tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post2991393409590412907..comments2024-03-22T13:06:27.366-05:00Comments on WataugaWatch: We Owe Ayn Rand for Paul Ryan's Political CareerJ.W. Williamsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17694324792688711136noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-10926643146113510952012-08-25T17:12:08.193-05:002012-08-25T17:12:08.193-05:00I'm not assuming anything. You folks need to w...I'm not assuming anything. You folks need to write a book on putting words in people's mouths. Jeez.Dem12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-27972886090793897672012-08-22T10:58:58.414-05:002012-08-22T10:58:58.414-05:00You're assuming they would replace you? They m...You're assuming they would replace you? They might just abolish the "job".<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-24119325973349657092012-08-20T18:09:55.674-05:002012-08-20T18:09:55.674-05:00I never said that I couldn't be replaced. Here...I never said that I couldn't be replaced. Here's my exact quote: "It would also take longer than a day to replace me." Sheesh.Dem12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-66548799494560364092012-08-20T13:37:51.720-05:002012-08-20T13:37:51.720-05:00dem12, it must be nice to be the only person in th...dem12, it must be nice to be the only person in the state who can not be replaced. <br /><br /> I am not nearly that important. There are others just as or if not even more qualified that can do mine.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-75642091489449389782012-08-20T11:13:59.447-05:002012-08-20T11:13:59.447-05:00I don't work for a non-profit "company.&q...I don't work for a non-profit "company." I work for a state agency. Dem12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-35728832557932289632012-08-20T08:39:33.637-05:002012-08-20T08:39:33.637-05:00Anon 7:52 The reason Romney pays a lower rate the...Anon 7:52 The reason Romney pays a lower rate then you is that he is taxed on capitol gains. <br /><br /> That is his main source of income.As it is for George Soros who also pays a lower rate then you or i.<br /><br /> The law is set to encourage investing by having a lower rate on capitol gains. <br /><br /> If that's not fair then the law needs to be changed not penalizing people who profit from hard work.<br /><br /> I am not big Romney fan or Obama fan for that matter. But I would bet my last nickle that Obamas tax accountants work just as hard as Romneys to make sure he pays as little as possible on his millions in income from his books.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-58857277709734395172012-08-20T08:29:42.680-05:002012-08-20T08:29:42.680-05:00Dem12, don't fool your self there are thousand...Dem12, don't fool your self there are thousands of unemployed master degree holders out there.<br /><br /> And there are many specialized temp agencies that for a price can fill almost any position. <br /><br /> I know of ones that can fill all of the medical fields including specified fields of physicians. I know of one that can fill any I.T. position in seconds right up to top level programmers or fiber optic techs. <br /><br /> If there is a need some company will be there to fill it that's the great part of a free market economy. <br /><br /> My work is very technical and i can find a replacement temp in no time at all, i might have to pay a premium for that person untill i fill the position permanently but few positions in this economy can not be filled quickly.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-55127351521443939892012-08-20T08:24:48.164-05:002012-08-20T08:24:48.164-05:00Why can't a non profit go bankrupt?
Stockton ...Why can't a non profit go bankrupt? <br />Stockton Ca and San Bernadino recently joined the lengthening list of cites/municipalities going bankrupt. Aren't they non profit as well? Just because they are a non profit doesn't mean that they can't incur debt greater than their ability to repay it!<br /><br />And, the unemployment lines are full of people with masters degrees. I bet your company will survive without you. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-87507208762109308232012-08-20T07:52:56.309-05:002012-08-20T07:52:56.309-05:00Opoib said:
"Anon 9:43 you post this " ...Opoib said:<br /><br />"Anon 9:43 you post this " But the notion of self-reliance is also a fallacy."<br /><br />If you are not reliable for your self who is ?<br /><br />Is it my responsibility to take care of you?<br /><br />Is it you neighbors?<br /><br />Is it your family's?<br /><br />Who is reliable for those who do not want to accept responsibility for themselves ?<br /><br />If i decide to not work any longer and just stay home, is it your responsibility to pay more in taxes to support me as a civic duty ?"<br /><br />I consider my views on social welfare pretty moderate. I am not in favor of unrestricted handouts and I think people able to work need to be either working or actively looking for work. I'm also in favor, on some level, of drug testing for welfare recipients (I just worry about the details of implementation). <br /><br />But where do we draw the line for self-reliance? Should a 6 year old be self-reliant? What about a 90 year old with limited mobility? Should a paraplegic be expected to get by with no help from anyone, or someone with severe mental disabilities? <br /><br />On a more general level, self-reliance and independence are important aspects of humanity, but so are mutual aid and interdependence. This goes back to human prehistory when we lived and hunted and worked in groups, and food sharing was absolutely essential to our continued existence as a species. Obviously we're no longer hunter-gatherers but we are still social animals and we still depend on each other to some extent. I think it's fair to say that yes, generally families are expected to take care of each other, and so are communities. We all have responsibilities as members of these families and communities, and when someone doesn't put forth their fair share it strikes other people as unjust. That is why it upsets many people, me included, to know that uber-wealthy people like Mitt Romney pay taxes at a much lower rate than those of us in the middle class. I said this before and I'll repeat it here:<br /><br />When someone like Romney pays a lower tax rate than me, when he makes something like 300 times as much money as I do, under what system of taxes or morals or economics is that okay?