How do Liberals/Progressives justify their approach?

Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 7 months ago to Politics
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Given the decay of once great cities like Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. how can the Liberals/Progressives justify their policies?
And how can the residents there not reject those failed policies?

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  • Posted by Conritwng 12 years, 7 months ago
    " The people who once bestowed commands, consulship, legions, and all else , now concern itself no more , and longs for just two things --bread and circuses"
    Decimus Junius Juvenal
    AD c. 50- c. 130
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  • Posted by Herb7734 12 years, 7 months ago
    Having grown up in Detroit and being old, I can still remember the Motor City, Arsenal Of Democracy. A vibrant growing, city where work was there if you wanted it and opportunities abounded. And I was also a witness to its decay as anti business and racial politics sent the producers fleeing to the suburbs, and eventually fleeing the state. When I finally left, it was almost to the point that you had to have an armed guard in order to go to the Fisher Theater to see a traveling Broadway show.
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  • Posted by wdg3rd 12 years, 7 months ago
    I didn't realize that liberals had to justify anything. After all, they claim to be the good guys so it's us individualist libertarian curmudgeons who have to make excuses.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I used to live there as well (Commerce Twp).
    Despite what they say, they don't do what they say. They merely ask for more money to be funneled to them from the state and federal governments.
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  • Posted by barwick11 12 years, 7 months ago
    I live near Detroit. It's comical, the Democrats there are forced to act like Conservatives.

    I've stopped being shocked every time I listen to AM 760 (which most of you can probably hear all the way to dang near the Rockies at night). They regularly interview the Mayor of Detroit, the Police Chief, Wayne County Executive, etc...

    All of them have said on more than one occasion, things you'd NEVER hear a Federal Officeholding Democrat say, things like:
    "We can't increase taxes any more on businesses"
    "We need to lower taxes on businesses to encourage them to stay"
    "Private Firearm ownership is a good means to deter crime"
    "We simply can't pay our government workers that much money"
    "The union pensions are unaffordable, we have to negotiate a change to them"
    etc...
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    It's just my gut feeling from my and my wife's business and where I see value created. I have no scientific data. It will be interesting if I one day learn gov't either support or more liked stifled growth.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Roman.
    The original quote is by Juvenal, about a century and a half after it was already taking place.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Wow, are you ever naïve. Of course gov't policies have an impact on business growth. Where the hell have you been for the past century?
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Well, I have looked at starting my own business for a long time and was going to do so, had the business plan and everything ready, when the economy turned south. It did so based on government policies under Bush, and have been exacerbated under Obama. Thus, in my experience, and as can be seen across the country, governmental policy has been a strong causal factor in lack of economic activity.
    Here's another one - how many people have been cut to under 30 hours/week due to the healthcare law? How many others have lost their previously provided healthcare due to the law?
    What about the EPA? How about the FDA/USDA and all the other alphabet soup gov't agencies?
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  • Posted by $ johnrobert2 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Path of least effort. And it was a Roman emperor who sought to placate the plebes by first offering grain from the public granaries and subsidizing admission to the gladiatorial contests which, BTW, were not deadly in the beginning.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 12 years, 7 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Or, as the ancient Greek (or was it Roman?) philosopher put it - Bread and circuses.
    But after some period of time, wouldn't you think that people would just get tired of living in squalor with no hope or prospect of a better life? How can whole swaths of society just give up?
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  • Posted by $ johnrobert2 12 years, 7 months ago
    Those receiving largesse will almost always give allegiance and support those bestowing it. Those exercising power can maintain that status simply by shoveling freebies to a grateful subclass of drones.
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