I was wondering how the corporate drum-bangers were going to respond to a Biblical reference. It's not nice to contradict the Good Book, after all. But your cowardly sidestep will have to do.

Have a nice ride.

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2007 DL650
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -- Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

I know. It does appear we've reached the tipping point where more people are interested in hiring a politician to go take away the property earned by someone else, so it can be redistributed to those who didn't earn it.

Although it was predicted a long time ago, it's still sad to watch it happen.

"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

— Benjamin Franklin

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2012 XT1200Z Blue, 2012 XT1200Z Black

He didn't say it was impossible; rather, it serves as a warning that such worldly pursuits make it difficult to maintain focus on the ultimate reward in Heaven. It is still a choice and being "rich" does not automatically condemn one to perdition. After all, we will "always have the poor with us."

I think this thread is one of the less cantankerous ones that discuss the so-called "trifecta." Some statements are obviously misguided and rooted in the same vices that each side seems to sling at each other (greed vs. envy) so arguing based on such simple labels does not convey superiority. The fact that we can discuss such things, however uncomfortable it may be to those who reflexively shy away from such conversations (sadly, some seem to display misguided pride that they are "above the fray"), attests to the relative comity that riders usually have toward other riders.

I hope that we all learned from each other's perspective - I know I have.


Sent from my iPhone using Motorcycle.com Free App

A few items...
I never felt the Hostess fold was the result of any sort of "evil" on either side of the fence.
From what I know of the situation I was rather impressed that both sides were able to keep it aloft as long as they did.

Hey Dirt_Dad,
Can I use you post as a tag line on the forum? Might have to cut it down a bit but, Just wondering.

And the closer...
I'm one of those poor misguided soles that would work my fingers to the bone for my employer before I'd lend even one drop of my sweat to a politician or the vile establishment they have created.
-Ej-

P.S. What's that? Canada still has Twinkies?

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A "Commuter" not an AdvTourer.
Currently Commuting On: 06 Harley XL1200C, 06 DL1000, 07 GS500F, 2 mopeds, and a pair of sneakers.

.
"Snouts in the Trough."

A simple term, for a simple situation.

A clever lawyer can spin his rhetoric to make black sound like white, or use smoke & mirrors to confuse the basic issue . . . but underneath all the flummery about richer/poorer, blue collar / white collar, or pseudo-Freudian navel-gazing [into own or others' navels!] . . . it all focuses down to one important issue.

The moral issue. What's wrong and what's right.
( Or the "ethical" issue, if you are really keen to avoid any hint of religious viewpoint. )

Snouts in the Trough.
It is a very straightforward situation.

So clear and straightforward that, if you were to ask an 8-year-old child and an 80-year-old philosopher about the Rightness & Wrongness of it all . . . then you would get the same answer.
Yes, from some people of an intermediate age, you will occasionally get another answer . . . where they have confused themselves with propaganda and distractions (whether self-serving or not).

But at the bottom line, it's a moral issue.

Long Live the Emperor of Twinkiedom !!
. . . And his new clothes are so beautiful !!
.

Enjoy.....

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2012 XT1200Z Blue, 2012 XT1200Z Black

access excess

I was watching the "Men who built America"

It was funny, however greedy the robber barons were, you could see most progress slow to a trickle when the politicians basically robbed them of their rights to property.

It is happening today where the "revolution" was just an alternate path for the new crop of the ubergreedy to gain power. At least when the capitalist did it somebody benefited.

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2013 Northeast V-Strom Rally!

ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS

8/2/2013

Hey, I voted.

What else do you want from me?

I'm still trying to distill my thoughts down to 150,000 words or less, while maintaining my entepren............ entreprano..............auntiprenw............. my own small business, learning to use spell check and trying to lobby congress for precisely-defined tax loopholes to benefit me and force my competition out of business all on $237.00 budget while I figure out a way for the city fathers to levy a tax to pay for my Lingerra......... Loungeray.......... Longjerr.......... Sexy Women's Underwear Football Team's stadium with super-nice skyboxes for legislators-turned-lobbiests-turned-governors-turned-lobbiests-turned-senators-turned-lobbiests to enjoy the company of my undocumentable Laotian shemale hosts.

