What's stopping you....

[YoungRepublican]

I'm doing great, thanks. I love my work, I love my wife, I love my friends. Each moment is wondrous. My responses were basically replying to the initial OP premise that everyone could/should work more/harder to accrue more dollars. It isn't a fact at all for those that live truly full lives.

That was your inference. Please do not mistake that for my reasons for asking a simple question.

The reason i asked the question is that there are a plethora of threads on this site bemoaning the unfair distribution of wealth because the so called rich are sticking it to the so called poor.

So I ask what is stopping any of you from earning and saving more.

If your answer is that you don't want to earn or save more that's fine with me just don't blame anyone else for your financial condition.

Many "poor" folks are extremely happy. In fact, some of the poorest nations in the world are happier in aggregate than Americans. Americans are (relatively speaking) more stressed and "unhappy" than other nations. IOW, money does not equal happiness.

I don't actually know who you are shouting at here. I'm quite happy with my financial circumstances.

Problems arise when wealth concentrates in the hands of a very few people. Do you recall feudalism in your history books? That is what it looks like when a few people control virtually all of the wealth, and that's why it is a bad thing. Any successful and sustainable economic system must have a way of controlling wealth concentration. Hell, even Adam Smith agreed with that idea.

I dont care about your personal financial well being an metaphors to England circa 1540 are irrelevant as well. Poor people may be happy, but they shouldn't be. Theyre happy because they dont need to work very hard and can still get by, while I work my butt of to pay for what they cannot. Go to college, get a better job and start acting like you want to be here.

 

[Freemason9]

That was your inference. Please do not mistake that for my reasons for asking a simple question.

The reason i asked the question is that there are a plethora of threads on this site bemoaning the unfair distribution of wealth because the so called rich are sticking it to the so called poor.

So I ask what is stopping any of you from earning and saving more.

If your answer is that you don't want to earn or save more that's fine with me just don't blame anyone else for your financial condition.

Many "poor" folks are extremely happy. In fact, some of the poorest nations in the world are happier in aggregate than Americans. Americans are (relatively speaking) more stressed and "unhappy" than other nations. IOW, money does not equal happiness.

I don't actually know who you are shouting at here. I'm quite happy with my financial circumstances.

Problems arise when wealth concentrates in the hands of a very few people. Do you recall feudalism in your history books? That is what it looks like when a few people control virtually all of the wealth, and that's why it is a bad thing. Any successful and sustainable economic system must have a way of controlling wealth concentration. Hell, even Adam Smith agreed with that idea.

I dont care about your personal financial well being an metaphors to England circa 1540 are irrelevant as well. Poor people may be happy, but they shouldn't be. Theyre happy because they dont need to work very hard and can still get by, while I work my butt of to pay for what they cannot. Go to college, get a better job and start acting like you want to be here.

Wow, you sound like a bitter person. What a surprise.

 

[YoungRepublican]

Many "poor" folks are extremely happy. In fact, some of the poorest nations in the world are happier in aggregate than Americans. Americans are (relatively speaking) more stressed and "unhappy" than other nations. IOW, money does not equal happiness.

I don't actually know who you are shouting at here. I'm quite happy with my financial circumstances.

Problems arise when wealth concentrates in the hands of a very few people. Do you recall feudalism in your history books? That is what it looks like when a few people control virtually all of the wealth, and that's why it is a bad thing. Any successful and sustainable economic system must have a way of controlling wealth concentration. Hell, even Adam Smith agreed with that idea.

I dont care about your personal financial well being an metaphors to England circa 1540 are irrelevant as well. Poor people may be happy, but they shouldn't be. Theyre happy because they dont need to work very hard and can still get by, while I work my butt of to pay for what they cannot. Go to college, get a better job and start acting like you want to be here.

Wow, you sound like a bitter person. What a surprise.

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you,but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

 

[Freemason9]

I dont care about your personal financial well being an metaphors to England circa 1540 are irrelevant as well. Poor people may be happy, but they shouldn't be. Theyre happy because they dont need to work very hard and can still get by, while I work my butt of to pay for what they cannot. Go to college, get a better job and start acting like you want to be here.

Wow, you sound like a bitter person. What a surprise.

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you,but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

I confess that I don't spend much time worrying about any of that shit. I suppose that I could, but I choose not to.

 

[YoungRepublican]

Wow, you sound like a bitter person. What a surprise.

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you,but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

I confess that I don't spend much time worrying about any of that shit. I suppose that I could, but I choose not to.

I suppose I wouldn't either, but maybe if some people tried to look at it from our point of view we wouldnt be considered this terrible generation. We're just fucking scarred out of our minds.

 

[Freemason9]

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you,but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

I confess that I don't spend much time worrying about any of that shit. I suppose that I could, but I choose not to.

I suppose I wouldn't either, but maybe if some people tried to look at it from our point of view we wouldnt be considered this terrible generation. We're just fucking scarred out of our minds.

