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17 September 2015, 08:23 PM
#61
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17 September 2015, 09:29 PM
#62
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Yes,
There is so much to admire about America and the people (the optimism, the can do attitude etc)
They have just been so terribly let down by their political class for the last 30/40 years - the chronyism, the mutual back slapping, the lobbying and vested interest, the abuse of trust
I think that sense of optimism etc is being eroded - the country looks jaded and fading
Years of zero investment in the infrastructure, it is being slowly hollowed out
Shame really
There is so much to admire about America and the people (the optimism, the can do attitude etc)
They have just been so terribly let down by their political class for the last 30/40 years - the chronyism, the mutual back slapping, the lobbying and vested interest, the abuse of trust
I think that sense of optimism etc is being eroded - the country looks jaded and fading
Years of zero investment in the infrastructure, it is being slowly hollowed out
Shame really
17 September 2015, 10:15 PM
#63
Good post earlier JT.
It's a real shame about America and the American dream.
Unfortunately the vast majority are only ever 3 pay cheques from being a bum.
Brother in law lives there, I have family from my dads side there, I also own a quarter acre building plot in the Everglades that was bought by my parents many years ago (good location too) but the value has fallen through the floor, fortunately my parents bought it very cheap 25yrs ago and it's gone from what they paid for it, up to £60k and back down to what they paid for it, in more recent times, worth a little more now but only around the £20k mark.
The country, much like the UK is fooked, everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt. the vast majority of the "middle classes lease cars and have everything on credit, so when the wages come in it all goes out bar food and bill money.
Brother in law earns ish $70k and his wife gets double that working for Merrill Lynch but they spend the lot, I even paid for his flight to the UK when his dad died , (still not had it back either) because my mrs wanted him here, how fcuked up is that, and they're all the same.
Edit to add; manicures, pedicures,$150 hair do's, driving big *** fancy mercs, living in fancy houses with pools etc, pool man, gardener, cleaner etc, the wedding was un-******* believable with sculptured ice and even I had a manicure and ******* clear nail varnish at their insistence, tux the works.must of cost $100k. they're mental.
It's a real shame about America and the American dream.
Unfortunately the vast majority are only ever 3 pay cheques from being a bum.
Brother in law lives there, I have family from my dads side there, I also own a quarter acre building plot in the Everglades that was bought by my parents many years ago (good location too) but the value has fallen through the floor, fortunately my parents bought it very cheap 25yrs ago and it's gone from what they paid for it, up to £60k and back down to what they paid for it, in more recent times, worth a little more now but only around the £20k mark.
The country, much like the UK is fooked, everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt. the vast majority of the "middle classes lease cars and have everything on credit, so when the wages come in it all goes out bar food and bill money.
Brother in law earns ish $70k and his wife gets double that working for Merrill Lynch but they spend the lot, I even paid for his flight to the UK when his dad died , (still not had it back either) because my mrs wanted him here, how fcuked up is that, and they're all the same.
Edit to add; manicures, pedicures,$150 hair do's, driving big *** fancy mercs, living in fancy houses with pools etc, pool man, gardener, cleaner etc, the wedding was un-******* believable with sculptured ice and even I had a manicure and ******* clear nail varnish at their insistence, tux the works.must of cost $100k. they're mental.
Last edited by ditchmyster; 17 September 2015 at 10:26 PM.
17 September 2015, 10:36 PM
#64
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Good post earlier JT.
It's a real shame about America and the American dream.
Unfortunately the vast majority are only ever 3 pay cheques from being a bum.
Brother in law lives there, I have family from my dads side there, I also own a quarter acre building plot in the Everglades that was bought by my parents many years ago (good location too) but the value has fallen through the floor, fortunately my parents bought it very cheap 25yrs ago and it's gone from what they paid for it, up to £60k and back down to what they paid for it, in more recent times, worth a little more now but only around the £20k mark.
The country, much like the UK is fooked, everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt. the vast majority of the "middle classes lease cars and have everything on credit, so when the wages come in it all goes out bar food and bill money.
Brother in law earns ish $70k and his wife gets double that working for Merrill Lynch but they spend the lot, I even paid for his flight to the UK when his dad died , (still not had it back either) because my mrs wanted him here, how fcuked up is that, and they're all the same.
Edit to add; manicures, pedicures,$150 hair do's, driving big *** fancy mercs, living in fancy houses with pools etc, pool man, gardener, cleaner etc, the wedding was un-******* believable with sculptured ice and even I had a manicure and ******* clear nail varnish at their insistence, tux the works.must of cost $100k. they're mental.
