How does the World view America these days?

[dingformung]

13 minutes ago, auxien said:

17 minutes ago, ignatius said:

yeah i get it.. don't need to get in to the details but when i said "Why not both?" i was just saying why not fix the corporate tax situation and tax very wealthy people fairly?  fix capital gains taxes, fix loopholes and yada yada yada... pretty sure it's the same conversation that goes around in circles anyways.. 

no no everyone we need to discuss it here and explain it all in detail, work out the kinks. WATMM's job is to fix the planet now. smartest collection of minds on the planet, right here. roll those sleeves up and let's hash this out. no one gets out until everything is fixed.

we should rather all retreat into the private sphere and shut up, drink beer and watch some show or something, or, even better, make it our mission to stop people from discussing politics online because that's obviously pointless and leads nowhere so wasting time and energy to stop them is the right thing to do

Edited May 8, 2020 by dingformung

[ignatius]

13 minutes ago, auxien said:

no no everyone we need to discuss it here and explain it all in detail, work out the kinks. WATMM's job is to fix the planet now. smartest collection of minds on the planet, right here. roll those sleeves up and let's hash this out. no one gets out until everything is fixed.

[Braintree]

Posting on page 303.

[dingformung]

Honestly, we should ban all Americans from this thread asap

[chenGOD]

1 hour ago, ignatius said:

yeah i get it.. don't need to get in to the details but when i said "Why not both?" i was just saying why not fix the corporate tax situation and tax very wealthy people fairly?  fix capital gains taxes, fix loopholes and yada yada yada... pretty sure it's the same conversation that goes around in circles anyways.. 

also, i think there is some hair splitting.. there are people who are very very wealthy and have been for like generations or something and they park their money in investments because it's the thing to do to maintain multi-generational wealth. 

 

In general, the tax rate for high incomes is fair. We both agree the marginal rate could be higher. Yes there are tax loopholes, but again, corporate taxes are where people should be looking most, especially loopholes. That’s where you’re making your revenue as a government. 
 

[chenGOD]

1 hour ago, auxien said:

no no everyone we need to discuss it here and explain it all in detail, work out the kinks. WATMM's job is to fix the planet now. smartest collection of minds on the planet, right here. roll those sleeves up and let's hash this out. no one gets out until everything is fixed.

I mean this is obviously true. Look at the music we listen to. Sure you get the odd weirdo like Pen Expers who listens to the ‘chre and still thinks U2 is the greatest band in the world (I have no doubt he’s working for the Australian government now, setting carbon emission goals for the mining companies) and idiots like Theocide (hi Theo I know you’re reading) but in general, man, in general, the level on this board is mmmm yeah. Right? Am I right?? I’m right.  
 

But you don’t become a bald German raving to a car alarm without fully understanding the early oeuvre of the flahbulb, or recognizing the genius of torley wong. You know? You know. 
 

We’re like the fat bleeding edge of the movement started in the 60s except instead of smoking lids we’re all doing 2cb and salvia and figuring out how to avoid getting our cum skanked by any gender. And to think it all started because some people thought that disco wasn’t the peak of music. fucking amazing. 
 

Spoiler

“Torley Wong” keeps trying to autocorrect to “toilet wing”

 

[auxien]

lol i forgot Theo existed

you are right tho, you have to be HIGHLY intelligent to get super deep stuff like we obviously all totally understand here. sideways thinking like this is how we need to approach major world issues like peace in the middle east. disco ain't got shit on un-danceable dance music. next level here guys. brainsdanceing to the 7/4 beats with weirdo art. mental supremeacy for us, let us tackle American problems and eventually maybe others.

 

[goDel]

3 hours ago, chenGOD said:

I think that’s utterly useless. 
You all realize Jeff Bezos doesn’t literally have $139B sitting around in cash right? 
Make Amazon and other corporations pay their fair share of tax. Corporate tax evasion dwarfs individual tax evasion. 

