lol. I only advocate defending yourself. And ya I smoked a nice bowl.
I dated a lady from Michigan once, a couple summers ago, I think. She showed me around, showed me how bad Detroit is, and what the banks did. Many people lost their homes, and people had to leave.. This hurt the businesses, and hurt the taxes too. Just look at the roads! Ya the trucks tear them up, but so much less money to be able to maintain all the roads now. The infrastructure can't be supported anymore, that once supported a flourishing society. Its a vicious circle... And the banks won. Of course it was a huge scam for the rich to take from the poor. You know, once you become extremely wealthy, the only way to get more is if everybody else has even less.
Sorry this is long. Your statement is the reason I bothered to write.
James, this is how I see it in Detroit. We had a mayor way back named, Gribbs, spelling might not be right. He ran the city like a pro, everything worked, it was pretty, basically safe, no white flight.
Then they voted Coleman Young into office. He was the worse thing that every happened to the city, well, almost the worse thing. On live TV he said to Whitey,'Don't let the door hit you as you cross 8 Mile'. Nuff said, white flight began. He espoused his hate for South Africa and stirred up the black population about Whitey within the city. All the while he was buying Krugerrands, when they were illegal it was supposed to bring South Africa to it's racist knees. Can you believe a Tuskegee Air man going against his own cause??? All for money. He destroyed the city for his own gain.
Then when the riots happened he blamed Whitey. Why had we left and why had we taken our money and why had we taken our businesses with us. He claimed it was because we were racist and they didn't understand if we aren't comfortable being in the city we are not going to go there and spend our money. But it's still Whiteys fault.
Industries left too. How does a company based in the D compete? When you can make the same money or more in the safe suburbs and you don't have to pay city taxes, you don't have to pay for parking or pay for bus service. All in a city that doesn't want your white ass.
What everyone forgot is, the D has some of the most militant black population in it. They ARE more prejudiced than almost anywhere or anyone else in the USA. Why would any small white business man make an investment in a city that doesn't want him. They want the money but not the man. Makes sense?
I, also, don't go for that class envy or class warfare I hear on this site either. Most of you are under 30, if you want it so badly be creative and get it for yourself,
in other words earn it.
What a some of you forget is you trade your time, your most important commodity, for a paycheck. It's you who decides what happens to that precious commodity and it's you who decides what the selling price for your time is. Do you think that taxing someone else is going to change that? You aren't talking about saving the country here, you are talking about taking from one person and giving it to another by a government money grab. That isn't taxation, that is stealing.
If you decide to sell your time for a menial job. Expect that you will live an average life. Home (small), wife, kids, car (cheap), maybe a decent vacation. Maybe. There are great jobs that pay very well and will give you a nice comfortable living. But you have to make yourself marketable.
If you decide to be a small business owner, you are still trading your time for money. You're probably getting more than your staff. But you still have to be there and you are trading your time for money.
Management and skilled workers, like, engineers. They too trade their time for money just a lot more of it. They too are tethered to a business, someone else's business. They make great money don't get me wrong, but unless your are in the cat bird seat you aren't getting the 6 weeks in the Grand Caymans. They too have made that trade off but they decided they would trade for bigger money, prestige, name in the paper. I'm not talking of the few big honchos in the Fortune 500.
Then there are the people that worked hard, independently and invested wisely with their time. He is the one that invests in other people's ideas and other people's businesses and makes it possible for a small business to become a bigger business. These people are the one that you want to tax into oblivion and they are the same people that keep the business world humming. Yes, they live the good life- they should. They risk huge amounts of their own money, not some else's, their own.
If you don't have skills that's not my fault, I listened in school, I paid in full my college debt, it's not my fault that you traded your time for cheap. It's no one's fault but your own.
I will admit that all business is cut throat that is the nature of the beast.
