This One Weird Pic DESTROYS Ayn Rand

[FourScore]

Tue Aug 25, 2015 at 04:06 AM PDT
This One Weird Pic DESTROYS Ayn Rand
by lapin


attribution: Elaine Thompson, AP
Snohomish County firefighter Ken Lawless, left, and Lt. Brandon Gardner being thanked by a man near Omak after firefighters saved his home from a wildfire.

The gentleman on the right, his shirt says "Lower Taxes + Less Government=More Freedom." Yeah, freedom to watch your home burn to ashes. Freedom to rebuild from the bottom up (or not depending on insurance, etc). I swear to g*d I hope these people see the intensity of the irony in this picture.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/25/1415271/-This-One-Weird-Pic-DESTROYS-Ayn-Rand

[Octafish]

1. Thousand Points of Light

"Volunteers." Get it?

[FourScore]

2. LOL. n/t

[Mnemosyne]

7. I wanted to vomit every time that creep said that. I wish they'd go back to their own dimension.

[Eleanors38]

18. Shining city on the hill?

[Enthusiast]

45. That's exactly what it meant.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Check out the facial expressions by

the firefighters.

[hifiguy]

6. If looks could kill.....

That libertarian mook whose hand the firefighter is shaking would be buried 100 feet deep.

[Wellstone ruled]

11. Seeing more and more of these Twit T-shirts out here in

Conservastand.

[Arugula Latte]

4. I wonder if this dumbass will ever connect the dots.

Probably not.

[tblue37]

21. The intertubes will try to help him make that connection. nt

[Fuddnik]

5. "We're from the government, and we're here to help you".

Now, do you believe it?

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. he should have turned that shirt inside out.

[Yavin4]

9. Shouldn't the invisible hand of the market place put out the fire?

[jtuck004]

15. It doesn't want to get burned. n/t

[jmowreader]

30. That's the thing...

When your house is on fire, the only thing that's going to keep you from sleeping in a box tonight is government employees with hoses.

If I had it to do all over again, I would become a firefighter, work my way up to big-city chief, then have "We're from the government and we're here to help" painted on every vehicle in my department.

[freshwest]

40. I wish you could do that. Likely get the trucks shot up in red areas, though. n/t

[Joe Chi Minh]

43. Nice one!

[progressoid]

10. I know a couple of assholes like this.

And no, they don't see the irony.

[central scrutinizer]

12. You had the "freedom" to refuse government help

Walk the walk, asshole. Cowboy up and take care of yourself, no matter what.

[jeff47]

13. Obligatory cartoon

http://angryflower.com/348.html

[MisterP]

14. what, 40% of SS/Medicare recipients think they get no Federal aid?

ironically this is the sort of American everyone to the left of Franco has to appeal to--to make it EXTREMELY clear that "it's assistance for me and welfare for thee" is doublethink and that "U.S. Treasury" isn't some sort of lottery that the beneficent corporatists set up to reward white folk

ditto the maker and taker states: if you give them the list they'll just invert the plus and minus signs and now Louisiana and Mississippi are supporting MN and CA (and pretend that the real list is just mirroring THEM)

[jtuck004]

16. Didn't they work and pay for those already? That isn't aid, that is giving back what was taken.n/t

[ToxMarz]

19. it's not giving back what was taken,

This is insurance, its a social compact we all participate in to assure medical and living/survival assistance in later years, some require and get far more than others, some get nothing (ie. die early). Everyone participating by paying a little (relatively speaking) for a lot more peace of mind.

[jtuck004]

24. It sure as shit isn't aid. It is paid for from people's labor, time wasting semantic arguments aside

[ToxMarz]

33. No one said it was aid, they are social insurance programs as iI said

Semantics can be your friend, words have meaning.

[jtuck004]

35. "New Reply what, 40% of SS/Medicare recipients think they get no Federal aid?" Get your money back

for that reading comprehension program.

And you will waste no more of my time, but if it helps your ego, write. bye.

[jtuck004]

26. This, you see, is government aid, given to thieving corporations who never did a lick of work.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027108928

and..

About $59 billion is spent on traditional social welfare programs. $92 billion is spent on corporate subsidies. So, the government spent 50% more on corporate welfare than it did on food stamps and housing assistance in 2006.

...

There’s so much suffering in the world. It can all get pretty overwhelming sometimes. Consider, for a moment the sorrow in the eyes of a CEO who’s just found out that his end-of-year bonus is only going to be a paltry $2.3 million.

“It felt like a slap in the face. Imagine what it would feel like just before Christmas to find out that you’re going to be forced to scrape by on your standard $8.4 million compensation package alone. Imagine what is was like to have to look into my daughter’s face and tell her that I couldn’t afford to both buy her a dollar sign shaped island and hire someone to chew her food from now on, too. To put her in that situation of having to choose… She’s only a child for God’s sake.”

It doesn’t have to be this way. Thanks to federal subsidies from taxpayers like you, CEO’s like G. Allen Andreas of Archer Daniels Midland was able to take home almost $14 million in executive compensation last year. But he’s one of the lucky ones. There are still corporations out there that actually have to provide goods and services to their consumers in order to survive. They need your help.