Disagree. Partly for the sake of it. But anyway, yeah it's true that he can't just spend 139B on hamburgers at the next doors McDonalds. But your confusing two things here: the company and his private capital. Now, theres a bit of a misty area here, as he privately owns part of "his" company. But as a rule of thumb use the number of stake/shareholders he has to answer to when doing stuff with that capital. Those 139B are his private belongings, if you will. Thats his property, or capital. There's no shareholders telling him what to do with it. Even if they might have an opinion about it. But this is the first argument why this isn't useless as it shows the ridiculous amount of private capital.

The other argument is that even though this 139B isn't just money in his bankaccount, but "capital", this property is something which he can use to borrow cash. Like instantaneously. With 139B worth of capital, you basically have your own private bank which you could call at any time of the day to ask for some cash. And you immediately get it. That's what you can do with 139B worth of capital. Cash grows on trees basically. You can do whatever you want.

so yeah. Ridiculous.

 

[zlemflolia]

16 hours ago, dingformung said:

You convinced me

@Zeffolia You down for some sexy time? 

as much as I deeply respect the rights of lgbtqia+ people as well as their right to sexually express themselves both privately and publicly, I do not personally partake in any sexual encounters with anyone except the opposite sex, and, more specifically, only with my girlfriend

[ignatius]

18 minutes ago, goDel said:

Disagree. Partly for the sake of it. But anyway, yeah it's true that he can't just spend 139B on hamburgers at the next doors McDonalds. But your confusing two things here: the company and his private capital. Now, theres a bit of a misty area here, as he privately owns part of "his" company. But as a rule of thumb use the number of stake/shareholders he has to answer to when doing stuff with that capital. Those 139B are his private belongings, if you will. Thats his property, or capital. There's no shareholders telling him what to do with it. Even if they might have an opinion about it. But this is the first argument why this isn't useless as it shows the ridiculous amount of private capital.

The other argument is that even though this 139B isn't just money in his bankaccount, but "capital", this property is something which he can use to borrow cash. Like instantaneously. With 139B worth of capital, you basically have your own private bank which you could call at any time of the day to ask for some cash. And you immediately get it. That's what you can do with 139B worth of capital. Cash grows on trees basically. You can do whatever you want.

so yeah. Ridiculous.

 

yeah.. i mean.. he's sending a few billion a year into space. 

[chenGOD]

46 minutes ago, goDel said:

Disagree. Partly for the sake of it. But anyway, yeah it's true that he can't just spend 139B on hamburgers at the next doors McDonalds. But your confusing two things here: the company and his private capital. Now, theres a bit of a misty area here, as he privately owns part of "his" company. But as a rule of thumb use the number of stake/shareholders he has to answer to when doing stuff with that capital. Those 139B are his private belongings, if you will. Thats his property, or capital. There's no shareholders telling him what to do with it. Even if they might have an opinion about it. But this is the first argument why this isn't useless as it shows the ridiculous amount of private capital.

The other argument is that even though this 139B isn't just money in his bankaccount, but "capital", this property is something which he can use to borrow cash. Like instantaneously. With 139B worth of capital, you basically have your own private bank which you could call at any time of the day to ask for some cash. And you immediately get it. That's what you can do with 139B worth of capital. Cash grows on trees basically. You can do whatever you want.

so yeah. Ridiculous.

 

I'm not confusing anything. The people who made that silly website are doing exactly that however - they make it seem as if he has $139B just lying around in some Scrooge McDuck-like vault that he can he can just spend on whatever he wants. The argument presented in that graphic is "take $3B of Bezos' money to pay for COVID-19 testing." Which is utterly nonsensical (it's not the only argument, but it struck me and then i scrolled for a bit more and got tired of scrolling and I assume from what I saw that further arguments are much the same).

I think Bezos is a dick and Amazon should pay its workers a hell of a lot better, but dumb arguments make for dumb policy.

