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You're trying to have your cake and eat it too. The redistributive policies you call for, the decrying of hoarded wealth... What exactly do YOU think socialism is? Social policy (good): You can't kick me out of your restaurant because I'm black or gay. Regulation (good): Credit card companies must make clear the fees and rates before a customer signs a contract. Socialism: The results of your labor will be seized and given to those with less to create a more equal outcome. You hide behind words like "rights" and "taking care." But healthcare and retirement funds are not rights. Not in the Constitution, the Bible, nor in nature. They are socialist policy. I get what you're saying. The concept is simple, that's why so many people like it. I even agree with it, life should be fair. But it's not, and I'm not willing to flip the table over to force it, when, for the millionth time, every historical example we have shows that what you want leads to chaos. This isn't some artifact of human ambition. This is the natural law of the universe. The Pareto principal is inescapable. Artists, pea pods, galaxies, software bugs, customer sales, sports, fitness... A small proportion (10-20%) will always command a bulk of the resources, and yield a bulk of the production. The most tired of all socialist claims. "All those example you cited about how socialist efforts failed miserably are just examples of people doing it wrong! I know the RIGHT way to do it!" By the way, you haven't addressed your claim about needing to be the child of wealth-hoarding parents in America to strike it rich. Shall we hit that or just repeat your point that you hate socialism too, but here are a bunch of socialist policies I support but they're totally not socialism because socialism is bad guys, I swear?

None. The first phase of training would be 15 dual and 20 solo hours in a Husky. btw: the FTU is equipped with a fleet of Huskies...and the line for IPs is around the block. ...let me have my dreams dammit

Or two or three decades....

He accepts offer and completes a PCS to DC to work for CSAF. Six months later AFPC drops a 365 to Afghanistan on him...PCS ADSC won't let him turn it down and he finds himself sitting in Kabul guarding TCNs in the chow hall.

Surface 2 + Jepp. No, wait, that sucked. Nevermind.

The latter

Only 3 countries in the G20 have a higher percentage than us in the debt to GDP category: Japan, Italy, and Singapore. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt-to-gdp

This all seems so eerily familiar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was looking at annual numbers, I’m surprised we had quarters that good. You’re right, the deficit was headed in the right direction and the abortion of an omnibus that we just passed has reversed that trend. I am not a fan. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well you guys kinda own that left over taste for F’ing away what was going to be a 99% SOCOM asset with Spartan. The Army Sherpa/intra theatre transport replacement was going to spend most of its life moving stuff and people for SOCOM. Nobody has forgotten that bad deal on the green side. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The government's job is to ensure fair free enterprise. That's the difference. If you think there is free enterprise in Mexico then you're even less informed than I thought. Incredible levels of private and government corruption are the enemies of a free capitalist society. Regulation is not socialism. It is a necessary function of government to ensure a fair system. But it must be conservatively applied, and every new regulation scrutinized to ensure it is not picking winners rather than preventing cheaters. But these are details. The bottom line is that your philosophy ignores human nature, and you yourself are proof. People will always take care of themselves first. Always. You saving masses of wealth, contributing to the very problem you cite, is all we need to know about the possible success of your desired system. You have to be literally forced by the government to do something that you claim to believe in, how on Earth will that work for people like me who don't believe in your cause? And when I say no, then what? I suppose we should just be forced harder, maybe imprisoned? Killed? Don't scoff, no one in the USSR thought the grand plan would kill 60 million. But it did. Liberals never look past today. Oh, and it's not even theory. Go ahead, show me all the ways redistributive systems have helped the world. Your plans, so loosely applied in the United States over the past century, have improved the lives of millions in America by the most generous estimates (aside from creating an entire class of dependant humans). Capitalist enterprise has improved the lives of billions across the globe with all the incredible invention you seem to think would just happen no matter what. You say we need the Elon Musks if the world, but don't you think it's odd they never pop up in socialist, redistributive nations? Must be a coincidence. I've said it before. I'm not for capitalism because I have no sympathy for the poor of today. I'm for capitalism because I don't want YOUR grandkids to know what a poor person is.

Knowing a deficiency exists does not equal wanting to fix it. Big blue has already fucked it up. We should have had this a decade ago.

Option A. Quit before they kick you out. Drink beer and chase women. Graduate. Join the guard. Profit Option B. Quit before they kick you out. Drink beer and chase women. Graduate. Get required qualifications and get hired by a airline. Profit. Option C. Combine A and B.

