Well, there's one race that may be happening I actually care about.

[Disco Pickle]

Yeah, fuck me for trying to change the way I think by soliciting knowledge from people who know more than me about a subject.

What was I thinking?

Fuck it.  I wasn't trying to piss anyone off.  Now your being pissed is getting me pissed.

Go fuck yourself you sour cunt.  I didn't twist your arm into coming to this thread.  I didn't even ask you a fucking question, I was talking to DSquid and LMNO.

Not that it's any consequence or that you likely give two shits, but I liked you and have learned a lot from you.

You'll make a great fucking professor some day with that shit attitude of yours.

Observe as the primate displays his dominance reaction in response to a perceived violation of his intellectual territory.  Flared nostrils, excessive keyboard wear, and an attempt to anger the perceived alpha by aiming for the alpha's ambitions.

In our next segment, we will demonstrate the primate reacting to outside observation.

that completely deflated any anger, real or mostly psuedo, that I had. 

I am a failure as an anthropologist.   

that's because you make a better comedian.

[Cain]

Yeah, fuck me for trying to change the way I think by soliciting knowledge from people who know more than me about a subject.

What was I thinking?

Fuck it.  I wasn't trying to piss anyone off.  Now your being pissed is getting me pissed.

Go fuck yourself you sour cunt.  I didn't twist your arm into coming to this thread.  I didn't even ask you a fucking question, I was talking to DSquid and LMNO.

Not that it's any consequence or that you likely give two shits, but I liked you and have learned a lot from you.

You'll make a great fucking professor some day with that shit attitude of yours.

Want some cheese with that whine?

And someday, if you stop endorsing sociopathic political ideologies, you might make an OK human.

But I wouldn't bet on it.  Idiot.

[Cain]

REMINDER: PARIS HILTON NOT BEING TAXED IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN POLITICAL STABILITY AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM
\
:pickle:

[Disco Pickle]

I can't think of a single person that likes a self important asshole with a god complex.

Good luck with that.

[Doktor Howl]

I also think that this is perhaps why engineering types seem to be especially drawn to the libertarian line of thinking.  In engineering, we try to create systems to solve a problem, and often to handle problems that arise in the design phase we have engineering creep that leads to a kludgy, overly complex system.  we have to fight this tendency continuously.  

In all of my working life, I have known two (2) engineers that ever ATTEMPTED to fight this tendency, and none of the other engineers would talk to them.  Engineers, in my experience, tend to be pot-bellied sacks of arrogance and dysfunction that would best serve mankind as some sort of lubricant, after being shoved through a chipper.  They are almost exclusively waddling examples of Dunning/Kruger Syndrome.  You can tell the few GOOD ones by the axle grease stains on their shirts and the mud on their boots (any engineer that wears shoes should be ass-raped with a slide rule).

The reason engineers tend to be libertarians is that engineers don't know SHIT about primates, and expect them to act in a predictable fashion, such as "voting in their own best interest".  It's no coincidence that the 2 good engineers I've met have also laughed at libertarianism, because they understand Finagle and Murphy and Gilhooley, and none of the others do, except when pointing out flaws in another engineer's design during mating season, and when dealing with silly-ass electricians who do things based on a measley 30 years of experience.

Engineers are responsible for more chaos than anyone other than congressmen, though, so I guess we'll have to let you live.

[Doktor Howl]

I can't think of a single person that likes a self important asshole with a god complex.

Good luck with that.

I do.

[Cain]

I can't think of a single person that likes a self important asshole with a god complex.

Good luck with that.

Uh huh.  Heard it all before.  "Cain's an asshole.  Cain's got a a God complex.  Cain thinks he's smarter than everyone else."  Maybe you should ask the Ludwig von Mises Institute to furnish an original insult for you, since they seem to do most of your other thinking.

[Disco Pickle]

I can't think of a single person that likes a self important asshole with a god complex.

Good luck with that.

Uh huh.  Heard it all before.  "Cain's an asshole.  Cain's got a a God complex.  Cain thinks he's smarter than everyone else."  Maybe you should ask the Ludwig von Mises Institute to furnish an original insult for you, since they seem to do most of your other thinking.

I've had the misfortune of knowing several fools who, when hearing the same information from multiple, completely independent sources, didn't begin to consider that maybe, just maybe, it had some merit.

I'll regretfully add you to that list.

[LMNO]

I wonder if there's a way to separate "actually earned" income (I built a cabinet, I analyzed this document for errors, I cleaned this window), and "magically appeared" income (my savings account grew 5% for no other reason than it just sat in a bank, speculative trading, hedge funds), and then lower the taxes on "actually earned", and raise them on "magically appeared"?

It seems that would encourage people to make money doing things that at least did something in the real world.

Ok, I know in practice this would never happen, because the people with magically earned money make the rules, but are there any other reasons this is a bad idea?

[Elder Iptuous]

I also think that this is perhaps why engineering types seem to be especially drawn to the libertarian line of thinking.  In engineering, we try to create systems to solve a problem, and often to handle problems that arise in the design phase we have engineering creep that leads to a kludgy, overly complex system.  we have to fight this tendency continuously.  

