I tell you what. Make enough money to pay enough taxes that you actually are paying some of the $15 trillion and get back to me and then we can talk.
You think it's a coincidence that every young generation for at least 70 years has leaned liberal and gotten more conservative as they age?
Booming job market and housing market? Are you dim? Do you think this was the first recession in American history? First housing bust? Wages for college grads are at the highest in American history. Taxes are the lowest for college grads. It's there for the taking if you are willing to not be a little [itch bay] about it. And yes that means doing what your forefathers did. That means not making a lot of money till you have actually established a career. That means maybe working a weekend. Or working 60 hours a week.
My father did two tours in Vietnam and these shits are saying he had life handed to him on a silver platter. Amazing
Acting like my parents and grandparents had something handed to them is embarrassing. The debt has been about unbridled spending on entitlements.
My mom and dad bought our house in KNoxville in 1979. It was some astronomical interest rate, over 10% if I remember.
Have talked to some guys older than me that mentioned the interest on their educational loans in the 70s was well north of that.
Mom and dad never talked to me about their money, of course, so I don't know or recall the exact % rate they got, but I do remember in the mid 80s they refinanced at ~8% it was like getting a freaking raise.
My opinion on this edition of Randy's Rants is that it is easy to say "kids these days." Every generation thinks that way (I be everyone's parents here, from Randy, to OV, to me to Indy) thinks that their children's generation are nare-do-wells and want everything handed to them. It is natural. Socialism/Communism is nothing new, and has been around for 150+ years, bred from the horrible work conditions of the mid/late 1800's. Captilism, as well, is a relatively new kid on the block, as most of human history has been a very hierarchical aristocracy and before civilization was more "socialist" in that you had very small groups of ~150 people hunting and gathering. That said, I fall between socialism and capitalism, as both unbridled are horrible. Socialism leads to stagnation where capitalism can lead to some seriously abusive systems. There has to be a happy middle ground. The more capitalistic and open societies have been the best ones, so far, in human history if you ask me. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be open to other systems. When the earth runs out of resources, will capitalism still work? When we move to new planets or even star systems, will we need a more communal system to get these endeavors off the ground and work so far from home and help? I don't know. But for now, I hedge towards a more capitalistic society, with a healthy reign from the government.
The last thing we need to do is add another entitlement program so a generation or two down the road gets completely screwed when we have to axe it. We need to go ahead and figure out who is going to get screwed in the social security deal (I'm assuming I am, and I've accepted it) draw a line, and cut it off for people born after a certain date. College isn't and won't ever be for everyone. If it's something you really want to do, earn a scholarship, join the military, or get a loan and understand the long term consequences of the loan.
Interest rates on such consumer loans as autos and boats got as high as 15-16%. I had CDs paying me 12%.
For all who disagree with me, I refer you to the last line of my post. Save it and read it again in around twenty-thirty years.
