I couldn't have said it better myself...
This whole thing is just really sad to me.
Some of the people here have legitimate things to say, otehrs are just insulting one another and bragging about their "success". What is our definition of success? Does it just have to do with the bottom line?
Yes, money is important, but what about family, friends, travel, having time to enjoy life? I know I sound totally corny to many of you, but I think there is more to life than having more and better "stuff" than other people.
Why are we so concerned with not just keeping up with the Jonses but showing them up? It's just STUFF - who cares?
We lost our home in a fire less than a year ago, and let me tell you, it really doesn't matter. It really is just stuff. We got ourselves and the kids and even our pets out and that's all that matters.
I just think that we've been brainwashed into thinking that all of these material possessions are so important, and they're really not. If we could learn that what we already have is just fine, that we don't need to constantly upgrade to something "better" - TV, house, car, spouse - we'd probably be a lot happier.
If we can get over this need for THINGS to define us and provide status, maybe we can be a lot more free to spend time with people we care about and enjoy life. It will be over one day and you can't take your stuff with you.
-Anon HP'er, May 22, 2008
May 22, 2008
HP'er comment of the year - "I think there is more to life than having more and better "stuff" than other people"
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If you want to see success you should go over to the Irvine Housing Blog the very epicenter of the housing bubble. There you'll see the very definition of housing bubble success where every day a new home is posted that used to belong to a failed homedebtor losing anywhere in the range of $100,000 - $500,000 in the last year alone. The HELOC abuse behind these homes will make your jaw drop.
Now that's what I call success!!
Kieth - you need to read this regarding PANIC!!!
http://realestateandhousing2.blogspot.com/2008/05/things-are-heating-up.html
Keith. I've enjoyed HousingPANIC over the years but it's becoming time we HousingPANIC enthusiasts change our focus to the commodities bubble.
All of us need to actively spread our message as to how Wall Street and the Commodities Traders, the Fed and the US Govt is screwing us and future generations.
We should be emailing our entire contact lists, and having our contacts doing the same. Within a couple iterations of this our message will begin to be heard (hopefully).
What we need to organize is an all out attack on Wall Street and Consumerism via National Consumer Strikes, National non-Spending days, Worker Strikes (if possible).
Individually we have no power, however collectively we can be heard, we will be heard, WE MUST BE HEARD.
My family treats me like sh!t, "friends" are nothing but snake in the grass (see Clinton friends in this race), and here's what you get by sending trillions in aid:
http://tinyurl.com/556ez8
So what's your point? We know that for some having "stuff" is a no-no in socialism. Meanwhile, enjoy your variety of Lattes at Starbucks while you chat with the "barista" about the Messiah.
Last time I checked, the Internet wasn't invented by a socialist or communist country. What else do you guys want from us? We give you Internet, Microchips, Broadband, PC, Laser, GPS, Scarlett Johanson, etc, all free of charge, and it's never enough?
Should we now be talking about Marx all day in some outdoor Cafe and wait for others to come up with revolutionary inventions to raise our quality of life? Having a computer was a luxury in the 70s too, so was a cell phone. Lots of socialist fools take that "stuff" for granted. A lot of work is behind that "stuff" you hate so much.
What is in your heart?
Jesus
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34)
Note: Try replacing the words "burnt offerings and sacrifices" with the words "Hummer and 4,000 sq ft house with granite countertops..."
I loved this classic:
http://blog.mises.org/archives/007686.asp
Note the year. Are the attitudes finally changing or shall we end for the Environment to declare the end of consumerism in a brutal way?
A little over a year ago I left the US to live in Europe for one year. My family of three and myself packed a total of 6 bags. That's it. We rented a furnished apartment and bought some basic stuff for the kitchen and what not.
Trust me when I tell you that stuff is mostly just stuff. We really don't need most of it. Except for family photos, family heirlooms, your personal papers, everything is replaceable. I was over joyed at not being bogged down with all my stuff. It was a great feeling of freedom.
