Happydayz

6 ms·

1.
by Happydayz 11y ago
There is a really strong bias among people in the west to overemphasize their role in complex international events. The US absolutely played both sides in the Iran-Iraq War. However, let's not strip the very real agency that Iraq and
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by Happydayz 11y ago
Assuming your premise is true, that the US government exists to transfer taxpayer money into select corporate accounts, then there are far easier ways to do this than venturing off to war. Most of the large private companies that benefited
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by Happydayz 11y ago
So there is no value in a uniquely Norwegian culture? Or Korean? Or Japanese? One of the side effects of totally open borders is that human culture might homogenize, with strong bias toward the developing world where birthrates are except
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by Happydayz 11y ago
No, you're right. Lawyers are protected by their licensing requirements. However the medical profession does protect itself and is opposed to bringing in many foreign born nurses, medical staff, etc. Lawyers have that nice shield tha
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by Happydayz 11y ago
There are plenty of domestic groups opposed to open borders for high-skilled immigrants. Doctors, nurses, and others within the medical profession spring first to mind, and they are incredibly powerful politically. Ditto lawyers or really
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by Happydayz 11y ago
Yes, but there is also the opportunity cost of your downpayment, the transaction costs of getting into and out of a house, and maintenance. Oh man, maintenance. Ref - transaction costs. You have to figure it will cost you around ~8% of th
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by Happydayz 11y ago
likely have constituents who work in an industry that would be threatened with greater trade integration. Nationally a detrimental move with greater costs, but locally they might very well be better off without it. The standard story trotte
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by Happydayz 11y ago
Food companies spend a significant amount on R&D to maximize the taste and attractiveness, but not necessarily the nutrition, of their pre-packaged foods.
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by Happydayz 11y ago
I usually bring up a similar point when people criticize modern agriculture and food production. Right now someone can buy a pound of ground beef for around $3-4. After tax that represents around 30 minutes of labor for a minimum waged emp
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by Happydayz 11y ago
You can't discharge a student loan in bankruptcy. This makes sense. If you borrow money to purchase a car or a home the lender always has the option of repossessing the goods as a last resort. You cannot legally repossess someone&#x2
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by Happydayz 11y ago
Ah, very interesting then. I lived in Germany for three years, but there are still obviously many aspects of German culture I'm still not 100% on. Thanks for that correction. My understanding from the time (mid 2000s) was that the s
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by Happydayz 11y ago
US educators are well aware of the German model. Like you said, we've opted not to go with serious tracking for students. The minimal tracking we already do is controversial as is. It would be a huge ruckus for us to do what the Ger
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by Happydayz 11y ago
Flip the import/export and mercantilist attitude around and see what happens. Imports simply mean that you are getting what you want from external producers. There is nothing inherently bad or good about this. You could also just as
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by Happydayz 12y ago
The concept of "innocent until proven guilty" is generally not used in warfare. This isn't an American thing; it's long been part of the customary / traditional rules governing lawful conflict. To provide an easy t