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Sent from my Hewlett-Packard 75C, using the Flying Merkel motorcycle app.

Stromin'Nroman NC28729, USA

DL650A K7 (Greywolf Moto Lab's R&D test mule) June 1, 2012 - present
DL650A K7 April 23, 2007 - January 6, 2012, RIP

"Look here brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" Frank Zappa, 1975

I see the words but I can only guess what they all mean when assembled in that order......

.
BTW, DirtDad, your rather hot-blooded post [#104] deserves some specific response . . . and corrections.

Now, before you go off half-cocked, let me hasten to add that I am aiming to correct your comments . . .and that this is NOT a personal attack on you yourself. I enjoy reading your very reasonable general motorcycling posts, which show you to be an intelligent and pleasant guy . . . who I am sure I would enjoy having a beer with [and yes, I am happy to pay for your beers too].

But . . . post #104 is both alarmist and inaccurate/misleading : even down to the use of individual English words. It's much easier to think straight if you get the words right.
"Jealousy" ~ wrong word altogether, for such financial matters.
"Envy" ~ rather inaccurate . . . but getting warmer !! . . . did you mean envy in the "admiringly envious" way, or in the "maliciously envious" way?
Or were you meaning "covetousness" ~ rather more accurate, though uncommonly used these days (that's a pity, for I have always felt that the Tenth Commandment deserved a spot higher up the List . . . ).

You must certainly have an alarmed and vivid imagination, if you picture our "First World" society as consisting of merely two groups :-
An Aristocratic Class of highly-remunerated and high-minded executives possessing heroic Work Ethic (supported by a sycophantic valetaille of hangers-on ?) . . . . opposed by an underclass of canaille/rabble seething with Socialist Envy and writhing with Fabian Fury, desperate to cut down every Tall Poppy until all are levelled into the vulgar mud of les Miserables.
[ Insert joke here about the underclass being breadless or at least Twinkie-cakeless. ]
Perhaps it is possible that your own angers & fears are being projected onto those simple souls who calmly look the situation in the eye and state the obvious criticism: "This Situation Stinks" [or is it: Twinks ?].

* Some little while ago there was another thread, not about wage-slashing itself, but rather more about greed & self-overpayment by some [repeat: SOME] Big Businessmen.
IIRC, there were two separate points made :-

(a) Few, if any, ordinary citizens had any objection to an astute, risk-taking, hard-working [& honest !] entrepreneur starting up a business and growing it to the stage where he could comfortably pay himself millions per year over the long haul.
Or if he purchased a successful business and owned it outright.
Unfortunately, none of that applies to Hostess/Twinkiedom.

(b) When it comes to "Plug-and-Play" top execs who are recruited into a large corporation [without actual ownership other than a few millions in stock options etc ~ which alas fails to counteract a short-termist mindset] and who are employees (at least in theory) of the shareholders :
. . . the result is corporation performance outcomes UNRELATED to the size of the execs' pay.
Yes, that's correct : real-world outcomes pretty much uncorrelated to top salaries.

The often-believed idea that paying bigger peanuts gets you a better quality of CEO monkey . . . is simply an Urban Myth.

This revealed by independent studies (at university level).
Not that anyone really needs such academic confirmation ~ since ordinary common sense and some worldly experience of human nature will bring you to the same conclusion.

* There are of course some exceptions to that rule : there are a few guys [& gals ?] with enough genius to put a rocket under a corporation.
Unfortunately, they are almost as rare as hens' teeth.
If you were to ask a very knowledgeable person (like Warren Buffett !!) to list those names [say, for the USA scene] then it would be a good bet that Mr B would not run out of fingers/toes.

The rest of the guys/gals might [mostly] be experienced & competent . . . but the end result for the shareholders does not usually justify a pay scale much bigger than what the American President gets.
(Which is around the half-million p.a. mark, I gather.)

And I doubt there are many Strommers (dewy-eyed or otherwise) who really believe that paying The Prez a wage of 5 million or 50 million p.a. would get a noticeably better result.
.