The proliferation of commie rhetoric in the USA

[governmentsucks1776]

Most people don't know we have been here before. American voters elected a bunch of social ists to office in the first part of the twentieth century. We even elected a social ist president, Woodrow Wilson.

Yes, they also called themselves "progressives" even back then to avoid the stigma of calling themselves social ists.

Like every generation some think they re-invented social ism. The youngsters always get caught up in it, mostly because it sounds romantic and they lack any historical reference due to a weak government school history curriculum.

The only question that should be asked of any social ist converts is "where has social ism worked"?

Then watch them babble or avoid answering.

You know the saying "If at age 20 you are not a t, you have no heart. If at age 30 you are not capitalist you have no brain."

 

[No_glonks]

From perspective of blue collar worker who immigrated from what used to be USSR, capitalism working out for my parents and I much better than socialism and m worked out for my parents and grandparents. I was 13 when USSR collapsed, and I do remember how we lived then. Never again. Americans really don’t understand how good they have.
I was 21 when we arrived to US in 1999 with no money and not speaking language. We worked and attended ESL classes, my parent passed tests for MTA jobs in NYC. Now retired for a few years, own condo in Brooklyn and cabin in Poconos where they spend most of their time. Mind you, they started from zero in their 40s.
I ran away from NY, first moved to CO, then to CA. Worked manual labor jobs until learned my trade and became one of the top professionals in my field. I can proudly say my skills contributed to change of LA’s skyline.
Is capitalism perfect - no, is there room for improvement in US - also yes. Will socialism make it better - hell no. Capitalism drives economy, personal responsibility, risks and competition drive economy . If you want to achieve anything you have to work for it, and work hard. Really hard or really smart. Opportunities are there just waiting to be taken
Victim mentality and entitlement ruin people. All starts in elementary schools with "participation awards" instead of encouraging to excel and be the best, and punishing for solving math problems correctly, but not the way common core teaches (speaking from my kids experience through public schools) .

Labor unions are really good example of what socialism will look like. Everyone is getting paid the same wage, regardless of skills and quality of work. As long as you show up and leave on time you are getting paid same as the guy next to you. That kills motivation and any drive to improve yourself

There is an old Russian saying - "free cheese can be found only in mousetrap"

 

[PlinkyDinky]

Victim mentality and entitlement ruin people. All starts in elementary schools with "participation awards" instead of encouraging to excel and be the best...

And yet people continue to point the finger at the ones raised and taught this way, rather than the ones who raised and taught them.

"...For though she's spoiled, and dreadfully so, a girl can't spoil herself, you know!"

 

[miles888]

And yet people continue to point the finger at the ones raised and taught this way, rather than the ones who raised and taught them.

"...For though she's spoiled, and dreadfully so, a girl can't spoil herself, you know!"

I don’t think that’s relevant to the solution, however true it may be.

The situation doesn’t change depending on who you assign blame.

If I go to a casino and get dealt a bad hand, I lose. I can’t turn around and say well it’s not fair because the dealer gave me bad cards.

Even still, you can bluff your way to a win. All about how you play it.

 

[morningbird]

The problem is 90 percent of people DONT HAVE the money to put into a 401k

About half of private-sector American workers actively contribute to a 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement savings plan, though up to 70% of private-sector workers are offered one. (Center for Retirement Research)

Nationally, when including government employees and part-time workers, about 56% of civilian workers participate in a workplace retirement plan, while 59% of all U.S. adults report having money invested in a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA. (Gallup Research)

It seems that your statement is wrong. While tax-advantaged retirement accounts are offered to more than two-thirds of private-sector workers the take-up rate exceeds 50% which is more than the implied 10% from your statement (100% minus 90%).

 

[governmentsucks1776]

About half of private-sector American workers actively contribute to a 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement savings plan, though up to 70% of private-sector workers are offered one. (Center for Retirement Research)

Nationally, when including government employees and part-time workers, about 56% of civilian workers participate in a workplace retirement plan, while 59% of all U.S. adults report having money invested in a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA. (Gallup Research)

It seems that your statement is wrong. While tax-advantaged retirement accounts are offered to more than two-thirds of private-sector workers the take-up rate exceeds 50% which is more than the implied 10% from your statement (100% minus 90%).

You can quote all the statistics you want but the majority of people in Los Angeles are struggling to make even rent

 

[eevee2k]

Based asf

 

[miles888]

Based asf

Do you mean the commies are based?