<br /><br />I'm not trying to pull anyone down and I'm not resentful of others' success. I am successful myself and happy with what I've achieved in life. I'm proud of that, but I'd never presume to discount the role that other people have had in helping me get where I am, whether it's my family, or good teachers, or that random guy who helped me after my car had broken down on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere in Virginia (that was before cell phones). People who subscribe to Rand's philosophy seem to see themselves as entirely self-made, larger than life, better than the "little people". That's myopic and misguided.Anon 9:43 again (I need to choose a name, huh?)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-45955527067566772592012-08-20T07:00:50.463-05:002012-08-20T07:00:50.463-05:00"Don't you think that his employees are a..."Don't you think that his employees are able to decide for themselves whether working for him is a good idea or not?"<br /><br />Of course. I never said anything about his/her employees. I just said that I didn't think I'd want to work there. You folks are attributing a lot of things to me that I never said.<br /><br />Opoib, if I didn't show up for work, my employer wouldn't go bankrupt. My employer CAN'T go bankrupt. We're not a profit-making entity. It would also take longer than a day to replace me. My job is specialized and requires a Master's Degree, so it's not likely that many people at a temp agency could step into it.<br />Dem12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-10864879997676204202012-08-19T20:01:13.987-05:002012-08-19T20:01:13.987-05:00OPOIB, I wasn't asking the name of your compan...OPOIB, I wasn't asking the name of your company - I was just curious as to the type of company it might be. Restaurant, Retail, Construction trades, whatever....it's really none of my business anyhow.<br /><br /><br />I absolutely agree with you - in todays world it doesn't pay to tie your company to a political party or philosophy. You aren't likely to help your business that way! <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-84111942300435354792012-08-19T18:25:11.696-05:002012-08-19T18:25:11.696-05:00Anon 9:43 you post this " But the notion of s...Anon 9:43 you post this " But the notion of self-reliance is also a fallacy."<br /><br /> If you are not reliable for your self who is ?<br /><br /> Is it my responsibility to take care of you? <br /><br /> Is it you neighbors? <br /><br /> Is it your family's? <br /><br /> Who is reliable for those who do not want to accept responsibility for themselves ?<br /><br /> If i decide to not work any longer and just stay home, is it your responsibility to pay more in taxes to support me as a civic duty ?Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-63944316385037471762012-08-19T18:17:00.911-05:002012-08-19T18:17:00.911-05:00Anon 9:48 i would like to say the name of my compa...Anon 9:48 i would like to say the name of my company but i want customers from all sides liberal, conservative, non decided, or just plain I want as little government in my life as possible as i consider my self.<br /><br /> I am a firm believer of keeping politics and religion out of my business. <br /><br /> If you support chik-fil-a and their donating to hate groups your still welcome to spend money in my business. <br /><br /> If you do not buy hate sandwiches i will still take your money for my companies services.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-22177005892306111122012-08-19T12:06:23.457-05:002012-08-19T12:06:23.457-05:00anon...you should point out that the 40% you refer...anon...you should point out that the 40% you refer to are 40% of WAGE EARNERS.<br /><br />There are some who, either through ignorance or an attempt to mislead, that would have you believe that it includes everyone in the population - children, unemployed, retired, etc...<br /><br />emth1w 25Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-69768892027702099542012-08-19T10:53:02.974-05:002012-08-19T10:53:02.974-05:00Dem12 if i came in tomorrow like it did today to w... Dem12 if i came in tomorrow like it did today to work, and tomorrow i had no employees the answer is simple. <br /><br /> I would immediately put an ad in the papers and online and with recruiters like monster.com and so on for new ones. <br /><br /> In the mean time i would call a temp agency and have their positions filled by the end of the day until i found permanent replacements. <br /><br /> That's how business works. It happens all the time unions just call it a strike.<br /><br /> In the real world my customers would still want their products and services regardless of if my employees all quit at once or not. <br /><br /> Do you really also think that a successful business does not keep a file of people looking to work for them that has applied previously they would start calling applicants from?<br /><br /> You bring up the mass quit threat. If you and your coworkers quit on Monday, do you think your employer would go out of business do to bankruptcy from your collective actions or would they absorb the temporary set back and replace you and your coworkers and move on?<br /><br /> That is not being mean or cold it is a fact of life that that's how the world works. <br /><br /> I appreciate my employees pay them well and create a good work environment for them. They are a cost of doing business. <br /><br /> I can not do all the work my self that my company does so i hire people to do it for me, for less then i charge the customer. <br /><br /> What is wrong with that principal. Do you think Jobs, Gates, or Brinn, invites all of the employees to sunday dinner every week? <br /><br /> They are employees not family not close friends, not even acquaintances in most cases in large companies. <br /><br /> My grammar and spelling may not be perfect, but they do not affect my income earning potential fortunately in my profession.