Taxes on the rich are actually good for the economy.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

He probably would if his wife could leave. If my wife were Australian and not British I would choose Australia 9 times out of 10. Heck, if Britain had better weather we sure as heck wouldn't be here.

[Heracles 417]

Your a real saint haza

You work here and yet you b1tch about how bad it is here and how great your country is, go back to Australia and work I wont miss you. Please.

Nice try but the you're bitching doesn't work with me. The sooner more Americans wake up and realize they are being conned, the better. Clowns have held this country back and turned it into the butt of jokes around the world for too long now. I'll return this country to it's former glory, minus the racism of course. Even if I have to take down every dam last crook here. No pilgrim is ever going to outsmart a convict, that's for sure.

Money is your Achilles heel, so attacking it is quite easy. In order to respond to the threat, you will have you use your money; so it's a double edge sword. B)

Edited August 29, 2009 by haza

[_Simpson_ 250]

I work for the uber wealthy and its very hard to defend them. We've had 3 clients on the Forbes billionaire list and I have to say they can be very hard to work for. Basically once the contracts are signed they expect you to hop to and will push beyond the limits of the contract. They know that while they may be technically wrong regarding the agreement your not going to fight back because in court they can run you into the ground by effectively outspending you and outlasting you. A five year legal dispute is nothing to them, but for a small to midsize firm your going to eventually run out of funds before the case can be won. Its the mid to low level wealth that are the one's to work for because they are simply less powerful and will play by the book. Simply put, the wealthy can get things cheaper then the rest because they have the power to intimidate. The court system has become their power base.

I think taxes should return to 1950's levels. Great article by the way.

I see this myself. Unfortunately for the average Joe in America they have no exposure to this so they don't see or comprehend it. They don't realize that even if someone rich was grossly in the wrong, negligent, they could financially run them into the ground and there is not a dam thing they could do about it. Look at Enron and the Exxon Valdez disaster. I work with wealthy people every day and can say you don;t want to get on their bad side as they have a lot of power in the US. At least the middle and little guy has a change in Canadian, British or Australian court. Not here. Money talks and the truth walks out with your bank balance.

I am Aussie hear me roar!

Edited August 29, 2009 by -Simpson-

[Heracles 417]

I am Aussie hear me roar!

Don't hate the player bud, hate the game.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Your a real saint haza

You work here and yet you b1tch about how bad it is here and how great your country is, go back to Australia and work I wont miss you. Please.

Nice try but the you're bitching doesn't work with me. The sooner more Americans wake up and realize they are being conned, the better. Clowns have held this country back and turned it into the butt of jokes around the world for too long now. I'll return this country to it's former glory, minus the racism of course. Even if I have to take down every dam last crook here. No pilgrim is ever going to outsmart a convict, that's for sure.

Money is your Achilles heel, so attacking it is quite easy. In order to respond to the threat, you will have you use your money; so it's a double edge sword. B)

Im just saying its hypocritical, you come here to work and yet all you do is b1tch about it.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Your a real saint haza

You work here and yet you b1tch about how bad it is here and how great your country is, go back to Australia and work I wont miss you. Please.

No pilgrim is ever going to outsmart a convict,

I was wondering when you were going to work that in. Of course, once the Colonies won their independence, the Crown needed a new place to dump their refuse.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Mister_Bill

[Heracles 417]

Im just saying its hypocritical, you come here to work and yet all you do is b1tch about it.

No I immigrated here because my wife is from here, hence the forum. However, only after being here for a few years did I realize that people are being conned blindly. Heck I was even conned for so many years, actually believe repubs cared about the country. You care about yourself and your pockets period. It all hit me when I realized the repubs had started two major war yet didn't even bother figuring out how to fund them. Then had the nerve to turn around and claim they are good with money.

"Fool me once.."

Edited August 29, 2009 by haza

[Heracles 417]

I was wondering when you were going to work that in. Of course, once the Colonies won their independence, the Crown needed a new place to dump their refuse.

