Classe move to China

If you guys ever have a major illness, I guess you are telling me that you would rather go somewhere else for medical care. Yeah right.

"I would hope they do something to save one of our largest exporters from suicide. South Carolina is one of the top illiterate states, among others from Appalachia."

That is such an ignorant statement it's laughable.

The five counties mentioned in the article referenced by Hifihvn are not in the manufacturing districts of S.C. and in fact, they are all very poor, black communities. Sure, illiteracy is high in these counties, but that's like saying the rest of S.C. is like these five counties just like the rest of Michigan is like the inner-city of Detroit.

Here's a classic example of a little knowledge gleaned from the internet being dangerous - and also prejudicial sounding at the same time.

I am sure that BMW and Boeing and the many international companies with manufacturing plants in South Carolina didn't do their due diligence on the workforce before they invested billions (with a B) into their plants in S.C.

Not to mention the fact that S.C. was the center of textile manufacturing in the country before the industry evaporated to China due to slave labor wages in China. Hard to believe the illiterates in S.C. were once responsible for the success of textile manufacturing in the U.S.

"General Motors decided to hire people without even a high school diploma. It backfired on them. They had to pay their employees to get rid of them! A lot of them went back to Appalachia, with their money, spent it, and are looking for other big paying jobs now. There are not anymore big paying easy handouts for them, except now, maybe Boeing?"

Once again - stupid remarks on their face.

Appalachia didn't run to Detroit in great numbers at all. And the Wiki article that Hifihvn references doesn't even support his stupid conclusions.

It's the unions that have killed General Motors and the rest of Detroit. General Motors problems are home grown!

Hey Hifihvn, it's amazing, huh, that many car companies have located in the South, including east Tennessee (Appalachia), but yet the labor force is entirely illiterate and uncapable (yeah right). Who would have ever thought that these mega companies would risk billions of dollars in manufacturing infrastructure only to find out there are no workers capable of doing the work. I guess they forgot to first ask Hifihvn about the labor pool before they wasted all of their money.

I have lived all over the country, including S.C. Are there stupid and uneducated people there? Sure, but have you ever been to an automotive plant in Detroit during shift change. Yeah, that's my idea of literacy.

I've already proven you wrong, Hifihvn. Can you read?

I explained to you the condition of the 5 counties in S.C. that your article referenced. S.C. has a huge minority population and it is an unfortunate reality that minorities haven't done very well on literacy tests. But you made the huge leap from one article you read to assert that the whole of S.C. is illiterate. That is simply stupid.

I also proved you wrong by logically exposing the naked truth that the huge corporations who have moved to S.C. would have done their due diligence on the potential workforce before investing billions of dollars in the state. Their actions speak far louder than your mere words taken completely out of context.

If you took the time to even read the second round of articles that you just posted, they destroy your own argument. Never once do they say how many people moved from Appalachia - it is entirely anecdotal in the article. Secondly, it appears that your assertion that they were functionally illiterate is blatantly wrong as the articles described how the Southerners stayed in the Detroit area and apparently thrived.

Your last article hangs you out to dry again. Here are the test scores from the article you referenced. Apparently you did nothing more than read the headline. The test scores show how close S.C. scores are to the national average.

"In reading, South Carolina’s fourth-graders had an average score of 215 in 2011, a decline of one point from 2009. The nation’s average score was 220 in 2011. South Carolina’s eighth-graders had average score 260, an increase of three points from 2009, while the national average score increased by two points to 264.

In mathematics, South Carolina’s fourth-graders had an average score of 237, an increase of one point, and the national average was 240. Eighth-graders’ mathematics scores increased one point to an average score of 281, and the national average was 283."

Maybe you should just quit while you are behind. You continue to needlessly embarrass yourself.

Excellent point of view Acman3.

Jea48, take control of your life and you won't have to worry about multinational corporations. Make your own way. They can't stop you. Live the American dream.

Sounds like some of you guys just got back from Occupy Wall Street. I hear the Outside Asylum calling.

Onhwy61,

We probably just view unions differently. I view them as a parasite. If you view them differently, that's okay too.

I'll take my good ol' American healthcare regardless of what the World Health Organization says. My U.S. healthcare experience has been exceptional. If anyone else wants to put a lot of stock in what a tentacle of the U.N. says, no problem - but I ain't buying it and will continue to feel very blessed to have the best healthcare in the world, IMHO.

