Posts by Nicole Nguyen6

Is that probably per capita? America has low employment rates, which basically means whatever the working population earns gets split among more people. Plus, prices here are higher than in other former socialist countries, so you end up with low purchasing power per person.

wearytrucker22 said:

rowdypilot19 Asks:
No lowlife is going to pull in those agricultural subsidies unless they’ve already inherited a massive chunk of land. And honestly? Nobody even bothers to ask you how much you actually produced. ☕

Look, rowdypilot19, you couldn't have been more spot on with that answer. If those massive billions in government subsidies had actually been handed over to us lazy coastal folks, we’d be sitting on 30 to 40 billion dollars in tourism revenue by now.

But they really were. Just look at how many tens of billions have been pumped into highways, shipping lines, shipyards, tax breaks for tourism, rebuilding cities along the coast—it all counts. Even now, the Department of Transportation puts maritime stuff front and center in their title, and the Secretary keeps saying that investing in the coastline is the top priority.

silentridge3 said:If you take a look at that "Housing" PDF, you’ll see a massive amount of negative feedback from people dealing with our local RE/MAX offices. The general vibe I get is that the whole setup is pretty much a useless model where these agencies don't actually provide any real value, and honestly, they might even be doing more harm than good. Most of them act like these "lures" who barely know anything about the properties they represent and won't guarantee a single thing, yet they sit right there as this annoying barrier between the buyer and the seller, taking an absurdly large cut of the money for almost zero service. Usually, their entire job description boils down to slapping together a listing—which is often super vague and filled with those terrible, wide-angle photos without even a floor plan—refreshing the ad once a month on some free site, and then basically just walking a buyer from the sidewalk up to the front door.

I guess one of the biggest headaches for me personally is that this whole system makes it impossible to list realistic prices, which just drags the entire market down. You don't get actual market rates; instead, you just have the same exact apartments sitting there indefinitely at prices that, in most cases, aren't going to lead to a sale. Sales happen minimally, while these agencies just survive by squeezing every possible cent out of those rare transactions, charging amounts that feel totally unrealistic.

You’ll have a dozen different agencies all trying to list the same house, and they start playing these weird little games. For example, they might keep prices artificially high on several listings just so they can push a specific property at what looks like a "deal" by comparison, or they’ll keep ads live for houses that sold a year ago just to pad their inventory. If they manage to "sell"—or rather, list—20 homes in a neighborhood over a year for $2,200 a month when the real value is closer to $1,600, then everyone else in that area starts copying those inflated prices to match. On top of that, that 3-4% slice of the pie that goes to these agencies isn't nothing; it really does scare people off from buying or selling altogether. Plus, this model messes with sellers too—they can just let an overpriced ad sit there for three years for free because the agency is footing the advertising bill while pretending to "work" on the sale. It’s all just a bunch of motion without any actual movement.

THE OLD MODEL (bad):

AGENCY JOB: Listing the place, showing it to buyers.
PAYMENT: A one-time, massive fee upon closing that is way out of proportion to the work done (often taken from people who didn't even want to deal with an agency in the first place).
AGENCY ROLE: A roadblock between the buyer and seller; they aren't responsible for anything, don't need to know the details of the house, and are basically just gambling on whether they'll see a check in the future.

THE NEW MODEL (my suggestion):

AGENCY JOB: Listing the property, showing it to buyers, gathering honest info about the home, verifying paperwork/titles, and assisting with the transaction to keep both sides safe.
PAYMENT STRUCTURE:
- Property listing - $17, once a month (paid by the seller)
- Showing the property to a buyer - $167 ($83 from each side)
- Gathering property information - $83 (paid by the interested buyer)
- Verifying property documents/title - $167 (paid by the interested buyer)
- Transaction assistance for security - $667 from each side
AGENCY ROLE: A service provider that clients choose as needed, charging for specific tasks in real-time so they don't have to wait for a sale to close to get paid.

So, my thought is that an agency should just perform the specific services clients ask for and charge fair, market-driven rates for them—the numbers I listed might be different, but you get the idea. Just a clean, transparent way of doing things. That would allow the market to actually function and prices to stabilize based on reality.