Now we are back in the states and have all the basic furniture needs and what not. That's all we need. Now we are more free to travel, play and enjoy live and not be a slave to our possessions.
reminds me of "fight club" when "tyler" blows up his old condo to smitherines. It's just stuff and all he had in the fride was condiments!
"on a long enough time line everthing returns to zero"
-tyler durden
Are you in your 20's? 30's?
I bet you that you feel good, nothing is aching much and you feel like you could take on the world.
Just wait
One of these days you are going to get a wake up call (economically, physically or someone close to you will fall ill) and I hope for your sake that you have not put your trust in riches.
As for you "survivalist" out there...same goes to you, you should not put your trust in guns, stocked food or whatever.
You had better get a hold of something that is real, we are about to enter (if we haven't already) "interesting" times.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. Ecc 1:14
To anonymous at 5:49
You are emblematic of a type of person in American society who has no clue about anything. Your comments on Marx are just an example. Have you read any Marx? His entire political philosophy was based on the foundation of "stuff." He was a materialist who believed that "stuff" was what was most important in life. In fact, that is what he admired about capitalism--the unrivaled ability of that economic system to produce the stuff that people need and want.
Pick up a book rather than listening to Rush and Hannity. (By the way, my description of Marxism above was meant for educational purpose and in no way constitutes an endorsement of Marx's political philosophy. In fact, I'm an anti-communist who fled a former communist regime.)
True!
You can be even happier by helping others. Love your friend as much as you love yourself. Easier said than done – I know I can’t. But imagine what it feels like knowing that all the people around your will help you all they can if needed. I guess it is close to what a baby in the arms of his mother feels. An old wisdom tells us that this kind of “unnatural” unity is our destiny whether we like it or not.
The housing bubble showed how the growing ego of so many people is doomed to end in destruction. It was a priceless lesson. We will simply move from one destruction to another until we’ll learn. So if you look to blame someone – It was the ego of most of the people on this planet who took part in the game one way or another.
Maybe some of us sat on the sidelines because we were smarter – not really better.
BTW, having a huge ego is not bad – we cannot eliminate our ego. In fact, the bigger the better. The issue is what we do with it.
Blame advertising and the modern marketing ethos. It is deliberately designed to make us feel inadequate for what we have. It is a akin to a mental illness.
Can we know for sure where each other is coming from?
When my instinct for survival is overridden by intellect, am I honorable, Just, and superior?
Or is my social pandering to ideology similar to my quest for possessions in the sense that it could win your approval?
It is the undeniable human instinct to win masking itself by shifting motives to the less obvious.
P.S.
I buy distressed assets.
The Internet as you know it (World Wide Web) was invented in France.
A socialist government's R&D program, people working 20hr work weeks with 6 weeks vacation and great pensions.
You losers that think being POOR (or fake rich) and CAPITIALIST is better then living in a balanced civilized society, deserve to be wage slaves that rest of your lives.
I know exactly what you mean. Less is more and all that. Sometimes, it's fun to walk through the stores and look at all the useless crap you DON'T need and add up all the money you're saving by not buying it in your head. It's quite liberating.
Every new possession is a weight and an obligation in your life. They each take time to maintain, even if it's simply dusting them. . .and dusting. . .Choose them wisely.
Amazing how Americans always think they invented everything, really lots of dumb people living in the USA?
Internet - France
Pizza - China
Pasta - China
Telecommunications - Germany
Finance - Britian
...
Americans are simply the wage slaves us civilized countries use to work, shop, work, shop, work, shop ... so that we can live great lives in civilized countries.
I can smell what the Rock is cooking...
It all started in the early 80's...
You remember "He who has the most toy's wins" stickers.
It should have read "He who has the most toys when he dies...leaves more for the kids to fight over.
Nobody has figured out how to take it with them yet...even the great Harry Houdini.
ma·te·ri·al·ism (m-tîr--lzm)
n.
