#USpol #Norway #taxes #tax
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@mike @davidaugust you can always put those armalites to use? I mean a hell of a lot of you did it before so you can keep profiteering from slavery so surely a insurrection to keep some semblance of freedom is a whorty cause?
@davidaugust@mastodon.online @TheComfortableSpotPodcast@mastodon.social
Have you seen our American Military? They no longer have muskets and bayonets any more. They have tanks and MRAPs and an unlimited supply of weapons and ammunition.
Do you honestly think any American, let alone even a "well armed milita" (words in the 2nd Amendment) can honestly stand up to the US Military? ISIS tried. Al Qaeda tried. The Taliban tried. And they were a helluva lot better armed (not to mention their home-turf advantage) and they couldn't.
So what makes you think any American citizen can?
This is no longer the 18th Century. -
@davidaugust I liked Tim Wu's point the other day that private corporation in America are basically creating a "private tax", where they are being extractive and taking the profits while provide no value to consumers. His example of this was Amazon's pay-for-boosting merchants pay into, and that gets translated into higher consumer prices.
I wonder if you could analyze this "private tax", maybe the tax rate wouldn't be that different?
@davidaugust This was the episode if anyone was curious https://art19.com/shows/factually--with-adam-conover/episodes/15cde6ef-07e2-4833-b21d-ddf74c7d81a8
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@davidaugust plot twist. Gofundme destabilizes governments to drive up adoption
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@davidaugust When you are paying for private healthcare, you are also paying the providers margin.
That makes it much more expensive that tax funded healthcare systems that don't take profits. About twice as much in the US than in the EU, with poorer outcomes.@dacig @davidaugust provider margin, ads, political contributions...
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@davidaugust In all fairness, #America has 64 times the amount of annual gun deaths, per capita, than #Norway so take that you Norsepeople. #US firearm death rate is 4.31 per 100,000 people per year, Norway had two (2), total, in 2023. America doesn’t take care of the population so much we just thin the herd, so tech billionaires can buy up broadcast and social media.
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@nuwagaba2 @nazokiyoubinbou set up schools to teach social democracy to Americans.
@TheComfortableSpotPodcast
Who will establish those schools and implement that kind of education? -
@davidaugust Some people like living in a mandatory GoFundMe state. Some don't. Go figure.
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@davidaugust
This
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@davidaugust
I don't think people understand the idea of free Healthcare. Yes, paying for it in taxes, means it's not free. However, paying for it in taxes means, I don't have to go six years without glasses because I can't afford the exam. It means if my glasses break today, I can go to get an exam, get my prescription and go to get my glasses without taking from my food, rent, and clothing.
Not sure about glasses outside of the US, is that a separate charge?@faliate @davidaugust In Germany, though examination by an ophthalmologist is free, glasses are usually not covered, except if you're practically blind without them.
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@faliate @davidaugust In Germany, though examination by an ophthalmologist is free, glasses are usually not covered, except if you're practically blind without them.
@ysegrim @davidaugust
This is why I wish my grandparents never left Germany. Also, one of the reasons why I want to migrate back to Germany. Besides the culture and food, there are many great things about Germany. -
@faliate
I average about 8 or 9 years per set of eyeglasses.@LibertyForward1 @faliate @davidaugust that may not last forever. At a certain age you might benefit from new glasses every 2-4 years
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@nazokiyoubinbou
That's okay. I just wanted to see whether we have the same idea. Education can be a better way out. If we cab educate the people and the children the importance of togetherness, we can address such a challenge. Because they want us divided, that's why the children even at school are not allowed to help each other during tests and exams. Can i share with you about my project?@nuwagaba2 @nazokiyoubinbou I just wanna chime in that I agree education is (a large part of) our way out of this. If it wasn't an important tool for liberation, oligarchs wouldn't have done so much to prevent and destroy it. I'm not sure exactly what needs to be done, but I know we all need to heal, learn, and prioritize community (local or global or both) over isolation and competition
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@davidaugust@mastodon.online @TheComfortableSpotPodcast@mastodon.social
Have you seen our American Military? They no longer have muskets and bayonets any more. They have tanks and MRAPs and an unlimited supply of weapons and ammunition.
Do you honestly think any American, let alone even a "well armed milita" (words in the 2nd Amendment) can honestly stand up to the US Military? ISIS tried. Al Qaeda tried. The Taliban tried. And they were a helluva lot better armed (not to mention their home-turf advantage) and they couldn't.
So what makes you think any American citizen can?
This is no longer the 18th Century.@mike @davidaugust to be honest, my original comment was in jest, but history does show that nations built on fragile democratic systems and deep internal divisions can unravel quickly — and when that happens, institutions, including the military, don’t always remain unified. 1)
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@mike @davidaugust to be honest, my original comment was in jest, but history does show that nations built on fragile democratic systems and deep internal divisions can unravel quickly — and when that happens, institutions, including the military, don’t always remain unified. 1)
@mike @davidaugust Comparing this to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban misses the point. Those weren’t conventional wars, and in the case of the Taliban, the outcome after 20 years is an even stronger Taliban in Afghanistan. The real risk in a constitutional crisis isn’t a militia “beating” the U.S. military in open combat — it’s political fracture and divided loyalties within institutions themselves. History suggests that kind of breakdown is far more plausible than a Hollywood-style showdown.