I do understand your fears. Frankly, if I were in my 20's, I would seriously consider emmigrating. America doesn't much look like a land of opportunity anymore; there are far better places to live and work.

 

[YoungRepublican]

I confess that I don't spend much time worrying about any of that shit. I suppose that I could, but I choose not to.

I suppose I wouldn't either, but maybe if some people tried to look at it from our point of view we wouldnt be considered this terrible generation. We're just fucking scarred out of our minds.

I do understand your fears. Frankly, if I were in my 20's, I would seriously consider emmigrating. America doesn't much look like a land of opportunity anymore; there are far better places to live and work.

As you can see I just graduated sunday and I cant honestly tell you how many people either studied abroad or are leaving to work for corps in Europe (mostly Germany). I have a passion for America and our political system and maybe im a fool, but im going to stay and see if we can make some improvements. I promise, we (for the most part) arent as bad as Time makes us out to be.

 

[oldfart]

Poor people may be happy, but they shouldn't be.

WTF? Who appointed you emperor of the universe? If you would rather be a moneygrubber than be happy, that's your choice. But you have no right to dictate to anybody else.

I work my butt of to pay for what they cannot. Go to college, get a better job and start acting like you want to be here.

So that's the bitch. You're just a whiny little bastard. If you are under thirty, there is a chance you will grow out of it. Otherwise you will find life's a bitch and then you die. Too bad you chose not to give your life any meaning when you had a chance.

Oh, right, I forgot. You went to college, got a job, and want to be here, and that makes you morally superior. What a fucking low bar!

 

[YoungRepublican]

Poor people may be happy, but they shouldn't be.

WTF? Who appointed you emperor of the universe? If you would rather be a moneygrubber than be happy, that's your choice. But you have no right to dictate to anybody else.

I work my butt of to pay for what they cannot. Go to college, get a better job and start acting like you want to be here.

So that's the bitch. You're just a whiny little bastard. If you are under thirty, there is a chance you will grow out of it. Otherwise you will find life's a bitch and then you die. Too bad you chose not to give your life any meaning when you had a chance.

Oh, right, I forgot. You went to college, got a job, and want to be here, and that makes you morally superior. What a fucking low bar!

Grow out of what? medicare? Social Security? College loans? I sure hope I do grow out of them. America wont though and the unmotivated will continue to scorn me for greed and narcissism while they sit back and collect whatever governmet aid they got in the mail today. Go back to playing the power ball and hoping things might work out.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

America doesn't much look like a land of opportunity anymore; there are far better places to live and work.

Under Obama there are many new opportunities in food stamps, medicaid, unemployment comp., welfare, Section 8, WIC, disability, but not so many in the green Solyndra jobs that were to be the basis of the new green economy.

Maybe we ought to try capitalism again?

 

[Granny]

My young friend ... you have much to learn. You sound like my mother for God's sake. She was the ONLY person on the planet who suffered from the adversity of the Great Depression. Big Government came down to her tiny little home town in tobacco growing country and she was hand-picked to be the only person who suffered in any way, shape or form. Right.

And here you are all by your lonesome having all those college loans to repay ... and you have to find a job ... and take care of your future family and fuck those old bastards who - oh, boo-hoo, worked so many years and now they want to suck you dry while you get stuck supporting their asses for the next 20 years. Poor little you. You're the only student in the history of college education who has to pay back loans. Do you have all these loans because you didn't have what it took to get multiple scholarships?

Somewhere in one of these threads you’ve said you want to be a lawyer. Let me tell you something: I know you, pal. I’ve worked for you. You’re are TYPICAL of the bellicose, overly self-absorbed, smart mouthed, rude, and worthless pricks that have been turned out of law schools for at least the last 2 or 3 decades. You’re the guy whose secretary wants to slap the living shit out of you. You have no respect for anybody or anything, you have no empathy with anybody about anything, you have no humility, you don’t give a shit about anything or anyone other than yourself, you’d kill your own mother if you thought it would advance your career.

I think it was Shakespeare who said something like, “The first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers.”

I’m going to give you a little advice - get rid of that red-hot chili pepper that‘s burning your ass, make an effort to get down off your high horse and try to be a decent human being. Also, you should be real good to your legal secretary - she knows all your dirty little secrets and she can be your best friend or your worst enemy. She can make you or break you and don’t think she can’t or won’t.

And for God’s sake, stay the hell out of politics … that arena already has enough assholes.

 

[BillyV]

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you, but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

That’s a hell of a big chip to be carrying on your shoulders in search of your first entry level job; I don’t think I would bring it with you to your first interview. So the world has treated you unfairly because you have some college debt? Who forced you to go to college and spend $100,000? If the return on your college education isn’t worth what you paid for it, why would that be the fault of everyone over the age of 55?

