A very clever argument. So let's "cut" to the chase and do the right thing...you're right. Poverty and need serve no purpose but we need a Congress with vision to push through a solution.
You're missing a step. Why was that knot there? Who put it there, and in whose interest?
The various knots you address, which you rightly call symptoms, are symptoms of an over-riding disease, to continue the medical analogy. And why does some Alexander not simply cut the knot, and relieve the disease and all the symptoms it causes? Because it's in someone's interest to have those problems there.
If we think of the Gordian knot as debt, which causes all of the symptoms you mentioned, it's in the interest of people who don't want to pay taxes to have that knot there. Reagan relieved the rich of taxes, and the debt rose. Cheney/W did the same thing, and started a war (Alexander would never have started a war without funding it), and the debt became massive. Obama didn't raise taxes on the rich, because they paid him not to, and the debt continued to rise. Donnie lowered taxes on the rich again, and the debt, and the problems/symptoms you mentioned went into the stratosphere. Donnie now wants to lower taxes on the rich (complicate the knot) again, and in anticipation, he is destroying anyone who isn't rich.
So some brave and patriotic soul is going to have to come along, and tell the rich the party is over, and make them pay a proper tax. The great news is that all of the symptoms you mention will resolve, and the rich will never miss the money. They have far more than they can possibly spend already.
The US is riddled with Gordian knots. Corruption will never be solved by creating more laws for lawyers to squabble over. Power for sale needs the sword of Alex the Great!
And that's the answer. That's why the knots are there. Because power in this country is for sale. And whoever pays those in power gets what they paid for. It is, as Kristen very rightly says, ownership. Those who pay own those who hold office. The opportunity we never take, because it would be the recipients of the payment who would have to block it, is to say that American government is no longer for sale.
It’s not just taxes but ownership… a company no longer needs to be owned by one person.. one person doesn’t do the majority of the work to make the business successful. The collective does and the collective should own the wealth as well.
I don't fully disagree, but an individual with an idea can found, and own, a company someone else wouldn't have thought of, or had the ambition, time, and resources to found. Your approach is a typical Communist approach, and its aim is to be as inclusive and respectful as possible to everyone who works for a company. The workaround, if a company is founded and owned by one person, is labor unions to protect everyone else.
I also forgot to mention that Biden, too, failed to raise taxes on the rich. So he gets some of the blame too, as, perhaps, do people who reportedly might have known he wasn't up to the task any more, but didn't help him find his way to an early retirement.
I don’t believe that ideas always need to hold a huge level of importance. Ideas come from and are found in the collective consciousness. They really shouldn’t be the property of an individual. And certainly complex ideas can’t be achieved by a single individual. Capitalism perpetuates propaganda about innovation and ideas also.
“Not everyone contributes in the same way. And not all value is visible.”
I truly do not understand how we have believed for so long that a frontline worker (a flight attendant, retail worker, nurse, etc) is any less important than a CEO.. the company simply wouldn’t operate without these workers. I’m no longer interested in a labor union. I’m no longer interested in being labor. I want to work collaboratively with a group of people towards a shared goal creating wealth for the community.
Up to a point, I agree with you. When I sign petitions to people like Bezos, I suggest that if he doesn't think he needs, and should properly value, his employees, then maybe he should just go do their work himself. It is certainly true that customers don't even know who are the CEOS of the places they patronize (stores, hospitals, etc), and whether or not they do a good job. But they know who the floor staff, nurses, etc, are, and it's critically and immediately important to customers that those people do a good job.
I would imagine than many middle and upper class Americans have no idea how absurdly complicated it is to apply for different social programs. ( I didn’t until reading this informative article.) Time to cut the Gordian Knot.
"Force," huh? They'll tell you how busy they are with their Congressional work, and besides, they don't need any of these benefits, so what would motivate them to bother? Where that kind of contact is made is with people who are in Congress now, but grew up in families that needed benefits, and haven't forgotten.
Several flaws exist in this argument and the comments. First, it has never been proven that giving people money will end poverty. Second, giving people money destroys the nuclear family structure per Moynihan’s work in the ‘60s. Third, you can’t just raise taxes on the rich and expect them to do nothing to avoid them. Fourth, it’s the working poor who need the help, not the unemployed. In the current economy, any able bodied person without a job has chosen to not work. UGI will not cure addictions and mental illness that is correlated with poverty. Lastly, we still have a problem with borders. We can have a welfare state or we can have open borders, but not both. UGI will simply import poverty.
A very clever argument. So let's "cut" to the chase and do the right thing...you're right. Poverty and need serve no purpose but we need a Congress with vision to push through a solution.