For just $93 billion a year the federal government is able to provide a better life for these CEO’s and their families. That’s less than the cost of 240 million cups of coffee a day. Won’t you help a needy corporation today?

...

Here.


'Course, this is old. They have figured out how to be much more lucrative, and there are more people left in poverty and near poverty to support them.

That is government aid.

[ToxMarz]

34. Great non-sequitor

We were talking about S/S and Medicare

[jeff47]

37. No. SS recipients receive far more than they pay in.

Including accounting for interest. That was one of the giant selling point for privatizing Social Security - to make it "fair".

Same with Medicare. In the last year of life, the vast majority receive far more from Medicare than they paid in.

[fasttense]

49. We know how fact free RepubliCONS who want to destroy Soc. Sec. can be

So, that giant selling point is not true. First they did not take into account what the empolyer has to pay into Social Security, then they fail to account for the fact that employers would have to pay more for their labor if Not for Social Security. As Social Security was being phased in, employers discovered that employees would accept a lower pay if they were covered by Social Security.

So, employees accept lower pay if they are covered by Social Security, so they would be getting a higher pay and where is that number calculated in that selling point? Also it saves the empolyer money but RepubliCONS never take into account what the rich gain from government programs.

[jeff47]

51. No.

First they did not take into account what the empolyer has to pay into Social Security

Uh, yeah, they did. You add up a lifetime of contributions, and then subtract the benefits paid back during retirement. And you get a negative number.

The Urban Institute, a non-partisan research institute in Washington, produces statistics on this topic annually. Institute researchers figured out what people turning 65 in various years have already "paid in" to the system and what can expect to "take out" after they reach age 65. (See our charts below)

(...)

According to the institute’s data, a two-earner couple receiving an average wage — $44,600 per spouse in 2012 dollars — and turning 65 in 2010 would have paid $722,000 into Social Security and Medicare and can be expected to take out $966,000 in benefits. So, this couple will be paid about one-third more in benefits than they paid in taxes.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/feb/01/medicare-and-social-security-what-you-paid-what-yo/

Depending on the combinations of workers in the household and age, Social Security recipients get back 133% to 800% of what they "paid in" when they retire.

So, employees accept lower pay if they are covered by Social Security

Sure. Just like they'll accept lower pay if there is a pension plan. Or at least they used to. It's not clear what will happen now that pensions are being gutted by conservatives and neoliberals. I know I would not trust a pension to actually be there if they were offered in my industry.

[Dont call me Shirley]

17. Taxes pay for the firefighters that saved your home. No taxes, no firefighters or firefighters for

hire at $500 per person per hour.

[-none]

31. Plus equipment and tools used.

[tblue37]

20. KnR. nt

[Elwood P Dowd]

22. I know people my age (68) drawing Social Security, Medicare, and some even Food Stamps

that insist the government shouldn't spend a penny on anything other than the military. You can't argue with some of them because they don't even believe these are funded by taxes. One lady told me her SS came from her retirement contributions at work and Medicare came from BCBS. Fox Fake News and 1,500 AM/FM radio stations pumping out hate, lies, propaganda, and using divide/conquer tactics has created millions of certified idiots, and they vote at about twice the rate of the under 40 crowd.

[PosterChild]

44. An associate at work who claimed to be a "libertarian" ....

.... told me he was a libertarian because SS was being threatend by the government ! Talk about being unclear on the concept !

[nichomachus]

23. Libertarian numbskull (but I repeat myself) n/t

[zooview]

27. Greed

Love the picture. Liberals/progressives! We need more time on the airwaves!!! Our messages are powerful but our means to "transmit" them are inadequate.

[OxQQme]

25. Shirt shoulda said

MOWR FREEDUM

[lonestarnot]

52. and what do I know, I'm just a fucking dumbass on the back.

[CharlotteVale]

28. Libertarians are fine with getting government help. They just don't want

anyone else to get it.

[Uncle Joe]

29. Tickets on the Titanic would've probably been even cheaper

if they hadn't spent any money on lifeboats.

The fact that they didn't have enough lifeboats is another story...or better yet, not.

Thanks for the thread, FourScore.

[liberal N proud]

32. Funny thing about these types, they want these services for them selves but not others

They don't see any problem accepting fire protection, but don't want to pay for it and don't want anyone else getting the service.

[paleotn]

36. Isn't Libertarian synonymous with freeloader?

...me thinks so. Freedom? Yea, freedom to watch your house burn to the ground in a multi square mile wildfire that no private entity has the collective resources to tackle effectively. But hey! Think of all the money they saved in taxes!

[Babel_17]

38. "Snohomish County Fire District 1 receives 90% of its funding from property taxes"

For those of us wanting to be sure that it was paid for by taxes.

http://www.firedistrict1.org/about-us/fire-benefit-charge

And they pay their firefighters. Though it seems they have some entry level volunteers who just get a stipend instead.

http://www.firedistrict1.org/about-us/job-opennings

Snohomish County Fire District 1 values our employees as our most important asset. We offer competitive pay and benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance coverage, education incentives, deferred compensation options and state retirement.