2. The theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life.
3. A great or excessive regard for worldly concerns.
what's that line from Fight Club... don't let the things we own own us.
I've got a storage shed in the US full of stuff I don't want and don't need. I wish it would burn down (anyone want to lend a hand?). Next time I come back to the US I'm giving it all away.
In Europe now for 2+ years and down to a big suitcase, my laptop and my snowboard. And you know what, that's all I need
Nice furnished rentals are also the norm over here (for a fraction of the cost of owning), which makes it a piece of cake. And with transit you don't need or want a car
Want to sock money away? Don't buy stuff you don't need. Retire early. Spend money on experiences and others, not stuff. Enjoy life. Don't let "who you are" get wrapped up in "what you own". Simplify.
Works for me. That's all that matters.
And I sure loved this anon HP'ers post. Stuff that good needs to be signed, not anon.
anon said...
reminds me of "fight club" when "tyler" blows up his old condo to smitherines. It's just stuff and all he had in the fride was condiments!
"on a long enough time line everthing returns to zero"
-tyler durden
___________________________________
Here's a better quote from Mr. Durden
"The things you own end up owning you."
Well said!
Jymkata
This whole blog reminds me of Fight Club!
It's all about attraction of mates, nothing more.
The more stuff you have, the more attractive you are to the opposite sex, ergo, the more likely you are to get laid.
That's it folks.
Money buys happiness. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You need money to take care of your family. You need money to have fun with your friends. You need money to travel.
Oh yeah, and I did all that experiences stuff when I was younger - now I want the sh*t.
Not bad for someone who's gutless AND lazy.
Albert Einstein said it well.
"Try not to be a man of success , but rather a man of value"
Money doesn't buy happiness - it just greases the wheels, allows you to do things, worry less about food and shelter and more about enjoying life.
I've met miserable rich people and deliriously happy poor people. Probably the least happy people though I've encountered in my travels are people who have money around them but feel like they can't get it, that they're locked out of prosperity.
Money as a measure is also odd - give someone with nothing $1000 and they'll be the happiest person in the world. Give someone making $100,000 a year with a million in debt $1000 and they won't care.
I get a kick out of turning the competition the other way.
You know - I've got the guy telling me about his "acreage", new truck, John Deere, whatever. I respond that I get off the most on getting my 401(k) statements. The guy says he saves a lot, too. I tell him I save almost 25% of my gross. He tells me that's crazy, or untrue, but the following week he's got some story ready to go about bumping up his Roth IRA contributions. Later we talk about Roths and he says he's been meaning to open one. It's a hollow victory because he's a pathological liar, but it cracks me up.
It's funny that I can turn the competition the other way and rarely see someone stick to their material guns. It's all about winning, dammit!
A pal of mine years ago always said " I am - not where I live"
SO TRUE
Love people, use things.
Not the other way around.
Oh yea? Then if that's the case why do you all talk about making a killing in gold or silver or oil or shorting Countrywide? If not having more stuff is so unimportant to you all, you wouldn't care about any of it.
You're a bunch of hypocrites.
Doesn't all the travel you do add to global warming?
Nothing compares to finding true love and your soulmate in life. Nothing compares to helping somebody get back on their feet. Nothing compares to earning an honest living. At the end of the day, can your family be proud of you?
The Internet as you know it (World Wide Web) was invented in France.
Oh my, another frustrated European who wants to get credit for American inventions.
Money can't buy happiness. But it can put a nice down payment on it.
I agree that living your life simply so you can drive the expensive car and live in the big house is foolish. That is one extreme. But so is living like a pauper in a shitty apartment and driving a 20 year old car just to save a couple of bucks every year.
I think I live a balanced life. Even though I could easily afford to, I don't drive a $75K car. Nor a $7500 car. I drive a $20K car. I don't live in a 5000 sq ft McMansion. I also don't live in a 400 sq ft apartment. I live in a 2400 sq ft house. I also have a couple of toys like a Wii and good quality golf clubs. I also have a 4 year old cell phone that cost me $49 when I signed up for my service, but that's all I need.