 

[Gawernator]

Not sure if it's relevant but OP thinks the government has spyware watching his every move on his personal phone. lol

 

[inspectorzinn2]

I get it from observing the world around me, and talking to a lot of different people.

A lot of folks are struggling to survive, working very hard against huge costs of living and suppressed wages, and they’re being told it’s their fault.

"A lot of folks are struggling to survive" "I get it from observing the world around me" Have you been to commercial districts in say Santa Monica, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Irvine? I can take a walk in just about any commercial zone and see thousands of people dropping hundreds of dollars on food, drinks, merchandise, that are complete and utter luxuries that they don't need to survive. It's hard to take the "struggling to survive" claim seriously when people insist on living on the most expensive land in the US because of weather and recreational activities (both of which are total luxuries). Even driving around, like 90% of vehicles on the road are nicer and newer than mine. I just don't buy it. IMO people are extremely entitled and love to play victim. Spend some time in Kenya or Ghana and you will experience why even the poorest in the US are in the top 1% globally.

 

[Gawernator]

"A lot of folks are struggling to survive" "I get it from observing the world around me" Have you been to commercial districts in say Santa Monica, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Irvine? I can take a walk in just about any commercial zone and see thousands of people dropping hundreds of dollars on food, drinks, merchandise, that are complete and utter luxuries that they don't need to survive. It's hard to take the "struggling to survive" claim seriously when people insist on living on the most expensive land in the US because of weather and recreational activities (both of which are total luxuries). Even driving around, like 90% of vehicles on the road are nicer and newer than mine. I just don't buy it. IMO people are extremely entitled and love to play victim. Spend some time in Kenya or Ghana and you will experience why even the poorest in the US are in the top 1% globally.

100% this. Seeing some of the slums in Latin America, Africa... it's crazy. Even the ghetto here is way nicer than a lot of parts of the world still.

 

[ikeo1]

100% this. Seeing some of the slums in Latin America, Africa... it's crazy. Even the ghetto here is way nicer than a lot of parts of the world still.

This tells me you haven’t been to a real ghetto. The average poverty in the US is higher than elsewhere, but the K economy is real. The socio-economic environment is changing with less and less middle class. There’s still ways to succeed but it’s for fewer and fewer people unfortunately. Hustle culture is a thing and people are having less kids and spending on lifestyle vs family. It’s not just America, inflation is happening every where in the world and people are having less children as a direct result.

Right/Left can’t explain the global impact. Enjoy the time with your family and friends. We’re always looking for someone to blame, but there’s no right leaning states that are thriving to show how they would want it. That said, when things are bad, is when new businesses are built. Coincidentally, California is the state with the highest number of new businesses that start up and many with immigrant founders/co-founders. Bad times don’t last, it just shows who takes chances and goes through a boom bust cycle. Hunker down and ride it out and try to build. We’ve seen this a bunch of times already. 2000/2008/2016/2020 etc. Debt keeps going higher, but we now have our first trillionaire. Opportunity is there.

 

[Gawernator]

This tells me you haven’t been to a real ghetto. The average poverty in the US is higher than elsewhere, but the K economy is real. The socio-economic environment is changing with less and less middle class. There’s still ways to succeed but it’s for fewer and fewer people unfortunately. Hustle culture is a thing and people are having less kids and spending on lifestyle vs family. It’s not just America, inflation is happening every where in the world and people are having less children as a direct result.

Right/Left can’t explain the global impact. Enjoy the time with your family and friends. We’re always looking for someone to blame, but there’s no right leaning states that are thriving to show how they would want it. That said, when things are bad, is when new businesses are built. Coincidentally, California is the state with the highest number of new businesses that start up and many with immigrant founders/co-founders. Bad times don’t last, it just shows who takes chances and goes through a boom bust cycle. Hunker down and ride it out and try to build. We’ve seen this a bunch of times already. 2000/2008/2016/2020 etc. Debt keeps going higher, but we now have our first trillionaire. Opportunity is there.

Name a place here worse than the Medellin slums. Nice of you to tell me what my whole generation knows haha, we are living it. Hey, at least there will be a huge wealth transfer when our parents die

Less kids is real, you really gotta get on section 8, EBT, WIC and medi-cal and pop them out. Hard if you actually have a job

 

[Wolkenflieger]

So teach them. It’s hard for people to figure things out on their own, and you’re very rare and fortunate for having done so yourself.

