Posted on 04/04/2005 10:46:18 AM PDT by ex-Texan
The average American in the year 2005 lives a fragile existence, in a struggle for survival that can be ended by missing a few paychecks. The carrot at the end of the stick which was formerly known as "the American dream" has been replaced by a whip that can best be described as the "American nightmare" * * * You no longer work to achieve a better life for yourselves and your children. You work to keep a roof over your head, and you pray that you don't lose it. You became a slave when fear replaced incentive as your motivation to work, but I still suggest that you work while you can, because if the company you work for can't send your job overseas, the U.S. government is allowing 2000 people per day to enter this country illegally, because they're willing to do your job for less.
It doesn't matter if you're a "white collar" or "blue collar" employee. If you're an American, you're too highly paid. There are billions of people who want your job, and your government is doing all they can to see that you lose it to them. You see, we're not really American citizens anymore. We are viewed by the government as "consumers" and "tax payers." Now we're just anonymous faces in the "global village," because our government has sold our nation to foreigners and international bankers, and the new bankruptcy law has doomed the American citizen to a life of debt slavery.
Government will insist that illegal immigrants are only doing jobs that Americans refuse to do, and you'll probably believe it, because if you're watching the "Mainstream Media" that endorses this nonsense, you probably still have your job.
Illegal immigrants are doing jobs that Americans always did, and every unemployed American I talk to cannot find a job anywhere. And just like the European immigrants that flooded this country before the economic depression of the 1930's, today's illegal immigrants also have no gripe with a government that has allowed them work for high wages in America, and send billions back to their homeland. Nor do they care very much about our constitution, bill of rights, or way of life. They're only here for what they can grab, and our government has welcomed them with open arms, because they're grabbing it from you.
You're already working much longer, and much harder, to achieve a much lower standard of living than the previous generation, and 25 percent of working Americans no longer even get a vacation. The Social Security retirement age has been raised to match the life expectancy of American males, so apparently, you're also expected to work until you're dead. When you do finally get a vacation, they only trip you'll be taking will be in a pine box, and that's only if you're one of the lucky ones. Most of us will only get the state-issued canvas bag that gets tossed into the pit with all the others.
If you don't mind the fact that you'll be working until you're dead, you might also want to consider the fact that you'll get nothing for your labor, because this nation's economy may be about to crash like a freight train, and when it does, everything you've worked for will vanish. After the depression gets ugly, and your family has made the adjustment from three meals per day to three meals per week, the newspapers will blame your hunger on "the economy," as if it were some magical force that uncontrollably ruined a couple hundred million lives. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Politicians and international bankers can manipulate national economies at will, much in the way the media manipulates your mind, and a decision has been made to impoverish Americans, because global government requires that everyone in the world have an equally low standard of living. Simply put, we're being robbed of all we've worked for, because our government wants us to be poor, hungry, and docile, dependant upon them for our existence, and in fear of them for our lives. The government of the United States is intentionally destroying the economy of the United States, because the politicians and the international bankers they work for have decided that the American way of life, and catering to the demands of the American constitution, is simply too expensive.
Regardless of how wealthy you think you are, you actually have no real money at all. The "federal reserve notes" that are in your wallet, and your bank account, aren't really money, but are actually only paper on a debt that can never be paid, not even by combining all the assets and labor of every American alive today. Any loan-shark with a third grade education will tell you "that paper's no good," and naturally, the foreign investors who allow us to float this debt, have come to the same conclusion.
What is commonly known as the "U.S. dollar," represents a debt that is owed by the U.S. federal government, to the federal reserve bank. The federal reserve bank happens to be the privately owned entity that lent the money that's represented by the paper in your wallet. The federal reserve act signed away everything you own, and the fruit of your labor as collateral on this debt, and as foreign investors are becoming increasingly unwilling to invest the $2 billion per day needed to cover the interest, our creditors will want to collect it.
My Mother and Father have done well for themselves over the long haul. They still have the house I grew up in. They spend their time dragging a camper around New England in the summer, and laying on the beach in Florida during the winter. Yes, Florida, I don't want to hear about it. I don't really know how much money they have because such questions are not asked in our family, but I'm pretty sure they're living well below their means.
They still drive older vehicles, but Dad doesn't fix much anymore except for antique tractors. The funny thing is they typically disapprove of the scope of my DIY projects, but they forget that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
So they didn't chase wealth and are still living happily ever after?
I have to say that credit card companies have to carry some of the blame. Sure there are many who use credit irresponsibly and some who just get in over their head due to a medical crisis or some other situation that eats up their savings.
Not too many years ago, a person requesting credit had to qualify. There were reasonable, realistic debt-to-income ratios you had to meet. Now, they're completely unrealistic. They'll give someone right out of high school a card with a $1000 limit on it. The problem is that four different cards will do the same thing. A college student with four maxed-out cards will be paying for the next 30 years. It is never intended for them to pay the cards off. It is indentured servitude!