It's all about balance. Denying yourself all fun in life is as stupid as slaving away for 60 hours a week to pay the heloc.
Learn to live in the middle and you'll be happy.
Man, you guys should look up George Carlin's routine on "stuff".
You can't take the stuff with you.
Relationships, friendships, love, experiences, and memories are what people should try to get more of.
But rich people would likely respond to the above: "That's exactly what I'd expect to hear from poor people who don't have anything".
Again, nice try (continue to stick to your pathetic Aspirins):
The Internet was invented in the United States during the late 1950s to the 1970s by a group of researchers and scientists at the newly formed Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
Although there were many people working for ARPA on the Internet project, there are five individuals who can really be credited with actually creating the Internet. Among them was J. C. R. Licklider, the head of the Information Processing Technology Office at ARPA. In his position, he thought up the idea of the Internet itself as a way of potentially unifying humans from around the United States (and the world) through a universal network.
Because Licklider's previous experience was not in actual computer programming, however, he had to recruit others in order to help create the Internet for ARPA. The obvious choice was Lawrence Roberts. Roberts went on to lead the team which would eventually develop ARPANET (the early precursor to the Internet) in 1967. He was the scientist to finally utilize the proposed method of packet switching first created by Leonard Kleinrock. The Internet still uses packet switching as its primary way of transferring data.
After several years of work, a computer at the University of California, Los Angeles, became the first computer to connect to the Internet. In time, three more computers would be connected to the Internet in 1969, leading to the start of the Internet revolution.
"Doesn't all the travel you do add to global warming?"
- 99% of my travel is done on trains, buses or with my feet. It's a major pursuit and challenge in my life to not use cars or planes. You probably couldn't have asked that question to a more unlikely target.
The first time I drove a car since 2005 was just a bit ago. I admit, it was fun. But I couldn't wait to get rid of that rental car and get back to trains and feet.
I know it's tough to not drive cars in the US, but it's fun to give it a go.
$10 a gallon gas will have more people coming around to my way of life I think
Dear Europeans,
Every time you use the Internet, Cell Phone, or anything with a Microchip in it, don't forget to kiss the American flag.
Keith said "Money as a measure is also odd - give someone with nothing $1000 and they'll be the happiest person in the world. Give someone making $100,000 a year with a million in debt $1000 and they won't care."
Yes, very odd, considering that a person with nothing (Net worth = $0) is a million dollars richer than someone in debt for a million dollars (Net worth = -$1,000,000)
Probably the least happy people though I've encountered in my travels are people who have money around them but feel like they can't get it, that they're locked out of prosperity.
You mean socialist whiners, right?
Wow,
I sure wish more people from consumption-obsessed snobby Long Island would read this blog.
I'm facing a major move soon and all I have to load on the truck is two big suitcases, a cardboard box, a bed, a table and a desk. There aren't many furnished dwellings around here so I haul my furniture around. I do not own a TV set and don't watch TV.
-----------------
I was just talking to a friend about brandnames. It seems ridiculous to me how someone can pay through the nose for "designer" clothing made in Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Vietnam or whatever... just so he can become a walking advertisement of the brand.
I wear generic clothes with no visible brandnames or logos. I ride the train and walk to the train station. I own a used Toyota, because it's difficult without a car on Long Island. I refuse to buy the latest cell phone, the one I have is three years old and works just fine.
The sheeple here on Long Island wonder how I can afford to breathe the air they breathe. They tell me I dress like a senior citizen even though I'm 25. They think I might be on welfare. Little do they know that I am completely debt free!
Hmmmm...I'm most happy when making loads of money. Financial security = happiness to me. I rather ride in a high tech and safe car with air bags up the wazoo than in a Ford Pinto. I rather live oceanfront than in Compton or in my daddy's basement. Call me crazy.