Stupid, lazy people struggle. Smart and hardworking people find a way.

 

[Wolkenflieger]

I’ve experienced more than a little of that myself, but there’s a lot more out there.



That’s where I think you’re mistaken: That is special and out of the ordinary. Most people are pretty average, and it genuinely doesn’t occur to them to do this completely on their own. It’s not because they’re stupid or anything, either, and many are happy to try stuff out once someone has shown them what some of their options are.

Smart people especially in 2026 know all of their options or something is wrong with their intellect or drive. There's no excuse for ignorance in the modern world with mobile phones and Internet.

 

[BCar777]

Stupid, lazy people struggle. Smart and hardworking people find a way.

This! People need to take responsibility for their actions/decisions and quit feeling sorry for themselves. “The system”….. lol. Yeah that system gives you the best chance out there.

 

[morningbird]

It helps to understand that in what is considered the left spectrum in America there is a growing debate over narratives and solutions to the problem that at least two, if not all three groups agree on: Affordability.

The three groups I identified are:
- The democratic party establishment which I’d consider center-left. It seems to offer only one way out which is: More of the same and strong opposition to Republicans even when the latter ones are getting something done. There is little appetite for bipartisanship despite the rather centrist positions. They are losing to populists.
- The “abundance crowd” around Ezra Klein et.al. which has identified regulations and moats as the cause for what some call “affordability crisis”. They are highly controversial in a party that has cemented power thanks to regulations, laws and committees and regulatory bodies for every aspect of life. They are actively threatening the democratic parties establishment and their many cozy positions as they would allow much more free market activity to march towards “abundance”. There are entire books written about it and while I personally disagree with some of the premises there are a lot of sharp analysis and viable solutions in this group.
- The s that call themselves “democratic s” which is a bit of a misnomer as we saw in history repeatedly. They focus on the system (just like the abundance crowd) but they see government as the solution not the cause (unlike the abundance crowd). Naturally, they are another threat to democratic party establishment and they are fighting hard, are loud and very successful with the voter. They offer a solution we know from history has an almost zero chance of success but we also know from human psychology that simple solutions are more attractive to societal problems when voters feel stressed and squeezed. Which they are, see my interaction in this thread with @governmentsucks1776 where I agree with their perception even though the statistics don’t match that. But perception wins elections, not statistics or facts.

Now, the spectrum from center to right has its own crazy debates going on right now but that is for another time. I gotta go to work and pay taxes. What a life…

 

[inspectorzinn2]

This tells me you haven’t been to a real ghetto. The average poverty in the US is higher than elsewhere, but the K economy is real. The socio-economic environment is changing with less and less middle class. There’s still ways to succeed but it’s for fewer and fewer people unfortunately. Hustle culture is a thing and people are having less kids and spending on lifestyle vs family. It’s not just America, inflation is happening every where in the world and people are having less children as a direct result.

Right/Left can’t explain the global impact. Enjoy the time with your family and friends. We’re always looking for someone to blame, but there’s no right leaning states that are thriving to show how they would want it. That said, when things are bad, is when new businesses are built. Coincidentally, California is the state with the highest number of new businesses that start up and many with immigrant founders/co-founders. Bad times don’t last, it just shows who takes chances and goes through a boom bust cycle. Hunker down and ride it out and try to build. We’ve seen this a bunch of times already. 2000/2008/2016/2020 etc. Debt keeps going higher, but we now have our first trillionaire. Opportunity is there.

? Name a ghetto in the US that does not have drinkable water, no electricity, no paved road (dirt roads), corpses lie in ditches off the roads for weeks, no police, fire department, or EMS services when calling 911, no sewer system, no running water/flushable toilets. And let's not even get into stats like how the under-five mortality rate averages 71.6 deaths per 1,000 live births (that is 15 times higher than US ghettos).

 

[MK6M9]

What do you guys think about this proliferating in the USA?

There have been congress members openly talking about allegiance to other countries before America, direct violations of their oath to the country when they receive citizenship.

They talk of free this and free that, abolishing prisons and police, etc.

The illegal immigration support, relaxed crime enforcement, etc.

Why and how did this happen? Curious to hear what the gun crowd has to say

i have a serious hard time believing that any of this is actually happening. how did we let this occur, let alone allowing it to continue?

 

[MK6M9]

A lot of folks are struggling to survive

i have been hearing this since I can ever remember. when are they not?