Kijanki,

If you want to get your healthcare from one of the 36 countries in front of us (according to the WHO), no problem. But for me, I'll take my chances here. I don't want the type of free healthcare offered elsewhere (and it's not free anywhere, BTW). I am very happy with the healthcare I and my extended family have received in the U.S. I have no desire to risk my life on WHO statistics.

Macrojack,

My world is not burning - maybe yours is. My business had a big year last year and has for the last 10 years. If things change in November, I think they will only get better.

I am not a victim and I don't believe in the victim mentality. Success is hard work. But I'm not afraid of hard as I believe my success in life is dictated by the decisions I make in life. If I make bad decisions, bad things usually happen. Good decisions combined with hard work usually produce a different view of the world.

Nonoise,

I have 25 employees. I pay all of our full-time employees health insurance and that's with the most expensive PPO, not a much cheaper HMO.

I personally don't want the government dictating my healthcare to me and I suspect my employees may agree. All we need to do to dramatically bring the cost of health care down is to allow competition across state lines. Competition is the great equalizer.

"The study is published early online and in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology. Funding was provided by the CDC, the Department of Health in London, and Cancer Research UK in London."

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20080716/cancer-survival-rates-vary-by-country?page=2

Jea48,

If you don't like the results of the study, don't shoot the messenger. Seems like your problem is with the CDC.

"Fiddler says his world isn't burning, maybe mine is. What he fails to recognize here, and what all the free marketers overlook, is the simple fact that it is OUR WORLD. We all live here and we all need to be concerned about how we care for our home. We need to place the well-being of our home above profits and personal ideology. We need to care about making our home as safe and sane, as compassionate and purposeful and as prosperous and kind as we can manage."

Sure it's our world (in theory), but I can only control my portion of it. And if 47% of Americans aren't paying into the system, then it isn't as much of "OUR WORLD" after all.

That's the problem with liberals. They want everything to be fair for everyone. The only "fair" is a fairytale.

I'm sorry. I don't apologize for being successful and having a very high income (relatively speaking - Bill Gates excluded). I have earned every dime of it by working hard, taking huge risks and simply being blessed (and I'm in church on Sundays).

My success hasn't come at anyone else's expense either. The notion that success has to come on the backs of others is simply class warfare and it's stupid. The over-whelming number of successful people I know personally did it the same way I did - by working hard, risking everthing and treating people fairly. And just in case you are wondering, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth with any advantages. My spoon was a wooden spoon. My Dad was a truck driver his whole life and my Mom a secretary. But they taught us hard work and ethics.

If you or anyone else is not as successful as you want to be, don't blame me. I have nothing to do with your life and the decisions you make.

I am sick and tired of hearing the whining and namby-pamby, us vs. them class warfare rhetoric. Get off of your butt and go find as much success as you want. If your world is burning down, then figure out how to put the fire out. Since the beginning of time, some have been more successful than others. Simply human nature.

Life ain't fair, so quit complaining and figure out how to work within the system we have (or try to change it, that's what our Democratic Republic is about). But in the mean time, it may be hugely helpful to do something more productive and more risky than hanging out in an audiophile forum all day.

There - I feel better.

Who owns corporations? People. Very often stockholders all over the country.

You probably have no problem with labor unions over-whelmingly speaking solely to Democratic and liberal causes with their millions and million of dollars, but shame on corporations for doing the same thing.

And I find it hilarious that the liberals and OWS crowd are protesting Wall Street when Wall Street gave 3 times as much money to Obama and the Democrats. Can you say hypocrisy (or maybe just clueless or uninformed or both.)

Hey, I've got to go to the office to try to make some money. Will check in later to read the flames.

From the office:

Nonoise, you are clueless. The unions gave hundreds of millions of dollars to Obama and the Democrats. And it was Obama who spent more money than any candidate in history. You need to check your facts.

"As for Wall Street, from what I've remember, they just hedged their bets and gave about the same to both parties until it got to the end and they saw just how insipid the republicans were."

That's so ridiculous on the face of it and a lie. Surely, you can do better than to make up your own facts. Obama had record breaking campaign cash long before "the end" of the campaign. Man, it's hard to respond to that kind of spin and lies.

