Loren Thacker

Nuance Is Dead. Pronouns: 3025516/9742681

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@JerryTurin @noam_dworman Peart would vehemently disagree with you.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@CavoRichard @HumanBeingAlpha @iamAtheistGirl You can only force equality with…force.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@CavoRichard @iamAtheistGirl Of the scores of real-life examples to choose from, what is the best example of a successful implementation of communism?

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@iamAtheistGirl @EBollaah Of the scores of real-life examples to choose from, what is the best example of a successful implementation of communism?

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@vrsvendsen1 @AntiCommieBecca Well, “hindsight” will be forthcoming — as soon as the text of the MOU is released.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@dorkasaurus_rex @HistoryBoomer You seem both nice and intelligent.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@HistoryBoomer Islam is fundamentally incompatible with liberalism.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@HistoryBoomer You should project forward a few years. The next time you’re in Paris, head over to St. Denis…you will feel like you are in the Middle East (not Israel) — but for the fact that the Basilica Saint-Denis is located there.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@ufukuel @bmahonthatsit @rtvrn2svbvrb @avidseries @datahazard The FBI does not track that data by race?

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@LDonivan @Gaia13889352 @AntiCommieBecca How would you “shore up” pension systems?

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

You pointed to human-caused extinctions as a major consequence human population. I was simply putting those human-caused extinctions in relative terms. Nature, by far, is the greatest cause of species extinctions. I think a lot of people believe that most animal extinctions have been caused by humans. They haven’t. And it’s not even close.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

There is a general consensus among paleontologists that 99.9% of all species that have ever existed have gone extinct. And, for all practical purposes, given that humans have only been around for ~300,000 years, essentially zero of that extinction has been caused by humans. Have humans caused extinctions. Yes, of course. But it’s not even measurable when compared to the species that have gone extinct without any human cause at all.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@pudumasher3000 @deathbytarts @AntiCommieBecca I agree with you. How a country supports its poorest citizens says a lot about a country.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

I don’t disagree with raising the retirement age for Social Security. When the original retirement age was set, it was not a whole lot different than expected lifespans. Today, the expected lifespan significantly exceeds the retirement age. Hence, an explosion of retirees on SS. But reform of SS has proven for decades to be politically impossible. Americans want all sorts of government spending but few want to pay for it.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

@LDonivan @AntiCommieBecca How is a concern about population decline “the same” as prior concerns about overpopulation? The consequences are fundamentally different.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

You may be right about being poor in Europe. But is that the standard a country should be shooting for? “Hey, we are a great country for poor people to live in!” Better to be in a country with large engines of economic growth. And, like you noted, Europe needs to get this figured out soon or even the poor will be worse off in the coming future. I mean look at the UK. It now has a per capita GDP that is equal to or slightly less than Mississippi! And at current relative growth rates, that is just going to get worse for Europe.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

And declining populations in Europe are going to put a growing strain on workers, who are supporting growing percentage of their population who are retirees. The economic powerhouse in Europe (Germany) has been losing about 10,000 industrial jobs a month due to China now being in advanced manufacturing (gone are the days when China just made plastic junk). List just five giant global tech companies founded in Europe in the last 10-15 years. Almost all of that innovation is taking place in the US.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

Norway is a tiny little country with a population about the size of Minnesota AND an extreme outlier due to massive fossil fuel reserves. It’s not a model to apply to a country sixty times larger and vastly more diverse. Plus, all or most of the large European countries have GDP growth rates that are much lower than the US (including Norway). What is the long term consequences of that? They are going to have an increasingly difficult time supporting their social programs, especially now that they are going to have to devote much larger portions of their spending for defense against Russia due to the US turning its back on Europe. It’s far from pink ice cream and unicorns in Europe, especially in the future.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

We don’t need our population to grow exponentially but population decline will be socially and economically painful. As I noted in another response, in 1940 there were about 160 workers supporting every Social Security recipient. Today, it’s only about 2.7 workers supporting each recipient — and this is the major reason SS is in dire trouble. For the US, the only reason our population isn’t declining because of an influx of immigrants.

As to complaining about not enough housing, when would it have been a better time to be alive than right now in America? 1950? 1850? 1750? When? My grandparents were all adults before Ford man his first car — and before that they got around with their two feet or a horse. Life was VASTLY harder just a couple of generations ago — and for all of human history before that.

[Loren Thacker @ThackerX]

Put aside oligarchs for a moment. Cratering birth rates are going to be a huge problem because old people are going to live a lot longer and with declining populations the burden on young workers is going to become crushing. In 1940, there were about 160 million workers per Social Security recipient. Today? It’s about 2.7 workers for every SS recipient. If birth rates crater, that will get work. China is going to be in huge trouble. The general consensus among demographers is that China will have half the population in 2100 as it does today. That is going to cause tremendous economic and social strife. So, it’s not all about “The Man” oppressive everyone. This is a major social and economic issue for everyone.