When we bought our home in 2000, they told me I qualified for a mortgage WAY more than I'd ever consider borrowing. Many people buy homes that go right up to their limit and then get a second mortgage that just pays the interest on the primary loan. It's nuts!
In Israel, based on the Mosaic law, unpaid debts must be discharged after seven years. That sounds like a free ride to someone who wants to abuse the system, but it doesn't work that way. You see, the companies that lend, know there is a legal out for the debtor. Thus, they have to be more careful to whom they extend credit. The person has to show a likelihood that they'll be able to repay within the required time. It keeps the creditors responsible as well as the debtor.
If bankruptcies and foreclosures are increasing, irresponsible lenders share in the blame.
GW
I'd like to see a figure on the percentage of tax burden your folks had back in 1958. In addition to inflation, much more of our income today is consumed in taxes, fees, and government regulation.
My phone bill, for example: the government fees and surcharges are more than the actual cost of the service, sometimes by double! When your Dad had the house and two cars, his personal property taxes were probably a smaller percentage of his income.
The reason why most families have to have two incomes is that half of one person's income is eaten up in taxes. It takes two incomes to equal one.
I agree, life has its challenges, but there are factors our folks never had to deal with when they were coming up.
GW
Cool huh? I'm sure they've seen their ups and downs.
at the risk of igniting a war, these kids are 18 years old and supposedly capable of making adult decisions. they entered into the contract voluntarily - nobody forced them to sign. they bought things and enjoyed their possessions - let them pay. I don't particularly blame credit card companies although i think it IS a stupid thing to do, I blame the adults who haven't got the brains of a democrat when it comes to finances.
when i went house shopping, i too was qualified for a lot more than i felt i could safely pay. so? i bought a house that i could afford. nothing said that if they told me that i could fly that i had to climb a skyscraper and prove it. judgement is an adult responsibility.
No, I call them lazy, because they punch the clock 9 to 5 and then whine that they don't get what they want out of life. I have nothing against 9 to 5ers, I have a lot against 9 to 5 ers who think that their BOSS owes them wealth... Guess what, it doesn't work that way! You will NEVER, EVER, EVER get paid what you are worth if you are working for someone else.... that's reality! If your working didn't create more for the company than what you cost them.. you'd be gone.
And just what do you start a business with? Isn't capital, often substantial capital, required to start a business? Saving to start a business might be a prudent course of action, but how many years must the average Joe clock puncher labor in order to start such a business? They don't start themselves all on their own.
Capital is not needed to start a business. I've started 3 of them now and did so with no money of my own or others.... There are hundreds of thousands of people today running businesses both large and small and didn't spend fortunes getting them off the ground! You are showing exactly WHY most people stay broke! They just don't have the initiative or are too damned fearful to try, to do anything... they are always handy with an excuse.
You even game the system...you can literally 1031 exchange your entire life and past your death!...and seem proud of it.
Game the system? Understanding the system and operating within the rules is not GAMING the system... I didn't write the 1031 exchange law... Congress did.. I am not the only person allowed to do it.. just because you again are too negative and unwilling to put forth effort and pick up a book and learn some knowlege that will help you create wealth as opposed to sit on the sidelines and whine about those that do, don't try to project your failings on others.
Life is there for the taking, you can grab it by the horns or sit on the curb and watch it go by. There's nothing wrong with folks who settle for watching it go by, but if that's the route you decide to take, don't try projecting your class envy on those who refuse to settle for that.
Save your pity.. your class envy projecting is again showing your true colors. Because I have bothered to learn the economic system and be part of it does not mean that money is the center of my life.. not even remotely. Obviously though your lack of it certainly colors your world view, as everyone who's successful is doing it on the backs of others in your world.... You are welcome to your world view... as long as there are pitiable folks with that world view out there, there will be less competition for the rest of us to achieve our goals and desires, fiscally, spiritually, emotionally and otherwise.
If all you have are excuses in one part of your life, that's all you will have in all parts of your life. You can't compartmentalize a distorted world view. You think the successful do so by walking over others, nothing anyone does or says will change your mind, nor will any facts... so please, enjoy your life of mediocrity.. it seems to fit you well, and as long as it does, good for you... Just don't project your failures outward and blaim it on others unfairness. Your lack of desire to change is not on others.
Sorry about the delay in responding, your post got pushed to the next page and I forgot about it. Thanks a ton for the information, you make a lot of great points that are certainly making me think. I'm definitely going to be doing some research. I hadn't thought about much of what you said and in fact I see the logic of being able to increase my wealth while still decreasing my debt....
Thanks again.
A load of crap. Sounds like the 'fiat money' spiel of the goldbugs.
Your welcome.. and honestly, even if you don't get creative with your retirement savings... I would stop contributing to my retirement for a while if it meant I was going to be out of debt faster.. yes you might lose a year of two or contributions... but you can always make that up with larger contributions and more free money for the rest of your life thanks to no payments.
Best of luck to you!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.