Sorry Europe

[Kuron]

I just got angry the other day when she was on the radio telling Europe to get their financial act together and she never says that to the USA, ever, and our worlds greatest treasurer, when asked what he would do, didn't have one clue, and I though he would at least have one since his head has got much bigger lately.
Anyway, its good to hear you guys over there don't take too much notice of politicians verbal diarrhea.

If it makes you feel any better, I will be 43 years old in January. In my lifetime the only time I have seen news of Australia in/on our mass media was when Steve Irwin died. If she said something about the USA, we wouldn't care, because we would never hear about it. If we did hear about it, we would probably agree with her as most Americans go to bed every night praying for some country to come here and do a regime change.

[MachineCode]

I will be 43 years old in January. In my lifetime the only time I have seen news of Australia in/on our mass media was when Steve Irwin died.

News maybe, but Australia has had a massive TV media presence in America from time to time. Paul Hogan's "Shrimp on the Barbie" ad campaign, "Glenn Campbell: Down Home, Down Under" with Olivia Newton-John, and Olivia's Koala Blue stores, to name a few. Being 42, you'd know all of these if you watched TV regularly.

[Kuron]

News maybe, but Australia has had a massive TV media presence in America from time to time. Paul Hogan's "Shrimp on the Barbie" ad campaign, "Glenn Campbell: Down Home, Down Under" with Olivia Newton-John, and Olivia's Koala Blue stores, to name a few. Being 42, you'd know all of these if you watched TV regularly.

I can remember watching The Paul Hogan Show on TV in rural Virginia on some channel we could barely get in. This was back in the early 80s.

[the.weavster]

WTF is a Gillard?

Ask the Leyland brothers

[Zach]

I just got angry the other day when she was on the radio telling Europe to get their financial act together and she never says that to the USA, ever, and our worlds greatest treasurer, when asked what he would do, didn't have one clue, and I though he would at least have one since his head has got much bigger lately.
Anyway, its good to hear you guys over there don't take too much notice of politicians verbal diarrhea.

If it makes you feel any better, I will be 43 years old in January. In my lifetime the only time I have seen news of Australia in/on our mass media was when Steve Irwin died. If she said something about the USA, we wouldn't care, because we would never hear about it. If we did hear about it, we would probably agree with her as most Americans go to bed every night praying for some country to come here and do a regime change.

Most Americans do not pray for that. That is another American weakness, whatever viewpoints we as individuals may have, we somehow believe the majority of the country feels the same way because all our friends agree with us, etc..

Anyway.. Europes financial situation is much more dangerous than the USA's and can have a far greater impact on a far greater number of countries.. It has also been coming for a long time, with the likes of Greece, and the general European attitude of entitlement programs, 5 hours work days, etc etc. All it took was one financial scandal to bring the European monetary system practically to its knees. Now that the money has run out and people are faced with the prospect their spending isn't sustainable, what do people do? Blame every rich person and throw a huge temper tantrum?

In the USA we have protests, but we seldom have riots, much less when we do have one, we don't have several more in a short term span because some group isn't getting what they want.
Europeans have demonstrated an ill-advised diss-aversion to the idea of breaking some other guys stuff, and setting shit on fire when they don't get what they want.

[electrochrisso]

I was just listening to a documentary on the radio that says the US has 43million people living in poverty and there is a third world living inside a first world over there, lots of shanty towns popping up, stuff you never hear in the main-stream media.
I wonder what I can find out on the web.

[Zach]

You have to understand some things.

In the US, you are considered impoverished if you for one thing, live at or below the federal poverty threshold.
And other things are considered "poverty" such as not having an Xbox or computer, and things like that.

I haven't seen or heard anything about "shanty towns", but every nation has its poor. There is no question about that. However whatever statistics you are looking at, you should find out where they cite their numbers from and how they got those numbers.. What do they considered improverished? What is the monetary basis? what is the material possessions basis?

Who are they counting? Are they counting the 10+ million illegal immigrants we have as well?

These are all key things to consider. US Politics is a disgustingly dirty institution, and no matter where you look, you will find people throwing numbers out there, twisting them and distorting them to their own point of view.. It is very easy to get bad ideas about the USA, or be suckered in by misrepresentations of what it is actually like & what is going on here.

Would it surprise you to learn that just around or above 50% of Americans don't actually pay anything in Federal Income Tax? I have never paid a dime in Taxes, quite the opposite the government has actually given me hundreds of dollars in "credits" or "returns".

[USCode]

Good post Zach.

You have to understand some things.

In the US, you are considered impoverished if you for one thing, live at or below the federal poverty threshold.
And other things are considered "poverty" such as not having an Xbox or computer, and things like that.

Exactly, it's all subjective. It's amazing the sense of entitlement people have these days.

Who are they counting? Are they counting the 10+ million illegal immigrants we have as well?

Another great point. In fact, Mexico's largest source of income is funds sent back home by Mexicans working in the US. That is why the Mexican government actively encourages illegal immigration to the USA.

These are all key things to consider. US Politics is a disgustingly dirty institution, and no matter where you look, you will find people throwing numbers out there, twisting them and distorting them to their own point of view.. It is very easy to get bad ideas about the USA, or be suckered in by misrepresentations of what it is actually like & what is going on here.