Fire District 1 values diversity and strives to have a diverse work force. Fire District 1 actively encourages people of all backgrounds and military veterans to apply for employment.

Lateral Firefighter / EMT & Lateral Firefighter Paramedic Full Time 11/09/2015 4:00 PM $5,415 to $7,784 per month

[freshwest]

39. Will he also shake the Lt.'s hand? Sorry to ask, but the Lt. doesn't look like he expects it.

As far as any appreciation when the fires are out, it will be forgotten. If anyone points out that it was the government put out the fire, he'll say he deserved or he may say they're just suckers for doing it for free.

[eridani]

41. Conservatives LOVE public goods--as long as they only benefit white people n/t

[MaggieD]

42. Yep

[gregcrawford]

46. Republicans adore Ayn Rand...

... because her malignant, bumper-sticker "philosophy" validates their own pathological selfishness, or what that evil monster, Henry Kissinger, called "Enlightened Self-interest." Rand HATED altruism, and railed against it every time she opened her mouth. Between wracking smoker's coughs, of course.

I read a lot of her third-rate crap back in the sixties. My bosses strongly suggested that it was in my best interest to do so. I slogged through her two doorstops that might as well have been one cinder block of a book called "Fountainhead Shrugged," and a lot of her early essays. The one in which she expressed admiration for a man who raped, murdered, and dismembered a 12-year-old girl is especially telling. But the publication of "The Virtue of Selfishness" lit the flame of my undying contempt for the woman.

Alisa Rosenbaum (her real name) was a frothing-at-the-mouth sociopath and a despicable pig of a woman.

Oh, and when she died, she was collecting Social Security.

[fasttense]

50. A Democratic firebrand in Kentucky said

The other side of the aisle needs to put down Ayn Rand's books and pick up the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.

I'm not Christian but it's about time someone pointed out how unchristian Kentucky RepubliCONS really are.

[gregcrawford]

58. Good point!

But I fear that, because Republicans' dishonesty is in their DNA, they'll just resort to cherry-picking the Old Testament to justify their malice toward anyone who disagrees with them. They do love them a god with serious anger management issues!

Why those who embrace the hive mentality even pretend to care about democracy confounds all reason. It is the antithesis of their rigid belief system. Go figure.

[Raster]

47. Oh yes, the irony. Libertarians all want less government... unless of course THEY NEED...

...what more government and taxes bring, i.e. FIREFIGHTERS TO SAVE THEIR DAMNED HOUSE. Yeah, and I'll bet Mr. More Freedom also likes the government roads to his just-saved house and the government-supplied, paid-for-by-taxes infrastructure to aid and equip the firefighters.

[snagglepuss]

48. "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"

Can't remember the band but that line has always stuck with me.

[ScreamingMeemie]

53. Me and Bobby McGee... written by Kris Kristofferson

Most notable performer... Janis Joplin

[snagglepuss]

56. I adore her rendition. Can't believe it forgot who sang it.

[truebluegreen]

54. Can't remember the band????!!1!!1!!!?

Jesu Cristo on a trailer hitch, the whole world is going to hell.





Just kidding. Peace.

[packman]

55. I'm not surprised - Against socialism until they need it

Had a son who ranted and railed against gov. handouts, gov. intrusion, big gov., etc., etc. That is until a hurricane ripped the roof off his Florida home . He was first in line at the FEMA tent filling out forms. His answer when questioned about his seemingly hypocrisy, "If it's there, why shouldn't I get it?".

I doubt if that T-shirt guy will throw his beliefs and T-shirt into the nearest fire.

[catbyte]

57. Sadly, baggers and libertarians usually don't have the cognitive skills to connect those dots.

It's both sad and lame at the same time.

[barbtries]

59. they don't.

it's like the teabaggers when they went to DC complaining about the trains running late or being crowded or some such bullshit. this stuff just magically happens don't you know.

[kairos12]

60. Great picture. But that guy will rationalize how he is differnt from the "takers."

[4lbs]

61. Repukes and Libertarians are against government.... until they need it. Then suddenly, it's not so

bad, FOR THEM.

Then, after the crisis is over, they'll go back to hating the government again.

[Vinca]

62. That guy needs to lose the t-shirt fast.

[Initech]

63. So these morons who buy into this bullshit...

Should not get police or fire protection. Their kids should not be allowed to attend public schools. They should not be able to drive on public roads, use public transportation, or consult city municipul services if they want to expand their house. They should also not be allowed to use the post office. See where this is heading Ayn Rand worshippers?

[d_legendary1]

64. This is why we need REAL education

from REAL educators (people who love to teach and get paid well to do it) in a REAL school! Not some fly by night charter scam designed to keep kids stupid.

[cigsandcoffee]

65. His shirt says "less government" and not "no government."

Maybe he's not talking about emergency services. You know, just to play the devil's advocate for a moment.

[Psephos]

67. It took 65 responses to get one different take on this.

very devilish of you

keep it coming

[Angry Dragon]

66. NOPE!! They are blind to the things that government does