My daughter just graduated in December; she spent two years in community college, and two years at a four-year state university. Funny, the degree only lists the university, not where she took English 1 and Sociology. She lived at home and commuted to classes, and because I didn’t decide that “money didn’t matter,” I was able to pay for her entire college costs so she wouldn’t have that millstone around her neck. But she didn’t go to “Private University” and spend four years in the dorms, or borrow extra money for “living expenses”; as a result, the cost was less than a third of your $100K. So even today, you don’t have to amass such high debt for a college degree, unless you are in a university that will clearly set you apart and make you instantly employable at the highest salaries (i.e. Harvard), a worthwhile investment if you can get in.

I graduated in 1979 into as bad (probably worse) job market/economy as you face today. My first entry level job paid $200/week and I had about $10,000 in college debt (in current dollars, that $5 an hour is about $16, and the $10K in debt is about $32K). Mortgage rates were close to 18%, unemployment was about what it is now, and inflation was close to 13%. The “misery index” peaked in 1979 at its highest level before or since. The feeling of malaise was palpable, and every news outlet proclaimed that America’s best years were behind her. I don’t remember blaming the previous generation for that situation. It sounds more like you have an entitlement problem than anything else.

According to the chart below, aside from a spike in entry level wages during the dot.com boom of the late 90’s, your real expected starting wage is still higher than ever. Buck up, get some experience, and after 10 years of being low man on the totem pole you will move up (assuming your work ethic is what you say it is).

As for “supporting a generation for 30 years”; I’ll just take back the money I have poured into Social Security and Medicare for all these years at a reasonable rate of return and be on my way.

 

[YoungRepublican]

My young friend ... you have much to learn. You sound like my mother for God's sake. She was the ONLY person on the planet who suffered from the adversity of the Great Depression. Big Government came down to her tiny little home town in tobacco growing country and she was hand-picked to be the only person who suffered in any way, shape or form. Right.

And here you are all by your lonesome having all those college loans to repay ... and you have to find a job ... and take care of your future family and fuck those old bastards who - oh, boo-hoo, worked so many years and now they want to suck you dry while you get stuck supporting their asses for the next 20 years. Poor little you. You're the only student in the history of college education who has to pay back loans. Do you have all these loans because you didn't have what it took to get multiple scholarships?

Somewhere in one of these threads you’ve said you want to be a lawyer. Let me tell you something: I know you, pal. I’ve worked for you. You’re are TYPICAL of the bellicose, overly self-absorbed, smart mouthed, rude, and worthless pricks that have been turned out of law schools for at least the last 2 or 3 decades. You’re the guy whose secretary wants to slap the living shit out of you. You have no respect for anybody or anything, you have no empathy with anybody about anything, you have no humility, you don’t give a shit about anything or anyone other than yourself, you’d kill your own mother if you thought it would advance your career.

I think it was Shakespeare who said something like, “The first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers.”

I’m going to give you a little advice - get rid of that red-hot chili pepper that‘s burning your ass, make an effort to get down off your high horse and try to be a decent human being. Also, you should be real good to your legal secretary - she knows all your dirty little secrets and she can be your best friend or your worst enemy. She can make you or break you and don’t think she can’t or won’t.

And for God’s sake, stay the hell out of politics … that arena already has enough assholes.

Assholes are the one's who will always finish first. My main point that you lost in your little tirade against the successful is that I along with the vast majority of youth who will one day be in positions of power is that we do not want to pay for your twenty year retirement. Im not advocating a purge of unemployed 60 something year olds, merely a realization that perhaps you cant retire until you are 70. You are all living much longer and we can no longer support you for that amount of time.

Ya, I am smarter than the average person my age when it comes to politics, but thats just because I care. It's the people who care and want to see change that ultimately get what they want. Ya see, I dont want to elect someone to enact the policies I think we should follow, i'd rather just try and do it myself. Dont worry, I'm not alone either. For the most part, all of us "asshole's" feel this way, but were just being pragmatic. You call me these self absorbed names, but in actuality im just reiterating how our generation feels towards the older ones (minus our parents). We don't care how long you have worked, we are jaded by the economy that is dog eat dog. Its the world you live in and its either adapt or die.

 

[YoungRepublican]

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you, but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

That’s a hell of a big chip to be carrying on your shoulders in search of your first entry level job; I don’t think I would bring it with you to your first interview. So the world has treated you unfairly because you have some college debt? Who forced you to go to college and spend $100,000? If the return on your college education isn’t worth what you paid for it, why would that be the fault of everyone over the age of 55?

