Angry young men...

yep, it sadly does.....add to that the following statement.

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of
Edinborough, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a
permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."

And I will throw this in before I get off my soap box and go back to my job....

Quote from Marcus Tullius Cicero (Roman Jurist, politician, philosopher, writer,
and orator!)

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury must be replenished, public
debt should be reduced, the arrogance of public officials should be tempered
and controlled, and assistance to other countries must be removed so that Rome does not go bankrupt. People must learn to work again, instead of living off the state!" Year 55 BC

My personal feelings on this 'chav' lawlessness (chav is an English expression meaning a member of the under-class who is 3rd generation unemployed, uneducated and unemployable) is that it is not the economy they are reacting to.

These hooligans, a good Irish word from the Hoolihan family that ran amuck in the mid 1800's, all seem to wear $150 sneakers and carry the latest Blackberries while swanning around in Nike threads. They are not poor in the old sense of the word.

It is the lack of Police control that frustrates me. When 350,000 huntsmen and country people marched on London a few years ago in peace to protest against the Law banning Hunting with Dogs, the Police were very quick to pull out their riot batons and attack the protesters because they were an easy target. Get a couple of drunk 15 year old chavs throwing bricks at them and they do nothing.

The law, as we all know, is an ass.

All of this has been written many times over the past 2,000 years (although the Nike brand may be new). Usually in a time when many, especially the youth, are feeling helpless and hopeless. Yet one day they end up the employers, the senators, the presidents and the dictators of the future; promising that life will be better for their children. At least the ones that live.

When you see just how bright these chavs are, you wonder how they did so much damage to their own home towns?

Question #1

You throw a garden umbrella at the police, which way around works best?

Answer #A for arrow-like

OR

Answer #B

Just dribble on the paper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p39ULW_xzUE&feature=player_embedded

The son did not have a choice to be born.

The parent had a choice to be a parent.

Perhaps a "Birds and the Bees" class would help you understand.

While school is in session, perhaps a lesson regarding living within one's means would be apposite for the parent.

You gave a good exemplification of Darwinism at its best.

Guess that "hope and change" thing is not doing so well, for Pres. B O; but then, again, perhaps his ideals personify Darwinism.

As long as there is such disparity between the rich and poor, and with the middle class quickly being absorbed into poverty, there will be trouble. It will rear its head in any gathering and overwhelm to original cause of the gathering as was seen recently in the UK. It also leads to large spikes in crime rates, particularly crimes commited by persons who just a short time ago considered themselves law abiding citizens which we've been seeing here in the US. Ultimately it leads to complete rebellion and civil war as we've seen recently in Egypt, Libya and several other countries. Unfortunately there are still many who feel that crushing, killing or jailing those who complain is better than sharing their wealth, a la Syria, Libya,etc. Hard lessons will be learned on one side or the other or both. Smarts come with an MBA. Wisdom comes with age as Mr, Buffet has been showing more and more in recent years.

Well said. Worth the read, thank you.
G.P.

The people who started this country were well aware of the "bread and circuses" flaw of democracy. There answer was a republic instead of a raw democracy. They also understood the republic required an intelligent, informed, and involved voting citizenry. Their answer was to limit the vote to white land owning males. You would probably have a hard time reinstating that particular policy but there is no doubt we need a better informed voter base. Regardless of what qualification we impose it needs to be done soon or it will be too late. With nearly half of the US population receiving some kind of federal aid I suspect it may already be too late. The "bread and circuses" crowd has led us to the brink of bankruptcy and they still want more.

1) most of those receiving federal aid at the lower levels is because it's the only way those people can stay alive since their jobs and homes have been taken away from them.
2) most of the federal aid actually goes to the rich and the corporations in the form of tax breaks and subsidies. Just ask Warren Buffett. He should have a pretty good idea about it.
3) We are a nation "Of the people, by the people and for the people". That's not the white people, the smart people, the rich people or any other sub-section of the population who happens to think they're better than anybody else. It is ALL the people. The smart and the dumb, the hard working and the lazy, the rich and the poor, the black and the white, the young and the old, the educateed and the illiterate. Anybody who thinks they're going to change that one little bit better be ready for all out civil war.