Anyway... I'm no economist. Let me know if I'm onto something or if I'm just totally off base here.

I don't know if you've actually sat down to think about this, but according to your model, RE/MAX would be pulling in way more money than they are right now, wouldn't they?

I personally know a handful of people who started their own companies here in the States about 10 or 20 years ago, and now they’re sitting on millions. It was all technical stuff—IT, engineering, that kind of thing—and they weren't relying on government contracts or local municipalities; they were playing in the open market.

But then again, I also know way more people who tried the exact same thing and just went bust or ended up struggling to get by.

Then there are the younger lawyers I know. A few of them started their own practices a couple of years back and are finally starting to see the fruits of it—buying condos, getting nice cars, actually taking vacations. But if you look at the actual data, there's still a massive number of lawyers being forced to shut down their firms entirely.

Looking at those successful folks I mentioned... the common thread is that they’re aggressive, they’re sharp, and they work their tails off. It didn't just happen by accident.

I honestly think we could make a massive dent in helping the economy without needing those dramatic, painful budget cuts everyone screams about. There’s just this mountain of useless red tape and regulations hanging over companies in the Republic of America that makes life miserable for both big firms and small startups. It’s all pretty pointless and really ought to be scrapped. I'm talking about things like occupational safety regs that somehow apply to a tiny office setup where nobody is even lifting anything heavy, labor laws and endless overtime reporting, mandatory minimum wage rules for brand-new businesses, various guild-style restrictions, and so on. A first, painless step toward some actual smart administration would be to either adopt or at least take a page out of the playbook from places like Hong Kong. That kind of move would give the economy a huge boost without having to fire a single administrator.

Charles Ross3 said:That’s exactly right, and honestly, it isn't even a mystery who they're talking about.
So, does anyone else get the feeling that he isn't actually going to step up and defend them if the Russians start rolling in with tanks? It really makes you wonder where his true loyalties lie when things finally hit the fan, doesn't it?
Well, wouldn't you just say that in a situation like this, Americans would probably be just as likely to break out in a cold sweat? I mean, isn't it just a matter of time before everyone ends up feeling the exact same pressure? ☕Honestly, I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't be betting on that outcome myself.

There’s going to come a day when people finally wake up to the reality of the situation. Despite all those grand, sweeping speeches about the strength of our alliances and all those lofty promises made in Washington, isn't it true that Berlin is actually much closer to home?
And let’s be honest, isn't Putin actually closer to Washington than we’d like to admit? That is their cold, hard reality, while everything else they claim is nothing more than pure self-delusion.

That’s spot on. If you ever find yourself standing at the final stop of what used to be the legendary Orient Express in Istanbul, you'll see exactly what I mean. Is there anything else on your mind that you’d like to dive into? I'm all ears and ready whenever you are! Construction has been ramping up around here since last summer—maybe even longer—because word on the street is they’re finally getting everything back in operation. We’re talking about that major transit corridor connecting Berlin to Istanbul. Once things settle down regarding all that chaos in Turkey involving the Kurds, the tracks are expected to push even further east. It seems like this was a strategic blueprint laid out by Germany a long time ago, wasn't it?

I'd take Putin over Sharia any day.

Dana Kern5 said:Before you jump into a debate on this topic, maybe try to actually figure out what that famous Frontex agency is really for, and then come back with something like this.

Given how aggressive you're being, I almost suspect you might be one of those volunteers yourself! It’s honestly surprising that you don't realize Frontex is actually one of the biggest reasons why "refugees" have flooded into Italy and Greece.
Who is it that intercepts the boats and rubber rafts carrying hundreds of "migrants" right off the coast of Libya and delivers them straight to Italy and Greece? What exactly is A. Mohorovcic doing down there?

How are those Frontex warships supposed to defend the European Union borders? And what about organizations like MSF, Homme de Terre, and all the others? Are they not just lining their pockets with massive amounts of money from Brussels and the organizers behind this whole "migration" from the other side?
Do you really think we're all just fools being fed nonsense by various TV and Print outlets?

And why on earth should Eastern European countries have to participate in this entire Frontex circus???
The actions taking place in the Mediterranean Sea are nothing short of criminal.

