Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Do you think the US will become socialist in the next 4 years?

ASU2003 · 01-02-2009, 06:39 PM

Or maybe the question should be, will we have to be? If this turns out to be the Great Depression V.2, where there are no new jobs, no new technology advances, and just the same 'efficient' companies operating with fewer and fewer consumers able to afford, need or desiring their products and services?

I'm not saying it would be a good thing or the right thing to do, but it does seem like the direction we are going in. And technology and the internet might be helping. Are more and more people living like me (really cheaply and frugally?), or am I just strange and weird? But I know that I am not really helping to get the economy moving again. Will the government have to tax me in order to provide basic services for everyone?

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Maybe it is just how I am living my life and thinking that everyone else is doing the same thing. There are many days where I don't spend any money and only have utility bills, some grocery items and taxes as my expenses. The utilities aren't private companies and have price controls/government oversight, farms are subsidized and taxes pay for government services. In my personal life, exercise is free with no re-occurring costs (after acquiring the proper equipment). The internet is free and I can get CNN, NPR, Fox News, Comedy Central shows for free (I am using a 4 year old computer that runs Linux Mint and didn't cost much). Digital over-the-air TV is free and the quality is perfect on my HDTV (I did have to buy the HDTV). Youtube, Hulu, Fox, NBC, even amateur adult videos are free (some have a few seconds of commercials). I use the public library to read books. And I listen to the radio to get my free music, my iPod has plenty of songs from the radio on it

(I did buy the iPod and gave Apple a one time fee, but I will be happy with it for years). I have purchased all of the HD DVDs that I need, and maybe in a few years when I get through them all I will rent some. Gas (petrol) and oil I still buy, but I am working on reducing that amount greatly in the next few months. Since I will be able to walk to work, it will go down a lot. And I am working on a way for the Sun to add some heat to my house, so I will use less natural gas too. I'm not in the market for a car anytime soon, and it looks like the government will own part of them anyway. Health insurance is taken out of my paycheck just like taxes. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if the government run health care system got my money or a company did. I do have a cell phone with a capitalist type of corporation, and I have a monthly fee with that. It is the only monthly service fee I have.

01-02-2009, 06:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
ASU2003 immoral minority Location: Back in Ohio	Do you think the US will become socialist in the next 4 years? Or maybe the question should be, will we have to be? If this turns out to be the Great Depression V.2, where there are no new jobs, no new technology advances, and just the same 'efficient' companies operating with fewer and fewer consumers able to afford, need or desiring their products and services? I'm not saying it would be a good thing or the right thing to do, but it does seem like the direction we are going in. And technology and the internet might be helping. Are more and more people living like me (really cheaply and frugally?), or am I just strange and weird? But I know that I am not really helping to get the economy moving again. Will the government have to tax me in order to provide basic services for everyone? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maybe it is just how I am living my life and thinking that everyone else is doing the same thing. There are many days where I don't spend any money and only have utility bills, some grocery items and taxes as my expenses. The utilities aren't private companies and have price controls/government oversight, farms are subsidized and taxes pay for government services. In my personal life, exercise is free with no re-occurring costs (after acquiring the proper equipment). The internet is free and I can get CNN, NPR, Fox News, Comedy Central shows for free (I am using a 4 year old computer that runs Linux Mint and didn't cost much). Digital over-the-air TV is free and the quality is perfect on my HDTV (I did have to buy the HDTV). Youtube, Hulu, Fox, NBC, even amateur adult videos are free (some have a few seconds of commercials). I use the public library to read books. And I listen to the radio to get my free music, my iPod has plenty of songs from the radio on it (I did buy the iPod and gave Apple a one time fee, but I will be happy with it for years). I have purchased all of the HD DVDs that I need, and maybe in a few years when I get through them all I will rent some. Gas (petrol) and oil I still buy, but I am working on reducing that amount greatly in the next few months. Since I will be able to walk to work, it will go down a lot. And I am working on a way for the Sun to add some heat to my house, so I will use less natural gas too. I'm not in the market for a car anytime soon, and it looks like the government will own part of them anyway. Health insurance is taken out of my paycheck just like taxes. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if the government run health care system got my money or a company did. I do have a cell phone with a capitalist type of corporation, and I have a monthly fee with that. It is the only monthly service fee I have.