Who said they have a wife?

Social security is funded by government bonds.

Bonds are just a promise the government makes to pay a certain amount of money at a certain amount of interest after a certain time has passed.

They aren’t stacking gold bars in fort Knox.

(They might or might not be stacking gold, they just aren’t paying for social security that way.)

SS has always been a funded by the promise to pay it. I don’t understand what you mean by “stealing”

No one has been paid less than they are owed just because SS ran a surplus for 60 years.

Non wealthy people had their taxes cut for a time, but raised permanently. The trump tax cuts were a wealth transfer from the working class to the owner class.

France has a powerful executive. More powerful than even the US president, inside their own system.

I have heard the French presidency described as an “elected dictator.”

Macron wants people to see what the far right has to offer and hopefully realize they don’t like it before the presidency goes up for grabs.

France made childcare and education free and relatively high quality and look at that! They have just under replacement level fertility!

Some people do want children. Not everyone, but lots of people do. It’s true that wealth depresses fertility, but you can have a sustainable society if you give people financial security.

I’m willing to believe there are some cultural issues at play, not just the economics, but that is for demographers to tease out.

The American congressional representatives have an average of 2 children. Replacement rate. Get our standard of living up to that and you will see fertility go up.

Yeah, America is undermining it’s own hegemony since 2016 and what do you know? The threat of violence is rising.

Russia invaded Ukraine, China is threatening Taiwan, Ethiopia is threatening Eritrea, Venezuela is threatening Guyana. A world where large nations can bully, invade, and occupy small nations unopposed is not really better than the Pax Americana.

In what country?

I’m talking about raising wages by 40-70% in the US.

Pipe dream, but if it happened the fertility rate would increase.

I’m a fan of sortition over ballot, but what is the purpose of this? To have fun?

Raise the price of labor to the point that a working family can afford to have children at the standard they consider socially acceptable.

That would devalue investment accounts though, so it won’t happen until there is suffering on a scale not seen outside of major wars.

I have been trying to cut down my social media use. Leaving reddit was a big part of that. What actually happened was I spend time here and on YouTube, and occasionally I load up old reddit!

I’m trying guys, but it’s hard.

I was told I looked young for my age. Then I transitioned and lost another 5 to 7 years.

It’s certainly possible that nosey co-workers have sussed out the truth, but also some people just don’t look their age.

I’ve argued for years that while I don’t like Manchin personally, he is far superior to any Republican he has run against.

He votes for the good of the country more often than “centrist” Republicans like john McCain or Lisa Murkowski ever have. He has been a blessing to this country and the world.

Liberals are not the same as fascists or conservatives. They are preferable to either.

But not as good as leftists.

Possible exception would be Ohio, but that state isn’t in play really, so it would change nothing.

Sounds like change we can believe in.

Panic

That doesn’t solve the mystery. If those sources were the only ones I could read, I still wouldn’t think Trump was anything but a liar.

I’m depressingly curious why voters would trust trump on anything .

I left out a critical word. Edited comment above.

I left out a very important word, edited comment above.