(06-07-2021 07:10 AM)MerseyOwl Wrote:  

(06-04-2021 10:54 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  FTR Mersey, I hope my response didn't come across harshly....

I simply meant that there are solutions to the obvious problems... and I think the problems with 'what we're doing' require risking some of the concerns you have. We've done it this way for decades now and things are worse, not better for most people subject to them. We need to find a way to fix your concerns. I don't pretend to have worked out all of the kinks.... I just think that 'having to find a way to address public transportation' in the age of internet and delivery and work from home etc is far less of a concern to me than people who quite literally have zero upward mobility because we have denied them access to what is perhaps the single largest source of wealth creation in the history of the world.... even if we DID have good intentions.

(FYI I took the weekend off from the Parliament.)

Sorry Ham, I didn't actually present much of an objection and I hope we're not going to become debate adversaries on this issue and the forum in general.

Transportation was pretty lame, but that's the first obstacle that people of a certain age have to overcome. More broadly and accurately is the obstacle of loss of community. Not sure how to put a dollar value on that or how that can be resolved?

Yes, increasing an individual's liquidity will create opportunities. But that doesn't necessarily translate to wealth 100% of the time. I believe the government has done a pretty good job of reducing taxes on personal property (homes) gains and the ability of rolling over the basis of your existing property to your future one already. But I believe the cash element (or cash equivalent - forgiveness of debt) remains taxable subject to thresholds and conditions. (I could easily be wrong on all of this as I haven't practiced accountancy for over thirty years.)

Not to be condescending, but what you suggest is an optimistic 'art of the possible.'

My perspective is generally pessimistic and littered with financial car crashes and dumpster fires. I have seen real estate crashes, stock price crashes, and just about every other investment crash. You can't 'fix' financial risk, you can only try to mitigate it. And even if you pick a low risk investment, say municipal bonds, they can go bad as well. Just look up Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) bonds (aka "Whoops"). (I nearly bought some of these.) I thought the bonds became worthless, but a little investigating say they eventually paid 40 cents on the dollar. (Ouch.)

So I don't feel that you were harsh. I don't think, I know, we have different perspectives. And that's a good thing. There are too many pessimistic bastards out there already. I should know, I'm the club secretary.

Not at all. I value your perspective as it is clearly unique and can speak to a different reality from what we here in the states either know or think we know.

Yes, I believe (paraphrasing you in my own words) that we as a nation and people in general could screw up a wet dream and some seem to even relish that... but I just think that sometimes the solutions are worse than the problem... and I think that's been the case in America's responses to 'assistance'. MOST of the systemic racism I can actually point to was an unintended?? consequence of something designed to do 'good'.

The creation and defense of 'majority minority' districts for political purposes has by definition created an under-representation of those minorities in other districts... and created the very 'segregation' that many spent their lives to eliminate. Even if the hearts were in the right place when they did it, its still the wrong result.

I desperately seek input from others on how best to address issues like these, so I value your perspective... because i really want to fix it. and I KNOW that I can't imagine my own unintended consequences.... and of course, we aren't going to solve it on a forum like this... but its perhaps a start??