Hacker News: leifaffles

New comment by leifaffles in "US Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul bill"

leifaffles — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 10:56:01 +0000

I don't think you're calm enough to have a rational discussion about all the untruths you just stated.

New comment by leifaffles in "US Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul bill"

leifaffles — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 09:34:49 +0000

US politics was intentionally designed such that the majority doesn't get its way. It's the single major innovation in liberal political philosophy in the past 500 years.

Saying "it's not democratic!" isn't a useful comment.

We know.

New comment by leifaffles in "US Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul bill"

leifaffles — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 09:18:12 +0000

It's actually spelled "gerrymandering".

You might have learned that by now if you weren't so busy spreading dumb conspiracy theories on the internet.

New comment by leifaffles in "Woman offers WaPo false tale about Roy Moore in effort to discredit the paper"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 22:44:54 +0000

Okay, but the same can be said for Media Matters, Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, and so on.

They're all doing shady shit, but sometimes one of them hits on something useful.

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 22:27:25 +0000

This doesn't mean anything.

Which ethics? Which morals? Yours?

New comment by leifaffles in "Woman offers WaPo false tale about Roy Moore in effort to discredit the paper"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 22:25:40 +0000

They're activists, but sometimes activists stumble on the truth too.

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 22:21:39 +0000

There are existing answers to these questions. It's not a grand mystery.

Instead of merely repeating the questions, you should explain why the answers to those questions are wrong.

I think you're overly consumed with the political dramas of the present and haven't really thought through questions about what a good system of governance looks like.

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 22:16:53 +0000

I honestly don't really think you've thought this out.

You might want to understand the existing structure of government before you propose replacing it on a whim.

Here are some questions to get you started:

* Why is there a Constitution?

* Why are there 3 co-equal branches of government? What are they all there for?

* Why is there an electoral college?

* Why are Senators allocated by state while House members are allocated by population?

* Why do House members have 2 year terms and Senators have 6 year terms?

* Why do the courts exist?

* Why does the executive branch exist?

New comment by leifaffles in "Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 20:32:35 +0000

Given the track record of social interventions, what if this backfires?

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 20:30:18 +0000

Why is pure democracy a good thing in and of itself?

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 20:29:03 +0000

Why does basically every economist disagree that "capitalism is fundamentally broken"?

Is that because they don't "understand the dynamics of how economies work"?

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 19:36:31 +0000

I do. See above comments. I spend $18k per year in a HCOL area. Plenty of room to save $5k in there and still have buffer for expenses that come up.

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 19:34:30 +0000

I mean my living expenses, including rent, utilities, food, transportation, health care, etc, add up to $1.5k per month (or ~18k per year).

As in, I could make $25k (at a level where the tax rate is effectively near-0) and still save > $5k per year.

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 19:00:37 +0000

Coming up with utopian ideas like this are easy.

The hard part, which barely gets any discussion is:

* How do incentives work? How do you incentivize the production of new wealth?

* How does immigration work? You can't have open borders and mountains of free stuff.

* Does this replace or augment existing welfare programs?

* Does this actually make people's lives better? How do you know? What happens if it doesn't work out?

And so on.

Ask HN: What are the strongest arguments against Net Neutrality?

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 18:41:38 +0000

Proponents of Net Neutrality: What do your best and strongest critics say and where are they mistaken?

Opponents of Net Neutrality: What are the best and strongest arguments against Net Neutrality.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15789874

Points: 6

# Comments: 3

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:45:38 +0000

Most people make more than $12 an hour, which is great news! Not having kids outside of marriage is something everyone can do as well.

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:43:37 +0000

It's extremely rare to make only $25k/year for your entire life. Most people improve their earnings over time. Most people get married at some point.

The important point is that even under the most pessimistic assumptions people can get by AND build a secure retirement.

The "it can't be done" mentality is not justified in 2017 America.

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:41:02 +0000

It's extremely rare to live on 25k for your entire life. That's a pessimistic assumption.

My point is that even if you do make that for your entire life, you can still get by and build a secure retirement.

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:38:29 +0000

I live on 18k/year in a HCOL area. Don't tell me it can't be done.

New comment by leifaffles in "A basic income could boost the US economy by $2.5 trillion"

leifaffles — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:36:47 +0000

This is not convincing in the slightest... and a great example of why proponents of basic income need to up their game.

Hacker News: leifaffles

New comment by leifaffles in "US Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul bill"

New comment by leifaffles in "US Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul bill"

New comment by leifaffles in "US Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul bill"

New comment by leifaffles in "Woman offers WaPo false tale about Roy Moore in effort to discredit the paper"

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

New comment by leifaffles in "Woman offers WaPo false tale about Roy Moore in effort to discredit the paper"

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

New comment by leifaffles in "Facebook deploys AI for early signs of suicide"

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

New comment by leifaffles in "American Equity"

Ask HN: What are the strongest arguments *against* Net Neutrality?

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

New comment by leifaffles in "Stanford CS007: Personal Finance For Engineers"

New comment by leifaffles in "A basic income could boost the US economy by $2.5 trillion"

Ask HN: What are the strongest arguments against Net Neutrality?