// rant on
So when I was growing up, the United States was always a place of wonder... where miracles were made, technology was developed, and of course, Disneyland. It was a place the rest of the world looked up to. Unfortunately, that all came crashing down... what happened?
Here's a rant about what I find wrong with the U.S., and to a certain extent, the whole world
1. Capitalism taking over society
Almost every part of the current economic crisis can be traced back to capitalism... that is... the pursuit of money no matter the cost.
- The "American Dream" of owning a house -- Nothing more than a well-crafted marketing campaign to get people to desire a house even when it does not make sense. While yes, there are emotional aspects of owning a house, from an investment point of view this is not necessarily the best investment, especially considering the additional expense of upkeep of your property. Yet, many people out there buy houses that they cannot afford to own due to their desire to fulfill the "dream".
- Similarly, Hallmark and all their holiday cards, diamond rings, "black Friday", the commercialization of Christmas, Mothers & Fathers days, Valentines day... all can be traced back to marketing campaigns designed to make people spend money for no good reason!
- The whole mortague crisis came about because the mortage companies and banks were greedy and figured out ways to work within the letter of the law, or to hide their intentions when they basically loaned money to people who had no business borrowing that much money in the first place!
- California energy crisis, oil prices, Madoff... need I say more?
Not that capitalism itself is bad... it's the humans behind it who are unethical, abusing human behavior patterns and taking advantage of people. Are we a society that only seeks for the best personal advantage at the cost of the rest of society?
2. Lack of responsibility on actions
Ugh... I love this one... nobody ever wants to own up to being wrong and taking the consequences of what they do. Everytime I hear the word "bailout", its just another example of how we let people get away with the mistakes they make.
- People taking out mortagues that they can't afford
- People not knowing what they're getting into in the first place when they buy a house. What part of "Adjustable" do you not understand in a 5-year ARM?
- Not paying your mortague that you contractually agreed to just because you hope the government will give you money. Trashing the house you can no longer afford to pay for because you didn't understand your own actions and refuse to take responsibility for them (see a trend here?)
- Auto, airline and other industries, including the banking industry who are asking for money to prop up their businesses, claiming that without them, the entire industry will fall. Bad business decisions were made and now the companies SHOULD be paying for the consequences. Companies that made good decisions should be allowed to reap the rewards. Instead, we have this weird situation where the government is keeping these companies alive on life support, dragging this downturn out in a zombie state for months, even years.
- Octo-mom... having 6 kids, then having another 8 kids. Erm... I'm not sure HOW someone is going to raise 6 kids, much less 14, and already behind on mortague payments, probably expecting the government to bail them out... >.>
I'm of the opinion that people need to be responsible for their actions and pay the price, even if it is painful in the short-term. Let companies that have made bad decisions fail, let people who took out stupid loans that they can't afford be foreclosed on instead of having responsible people pay for their mistakes. All these bailouts do is teach people that they do not need to think about the possible downsides of their actions since the government will save them. It's the same thinking that has people spending beyond their means, and not saving a cent for retirement.
3. Everyone is *not* equal
Not everyone is qualified for everything. For example, compared to a big bodybuilder, I can't do anywhere near as much manual labor. However, the U.S. seems to subscribe to the illusion that everyone is equal and that you cannot be allowed to get ahead of other people.
The U.S. education system is designed to keep everyone on a "level playing ground". However, this means that the "no child left behind" act prevents the truly intelligent from getting too far ahead of their classmates as everyone is supposed to be equal. This same education system also has what amounts to race quotas, taking opportunities away from people who should be given the opportunity to excel and giving them to less-qualified people just because of their ethic group.
I think this education system does a disservice to both sides. The education system should be training people on how they can become productive members of society, not telling everyone that they can all grow up to become president. The education system should help them figure out what they can, and want to do and give them the necessary training and discipline to reach their full capabilities instead of coddling them like... well, children.
Anyway... these are just three of the things that I think are wrong with today's world... I have lots more which I'll leave for another day :)
8 comments:
I'm not a big fan of the bailouts myself... from the big bailouts of the big 3 auto companies and financial sector, to assisting homeowners with mortgages. I was sad reading how GM posted a loss of 9.6B in the last quarter. That's a huge loss, and they're just going to be losing more. So why is the gov't bailing them out? They're gonna lose it anyways. It's because the U.S. has become dependent on those companies, and the jobs they provide. Letting those companies fail, would mean letting all of those workers lose their jobs. It's sad though that companies have that kind of power that the gov't will do whatever it takes to keep those companies alive.