Probably not any dirtier than most other nations. The problem is the US Government has grown too large and confiscates too much of the nation's wealth. There is so much at $take anymore that people will go to great lengths to maintain influence and power. That is why the founding fathers believed in small, constitutionally limited government.

Would it surprise you to learn that just around or above 50% of Americans don't actually pay anything in Federal Income Tax? I have never paid a dime in Taxes, quite the opposite the government has actually given me hundreds of dollars in "credits" or "returns".

You're welcome.

[Kuron]

I was just listening to a documentary on the radio that says the US has 43million people living in poverty and there is a third world living inside a first world over there, lots of shanty towns popping up, stuff you never hear in the main-stream media.
I wonder what I can find out on the web.

We call them "Tent Cities" and they have been popping up all over the country for the past five-seven years. It used to get a lot of coverage in the news over here, but now it rarely makes the news here, even though the tent cities are growing.

[electrochrisso]

Actually it was a guy from the US being interviewed about his new book about poverty in America, I have forgotten the title though, and yes I remember he did say tent cities under bridges and in the forest fringes.
Poverty really is the kind of lifestyle you want to lead, I am currently getting by quite nicely on 10 dollars a day and I have not even started growing my own food yet. I live a very humble existence on solar power and still have internet and shower, kitchen etc, just not the way you see it on TV, and I don't have to slave my guts out anymore working in dingy factories and just do the odd job here and there, now I have got myself set up a lot more self sufficient.

[Kuron]

Poverty really is the kind of lifestyle you want to lead,

I don't have much of a choice. I am a disabled vet. The current poverty level in the USA for a two person household is $14,710. My wife and I live off of less than half of that. By the time we pay our bills every month, we only have around $100 per month to spend on food for the two of us. We eat a lot of rice, potatoes and canned veggies. I have a wonderful wife, we have a roof over our head and we eat one meal per day. No complaints.

[Danilo]

You have to understand some things.

In the US, you are considered impoverished if you for one thing, live at or below the federal poverty threshold.
And other things are considered "poverty" such as not having an Xbox or computer, and things like that.

U.S.A. is just another system. Sounds more like you are alone in the states.
You have to care for yourself. If not, you will die. Nobody cares.

In Europe we agree to have a system with a minimum standard for humans.
That means everybody has good health insurance. If you don't have work,
you get money from the government to buy food and have a roof over your head.

Also, Europe is a socialist/communist system where all people are more seen as humans.
Now all the money is shared in between Europe. Greece has a problem? No Problem!
German people just send some many millions to Greece. We help each other, because we
are all humans.

The U.S.A. looks more like barbarians. Make war everywhere in the world to get what
they want. Everybody has a gun in his house. It is barbarian, not human.
No human needs a gun to kill other humans. Only barbarians think like that.

In the states many people live under bridges. They can not go to a dentist (teeth doctor)
if they really need it, nobody cares if they have nothing to eat or can't pay the doctor.
That is a capitalist system at it's finest. Looks like this system is dying now and the
United States will be a third world nation within 50 years.
A great nation lived on credits for a long time, but it is over now. They lost their houses
but finally got a health insurance... the republican party still doesn't like this step to more
humanism. They like barbarianism, guns, 100% capitalist system. Get rich or die trying.

China is the new superstar on the horizon. Russia will follow.

[electrochrisso]

Yep Yep! I know what u mean Kuron, I do the same and get all the specials I can and usually pay about $15 per week on groceries. Potatoes have come rite down in price here and are 3 bucks for 5 kilos, and you can do a lot with them too.
Us ex military guys know how to get by, I was in the Aus army for six years, most of it field-force, but didn't see any action, thank God, just had to put up with a lot of shit and learned a lot of survival skills.
Your doing pretty good for the two of you at 25 bucks a week there for food, the bills are a killer though, and the receiver of them wastes most of that I bet, I am lucky and got mine down to less than $1500 per year.
I thinks a hell of a lot more people are going to have to learn how to adapt in the near future.

[electrochrisso]

Hi Danilo, you snuck one in and you have some good points, but Australia is supposed to be the lucky country, but it isn't really, even with all the resources we are shipping off to China and making a shit load of money, and only 22million people, our health system will look after you, but only when you are at deaths edge. Forget about the Dentist if you ain't got money, and if you need an operation join the cue. In one word too many greedy people over here, and it would have to be much the same over in Europe if you are down on the bottom of the wealth heap.

[MachineCode]

Forget about the Dentist if you ain't got money

That's just because of greedy dentistry. My 5-year-old son needed a slightly-chipped tooth filed back to remove a sharp point. Took only 30 seconds to do. The bill? AUS $300, or $10 per second. There's NO justification AT ALL for that sort of fee.

if you need an operation join the cue

Yep, like you said, it's due to greedy people (the doctors). A 5-minute consultation with a specialist can run you back AUS $500. A psychologist will charge you AUS $190 per 30-minute visit and keep you coming back for weeks on end, saying that you need it (note: comment not made from personal experience). I've seen one lady who paid AUS $45000 on psychologist visits over a 12-month period (a few visits per week). I asked why she pays that much money, and she said the psych told her she needed it. Yeah, bullshit. Just gold-digging. I advised her to take a break for a month and see how she went. She was fine and never went back. Good on her! Broke free from the BS, and she's happy and healthy and doing fine.