Bwaahahaha!

"I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything"

It's the Bart Simpson defense!

[Beetlejuice voice] And it just keeps getting funnier *every* *single* *time* I see it! [/Beetlejuice voice]

How about you just stick your fingers in your ears and go; "Lalalala, I can't hear you! Lalalala!".

Too funny!

Strat

The rich live close while the poor have to commute

It's funny that those living way out in the suburbs are "the poor".

Have you seen housing rental rates in NYC, the location the OP was talking about? Granted, in many locations it's the reverse, but the OP's point re: NYC is generally accurate.

Strat

Are the moderators out of their minds today? Some awfully silly comments are getting modded up in this story.

The reason that you don't make minimum wage $100 an hour is because the objective is not to close businesses, but instead to just give employees a chance to survive on a basic level out from their full-time wages. Government (as an expression of larger society) does well to ensure that business owners don't get rich by making their employees poor and by making them have to go on government assistance. $15 an hour is a good and reasonable minimum wage for an area with such a high cost of living.

Um, what? Of course the money that they don't pay their employees is a large part of their wealth. Every dollar that they don't pay their employees is a dollar that goes into their pockets, in the form of profit/loss and stock valuation. Oh, it's also a dollar that comes out of taxpayers' pockets too, in the form of food stamps, medicaid, welfare, etc. In other words, taxpayers are partially subsidizing the Waltons' (and many other business owners and stockholders) wealth.

...We first teach them basic reading, writing, math, history, and critical-thinking/problem-solving skills that are sorely lacking among HS grads?

Oh wait, can't have that! The little bastards might figure out how screwed they are by the crony-capitalist fascist oligarchy and actually be able to change the status-quot!

Strat

Not at all. The four boxes (soap, ballot, jury, ammo) are to be used in that order. So far we've tried soap, ballot, and jury.

Next, I would try peaceful non-compliance, but I'm not naive enough to believe that the government would not respond violently.

We do not live in a "thriving society", we live in a fascist oligarchy that is descending into collapse. You are delusional if you believe otherwise.

So, with heavily-armed domestic paramilitary units assaulting the homes of citizens for things like student loan debts and misdemeanors, just how much farther does the government need to go before you would justify self defense? After you've been rounded up and sent to a camp is a bit late.

News flash, Bunky. They have believed that for decades.

Nice ad hominem. Down to the last resort of those who cannot defend their position, eh? Let's hope they don't believe that everyone will roll over and lick their boots as you seem adamant to do, as that guarantees they will proceed at full speed.

Yeah just sit down, shut up, and comply, right? Attitudes like that are historically what have enabled tyranny to fester.

Let me translate it into a language you'll comprehend;

"Baa-aaa-aaahhhh!"

Strat

Yes their indoctrination machine is infallible, that's why gangs in the US send gang members to join the US military for training, and why so many militia members are ex-military.

Wow, they don't need to send a jackbooted thug for you, do they? You're already in a gulag of your own making.

Strat

Yes, abandon all hope.If we lick their boots convincingly, maybe we'll be the last into the gulag.

Strat

That very same military.

They are not all unquestioning robots. Many will desert and go over to the civilian's side, and take their training and all the equipment/resources/weapons they can manage with them, while destroying what they cannot take/use.

Strat

Then kill the fascist bastards and form a new government. That's what's going to happen very soon in the US if things don't change.

Strat

They are not mutually exclusive, and in most cases Socialism and violence go hand-in-hand. Socialism has never worked except in relatively small, homogenous cultures. In larger and more diverse cultures Socialism has always devolved into some form of communism or fascism with corruption, violence, and death aplenty, typically with extreme poverty for all but the 'connected' and powerful.

Strat

Are these stars passing through relatively dense gas and/or dust clouds? Is it possible that is what is triggering/fueling these events?

If that is the case, is Sol on a path that takes it through similar gas/dust clouds at some point in the future, and if so, how far in the future?

Strat