I have no sympathy for homeowners either. Like you said, they entered into contractual agreements to pay mortgages and then down the line they start complaining about not being able to make payments. Look, unless you've lost your job and can't find another there no reason why you shouldn't be able to pay your mortgage. I know a guy at work who stopped paying his mortgage in hopes his place will get foreclosed just because he says his payments are too high. Oh come on! When you bought your place, you agreed to pay X amount of dollars. Just because the value of the home is now less than what you agreed to pay, it's ok to stop paying? You're still employed, so obviously your financial situation is still ok. So WTF!
Where's my bailout :( I don't need one, but where's my get out of jail free card? For doing the right thing and planning ahead financially, I get nothing. How lame.
But in the end, that's life... it's not fair. I can hope it to be fair all I want, but it will never be. I almost made a near blog post on how unfair things were at my work. Then I reminded myself that things will never be fair. It's just a fact of life. Doing the right thing doesn't always work out for the better. Sometimes there are disadvantages to being the 'good guy'. It must be why the phrase 'Nice guys finish last' exists. How sad.
My Safety net is Norfolk Southern Railway. I need the railroads to be getting financial assistance. Without the Railroads transportation and the way of life we know will...no IT IS GONE! 99.9 percent of all goods in stores, on your shelves at home or work have been on trains. They are the very foundation of society. We cannot live without them. Amtrak is recieving 8 million dollars for maintainance, track repair, locomotive repair and keeping their employee's paid.
This march people know that I'll be out at Illinois Railway Museum under a locomotive training program. My job this tourist season will be aboard Former Burlington Northern-1 and Burlington Northern-2 Executive EMD F9 Cab Units (We call them Covered Wagons) as a conductor and Brakeman. Basically I will be volunteering to keep in contact with Union Dispatch and serve as the engineer's backup help. But operating on a volunteer basis costs money. Of which we are basically broke and begging for donations. Well something happened last week that will change that.
Next to our tourist line is Union Pacific's Railroad. They bring us most of our donated rail equipment, supplies, help us charter special trains to galesburg for railroad days, etc. UP Is receiving 9 Million of Bailout money, 2.3million of which they are donating to us as a sponsor. UP Rail is bailing our museum out and that's enough money to last us around 3 operating seasons in fuel and repair. I'm side track (Ba Dum Pshhhh) but you can see why I'm so passonate about our Railroads not falling.
Amtrak is GOVERNMENT OWNED!!!! In Canada, VIA Is the Government Rail Carrier and the Canadian Government makes sure they survive and have proper funding. We do not. That's why Consolidated Rail (Conrail formed by the US Government of 6 former bankrupt railroads) went bust and CSX Transportation had to buy them out.
As for automakers, GM Is one of the foundations of our economy. I'd rather they NOT be bought our by Fix Or Repair Daily. Henry Ford did one thing right, Any Color So Long As It's Black. After that he screwed up. I should Know, I'm a mechanic. The Economy cannot recover without key pillars intact.
Mortgage owners I don't feel sorry for. Let them lose their house. They borrowed money they couldn't afford payments on. Fuck Them. The only people expemt from this is say, Your Union Plumber. He got laid off because of the economy and can't find another job. That's not because he couldn't make his mortgage payments. When Mr Union Plumber took out that loan, he basically could make payments. But the economy abandoned him.
My point is, if you were making mortgage payments before the economy became shit, and you were working and got laid off, you are the ones who need help. If you made a loan you knew from the start you couldn't make payments on, then you're to blame and screw you I want your stereo and your wife. Okay scratch the wife part. But you see my point.
I stood in line to get some cubs tickets this season. 9 Games. I won't tell you the price because I emptied my personal savings account, sold my dreamcast collection and my Sega Saturn collection to pay for them. One of the tickets is bleacher seats, left field for the Home opener. For several reasons. Some famous cubs fans sit there, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Jim Belushi, Bill Murray, just to name a few. Celebrities who are just cubs fans and aren't afraid to chat and have fun with the fans. Will be worth selling off everything including the shirt on my back for this. I do home opener every year but never in the bleachers because I don't get that wristband in line to choose seats first. Well I think busting my ass off, foresaking and fucking my friends over for work, doing near 18 hour shifts finally paid off. I got the Precious Yellow Wristband. I got to chose first. Well I was the 3rd person to chose. But Still.