[goDel]

In that case, it doesnt help to start with that whole corporate tax thing. That website was about private wealth. The corporate stuff is irrelevant. 

And Bezos could use his capital, say worth of 3B, to pay for covid testing. He simply could if he wanted. not sure why that wouldnt be possible. Gates puts money/capital into getting vaccines out there, right?

[dingformung]

Can y'all please stop discussing politics here? this is a dedicated braindance space, no politics pls.

also, ur brains are clearly 2small

[ignatius]

Armed black citizens escort Michigan lawmaker to capitol after volatile rightwing protest

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/07/michigan-lawmaker-armed-escort-rightwing-protest

A beloved and super-hot gay weatherman has been unceremoniously fired after calling out Trump-supporting, far-right, anti-lockdown protesters.

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/07/weatherman-gay-fired-trump-supporting-far-right-anti-lockdown-protesters-minneapolis-sven-sundgaard-kare-11/

[auxien]

re: the Bezos money situation

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/8/21252487/elon-musk-personal-finances-billionaire-wall-street-journal-go-read-this

Musk =/= Bezos in wealth ofc but maybe helps the conversation (source WSJ article is behind a paywall) 

Edited May 9, 2020 by auxien

[Zephyr_Nova]

On 5/7/2020 at 5:55 PM, Braintree said:

Posting on page 303.

 

[Nebraska]

https://www.tmz.com/2020/05/09/california-couple-wears-nazi-swastika-flag-face-masks-newsom/

[Nebraska]

those guys have the "best electric chair ever" and they live by god's golden rule

[chenGOD]

3 hours ago, Nebraska said:

https://www.tmz.com/2020/05/09/california-couple-wears-nazi-swastika-flag-face-masks-newsom/

I sincerely hope they get punched in the face by a truck. 

[goDel]

13 hours ago, auxien said:

re: the Bezos money situation

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/8/21252487/elon-musk-personal-finances-billionaire-wall-street-journal-go-read-this

Musk =/= Bezos in wealth ofc but maybe helps the conversation (source WSJ article is behind a paywall) 

Billionares have a completely different relationship with money. Cash has a different meaning if youre a billionaire. Cash is an option. Just like plastic. And the plastic of a billionaire is a piece of magic. It just works. The number on a bankaccount? For a billionaire that number is irrelevant. Or rather, something unpleasant because it's traceable. And your banker thinks it's OK. Banks love their billionaire customers, regardless of the number thats on their account.

The next vid explains some of that. 20 mins in it gets explained pretty well. Takes 2 mins. The entire thing is about tax evasion (corporate and private, btw). If a billionaire wants to buy a Ferrari, he calls someone. If he wants to eat, he goes to a fancy restaurant. Money? His banker takes care of that. Who needs cash when youve got your private banker 24/7?

 

[bendish]

 

[ignatius]

4 hours ago, Nebraska said:

those guys have the "best electric chair ever" and they live by god's golden rule

i've lingered on this picture for far too long. it's just so americanly stupid. "MASKS ARE FOR FAGS!!!" is basically what it says. i mean.. it's the same kind of idiotic reaction people have to recycling, composting, fuel efficiency standards etc.. these are the same people who "roll coal" in their diesel trucks to "own the libs."

america is just fucked daily w/the long dick of stupidity. 

[ambermonk]

Idiocracy ended up being waaaaaaaay ahead of schedule

[whosebrian]

[ignatius]

https://www.businessinsider.com/california-assemblywoman-tweets-f-elon-musk-in-tesla-factory-row-2020-5

One day after reopening, ice cream parlor closes to public after employees harassed by customers

https://www.boston25news.com/news/one-day-after-reopening-ice-cream-parlor-closes-public-after-employees-harassed-by-customers/FN7MEX3UYJE2LMHXB3NOFF6ITE/

Edited May 10, 2020 by ignatius