My daughter just graduated in December; she spent two years in community college, and two years at a four-year state university. Funny, the degree only lists the university, not where she took English 1 and Sociology. She lived at home and commuted to classes, and because I didn’t decide that “money didn’t matter,” I was able to pay for her entire college costs so she wouldn’t have that millstone around her neck. But she didn’t go to “Private University” and spend four years in the dorms, or borrow extra money for “living expenses”; as a result, the cost was less than a third of your $100K. So even today, you don’t have to amass such high debt for a college degree, unless you are in a university that will clearly set you apart and make you instantly employable at the highest salaries (i.e. Harvard), a worthwhile investment if you can get in.

I graduated in 1979 into as bad (probably worse) job market/economy as you face today. My first entry level job paid $200/week and I had about $10,000 in college debt (in current dollars, that $5 an hour is about $16, and the $10K in debt is about $32K). Mortgage rates were close to 18%, unemployment was about what it is now, and inflation was close to 13%. The “misery index” peaked in 1979 at its highest level before or since. The feeling of malaise was palpable, and every news outlet proclaimed that America’s best years were behind her. I don’t remember blaming the previous generation for that situation. It sounds more like you have an entitlement problem than anything else.

According to the chart below, aside from a spike in entry level wages during the dot.com boom of the late 90’s, your real expected starting wage is still higher than ever. Buck up, get some experience, and after 10 years of being low man on the totem pole you will move up (assuming your work ethic is what you say it is).

As for “supporting a generation for 30 years”; I’ll just take back the money I have poured into Social Security and Medicare for all these years at a reasonable rate of return and be on my way.

Your daughter took the route that I would suggest to any High School Student today (Heine sights always 20/20). Congrats to you and your daughter!
Now heres where we may disagree. I understand 1979 was a tough year for the economy, but it did have a nice turn around shortly after. Now, for almost 35 years you have been putting into social security and medicare and all that good stuff that history books will be teaching my kids and by all rights you deserve what you have put in, it isn't your fault the government kept taking money out to fund every even short of pie eating contests .

What I am saying is that I understand you have been putting money into these programs that are currently dry. However, you cant expect me or your daughter to bear the brunt of the baby boomers three decade long retirements because, god willing, you will live well into your 80's. it is unrealistic. You left college found what I would assume was a decent job, worked hard, saved up and did everything people told you to do so that one day you could enjoy your life without working like a dog. The problem is your generation, coupled with modern medicine and the shrinking of the world that all combine to be a headache financially. We are just asking and soon will be telling baby boomers that you will need to work well into your late 60's and early 70's in order for us and our kids to have a manageable future.

 

[Rshermr]

My young friend ... you have much to learn. You sound like my mother for God's sake. She was the ONLY person on the planet who suffered from the adversity of the Great Depression. Big Government came down to her tiny little home town in tobacco growing country and she was hand-picked to be the only person who suffered in any way, shape or form. Right.

And here you are all by your lonesome having all those college loans to repay ... and you have to find a job ... and take care of your future family and fuck those old bastards who - oh, boo-hoo, worked so many years and now they want to suck you dry while you get stuck supporting their asses for the next 20 years. Poor little you. You're the only student in the history of college education who has to pay back loans. Do you have all these loans because you didn't have what it took to get multiple scholarships?

Somewhere in one of these threads you’ve said you want to be a lawyer. Let me tell you something: I know you, pal. I’ve worked for you. You’re are TYPICAL of the bellicose, overly self-absorbed, smart mouthed, rude, and worthless pricks that have been turned out of law schools for at least the last 2 or 3 decades. You’re the guy whose secretary wants to slap the living shit out of you. You have no respect for anybody or anything, you have no empathy with anybody about anything, you have no humility, you don’t give a shit about anything or anyone other than yourself, you’d kill your own mother if you thought it would advance your career.

I think it was Shakespeare who said something like, “The first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers.”

I’m going to give you a little advice - get rid of that red-hot chili pepper that‘s burning your ass, make an effort to get down off your high horse and try to be a decent human being. Also, you should be real good to your legal secretary - she knows all your dirty little secrets and she can be your best friend or your worst enemy. She can make you or break you and don’t think she can’t or won’t.

And for God’s sake, stay the hell out of politics … that arena already has enough assholes.

Jesus, Granny!!!! What do you really think???

Now, PLEASSSSSSE. Don't think that I disagree with you. I DO NOT NEED MY ASS KICKED.

I think you had good old young republican just about correct. Just another self righteous con. Has that internal need to tell us all about what a righteous citizen he is.
And, given time, he can help bend the trajectory of this country further south. And complain about all those freeloaders he thinks are dragging him down. All the while ignoring the anchor he attached to his own ass.

funny. I was a shit student in hs, went to work in a factory and decided that had no future for me, went to college while I worked, all that wonderful stuff, and never had the need to tell anyone how tough it was or how wonderful I was. Because somewhere along the way I decided that success had little to do with income or position. Saw to many with both who were miserable.

Seems to me that folks like young republican simply choose to believe what they want to believe. Makes things so much easier. And damn, you can blame the problem with this country on the poor, the workers, and ignore what makes people in some other countries so much happier than we are. And, if he can just make enough money, why,everything will be just fine. It will be the great american dream, again. And all those who make less money, well, they are the real problem.