Since I've made and lost small fortunes a few times over, I can tell you one thing: you have much more "friends", "pu**y, and closer "family" when you're at the top.
Hey, but this is a new America where being ambitious, pursue financial independence, or aim high is forbidden. I even observed that while getting my degrees. Nothing but slackers who just want to kick back while we do entire projects by ourselves. Everyone is becoming French in this country. Pu$$ies.
I think I live a balanced life. Even though I could easily afford to, I don't drive a $75K car. Nor a $7500 car. I drive a $20K car. I don't live in a 5000 sq ft McMansion. I also don't live in a 400 sq ft apartment. I live in a 2400 sq ft house. I also have a couple of toys like a Wii and good quality golf clubs. I also have a 4 year old cell phone that cost me $49 when I signed up for my service, but that's all I need.
Like Colbert would say: "You ELITIST!"
You elitists are so full of $hit. So in that case you don't need to be using a PC, using broadband, with air conditioner on, texting on your iPhones. Aren't you for simple things in life; aren't you against materialism?
I bet that if we could check your homes we would find a bunch of gadgets like Flat monitor, iPod, fancy cellular phones and laptops, brand name clothing, Timbuk2 bags, nice stereo, video games that cost $50 each plus console for another $400, etc.
Now you come here posing as "simple people"...save that talk to your local barista or write that BS in a speech for the Messiah.
any stuff that you feel compelled to buy, go find it or a suitable substitute on craigslist or ebay. You'll pay pennies on the dollar. Especially furniture. This may stop working when you get married though, wifey will want a new set of matching furniture for every room in the coffin (err, house) she and suzanne pressure you into buying!
This from a guy who spends half his time writing about his money. Give me a break keith.
"Yes, money is important, but what about family, friends, travel, having time to enjoy life?"
What people like this forget is that without money you have NO time or means for family, friends, travel or free time, and you spend all of your time working for someone else and your life is miserable.
Money = freedom.
No money = slavery through a job.
End of story.
I became financially free not for money as an end in itself, but for the personal freedom that money buys me. Next month I'm celebrating 5 years since I quit my last job and never looked back.
One of these days you are going to get a wake up call (economically, physically or someone close to you will fall ill) and I hope for your sake that you have not put your trust in riches.
You are truly an IDIOT. I just had surgery last week for severe ankle arthritis, and guess what got me the best doctor and best treatment? Yes - RICHES.
DOPES.
The Internet as you know it (World Wide Web) was invented in France.
It was invented originally by the US Air Force, then it evolved into ARPAnet then into the World Wide Web.
For all the Internet's wonders, the #1 problem is the ability to spread false misinformation like this. Just read Wikipedia and look at all the bull readers type on there and idiots take it all as "fact."
Anon at 8:02 wrote,
"It's all about attraction of mates, nothing more.
The more stuff you have, the more attractive you are to the opposite sex, ergo, the more likely you are to get laid.
That's it folks."
I know it looks like that, anon, but here is the truth of the matter -
you need to meet a better class of girls.
this past weekend, my wife and i visited my sister-in-law and ended up spending $700 for a 2 day stay. my thinking was, man for $700 i could have gotten a ps3 or a dslr. my wife's was, we havent seen her new apartment in the two years she's been there.
i'd say generally, my thinking is that of most american consumers (americans practically no longer exist according to msm, it's always "the american consumer"). in my circle of friends it usually comes down to materialism. we just got a random 2% raise at work, my coworker- "sweet, that will pay for the new hdtv i want."
want a new xbox- dude just work 10 hours of overtime.
no thanks
"""Amazing how Americans always think they invented everything, really lots of dumb people living in the USA?
Internet - France
Pizza - China
Pasta - China
Telecommunications - Germany
Finance - Britian
...
Americans are simply the wage slaves us civilized countries use to work, shop, work, shop, work, shop ... so that we can live great lives in civilized countries."""
WOW! What a declaration of ignorance.
