!!KHAANNN!!

[paperburn1]

I saw this movie

http://www.thehoopsnews.com/2015/04/25/ ... e-not-far/

Chinese team has recently succeeded in genetically engineering human embryos.

[Tom Ligon]

Get used to the idea. The genie is out of the bottle.

And we're not ready for it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084726/

[paperburn1]

I think the Jinn will more resemble the movie GATTACA

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/
By the way if you have not seen it ,it is a great movie.
but watch that and "Humans need not apply" and you have a wonderful glimpse into the future.
And to finish things out with "Solyent Green"

[Skipjack]

I think people are foreseeing too much nonsense. Every time there is a new technology, they predict all doom and gloom. So far the world has not ended. Personally, I think that genetic enhancement is a must for a society that is suffering from degeneration.

[paperburn1]

Interesting POV, but if there is no method of culling the unfit then this may be our only option.
I would also like to point out that every new technology has been used against man at one point in time or other. Its just a matter of time before we really muck it up, hopefully not to bad. There is a fast and quick solution to this new financial/ labor crises upon us, Guaranteed basic income.
I think the Swiss are trying something like that right now.

[hanelyp]

Guaranteed basic income => removal of some reason to work. If you can get what you really want out of life foe what the basic income covers, why get a job? If a few hours a week of work will cover the luxuries you really want, why work more than that? Though if it isn't means tested and the taxes supporting it are low enough it would be an improvement over means tested welfare.

[palladin9479]

Guaranteed basic income => removal of some reason to work. If you can get what you really want out of life foe what the basic income covers, why get a job? If a few hours a week of work will cover the luxuries you really want, why work more than that? Though if it isn't means tested and the taxes supporting it are low enough it would be an improvement over means tested welfare.

Unfortunately taxes could never be "low enough", they money must come from somewhere which indicates means testing will be utilized. Expect 70~90% tax on all income over a certain figure, probably around $200,000 ~ $250,000USD per year.

[hanelyp]

If the "basic income" isn't means tested and is limited to whatever a modest general flat rate tax can cover, the damage is limited. Such a structure will never be defined benefit, but will expand or contract with the economy as a whole. But I agree, Paladin, the people driving welfare will never be happy with that, and will continue to push for economically devastating "progressive" taxes to support the basic income. Any kind of tax supported welfare system will be treated by them as a foot in the door.

[Skipjack]

Guaranteed basic income => removal of some reason to work. If you can get what you really want out of life foe what the basic income covers, why get a job? If a few hours a week of work will cover the luxuries you really want, why work more than that? Though if it isn't means tested and the taxes supporting it are low enough it would be an improvement over means tested welfare.

Unfortunately taxes could never be "low enough", they money must come from somewhere which indicates means testing will be utilized. Expect 70~90% tax on all income over a certain figure, probably around $200,000 ~ $250,000USD per year.

In the US, I think you can do with an additional 10% taxation for the income bracket above 200,000, maybe even 300,000 and completely get rid of taxes for tax brackets below 100k.
That would allow people with lower income to actually have money left to invest and build something for themselves, allowing them to make it to higher income classes. Right now people are pretty much stuck, where they are.

[hanelyp]

Total marginal tax rates beyond about 30%, easily exceeded by top rates under US law, are beyond the futility point for collecting revenue. In calculating this you need to consider federal, state, and local income and sales taxes.

If you want to free people from entrapment under government financial policy, a good start is to do away with the fiscal cliff presented by many means tested "welfare" programs, where a modest increase in income past a certain mark can give a sharp reduction in financial condition.

[krenshala]

There is nothing quite like getting a 5 to 10k per year pay raise, only to have your actually take-home pay go down by nearly 2.5k per year.

[kunkmiester]

When first proposed, almost no one paid income tax because of how the brackets were set up, and probably no one paid the topmost brackets. Inflation took care of the rest, and inflation was inevitable with the reserve system set up at the same time. Income tax has nothing to do with funding the government and evert hung to do with punishing success. Liberal-socialist to the core.

[paperburn1]

Tangible paper and metal represent intangible money, which in turn represents tangible labor, services and-or natural resources.
All we have to do is remove the first aspect of tangible paper and we can have a system that works.The vast majority of people see money as only tangible. When it’s in our wallets or purses, it’s real yet when its on paper, like a share certificate or bricks and mortar is NOT real, even though it’s part of our asset base which forms a very big part of our compounding wealth growth.

This tangible aspect of money can make us irrational. If a stranger took $50 bucks out of our wallet, we potentially could get in a fight with them, yet if the value of houses in a street or suburb go down by $10,000 in a month we barely react at all. Just because no one knocked on our door and demanded $10,000 in cash, we just accept it.
By accepting the aspect that we have a virtual limited pot of money we then can make basic income work. No need to fund it by "Taxes" ,our current currency is not backed by gold. Even though many accountants are of the view that as cash has physical substance therefore it is a tangible asset but I disagree as cash does not hold value in itself rather it is just a certificate of the value and if we start taking this certificate as the evidence of tangibility of cash We can just will it into being and it will work as long as the majority of people believe and treat it as it has value. Bit coin, and the currency used in the MMO game EVE are prime examples and nobody would say either has no value.
so in reality cash is just a financial asset that we can create and remove at will.

[krenshala]

A friend of mine once summed it up nicely: Anything can be used as cash if both of the exchanging parties agree on its value.

[hanelyp]

Fiat currency works well enough so long as the issuing power exercises solid discipline regarding the supply. The moment they entertain the idea of just printing more as if it has little consequence they flirt with hyperinflation. Printing more money is a tax of wealth, and benefit to debtors, just as sure as if the government reached into your back pocket.