The Wow I Can't Believe That News Story Thread

[jwb]

I'm not against it in principle but I'm too cynical to expect that

I would probably hide a gun somewhere just in case it was the old banana in the tailpipe

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

I make eight ****ing dollars an hour. That statistic does not include me. I can not afford an apartment, food, and, insurance. I am not an outlier. And if you could refrain from giving me disingenuous "advice" to distract from the point that would be great.

Is he ignoring that point or is it a reading comprehension problem?

Originally Posted by ant

1.8 million covers people above that threshold going up to at least 20 dollars an hour

Where the **** did you get that from, Ant?

[Anteater]

Originally Posted by Frownland

So they're just a minority which means that they don't matter, cool.

Lolwut, why are you projecting? You can vote for Trump and I'll vote for Yang or Warren like I've only said a billion times over at this point.

I'll also cite this from CNN Business (just because it's interesting)

Here's the breakdown of the 95 million Americans who weren't working, according to the latest figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve, which conducted a review based on figures through September:

-- 94.6 million people above the age of 16 were out of the workforce.

Of those:

-- 44.5 million were retired.

-- 14.5 million were in school or job training.

-- 12.8 million were taking care of a loved one.

-- 15.3 million weren't working because of an illness or disability.

In all, of the 94.6 million not working, 87.1 million were retired, in school, taking care of a loved one or physically unable to work.

That leaves 7.5 million people. What about them?

Of those, 1.6 million had looked for a job in the past year or wanted a job but had given up searching for more than a year. And 5.9 million workers listed "other" as a reason for not wanting or having a job. We don't know much about these workers.

Originally Posted by Frownland

What about the 170 million people who fall outside of that working population? Are they also reaping the benefits of capitalism?

I don't know every single one of their individual stories, but I'm sure you'll run across a wide spectrum of opinions on that if you surveyed them.

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Is he ignoring that point or is it a reading comprehension problem?

I read it, but it's irrelevant to the discussion when I can't monitor him in real time and see what or what he is or isn't doing and why he's at BK when other restaurants who are hiring have better wages. Trying to address something that anecdotal is an exercise in futility, just like arguing about the pros and cons of the ACA from person to person.

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Where the **** did you get that from, Ant?

I was looking at some other BLS-cited study about people higher than minimum wage and got my wording mixed up. I need to go back and fix it.

[The Batlord]

[Frownland]

Originally Posted by Anteater

Lolwut

Responding to people recognizing a problem with "it doesn't impact a lot of people though!" is dismissing the relevancy of that problem based on the fact that it only affects a minority, like I've explained several times already. Backpedal however you like but this remains true.

I read it, but it's irrelevant to the discussion

How convenient!

[Anteater]

You can't have it both ways Frown. Are we talking numbers or feelings and bad life choices? Your diverting from the original discussion point and your comments demonstrate it. We are talking about capitalism. My argument is that it benefits more people than you think and that the situation is better than what is being paraded around here. Your opinion is that it isn't.

You seem to have this perception that just because something is a minority doesn't mean I don't think they need to be helped. That's not the point I'm making. I'm interested in answers to a complex set of questions. Don't try to turn this into something that it isn't and then call it "backpedaling" when you know exactly what I'm talking about.

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

He has failed to demonstrate he can correctly interpret basic information from a simple text.

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by Anteater

You can't have it both ways Frown. Are we talking numbers or feelings and bad life choices?

You were talking about numbers until it became obvious you don’t understand the statistics. Then suddenly it’s about why Bat is still at BK. Or my attitude...

But at least Bat and I can read. Unfortunately, in America idiocy and ignorance are rewarded.

[Frownland]

Originally Posted by Anteater

You can't have it both ways Frown. Are we talking numbers or feelings and bad life choices? Your diverting from the original discussion point and your comments demonstrate it. We are talking about capitalism. My argument is that it benefits more people than you think and that the situation is better than what is being paraded around here.

Yes, I'm aware that you're attempting to justify the flaws of capitalism with shiny success stories. Someone can disagree with you and still understand what a discussion is about, ya know.

Your opinion is that it isn't.

I haven't said that, I'm just here to point out when someone says some dumb ****.

[Anteater]

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

You were talking about numbers until it became obvious you don’t understand the statistics. Then suddenly it’s about why Bat is still at BK. Or my attitude...

But at least Bat and I can read. Unfortunately, in America idiocy and ignorance are rewarded.

You guys are the ones nitpicking for no good reason. Again, since you seem to be stuck on something from three pages ago (even after I addressed it)

Originally Posted by Anteater

And out of the 80.4 million people being paid any kind of hourly rate, that's 2.3% (or less) of the total. And that's still only a chunk of the total U.S. population. Those 80 million represent (supposedly) around 58.3 of all salaried workers in the United States. So let's say the ultimate grand total (taking that number into consideration) is 160 million or so.

The idea that 42% of that can't afford insurance and pay bills or whatever doesn't add up when you look at those statistics.