The age of modesty and this recession.

macgyver06macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
edited March 2008 in A Moving Train
Welcome fat people with shrinking wallets and rising debt.




theres no shame in living in a modest house... in a modest neighborhood...driving a vehicle you enjoy at a modest price..

to all who chose the latter..


we all suffer because of your poor choices big mac man


GROW UP
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • macgyver06 wrote:
    Welcome fat people with shrinking wallets and rising debt.




    theres no shame in living in a modest house... in a modest neighborhood...driving a vehicle you enjoy at a modest price..

    to all who chose the latter..


    we all suffer because of your poor choices big mac man


    GROW UP

    I'm not going to dissect your statement here, but I do get what you are saying. Last night on the news were more horrific stories about the housing market, whether or not we're in a recession (which is a stupid argument, btw), etc etc. My wife asks me, "whats wrong with this country." My answer was that people need to educate themselves and rethink their priorities. Maybe its time to realize that the free market DOESN'T always correct itself... that is, when people make too many stupid decisions with their money the economy can spiral out of control to the point where it takes drastic measures, billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and years of work to climb out.
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • I feed my fat ass big macs at walmart for China...

    Fuck me...you know I actually did that once or twice (some have McDonalds in them)
    Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad,
    and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
    over specific principles, goals, and policies.

    http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg

    (\__/)
    ( o.O)
    (")_(")
  • macgyver06macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
    I'm not going to dissect your statement here, but I do get what you are saying. Last night on the news were more horrific stories about the housing market, whether or not we're in a recession (which is a stupid argument, btw), etc etc. My wife asks me, "whats wrong with this country." My answer was that people need to educate themselves and rethink their priorities. Maybe its time to realize that the free market DOESN'T always correct itself... that is, when people make too many stupid decisions with their money the economy can spiral out of control to the point where it takes drastic measures, billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and years of work to climb out.


    exactly.. also we are the only country that spends most of our money on services that we could do ourselves...

    washing your car
    walking your dog


    for examples... it may sound crazy... can actually be a part of YOUR life rather than someone you pay to do these things..

    we pay people to live our lives in a sense... while we watch other people live their lives on television reality shows...


    kinda crazy..
  • Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad,
    and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
    over specific principles, goals, and policies.

    http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg

    (\__/)
    ( o.O)
    (")_(")
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    you know one thing about that argument. Processed fast food that is the least healthy is the easiest and cheapest to obtain... so some of the people living within thier means in lower wage jobs like landscaping or construction.... yeah theres the market for the Hardees/Carls Jr Thickburger and Burger King Tub of Lard.

    I think melodius has some great points when he suggest we grow more of our own food. My family did that when I was young, it's just pretty tough for us apartment dwelling folks waiting for the market to come within our means to do some of that.

    Food that is good for you... is expensive.... unless you grow it, then it's really cheap except for the labor and you aren't paying transportation costs. Yard clippings, easy fertilizer and weed killer.

    If we're going to be saddled with farm subsidies anyway, I'd rather they be for large scale organic farms with big human labor forces. Is there any really good reason to continue to subsidize tobacco and cotton?

    As a nation I completely agree with you though, live within our means put a consious effort on not being in debt... that'd be the best for all of us including our government.

    It would be freaking cool if Wal Mart decided to buy AMerican again.


    It's nuts I know but I like washing my truck changing my oil and working on my house if I had one though I do fix the apartment instead of letting them do it and cutting my grass because its fun. The crappy thing right now is in my area.... the affordable places essentially force me to pay fees to let some hack job wreck the grass. I don't want a huge lot I just want a nice average house that I can work on that has my own yard and minimal neighborhood restrictions and or fees.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • macgyver06macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
    Pacomc79 wrote:
    you know one thing about that argument. Processed fast food that is the least healthy is the easiest and cheapest to obtain... so some of the people living within thier means in lower wage jobs like landscaping or construction.... yeah theres the market for the Hardees/Carls Jr Thickburger and Burger King Tub of Lard.

    I think melodius has some great points when he suggest we grow more of our own food. My family did that when I was young, it's just pretty tough for us apartment dwelling folks waiting for the market to come within our means to do some of that.

    Food that is good for you... is expensive.

    If we're going to be saddled with farm subsidies anyway, I'd rather they be for large scale organic farms with big human labor forces. Is there any really good reason to continue to subsidize tobacco and cotton?

    As a nation I completely agree with you though, live within our means put a consious effort on not being in debt... that'd be the best for all of us including our government.

    It would be freaking cool if Wal Mart decided to buy AMerican again.



    food that is good for you is not expensive... i think thats a poor excuse.

    you should know your body better than anyone.
  • Number 18Number 18 Posts: 132

    I just finished a class in my MBA program that was about competing with and within China and we had several guest speakers. Each of them said China isn't the unlimited source of cheap labor that so many perceive it to be. Each was fairly confident that another country will emerge as the "future China."

    Thanks for that link.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    macgyver06 wrote:
    food that is good for you is not expensive... i think thats a poor excuse.

    you should know your body better than anyone.