Internet - See post above...ARPAnet is all I have to say.
Pizza - This is difficult to argue...but China can claim no more being the birth-place of pizza than any other nation. It is a culmination of culinary culture from around the world. Ancient Greece has just as much claim to pizza if not more than china.
Pasta - China
Telecommunications - Google Alfred Vail, Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell (All American) before making a statement this dumb again.
Finance - This is such a broad topic but I am positive whatever specific topic in finance you claim Britain invented I could probably show you an example from the old testament...B.C. = a realy long time before Britain ever became civilized.
Anonymous said...
The Internet as you know it (World Wide Web) was invented in France.
Actually:
The Internet began as a computer network of ARPA (ARPAnet) that linked computer networks at several universities and research laboratories in the United States.
The World Wide Web was developed in 1989 by English computer scientist Timothy Berners-Lee to enable information to be shared among internationally dispersed teams of researchers at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (formerly known by the acronym CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland. It subsequently became a platform for related software development, and the numbers of linked computers and users grew rapidly to support a variety of endeavors, including a large business marketplace. Its further development is guided by the WWW Consortium based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
http://tinyurl.com/45x96w
It is the WWW that allows us to blog on Housing Panic with ease. The Internet was a pain in the ass prior to 1983. The search engines were Archie & Veronica and Mosaic (others). All ancient and All text based.
It is pretty easy to look sh*t up on the WWW before you answer.
JaneZ
Alain De Botton wrote a fantastic book about this called "status anxiety". So many people these days want to have all the posessions they need to make their neighbour jealous, when buying consumer goods is not going to make you happy in the long term. Like people have said in this thread, you can't take it with you.
By shunning the game most people play you can truly live your life on your own terms, and surround yourself with people who value each other by the kind of value they add as people, and not their Hummer, huge energy-hungry house, fake tits or job.
I do value money, money is a precious resource that creates freedom and helps minimise the risk to your family (insurance, quality healthcare, etc) But accumulating money to buy crap to impress people you don't even know is pretty stupid
What's the point in being the richest man in the cemetery?
There are a lot of ways to become rich, but I've never admired the super-wealthy. From my point of view, legal or not, you would have to be a jerk to retain that kind of cash. Bill Gates can fight his guilt by spending his remaining years doling out spare funds to the needy, but only a true hole would have acquired it in the first place. I've walked away from great wealth twice in my life, not because the obtaining of it was illegal, but because in both cases the circumstances crossed a personal threshold of ethical behavior.
Yes, but lets keep this intel. on the down-low. It's like telling everyone about a great secluded camping spot only to find it's overrun the next year by all the people you told.
If everyone was frugal then being frugal yourself and saving wouldn't get you anywhere relative to your peers.
Take Korea. Everyone cheaps out and saves money but all this excess money has to go somewhere, it WON'T just sit in a bank. So what happens? All this excess money just gets slurped up by real-estate. You're either buying junk you can have fun playing with or you're buying a boring 800 sq ft apartment for a million dollars.
Korea's average salaries are lower than us but their real-estate is more expensive? How does that work? Everyone just accumulates and retains wealth over generations to drive up real-estate mean-while everything else is cheap. All this achieves is a society where it's impossible shift ranks. You're either the male of the household and inherit the land or you're a woman who marries the male equivalent of another families wealth.
So you either have the US where people spend money on boats and junk or Korea where people spend money on RE. It's all the same as long as you follow your peers.
The only way to win is if all your peers are blowing money on junk WHILE you're saving. So convincing everyone else to save is not going to help you. You should convince people to SPEND, SPEND SPEND... THAT is in your best interest.
NFN NLN
The rich keep richin' and the poor keep bitchin'.
Anon 6:41,
"Internet - France"
www is only Socket 80 on the Internet Protocol. As you can guess, many sockets in the range of 1-79 were assigned long before socket 80. Besides, where do you think Berners-Lee emigrated to after inventing WWW? The US, where capital formation was much more fluid.
