The New American Politics thread

[GGG]

Originally Posted by PostandIn

They are a professional association as a union is. It's a shame that advocating for members doesn't fall in their mandate. You would think that pay equality would be something they could get behind.

As a self regulated progression you get into a conflict of interest if you start advocating for pay. It's why Apegas comments on pay for enginneers amounts to saying you should be paid fairly within the constraints of the market.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Using that money to fund education alone could pay for those workers to find new and possibly better jobs. Short term economic distress is acceptable when you're spending your dollars in a wiser manner. Wasting money should never be acceptable, and there is most definitely a LOT of waste in the military budget.

Of course there is. There's waste elsewhere in the budget too. My point is you can't just kill spending on that level and not create massive, mostly unforeseen and unwanted side effects.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Using that money to fund education alone could pay for those workers to find new and possibly better jobs. Short term economic distress is acceptable when you're spending your dollars in a wiser manner. Wasting money should never be acceptable, and there is most definitely a LOT of waste in the military budget.

The jobs have to be there for these new thousands of graduates to have. The world is already becoming too white-collared. Lots of wasted degrees out there.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by PostandIn

They are a professional association as a union is. It's a shame that advocating for members doesn't fall in their mandate. You would think that pay equality would be something they could get behind.

Oh dear. Suffice to say, you badly misunderstand either what a union is or what a self-regulating profession is.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

But if the United States isn't spending more money on their military than the next 11 countries combined, the terrorists win!!

The funny thing is that the new conflicts with terrorist groups requires intelligence more than anything, which is much less expensive to implement than traditional warfare. There's almost no point to the giant military budget except to look big and tough to everyone else around the world.

The military industrial complex will have to slowly be reduced over time to the appropriate expenditure levels, otherwise it might single-handedly bankrupt America. You can't do it all at once for reasons that Corsi pointed out, but there's plenty of fat to cut right away.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The jobs have to be there for these new thousands of graduates to have. The world is already becoming too white-collared. Lots of wasted degrees out there.

Hardly. STEM industries (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) are crying out for qualified graduates, but nobody wants to go into those fields. That's the future economy for anyone in a 1st world nation.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The jobs have to be there for these new thousands of graduates to have. The world is already becoming too white-collared. Lots of wasted degrees out there.

Not in STEM fields. Still significant shortages and as we automate blue jobs those STEM jobs become what is left.

One problem is that having too many degrees makes them worthless. Most jobs shouldn't need degrees but increasingly do because of the supply of degrees people. The right type of degrees are needed.

I think a better way than free tutition is just to expand online education and certification. With online webcasts you could take classes
From MIT without being there. You just need a way to accredit people who take a web based education. Cost is almost nothing compared to a university experience and would fit with the majority of post secondary people who aren't conventional 4 yr students at big state

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I don't know. Even if I was the best in my field, it'd take a substantial amount of money for me to move to the U.S.

My point is, and it's general and not specific, is that in order to be the best in your field, you probably have to move to the states. Architecture, Cuisine, Film/Entertainment, Finance, Law, BioMedical, research, tech. All U.S.

I don't want to derail this thread into a smattering of German cars, french cuisine etc...but on the whole, the U.S. is the best place to excel in every field.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by PostandIn

They are a professional association as a union is. It's a shame that advocating for members doesn't fall in their mandate. You would think that pay equality would be something they could get behind.

APEGA is a professional regulatory body. They regulate the practice of geosciences and engineering in the province to ensure that a level of competency and responsibility is being upheld. They represent both the professionals and the general public as necessary.

[Slava]

I can see why so many people are turned off politics in the US. I watched the speeches tonight and it was basically "the country is amazing and we're the greatest" and then "things are terrible and we need enormous changes".

Them you have Sanders in general, who lambasted Clinton for being backed by Wall Street only to say that everything is cool now and he's behind her 100%. How can his hardcore supporters eat that up? Mind boggling.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

My point is, and it's general and not specific, is that in order to be the best in your field, you probably have to move to the states. Architecture, Cuisine, Film/Entertainment, Finance, Law, BioMedical, research, tech. All U.S.

