We went from feeling it was patriotic to give a returning soldier a job to raise a family on in the 50s and 60s to viewing an employee as an expense to be reduced at any time.

A few examples. I'm 63, when I got my first job at a department store, after school, I made MW. ($2.10) But the people who worked there during the day made $2.80 ($15.44 in today's money) to start. They got regular raises, many worked on commissions. So yes, even the retail jobs pay less today than they did 40 years ago.

Can you even imagine someone working in retail making much over MW today? Wages in your white collar jobs are being cut. Talk to an accounting grad and see how little they make.

My recent college grad son's anecdotes. He finally lands a job, pays well, gets training. He gets let go 6 months in (later than most anyone else in his training class), finds out they basically are looking for stars. They know they will fire over 90% of the people they hire. After looking for another few months, he lands a job he wants to do. BUT first 3 months are probationary, They pay min wage with no benefits for 3 months, the company gets a college grad for MW. To get healthcare, you have to be working there for 6 months BUT the 6 months don't start till after the probationary period. So basically doing college grad work for MW or $2 over MW with no benefits for 9 months.

His way the world is better. We have a 12 year old mother raising her son/brother without a father. The world is now perfect. And they can get DNA from the fetus if needed.

As much as I agree with you, which member of congress would have ever seen the inside of a jail cell? Certainly Cosby is out due to his money and was able to do it for decades because of his money, but even with all of that he went to jail. If we assume everything Gaetz was accused of is true, any chance he goes to jail? Any chance his supporters will turn on him?

Many of us understand that those other things matter too. It isn't just the amount of money you get.

My wife works at a famous hospital, it is common knowledge that they can make a few thousand more elsewhere. But the benefits are great. When she had an accident, which included surgery, PT, dental work, etc. her out of pocket was $150. She got worker's comp and they could have argued the point, they didn't.

Well look. If you believe a woman's place is in the kitchen, taking care of your babies, then sure, having a woman in his "men's places" is going to bother him. It doesn't matter if they do just as good a job. That ain't what women supposta be doin'. Don't give my wife any ideas.

Pushing China on IP.

Pushing China on IP.

Do I believe that some congresspeople were actively working to have people storm the Capitol? I am not sure I can say that.

But, let's look at lynchings in the south. Because of all the racist things said, how evil whites said blacks are, people were OK with hanging people who were accused but not convicted?

This is very similar. When the Republican leadership keeps saying that what Nancy is doing is tantamount to Socialism, tyranny or just plain evil. These people felt it was their DUTY to storm the Capitol. This wasn't bad, this was necessary to save the country.

Leadership KNOWS what they are doing. They weren't upset, they were pleased they could get people to do this. You should want your side to win, but this isn't acceptable.

It depends on what you expect liberals to accept. You can call it cancel culture if you want but saying, as an example, "we need to ban immigration" (not reduce, or we can only have immigration from European countries), and if you don't agree you are just cancelling me, yeah we see that as racism and don't have a real problem with "cancelling" that.

And I have to ask do you really believe you are as hated and oppressed as a minority in this country? Especially by the people who have power?

Starr was willing to say that Clinton was guilty. In essence summarizing his report. Mueller was not. In our ADHD age, that is important. I certainly believe that if Mueller was willing to say he was guilty instead of just presenting a 448 page report and saying come to your own conclusions, things would have been different. Not that Trump would have been convicted, but maybe some Republicans would have looked at it more seriously.

I agree with you that it ended up having a similar conclusion. But I also don't think that Strzok had a different political bent than some on the Starr committee. Difference is that Strzok had a text that was found.

> He actively worked to overturn the elected president of the United States. Guy is lucky he is not in prison.

How did he do this? Is anyone accusing him of fabricating things that weren't true?

That is my point. Having lived in the DC area most of my life. Most of the people who work in government have political points of view. The do their jobs no matter who is in the White House. I guarantee that there are more Trump supporters in the FBI. But they do their job correctly. Are you saying it isn't "fair" to have a guy on the committee who hated Trump? (See Ken Starr) Or should we have had Trump supporters on the commission to make the point that this isn't a big deal, let it lie? Like it or not their job is to find stuff. But that was my original point.

Just to add my opinion. the difference between Clinton and Trump is that Ken Starr was happy to say Clinton was guilty and Mueller felt that wasn't his position. We had years of Benghazi hearings. This is what these commissions do.

You're probably right. That said, if both sides are perceived as crazy.... A good lawyer may be able to tell her to shut up.

Especially for divorcing someone with this mindset. I mean he is the antichrist who disgusts her. What isn't she willing to accuse him of?

As others have said, document everything. You will sound crazy recounting crazy. She may or may not be able to sound sane in front of a judge.

It isn't black and white. I'll agree that there isn't enough info. I was talking in general. There is something between fraud and overcharging. If you insist on the head of the company do your taxes, when he could be doing something that deserves $400 an hour, I agree it is justified.

Agreed, but even so they don't need a $400 an hour CPA to do their return. Odds are they didn't do a lot with said nest egg, return will be 90% the same as last year. Odds are pretty high that he/she gave it to someone making $40 an hour to do.

THIS is the problem. I get that there are CPAs who charge that kind of money. IMHO, it IS ripping a retired couple off for a guy who charges $400 an hour to do their return. Instead they can charge $200 an hour while giving it to someone they are paying $40 an hour to.

This is what I hate about "professionals" A big way that society has progressed is that people get trained to do something I don' know how to do. We have to trust our doctor, CPA, Plumber, but when a professional takes advantage of that trust, "well you should have known better."

