3 hours ago, vikas83 said:

The difference is in those Western European "utopias" that they love so much, EVERYONE pays income taxes and the tax burden isn't nearly so progressive. There's also the lower standard of living and anemic economic growth. But hey -- they all have free, but awful, health insurance.

Which countries are in Northern Europe with a lower standard of living than the US? If you are only talking about the upper middle class and higher than yeah but otherwise those Northern European countries have higher standards of living.

2 hours ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Yup. I’ll also add that people focus on income inequality when the focus should instead be on income mobility. There will always be income inequality and there SHOULD be income inequality. If there’s no income inequality it means there’s no opportunity for income growth. So don’t focus on what the gap is between income quartiles and how we "fix” that. Focus on what the likelihood is of the 22 year old entering a the workforce at income level A is going to be able to be able to get to income level B 10 years from now.

I’ll also add, what are 3 barriers to your typical middle class person living out the "American Dream”. The cost of housing, the cost of education, and the cost of healthcare. AKA the 3 industries that the government has heavily gotten involved in to try to "fix” to "improve access”.

Yes, there should be a good measure of wealth gap but if it gets too big OR too small then there are issues. It has always been that way and always will. It doesn't matter how high the overall curves are relative to decades or centuries ago. I'm not saying it should be like that but it most certainly is like that.

1 minute ago, DrPhilly said:

Which countries are in Northern Europe with a lower standard of living than the US? If you are only talking about the upper middle class and higher than yeah but otherwise those Northern European countries have higher standards of living.

Basically all of them with any real population. The countries with a higher GDP/capita in Europe are Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Iceland. None of them have more than 10,000,000 people, with Switzerland around 9,000,000. So, basically the same as New York City.

5 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

Which countries are in Northern Europe with a lower standard of living than the US? If you are only talking about the upper middle class and higher than yeah but otherwise those Northern European countries have higher standards of living.

Yeah but your food sucks. Pickled herring eating weirdos.

OK, this is funny

3 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

Yes, there should be a good measure wealth gap but if it gets too big OR too small then there are issues. It has always been that way and always will. It doesn't matter how high the overall curves are relative to decades or centuries ago. I'm not saying it should be like that but it most certainly is like that.

This. We got some 21st century robber barrons that need some cutting down.

2 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Yeah but your food sucks. Pickled herring eating weirdos.

It's nuts cuz you got to the grocery store and it's like disney world, then you go to the restaurants and they all serve the same 200 yr old recipe barf. WTF?

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Basically all of them with any real population. The countries with a higher GDP/capita in Europe are Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Iceland. None of them have more than 10,000,000 people, with Switzerland around 9,000,000. So, basically the same as New York City.

So you're really talking about France, Germany, UK, etc. The ones usually pointed to as good free market / social welfare examples have strong numbers. Also, most people would include factors beyond GDP/capita. I say "most people" because that is the group that is relevant when talking about voters. Doesn't really matter if they are right to think that way or not when it comes to how they vote.

22 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Eh...the main reason he won is Cuomo was a horribly flawed candidate, so he won the primary and then was on cruise control. The Dems needed a better candidate in the primary.

yes, the dems are stupid, thats part of it, but the trump effect is absolutely there as well.

6 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Yeah but your food sucks. Pickled herring eating weirdos.

Yeah, I hate pickled herring.  I avoid it at all costs.  Typically, I'll eat one piece at Christmas and one piece at the midsummer party per year and both with a shot of spiced vodka.

1 minute ago, DrPhilly said:

Yeah, I hate pickled herring.  I avoid it at all costs.  Typically, I'll eat one piece at Christmas and one piece at the midsummer party per year and both with a shot of spiced vodka.

It could be worse. Iceland's food makes Scandinavia's look like fine French cuisine.

41 minutes ago, Alpha_TATEr said:

you f'ng dope, the only reason this POS won nyc is trump.

I keep saying it, this guy is probably the most retarded dude in here. He's certainly not on a pedal stool, that's for sure.

Just now, DEagle7 said:

It could be worse. Iceland's food makes Scandinavia's look like fine French cuisine.

I've never been out of the airport in Iceland but I can imagine.

For what its worth, we have no trouble getting really good food here in Stockholm but that's either modern foodie style or all the normal suspects, e.g. Italian, French, Japanese, etc. The old school Swedish stuff isn't all that good save for a couple classics.

