So what happens if everyone in Switzerland is given 1,000,000 Francs? You really think they all will end up being millionaires? LOL, you will jut create a lot of inflation that's all. Amazing how economically illiterate leftists usually are.
563 karma · joined April 11, 2013
>The way I see it, this is them simply penalizing a monopoly.
Starbucks has a monopoly to sell coffee in France? Amazon has a monopoly to sell books in France?
What are you talking about?
>While you could argue some subsidize their income through Amazon, many more actual French citizens earn their income through independent brick and mortar shops.
And in the free market economy this would be a sign that maybe, just maybe, they need to: A) Get much better at this OR B) Start doing something at what they are good enough that people go there and pay them on their own for their services of products.
I'm not saying it's easy. All I'm saying is that you won't be able to protect them forever. It's good to treat them like gown-ups right from the get-go without assuming that they are too stupid to do something useful for the broader public.
>I honestly don't see how restricting Amazon alone affects the market that much.
Then why to insist on doing it?
>It wouldn't affect my aspirations towards publishing a book or marketplace.
Good.
And there is another, moral hazard kind of a point: Why would you like to force people to buy something they perceive as worse? You are right they worked hard to get this money and this is not your or Government business how they spend it.
What you clearly don't understand is that if you prevent laws like this from occurring, then French cafe owners or bookstore owners would be forced by the market force - competition - to innovate. Create better service or product for their customers. If a cafe owner would succeed - and not be penalized with 75% tax - then he could open more and more cafes, having a franchise, succesfully competing with Starbucks. And if his innovative ideas were good enough, he could even start threating Starbucks position in the US. But that will never happen. Why? Because with Government protection on his side there will be no market force (i.e. customers who prefer competition) to force him to innovate. He will just sit there 8-5 like rest of the French society thinking that a GOvernment edict can somehow change the world in which he's living. It can't. Because people already voted with their money clearly showing winners and losers. And unless losers get to work, they'll be just that. Loosers.
If they want to make France stronger they wouldn't be killing its enterprenual spirit every time they can.
I just can't take seriously anyone claiming that somehow US taxation is worse than that of the EU and the same goes with dealing with burocracy in general. It is MUCH worse in the EU. Just had to pay 1,000 EUR of fine on a border for 'smuggling' a MacBook I bought on a trip to the US. And that's on top of the VAT and other taxes. So, not really sure what all that BS is all about. Because when you compare EU to the US, EU leaves its population just with enough money to pay for day-2-day living expenses and not much more. HORRIBLE!
Trust me. In Poland. It won't. Why? Because I'm a native here and nobody knows that I have US citizenship too. It's like saying that in your US bank branch you will be asked if you have no Polish connections. No, they won't. They want their business. And on top of that there is no way for them to know.
What I'm saying is that it is practical and pragmatic for the US to have this law. It's not for Germany. Why? Because the number of immigrants in the US is extremely high.
Was US to implement the same law Germany has then 60% of New Yorkers would be able to avoid paying income tax in the US. Not that all of them would do that, but just saying. US has this special circumstance of having a big chunk of their population with 2 passports. Not 10% like in Germany, but 60% like in New York. Then you have to enact a law to discourage people from taking advantage of their 2nd citizenship in terms of taxes, or nobody would pay, they would just stay over 6 months in their mother countries whenever that's convienenient (i.e. reaching retirement age).
Used to work at Government projects and it is funny how many of the people who work there including PMs (high level) actually support the Tea Party. Including African American PMs. Once you see this mess from inside, it is impossible not to acknowledge it is a huge waste of money and total mess. As for me they can shut them down like forever.
I read recently that in Canada waiting time for some surgeries are 6 months. For everyone. People who can afford and people who can't afford. Everybody screwed over. But of course that's what socialism is all about - making all people equal. In their poverty.
Then my understanding of the article was that the very nature of homo sapiens is that before they are adults they will copy and imitate adults around them with other kids. So, just letting them do it and not interfering with the process is better than restricting it with parents guidelines, i.e. let the kids discover what adults do via play in their own way. Then main benefit being that you will not kill their natural interest in important stuff they have to learn.