FYI I am going to be listing my Entire Genesis/32x/CD/Game Gear/Master System Collection on eBay. I don't care if my other half says don't do it. I blew my savings account on cubs tickets and I need to replace that money. Assuming I can sneak behind his back and do it because most of that collection I owe to him.
-Karou
I must say... I agree with nearly all of what you guys are saying. One thing about the major companies though... I love how everyone hates Ford. But did you notice? Ford is one of the few companies that has yet to ask for a bailout that I've heard. GM and Chrysler both have already. And as far as I know; they already got it. I drive a Ford Explorer. I have an awesome mechanic who, he himself, is bias against Fords, but my truck is nearing 200,000 Miles and besides some minor rust starting (which I plan to fix) and some minor suspension issues (I'd like to see any vehicle survive the roads I drive more than 3 years without suspension work) it looks, AND DRIVES, like new. Infact, I've even got MORE MPG highway than the vehicle was rated for brand new. I think the highest I've gotten is 23mpg in a vehicle rated for 16-18 NEW!
Anyway, back to topic... One other problem with these people foreclosing on their houses is that some of the damn banks and lenders are so desperate for business that they give loans to these idiots anyway, and thus the cycle continues. The government needs to blacklist people who have foreclosed so that they can't buy another house for an extended period of time. This would force those people into rental properties and help increase jobs in the rental market.
More than anything, though, I have to agree with Vanh... I have excellent credit history; have never been late on any payments; am trying to get a good education; and only use credit as backup when my debit card will not work at some retailers or in case of an emergency, should my checking acct. run low and I need gas to get somewhere (I keep the rest of my money in CDs and Money Markets not connected to the same acct to prevent my spending it on stuff I don't NEED). Where's my bailout? I don't really want one, but why should the idiots that squander their money get more?
The only "Fun" stuff I spend my money on is my computer (which I use for school as well), my truck (obviously for transportation... and it's usually just maintenance like oil change or tune-ups), and food (pretty obvious one here). I'm not really one for drinking, and I've actually come to like healthier foods more than fast foods. Infact, probably the least healthy food I still eat is a Pizza Hut pizza (which btw is good for reducing the risk of colon cancer cause of the tomato sauce in case you didn't know).
Anyway, I'm rambling again... I just have to laugh though, since about half or more of the people you see on TV complaining about the bailouts are probably people that voted for Obama. I didn't even bother to vote cause I don't think either candidate would have solved the problem, nor done any better than the other or the previous president.
I vote Ascule for President! *watches the country rise from the ashes*
Here are my responses to comments:
1.Regarding bailouts, specifically to GM, Railroad companies that are the "foundation of our country"
- I say let them die, become bankrupt and close up shop. Yes, in the short-term, people will lose jobs, but in the long term, this means that other companies, competition can come in to fill the void. If there is money to be made, people will find a way to do it. If you prop these companies up, they will just piss money away. Competing with GM = Ford. Ford is actually well run and the ONLY reason why they take money is that if they do not, it gives GM an unfair advantage. The airline industry is propped up the same way... Southwest Airlines is doing perfectly fine while United & American can't even break even. Regarding railroads: Nobody, NOTHING is irreplacable. If the railroad goes out of business, someone will come in to take the place, be it trucks, air shipments, new technology, hell, even another railroad company that is better run. If it destoys our way of life, then that means that our way of life was never sustainable in the first place and deserves to die. THAT is the free market, and that is competition.
2. Regarding homeowners:
- I have no sympathy for those who have lost their jobs and cannot pay for their mortague either. When you bought the house, you knew that there is a possibility that the value of the house will go down. You also know that your job is not sacred. You CAN be fired, laid off, or your company can go out of business. You made a decision to take a risk and invest money in housing. If the stock I buy goes down, I don't ask the government for a bailout. If I lose in poker, I don't go whining to the government for money. Buying a house is no different from any other investment. You're not forced to buy a house, you just think of it as a better investment than renting. Your investment backfired. Time to pay your dues.
