Posts by Linda Morales

goldengull3 said:1. So, what makes America not a "real capitalist country"?

Are you seriously trying to bait me here?

How on earth can a country run by monopolies and blatant nepotism even claim to be capitalist?

Seriously, where else in the world—besides here—does a massive telco like AT&T hold a total monopoly when it’s literally against the law? You call that capitalism?

Or how about the fact that because of illegal lobbying, you can't even get a license for a competing provider to break into the market? That's just how the game is rigged.

And my absolute favorite example: instead of actually competing to give consumers better deals, these crooks just sit down behind closed doors, cut a deal, and fix prices together. That isn't capitalism. It's straight-up theft, lawlessness, and organized crime.

In a real capitalist system, the courts actually function. But here? They laugh in your face if you try to threaten them with a lawsuit, and then the police tell you it's "none of their business." That’s not capitalism. It’s a joke.

goldengull3 said:I’ve got way more options now than I ever did before 1990. Whether it's picking a career, a car, where to live, or where to vacation—everything's opened up.

Well, sure, you’ve got more options compared to what YOU THINK is reality, which is basically just a hangover from the old communist days, but you aren't comparing it to how things actually work out there in the real world where stuff is actually advanced (or isn't).

Take Microsoft, for example. You’ve got a million ways to spec out a PC here, but the problem is that most local tech geeks haven't the slightest clue that half this stuff doesn't even fly overseas because we're lagging so painfully behind. It's the exact same story when you look at Windows.

Or look at cars—over here, having air conditioning is treated like some fancy luxury add-on, while in the rest of the world, it’s a total baseline standard included in the cheapest model on the lot.

Linda Morales said:Look, if you're sitting on a mountain of cash and want to drop it all on a house upfront, sure, that’s one way to play it.
But let me hit you with a reality check: if that's the house you live in by yourself, it isn't an asset—it's a damn liability.
And seriously, you’ve gotta double-check the tax laws in whatever state you're in (because those rules shift faster than you can blink) before you make any massive moves.
In some places (I think Tony Blair mentioned something similar back in the day in the USA), if you sell a house you bought outright with cash, they'll come knocking for capital gains tax that could eat up something like 40% of your profit.
But, get this—if you take out a mortgage and then remortgage it to the max before selling it just to pay off the loan (meaning you technically walk away with zero profit), you might dodge that 40% hit entirely.
Usually, the truly wealthy folks don't actually "own" anything in their own names to avoid tax evasion traps; everything they have is tucked away inside various corporations or shielded through other clever setups.

Yeah, obviously. The guy who's paid off his house is financially independent, and they can't push him around. That's what really bugs them, because if you don't owe anyone a single cent, you're a free man in their eyes.

The truly free people aren't useful to any government on this planet, because there's nobody left to enslave. A person without debt is like a serf who finally breaks his chains and flips the bird to his old feudal lord.

So naturally, the system tries to skin you alive—that 40% tax is basically just revenge because they can't force you to be a slave through mortgages or some other shady financial trap.

If we know the trap exists—and we know the end goal is to have most able-bodied people spend their entire working lives grinding for someone else—then there's gotta be a way to screw this whole SHIT OF A SLAVERY SYSTEM. And there is, but it's some complicated, arcane Voodoo-hoodoo science. That's why lawyers make bank while the rich just keep getting richer. But hey, if they can pull it off, then screw it, I can too. I mean, come on, it's not like I was born yesterday or something.

Steven Ruiz said:So I see they announced talks yesterday about letting Turkey join the European Union.
What’s everyone’s take on this? Should we actually let them in as the first Muslim-majority nation, and if so, why? Or if not, what's the deal?

Because let's be real, Turkey isn't even part of Europe—they're tucked away in little old Asia!

As for everything else you asked... man, I don't even want to go there... because if I start down that road...