10 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

I've never been out of the airport in Iceland but I can imagine.

For what its worth, we have no trouble getting really good food here in Stockholm but that's either modern foodie style or all the normal suspects, e.g. Italian, French, Japanese, etc. The old school Swedish stuff isn't all that good save for a couple classics.

I think you are trapped with the choices but have convinced yourself to enjoy it.

Just now, dawkins4prez said:

I think you are trapped with the choices but have convinced yourself to enjoy it.

What makes you say that? I have traveled a lot and have plenty to compare to.

22 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

So you're really talking about France, Germany, UK, etc. The ones usually pointed to as good free market / social welfare examples have strong numbers. Also, most people would include factors beyond GDP/capita. I say "most people" because that is the group that is relevant when talking about voters. Doesn't really matter if they are right to think that way or not when it comes to how they vote.

Yes, I readily concede that 99% of people are morons.

16 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

What makes you say that? I have traveled a lot and have plenty to compare to.

wink, wink. You'll get it quickly.

53 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Basically all of them with any real population. The countries with a higher GDP/capita in Europe are Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Iceland. None of them have more than 10,000,000 people, with Switzerland around 9,000,000. So, basically the same as New York City.

Exactly. And even look at their economies — they are basically all either geared towards servicing UHNWI’s/corporations (Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, Ireland) or are otherwise subsidized by radically disproportionate natural resources per capita (Norway).

Europe is really, REALLY poor compared to the US overall. I think I read Mississippi now has the same GDP per capita as the major European economies. lol

1 hour ago, dawkins4prez said:

New york already flirted hard with this in '21 and Andrew Yang. AOC is the rising congressional star there. This is a trend.

Agreed. Women and minorities are the overwhelming majority of the electorate. This is what they want and always have wanted. It shouldn’t be surprising.

1 hour ago, vikas83 said:

Eh...the main reason he won is Cuomo was a horribly flawed candidate, so he won the primary and then was on cruise control. The Dems needed a better candidate in the primary.

Disagree. This is the trend and accurately reflects what democrats and specifically the constituents of NYC want. Just look at the Democratic Party — the majority outright favor socialism over capitalism:

In the poll, democratic socialists were defined as believing "that the government should take a more active role to improve Americans’ lives. They generally support higher taxes on corporations and high-income earners, support regulations that protect workers and consumers, and want more public ownership of key industries like housing, health care and utilities.”

The survey described capitalists as believing "that the private sector is best equipped to make improvements to Americans’ lives. They generally support lower taxes, oppose government regulations of businesses, and want the private sector to own key industries like housing, health care and utilities.”

After hearing each description, 74 percent of likely Democratic voters said democratic socialism comes closest to their viewpoint, while 16 percent said the same of capitalism. A plurality of independent voters and a majority of Republicans said they preferred capitalism.

Politico

NYC is a Democrat stronghold, full of the most hard line leftists, largely women and minorities, with a massive immigrant population, so this is what you get and will continue to get.

1 hour ago, dawkins4prez said:

You're not a billionaire brother. For the purposes of these discussions, it doesn't matter a lick if you're worth 5m or 20m.

And focusing policy on billionaires is stupid. You’re talking about such a small fraction of a percent of the population, it’s not like enacting some policy to try to extract more tax revenue from them would make a lick of difference in the system.

7 hours ago, DEagle7 said:

🙄

Y'all are so dramatic. New York will be fine. Not to be both sides guy, but the dude is neither going to completely solve homelessness/the housing crisis nor is Sharia law going into effect. He's a Fing mayor. Calm your boobs.

The dude plans on going full **** with both anti-policing and anti-corporate policies.

If you want to know how to destroy a city quickly, that is it: purposefully implement policies which radically increase crime and drive businesses away.

Policy matters, actually.

3 minutes ago, Phillyterp85 said:

And focusing policy on billionaires is stupid. You’re talking about such a small fraction of a percent of the population, it’s not like enacting some policy to try to extract more tax revenue from them would make a lick of difference in the system.

It will make a lick of difference, just not in the way they expect.

As it turns out, the people and institutions with a lot of money are highly mobile and will move.

6 minutes ago, TEW said:

It will make a lick of difference, just not in the way they expect.

As it turns out, the people and institutions with a lot of money are highly mobile and will move.

Ha, yeah well that too.