Animals are now humans

[Doc]

Every single generation believes things were better then, and that things are getting worse.   Those damned kids are always screwing the world up!

And having listened closely to all those generations and followed up with personal observations of what is actually going on around us, I have concluded that they have been absolutely correct. The little piece of news about chimps/humans in this article simply puts an exclamation point on all of that. And I am not saying that my generation hasn't been complicit in this evolution of mankind either.

[scolopaxmatt]

  I am with Doc. 100%.!  Also as far as social security we have paid thousands of $$$$ into it for over 50 yrs.  This is our money & not a favor to us as some political A-holes have said.  I would be willing to bet that we will not get out of it what we paid into it for over 50 yrs.!

 

True enough.  And I won't see a red cent of what I've paid in.  So...

[Mr VJP]

Reagan started stealing it to cover his tax cuts.

A little history lesson on Social Security

[beachpeaz]

I was going to join this fun conversation, but you took the words right out of my mouth.  I could not have wrote this better had I taken the next day to organize my thoughts.

 

The problem with Liberas are, they lack common sense and intelligence to know when they are wrong.  They don't know how to change.  They sure as hell don't have the best interst of the greater good in mind.  Liberals only care about the 1% despite screwing the 99%.  What they don't realize is no matter how much they change, bitch, scream, etc, there will always be the 1% ers.  You have to accept that and move on. 

 

We are breading a society of leaches with no moral compass and a sense of entitlement.  A very dangerous combination that will crumble the society if it continues for much longer. 

 

I am signing off of this topic thread because polictics is a lose lose conversation.  I don't need to get aggrevated today reading the idiocy that people will type.  Thanks for posting this!

Let me correct this myth.

Conservatives are pro-life. They believe killing an unborn child is murder. That's not hard to understand. Liberals believe it's not murder. They believe it's not a child. The SCOTUS has decided it's a privacy issue. So neither political side has been vindicated. That's why it's still an issue.

On the second point, Conservatives believe it is the obligation of the parents to provide for their children. If you can't feed them, don't breed them. They will, however, provide assistance to any family that falls on hard times, through no fault of their own, with the intention of getting them back on their feet.

Liberals promote the destruction of the family with support for abortion, same sex marriage, additional welfare for single mothers who choose to have another child, no fault divorce and single parent families, by offering assistance, with taxpayer funds, to people who voluntarily choose to put themselves in a hard position.

The Liberal policies of the past and present are most responsible for the need to provide food and healthcare for the children of Americans who are making poor choices. Liberals actually admit to their failed policies by arguing we must abort children because we cannot feed them or take care of them.

The rights of children in America has to start with the right to be born. The other issues can't be corrected if they are not alive.

 

[phade]

Gibbons - his work is a recipe to the downfall of most empires. Not an exclusive list, but nonethless a recipe for the foundation to crumble...

 

1. Decline in Morals and Values

   Those morals and values that kept together the Roman legions and thus the empire could not be maintained towards the end of the empire. The dramatic increase of divorce undermined the institution of the family. Crimes of violence made the streets of the larger cities unsafe. Even during PaxRomana there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guests ate and drank until they became ill. The most popular amusement was watching the gladiatorial combats in the Coliseum. These were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on. The drive for personal pleasure had become very intense, even to the point of obsession. Gibbons noted that, at the very end, sports had become more exciting and brutal.

   2. Public Health

   There were many public health and environmental problems. Many of the wealthy had water brought to their homes through lead pipes. Previously the aqueducts had even purified the water but at the end lead pipes were thought to be preferable. The wealthy death rate was very high. The continuous interaction of people at the Coliseum, the blood and death probable spread disease. Those who lived on the streets in continuous contact allowed for an uninterrupted strain of disease much like the homeless in the poorer run shelters of today. Alcohol use increased as well adding to the incompetency of the general public. Recently, some postulate that the Roman Empire had extended so far that diseases from other lands could easily make their way back to Rome. Resistance to those diseases were weak.

