Everything wrong with American, summed up nicely.
 

"There are so many things you have to do to survive now," says Larue Lawson of Forest Park, Ill. "It used to be just clothes on your back, food on the table and a roof over your head. Now, it's everything.
"I wish it was just simpler."

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/23572724.html

And there in lies the problem. It is simple. Rich or poor, life can be as simple or as complicated as one want it to be. If your life is complicated, you can change it. Just get started, right now. How can people not see that their supposed 'problems' they have are complete illusion.

Having your kid dying from cancer is a problem. Not being able to afford a new X-box for your kid is not a problem.

Are people suffering and struggling in this country? Sure. But is that because they don't have enough, or because they are setting unrealistic expectation for what they 'need'.

"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find that you get what you need". The Rolling Stones.

Now leet me think?

Had a phone conversation with a friend here in LV...They own their own biz, which provides a good income. However the wife (She runs the biz) just spent $500 for a Base Ball Bat for the son....and that is just the tip of the berg on her spending on the 3 kids . It Soccer this it is Base Ball this that and the other...a trip here there and everywhere this summer.

How bout $50 for PPV fight tonight...

Anyway I told him just wait with $146 a barrel oil it won't be long before all those little luxurys won't be a problem anymore in the budget...ya won't have the money to pay for them anymore.

I couldn't agree with this thread more.

It IS what you make of it. Your life, that is. Control what you can, accept what you can't.

This has not always been my method but as I grow older I see the wisdom in it.

The more krap you have, the more krap you have to take care of....choose your krap carefully.

Some think having a fleet of collectable cars is cool...and it is, if your thing is to take care of them all.

I'm old and weary...got bored with, and tired of, taking care of "things". Thinking of eventually downsizing, moving to a smaller place, etc.

Edit: More 'Splaining needed here...as I've aged, I find myself wanting "things" less and less, despite how "cool" people I shouldn't care about think they are. I buy and take care of "things" that I want. More and more those "things" are useful to me in day to day life...NOT "status symbols" alone...that isn't to say that some of these "things" are not status symbols, because I still appreciate quality.

Life is like a box of chocolates. Gobble everything up and you'll become obese and develop diabetes.

Not everything. You forgot GWB.

Wise words. I'm in the process of severely downsizing my 5000+ volume library, and it's very, very difficult. Like parting with children.

I know a guy who lives in a very upscale neighborhood and has 5 custom cars, an expensive cruiser motorcycle, a relatively new truck (with a blown up motor), a toy hauler, quads, and he is two months behind on his mortgage payments. Last month he went to a gun show and spent $3800 on some hand guns. Why? Because $3800 wouldn't have been enough to get his mortgage caught up so what's the point? Bah. People are just dumb and irresponsible most of the time.

Biggest thing is that everyone looks to the government to bail them out.
The housing mess is a prime example.

"I borrowed $500k and can't make the payment on my ARM now that the rate reset, please pass a law to prevent foreclosure for 1 year til I can help myself."

Funny, but an actual law that passed the house and senate in Minnesota, and fortunately the governor squashed it dead.

In the US our standard of living is incredibly high. So high that people take it for granted and don't appreciate the incredible privelidges they have.

Following is a list of things that people consider neccesities, most of these things didn't even exist when I was a kid. Yet today even people living in "poverty" have some, most, or all of the following:

Cell phone, with email, with camera
Satallite or cable television
Multiple color televisions, flat screen
Computers
High speed Internet connections
Microwave oven
Dishwasher
DVD player
MP3 player
Car with Airbags and ABS
Wireless telephone
Multiple telephones throughout the house

Unemployment is 5%, considered full employment. We haven't had a single quarter of declining GDP.

Housing prices have pulled back, BFD. For 10 years we saw housing prices grow at ridiculous rates, we have merely given some back. On a historical trend basis housing prices are still strong.

We are the wealthiest nation at the wealthiest point in history.

Stop B!tching, and get back to work.

Well put. I seem to spend my life just keeping things in working order :(

spot on!

Thong underwear

Ok, this clown is obviously not married cause I know my wife would kick my arse if I let this happen.

What kind of dumba$$ thinks like this?
:confused:

I see only seven problems with most Americans:
Lust
Gluttony
Greed
Sloth
Wrath
Envy
Pride

Ignorance makes eight. :)

Compassion and generosity are positive traits. :)

Where does entitlement fit in with those 7 things?


Oh that's right, entitlement ISN"T a right. Crud, that came out wrong. You know what I mean, I hope.

Guess a lot of the folks out there hadn;t got the memo that you actually have to pay your bills and be responsible.

What I don't understand is that some of these same people skipping out on their mortgages grew up in my generation, the 70's and 80's. We weren't dirt poor growing up but we didn't have a lot of "stuff". My kids have more toys than I think I had in all of my years. Granted, they are second hand but still.

Some folks just can't stand having cash...