My 3 year plays with the letters and numbers all the time using different toys, including one of these "kid laptops" we bought her. Just this morning she woke us up repeating alphabet after the "kid laptop". She has natural interest in it. Why? Because she is not forced to sit still in a chair and repeat the letters after a grumpy "important" adult. She would hate that then. The idea is that learning via play is not only more effective, but the natural way we homo sapiens do it. Taking it away makes us socially handicapped. As the play happens usually in cooperation with other kids. That was at least how I understood the article.
That Western liberal academia decided to give nobel prize to Obama just shows their real intellectual prowess. Maybe next time liberal art guys from the left will give him an Oscar prize. What for? Like with Nobel Prize! To encourage him!
CNN is so pathetic nowadays that I take russian kgb propaganda tube Russia Today over it any time.
Don't remember the exact date or edict name, but when in the Roman Empire a law was introduced banning debtors from moving too far from their creditors - that's when according to many historians Middle Ages have started.
I think that the problem is that the political elites in many Western countries, especially in the USA, watch China and falsely conclude that capitalism is much more effective in conjunction with authoritarian type of government. Like in China. Or Singapore. Or many other South-East Asian emerging economies. The strength of capitalism derives from democracy and freedom. Because capitalism thrives on innovation and "dangerous" ideas. Slaves or scared people aren't innovative. Yep, you can produce stuff in China, but the innovation part needs to happen in place where people haven't been afraid to think freely and express themselves.
I hope that I made myself more clear. If people vote for social-democracy, let it be.
Also, I'll give you a few example of why I don't think that the current system is capitalistic. First of all, the zombie banks in capitalism would be allowed to fail. Go bankrupt. The moment we decided to take from the regular folk via taxes to support zombie banks is the very moment in which I'd say we're not capitalists any more.
There still was debt to be paid even by knights. Every year the debt obligation had to be met via service or hard ca$h.
EDIT: changing "lords" by knights in the Middle Ages was common. I.e. for few years a knight served a French king just to serve German Prince for a few years after that. So, it looks like they couldn't have taken their oaths too seriously or there had to be an easy way to have the whole thing cancelled.
banker - someone who took risks on the markets. Lost. Took the hit. Takes responsibility for his actions. Doesn't believe that there will be the end of the world if he goes bankrupt. Understand and embraces free market capitalism with both sides of it: risk and reward.
So you don't believe in the markets setting price of credit more efficiently than a burocrat?
You understand that burocrats setting prices doesn't work, right? Or 70 years of communistic "experiment" isn't enough for you to get it?
Oh yeah?! Says who? EU? So the Euro lands in the trash bin and then there is a whole line of countries that want to leave the Titanic as well? You're so naive.
Let me explain it to you how it works: If I'm an investor. Private investor. I buy a stock, equity or a bond, or commodity. I understand that there is risk and reward. That the asset may go up in price but it also may go down. So, if I buy Greek bonds - and note, I do it after analyzing the market, etc, etc - I know they may go up, or they may go down in price. Actually, they may go to zero. And that's a healthy, normal capitalism. That's my attitude when I invest my money. But when you are bankster? Do you accept the capitalistic risk&reward model? Do you accept that the Greek bonds that you bought back in 2000-2007 may go to zero. Oh nein! Then you call Die Frau Merkel and ask her for a favor. Because you gave her money for the campaign, didn't you? So now it's payback time! Die Frau together with the whole EU then forces little Greece to repay as if the bonds were not at zero. As if they were great investment.
Fantastic!
The banksters are the folks I described above. And for the mentality itself - like we should be paid even if it's our error here and even if it means neo-nazis governing Greece - is the reason for which I would behead them with pleasure my friend. And don't confuse these clown with true bankers who believe in capitalism, believe in risk&reward and would just take the hit like they believe in the system (capitalism). Not some aristocrats who think that socialism should be only for them and rest of the populace should live in capitalism.
Greeks vote neo-nazi because they know that the Golden Down would have balls enough to cancel the whole so-called debt to these crooks with a stroke of a pen.
Nope. Not by an "oath". By debt. Check your history books.