 

[YoungRepublican]

My young friend ... you have much to learn. You sound like my mother for God's sake. She was the ONLY person on the planet who suffered from the adversity of the Great Depression. Big Government came down to her tiny little home town in tobacco growing country and she was hand-picked to be the only person who suffered in any way, shape or form. Right.

And here you are all by your lonesome having all those college loans to repay ... and you have to find a job ... and take care of your future family and fuck those old bastards who - oh, boo-hoo, worked so many years and now they want to suck you dry while you get stuck supporting their asses for the next 20 years. Poor little you. You're the only student in the history of college education who has to pay back loans. Do you have all these loans because you didn't have what it took to get multiple scholarships?

Somewhere in one of these threads you’ve said you want to be a lawyer. Let me tell you something: I know you, pal. I’ve worked for you. You’re are TYPICAL of the bellicose, overly self-absorbed, smart mouthed, rude, and worthless pricks that have been turned out of law schools for at least the last 2 or 3 decades. You’re the guy whose secretary wants to slap the living shit out of you. You have no respect for anybody or anything, you have no empathy with anybody about anything, you have no humility, you don’t give a shit about anything or anyone other than yourself, you’d kill your own mother if you thought it would advance your career.

I think it was Shakespeare who said something like, “The first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers.”

I’m going to give you a little advice - get rid of that red-hot chili pepper that‘s burning your ass, make an effort to get down off your high horse and try to be a decent human being. Also, you should be real good to your legal secretary - she knows all your dirty little secrets and she can be your best friend or your worst enemy. She can make you or break you and don’t think she can’t or won’t.

And for God’s sake, stay the hell out of politics … that arena already has enough assholes.

Jesus, Granny!!!! What do you really think???

Now, PLEASSSSSSE. Don't think that I disagree with you. I DO NOT NEED MY ASS KICKED.

I think you had good old young republican just about correct. Just another self righteous con. Has that internal need to tell us all about what a righteous citizen he is.
And, given time, he can help bend the trajectory of this country further south. And complain about all those freeloaders he thinks are dragging him down. All the while ignoring the anchor he attached to his own ass.

funny. I was a shit student in hs, went to work in a factory and decided that had no future for me, went to college while I worked, all that wonderful stuff, and never had the need to tell anyone how tough it was or how wonderful I was. Because somewhere along the way I decided that success had little to do with income or position. Saw to many with both who were miserable.

Seems to me that folks like young republican simply choose to believe what they want to believe. Makes things so much easier. And damn, you can blame the problem with this country on the poor, the workers, and ignore what makes people in some other countries so much happier than we are. And, if he can just make enough money, why,everything will be just fine. It will be the great american dream, again. And all those who make less money, well, they are the real problem.

Haha.. Sorry I dont have the ability to sit back and be content with a life that most would consider "not bad" You know what I want? More. Sit back call me names, tell me I dont understand that life isnt about income or position. Mentality of the past. We live in a global world and im not competing with jack smith for selling the house on maple street, I'm competing with every other developed nation for where our money is going. My personal belief is, I want to make important decisions and be paid for the risks that come along with them. That should be welcomed because, if you dont want to do it, someone else has to.

 

[Rshermr]

Bitter? Hell yes I am bitter. Pissed off is what I really am. Not at you, but at the baby boom generation as a whole. I would like you to answer just a few questions to yourself if you are over the age of 55. Did you have college loans upward of 100,000 dollars? Law School Loans that will double that? Are you buying a home in a real estate market that has the stability of a heroine dealer? Have you ever once wondered how difficult it is to be entering a job that may never end? And finally, Will you have to financially support a generation that wants to live thirty years without working on my dime? For those that are the problem, you don’t, and even those who legitimately sympathize, lack the ability to empathize. Hell, who are we to tell you how to spend our money? Go nuts kids, you all earned it. You worked so long, paid off so much debt and look at how you gave us the economy, our gratitude is spilling out of us.

That’s a hell of a big chip to be carrying on your shoulders in search of your first entry level job; I don’t think I would bring it with you to your first interview. So the world has treated you unfairly because you have some college debt? Who forced you to go to college and spend $100,000? If the return on your college education isn’t worth what you paid for it, why would that be the fault of everyone over the age of 55?

My daughter just graduated in December; she spent two years in community college, and two years at a four-year state university. Funny, the degree only lists the university, not where she took English 1 and Sociology. She lived at home and commuted to classes, and because I didn’t decide that “money didn’t matter,” I was able to pay for her entire college costs so she wouldn’t have that millstone around her neck. But she didn’t go to “Private University” and spend four years in the dorms, or borrow extra money for “living expenses”; as a result, the cost was less than a third of your $100K. So even today, you don’t have to amass such high debt for a college degree, unless you are in a university that will clearly set you apart and make you instantly employable at the highest salaries (i.e. Harvard), a worthwhile investment if you can get in.