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@nazokiyoubinbou yeah. Same expense but no benefits.
For somebody else's benefit
@nazokiyoubinbou -
@LibertyForward1 @faliate @davidaugust that may not last forever. At a certain age you might benefit from new glasses every 2-4 years
@DerPumu @faliate @davidaugust I would love to replace them that often, but I'm generally only able to scrape enough money together every decade or so
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@nuwagaba2 @nazokiyoubinbou I just wanna chime in that I agree education is (a large part of) our way out of this. If it wasn't an important tool for liberation, oligarchs wouldn't have done so much to prevent and destroy it. I'm not sure exactly what needs to be done, but I know we all need to heal, learn, and prioritize community (local or global or both) over isolation and competition
@raphaelmorgan
That's right. The best way of preventing a prisoner from escaping is by not letting him know that he's a slave. Are the people aware that their freedom is slowly being taken away? -
@HarryMutt
Democracy is slowly vanishing which makes people not to enjoy the rights they once fought and are now paying for. What can bring power back in the hands of the people?I disagree with the vanishing. Democracies worldwide are under attack from antidemocrats. The US oligarchs. The Russofascists. The Chinese capitalist communists. To name only the biggest fish here.
They all see democracies as an obstacle in their power games. They are funding and supporting especially right wing parties with propaganda and fake news aiming at dividing the EU, to weaken it and to destroy it, the largest entity of western democracy in this world. BUT, democracy is not receding. It's bending like a tree in a storm. The more it is under pressure, the more do people realize how important it is. Strong civil societies can withstand such attacks. But it's not an easy task, no question.
But ironically, here in the EU, and seemingly in Canada and other places, the orange attacks kind of make it easier. Dump is the best helper to revive the silent majority, so to speak. By being so immorally disgusting, by being a vulgar, corrupt idiot, big-mouthed, and empty of moral values, and completely free of empathy, he shows everybody what we HAVE and don't want to lose.
When it comes to the global south, I don't know enough to have an educated opinion. Probably, it all has to start with grassroot campaigning and convincing people that these strongmen I listed are not the solution but the problem.
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I disagree with the vanishing. Democracies worldwide are under attack from antidemocrats. The US oligarchs. The Russofascists. The Chinese capitalist communists. To name only the biggest fish here.
They all see democracies as an obstacle in their power games. They are funding and supporting especially right wing parties with propaganda and fake news aiming at dividing the EU, to weaken it and to destroy it, the largest entity of western democracy in this world. BUT, democracy is not receding. It's bending like a tree in a storm. The more it is under pressure, the more do people realize how important it is. Strong civil societies can withstand such attacks. But it's not an easy task, no question.
But ironically, here in the EU, and seemingly in Canada and other places, the orange attacks kind of make it easier. Dump is the best helper to revive the silent majority, so to speak. By being so immorally disgusting, by being a vulgar, corrupt idiot, big-mouthed, and empty of moral values, and completely free of empathy, he shows everybody what we HAVE and don't want to lose.
When it comes to the global south, I don't know enough to have an educated opinion. Probably, it all has to start with grassroot campaigning and convincing people that these strongmen I listed are not the solution but the problem.
@HarryMutt
It would be easy for people to join together and fight for themselves if they knew that they're being deceived , blinded and brainwashed to an extent of being unable to know that they're being enslaved indirectly within the system. Won't people find out when it's too late to make a change? -
@HarryMutt
It would be easy for people to join together and fight for themselves if they knew that they're being deceived , blinded and brainwashed to an extent of being unable to know that they're being enslaved indirectly within the system. Won't people find out when it's too late to make a change?Isn't education the best weapon against propaganda? You can only brainwash people who are not aware of the facts, and are unable to differentiate between facts and fiction. The problem is when people have not learned critical thinking and self-reflection.
And I don't mean conspiracy theorists who probably think they were the best critical thinkers available. In a complicated world, simple answers are usually wrong. But understanding the complicated ones is often tiresome and hard. That's why conspiracy theories from UFO nonsense to antivaxxer lies are so en vogue in some circles. In the best case, they are simply misled into believing nonsense. In the worst case, they are purposely led away from more important issues.
What I mean is that the ability to reflect on information and weigh different sources against each other and come to an educated conclusion based on PLAUSIBILITY and KNOWLEDGE is the best antidote against brainwashing. Education!
Take the antivaxxer movement. Their ideas are backed by NO scientific evidence. RFK's agitation against measle vaccination, for instance, has led to an epidemic in the US. Children have died from a disease that was practically eradicated. Even more have permanent damage. But those numbers are CONCENTRATED within those who won't vaccinate their children. QED
