Why do people love the USA?

@sh76 said
Hey, Spruce. Nice to hear from you. Welcome back!

Thanks for the great story.

Of course, I understand why people from downtrodden countries dream of coming to the USA. I'm just wondering why they don't equally or alternatively dream of going to Europe or Canada.

They can get rich here. Nov 5 will, however, be the most impt election in history, given who this country is. Being unrecognizable if Biden wins, opportunities to grow will peter away. We must all be the same at the end of the day.
SH, tell your buddy Spruce that, while he was away, that no faerie lib on this site has ever commented on the many posts where I highlighted that our Marxist VP actually said that. She said ‘ at the end of the day, we will all end up in the same place.” So who is Spruce going to be shoulder to shoulder with? Maybe Shav would be a good fit. Don’t like workin’ much.

@averagejoe1 said
They can get rich here. Nov 5 will, however, be the most impt election in history, given who this country is. Being unrecognizable if Biden wins, opportunities to grow will peter away. We must all be the same at the end of the day.
SH, tell your buddy Spruce that, while he was away, that no faerie lib on this site has ever commented on the many posts where I highlight ...[text shortened]... ce going to be shoulder to shoulder with? Maybe Shav would be a good fit. Don’t like workin’ much.

As I recall, Spruce is basically conservative in his political and economic philosophy, though could be mis-remembering or things could have changed.

@sh76 said
As I recall, Spruce is basically conservative in his political and economic philosophy, though could be mis-remembering or things could have changed.

I hope so, we need backup on our Eastern flank.

@averagejoe1 said
You suggest that a person who receives money for goods or services (libs say ‘work for) can not be happy?
You tip your hand saying work for. That, indeed, suggests you feel like a slave. Brrrr

Work has a goal: to make enough money be happy outside your work. But you said that to you, working is being happy. That is being a slave to your employer. I work to live; you live to work. I am an employee; you are a servant.

@sh76 said
Of course, I understand why people from downtrodden countries dream of coming to the USA. I'm just wondering why they don't equally or alternatively dream of going to Europe or Canada.

Oh, they do. And the European equivalents of the Republicans are not happy about it, either. Hence Brexit. Which, by the way, did nothing to stop illegal immigration from Africa to the UK, but did cause a lot of legal Polish workers to come back to Europe.

@sh76 said
Of course, I understand why people from downtrodden countries dream of coming to the USA. I'm just wondering why they don't equally or alternatively dream of going to Europe or Canada.

I think if you are in a downtrodden country, you dream of going just about anywhere you can get a job. So you look for decent wages, low unemployment, and where you might be welcome. For all the hooha, the US is still pretty welcoming (in spots; we like low-cost labor...)

I heard an interesting podcast about a town in Honduras, I think, where every nice house on the street was a family that had managed to land someone in the US who was sending money back. Or, who had built up enough capital in the US to start a business and then returned. Don't hear as much about those folks.

@sh76 said
As I recall, Spruce is basically conservative in his political and economic philosophy, though could be mis-remembering or things could have changed.

Lol. I have not changed... or have I? The world has certainly changed around me.

I've been an Eisenhower Republican for most of my life. I was *very* involved in the Libertarian Party for awhile, but they fractured and then half of us left while the other half went full alt-right/burn it down.

I believe that government exists to protect all our rights equally. I don't believe in public debt. I believe free markets can provide for most of our needs, but *crucially* free markets *cannot* provide: 1) justice, 2) management of public lands and property, including parks, wilderness, roads and clean air and water, 3) a national defense, 4) charity for those who can't do for themselves.

So at the moment I'm an independent who joins with Democrats on most things. Think Angus King. I don't have a political home at present.

@averagejoe1 said
Many of our posters here could use a dose of common sense.

All right. There are 350 million legal crossings of the US-Mexico border per year. The number of illegal crossings has ranged for decades between 0.5 to 2.5 million per year, regardless of who is in office. So think of a process in statistical control with an error rate of 0.6%.

You usually don't go chasing after problems with an error rate of less than 1% if you don't have total control over every aspect of the process. It's always very expensive and not worth the cost.

How's that for common sense?

@shallow-blue said
Work has a goal: to make enough money be happy outside your work. But you said that to you, working is being happy. That is being a slave to your employer. I work to live; you live to work. I am an employee; you are a servant.

Work has a goal to be happy, among other things, such as amassing a fortune. Making a LOT of money is the goal. There are exceptions like Shav, who seems to only want to make enough to live on. Note he never mentions setting aside money for retiring when he cant work anymore. Curious indeed. If you want to have an investment for retirement (savings, stocks, bonds), it has to be $1M in order to throw off $40k annually after income taxes.
So Shallow, please round out your not-so-correct- comment above. I leave it to 'the Forum' to consider being an employee, or an employeer or a slave. And could you finish out what you mean about a person 'being a slave'; to his employer. Of course, he is not required to work there, as slaves are, so your comment about that is dead out of the gate.
Pick it up a bit, lets chat. And I cannot IMAGINE following the Shav program. Brrrr

@spruce112358 said
Lol. I have not changed... or have I? The world has certainly changed around me.

I've been an Eisenhower Republican for most of my life. I was *very* involved in the Libertarian Party for awhile, but they fractured and then half of us left while the other half went full alt-right/burn it down.

I believe that government exists to protect all our rights equally. I do ...[text shortened]... who joins with Democrats on most things. Think Angus King. I don't have a political home at present.

I used to be kind of like that. I've become more conservative since covid and the George Floyd riots when I saw plainly that government is incapable of nuance or principled decision-making and so needs to be confined to the things you mentioned (and maybe a few others).

I'm kind of where the Republican party would be without Trump. Think John McCain.

I don't consider Trump a Republican. But he's wrested control of the Republican party machinery. Therefore, likewise, I have no political home.


Edit: I'll add the government should also be involved in monetary policy, but should adhere to balanced budgets except in times of emergency.

@shallow-blue said
Oh, they do. And the European equivalents of the Republicans are not happy about it, either. Hence Brexit. Which, by the way, did nothing to stop illegal immigration from Africa to the UK, but did cause a lot of legal Polish workers to come back to Europe.

Yeah, but they don't advertise it like we do.

I've never seen a video ad that begs people to pine for a country like this one:

YouTube

See also:

YouTube&t=19s

@shallow-blue said
Work has a goal: to make enough money be happy outside your work. But you said that to you, working is being happy. That is being a slave to your employer. I work to live; you live to work. I am an employee; you are a servant.

He is the employer and what he calls “work” is ordering around his subordinates and chatting with other rich men

@averagejoe1 said
Actually, this happiest country thingy….which country on the globe would you rather invest, say, $200,000?

Which country would grow your money fastest?

@athousandyoung said
He is the employer and what he calls “work” is ordering around his subordinates and chatting with other rich men

Who is “he”? You communicate like SHouse

@athousandyoung said
He is the employer and what he calls “work” is ordering around his subordinates and chatting with other rich men

Subordinate: A person under the control or authority of another within the same organization

So you try to fool people like Kev? But you are not that smart. If someone works for an employer, he is not the employer’s subordinate.

Whew. God, now I have to go clean up a Sonhouse post.
Must I correct you fellers and win every post?