"Pizza - China
Pasta - China"
Ever tried "Pizza" (a cheeseless pie without tomato source) or Pasta (noodle without tomato source) in a communist China state-owned restaurant? Well, if you arrive at the restaurant half an hour before closing, you will be told "shift is over" and you don't get to buy any of the food in the counter window . . . even if 5:30pm dinner time! That's a true story that I encountered numerous times when travelling in China visiting the old well-known Chinese restaurants that had been taken over by the communists and nationalized in 1949. I literally came half a world away, using historical travel guide and had those imbeciles slamming doors in my face because they are only wage slaves of the government. So I had to go across street and have dinners at the new capitalist restaurants, often opened by grand children whose grand parents used to be the owner of the well-known landmark restaurants before the communist take-over.
"Telecommunications - Germany"
Germany did not exist in the early 19th century as a singular unified state, so there wasn't a big government getting in the way by running socialism.
"Finance - Britian"
British financial capital owe its origin to immigraiton from the Netherlands. The capital markets eventually migrated to the US after the decline of British Empire. All three capital markets (Dutch, British and American) were cores of international capitalism.
So Keith is a socialist. Who knew?
I'm an HPer since Oct 07, am a happy renter, gotta a great wife, killer job, have good but minimal stuff. I'm on a gravy train with biscuit wheels. I just wish I could get rid of this lousy ringworm infection on both calves! Thanks Keith for the great blog.
I've met miserable rich people and deliriously happy poor people. Probably the least happy people though I've encountered in my travels are people who have money around them but feel like they can't get it, that they're locked out of prosperity.
I've met deliriously happy rich people and miserable poor people. Probably the happiest people though I've encountered are people who have money around them and have the acumen and luck to get it, and they rightfully reap the many benefits of prosperity.
Since when is the internet a thing?
Yhe is America baby and in America we need our stuff! So leave us alone as we walk down that golden path to prosperity.
Anonymous said...
Hmmmm... Call me crazy.....
Since I've made and lost small fortunes a few times over, I can tell you one thing: you have much more "friends", "pu**y, and closer "family" when you're at the top.
===========================
True, right up to the moment that they find out that (1.) You are not going to GIVE them any, and (2.) you are not going to LEAVE them any!
Found out this simple truth some years ago after a major inheritance got dropped in my lap. Not having to worry about day-to-day bills is the best part about having money, NOT how much bling you can purchase with it!
Libvet said, "you need to meet a better class of girls."
Nope. It's wholly biological. Given two people of like general attractiveness, if one has more sh*t or appears to have their sh*t together, they are more apt to attract more mates.
In fact, at its most base level, I would surmise that each and everything that is ever done or accomplished by anyone in this world is done solely for the purpose of attracting mates.
Heck, while war is fought for money and power, the desire for money and power does not exist in a vacuum, but is used primarily for the attraction of mates.
In sum, whether they know it, both men and women are guided by the c*ck - in the case of lesbians, maybe a c*ck substitute.
What's revolutionary about pizza or pasta?
Does pizza creates more jobs or businesses than Internet, Cell Phones, PC, Microchips, Fiber Optics, GPS, Barcode, RFID, Laser, Broadband, Digital Data, American created music (i.e., Electronic, Jazz, Rock, Blues, Soul, R&B, Disco, Rap, Hip-Hop), etc, etc, etc?
Do pizza or pasta elevate the standard of living of people? Looking at China for the last 80 years, I guess not.
In all this posting of comments and verbage only about one person mentioned the real goal: DEBT FREE.
From anonymous@9:32...
You elitists are so full of $hit. So in that case you don't need to be using a PC, using broadband, with air conditioner on, texting on your iPhones. Aren't you for simple things in life; aren't you against materialism?
What's material about the Internet? If you fetishize your computer, always needing the latest and fastest model for its own sake, then sure, that's materialist. On the other hand, if you enjoy exchanging ideas with others around the world, and your PC/broadband/iPhone are just tools to facilitate that exchange, then I see no hypocrisy.
