[sub]Here is another "bomb shell" of reality from me to everybody:[/sub]

[sub]The combined vote of everybody is dominated by how people vote with their money! This is why the leadership of corporations is more powerful than all governments combined and the world is still getting worse. When will people begin to realize the power of how they "vote" with their money?[/sub]

[sub]In a related issue, a court ruling by the United States Supreme court lifted the limits on campaign contributions a couple years ago, resulting in the record for campaign contributions by corporations exceeding previous records by a wide increase.[/sub]

[sub]How corporations vote with their money in local, state, and national campaign contributions causes politicians to seek the money instead of the will of the people! Added to this tragedy is that individuals undermine their own vote by how they spend their money![/sub]

[sub]Clinton[/sub]

[quote name='mdwh' timestamp='1354033394' post='5004552']
@JTippetts: Wait - are you actually comparing Obama/Democrats to communism? That's not at all the same thing. Both US parties are predominantly capitalist, though both with support for some state funded and managed parts of the economy (Republicans still support state managed child education for example, and try arguing against their state funded/managed military...) Democrat are more "left wing", offering better support for things like welfare and state healthcare, but neither are remotely anything to do with communism.

I would suggest actually researching Marxism / Socialism, and stop assuming they have nothing to do with "left wing" politics .[/quote]I never said that. Obviously communism is an extreme form of left wing, but that doesn't mean that any support for "left wing" policies means you're a communist society (or party). As I say, the Republicans support state funded/managed things (like the military) too. And please, let's drop the "I would suggest actually researching" talk as if you're assuming you're right and everyone who disagrees is uneducated.

As others have said, both US parties are broadly economically right wing. Both support some involvement of the state, and neither are remotely anything to do with wanting a socialist or communist society. That's laughable.

Depends how it collapses - owning the means of production for create farming equipment would be pretty important. Plus I'm confused - I thought this stemmed from JTippets advocating pure capitalism, so I'm not sure why the point now being made is that farmers would be better off in some subsistence based society.

[quote name='tstrimple' timestamp='1354072591' post='5004812']
We do need to clamp down on them. Not because they are a significant drain on society (they are just a drop in a very large bucket), but because they give others an excuse to accuse all poor people of being lazy. I do think those who are determined to get out of poverty can get out of poverty.

One of the problems in "clamping down" is that it just makes things much harder for everyone, not just the few exploiting the system. And the evidence to me suggests that clamping down never stops the critics - they are often completely unaware as to what systems are already in place, or how hard it already is, but continue to believe the one overblown story in the Daily Mail about someone exploiting the system, and will continue to support on yet more clamping down, and continue to believe all such people are "lazy".

On a related note, should we also clamp down on multinationals using legal tax loopholes?

Well, I'm convinced of one thing: Under no circumstances should any member of GameDev be allowed to wield any position of government or economic authority.