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 The carrot at the end of the stick which was formerly known as "the American dream" has been replaced by a whip that can best be described as the "American nightmare" * * * You no longer work to achieve a better life for yourselves and your children.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.
And foreclosures are at an all time high... So figure that one out! Trust me I know, I buy em routinely.
Economy is strong enough, people just don't live within their means.
A little misleading. The median home price is biased by the cost of "new" construction which I agree is increasingly out of reach for average wage earners. But that new construction price is caused by developers being forced to shun the lower half of the housing market due to the high costs of permitting in many localities. Few builders want to touch any single family units under $300,000 even in areas with relatively low housing costs. They were forced out of the "Levittown" model by government medling.
But in my area, I can take you to many perfectly fine 25 year old, 3 bedroom homes in good, safe areas with good schools that can be had for much less than $150,000.
Thank God for my wife, the tightwad. All Hell will break loose if I rack up a bill that can't be paid off immediately.
I live over 90 minutes away from DC in rural Fauquier County. Even small apartments out here are $1000 a month and 2 level, 3 bedroom townhouses are $250,000.
It's tough going in this area. The choices are either go into debt big for a small starter home or commute for 2 hours each way.
The past always looks rosier. When my parents first bought a house in the late 50s after we had lived in a two-flat, we thought we were had it made: one car, no basement, two bedrooms, kitchen - no dining room, one bathroom, one TV set, party line, etc. If you wanted the same standard of living as your parents back then, you would only need to work 20 hours per week.
Three bedroom starter homes for $160,000
http://www.realestatejournal.com/columnists/moneysworth/20050331-moneysworth.html
PLACE/PRICE: Silver City, N.M. / $159,900
PROPERTY TAX: $535 annually
THE PROPERTY: This 1,353-square-foot ranch with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths was built in 1996.
DESCRIPTION: This home has a vaulted ceiling in the living room and provides mountain views. There is a sliding glass door off the combination kitchen-dining room.
NOTABLE: Silver City, situated on the outskirts of the Gila Wilderness, has one of the lowest property-tax rates in the country.
If I played the violin maybe I could make a few bucks by getting a gig playing at one of these "woe is me" pity parties.
Actually, it is time to get the FairTax passed!
Me too and I'm trying to stay that way.
Teaching an actual usable skill violates their charter...
Or MOVE to a more realistic area. I am no stranger to rediculous markets, I had to pay $2500 a month for a 3 bedroom ranch of about 1500 SQ FT when i was in Cali... of course I made well over 6 figures a year too.
$1000 a month would have been a steal there.
I openly admit there are bubbles, mostly created by idiot buyers who pay too damned much for things... just because its real estate doesn't mean it DOESN'T GO DOWN! I don't know why folks act so stupid on this topic. Real estate cycles generally happen every 8 to 12 years... everyone seems to forget the down cycle when things are going up.
If you can't afford the DC market, move elsewhere. There are no shortage of jobs, in spite of what the newspapers may be telling you. Do some investigations and you'll find most markets you can buy a nice 3 bedroom house for 100 to 150k tops! And many many markets for less than that. Sure you might have to take a pay cut when you move, but if your housing costs alone are 50% to 60% less, that allows for a lot less dollars coming in to maintain or even increase your standard of living.
Think with your head, not with emotions. If you are working and want the house and home.. find a place where you can realistically afford it, and get out of irrational markets.. let some other sap leverage his life away for an 800 sq ft matchstick house.
I have houses that my total payments, Principal Interest, Taxes and Insurance are $300 a month on a 15 year term! Yes they aren't in gated communities, but you know what? THey are in safe neighborhoods... and any buyer out there could get the same houses to start out.. Live there for a while, save up some money, move up to a bigger house and then hold it for a rental and make $500 a month renting it out... pay off the mortgage with the rents and build WEALTH!
If you can't afford a single family where you are, look at multi's and rent out the other units to subsidize the mortgage payments! Why everyone thinks they have a right to a 2500 sq ft new construction mcmansion on wysterial lane or a 1500 sq ft apartment in a complex with a pool and a work out room and to be able to have that 3 days out of college is beyond me!
http://www.realtor.com/Default.asp?poe=realtor
This is the website I used to find my home. I didn't even have an agent. I caught the lender in a mistake at settlement and (after he called me a liar I proved him wrong) he had to write me a check for $1500.00 or redo the paper work.
Fairtax or no, if you are paying 50% in taxes, you really do need to be investigating sheltering. The system is warped no doubt, but that's no reason to pay one penny more than you are legally required... and if you are spending .50 on the dollar, you are paying way more than you need to be.
I haven't used a credit card in nearly 10 years and I have no desire to get one.
Exactly. My wife stays home and has since our first child was born. I'm 33 and finally making a good living after working my butt off for 10 years. Times were really tight for us, but we made it by driving 10+ year old cars and living in modest housing. Now that we can afford more, we've decided to save instead of buying a big house like my peers. We have 3 children in a 1600 sf house. Its cozy, but at least we have some money left over at the end of the month.
You don't need a 3,000 sf house when you're 25. But, people think they do, and therefore they live in debt.
What they picked as "starter homes" in that article aren't even starter homes! New Construction is NOT A STARTER HOME! Starter Homes are the older established homes, not something that's a few years old... If you are buying new or relatively new construction you aren't in the starter home if you are planning long term. Buy the older house now, so you can buy the Mansion later.
This myth really annoys me. Sure, his $135,000 home is worth $400,000 now, but so are all the other $135,000 homes in the area
In other words, unless he moves to a completely different market, the only gain he gets from his "investment" is any equity he has paid down in the home. He'll still be carrying the same level of mortgage on the new house, assuming he rolls all of his payout into the down payment.
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