The fact that I was not banned on sight is quite something and totally unexpected.
This is not DU, Buzz. The reason you had to come over here is that your fellow proglodytes cover their ears and demand the ban hammer for anyone to the right of Trotsky. Conservative and libertarian posters get thrown off Skins' Island immediately- except for our moles, of course.
I am not trying to prove anything here; that was done long ago and, despite the passage of time, you were here then, too. (Yes, it was CU, but the same cast of characters, plus or minus)
Your history on another site is immaterial here; different house, different rules. You'll sink or swim on your own at the Cave, just like your friend Alex, who sank.
Two things about this place: 1) You guys do a great job of pointing out the silliness at DU that is posted with great sincerity; 2) Despite recognizing many DUers for who they are, most here are incapable of turning that mirror toward themselves.
You're describing a common feature of human nature; one that has been recognized for millennia. As a purported Christian, you may recall an admonition about motes and planks.
When it comes to "redistribution of wealth", you and I simply disagree about who is getting hosed. I pay a shitload of taxes, a significant fraction of which goes to pay for the infrastructure supporting businesses of all sizes, the largest and most wealthy of which send their profits and too many of their jobs overseas. That practice is as indefensible as able-bodied young men and women standing in welfare lines.
You said it. That son of a bitch at Apple is screwing us all over,
making us all buy his Chinese-made i-Crap. Close the borders and nationalize Apple, for The People!
As you said, it's "
their profits" and "
their jobs".
Theirs. Not yours, not mine, and not the government's. Nobody
makes you buy anything, except when the government makes you buy health insurance. There's a lesson for you in there, Buzz.
Who redistributes wealth at the point of a gun?
The government.
Who makes tax laws, and then creates special exceptions to those laws?
The government.Who takes from the wealth creators and working men, and gives to their favored recipients?
The government.Your complaint is not with the wealth makers, it is with the wealth takers.