum

Thanks for your understanding and helping to keep the forums here a friendly and polite place to all members regardless of their diverse backgrounds, where all who enjoy boat design, boatbuilding, and boating in general can enjoy coming to share the common interest in boats.