What is the irony that Australia came from nothing, over 100 years ago, to winning a multitude of awards and their world recognition in 2009. Mention Australia overseas and people smile. Mention the US and people want to knock you back to your ghettos. No kidding.

Edited August 29, 2009 by haza

[_Simpson_ 250]

Does she ever get tired of your consent chest beating? If you really cared about changing things you would take more of a constructive criticism approach than this nonsense you throw out here everyday at VJ. Please dont try to call it constructive criticism because its just not.

Maybe you and your wife should go to Australia, hey Im just saying because it so great there

Edited August 29, 2009 by -Simpson-

[Heracles 417]

Does she ever get tired of your consent chest beating? If you really cared about changing things you would take more of a constructive criticism approach than this nonsense you throw out here everyday at VJ. Please dont try to call it constructive criticism because its just not.

Maybe you and your wife should go to Australia, hey Im just saying because it so great there

As I stated earlier, don't hate the player, hate the game. America, in particular repubs are a winner takes all society but seem to have a huge problem accepting you are nowhere near first place. So it's either a case of being delusional or simply a bad case of sour grapes. Which is it?

Anyways, no mater wall bull ####### you guys bring up, it doesn't change the validity of the article.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Totally disagree besides we will never get anywhere when you just keep talking past me. I know where you stand and I will leave it at that and occasionally jump in every now and then to keep the chest pounding from getting out of control.

Gotta go, until next time

Edited August 29, 2009 by -Simpson-

[Danno 1,228]

What is the irony that Australia came from nothing, over 100 years ago, to winning a multitude of awards and their world recognition in 2009. Mention Australia overseas and people smile. Mention the US and people want to knock you back to your ghettos.

But with all those awards and smiles which come from the mere mention of "Australia"

One must wonder where do people actually come fore a visit the most.

Since you have all these USA vs AU stats, please post the total visitors to each country.... and the total applications for immigration.

Lets see those type comparisons, because at the end of the day my friend.... where people want to go spend time or want to live is which really matters.

Edited August 30, 2009 by Danno

[Heracles 417]

But with all those awards and smiles which come from the mere mention of "Australia". One must wonder where do people actually come fore a visit the most. Since you have all these USA vs AU stats, please post the total visitors to each country.... and the total applications for immigration. Lets see those type comparisons, because at the end of the day my friend.... where people want to go spend time or want to live is which really matters.

Well based on this forum a alone there are a hell of a lot of people with spouses from 2nd or 3rd world countries. Furthermore, when you look at where people from other developed countries are choosing to migrate to, US is not exactly at the top of the lists. Half of the guys at my work that are professionals originate from some other 2nd or 3rd world country. So when considering where that guy is coming from, America is the land of opportunity. Whereas the equivalents I worked with in AUS were from the UK, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, HK and a small percentage from India.

There are not too many Americans who migrate there but I think that goes back to my ideological argument that America and Americans still feel they are the center of the world, when in reality the country is becoming and has become irrelevant on a global scale. For example, less than 6% of Australia's trade is with the US.

[Heracles 417]

Totally disagree besides we will never get anywhere when you just keep talking past me. I know where you stand and I will leave it at that and occasionally jump in every now and then to keep the chest pounding from getting out of control.

Gotta go, until next time

I brought Australia up as an living (working) example of what the original article is talking about.I don't need to show off or talk it up. I have lived in both countries, amongst others, and am basing my opinion on my experience. Considering that up to a few years ago less than 20% of Americans had passports, I am not surprised of the ignorance. There are things that Australia does better, while others the US does better; I admit that. Whereas, there is a hell of a lot of people here who clearly actually still believe America is the envy of the world. Envy of the third world maybe but not someone living in France, Spain, Greece, UK, Canada, Australia Japan etc. AKA First world countries.

Instead of working together to do something about it, guys like yourself are actually wasting time arguing whether you are ranked poorly. Like a cokehead saying he's not a druggie.