3. Regarding "nice guys finish last":
- I think it's time for this to change. The country is full of "nice guys" who are paying for the problems caused by a small number of people... This country is controlled by people who make the most noise... the corn lobby, auto industry, bankers, religious right, gun rights... while 90% of the country pay for the problems caused by the 10%. I say that it's time for things to change. Stop giving in to these people you see in the news. There are people out there who think the same way you do, that feel that they are being unjustly made to pay for the mistakes of others. I say it's time for the "nice guys" to stand up for their own rights instead of being trampled on!
I supported Obama because I took a look at the alternate choice and was horrified with what I saw. It's time for us to stop choosing the "lesser of two evils" and actually get a leader who is good, ethical and looks out for the people. Obama has barely been in office for a month and I'm disgusted from what I've seen... Billions of dollars is no longer considered a lot of money anymore... people appointed by him do not even bother with taxes... spending does not stop... yet when I consider the alternative, I shudder to consider what might have happened with hockey mom as president. I say it's time for the two-party system to stop. You have the power to stop them from destroying what's left of the future of this country.
Ford?! Well Run?! Ford is well run because they own Land Rover, Ford UK, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, and prolly more international car companies. They make their money off the rest of the world, so they can fail in the US Market and It won't affect them whatsoever and as for Zu good for your truck. Try modding a mustang or maintaining one. I hate them with a vengence. Ford uses odd sized bolts that are not standard for brakes, engines, etc. The most my eclipse made me complain about was that the bumper came off in 5 unneeded pieces.
And who cares about people with mortgages. I don't. People with mortgages can drop dead and live on the street for all I care. I PAY RENT :D
Seriously, I'm perfectly happy paying rent. As long as I make the monthly payments, I'm safe and secure from being evicted.
Also IL Governor Pat Quinn is a lousy douche bag whose anti-asian and is further screwing IL down the drain. GET OUT QUINN and as for Rolan Burris? GET OUT BURRIS!
I should also mention I found a way to solve my money issues. Basically aside from my main airsoft gear, airsoft weapons, my furniture, clothes, computers and 360/ps2/psp... I'm selling off everything I own. Then once that's done, the money pretty much goes into the bank, and I don't spend money on anything except food after that. No DVDs not games, nothing. That way I'll be rich, and besides I can always dream for entertainment because the best things in life are free.
If he doesn't want to sell anything he owns, that's okay with me. It's his stuff, his choice. My stuff, I don't need it.
Mmmm... I'm going to have to burst a little bubble here:
"I'm selling off everything I own. Then once that's done, the money pretty much goes into the bank"
That's pretty much the worst thing you can do right now... The Fed (Federal Reserve) is basically printing money right now in order to finance the bailout program. In the last few months, we've been committed to printing nearly $3 trillion due to this economic crisis. This is nearly 3x what the Fed usually has outstanding. All this to stimulate the economy.
The theory is that once the economy gets going again, the Fed can go ahead and reverse this and pull money out of the system. In reality, can they do that fast enough to prevent inflation from hitting?
If they can't do it, then that means we'll in for a large amount of inflation... we're talking 3x inflation here. That $2.99/gallon of gas becomes $9.99/gallon. That PSP you just sold for $99 becomes worth $299, and the $1,000 you put in the bank? Well... with interest, that becomes $1,030, but can only buy 1/3 what you are able to right now.
(Ironically, inflation would also be good for settling debts and getting people out of mortague problems, so I wouldn't be too surprised if controlled inflation becomes a goal. They won't dare state this of course.)
So... selling everything and putting money in the bank is probably not a good idea right now... unless "in the bank" meant inflation-adjusted treasure bills.
Lol, so you don't like fords cause they're hard to work on and modify huh? Ever thought that the rest of us just care to have a vehicle that runs? I'm not trying to bash you or anything, but why are people putting down a company just cause they annoy you when they're not exactly doing something wrong? Must be why all the rednecks up here like chevy... they always jack em up and put huge ass tires on them to make them look retarded as all hell. I'd rather just keep my vehicle running as long as possible by taking care of it. And I'm not a mustang fan just cause it's ford... really I don't care what I drive as long as I like it and it runs good. Hell, I don't even really like the older mustangs.... I'd rather have a 69 chevelle if I got an oldy.
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