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Fiscal Woes (the blog)
So I was reading that the AIG bailout is now over 100 billion dollars. GMAC was just bailed out - the prime financial lender of General Motors. This is an unnatural thing. Corporations like these are not supposed to fail - or are they?
It doesn't end there, though. The government, as they print more money, also cause inflation. But, the American people are not hurting enough, it seems. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see our country struggle, but I think it is good to start changing the mindset of people. This past Christmas, I was looking at the top 10 items that people were buying. All of them were electronics. Electronics do not provide a service that is a necessity, and except for a few people being employed, have no good impact on our society. Electronic manufacturers and the general entertainment industries do not provide us with services or goods that are a necessity. Every time we buy a DVD, a movie ticket, a CD, we are supporting a multi-BILLION, edging towards TRILLION dollar industry. You can't quantify a trip to the theatre, and you supported those actors' huge income checks. Same with sports. These people used to play ball in the street for free. Now they make millions of dollars individually per year. We are funding this.
Americans are not hurting enough if they can afford the Blue-Ray discs, and the iPods, and the $50,000 SUV.
I remember a time when nobody except the affluent had Jaguars, BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus cars. Owning these type cars used to mean something. Nowadays, everyone has one. There was a time you could not lease these type vehicles. Leasing options did not exist. You bought it with cold, hard, cash.
We live in a time where there are single parents with kids that can't eat, but boy their parents sure have a spiffy Lexus!
I fear that the only way we'll start learning what it means to not have money, and no credit, and no government help, is when vehicles and food are unattainable. When people truly can not afford to buy food, maybe our old morales and ways will come back to us.
And as for the government, stop propping things up. Let them fail. Let all these freeloaders of the system fail. People will be more likely to work for a living, and keep their legs closed, and actually aspire to do something with themselves if they know that the government will do nothing for them. If we break the chain of expecting something, then we won't come to rely on it.
There was a time when the American Dream used to mean something: A steady job, a functioning car, and a house in a safe neighborhood. People came to EARN the American Dream. Nowadays, people expect it. Did you earn that $40,000 car? No. Did you earn that $450,000 house? No. You didn't earn it, because you didn't put your blood, sweat, and tears into saving enough money to make it happen. This is the point of view that needs to change.
Then, and only then, can we start rebalancing the system, and get to a point where we are focused only on what we need, instead of trivial things like an Xbox.
That is all, that is all.....
It doesn't end there, though. The government, as they print more money, also cause inflation. But, the American people are not hurting enough, it seems. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see our country struggle, but I think it is good to start changing the mindset of people. This past Christmas, I was looking at the top 10 items that people were buying. All of them were electronics. Electronics do not provide a service that is a necessity, and except for a few people being employed, have no good impact on our society. Electronic manufacturers and the general entertainment industries do not provide us with services or goods that are a necessity. Every time we buy a DVD, a movie ticket, a CD, we are supporting a multi-BILLION, edging towards TRILLION dollar industry. You can't quantify a trip to the theatre, and you supported those actors' huge income checks. Same with sports. These people used to play ball in the street for free. Now they make millions of dollars individually per year. We are funding this.
Americans are not hurting enough if they can afford the Blue-Ray discs, and the iPods, and the $50,000 SUV.
I remember a time when nobody except the affluent had Jaguars, BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus cars. Owning these type cars used to mean something. Nowadays, everyone has one. There was a time you could not lease these type vehicles. Leasing options did not exist. You bought it with cold, hard, cash.
We live in a time where there are single parents with kids that can't eat, but boy their parents sure have a spiffy Lexus!
I fear that the only way we'll start learning what it means to not have money, and no credit, and no government help, is when vehicles and food are unattainable. When people truly can not afford to buy food, maybe our old morales and ways will come back to us.
And as for the government, stop propping things up. Let them fail. Let all these freeloaders of the system fail. People will be more likely to work for a living, and keep their legs closed, and actually aspire to do something with themselves if they know that the government will do nothing for them. If we break the chain of expecting something, then we won't come to rely on it.
There was a time when the American Dream used to mean something: A steady job, a functioning car, and a house in a safe neighborhood. People came to EARN the American Dream. Nowadays, people expect it. Did you earn that $40,000 car? No. Did you earn that $450,000 house? No. You didn't earn it, because you didn't put your blood, sweat, and tears into saving enough money to make it happen. This is the point of view that needs to change.
Then, and only then, can we start rebalancing the system, and get to a point where we are focused only on what we need, instead of trivial things like an Xbox.
That is all, that is all.....