It's a real shame about America and the American dream.
Unfortunately the vast majority are only ever 3 pay cheques from being a bum.
Brother in law lives there, I have family from my dads side there, I also own a quarter acre building plot in the Everglades that was bought by my parents many years ago (good location too) but the value has fallen through the floor, fortunately my parents bought it very cheap 25yrs ago and it's gone from what they paid for it, up to £60k and back down to what they paid for it, in more recent times, worth a little more now but only around the £20k mark.
The country, much like the UK is fooked, everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt. the vast majority of the "middle classes lease cars and have everything on credit, so when the wages come in it all goes out bar food and bill money.
Brother in law earns ish $70k and his wife gets double that working for Merrill Lynch but they spend the lot, I even paid for his flight to the UK when his dad died , (still not had it back either) because my mrs wanted him here, how fcuked up is that, and they're all the same.
Edit to add; manicures, pedicures,$150 hair do's, driving big *** fancy mercs, living in fancy houses with pools etc, pool man, gardener, cleaner etc, the wedding was un-******* believable with sculptured ice and even I had a manicure and ******* clear nail varnish at their insistence, tux the works.must of cost $100k. they're mental.
18 September 2015, 12:25 AM
#65
The American dream is not really much different to ours, or some of Europe's...depends on who is dreaming it; We, the public are led to belive we can have what we want, we can borrow, spend, borrow more spend more.
The fact is our economy, the USA and most of Europe relies on us doing exactly that...borrowing, if we don't borrow our economy shrinks. Certainly from a business point of view at least. Its the old robbing Peter to pay Paul analogy: Bank lends to person A, who uses it to pay person B who pays it back into the bank, who then lends it out to person C who pays person D who pays it into the bank which lends it to person E, and so on. It works. Until someone at the top defaults or calls time on the loan, then it all comes crashing down.
The fact is our economy, the USA and most of Europe relies on us doing exactly that...borrowing, if we don't borrow our economy shrinks. Certainly from a business point of view at least. Its the old robbing Peter to pay Paul analogy: Bank lends to person A, who uses it to pay person B who pays it back into the bank, who then lends it out to person C who pays person D who pays it into the bank which lends it to person E, and so on. It works. Until someone at the top defaults or calls time on the loan, then it all comes crashing down.
Last edited by ALi-B; 18 September 2015 at 12:29 AM.
18 September 2015, 09:57 AM
#66
Scooby Regular
The American dream is not really much different to ours, or some of Europe's...depends on who is dreaming it; We, the public are led to belive we can have what we want, we can borrow, spend, borrow more spend more.
The fact is our economy, the USA and most of Europe relies on us doing exactly that...borrowing, if we don't borrow our economy shrinks. Certainly from a business point of view at least. Its the old robbing Peter to pay Paul analogy: Bank lends to person A, who uses it to pay person B who pays it back into the bank, who then lends it out to person C who pays person D who pays it into the bank which lends it to person E, and so on. It works. Until someone at the top defaults or calls time on the loan, then it all comes crashing down.
The fact is our economy, the USA and most of Europe relies on us doing exactly that...borrowing, if we don't borrow our economy shrinks. Certainly from a business point of view at least. Its the old robbing Peter to pay Paul analogy: Bank lends to person A, who uses it to pay person B who pays it back into the bank, who then lends it out to person C who pays person D who pays it into the bank which lends it to person E, and so on. It works. Until someone at the top defaults or calls time on the loan, then it all comes crashing down.
were told to spend, then save then spend etc (I have used it before)
personally I think it is a fundamental issue on how you view what exactly a successful, happy and content society is
if, as the current narrative in the UK and the US would have it - it is simply about consumer spending and getting the latest "shiny things"
then you will always be on to a loser, because life is about so much more than that, to me it is primarily about family and friends, the outdoors/housing, eating/food, exercise, reading/art are all so important - and ALL pretty low cost in the grand scheme of things (apart from good food and housing)
but what this over reliance on "shiny things" does is that is allows people to say
ooh, look at them they can't be "poor" because they have an IPhone and a 52" TV
when to me (and most of my peer group) being "poor" is not really about whether you have an IPhone / new car etc
but it suites an agenda to frame it in that way
and actually allows the top whatever % to really walk away with "shiny things"
Last edited by hodgy0_2; 18 September 2015 at 09:59 AM.
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