I graduated in 1979 into as bad (probably worse) job market/economy as you face today. My first entry level job paid $200/week and I had about $10,000 in college debt (in current dollars, that $5 an hour is about $16, and the $10K in debt is about $32K). Mortgage rates were close to 18%, unemployment was about what it is now, and inflation was close to 13%. The “misery index” peaked in 1979 at its highest level before or since. The feeling of malaise was palpable, and every news outlet proclaimed that America’s best years were behind her. I don’t remember blaming the previous generation for that situation. It sounds more like you have an entitlement problem than anything else.

According to the chart below, aside from a spike in entry level wages during the dot.com boom of the late 90’s, your real expected starting wage is still higher than ever. Buck up, get some experience, and after 10 years of being low man on the totem pole you will move up (assuming your work ethic is what you say it is).

As for “supporting a generation for 30 years”; I’ll just take back the money I have poured into Social Security and Medicare for all these years at a reasonable rate of return and be on my way.

Your daughter took the route that I would suggest to any High School Student today (Heine sights always 20/20). Congrats to you and your daughter!
Now heres where we may disagree. I understand 1979 was a tough year for the economy, but it did have a nice turn around shortly after. Now, for almost 35 years you have been putting into social security and medicare and all that good stuff that history books will be teaching my kids and by all rights you deserve what you have put in, it isn't your fault the government kept taking money out to fund every even short of pie eating contests .

What I am saying is that I understand you have been putting money into these programs that are currently dry. However, you cant expect me or your daughter to bear the brunt of the baby boomers three decade long retirements because, god willing, you will live well into your 80's. it is unrealistic. You left college found what I would assume was a decent job, worked hard, saved up and did everything people told you to do so that one day you could enjoy your life without working like a dog. The problem is your generation, coupled with modern medicine and the shrinking of the world that all combine to be a headache financially. We are just asking and soon will be telling baby boomers that you will need to work well into your late 60's and early 70's in order for us and our kids to have a manageable future.

Uh, dry??? What is dry, me boy. Yes, we have a ss issue, but not a big one. The biggest problem we have is all the births that happened after the war. That bubble goes away over time. In the interim, that is simple enough to fix. The biggest problem for ss, and medicare, is that both are hated by the very wealthy, as a general statement. I call it the Koch test. Those self righteous nut cases who think we should get rid of both, privitize both, and live happily ever after. Funny how that concept is financed by the very folks who would get rich if they could get the job done. The financial industry would LOVE to privitize ss. Cause, you see, they would be the ones who would run it. And they would make trillions as a result. And medicare??? If you pull your head out of your ass, and look at what has been happening there, you would discover that the private insurance companies have been raiding that for YEARS. Read a little. Find out who is paying the politicians to push the health insurance bucks their way. Try a little study of medicare part D, which you and I are paying for big time. Or medicare suplimental insurance plans.

IF you read, and stay with the impartial sources, you will find that there is no medical insurance in this country that is as inexpensive at providing insurance for those of that age as medicare. Far lower costs than the private insurance companies. But, our politicians, who are paid BIG bucks by those very same medical insurance companies, keep trying to tell us that medicare is bankrupt. And that any thought of something like the aca, or Obamacare, is going to bankrupt us. But they ignore the information out there that we have, outside of medicare and the VA, the most expensive medical insurance system in the world. And that we are the ONLY country among the 35 industrialized nations that provide our citizens with for profit PRIVATE insurance.

Funny how you blame the the problems of the nation on the less fortunate, like we are the only country in the world with such issues. Or on the elderly, again like that is unique to us. Get a grip. Study what you obviously missed in college. See what is going on in countries like Sweden, and Finland, and on and on. See why they are much happier than we. And no, it is not that our workers are lazy union bums. Our workers are the third most productive in the world. They simply do not get paid as well. And their health care costs have been eating them alive for years.

 

[YoungRepublican]

That’s a hell of a big chip to be carrying on your shoulders in search of your first entry level job; I don’t think I would bring it with you to your first interview. So the world has treated you unfairly because you have some college debt? Who forced you to go to college and spend $100,000? If the return on your college education isn’t worth what you paid for it, why would that be the fault of everyone over the age of 55?

My daughter just graduated in December; she spent two years in community college, and two years at a four-year state university. Funny, the degree only lists the university, not where she took English 1 and Sociology. She lived at home and commuted to classes, and because I didn’t decide that “money didn’t matter,” I was able to pay for her entire college costs so she wouldn’t have that millstone around her neck. But she didn’t go to “Private University” and spend four years in the dorms, or borrow extra money for “living expenses”; as a result, the cost was less than a third of your $100K. So even today, you don’t have to amass such high debt for a college degree, unless you are in a university that will clearly set you apart and make you instantly employable at the highest salaries (i.e. Harvard), a worthwhile investment if you can get in.

