patrick.net

Mark D says

unlike some the idiots who keep staying and complaining non-stop like they are some kind of victim

I'd say that reasonable people are "victims" in some parallel abstract way that native Americans were (obvious atrocities aside). It'll get chocked up to "victims of circumstance". Maybe we do fit some definition of the word, but it does not matter in the end. If the "greed is good" paradigm is the one that rules the day, then that's just the way it is. Thankfully, freedom of speech is alive and well and I can moan about it all over the intertubes.

You mentioned being "grateful" for America. I am. Life here, despite the irritations, is damn good compared to much of the rest of the world. The part that makes me mad is seeing that, as you say, so many people DO take it for granted. A direct result of this is the short-sightedness and greed that is rampant all over. If people actually saw and appreciated what freedom and liberty are, and that those definitions are NOT confined solely to "making money", they would act differently. This behavior will be the end of this once great place. It's like watching someone you care about get hooked on meth and run them self into oblivion. Doom and gloom, I know. It all just looks to me like the insanity is intensifying, and I don't really see any positive outcomes from that.

Mark D says

as long as they let the average person have just enough not to riot.

That's sort of a sad outlook for the future. I would hope for better, personally. Now, if that is a god-send compared to where one may have immigrated from, then it is understandable to be happy with it. If too many people accept that as gospel, then maintaining even that will be a challenge because those that built this into a great place had a different vision of the future. Maybe America had things TOO good and we are in the inexorable slide back to some more sustainable level. A lot of what America has, materially, was obtained through militarism which isn't so popular anymore.

Mark D says

a lot of the immigrants came from much poorer countries so making a ton of money as a way to protect themselves from the things they experienced in their home countries is a natural tendency. they are not the average American so this is one of the things i wouldn't pass judgement.

A good friend of mine whose parents came from Vietnam described something similar. People come over here and are permanently set in "survival mode." Grab all that you can through any means because someone else will if you don't, and rob/kill you. They have been conditioned to it and don't understand that it is not entirely necessary here. It is usually gone within a generation, as their son proved anyway. I can't claim to fully understand that because I was fortunate enough to be born into an American middle class family where, relative to my friend's parents, I was handed everything. I've tried to imagine it, but that only gets one so far if they have not lived it. I "get" that I don't get it 100%.

Mark D says

and i would say life doesn't stop because i can't buy a house. i would put the money in the stock market and retire early.

Timing is everything. There is no magic formula. Now, looking at things objectively right now, I would say that you might be right. The Fed has demonstrated that they have no higher priority than pumping RE and equities. As long as you time your exit right, you may retire early!

It is easy to get super negative when looking at things. People seem to find it easy to dwell on bad news, for whatever reason. Overall, I am not all that concerned about the future. We'll make things work, one way or another. It seems like we end up fighting ourselves through short-sighted decisions, and as a person that likes to make logic-based decisions, it can get really irritating to see people with so much opportunity willingly throw away so much of their mental capacity to indulge in temporary delights.