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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Is your city dying? ]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774]]></link>
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    <language>en-us</language>
    <lastBuildDate>2013-06-19T00:53:40-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Cities Are Like Plants or Trees]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-74732]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Did you ever have a favorite plant, shrub or tree where with each new spring it got bigger, healthier and prettier?  I've had many and with each passing year one feels proud of what might be happening in the yard.  Then somewhat unexpectedly things get out of control.  The branches that were never intended to get that large get heavy and snap.  The extraordinary growth over the years results in a plant that becomes ill formed with nice looking edges but overgrown tired trunk branches.  Wind fall days or ice driven winds in the winter strees palts beyoned the brink where waht  was once attractive topples over as a botanical disaster.  Maybe cities have the same problem.  Is too big something that eventually tears most cities apart?  When it takes an hour to go 10 miles from one side of town (admittedly a big city) to the other is that problem an indicator that excessive growth justmight not be right?  Perhaps there is indeed a Limit to Growth as was once described by Meadows in the 70's.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-74732]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[CLK3RD]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:14:03 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[It means that our 50-year-old &quot;war on poverty&quot; has been a miserable failure]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73307]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Trillions wasted and nothing to show for it except more poor people and destroyed communities.  The only people who still support it are those who are entrenched in it and rely upon it for their enrichment or livelihood.  I believe that supporting the status quo is evil.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73307]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 23 Jun 2012 05:23:50 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[what does that even mean?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73287]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;old&quot; saying: if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Getting rid of government, taxes; recalling someone you didn't vote for in the first place: those aren't solutions, they're negations. You don't propose a real way for cities to thrive.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73287]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:56:31 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[No problem.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73186]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[People who get upset by public recognition of the politics of poverty are usually the people making a profit from it.I expect such responses from time to time.  Self preservation is strong among parasites.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73186]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Hates Idiots]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 21 Jun 2012 08:46:22 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Yeah, I'm scared.  But not as much as I am mad.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73049]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Social Security is a classic Ponzi scheme.  Payouts made today are financed entirely by money taken by other workers today.  The scheme is only viable as long as there are enough current workers to pay out to former workers.  For those who are under 50, it does have a negative rate of return.  By the time I reach retirement age, I fully expect Social Security to be transformed into just another means-tested welfare program.  (They are already talking about this today)  From the moment I figured this out (as a teenager) I fully expected to never be able to collect a dime from it.  As far as I am concerned, it's just another 15% &quot;poor tax&quot; taken from my income that I'll never see again.Yes, it's true; I too lost money on my retirement investments.  (Only for a short while; I made it all back too)  But guess what?  Even at the bottom, there was still money in those accounts, and it's mine.  Exactly how much money is there in your Social Security &quot;lock box&quot;?  Zero!  It's entirely dependent upon money taken from someone who is working today.  And as the ratio of people working versus those collecting continues to diminish, either the benefits will have to decline, or the taxes rise.  As the taxes rise, they will begin to diminish as well as more and more jobs disappear from the economy.I'll take 50% of something over 100% of nothing any day.And unlike with my investment accounts, Congress cannot simply decide one day to change the rules and take that money away like they can (and will) with Social Security.  There is no legal promise behind Social Security.  Congress can change it at will.And then we have the fraud perpetrated by Congress and the President known as the &quot;payroll tax cut&quot;, which really isn't a tax cut at all, but is actually stealing from Social Security.  It's a &quot;payday loan&quot; that I didn't even ask for, and will have to pay back later with interest.  Anyone who supports that insanity cannot be taken seriously in regards to &quot;protecting&quot; or &quot;saving&quot; social security.My biggest fear is the &quot;redistribution&quot; you're a fan off.  So when Social Security goes bust, which it will, I fully expect the politicians to come after my private savings.  (They've been scheming to do that for over 20 years now)  That will be an ugly day.As for my neighborhood, I am very active in it, thank you.  I put a lot of money and effort into my community.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73049]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 06:30:41 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[It's pretty simple.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73066]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I'd reduce the interference of the government in the marketplace and decentralize public education and eliminate government monopolies.Personally, I'd probably be doing what I am doing right now.As for conflict, I'm not sure what you mean.  We already have &quot;conflict&quot;, so I suppose nothing different in that case.The alternative will be similar to what we see going on in Europe today.  Not pretty.  That's where we are headed.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73066]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 06:13:19 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[It's simple.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73065]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;Poverty&quot; is an industry.  There is money and power to be had by sustaining it.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73065]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 06:07:40 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[you sound scared]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73018]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[again, false assertions: Social Security is already funded through 2025; only in a looking-glass world can one assert that it also has a negative rate of return. Small increases in payroll tax and/or small changes in retirement age would fully fund SS. Deducting a fair share from those with large incomes would further support the fund.If you preferred to rely on you 401K, or, instead, speculate in the stock market you would have lost fully half of your investment in the 2008 crash (or any one of the almost regular &quot;bust&quot; cycles that happen about once a decade). You wouldn't even recover your &quot;nut&quot; (I think we call that a &quot;negative rate of return&quot;) for several years and, if you were so unfortunate to retire in 2009, or even this year, you'd be surviving on half your expected retirement.I guess &quot;redistribution&quot; doesn't sound so bad in that case.But you still have roads, maybe a few more potholes; but you're unwilling to take the personal effort, I suspect, in planning with your neighbors, nor let go of even a few more shekels, even if it benefitted you, to make things better. What, or who are you afraid of?There's a contemporary story of Colorado Springs. Folks there voted down a tax increase, and the city couldn't afford keeping all the streetlights on, so they turned them off. Folks complained, but, without the $, the lights couldn't return. So quite a number convinced the city that they could pay to have their lights on their specific street turned on. Seems the actual cost was about twice what the tax increase would have been. But folks were glad to have government off their back. To me, it sounds more than a little foolhardy, and more than a little antisocial. Democracy doesn't work with people pitching in.