Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

Look, you’re constantly calling out these shady entrepreneurs, though I honestly have no clue who you’re even targeting, but this whole trend of workers moving around within the US is just going to balance things out naturally here in America. Either more jobs will open up to meet the demand, or those businesses are just going to fold, and that’s just how it works when the market regulates itself instead of having the government stepping in with all those interventions and minimum wage mandates.

That pig of a Secretary basically said they’d love to expand job opportunities in the textile industry, but Uncle Sam won't allow it. 🤦

And then you've got Kruscevic comparing the federal bureaucracy to Microsoft. 🤦

Plus, when you look at the opposition, you've already got those idiots I mentioned before, along with that lost cause Priest Petrova and that narcissistic, empty populist Pernara.

I will give you credit on one thing though, Franjo Harmon is the answer.

Matthew Young35 said:I have an even better suggestion.
Abolish wages entirely. It would trigger hyper-efficient, low-cost production, making our top American entrepreneurs incredibly wealthy and driving up our GDP within the global market.

It’s the universal fix for everything: slash wages, gut Social Security, and scrap "free" healthcare.

The only catch is... how do I put this... who on earth is going to work for those slashed wages?
Americans won't do it; in twenty years, there won't be anyone left in this country.
Immigrants won't either; they're fleeing the States like it's a plague zone.
People from Mexico or Canada won't bother; why would they move here if they're already leaving their own homes just to head to somewhere like London or Tokyo instead of the US?

How does one propose cutting wages when people are already struggling just to cover their basic utility bills?
I'd love to see that play out.

The Baltic states and that much-hyped Ireland have successfully boosted their market competitiveness—mostly by cutting wages—which has effectively set the stage for incoming foreign investment...

The local American worker has already felt the sting of wage suppression—and immigration is going to ensure that downward trend becomes permanent. An immigrant might come here with top-tier skills and impressive qualifications, but let’s be real—their starting pay will always sit at the bottom end of the spectrum, even if they're doing the exact same job as a native-born worker. That gap alone allows the US economy to reap massive profits from that labor over the next decade... all while tossing them a measly 3% raise every few years just to keep them quiet. It's essentially the same wage dumping policy Germany has been running for decades.

One alternative to boost our competitiveness would be a devaluation of the dollar—though I don't really need to go into a long-winded explanation for the average person to grasp that concept... Most people already feel the sting right from their first paycheck, especially since most loans—and even many savings accounts—are tied to foreign currencies.

You’ve already hinted at it. You'll certainly see the consequences—just like the rest of us will... I have absolutely no doubt about that.

ironpanther5 said:Look, I’m definitely not out here playing defense for the Republicans.
I just really wish we could pull ourselves together a bit before we end up being outperformed by everyone from the Bulgarians to the Mexicans.

We’ll finish our drinks first—then we’ll make our move...

And since I’ve already got basically every politician in Washington on my radar, I honestly feel like I could just spit right in that guy Vrdoljak’s face if I ever caught him. I mean, I’d just hock a loogie straight at that nose of his, right onto that balding head and that fake, forced grin he uses to hide those tiny little teeth. He’s such an absolute bottom-feeder, a total creep, it actually makes me physically sick just thinking about him. It's gross.

Stop playing games with salaries in the States, especially up north in the Great Lakes region. Roughly 80% of employees are officially reported earning between $3,300 and $1333, while their actual take-home pay is padded through tax-free stipends or cash under the table....
The scheme is simple; employers know an employee is worth $5,000 to $1833 a month, but they refuse to pay taxes and social security on that full amount. So, they report the worker at $3,300-$1333, and the gap up to $5,000-$1833 is paid out as "travel reimbursements." It doesn't matter if the person lives two minutes away or drives thirty; as long as the total payout hits that $5,000-$1833 mark, everyone wins. The worker feels satisfied seeing over $5K land in their account monthly, even if their retirement contributions end up being practically zero.
It’s absurd. I know someone living 19 miles miles away who gets $467 in travel perks, yet another acquaintance living just down the street gets $167. Meanwhile, the IRS and other agencies look the other way. You even see cases where the exact same employer pays wildly different travel amounts to people with the identical commute.

The absolute worst part about what you just said is how those Social Security contributions aren't even being made, which basically means it's money down the drain that you can never, ever get back. 🙂

restlesssurfer97 said:The absolute worst part about what you just said is how those Social Security contributions aren't even being made, which basically means it's money down the drain that you can never, ever get back. 🙂

In 20 or 30 years, when my generation actually hits retirement age and they're long gone, the problem remains: people only care about the cash hitting their bank account. Everything else on the pay stub? Irrelevant to them.

Lately, even the big banks like JPMorgan Chase aren't ignoring those salary bonuses when calculating creditworthiness anymore...

The whole thing you mentioned about those funds not getting any contributions is really just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the fact that by the time we actually hit retirement age in twenty years, Social Security is probably going to be nothing more than pocket change.

So, Orbán basically just wiped the floor with the opposition over in Canada. Looks like he snagged another two-thirds majority in Parliament or something. I mean, look, I’m not exactly his biggest fan, but man... I’m kind of loving this win just because now I get to sit back and listen to a bunch of idiots cry about how the guy is somehow worse than Hitler. It's honestly hilarious.🤣

Anyone who actually thinks they can rely on the government to cut them a retirement check forty years from now is in for a massive, soul-crushing reality check—and I’m trying to be polite here 😁

Smart people are already figuring out how to take care of their own old age right now.