In all of my working life, I have known two (2) engineers that ever ATTEMPTED to fight this tendency, and none of the other engineers would talk to them.  Engineers, in my experience, tend to be pot-bellied sacks of arrogance and dysfunction that would best serve mankind as some sort of lubricant, after being shoved through a chipper.  They are almost exclusively waddling examples of Dunning/Kruger Syndrome.  You can tell the few GOOD ones by the axle grease stains on their shirts and the mud on their boots (any engineer that wears shoes should be ass-raped with a slide rule).

The reason engineers tend to be libertarians is that engineers don't know SHIT about primates, and expect them to act in a predictable fashion, such as "voting in their own best interest".  It's no coincidence that the 2 good engineers I've met have also laughed at libertarianism, because they understand Finagle and Murphy and Gilhooley, and none of the others do, except when pointing out flaws in another engineer's design during mating season, and when dealing with silly-ass electricians who do things based on a measley 30 years of experience.

Engineers are responsible for more chaos than anyone other than congressmen, though, so I guess we'll have to let you live.

hah!
pretty spot on assessment, as a generalization.  
like they say, 'you can always tell an engineer.  you just can't tell them much!'

[Elder Iptuous]

I wonder if there's a way to separate "actually earned" income (I built a cabinet, I analyzed this document for errors, I cleaned this window), and "magically appeared" income (my savings account grew 5% for no other reason than it just sat in a bank, speculative trading, hedge funds), and then lower the taxes on "actually earned", and raise them on "magically appeared"?

It seems that would encourage people to make money doing things that at least did something in the real world.

Ok, I know in practice this would never happen, because the people with magically earned money make the rules, but are there any other reasons this is a bad idea?

isn't this the idea of capital gains taxes?  the trend now is to reduce that in order to encourage investment, right?

[Disco Pickle]

I wonder if there's a way to separate "actually earned" income (I built a cabinet, I analyzed this document for errors, I cleaned this window), and "magically appeared" income (my savings account grew 5% for no other reason than it just sat in a bank, speculative trading, hedge funds), and then lower the taxes on "actually earned", and raise them on "magically appeared"?

It seems that would encourage people to make money doing things that at least did something in the real world.

Ok, I know in practice this would never happen, because the people with magically earned money make the rules, but are there any other reasons this is a bad idea?

I've always thought this was a great idea, actually.  At the point where you've acquired enough money that the interest it earns is enough to quit your day job and allow you to lead a leisure lifestyle.  What you do with your free time is your choice, but since you've made enough money that it doesn't require you to contribute anything at all, then it should also be returned to the system in order to benefit others.

[Luna]

I wonder if there's a way to separate "actually earned" income (I built a cabinet, I analyzed this document for errors, I cleaned this window), and "magically appeared" income (my savings account grew 5% for no other reason than it just sat in a bank, speculative trading, hedge funds), and then lower the taxes on "actually earned", and raise them on "magically appeared"?

It seems that would encourage people to make money doing things that at least did something in the real world.

Ok, I know in practice this would never happen, because the people with magically earned money make the rules, but are there any other reasons this is a bad idea?

I've always thought this was a great idea, actually.  At the point where you've acquired enough money that the interest it earns is enough to quit your day job and allow you to lead a leisure lifestyle.  What you do with your free time is your choice, but since you've made enough money that it doesn't require you to contribute anything at all, then it should also be returned to the system in order to benefit others.

Please reconcile this with your previous stand against inheritance tax.  Given that said tax doesn't kick in until the amount involved is two million dollars (which I , for one, could cheerfully live the rest of my life on), your positions are inconsistant.

[Precious Moments Zalgo]

I wonder if there's a way to separate "actually earned" income (I built a cabinet, I analyzed this document for errors, I cleaned this window), and "magically appeared" income (my savings account grew 5% for no other reason than it just sat in a bank, speculative trading, hedge funds), and then lower the taxes on "actually earned", and raise them on "magically appeared"?

It seems that would encourage people to make money doing things that at least did something in the real world.

Ok, I know in practice this would never happen, because the people with magically earned money make the rules, but are there any other reasons this is a bad idea?

isn't this the idea of capital gains taxes?  the trend now is to reduce that in order to encourage investment, right?

Beat me to it.  I was going to say that we already do this separation, but we raise the taxes on "actually earned" and lower them on "magically appeared", so that billionaire hedge fund managers can pay less in taxes as a percentage of income than their thousandaire secretaries.

[Doktor Howl]

I wonder if there's a way to separate "actually earned" income (I built a cabinet, I analyzed this document for errors, I cleaned this window), and "magically appeared" income (my savings account grew 5% for no other reason than it just sat in a bank, speculative trading, hedge funds), and then lower the taxes on "actually earned", and raise them on "magically appeared"?

It seems that would encourage people to make money doing things that at least did something in the real world.

Ok, I know in practice this would never happen, because the people with magically earned money make the rules, but are there any other reasons this is a bad idea?

isn't this the idea of capital gains taxes?  the trend now is to reduce that in order to encourage investment, right?

And that's just BRILLIANT, because these spags will of course be investing in other countries, where slave labor ensures a nice fat - tax free - return.

Tax cuts should be tied to verifiable investment in companies at home.  Good luck getting THAT though congress, though.