I don't want to derail this thread into a smattering of German cars, french cuisine etc...but on the whole, the U.S. is the best place to excel in every field.

But how much of that is simply due to being the largest market in the West (and really the world)?

[Plett25]

I think there were more good speeches on day 1 of the DNC than the entire RNC

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Hardly. STEM industries (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) are crying out for qualified graduates, but nobody wants to go into those fields. That's the future economy for anyone in a 1st world nation.

Originally Posted by GGG

Not in STEM fields. Still significant shortages and as we automate blue jobs those STEM jobs become what is left.

One problem is that having too many degrees makes them worthless. Most jobs shouldn't need degrees but increasingly do because of the supply of degrees people. The right type of degrees are needed.

I think a better way than free tutition is just to expand online education and certification. With online webcasts you could take classes
From MIT without being there. You just need a way to accredit people who take a web based education. Cost is almost nothing compared to a university experience and would fit with the majority of post secondary people who aren't conventional 4 yr students at big state

Yes this is true but the sheer volume of graduates makes them compete with each other. Whats the only way to get ahead? More school.

In Accounting 20 years ago a B.Comm could get you a decent job. Now they need to do 3 years more school and get a CPA. Soon CPA won't be enough. They will need a 2nd degree.

Free education could work if the schools were smaller, had higher entrance criteria and concentrate on the STEM programs.

However you know what this will cause? Under the table paid tutoring. How does one 14 year old kid get ahead of the the other 14 year old. Well his parents are richer, get tutors. Then those guys make all the money.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Makarov

But how much of that is simply due to being the largest market in the West (and really the world)?

That's my point. If the US goes full socialist, people ultimately consume less, business moves elsewhere, the market shrinks and the U.S. becomes less important in the world.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

That's my point. If the US goes full socialist, people ultimately consume less, business moves elsewhere, the market shrinks and the U.S. becomes less important in the world.

Why would people consume less. In fact you can make a strong argument that transferring cash from rich people who are spending money on imports and out of country to the poor who spend it on rent and food you actually will bolster the local encoding up to the point investment shrinks.

Trickle up economics

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Slava

I can see why so many people are turned off politics in the US. I watched the speeches tonight and it was basically "the country is amazing and we're the greatest" and then "things are terrible and we need enormous changes".

Them you have Sanders in general, who lambasted Clinton for being backed by Wall Street only to say that everything is cool now and he's behind her 100%. How can his hardcore supporters eat that up? Mind boggling.

What is way more mind boggling is how few people talk about or even know what the Clinton Foundation is really about. This article just scratches the surface and it talks about Trump's taxes and how that could crash down on his head.

This entire election cycle is a complete train wreck, but hey good speeches.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

That's my point. If the US goes full socialist, people ultimately consume less, business moves elsewhere, the market shrinks and the U.S. becomes less important in the world.

Even accepting your premises (which are far from settled), and ignoring any increase in government consumption, if the US consumed at the same per capita household rate as France/Sweden/Germany, it would still be by far the largest market in the West.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by zamler

What is way more mind boggling is how few people talk about or even know what the Clinton Foundation is really about. This article just scratches the surface and it talks about Trump's taxes and how that could crash down on his head.

This entire election cycle is a complete train wreck, but hey good speeches.

What is the clinton foundation "really" about?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Of course the big thing the media is talking about is Silverman's comment about Bernie or Bust supporters "being ridiculous".

It might be the most meaningless moment of the night since it came from Sarah Silverman, but of course it will be the major highlight in the news cycle. Makes me sad.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Makarov

Even accepting your premises (which are far from settled), and ignoring any increase in government consumption, if the US consumed at the same per capita household rate as France/Sweden/Germany, it would still be by far the largest market in the West.

C'mon man, I'm trying to make an point here. These ideas sound good in my head and I don't really want to try and fact check this crap to make sure my position isn't flawed.

There is also an irony that the most "left wing" cities (seattle, SF, NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston) and institutions are basically the flagships of America's "greatness".