<br /><br /> I did not know they were being graded by you to determine if a fact was a fact regardless of how it is worded or spelled.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-64243952511566616372012-08-19T09:48:49.142-05:002012-08-19T09:48:49.142-05:00OPOIB, do you mind sharing with us the type of bus...OPOIB, do you mind sharing with us the type of business you are in? <br /><br />Dem12, Don't you think that his employees are able to decide for themselves whether working for him is a good idea or not? I can assure you that many of the unemployed or underemployed people I know would be glad to have full time employment. He, and other business owners who put their own money at risk deserve a little credit!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-15368286146740747782012-08-19T09:43:22.245-05:002012-08-19T09:43:22.245-05:00From today's NY Times:
"Thanks to a deca...From today's NY Times:<br /><br />"Thanks to a decades-long safety net, we have forgotten the trials of living without it. This is why, the historian Tony Judt argued, it’s easy for some to speak fondly of a world without government: we can’t fully imagine or recall what it’s like. We can’t really appreciate the horrors Upton Sinclair witnessed in the Chicago slaughterhouses before regulation, or the burden of living without Social Security and Medicare to look forward to. Thus, we can entertain nostalgia for a time when everyone pulled his own weight, bore his own risk, and was the master of his destiny. That time was a myth. But the notion of self-reliance is also a fallacy."<br /><br /><br />http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/18/deluded-individualism/<br /><br />It's like the parents who don't vaccinate their kids. They have never had to live in a world where polio, measles, and other diseases sickened, maimed and even killed young children and so they are blind to the dangers of not vaccinating. Too many also forget that for most of man's existence our lives were "nasty, brutish, and short" and seem to want a return to those bad old days.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-46667040963898699762012-08-18T16:56:38.337-05:002012-08-18T16:56:38.337-05:00You all can mouth talking points all you want, but...You all can mouth talking points all you want, but if it requires that the rich pay more taxes to be civilly reproducible, then it requires that the 40% that now pay no taxes would have to pay some to be civilly responsible. There is no way around this fact.<br /><br />You all brought it up. You are going to have to live with the double standard you are proposing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-3994265379552527452012-08-18T14:59:06.347-05:002012-08-18T14:59:06.347-05:00"My employees are as valuable to my company a..."My employees are as valuable to my company as i allow them to be. I hire them based on their skills at interviewing and testing."<br /><br />Wow....I don't think I'd like to work for you at all, if you have no more respect for your employees than that. I certainly hope you have an employee who edits your documents a little more closely that you seem to edit your posts.<br /><br />"If you left your employer tomorrow would they have to go out of business with out you?"<br /><br />Let's turn that one around: if you went to work on Monday and all your employees were gone, how would you get through the day?Dem12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-69838716578059862252012-08-18T11:36:17.170-05:002012-08-18T11:36:17.170-05:00"The only way to eat your vegetables is to ea..."The only way to eat your vegetables is to eat your vegetables. Just as the only way to build a strong country is to pay your taxes and spend the money for the benefit of all.<br /><br />But there are always people who'll tell you otherwise. Pay close attention to the elections this year. Please." Robert DobbsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-36295643214943324462012-08-18T11:12:43.957-05:002012-08-18T11:12:43.957-05:00Did OPOIB receive from the government any "sp...Did OPOIB receive from the government any "special" consideration or did he just have the same opportunities everyone else received. Was his public school education denied to others? Are the roads he and his business depend upon not accessible to others? Was he the only one to receive public health benefits?<br /><br />It seems to me that he got the same thing everyone else in this country gets from the government. An equal opportunity to succeed. If he is successful, he pays a high percentage of his earnings to government in the form of income taxes. <br /><br />Some here seem to think that everything he earns should be taken from him and distributed equally to all. <br /><br />He earned it, he is taxed enough on it. Quit asking for handouts and get off your asses and do what he does! Start your own business and work 80 hour weeks and then come back and tell us how you want to continue doing that so that you can support others who are capable of working but would rather live off OPOIB's efforts and those of others like him.<br /><br /> 2 4 Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-23891072603394418802012-08-18T10:46:35.208-05:002012-08-18T10:46:35.208-05:00Brushfire, This parasite would still like you to a...Brushfire, This parasite would still like you to answer my question. At what point of success/earnings i am to be made to pay more then just the legal requirement in taxes as a civic responsibility?<br /><br />This parasite is also an employer who provides a good paying profession to his skilled employees. They are paid according to their value to the company.