(Also, the Internet was invented in the US. But the Internet as you know it, the World Wide Web, was invented by an Englishman working in Switzerland.)
the secret to happiness is to live a goal-oriented life.
On the other hand, if you enjoy exchanging ideas with others around the world, and your PC/broadband/iPhone are just tools to facilitate that exchange, then I see no hypocrisy.
We didn't need those tools in the past to interact, and they were once considered a luxury. If you're really detached from materialism, you don't need those tools. Go travel, go hike the Pacific Trail, go backpack throughout Europe. Go learn a second language to stop faking intellectual.
Bunch of hypocrite elitists.
Also, the Internet was invented in the US. But the Internet as you know it, the World Wide Web, was invented by an Englishman working in Switzerland
Revolutionary inventions open the gates for other countries to take a free ride, like EU. How many European inventions were only possible after Americans invented the Internet or Microchip? Funny, after the Americans build the foundation with something really revolutionary, Europeans want to look good by getting a free ride off our backs. WWW wouldn't exist without Internet or Microchip. Any doubt that Americans would soon invent WWW too. People wouldn't even think about WWW if it wasn't for the Internet being invented first.
Just like the Europeans are doing now by launching their own GPS satellite. Hey, aren't you going to say that you Europeans invented GPS too?
Oh, and one more thing, if you're a foreign scientist who comes to America seeking our infrastructure to invent something, while living or studying in our universities, to get an American citizenship and make a good living, your inventions are American.
What do you want? Do you think that you can come here, use EVERYTHING that took hundreds of years and trillions of dollars to built, and then turnaround to say that the invention comes from your previous country of origin, just because you have dual citizenship? Why don't you create inventions in your own country then? That goes to all of you from China, India, Russia, etc, who live, study, and create inventions in America.
So I say it again, If you Europeans use Internet, Cell Phone, Fiber Optics, Broadband, or ANYTHING that has a microchip in it, don't forget to kiss the American flag.
That's what happens when you live like a socialist. You're conditioned to be a freeloader while posing as intellectual.
From anonymous@7:59
Go travel, go hike the Pacific Trail, go backpack throughout Europe. Go learn a second language to stop faking intellectual. Bunch of hypocrite elitists.
Pacific Trail? Second language? What'sa matter, you too good to hang out with the guys at the corner bar? You hypocrite elitist!
Elitist: it's the new liberal.
Hey Europeans, have you found your Beagle 2 Mars probe yet? bwahahahaa
Meanwhile, our Spirit and Opportunity rovers broke all distance records on Mars soil.
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_rover
DOPES
Although im a workaholic high income finance person I agree with you 100% all the toys and goods dont matter anymore. The memories of travel and friends is what counts, and the shared events. People are jealous of my "stuff" and I'm growing less interested in them by the day.....and so are friends of mine
There are millions of people in the world that don't even have shelter or enough food daily .
A human can't even think about love and the higher values unless they have food in the belly . All the needs cost money . Have you ever seen people who aren't getting the basic needs met?
People who have the same amount of goods or security tend to flock to each other and have similar values and feel comfortable with each other .
Some people have to many assets and some people do not have enough . People feel very uncomfortable when they are around people that are starving or deprived . So much of what you get in life depends on the class you were born in and what the values were.
Life just isn't fair . When you see a healthy human you can see it right away . It's apparent when someone is a lazy-ass or mentally ill . It's normal to have goals and purpose in life . After you get food in the belly and shelter you move up the ranks of being able to have greater goals .
Money does provide freedom of more choices .Many people spend a lifetime working their asses off just to provide for children they brought into the world . Millions of people fight the traffic everyday to provide for children and themselves in spite of hating it.
The advertisers start trying to brainwash children from day one on what their needs are ,or what will make them cool or socially acceptable.
My advice is to just try to be true to yourself .
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