I graduated in 1979 into as bad (probably worse) job market/economy as you face today. My first entry level job paid $200/week and I had about $10,000 in college debt (in current dollars, that $5 an hour is about $16, and the $10K in debt is about $32K). Mortgage rates were close to 18%, unemployment was about what it is now, and inflation was close to 13%. The “misery index” peaked in 1979 at its highest level before or since. The feeling of malaise was palpable, and every news outlet proclaimed that America’s best years were behind her. I don’t remember blaming the previous generation for that situation. It sounds more like you have an entitlement problem than anything else.

According to the chart below, aside from a spike in entry level wages during the dot.com boom of the late 90’s, your real expected starting wage is still higher than ever. Buck up, get some experience, and after 10 years of being low man on the totem pole you will move up (assuming your work ethic is what you say it is).

As for “supporting a generation for 30 years”; I’ll just take back the money I have poured into Social Security and Medicare for all these years at a reasonable rate of return and be on my way.

Your daughter took the route that I would suggest to any High School Student today (Heine sights always 20/20). Congrats to you and your daughter!
Now heres where we may disagree. I understand 1979 was a tough year for the economy, but it did have a nice turn around shortly after. Now, for almost 35 years you have been putting into social security and medicare and all that good stuff that history books will be teaching my kids and by all rights you deserve what you have put in, it isn't your fault the government kept taking money out to fund every even short of pie eating contests .

What I am saying is that I understand you have been putting money into these programs that are currently dry. However, you cant expect me or your daughter to bear the brunt of the baby boomers three decade long retirements because, god willing, you will live well into your 80's. it is unrealistic. You left college found what I would assume was a decent job, worked hard, saved up and did everything people told you to do so that one day you could enjoy your life without working like a dog. The problem is your generation, coupled with modern medicine and the shrinking of the world that all combine to be a headache financially. We are just asking and soon will be telling baby boomers that you will need to work well into your late 60's and early 70's in order for us and our kids to have a manageable future.

Uh, dry??? What is dry, me boy. Yes, we have a ss issue, but not a big one. The biggest problem we have is all the births that happened after the war. That bubble goes away over time. In the interim, that is simple enough to fix. The biggest problem for ss, and medicare, is that both are hated by the very wealthy, as a general statement. I call it the Koch test. Those self righteous nut cases who think we should get rid of both, privitize both, and live happily ever after. Funny how that concept is financed by the very folks who would get rich if they could get the job done. The financial industry would LOVE to privitize ss. Cause, you see, they would be the ones who would run it. And they would make trillions as a result. And medicare??? If you pull your head out of your ass, and look at what has been happening there, you would discover that the private insurance companies have been raiding that for YEARS. Read a little. Find out who is paying the politicians to push the health insurance bucks their way. Try a little study of medicare part D, which you and I are paying for big time. Or medicare suplimental insurance plans.

IF you read, and stay with the impartial sources, you will find that there is no medical insurance in this country that is as inexpensive at providing insurance for those of that age as medicare. Far lower costs than the private insurance companies. But, our politicians, who are paid BIG bucks by those very same medical insurance companies, keep trying to tell us that medicare is bankrupt. And that any thought of something like the aca, or Obamacare, is going to bankrupt us. But they ignore the information out there that we have, outside of medicare and the VA, the most expensive medical insurance system in the world. And that we are the ONLY country among the 35 industrialized nations that provide our citizens with for profit PRIVATE insurance.

Funny how you blame the the problems of the nation on the less fortunate, like we are the only country in the world with such issues. Or on the elderly, again like that is unique to us. Get a grip. Study what you obviously missed in college. See what is going on in countries like Sweden, and Finland, and on and on. See why they are much happier than we. And no, it is not that our workers are lazy union bums. Our workers are the third most productive in the world. They simply do not get paid as well. And their health care costs have been eating them alive for years.

SS is dry though, its days are coming to an end. Medicare needs a serious revamping and that includes getting the insurance companies in line, but it also includes raising the age where you can start receiving medicare. These fucking insurance companies are the worst, but they are charging their asinine prices to people for the last twenty years of their lives because we allow them to. Imagine the money we would save if we just up'd the age of SS and medicare to 70. Millions if not Billions of dollars. Privatizing is not the answer, but we need to look at this logically. Get the insurance corporations in line, but also get the retirees in line too. You dont get to just work the majority of your life and not have to worry about the rest.