You're missing a step. Why was that knot there? Who put it there, and in whose interest?
The various knots you address, which you rightly call symptoms, are symptoms of an over-riding disease, to continue the medical analogy. And why does some Alexander not simply cut the knot, and relieve the disease and all the symptoms it causes? Because it's in someone's interest to have those problems there.
If we think of the Gordian knot as debt, which causes all of the symptoms you mentioned, it's in the interest of people who don't want to pay taxes to have that knot there. Reagan relieved the rich of taxes, and the debt rose. Cheney/W did the same thing, and started a war (Alexander would never have started a war without funding it), and the debt became massive. Obama didn't raise taxes on the rich, because they paid him not to, and the debt continued to rise. Donnie lowered taxes on the rich again, and the debt, and the problems/symptoms you mentioned went into the stratosphere. Donnie now wants to lower taxes on the rich (complicate the knot) again, and in anticipation, he is destroying anyone who isn't rich.
So some brave and patriotic soul is going to have to come along, and tell the rich the party is over, and make them pay a proper tax. The great news is that all of the symptoms you mention will resolve, and the rich will never miss the money. They have far more than they can possibly spend already.
We can't waste time waiting for someone else to save us. We are the Alexander we have been waiting for.
Works for me. Please raise taxes now on those best endowed to pay them.
The US is riddled with Gordian knots. Corruption will never be solved by creating more laws for lawyers to squabble over. Power for sale needs the sword of Alex the Great!
And that's the answer. That's why the knots are there. Because power in this country is for sale. And whoever pays those in power gets what they paid for. It is, as Kristen very rightly says, ownership. Those who pay own those who hold office. The opportunity we never take, because it would be the recipients of the payment who would have to block it, is to say that American government is no longer for sale.
It’s not just taxes but ownership… a company no longer needs to be owned by one person.. one person doesn’t do the majority of the work to make the business successful. The collective does and the collective should own the wealth as well.
I don't fully disagree, but an individual with an idea can found, and own, a company someone else wouldn't have thought of, or had the ambition, time, and resources to found. Your approach is a typical Communist approach, and its aim is to be as inclusive and respectful as possible to everyone who works for a company. The workaround, if a company is founded and owned by one person, is labor unions to protect everyone else.
I also forgot to mention that Biden, too, failed to raise taxes on the rich. So he gets some of the blame too, as, perhaps, do people who reportedly might have known he wasn't up to the task any more, but didn't help him find his way to an early retirement.
I don’t believe that ideas always need to hold a huge level of importance. Ideas come from and are found in the collective consciousness. They really shouldn’t be the property of an individual. And certainly complex ideas can’t be achieved by a single individual. Capitalism perpetuates propaganda about innovation and ideas also.
“Not everyone contributes in the same way. And not all value is visible.”
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8MhDJS4/
I truly do not understand how we have believed for so long that a frontline worker (a flight attendant, retail worker, nurse, etc) is any less important than a CEO.. the company simply wouldn’t operate without these workers. I’m no longer interested in a labor union. I’m no longer interested in being labor. I want to work collaboratively with a group of people towards a shared goal creating wealth for the community.
Up to a point, I agree with you. When I sign petitions to people like Bezos, I suggest that if he doesn't think he needs, and should properly value, his employees, then maybe he should just go do their work himself. It is certainly true that customers don't even know who are the CEOS of the places they patronize (stores, hospitals, etc), and whether or not they do a good job. But they know who the floor staff, nurses, etc, are, and it's critically and immediately important to customers that those people do a good job.
I would imagine than many middle and upper class Americans have no idea how absurdly complicated it is to apply for different social programs. ( I didn’t until reading this informative article.) Time to cut the Gordian Knot.
I should make a video about the time it takes to go from agency to agency...
Good idea. Or force every member of Congress to go through the processes, without a car.
"Force," huh? They'll tell you how busy they are with their Congressional work, and besides, they don't need any of these benefits, so what would motivate them to bother? Where that kind of contact is made is with people who are in Congress now, but grew up in families that needed benefits, and haven't forgotten.
Several flaws exist in this argument and the comments. First, it has never been proven that giving people money will end poverty. Second, giving people money destroys the nuclear family structure per Moynihan’s work in the ‘60s. Third, you can’t just raise taxes on the rich and expect them to do nothing to avoid them. Fourth, it’s the working poor who need the help, not the unemployed. In the current economy, any able bodied person without a job has chosen to not work. UGI will not cure addictions and mental illness that is correlated with poverty. Lastly, we still have a problem with borders. We can have a welfare state or we can have open borders, but not both. UGI will simply import poverty.