Man, I wish the poor would stop whining...Follow

Norway is a good example, but Sweden and Denmark are pretty much just as prosperous without the oil and gas. Sweden also has a bigger population, to counter the "its a tiny country argument". The other counter to that argument is Equitorial Guinea, which is a tiny country with tons of oil and one of the lowest living standard in the world.

As for taxes, I wouldn't mind so much if the richest people actually paid some. But they don't. Clever accounting practices and off-shore accounts mean that most of their wealth is tax free.

It's basically like living in the duty-free bit of the airport.

I'm thinking that introductions to things like 40 hour work weeks, child labor laws, OSHA and minimum wages has done alot more than DVD players and that came out of Progressive Politics and the Labor Movement, not out of industry.

I don't care enough anymore.

Edited, Apr 10th 2008 3:44pm by baelnic

All through college (which I paid for by scholarships and working since my mom who was a single school teacher couldn't pay a penny towards it) and for 3 years after I was in the 'bottom 5th'. And you know what? I lived just fine. I lived in what was basically a garage in a good part of Nashville because the rent was the same as a full apartment in a terrible part of the city. Never ate out. Rented movies on 99 cent night. Ate cereal and tuna fish all three meals. Worked all the overtime I could. Played board games with friends. For a single guy it wasn't that bad of a life.

Only after I got close to the 'middle fifth' did I choose to get married. And only as I was fully into the 'middle fifth' with insurance, a retirement plan, etc, did we decide to have kids. When my wife and I got married I had saved enough to buy a $5000 family car with cash. The average american family will make 2 car payments their entire life. Taking the money of one of those payments(which we could easily afford now) and investing it in common stocks that give the average rate of return that they have seen for the past 70 years will leave you with over 4 million in your account in 40 years. So yeah, I'll be driving a used car I pay cash for my whole life no matter how much money I make.



So my odds are 0%. Fine with me. But by busting my ***, never using a credit card, and not living above my means my kids will have that 50/50 chance. And I can assure you that if my dad would have done the same I'd have a 100% chance based on not living above my means and working my fingers to the bone every chance I got.


If supporting a family would bring nothing but misery for 60 years.....then don't have one. If you can't afford to feed 3 kids......then don't have them until you can. With a high-school education, a sport coat, and a taxi cab ride to your nearest hospital you can get a job and work as many hours as you would like. After a certain amount of time you will have access to health insurance and help with education in a medical field of your choice. I know 3 physical therapists who make 6 figures who started at the hospital emptying bedpans. Yeah, for 2-4 years you won't have an ounce of free time, but for the next 60 you will be fine.


I had a friend in Nashville who was a case worker for WOTC/disability stuff. 99% of the people he visited lived below the poverty line. But as he told me, "They can't afford to put clothes on their kids, but every last trailer/apartment had a playstation and a satellite dish." You want a better life, bust your ***. There will always be ample opportunities for the best 2-3% of people in any field, no matter the economy. You may never be super rich, but you can at least bring kids and grandkids into the world with a little bit of a head start.


E: no spellcheck make me go something something

Edited, Apr 10th 2008 6:11pm by BarberofSeville

First hand account bears no credibility? Whatever. Those were his words not mine. The point is that there was no amount of luck involved in slowly working myself into the middle tier over the last 12 years, and there will be no amount of luck in slowly working myself into the upper tier over the next 20. Just sacrifices and smart life choices. And while I put in the hours needed to continue doing so I'll let you waste another 1600 hours of RL time making another 20k posts continuing to say people don't have 'opportunities' in our current culture

Ahhhhaaaaahahaaaaahahahaaaa....

Hahahahahahahahaha!

Ahem.

Haha.

Anymore? Could you link me the part were his argument was civil and constructive?

You know who you were arguing against right? He is Smasharoo the only person he could ever lose to on this forum is Joph and that's because Joph has a **J**

Let me fill you in. In the short time I've been here I've learned that Smash is one of the good ole boys of this group of posters. While generally useful, he could take an off day and post something completely and utterly retarded and still be praised.

Damn. I thought it was because it took me three years to build it, but I built it mostly myself (with the help of my father) and paid cash for 99% of the materials.

I know I'm the exception to the rule, but many people get government guarenteed loans. Many people get unguarenteed loans. It's a vicious cycle I know.

Edited to fix a misplaced word.

Edited, Apr 11th 2008 9:33am by cpcjlc

So you're saying without Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that home loans wouldn't exist? I honestly don't believe it's true. Granted it might be harder for some people to get a loan without the existence of the FM twins, but I think that banks would lend to people with good credit ratings simply for the profit from interest. It might drive interest rates up since having fewer loans out there due to increased restrictions on who they lend to would decrease overall profits, but they would still exist and people would still buy homes and rental properties.