Tuesday, July 5, 2011

"We have met the enemy, and he is us"

"We have met the enemy, and he is us" - Walt Kelly

I love July 4th, Independence Day.

Yet America is the land of the dependent. We depend on Social Security to save for us. Medicare and Meicaid to care for us. Food stamps to feed us. We are dependent on foreign oil, tobacco, alcohol, drugs (both illegal drugs and prescription drugs). We are dependent on "comfort food"... just take a look at us... and like a bunch of over indulged, snotty kids of privilege, we are angry with our national "Daddy Figure" - whatever man is sitting in the Oval Office (Liberals blame the Religious Right, the Right Blames the Liberal Media... but everybody blames the President).

John Bon Jovi's excellent rock band raked in $135 million dollars last year. A number of bands did better. Most of this largesse was earned by touring in concert (why is it American's seethe about CEO compensation but not about Rock Band compensation? Go figure).

yet...

50% of Americans probably cannot lay their hands on $2000 in an emergency... another 25% probably could raise the $2000 in an emergency. Probably?

The average concert held about 17,000 fans... a large enough sampling that the fans were likely representative of Americans at large. The average ticket? Nearly $100 bucks.

Ergo, half the folks in the seats at those concert halls probably can't raise $2000 for an emergency, but they can raise $200 for a couple to go to a rock concert.... WTF??!! Did I miss something here? Is concert going some kind of "Right" or obligation?

We have become a nation of completely Full of SH#! whiners... dominated and regulated and controlled by a bunch of government regulatory agents (but at least MOST of them aren't dressed up like they are about to invade Poland... so we got that going for us)...

This is Independence?

Americans need to spend more time looking in the mirror and less time watching T.V... and I don't mean literally looking into a mirror... I mean taking stock of our selves and our lives... taking responsibility for our own weight and our own savings... If you spent every hour that you now spend watching T.V. doing odd jobs for neighbors in no time you would have $2000, and then $5000, and then OMG!!!... $10,000 in your mattress! Well, that is if you don't spend $200 on concert tickets, $4 on a cup of sweetened dirty water at StarBucks, and $400 per month on a car lease...

You wanna know why you are poorer than you should be? Because you made OTHER people rich. Every debt you owe is owed to somebody else. Your liability is their asset, and it is these assets/liabilities that make some people rich at the expense of others... Just bought an IPhone? Congrats! You just made Steve Jobs richer! Just bought a Louis Vitton bag? Sucker! OK, maybe you need an IPhone because of your job (and that $100+ per month cell phone bill per family member?)... maybe you need 300 cable channels... maybe you need... oh, come on. If you have less than $2000 to your name, what you really need is to save some money... and stop blaming everybody else.



5 comments:

  1. Problem with saving right now Greg, is the actual value of the dollar in a low interest account (And your mattress is very low interest) falls faster than the paltry interest adds to it. Saving dollars right now actually means you are spending what you saved albeit slowly but getting nothing for it.

    Investing just means you are making money that will more than likely be taken from you or become worthless someday while your stuck at work.

    Hard to get excited about saving under these conditions.

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  2. Of course... but you gotta do it. Irrespective of the currency situation... everybody needs an emergency fund, a rainy day fund, and a couple of other funds....

    And we need to stop blaming others. This is our life... enjoy it.

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  3. Yes, Pioneer, but maybe if folks spent the $$$ on something a bit more durable than concert tickets or a car *lease*, then they wouldn't be back sliding so quickly.

    Greg, nice rant. :)

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  4. Not really the point Stephen, although I agree that wasn't an option from Greg's post.

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  5. PM has been working out pretty well for me. It would take an act of congress to send them to zero and even then they still have value independant of government dictates in alternative markets. Finallyl they can be my asset without being someone else's liability.

    There is also tools and equipment, there are some good deals out there right now. I consider tools that reduce my living expenses worthwile and potentialy profitable. At some point I think most world trade will break down and a small shop will probably be rather lucrative.

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