Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
Let me deconstruct your yet another one of your attempts to validate your assertion:
1. You were 41 and with a bachelors degree when you went back to school....you weren't a college kid and you had 20 years to in the job market to build a life and some savings.
I had no savings.
I was a broke part-time college student working on a 2nd Bachelor's Degree (Chemical Engineering), before I went to the UK in 1998 to work as a consultant on a documentary film, before going with a Channel 4 film crew to Serbia, during the period of NATO air strikes in 1999. After a few months in Serbia I left and went to Romania and lived from 1999 to 2001 and didn't work during that time. Then I returned....broke...to the US to go to back to school.
the ferret responds: Your tale gets taller with each response. So NOW, you're a penniless part-time college student working a on a 2nd Bachelor's degree.....this means you were on student loans up to your wazoo. But magically, you can pony up the the air fare to the UK (RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE THEN AS IT IS NOW) to be a consultant in contested war zone that VETTED, SEASONED JOURNALIST FROM REPUTABLE NEWS AGENCIES HAD DIFFICULTY GETTING PERMISSION/ACCESS. (how the hell did you gain the experience to get that fresh out of college....must've been a hell of a work study program!). Then you magically (again!) move to a take up residence in a foreign country WITH NO JOB... magically (again!) pony up the air fare to return to the USA...broke...and take up with school again. 
Yeah, right....GMAFB!
Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
2. You made a CHOICE to go back...meaning that you already had a life of financially supporting yourself as an adult with no outstanding college debt.
So?
The ferret responds: So AGAIN, the average college kid does NOT have a background of 20 years to build a life or savings (the latter which you claim you didn't have), and unlike you, they graduate with a student loan DEBT waiting less than a year to pounce on them. Whether you acknowledge the difference or not, there is no comparison. A matter of fact, a matter of history.
I was starting over just like everybody else. I rented a room in a house with mostly foreign students. I had no car payment, no car -- so no insurance -- and I wasn't dumb enough to pay $600 for an iPhone. I didn't waste money on frivolous things like the latest fashions, so no, I didn't have $200 Nike shoes, either.
the ferret responds: How did you rent the room...barter and trade with the landlord? Remember, you said you were BROKE! So again, either you had 20 years of savings to use, or someone footed some of the bills for you, or your story is just a convoluted creation that doesn't bear up under examination...as my previous responses here shows.
Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
3. You received $12 grand as a "TA" (whatever that is)....
TA is a Teaching Assistant. You grade papers mostly and teach a few classes when the professor is away doing professor things.
the ferret responds: And IF that is true, it STILL doesn't explain all the financial requirements you had to meet prior to this...or the painfully obvious flaws in your story that I deconstructed in th previous post and the previous responses here.
Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
...that was in addition to whatever cash you saved up over the years to put to your endeavor, because you sure as hell didn't just come off the street flat broke.
But, I did come off the street flat broke.
the ferret responds: that is a lie, as I logically pointed out in the previous responses here.
Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
You got your masters, then got a deal teaching for tuition.
So, I was one of the fortunate few who had an high enough GPA to qualify for a cushy TA program to get my Master's. It's not my fault other students didn't study hard enough. Getting a stipend meant I only had to work part-time at a minimum wage job, instead of full-time. It's real hard, but not impossible, to find part-time jobs that let you work around your classes.
the ferret responds: See previous responses. Your story just doesn't add up given time frames, financial requirements, and the minimum wage at the time which would NOT have covered your undergrad tuition, as your TA job would have just put a dent in your (alleged) Masters tuition. As I've said before, the debt you would have accumulated IF one was ignorant enough to take your tale at face value would be staggering by standards 30 years ago as they are today....YET you claimed poverty at every turn.
Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
4. No one is faulting your drive and success...but I am pointing out the sheer stupidity of comparing your situation to the everyday college kid, who at 18 to 21 sure as hell doesn't have your resources, experience and is laden with debt just to get a BA. So your bitching about the minimum wage is just that...bitching. No one forced you to take the path you took, but jealousy that you missed out on a minimum wage hike is just childish.
There's nothing stupid about it. The only difference between those kids and I was that I worked and they didn't.
the ferret responds: Who says college kids are NOT working part time jobs? The whole point here is that the minimum wage does NOT give a person adequate financial breathing room to do much but pay either a bill or buy food. Yes, college kids on student loans or taking part time courses work minimum wage jobs.....I'm just point out the how utterly fantastic your tale is..and how obviously bias and jealous you are of others to accuse folk of being lazy because you "allegedly" had a hard time in life.
They voluntarily choose to saddle themselves with Student Loan Debt, instead of going to school part-time and working part-time or full-time to pay for their education. They could have gone to a less expensive junior college then transferred to a State or private school.
the ferret responds: newflash for ya, son.....you work full time, you take night courses or part time curriculum that takes a LONG time to get that degree...let alone pay those tuition bills. Junior college is the same deal, albeit to a somewhat lesser financial degree. The burden is relieved if YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY ROOM AND BOARD...so many college kids live at home or try to board up in group apt. situations...but the financial burden exists....AND THEY DON'T HAVE 20 YEARS BEHIND THEM to accumulate a nest egg. I went to junior college and then finished out at a 4 year....worked campus jobs to help pay for the books, food...but I lived at home with my parents because local jobs could NOT meet the tuition, and the loans only partially helped. I wasn't unique...that was the STANDARD for a plethora of students across the country! So again and again, when one takes apart your story piece by piece, it's just that...a story.
I attended the University of Cincinnati instead of the more expensive Miami University or a private college like Xavier University.
You can see the fee schedule here (for 2003)
https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/bursar/docs/Fee_Schedule_03-04.pdf
Now, I'm semi-retired, consulting part-time and spending the rest of my time in leisurely pursuits.
the ferret responds: And your point? Since you claimed to be broke at 40 before returning to school...the TOTAL costs would be out of your reach. As I addressed in previous responses, your claims just keep contradicting each other.
Bottom line: Your not credible.
Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
True, but unlike the typical Koch brother backed/created think tank, they didn't ignore certain historical facts to reach their conclusions, as this gentleman points out: Examining a time-series from 1945 through 2014, I find no statistically significant correlation between annual inflation rates and the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage.
The flaw in his methodology, is that he isn't using the nominal value for minimum wage.
