-1 That Joke Was Last Funny In 2006

Doesn't sound to me like the OP was asking anyone for anything. You have issues.

If federally subsidized student loans went away, prices would absolutely have to come down, one way or another. Or big universities would have to find a way to get by with 1/2 as many students.

Your last paragraph illustrates beautifully why the federal government should not be involved in handing out money to colleges. The government shouldn't get to make those judgments.

Social mobility is low. Full stop. Everywhere, at all times throughout history, those who break through to a higher economic class are the exception, not the rule. Social and economic mobility is higher now than at any other time in our recorded history. I have looked it up, thanks.

And if you somehow think that investing your capital in the work of others isn't a service...well, I don't know what to tell you. You're wrong.

As you obviously disagree you either belong to that %1 or are not poor enough to make up your mind.

I don't know what your definition of "poor enough" is. I am firmly in the bottom 50%, but above the federal poverty line. But I think there's a third option there that you're missing.

If Amazon didn't have Penguin to undercut, they'd be charging the same damn thing and you know it.

Ah yes. The "everyone with money inherited it through no merit of their own" troll, backed up with the "investing your capital in the work of others isn't a service" tripe. You're full of shit, you know that?

You stated a desire to "strip the top 1% of their assets." By strip, I cannot help but surmise that you mean steal.

What do you think it means?

You would expect a system that benefits all people equally would maintain a relatively close distribution of wealth over time.

Why would you expect that?

That's idiotic. It goes to other places so other people can do stuff with it. That's what investment means.

Your apparent desire to steal from people is disgusting.

The two most important items in my office are my Model M keyboard and my big fat Logitech trackball. I've got big hands, and typing on those shitty little throwaway keyboards (you know, the identical black HP keyboard that came with everyone's tower) scrunches me up in a weird way. I have more typos, and by day's end my wrists fucking hurt. A physically larger keyboard with bigger, more spaced-out keys is such a Godsend.

The trackball is really nice too. Hard to get used to if you've never used one before, but it also really saves my wrist. Working at other workstations (I do a lot of contract stuff, in all kinds of places) really gets to me, and I find that as I get older (even though I'm only 30) I have less tolerance for it. Within an hour or two, I can feel it in my tendons. But I can work at my own desk all day long and be totally fine.