Gyroscopic Investing

Yay! Socialism for the rich!

Privatize the gains and socialize the losses!

ochotona wrote:Yay! Socialism for the rich!

Privatize the gains and socialize the losses!

I say we need to start thinking about how to replace "government" with DAO's.

Yeah, that happened with the new new Yankee Stadium, too. The stadium was built on a public park, despite NYC's strict laws against developing parkland. And, of course, the city threw handfuls of money at the Yankees too, just like Atlanta did, instead of (say) using it to keep the NYC subway from breaking down like it has.

That's what we pay taxes for! For somebody to use it as Monopoly money in their favorite game of choice. I'm not a "conservative" in the usual sense, but I am most definitely not liberal if it means being in favor of this type of wasteful, fraudulent activity.

You seem quite conservative in most ways to me, WiseOne, from your posts.

I'm on the liberal side of things, generally, but I don't like that sort of spending/activity either. And I see it in our little town/city, as well as our state, and also nationally.

For example, we seem to not be able to fix our streets here, despite it being at the top of the list of citizen concerns, based on numerous surveys, and also having passed a specific tax to help fund that. But we have plenty of money to engage in dubious (from my perspective) projects.

If I were in charge, I'd first try to do the basic stuff like fix streets, before engaging in anything more ambitious. And, if that meant we didn't do ambitious projects because we didn't have the money, that would be fine with me.

That sounds pretty conservative to me, jafs.

You just missed the abortion-related threads where I looked a whole lot less conservative. Also I'm not in favor of things like religious dictatorships, which makes me dislike a fair number of Republican politicians.

I think of politics not as a line going from right to left, but rather as a circle. At the extremes, both right and left end up at the same place. Of late, the Democratic party and liberal thinkers have moved way too far to the extreme, to the point where individual liberty and self-sufficiency is very much at risk. That (very slight over-generalization) is what pushed me toward the conservative side. Actually I feel like I stood still and politics moved around me.

I'd say I'm about 85% liberal, with about 10% conservative and 5% libertarian. That 10% shows up as fiscal conservatism a lot of the time.

You're right, I missed the abortion threads.

It looks to me as if the conservatives have moved farther right, for whatever that's worth. A lot of old-school R wouldn't be conservative enough for the modern R party.

jafs wrote:It looks to me as if the conservatives have moved farther right, for whatever that's worth. A lot of old-school R wouldn't be conservative enough for the modern R party.

Like Trump! It's nice that he puts America first instead of Republican Establishment ideology which is unilateral free trade and pseudo-open borders. It's refreshing, but I'm worried about how much compromise will it take. That devil is always in the details.

WiseOne,

I am surprised you think the Yankees deal is dubious; it's only $2 billion . You and I have the distinction of living in proximity to that edifice.

Did you know the Yankees gave $2,000 crystal vases as Christmas presents, funded from the taxpayer give-away?!

You might agree: much fun here and many laughs here in NYC. (I imagine you realize you can take any of several buses on 181st Street or switch for the 'D' train at 145th Street to get to the Mockery of The Taxpayer).

Been to the New Yankee Stadium once on an invite. Very loud. Never going back.

$2 billion for chiseling billionaire Steinbrenners! BTW, Fenway and Wrigley Field are still going strong at over 100 years old.

In closing, Yankee ownership paid cash out of the business to build the original Yankee Stadium. The Woolworth building was built with cash from the business, also. A less "chiseling time" in days gone bye.

So were you for or against the $2 billion + public park gift to the Yankees? Who are not exactly hurting for cash? And who already had a perfectly good stadium and no intention of moving out of the city?

Before you answer that, add up how much money you're paying in real estate taxes and NYC income tax. Then see what happens next time you ride the A train. My advice: bring a good book.

WiseOne, the city govt would have just wasted the money in other ways. They waste our money every day in so many ways. They employ thousands of people who do nothing and who know nothing. They line their own pockets. Those trains would be running no better with that extra money than without it. It's the government, stupid!

Bread and circuses. Bread and circuses.

WiseOne,

The Steinbrenners are a blight on baseball and New York City.

As I said in the post: I am never going back. That's huge since I had been going there since opening day 1961.

Well, the sons certainly are. But the father had the drive to succeed. He didn't settle for losing. Somewhat like Trump.

Rupert and Houston (who built Yankee Stadium with cash on hand), and Dan Topping and Del Webb were the Yankee owners who define success.

In 44 years through 1964, the Yankees won 29 pennants and 20 World Series. The Yankee fans experienced Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio and Mantle. Sprinkle a long list of other stars and do note how the current Yankee ownership is embarrassing- the future stars traded away!!

We did get treated to last place and 2 suspensions of the owner. Thanks, George Steinbrenner! What a guy!

Fortunately Gene Michael and Buck Showalter built the Joe Torre Yankees. (But then Steinbrenner did fire Buck Showalter).

THe tally on the Steinbrenner era since 1973 (43 years): 11 pennants and 7 World Series. The "new" Yankee era, 1973-present does not compare.

We can assert that the playoff arrangement inhibits consistent championships as the better team can get knocked out by mediocrity on a hot streak or a bit of luck but Steinbrenner agitated for the playoff expansion. ($$$$ over wins and the people lined up for it. Hard earned family money handed over for bread and circuses).

People most certainly do have a problem. I don't know about Atlanta, but there was a huge uproar here about the Yankee and Shea stadium projects. The measures only passed after the city promised that net to taxpayers would be zero, counting theoretical benefits to the city from the new stadiums, and that the park would be moved to a new location.

Of course, these turned out to be utter lies. Finances are easy to lie about, and nobody has a lot of sympathy for the South Bronx so few people really cared about the lost park - except for the dangerous precedent that was set.