So, you're actually upset that the V4 countries aren't bringing in even more migrants? Is that it? Like there aren't enough already?

Yeah, it’s pretty unbelievable what Brussels did. Instead of actually controlling the borders and stopping illegal entries into the union, they didn't just encourage it, they actively helped illegal settlement by picking up migrants on the shores of Africa and transporting them into Europe. All of it funded by taxpayer money, against the will of the people. And they do it proudly, too. It's terrible.

Can you imagine Americans sending bus convoys into, say, Mexico, and picking up unknown people without documents in some Mexican cities just to transport them across the border into the USA?

Joshua Kelly51 said:The sheer number of immigrants isn't the deciding factor here. It comes down to the Constitution, the Immigration law, and how society actually behaves toward newcomers. If a country protects immigrants with the same legal rights and protections it gives its own citizens, things run smoothly—and that requires a certain level of willpower from the host nation. ☕ Integration isn't solely on the immigrant to fit in; it depends heavily on the state's relationship with them. Just look at how differently immigrants are received in different parts of the world.☕

What you're describing sounds like a conquered nation being forced to grant a special, protected, and privileged status to foreigners, and then having that status written right into the Constitution. It’s like the people lose their right to have any say in the numbers coming into their own country. On the flip side, the conquerors don't owe anything to the country they enter; their relationship with it is based entirely on their own whims and how much they enjoy their privileges.

Also, that phrase you used about "learned behavior of society" is interesting. It implies that a society has to be forcibly modified through repression to reconcile itself with a loss of sovereignty. I mean, saying a society needs to "learn" something basically assumes some outside power is dominating them, steering them away from the path they would have taken on their own if they were actually in control.

Michael Roberts7 said:Well, I don't think they are significantly smarter or more foolish than we are.
Fearing and defending against Islamization is about 500 or more years too late. People from regions where the decimal system was invented, or where the foundations of modern medicine and many other vital advancements lie, didn't all suddenly lose their minds and become fundamentalists overnight. We interact with those discoveries and a massive vocabulary of Arabic origin every single day.

Just as we adapted some of their ideas, most of them will eventually adapt ours. If there are people who refuse to adapt and don't believe in it, your question proves that, and I suppose we are similar in that regard. There is likely a segment of "us" that doesn't trust them any more than a certain percentage of "them" distrusts us.

Most of the mistakes the Islamic State makes today were made by our own liberal factions hundreds of years ago. This means we are at a similar stage of development, where a part of a religious community, roughly 1,400 years after its founding, still believes that killing non-believers is necessary.

Tell me, how can you judge them as people who are significantly better or worse than you, and who don't deserve to be viewed as individuals rather than being generalized and tossed into the trash along with those whom some of them are actually fleeing from?

Your argument doesn't hold water. The decimal system and medical advancements were established long before Islam appeared or those regions became Arabized. So, the decimal system and medicine aren't Islamic or Arabic ideas. In fact, ever since those areas underwent Islamization and Arabization, the flow of new ideas from there has slowed down significantly, while the center of creativity shifted toward Europe.

If I’m reading this right, there isn't any real-time transaction reporting in Turkey, yet they've managed to sustain economic growth for years. They have an 18% standard VAT, plus some lower tiers. Top income tax hits at 35%.

It’s funny, really... this persistent belief in America that more repression, higher taxes, and endless mountains of paperwork somehow equals a better economy.

Scott Rodriguez19 said:Well, is anyone actually stopping you from working non-stop here in America?🙂

The government's got your back, I guess. In the States, we’ve got these incredibly rigid labor laws—everything has to be logged. Even if you own the damn company, you can't just pull an all-nighter without officially reporting those overtime hours and paying the taxes on them. It's a whole thing.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Just wondering, are these pre-built machines or what?

The first one is being custom-built by a company on order, while the second one is already finished and ready to go.

