How nice are you?

[brianmanahan]

Sounds like reality.

it's hard to say. some socialist policies have seemed worked well in certain parts of the world when kept in check, aside from the high tax rates. but when taken too far they have definitely failed in others.

personally i'm torn.

i've got enough money and income that if the minimal social support we have in the US is completely removed, i'd almost certainly be fine. a lot of people might lose their healthcare or income, but that's been life for millennia. poverty, homeless and beggars were rampant back in the old days. and there wasn't even healthcare until very recently. i'd probably have to help out my parents if SS and medicare were cut, but it'd still be cheaper than me paying more taxes.

on the other hand, people have increased expectations of quality of life now. a large and increasing wealth gap between the bottom and top quintiles of doesn't bode well from a future poverty, crime and civil unrest point of view, regardless of whether or not this is caused by the bottom quintile's ability or ambition. at this point it's only been an inconvenience to me, but if it gets worse then it could escalate into something far worse. then the government will have a difficult decision - deal with it by force, or try to reduce it with increased social support policies. similar to the 1930s.

go too far with force and you might end up with a government that looks quite authoritarian. go too far with increased social support and you might end up with corporations leaving the US for places that are cheaper, if they find it worth the risk.

my bet? we end up going with decreased social support and things trend more a dystopian corporatocracy. something resembling the style of the roman empire but with extra steps.

rome sucked for a lot of people, but hey, it lasted for 1000 years (2000 if you count the byzantines) so it's hard to argue with the results.

TL;DR: after reading this i realize that i'm less nice than i thought i was. in person i feel forced to help people. but at a distance? not so much.

i give myself a 4/10

 

[Muse]

View attachment 27690

Fact is I haven't made myself any chicken in I guess a couple of years. I have a couple of packages of chicken in my freezer, just never feel like making anything with it. I made turkey burgers the other day, have a recipe I really like. I was thinking of making them with that chicken in my freezer, pretend it's turkey and grind it with my blender attachment.

Beef, I used to eat a fair amount. Maybe a pound a week during the winter months in stew, but I stopped doing that. I eat hardly any meat... some, I'm not against it, just don't a lot. I go days with eating no meat, not by design, I just don't.

 

[MtnMan]

Other assholes think I am an asshole. Other nice guys think I am a nice guy.

Could it be that I react to assholes as an asshole, and to nice people as a nice guy? Me thinks so... Life is too short to waste on assholes.