Lionfish (04-17-2022), Matt Dillon (04-16-2022), Minister of Truth (04-15-2022)
Elon Musk is a scumbag billionaire like the rest. Nobody is a self-made man; like Bezos and the rest, Elon built his wealth on the backs of the working class and hoards it all for himself.
Warren Buffet recently announced that he will donate 99% of his fortune ($125 billion) to charity. He said this:
At least one of them is finally being honest."Over many decades I have accumulated an almost incomprehensible sum simply by doing what I love to do. I've made no sacrifice nor has my family. Compound interest, a long runway, wonderful associates and our incredible country have simply worked their magic. Society has a use for my money; I don't."
Guno צְבִי (04-16-2022), ThatOwlWoman (04-16-2022)
Well, what Buffet has enjoyed will not be available for future generations in America.
Government overreach and corruption and creeping Communism will see to that.
They want the hoi polloi to be serfs. That's the antithesis of America.
What I don't get is all the Hoi Polloi rushing to be serfs when they could be living The American Dream.
That is a result of the indoctrination. It has to be.
Into the Night (04-18-2022)
MAGA MAN (04-19-2022)
"The atmosphere is among the factors that determines the Earth's atmosphere." --ZenMode
"Donald has failed in almost every endeavor he has attempted. " --floridafan
"Abortion is not a moral issue. " --BidenPresident
"Propaganda can also be factual." --Flash
"Even after being vaccinated, you shed virus particles." --Jerome
"no slavery is forcing another into labor" -archives
"Evs are much safer from fires" -- Nordberg
"Abortion has killed no one." -- LurchAddams
"The atmosphere is among the factors that determines the Earth's atmosphere." --ZenMode
"Donald has failed in almost every endeavor he has attempted. " --floridafan
"Abortion is not a moral issue. " --BidenPresident
"Propaganda can also be factual." --Flash
"Even after being vaccinated, you shed virus particles." --Jerome
"no slavery is forcing another into labor" -archives
"Evs are much safer from fires" -- Nordberg
"Abortion has killed no one." -- LurchAddams
The classic American Dream has been dead for decades. Once upon a time, a man with a high school education could work 40 hrs and support a family, buy a decent house, and drive a decent car. Back then, wealth was distributed more fairly. Now, wealth is balanced towards the upper class and the working class is left suffering; two adults need to work full-time just to support one household, while CEOs make more now than they ever have. Free-market capitalism has gutted America.
But there are ways that we working class people can reclaim some of the wealth we helped create. Personally, I invest 100% of my 401k in S&P500 index funds. I also max out my IRA, also 100% invested in SP500 index funds. The SP500 realizes an annual avg. of 10.5%, which means I'll be worth at least $2.5 million by retirement age. (And we learned in 2008 that the SP500 is "too big to fail," so it's the safest bet in the stock market. If it fails, it means the entire US economy has failed, and at that point, no investment would have saved me.) In the near future, I plan on opening a taxable brokerage account to invest in more SP500 index funds with any extra cash I have beyond retirement investments.
The point is that we need to be proactive in reclaiming the wealth we created. Aggeessive investing is the only way to reclaim a piece of the money pie that we rightfully deserve. Depending on politicans to magically fix the system -- to "make America great again" or whatever -- is a pipe dream that they use to gain votes.
It wouldn't be bad to fight to get some more equal wealth distribution back. There are things that can be done. One step at a time.
The rules have changed since when I started out.
I'd focus on housing because that's taking 100% more of peoples' income now than when I started out. Fix that 1st.
Actually, the first focus is on manufacturing.
Republicans had a chance to bring manufacturing back when they crafted their billionaire tax giveaway.
All they had to do was to eliminate taxes for corporations that do all of their manufacturing here, and raise the taxes on those who didn't.
But they didn't.
The need for a two income household started when our standard of living increased. Two cars in every driveway instead of one. A t.v in every room of the house, instead of one. It was a tradeoff that families were happy to make, to the detriment of the 'latchkey' kids.
Now there are no quality jobs left for those with a high school education, outside of the service industry.
It's never going back.
Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Matt Dillon (05-02-2022), Taichiliberal (05-02-2022)
I agree with you about the housing. But notice it doesn't get discussed much? I can offer two reasons. 1) on a board like this dominated by Boomers folks really only care that their properties values are maintained/increased and 2) it really is much more of a state/local issue than a national one so national politicians tend to talk about it much less
Really high property values make our economy less dynamic and it harmful to younger folks. (If you're an older property owner you're loving it). And this is one of those subjects that transcends partisan lines because clearly homes owners on the right and left like their property values increasing.
Matt Dillon (05-02-2022)
Who's fault is that?
It's the Democrats and Left that pushed the idea that women should enter the workforce and work just as hard as men for a paycheck.
It's Democrats and the Left that pushed the idea that you need a college education to get a decent job and that working for a living was demeaning.
It's Democrats and the Left that made skilled jobs in the trades that pay better than many college degree jobs undesirable.
I have two BS degrees and an MA, and I've made way more money working as a contractor and master electrician than I did off those degrees. Sure, they helped, but they weren't the driving force behind my success. I have sufficient wealth invested that I can get into Chase Bank's Private Client network and have a net worth of millions. It isn't anything the Left proposes as the path to success that worked for me. If anything, it was the exact opposite.
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