So I voted...

[fubatsu]

Now, very few people read my journal, and while I am not going to provide the details of my vote for our next President (and what I am about to post below *may* seem to indicate my choice), I would love feedback on the following item I came across on our friend the Internet

Comments

[fubatsu]

This is just like your reluctance to unleash your potential for maximum physical destruction Matt.

Superior? Your only limits are self-imposed my friend. ;)

[fubatsu]

It isn't loaded, I am genuinely curious as to what people think on this or similar aspects raised around Obama's platform.

Me personally, I abhor taking charity of any kind and believe very firmly in a cutthroat, independent, success-through-effort-and-merit system. I am fine with the people that claw their way to the top reaping maximum benefit and think that any and all charity should be largely at personal discretion as opposed to funded through tax money or otherwise imposed upon the collective group that makes up our country.

This is really more of a sampling of the vox populi from sources I value the input from.

[darke]

I quit reading about the time the phrase "Redistribution of Wealth" appeared for the first time.

ALL taxes have ALWAYS been a redistribution of wealth. Even McCain's. Pretending otherwise is dumb and not worth my reading time.

And don't get me started on the whole "omg socialism!" crap when most americans love their socialist post office, libraries, fire stations...and we just got done nationalizing our banks :p

[robotjohnson]

I agree with you, Alex. It seems we are surrounded by people who cannot distinguish socialism from regulated capitalism and equitable governance.

I have news for these people: both parties are taking your money. The only difference is who they then spend it on.

[fubatsu]

Fair point, but as both of us (and Matt) are currently in a much more socialist environment, my question is how far do we want to swing that way? You have seen the results in so many ways...would you really want the U.S. to resemble Europe's capitalist yet socialist-leaning model?

I agree on the taxes, but I fear larger government and removal of personal culpability are going to lead to an ultimately worse outcome than a brutal, pure-capitalist market.

I don't know. I voted the way I did for multiple reasons, but I seriously worry about the outcomes either choice would lead to.

[donnerjack]

Oh horseshit dude. Whoever the OP is willfully misunderstands, or chooses not to bother to attempt to understand, any of the tax proposals in play. If Obama moves the income tax cap from the current 36% to the Clintonian 39.3%, do we suddenly become a socialist country? Do I get a furry hat and a red star to wear on my lapel instead of an American flag? That's fun and hyperbolic and all, but it's crap.

My personal feelings on the election at the moment are that one candidate seems to have sold his soul, or at least his personal integrity, in pursuit of a piece of the electorate he could've done without, and the other appears to be about as clean as you can actually expect a politician to be in this day and age.

As always, YMMV. But I'll happily throw down in a less asynchronous medium. ;)