    I guess what I meant is that poor areas of the country are often the ones most likely to abuse fast food and also have the least amount of education. Processed foods are among the worst things you can eat and they are also among the cheapest to prepare. It's a cycle that needs to be broken obviously I just don't see it changing without outside effort.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • Honestly, I believe the suburban landscape in this country is *the* root of *all* these problems. Suburbs cause:

    -a HOST of environmental problems (habitat fragmentation, vehicle emissions, fertilizer runoff, invasive species, excessive waste, and many many others)
    -isolation from the community/no community at all
    -obesity (autocentricity, the way suburbanites stock up on food at the big box store)
    -over spending on houses and cars that are too g-d big to be sustainable.

    good read: Suburban Nation. forget the author's name.
  • macgyver06macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
    Honestly, I believe the suburban landscape in this country is *the* root of *all* these problems. Suburbs cause:

    -a HOST of environmental problems (habitat fragmentation, vehicle emissions, fertilizer runoff, invasive species, excessive waste, and many many others)
    -isolation from the community/no community at all
    -obesity (autocentricity, the way suburbanites stock up on food at the big box store)
    -over spending on houses and cars that are too g-d big to be sustainable.

    good read: Suburban Nation. forget the author's name.



    so youre suggesting people who live in the country are the source of the recession?
  • Honestly, I believe the suburban landscape in this country is *the* root of *all* these problems. Suburbs cause:

    -a HOST of environmental problems (habitat fragmentation, vehicle emissions, fertilizer runoff, invasive species, excessive waste, and many many others)
    -isolation from the community/no community at all
    -obesity (autocentricity, the way suburbanites stock up on food at the big box store)
    -over spending on houses and cars that are too g-d big to be sustainable.

    good read: Suburban Nation. forget the author's name.


    I'm not in a suburban landscape and I stock up on food for the simple fact that I fucking hate shopping every fucking week.
  • eh, it was all fun while it lasted.
  • dmitrydmitry Posts: 136
    I'm not going to dissect your statement here, but I do get what you are saying. Last night on the news were more horrific stories about the housing market, whether or not we're in a recession (which is a stupid argument, btw), etc etc. My wife asks me, "whats wrong with this country." My answer was that people need to educate themselves and rethink their priorities. Maybe its time to realize that the free market DOESN'T always correct itself... that is, when people make too many stupid decisions with their money the economy can spiral out of control to the point where it takes drastic measures, billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and years of work to climb out.

    the market is correcting itself. that's why overvalued housing is coming down. in any case there was no free market to begin with.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    Modesty and paying in cash are common sense ideas that aren't so common.

    We've had a "movie night" that we've instituted at work and after going to several of my employees homes, they are going to be surprised when they come to mine and see that their boss lives in a house half the size of theirs.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • dmitry wrote:
    the market is correcting itself. that's why overvalued housing is coming down. in any case there was no free market to begin with.

    No, the market is not correcting itself because values should be RISING by now, not coming down further. Investors and home buyers don't see bottom yet and according to free market principles they should be.

    Saying that the free market doesn't exist is an issue of semantics. No its not totally free and NEVER will be (free of trade restricstions [tariffs, quotas, VERs, technical barriers to trade], free of subsidies, etc), but it is a free market in the objective sense.
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • dmitrydmitry Posts: 136
    No, the market is not correcting itself because values should be RISING by now, not coming down further. Investors and home buyers don't see bottom yet and according to free market principles they should be.

    Saying that the free market doesn't exist is an issue of semantics. No its not totally free and NEVER will be (free of trade restricstions [tariffs, quotas, VERs, technical barriers to trade], free of subsidies, etc), but it is a free market in the objective sense.

    The housing bubble was caused by the fed. What market principles are you talking about that says they should be seeing the bottom? You can't objectively say the market is free when there are nitwits manipulating key variables. Free is a relative term.
  • dmitry wrote:
    What market principles are you talking about that says they should be seeing the bottom?
    Normally a capitalist economy lets prices of homes, stocks, mortgage-backed securities, etc. fall to the point that the investors rush in, hoping to make a killing. This hasn't happened because there is no end in sight yet. I guess you could look at it this way: instead of a normal supply/demand relationship the demand curve has shifted to the left, caused by shifts in expectations of price change, income, and the number of buyers. But hey, I'm no economist and I'm open to reading other ideas. :)
    dmitry wrote:
    You can't objectively say the market is free when there are nitwits manipulating key variables. Free is a relative term.
    I guess "objective" was the wrong word to use... it is definitely a relative term. But then again we are going to definitely need these "nitwits" to help the country (which has already happened) from spriraling into Great Depression II. Unfortunately if you look back at the Great Depression, the initial government reaction only exacerbated the market crash, and I think that is likely to happen again. Why? Because I don't think that printing more money is the solution when the dollar is already worth jack shit. But oh yeah, the weak dollar is good for US exporters, right? Too bad nobody manufactures anything here anymore. DOUBLE FARTS!!!
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • macgyver06macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
    know1 wrote:
    Modesty and paying in cash are common sense ideas that aren't so common.

    We've had a "movie night" that we've instituted at work and after going to several of my employees homes, they are going to be surprised when they come to mine and see that their boss lives in a house half the size of theirs.


    that is fucking awesome!
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