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73018]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:24:51 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[another assertion without evidence]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73027]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Defining the costs of supporting a population as &quot;redistribution&quot; already sets up a false outcome. Please tell me what your plan would be to create a sufficiently educated work force and industry that would allow full employment in this country. Please tell me how you, personally, would participate in the public effort to make that happen. Please tell me how you would deal with the inevitable conflict of those who disagreed with you.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73027]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:06:21 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[The government &quot;takes care of you&quot;?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72979]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Really?My property taxes keep going up, and yet the condition of the roads that those taxes are supposed to pay for keep deteriorating.  But at least my county CEO is building a new soapbox derby track.  Maybe I can drive on that.my government takes care of me in my old ageHow is that?  &quot;Social Security&quot;, which has a negative rate of return?  Or are you speaking of Medicare, which is being shaved by the mis-named &quot;Affordable Care Act&quot;?You may think I'm a &quot;sour old man&quot;, but at least I'm not a slave, yet.  If you are relying upon the government to take care of you, you are going to be sorely disappointed.(And in fact, I'm not an &quot;old man&quot;.  Social Security will be bankrupt long before I'm old enough to collect from it)]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72979]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 06:50:17 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Is it really a mystery to you...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73008]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...that aggregate government redistribution of over 1/4th of our nation's income causes distortion?That's why it's impossible to have intelligent discussions on such matters.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73008]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 06:48:28 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[another mindless assertion]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73002]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[perhaps these are &quot;cue&quot; words for you, but you don't really explain yourself or give examples. We all rely on someone for our livelihood, but you way overstate it by saying &quot;bulk of their existence&quot;, and don't really account for those millions of people who work decent middle class jobs and are supported by a largely positive cooperation between government and industry. If I work as an engineer, or an administrator, or a janitor, or a truck driver, I wouldn't be rich, but my company gives me decent salary and benefits, my government takes care of me in my old age, and my government provides the roads and water, police and fire protection, and defends me from my enemies. You sound like a sour old man.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73002]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:45:28 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[&quot;facts&quot; are in dispute]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73001]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[No, you actually made an assertion without even bothering to back it up with a specific example. And the format in this discussion allows voting without comment, as well as voting and comment. I could see where YOU might believe that wealth transfer or welfare is a problem, and you might actually have at least one good example of that. But just blubbering on about welfare and expecting everyone to agree with you because you're &quot;right&quot; (pun intended) leaves you open to negative votes, as well as comments that suggest you're just plain superficial. And you may have had 5 positive votes and six negatives - you don't know who voted and didn't comment, whichever way.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-73001]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:36:08 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[detroit loss of middle class]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72997]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[please lets not forget the city government of Black Nationalist leaning characters and , of course, those pesky race riots.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72997]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[affordablecomputerguy@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:20:40 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[No...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72986]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...we're &quot;being taken advantage of&quot; by the culture of dependency of those who are the net consumers of society.  The real &quot;divide&quot; in America isn't the &quot;rich&quot; versus &quot;poor&quot;; it's those who rely upon the government for the bulk of their existence versus those who finance it.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72986]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:54:48 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[It makes me giggle...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72973]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...when Progressives vote &quot;negative&quot; on comments like the one above, with no explanation as to why.  It's not like the facts are in dispute.  I suppose it's just that they really don't enjoy having their sensibilities tried and are frustrated.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72973]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:51:56 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[That's amusing...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72996]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...that someone would vote &quot;negative&quot; on the above.  Is it because I'm wrong that hip urbanism is most appealing to the young?  Or is it politically incorrect to castigate those who see themselves as the arbiters of what should be the correct lifestyle for other people?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72996]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:49:29 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[examples?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72946]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Maybe specific examples of dying cities where this is happening...? I can point to dozens of cities that have revitalized their core, where people are returning to live, where thoughtful rehabilitation has revived dead industrial spaces and transportation corridors. Even major cities that people love to hate like NYC are recovering their seedy centers, creating commerce, parks, and housing on their waterfronts and in abandoned military lands, while still creating jobs and industry in their heart. Did you take your Prozac today?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72946]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:03:31 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[straw man defense]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72955]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[a quick search will result in links to sites claiming either Chattanooga or Pittsburgh as the best city in the US. You make the false claim that a statement at a national conference paints all the leadership of Pittsburgh as incompetent. I'm not sure how many cities, and how many leaders, have &quot;guiding questions&quot;, but it seems that both Pittsburgh and Chattanooga have recovered sufficiently to beckon others by their vitality.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72955]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 22:48:08 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[saved by capitalism]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72940]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[We're being taken advantage of, but not by government as much as the culture of private capital. You overstate the &quot;culture of dependency&quot;, since those who &quot;don't pay any taxes at all&quot; pay sales taxes and indirect fees, and their landlord's taxes, and so on; and their honest work in a factory, or in retail, or in other largely service-based industries accrues great benefit for their employers with little direct benefit for themselves (including and especially health care). The rich get richer, and the middle class blame the poor for their problems. Was ever thus.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-10774-72940]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[msbook]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 22:40:36 -0700</pubDate>
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