On Becoming Europe

[Blackjack200]

Originally posted by: PJABBER
Victor Davis Hanson has put out a lot of good stuff, I highly recommend reading his current materials and archives. His books are priceless.

Victor Davis Hanson (born 1953 in Fowler, California) is a military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets, and was a strong supporter of the policies of President George W. Bush. (My emphasis)

That's the leading paragraph of his Wikipedia bio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Davis_Hanson

Really, PJ, it's absolutely no surprise that you're infatuated with this guy. He's a hard line right winger.

 

[PJABBER]

I like the fact that he knows enough about history that he cautions about repeating it.

I think one of the background reasons we have such polarization on this board is that there has been a real decline in the availability and the quality of history instruction in academia. And maybe not enough of a personal interest by most to pursue such study independently.

Most people lives are so bound to the recent past they do not connect the dots in a way that makes sense.

I am attentive when someone makes historical reference, it may mean they have done more reading than the scrolling ticker on the cable news channel of their choice or the diatribe of the local newspaper trying to sell more copies.

Hanson resonates with me for a couple of reasons. One is that he is a classicist and historian, the second is that he has had a focus on the study of war as a culture transformative activity, the third is that he is engaged in the important issues of the present but is able to lucidly connect them to the past.

History can be misinterpreted, of course, you only have to see the crude attempts that are regularly made by revisionists with agendas beyond the documenting of what is and was. If you can avoid those distortions it may be that you wind up having the same opinions Hanson does.

I look forward to reading his A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War, The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece and Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think.

 

[davestar]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: davestar

Originally posted by: Genx87
When we had 90% income tax rates on the rich the working poor were paying 22%. People always seem to leave that out when they bring up this point.

what's the relevence here?

Anyway, I never knew the marginal tax rate could be such a hard concept for some. Or that rampant deductions and loopholes could be so easily ignored when convenient.

People use the 1950's as an example that we can tax the rich at 90% and have a prosperous nation and something we should strive for again. Yet they never mention the bottom bracket of federal income tax sat at 20-22%.

Somebody brought up the 90% tax rate earlier in the thread.

so you think that the lowest tax bracket being 20-22% rather than 10-15% is what led to 50's prosperity? sorry, but that is delusional.

(1) If you were to double the tax rate in the lowest bracket today, that wouldn't net the government nearly as much money as raising rates in the highest bracket by 1% would. Nor would it in any way lead to widespread prosperity.
(2) Try honestly discussing what a 90% marginal tax rate is. The rich have never been "taxed at 90%". A portion of their income was once taxed at 90%, which incentivized reinvestment of capital to avoid that marginal rate. The effective tax rate that they paid was far far less than 90%. In fact, the richest of the rich today pay an effective tax rate of ~17% thanks to the continued butchering of the tax code under Bush43.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If I wanted Europe I'd be there. Nice place to visit. I like America more the way it is. Anyway, if America became Europe who would Europeans demonize and laugh at to distract themselves?

russians? the lolchinese?

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If I wanted Europe I'd be there. Nice place to visit. I like America more the way it is. Anyway, if America became Europe who would Europeans demonize and laugh at to distract themselves?

russians? the lolchinese?

But those groups aren't "equal", so laughing at them becomes, well, rude.