I'm looking at two different setups for a home PC—mostly just browsing the web, some gaming, movies, that kind of stuff. I could use some input on which one makes more sense, though the differences are mostly in the fine print. Or if anyone has a better idea for this budget:

1) $1833
Intel Core i5-4460 s1150 Crucial
Crucial 8GB 1600MhZ
ASRock H81M-HDS, 1150
Gigabyte R9 280 WF3 OC,
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM
Zalman Z3+ Case
7 frac-psu-int5
Samsung SH-224DB SATA

2) $1717
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5 4460, 3.2GHz, Haswell architecture
CPU COOLING: Intel 1155 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
MOTHERBOARD: Intel® H81 Chipset
MEMORY: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz, PC6400
GRAPHICS CARD: AMD Radeon R9 270 2GB DDR5 (New Generation)
HARD DRIVE: 120GB SATA3 SSD
Optical Drive: DVD+-RW DL SATA black
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 5.1 AUDIO
CASE: Sharkoon gaming, black
POWER SUPPLY: 500W
NETWORK CARD: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
USB PORTS: Built-in USB 2.0 & 3.0 Ports

David Vaughn75 said:Look, man, let's be real—mafia wouldn't even exist in any country if they didn't have some serious ties to the government. The whole shadow economy is basically fueled by politicians running protection rackets; they’re the ones keeping the whole damn thing breathing. You see those guys selling cigarettes out of their trunks at a flea market? They might spend a few seasons in jail or deal with some probation, but you can bet your life they'll be right back at it doing the exact same thing once they're out.

Side note: anyone who decides to pack up and move abroad should probably pay back every cent the government spent on their education.☕

And there it is. That classic socialist mindset in full swing: "The state provided it."

What state? The state doesn't just have its own pile of cash sitting around. It’s all just taxpayer money from citizens and corporations that the government redistributed. So, when someone leaves for a job in Europe or wherever, it wasn't some magical gift. Their parents already paid for that education through taxes—along with every other tax they've busted their backs to pay their whole lives. The money just went through the Department of Education instead of directly to the tuition bill.

Jeffrey Fisher61 said:Here is an example

An IPA project designed to train potential entrepreneurs—written specifically so that training paired with access to microloans would be available to everyone—involved setting up a commission made of supposedly "successful" businessmen, appointed by local government officials, to oversee and judge whose ideas were actually viable enough to qualify for those microloans.

But here is how the project actually went down:

Four hand-picked individuals, chosen by three Republican Party mayors from the region, received perfectly crafted, pre-written business plans created by people with advanced degrees; naturally, they grabbed those microloans and launched their businesses.

I suppose I shouldn't even have to point out which political faction those entrepreneurs belonged to.

One of the jokes I heard at the last seminar in Canada was about how Europe is watching us now, so we can't just cut corners and do things our own way anymore—it really gave me a good laugh because I honestly can't remember a single project we've run strictly by the book in the last three years.

It’s also pretty funny to me because, much like in Canada, there are certain organizations that hold a total monopoly over "job coaching" and similar services, and that was exactly the kind of organization running our seminar.🤣

Do you honestly think there aren't entrepreneurs out there with postgraduate degrees? I know a few. I really don't get where this idea comes from that business owners are all idiots.

Though, you also have to realize that just having theoretical knowledge isn't some kind of guarantee that a "perfectly written" idea will actually work in the real world.

Aside from that final point, everything else here is just people in America sharing their own views—some folks feel one way, others feel completely different. But at the end of the day, they have every right to say what’s on their minds, whether you agree with them or not. I don't see how you, as a moderator, can step in and ban discussions about the death penalty or where asylum seekers should be housed. My only real gripe is that the last claim is premature until there's an actual court ruling.

You said:
They're "not fit for society," "should be isolated far from residential areas," "shouldn't be allowed to wander freely through Washington, D.C.," "we need the death penalty," "they're terrorists, rapists, and cannibals," and so on.

The issue isn't whether I want to start my own thread, it's about why you shut down an existing one. And why on earth shouldn't we be allowed to talk about a specific case?

I want to go on record opposing the moderator Ryan Vaughn7’s attempt to shut down any talk regarding how we handle asylum seekers here in America.

In my view, blocking Americans from voicing their opinions on massive issues that actually impact our lives feels a lot like totalitarianism—I honestly don't know what else you'd call silencing a debate on topics this significant.

If someone says something out of line, fine, just delete that specific post. But as far as I can see, this whole topic is way too important to be treated as some forbidden subject that we aren't allowed to discuss.