But for anyone affected by COVID it IS emotional. A lot more emotional than not being able to hang out at the bar. Even more emotional than having to go on unemployment for a while. Your head of household dying or not being able to work for 6 months or longer is emotional. That is the point 1% to 5% depending on whether you are talking death or long time sickness.

So you have 5% of the people affected by COVID Joblessness got to 15%. If you are jobless you can get a check.

The pressure that stock holders have is huge. I mean the are the owners of the company. They have to have a say.

By that logic why bother to make much of a profit at all. The vast majority of the owners (stockholders) didn't buy during the IPO. All they can do is sell it to other people at a loss. It doesn't insulate the company from trying to make as much money as possible.

I agree wholeheartedly. But there is a solution.

A post on Reddit in 2016 still haunts me. It was from a woman in her early 20s who went to a Hillary wins party. As results came it and it became apparent that Trump would win, many of the guests were saying, "Maybe I should have bothered to vote". This was in FL where it might have mattered. THIS is a problem.

First, I think we can both agree that neither side should be defined by our most extreme.

Now I agree that rural whites have been screwed by globalization. You really believe the corporations that have moved jobs are neo liberals? Not the conservative business owners? Companies that moved jobs out of the US for cheap labor aren't run by liberals. Most neo liberals know that that boat has already sailed. Most of the people clamoring for "higher productivity" (labor working harder for less) so they can get 25% ROI on their stock portfolio are people allied with Trump more so than Biden.

And when Biden says something like not black, what he means is that liberals, by definition want society to do better as a whole. We are kinda shocked when someone like Ben Carson who is a genius, grows up on welfare, does really well for himself (because he is a one in 10 thousand genius), and says people shouldn't need welfare because he made it.

As an example. Business moves out of a small rural town, leaving no work around. there really isn't anything for them to do. So many people there are on "government assistance" , and a high rate of people on disability. They are viewed as people down on their luck. People screwed by outside forces, I get why they take that money. Black urban people? Well they are the welfare queens.

And lastly, you can do a lot of things that don't sound racist, but result in racism. As an example cutting school lunch programs. You live in a rural area, it is easier to get food. but harder to get healthcare so what are we cutting?

The person accusing Thomas was black. You can tell me that she other motives, but yeah, I don't want someone on SCOTUS who would do what he was accused of. It could also be viewed that it was progress that someone who would do and say these things wasn't just confirmed because of the power he had.

Seriously asking, how are we oppressing rural white conservatives?

From my point of view, we are currently giving them outsized political power for their number. Not letting them have the power they want (not deserve but want) Not allowing racism or their religious desires being codified into law?

Or is it that Democrats are moving their jobs overseas, driving them out with factory farming, automating their jobs away. No, that is the republicans, but we give them a pass.

And lastly, yes there is a difference between disliking someone because they are black (something they can't change) and not liking someone because of their views.

No, Boomers are no longer the largest section of people of voting age.

There are more Millennials than Boomers.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/

Add in Gen X and even about 1/4 of gen z are of voting age.

What they are is the largest group who votes.

There is a very simple but not easy solution, get people your age to vote. I get it that those in power try to make that harder, but as a liberal boomer they did that when I was young too.

But to answer your question, personable, intelligent people have to get into politics young. Yes, Trump did it another way, but only after decades of being a personality. Look at say Obama or Pete or even Clinton and rising through lower level politics is the easiest way.

It is both.

First of all Boomers (at least in the US) are NOT the biggest group of people any more. Now, they vote so they have more power, but there is a solution.

Making money on investments is just too important. Being an owner (stock holder) is seen as everything, workers have become nothing more than an expense.

As an example, I have a mutual fund I bought in 2006. By definition a combination of profit from different companies. If I had put $100k into that fund, I would have made more money than someone who worked full time at one of those companies at $10 an hour. Buying a minute fraction of some companies for 15 years was more valuable to those companies than someone working 32,000 hours at said company.

Now to quickly look at these last 15 years, My fund more than tripled in value even through two of the biggest downturns since the great depression. During many of those same years, for workers, there were hiring and pay freezes. Many companies just fired people if they could find someone cheaper. Move jobs off shore, if it helps our stock price we have no choice.

I also think it is as simple as the fact that 40 years ago, the owner of many companies worked with their staff. When you own a restaurant, an office supply store, a mom and pop grocery, a clothing store like people did you work with staff. Yes, their pay is an expense, but they are also people you knew and liked. Today the only kind of employee owners of places like Walmart, Staples, Old Navy or Safeway like are the ones who will do an acceptable job as cheaply as possible. If they have to live in a box, it isn't my problem.

Well, while I think Elias's concept of get the best college bat you can is a logical one, when 75% of your prospects are outfielders and you draft another outfielder I'm not as convinced. Other teams draft pitchers. Go look at previous drafts, except for the years where there is an obvious #1, even drafting 1, 1 isn't a certainty. We could try for a pitcher or even the best hitting infielder. What are we getting in trade? Let's assume that our outfield in a couple of years is Mullins, Kjerstad and Cowser. What are we getting in return for any of the others? Even if you include Santander and Hays? Is Stowers bringing a hot pitching prospect in return? How about any of Haskin, Diaz, Rizer, McKenna or Watson? My only point is that if we aren't drafting pitching prospects we have to pry them from other teams. And as outfielders are the easiest to get, I'm not in love with drafting that many outfielders.

No one is saying quit then find something else. If you believe you are worth more than you are being paid, look around. A really good salesperson is a valuable commodity. The problem is that most of us aren't in that position. Someone who is a talented salesperson who is self motivated, with his own book of business is something someone will pay for. For most of us we are doing something that others can do, then you are right.