I dont mean to blame it on the less fortunate, but its their problem to deal with. America needs to reign it its spending and if that means some older folks need to hold on to their jobs a little longer or go find some other work than so be it. I will need to accumulate well over a million dollars and I mean well over in order to retire by 70. People retire today in many "best case scenarios" with 100,000 dollars and a prayer that the govt will keep you floating. did you know if you have 100 bucks in your pocket and no debt, youre better off than 25% of Americans? That is nuts. We need to get a clue, stop buying Jimmy Buffet Margarita Mixers, and start saving if we ever want to retire.

 

[Granny]

My young friend ... you have much to learn. You sound like my mother for God's sake. She was the ONLY person on the planet who suffered from the adversity of the Great Depression. Big Government came down to her tiny little home town in tobacco growing country and she was hand-picked to be the only person who suffered in any way, shape or form. Right.

And here you are all by your lonesome having all those college loans to repay ... and you have to find a job ... and take care of your future family and fuck those old bastards who - oh, boo-hoo, worked so many years and now they want to suck you dry while you get stuck supporting their asses for the next 20 years. Poor little you. You're the only student in the history of college education who has to pay back loans. Do you have all these loans because you didn't have what it took to get multiple scholarships?

Somewhere in one of these threads you’ve said you want to be a lawyer. Let me tell you something: I know you, pal. I’ve worked for you. You’re are TYPICAL of the bellicose, overly self-absorbed, smart mouthed, rude, and worthless pricks that have been turned out of law schools for at least the last 2 or 3 decades. You’re the guy whose secretary wants to slap the living shit out of you. You have no respect for anybody or anything, you have no empathy with anybody about anything, you have no humility, you don’t give a shit about anything or anyone other than yourself, you’d kill your own mother if you thought it would advance your career.

I think it was Shakespeare who said something like, “The first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers.”

I’m going to give you a little advice - get rid of that red-hot chili pepper that‘s burning your ass, make an effort to get down off your high horse and try to be a decent human being. Also, you should be real good to your legal secretary - she knows all your dirty little secrets and she can be your best friend or your worst enemy. She can make you or break you and don’t think she can’t or won’t.

And for God’s sake, stay the hell out of politics … that arena already has enough assholes.

Assholes are the one's who will always finish first. My main point that you lost in your little tirade against the successful is that I along with the vast majority of youth who will one day be in positions of power is that we do not want to pay for your twenty year retirement. Im not advocating a purge of unemployed 60 something year olds, merely a realization that perhaps you cant retire until you are 70. You are all living much longer and we can no longer support you for that amount of time.

Ya, I am smarter than the average person my age when it comes to politics, but thats just because I care. It's the people who care and want to see change that ultimately get what they want. Ya see, I dont want to elect someone to enact the policies I think we should follow, i'd rather just try and do it myself. Dont worry, I'm not alone either. For the most part, all of us "asshole's" feel this way, but were just being pragmatic. You call me these self absorbed names, but in actuality im just reiterating how our generation feels towards the older ones (minus our parents). We don't care how long you have worked, we are jaded by the economy that is dog eat dog. Its the world you live in and its either adapt or die.

You really are pathetic. You know nothing and your only care is about yourself. Period. How in the hell do people so young get as jaundiced and sour about life as you appear to be? Why exclude your parents from the equation? Didn't they work their asses off to make as good a life for you as they could? When they retire are they not also drawing Social Security like all the other older ones - or are they in a position where they can opt not to apply for those benefits? Is Social Security in a serious mess? You bet it is - and not just because retirees have been drawing the funds down - politicians did their part in raiding the coffers and have still never paid back the funds as they promised. Should Social Security be done away with? Yes. And useless and stupid as you think old people are - we have our thoughts on how the system could be changed.

For your information - not that you care - I'm 70 years old. I'm working. I love what I do. I give in home care to the elderly who are far less healthy than I am and I still learn from them. I listen to their stories. They came from a generation far better than mine (or yours), they sacrificed, and they gave back to the world much more than any generation that has followed.

I am a retired legal secretary and I was damned good at what I did and I loved what I did. I'm going to repeat myself: be good to your secretary ... she can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Hell, she might even be able to save your ass by correcting your somewhat lack of spelling and grammar skills.

What good is all this wealth you want to accumulate if you're despised by all those around you?

Oh - and don't forget that one of these days you're going to be one of the old folks, my friend - that is if some of your colleagues don't off you first.

 

[martybegan]

I'll say it again . . . money is a claim on labor. Nothing more, although some unwittingly elevate money to levels that display status and class--but status and class are ultimately a function of how many people you control.

This isn't a tough issue, folks. Money is a claim on labor. It always has been. That's ECON101!!

Also, poor hapless "martybegan," this is not a political or ideological issue. It is a concept in economics. Sorry if this tilts your ideological slant.

ALSO, I didn't infer that this implies forced labor. I only state that money is a claim on labor.

Its basic marxism is what it is. and dont go name calling right off the bat you miserable cum sucking dickfuck. Some of us are much better at it than you are.

Why is it that marxists always try to hide what they are? Why be embarrased about it?