<br /><br /> It is true my company can not generate as much revenue with out it's employees but employees can be replaced much simpler then the ownership of the company. That's not a politically based statement that's a simple fact.<br /><br />I do agree with you on this point " But we're not all visionaries and not all of us want to be leaders, and that's a good thing, because we don't need a society full of people like Steve Jobs."<br /><br />Some people are happy to follow some to lead. Some are meant to be employed other risk everything to be employers.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-25906223516915951022012-08-18T09:18:24.509-05:002012-08-18T09:18:24.509-05:00Opoib- Everyone needs help from others. We rely o... Opoib- Everyone needs help from others. We rely on the kindness of others when we are children and when we are old. Any person who has attended any public school system has done so at other's expense. Any person who has driven on the public highway system has done so at other's expense. Anyone who is not dead from infections such as smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, plague, even influenza, is alive because poorly paid government funded scientists risked their lives and even died (Clara Maass) to keep you healthy enough to amass your fortune. If it weren't for those who lived and worked to make the world a better place, you and your family would be dead, starving as a poor peasant in slavery, or living in fear behind walled compounds and razor wire. Your arrogant sense of entitlement makes you a parasite.Brushfirenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-28013927969705654502012-08-18T08:25:11.330-05:002012-08-18T08:25:11.330-05:00Opoib said: "I wonder what the Bill Gates wou...Opoib said: "I wonder what the Bill Gates would say the answer is to that, or Steve Jobs.<br /><br />They have had hundreds of thousands of employees between them. Yet the success of Microsoft and Apple is almost certainly based on the vision and hard work of its founders.<br /><br />If the employees were more valuable to the companies success then the founder then they would take the risk of running a new company to compete with their employers."<br /><br /><br />See, I think this is not entirely true, and it goes back to the original discussion of Ayn Rand because this is something she got wrong, too.<br /><br />First of all, let me say that we absolutely need visionaries and leaders like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and Sergey Brin. But anyone who seriously studies how businesses are structured, especially large businesses like Apple or Microsoft, knows that talented and hardworking employees are the cornerstone of these companies. They were originally built on the vision of the founders, but at this point their well-educated workforce is what's more important to their success. In fact the examples you gave are really interesting because Steve Jobs has passed away and Bill Gates no longer has an active leadership role at Microsoft. And consider all of the thousands (millions?) of companies no longer run by their founders - they're obviously running on something more than that initial "vision". Very often great ideas within these companies come from collaboration; they are not all generated by one single leader. And there are hundreds of examples of CEOs and other leaders who have not done a particularly good job leading their companies and still get enormous salaries and a golden parachute when they leave. In fact, I think it's fair to say that executive compensation in the U.S. is no longer based primarily on merit.<br /><br />Rand and many of those who subscribe to her philosophy put visionaries like Jobs or Gates on an extremely high pedestal. And again, don't misunderstand me, I also think innovators and leaders are extremely important. But we're not all visionaries and not all of us want to be leaders, and that's a good thing, because we don't need a society full of people like Steve Jobs.<br /><br />Visionaries quite often need legions of talented employees to realize their vision, and if everyone was just doing their own thing instead we wouldn't get anywhere. And good employees are absolutely essential to good business - it's really not okay to discount them as if they're just replaceable cogs in a big machine. There are tons of books out there on Industrial and Organizational Psychology that explain this better and in much greater detail than I can. But we shouldn't fall in the Randian trap of thinking only a few select people in this world really matter. That's both mistaken and potentially dangerous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194583.post-1823648813457968272012-08-17T17:06:34.533-05:002012-08-17T17:06:34.533-05:00Betty. I wonder what the Bill Gates would say the ...Betty. I wonder what the Bill Gates would say the answer is to that, or Steve Jobs. <br /><br /> They have had hundreds of thousands of employees between them. Yet the success of Microsoft and Apple is almost certainly based on the vision and hard work of its founders. <br /><br /> If the employees were more valuable to the companies success then the founder then they would take the risk of running a new company to compete with their employers.<br /><br />My employees are as valuable to my company as i allow them to be. I hire them based on their skills at interviewing and testing. <br /><br />I decide if they stay or go and I train them if the need is there. They are welcome to risk everything they have to be my competitor an some have. <br /><br />So far none of them have put me out of business. Does that make me a bad guy ? Does that make them more responsible for my companies success then I am ?<br /><br />If you left your employer tomorrow would they have to go out of business with out you? If the answer is yes then you are the most important one there if no then they owe you nothing but your salary.<br /><br /> You did not make the company successful you may contribute but that's what your paid for.Opoibhttp://watauga-moderate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com