"About 1/2 of 1% personally give more than $200 in an election cycle. That's not that many stockholders now is it? And its the super wealthy (oligarchs) that sit on those boards."

Once again, clueless. The individual stockholders don't have to make campaign contributions to benefit from corporate donations. What part of the process don't you understand.

If the corporations are contributing to protect their business interests, then the individual stockholder (large or small benefits) as well.

Now I understand why you are here complaining so much about the rich and how the system is screwing you. You don't get it or just don't want to do what it takes to dramatically improve your cicumstance.

It's probably someone else's fault too if you are over-weight, unattractive, short, bald, have self-induced health problems, addictions, etc.

Man-up and beat the system at it's own game or at least learn to play the game to your benefit. But whining about the rich and sitting on your butt in the comfort of your computer screen is only going to do one thing, keep your status in life right where it is or worse.

Nonoise,

What's drivel is your lack or personal responsibility and blaming the wealthy, Big Pharma, the Republicans and anyone else you can think of for your place in life.

And my personal attacks are juvenile? It was you who started attacking all of the above, which may include me and others here, as well. I guess it's okay to attack folks by proxy as long as you intentionally avoid doing it directly. At least I speak my peace directly.

Sure - I'm the unhinged one. Not sure if you noticed, but it's not me who is here complaining, "Poor me, the rich are ruining my life."

Hey, it's much easier to be a victim than to be a success. Just keep on complaining about how unfair things are and I'm sure your lot in life will improve.

The cold hard truth is that if someone has more than you - it's not their fault. But you don't like the truth do you? It makes life much easier for you if it's someone else's fault, right?

Man, am I sick of the whining that life is not fair and that some have more than others. Sheesh.

Macrojack,

Te he he he.

You don't like the message either so you figure, "I'll cut him down to size and show him how small he really is." Nice try, but you’re too late. That “uncomfortable position” which you referred to did that long ago. That’s why I appreciate what I have now more than ever.

You say that I'm not the wealthy you are talking about. Hypothetically you are right, but effectively when the collective advocates that the so-called “rich” pay their fair share and I am lumped into the group with tax increases or a surtax, then you ARE talking about me.

Believe me, I get it. There are a lot of people much more successful and wealthy than I am and I'm okay with that. But in case you missed it, I'm not the one in here who is whining about how the rich are screwing me over.

Continue with your class warfare all you want. Stay on your bully pulpit and tell the world how compassionate you are and how you care about everyone else's plight. And when you're ready, give me a call and we'll talk about how much you actually give to charity (non tax deductible charity especially) and what you do for others. Based on my experience with numerous compassion-spewing big talkers, I can predict how the conversation will turn out. I’ve heard it all before about greed, elitism, selfness, etc. only to find out that the one casting the stones actually does nothing or very little in time and money for others. Ask my employees how they like their free healthcare, their matching funds 401k, their paid vacations, their Christmas bonuses, the costly company outings, etc. Then ask the community who can always be counted on to give to any and EVERY charity that asks. Ask each of the five strangers (for eight years running) how they felt when their kid got a $1,000 college scholarship from a total stranger or the parents of the kids who receive the $2,500 scholarships. Ask the Little League if the $3,500 they receive is meaningful, then call the Junior Golf program and don’t forget the underprivileged kid’s basketball program, and my church, and on and on.
Yeah, bring it on with your high and mighty utopian talk about the evils of greed, the less fortunate, compassion, etc. I’ll be waiting.

And you misinterpret my demeanor as cockiness and condescension. It's neither. It's anger. I have come to loathe people complaining about income inequity and pleading for the system to correct the imbalance. If one has worked hard and been fortunate, they are also burdened with the responsibility to give back and help others along the way. But that should be a personal decision - not a right of the collective to take from one and give to another. There has always been great disparity between the rich and poor throughout human history. The plutocratic mindset of the rich is not new, but what is new in my lifetime is the sense of entitlement from a new generation. Scream all you want at the plutocracy, read Marx, Engels, Bauer, Hess, advocate for equality, light incense...whatever. But stop trying to take more of my income and that of others simply because you don’t think it’s fair!

BTW, I never, ever listen to talk radio and never have. But since you made the grand assumption that I do, I will make one in return. Try reading something other than the Huffington Post.