If the hot topic in the "What is right with the AF" thread is the GTC and DTS, we are proper fucked.

In the most Constitutionally-appropriate answer, likely referencing any Amendment between 4 and 6.

Actually, I’m quite happy. I’m raising my kids to be self sufficient, to work hard, and to give back and be charitable to their fellow man. We don’t need government to make people do that with the threat of prison. I hope you understand what our nation was founded to be. A place for liberty and opportunity, not a nanny state to care for people from cradle to grave. https://thefederalist.com/2018/07/04/dont-believe-limited-self-government-youre-not-american-patriot/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

While the T-38 is older than you want, don't try to make this an issue. AETC pushed the C-model. Lots of "new shit" on the jet. The got what they asked for. The millions of $$$ spent on the PMP and the MB seat (how many millions???) would have been useful elsewhere. A-models with 21,000 hours are doing pretty well from a safety viewpoint. Yes, the fleet needs to be replaced. No argument there. No: Paul's jet having dual airframe-mounted gearbox failures is more a function of shitty maintenance than anything else. As a retiree, I'm not "in the know" as much as I'd like to be on his death. Yet. But I'd gladly jump in ANY Beale T-38 and go fly it. Because Beale has some quality guys working those jets. And I'll continue to fly the civilian T-38 without any qualms. It's well maintained, and the seat is solid, in the unlikely event I need it. T-38 crashes should have no bearing on T-X timeline. It should be based on the fact we need an upgraded trainer for our future F-22 and F-35 pilots.

This. I have disagreed with @Vertigo over other topics but the man (assuming) is honest, borrowing a shit ton of money to boost GDP, is a Polish Blanket trick, no offense to Poles...

So now you’re just re-quoting anonymous people on an internet answer site to support socialist ideas? What do you think happens to money in a rich person’s portfolio? Does it just get locked away in a vault somewhere to gather dust? No, it is invested in companies through stock purchases or maybe as venture capital, hell even if it is just sitting in a bank account it is loaned out to support other economic activities. Just because someone has a large portfolio doesn’t mean that wealth is not utilized somewhere else in the economy. The general state of the economy and financial institutions’ outlook has a lot more to do with the availability of capital than rich people ‘hoarding wealth.’ Wealth is not finite either. If it was, we would all be trading beads still. So your argument of the $20 is moot, because the poor six who have nothing would go work somewhere there is money and they would be paid for it. Geeeez man, where did you go to school? Universal income is not the solution, people don’t need to be disincentivized from working. Free college is not the answer either, as a large portion of college degrees don’t apply in the real world which is why you see psych majors working retail and people with liberal arts degrees working as baristas. Welfare with job training in a needed skilled labor area is what works. If we want to give any sort of schooling away for free/reduced cost then it needs to be in the area of the trades. Kids today are taught as long as you get a college degree you will be successful, however when everyone has a BS/BA because government guaranteed loans make them easy to get, it has now become the new high school diploma. People focus on 4 year degrees and ignore well paying trade jobs like electricians, plumbers, auto mechanics, etc. I forgot to address estate and property taxes. Estate taxes are a bad idea because how fair is it to pay taxes on income twice? If I’m ‘rich’ I’ve already paid upwards of 30%+ on any income I’ve made or capital gains taxes if it is investment income. So because I’m smart with my money and I actually have a nest egg to give to my children or grand children, the government now wants to take another piece of my pie? No thanks. Also the other issue raised with that is large farms that are passed down to future generations but because of the value of the land they fall under the estate tax, now junior has to take out a loan or sell part of the property to cover the taxes after Paw dies. It’s un American. Property taxes I have an issue with because many public school districts piss away the money and give a poor product in return. If we had vouchers where my money that I PAY in property taxes was portable to private education, guess what, it decreases class sizes in the public school and gives my kid the kind of education I choose (since it is my money after all), instead of being indoctrinated with left wing views like kindergarteners learning about a transgender teddy bear. F that noise.

I know it’s tragic, but it should be emphasized that these guys delayed ejection specifically to protect those innocents on the ground from having a flaming ball of wreckage dropped on their houses. Heroic. Just wish they both could have made it out... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey now, be nice(r).

I guess we know what BQZip's mom has been up to.