All this endless arguing is honestly just a waste of breath. The hard truth is that we’re stuck being the backwater of the West, perpetually stuck in a cycle of decay. And frankly, there’s no quick fix because Americans don't actually want change; we've always been a people obsessed with the status quo and "stability"—though I'll stay out of the politics on that one. If only we were even capable of a proper, honest bankruptcy just to shake things up and get a grip 🕺 But trying to pin all our problems on a few specific politicians is a total miss. It isn't about any single individual in Washington; the issue lies within all of us. We seem to crave a massive, overpriced government, more political interference in everything, endless bureaucracy, soaring deficits, higher taxes, and an infinite number of counties, municipalities, and federal agencies...

Only 30 years old? Man, I guess there's still a slim chance he slips on a toothbrush in prison somewhere. 88 times 👋

Honestly, he’d be doing them a favor. With that groomed, pampered look he's got going on—trying way too hard to act tough—he'd basically be the jackpot for whatever crew he ends up bunking with in a state penitentiary. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already passing his photo around just to laugh at him.

Paul Sanders5 said:Only 30 years old? Man, I guess there's still a slim chance he slips on a toothbrush in prison somewhere. 88 times 👋

Last night, some absolute loser was out in Times Square screaming "David Komšić is a hero, David Komšić is a hero" like he actually meant it—and honestly, if anyone had even glanced his way, he probably would have been dealt with somewhere between the subway entrance and those kiosks by the transit station. I was trailing about twenty yards behind him, eventually passing him up near the food stalls, and while I was waiting for my train, he ducked into that little nook between the Starbucks and whatever shop is across from it—I think it was 15 Times Square.

Nobody actually knocked him out—though personally, I wouldn't have minded doing it back near the subway entrance since there aren't any cameras there, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one thinking it—but the only reason things didn't escalate is because this piece of trash was walking a massive dog without a leash.
He’s likely one of those types who attacked that poor family after the little brat peed on them. He isn't the specific guy the news crews were filming, but it's far too much of a coincidence that there are multiple versions of this same kind of garbage running around.

I tried to track down the cop stationed at the square to report it, but no luck.

edit: I really should have filmed that.

View on imgur

Man, this is just... lol 😂 if they had actually just stepped up and walked away for a few months—maybe even a year—this whole tragedy might've been avoided.

First a brother-in-law kills two people, then his wife kills two, and now their son has killed two more. 🙏 I guess life just wasn't meant to be easy for this family. 🤣

I bet this bit of news is going to make Charles Chase4 absolutely lose his mind with joy

Honestly, we should just bring in workers from overseas at $167 a month—it's the only way our local "entrepreneurs" can actually stay afloat ☕

Anthony Jackson2 said:Honestly, we should just bring in workers from overseas at $167 a month—it's the only way our local "entrepreneurs" can actually stay afloat ☕

I mean, why wouldn't they? Americans are part of this massive open market where things are just objectively better, and once those new trade shifts really kick in, you can bet even more people are going to head over there. I mean, you’ve got the English language, a powerhouse economy, and—dare I say it—actually decent people. It's a no-brainer.
And our local entrepreneurs? They’ll just keep hiking up wages, which is exactly what they’re already doing out in coastal towns like Miami or San Diego, and if they still run into labor shortages, they'll just pull talent from Mexico or Central America. Those folks basically speak the same language as us anyway, and honestly, compared to what they're used to back home, the pay here is more than enough to keep them happy—so that's that.
Maybe one day the government will actually get its act together and stop bleeding us dry with taxes, which might finally leave them with enough breathing room to offer decent, competitive salaries that don't feel like an insult. If that ever happens, we might actually see a chunk of our people coming back home, because let’s be honest—nobody is making life-altering decisions based solely on the paycheck; there are plenty of other reasons why someone decides where to drop anchor.
Honestly, even if the paychecks are significantly lower than what you’d pull in somewhere like Ireland, a decent bump in salary is enough to make a whole bunch of people pack their bags and head straight back to their mom's kitchen.
That’s just the beauty of the free market for you. You actually get to have a choice. 🙂
Honestly, if you ask me, having an open labor market across the continent is going to do more for our people than every single government regulation we’ve been drowning in all these years combined. 🙏 🙏

Anthony Jackson2 said:Honestly, we should just bring in workers from overseas at $167 a month—it's the only way our local "entrepreneurs" can actually stay afloat ☕

Look, Anthony Jackson2, honestly, that’s an old trick in the book, and the government here has been pulling that move pretty successfully since we even became an independent nation.
Think about all those folks coming in from Mexico or Central America who end up working themselves to the bone for their countrymen along the Florida coast, grinding 15 hours a day without a single day off, totally off the books, sometimes without even legal status, while the bosses just report a tiny fraction of their daily cash to the IRS, all while being totally in sync with the tax authorities and the state itself—that whole system has already proven to be incredibly effective, except the government is the one running the show.

So, you got a better idea for how the government should step in? 🍿

@ironpanther5, man, people just don't get that markets basically regulate themselves, provided you have those necessary government guardrails in place, but the real headache starts when those state regulations kick in, because look, if America offered business conditions on par with what they have in Ireland, then American employers would actually be able to offer competitive wages, and honestly, anyone who refuses to step up like that is just going to end up struggling to find any decent talent, so there's your answer right there.

What really cracks me up is how some folks seem to think an American employer is out here trying to drive a beat-up old bike while the Irish guy is cruising in a BMW, which is why the Irish guy can afford to pay more, but that's not it at all, see, it's more that Irish employers are just socially conscious, they're basically socialists at heart. 🤦