   3. Political Corruption

   One of the most difficult problems was choosing a new emperor. Unlike Greece where transition may not have been smooth but was at least consistent, the Romans never created an effective system to determine how new emperors would be selected. The choice was always open to debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's private army), and the army. Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor, who rewarded the guard who then became more influential, perpetuating the cycle. Then in 186 A. D. the army strangled the new emperor, the practice began of selling the throne to the highest bidder. During the next 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors - 25 of whom were removed from office by assassination. This contributed to the overall weaknesses of the empire. Hidden conspirators were working within the government to secretly destroy it. They worked quietly, invisibly and deceitfully; during the entire time they were secretly dismantling the government of the Roman Empire, they publicly proclaimed their unswerving support of it. People lost their faith, both religiously and in their government. The efficient Roman Government gave way to chaos and disintegration.

   4. Unemployment

   During the latter years of the empire farming was done on large estates called latifundia that were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor. A farmer who had to pay workmen could not produce goods as cheaply. Many farmers could not compete with these low prices and lost or sold their farms. This not only undermined the citizen farmer who passed his values to his family, but also filled the cities with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. These people were not only a burden but also had little to do but cause trouble and contribute to an ever increasing crime rate.

   5. Inflation

   The imposition of higher taxes undermined the economic stability and vitality of the Empire. Taxes were raised to pay for deficit government spending, to pay for food for all in society and to pay for government-sponsored activities of diversion, such as circuses and sports. Interestingly, as the time of the final collapse drew closer, greater emphasis was placed on sports, to divert the attention of the public from the distressing news of massive trouble within the Empire. The Roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the Romans to pay for luxury items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables.

   6. Urban decay

   Wealthy Romans lived in a domus, or house, with marble walls, floors with intricate colored tiles, and windows made of small panes of glass. Most Romans, however, were not rich, They lived in small smelly rooms in apartment houses with six or more stories called islands. Each island covered an entire block. At one time there were 44,000 apartment houses within the city walls of Rome. First-floor apartments were not occupied by the poor since these living quarters rented for about $00 a year. The more shaky wooden stairs a family had to climb, the cheaper the rent became. The upper apartments that the poor rented for $40 a year were hot, dirty, crowed, and dangerous. Anyone who could not pay the rent was forced to move out and live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this cities began to decay.

   7. Inferior Technology

   During the last 400 years of the empire, the scientific achievements of the Romans were limited almost entirely to engineering and the organization of public services. They built marvelous roads, bridges, and aqueducts. They established the first system of medicine for the benefit of the poor. But since the Romans relied so much on human and animal labor, they failed to invent many new machines or find new technology to produce goods more efficiently. They could not provide enough goods for their growing population. They were no longer conquering other civilizations and adapting their technology, they were actually losing territory they could not longer maintain with their legions.

   8. Military Spending

   Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which in turn led again to increased inflation.

 

Edited April 23, 2015 by phade

[dbHunterNY]

you should respect all living things.  human beings come before animals.  in my opinion social security is a useless system for the distribution of money that we're stuck in.  I'd gladly do with out it but I'm not paying it out and not getting it later.  as many have pointed out there's losses that go toward paying to process and keep it running.

[The_Field_Ager]

An unborn child seems to have more rights than a living one. At least conservatives are a lot more concerned with the child being born than feeding it or providing healthcare after it is.

 

 

Sicko.

 

Don't shoot me bra

[The_Field_Ager]

I wouldn't say his statement is dribble, that's is pretty much the conservative standpoint.

 

Prove it

[The_Field_Ager]

Dostoevsky said that if God does not exist, anything is permissible. Who can argue that we are not seeing this reality unfold before our eyes?

Edited April 23, 2015 by Papist

[The_Field_Ager]

This is relevant :

 

Liberals Push To Make Murder Normal

 

[ants]

Reagan started stealing it to cover his tax cuts.

Anyone else been dipping into it??