So wrong, but this is not a political forum so here I stop.

Rioting in the streets, burning innocent people's property, putting innocent people's lives in danger, for whatever cause is not only criminal but inhumane and there is no excuse that justifies it.

This is totally wrong. If something is for free, most people will take advantage of it even if they don't need it. It's called being an enabler. Many people here in the States are capable of working and have turned down jobs because they're getting unemployment for doing nothing. Rich people are the ones that give other people jobs, and create things, which create jobs. Rich people also donate Billions of dollars to charities and benevolent organizations to help those without.

If you are SO against rich people, why do you work for them if they are so evil? Why be a hypocrite? Why don't you go run yachts that are owned by poor people? Or how about running a yacht for the government? Or, why not donate your maritime expertise and join the Navy working for the Government to help all those people that cannot defend themselves?

Your first sentence describes how this country began. Think about that. And many of those people you want to disenfranchise are the very same people you ask to fight and die for you. Talk about hypocritical. Tell me all you know about our homeless vets. I've got 5 seconds to spare. They happen to be a large part of our homeless population. And I can count on one hand and have at least 3 fingers left over with the number of people I've met who would pass up a good job for unemployment. Please! And you don't get unemployment "for doing nothing". You get it for working hard and then getting your job yanked away from you. You're getting it so that your family can eat and have a chance at literal survival for a few months while you're out trying to find that job that doesn't exist because someone realized they could afford a bigger yacht if they shipped your job overseas where they can pay slave wages. And where exactly are those good paying jobs being created with my tax dollars? And why exactly shouldn't I work for the rich. I've got the skills they need, and as you aptly pointed out, they're the only ones who can afford the craft that I'm good with. I work for them because they need me, and I need to work. And I hate no man because of any category they happen to fall into. But I understand fairness on every level. There are fair and unfair rich as with every other class. Right now though there is just a greater diparady than at any other time since the gilded age. What exactly is the poor equivilent of Bernie Madoff? How many lost their life saving to him and now have to depend on jobs or unemployment or be homeless and starve? Let's not even start about tax deductable contributions, most of which are more crooked even than Madoff.

The United States revolted against the British because of too much TAXATION. Think about that really hard the next time you say the rich need to pay more taxes. The top 2% of earners in the United States pay 57% of all of the taxes paid. The top 5% of earners pay 68% of all income taxes paid in this country. Think about those numbers for a minute.

Meanwhile close to 60% of the population pays NO TAX. Why don't you recommend we go after the freeloaders not paying any tax? The rich can easily move everything they have to a friendlier country and then you end up with nothing. Do you not think the rich pays enough taxes? The more money the rich has to give out of their pocket, the less they have to hire other people. If the taxes in my county doubled, I'd move to the county next door, wouldn't you? You really just don't get it and keep crying how life is so unfair to other people. Why don't you spend some time in other countries and see how much free healthcare and unemployment you get there. Meanwhile people are collecting unemployment for 2 years, not a couple of months......If you cannot find a job within 6 months, something is seriously wrong with you, not the job market, let alone 2 years.

When I was renting out my condo, I had 6 people look at the place, 3 out of the 6 asked if I did section 8 housing, all 3 were driving nicer cars than I am. You're rolling up in a new Range Rover and asking me if I can do section 8 housing, or how about a new E class. You don't see anything wrong with this picture???? Open your eyes and look around.

Income Taxes:
The top 2% of wage earners pay 57% of the total federal income taxes paid in the U.S.

The top 5% of wage earners pay 68% of the total federal income taxes paid in the U.S.

57% percent of wage earners pay NO federal income tax at all in the United States.

However this video sounds like someone very familiar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUj-m6Gq_2Y&feature=player_embedded

What you seem to have missed is that they pay most of the taxes because they have most of the money. As Mr. Buffett put it the other day, 'he paid $6,000,000 in takes last year. That sounds like a lot of money. That's 27% of his income. His secretary only paid a few thousand. But she paid 36% of her income, and who can better afford to live on a bit less money.' Is it someone who worries every night how to keep a roof over her head or the guy who can buy anything?

Speaking of Warren..........