Is it me or does it seem like Al Sharpton and his minions have exclusive rights to oppression and discrimination?
From what I can gather; there are many forms of discrimination and oppression based on things other than race and arguably much of them just as consequential. Not to mention the fact that this form of discrimination is not one-sided as he portrays it to be. I think it is safe to say that we all experience discrimination in one form or another, regardless of whom we may be.
If Al Sharpton was truly interested in justice and "equality" than I would believe that he would address the following as much as he does race. I think it is safe to say that Al Sharpton is truly agenda driven and is not as much interested in justice for all as much as he is interested in his overzealous plight. I know this will not come to shock most people, but nevertheless, I think that it needs to be addressed whenever possible.
Discrimination due to heritage.
Discrimination due to height.
Discrimination due to weight.
Discrimination due to education.
Discrimination due to political beliefs and affiliations.
Discrimination due to religous beliefs.
Discrimination due to age.
Discrimination due to income.
Discrimnination due to wealth.
Discrimination due to perceived attractiveness.
Discrimination as a result of nepotism.
Discrimination due to our dress, appearance, etc.
Discrimination due to what we drive.
Discrimination due to where we live.
Discrimination due to "popularity".
Discrimination due to what we read.
Discrimination due to what we eat.
Discrimination due to what kind of house we live in.
Discrimination due to whom we associate with interpersonally.
Discrimination due to professional status.
Discrimination due to level of vulnerability.
Discrimination due to physical deformity.
Discrimination due to lack of hair.
Discrimination due to the sound of ones voice.
More to be added to list as it will probably never be exhausted...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Term of the Day
Social Construct -
A social construction or social construct is any institutionalized entity or artifact in a social system "invented" or "constructed" by participants in a particular culture or society that exists because people agree to behave as if it exists or follow certain conventional rules. One example of a social construct is social status.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_construction
A social construction or social construct is any institutionalized entity or artifact in a social system "invented" or "constructed" by participants in a particular culture or society that exists because people agree to behave as if it exists or follow certain conventional rules. One example of a social construct is social status.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_construction
Word of the Day
Inhuman -
–adjective
1. Lacking qualities of sympathy, pity, warmth, compassion, or the like; cruel; brutal: an inhuman master.
2. Not suited for human beings.
3. Not human.
4. Deficient in emotional warmth; cold.
inhuman. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 19, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inhuman
–adjective
1. Lacking qualities of sympathy, pity, warmth, compassion, or the like; cruel; brutal: an inhuman master.
2. Not suited for human beings.
3. Not human.
4. Deficient in emotional warmth; cold.
inhuman. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 19, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inhuman
Thought of the Day
The "lowest-form-of-life" to me is that which enforces laws that they do not believe in or are so "virtuous" as to be inhuman and contary to common sense.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Thought of the Day
It is my belief that people who oppose war, especially the idea of war, should not benefit from any of war's positive externalities. In other words, people who despise war should not be able to benefit from any product that comes about by the act, result, or preparation of war. This would be analogous to bighting-the-hand-that-feeds-you.
It seems to me that it is extremely hypocritical to benefit from things that were created/invented in the name of war while being opposed to the thought and actions of war. Actually, I can not think of anything more hypocritical.
Now, it is impossible to measure all of the products of “war” that were beneficial to man. I would argue (not an original idea of course) that our brains were a direct result of "war". It is no secret that the government utilizes the best and brightest of our society in the achievement of national defense/offense. It is also no big secret that military "intelligence" is the biggest asset to any nation that wishes to sustain itself and thrive. Our brains developed from our instinct to survive. And, unfortunately or fortunately, survival entails protecting one self from aggressors and occasionally being the aggressor, the ultimate form of this being war. As far as I can see, we have benefit from “war” from the beginning of time. Essentially, our existence is the direct result of war, it is intertwined with our fabric-of-being. To separate it from us would be to unravel ourselves. So, for the sake-of-argument, I will only refer to modern times.
I am no expert on the military, but I can assure you that a mind boggling amount of products that we use on a daily basis comes as a direct result of military expenditures. More to come…
It seems to me that it is extremely hypocritical to benefit from things that were created/invented in the name of war while being opposed to the thought and actions of war. Actually, I can not think of anything more hypocritical.
Now, it is impossible to measure all of the products of “war” that were beneficial to man. I would argue (not an original idea of course) that our brains were a direct result of "war". It is no secret that the government utilizes the best and brightest of our society in the achievement of national defense/offense. It is also no big secret that military "intelligence" is the biggest asset to any nation that wishes to sustain itself and thrive. Our brains developed from our instinct to survive. And, unfortunately or fortunately, survival entails protecting one self from aggressors and occasionally being the aggressor, the ultimate form of this being war. As far as I can see, we have benefit from “war” from the beginning of time. Essentially, our existence is the direct result of war, it is intertwined with our fabric-of-being. To separate it from us would be to unravel ourselves. So, for the sake-of-argument, I will only refer to modern times.
I am no expert on the military, but I can assure you that a mind boggling amount of products that we use on a daily basis comes as a direct result of military expenditures. More to come…
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Word on Word of the Day
As you can see from my "Word's of the Day", the words I choose are not unusual or for the most part ones you have never seen/heard before. These words are not meant to insult your inteligence. However, I chose to list these words because of their relatedness to my other writings as well as to focus on them and really contemplate their meanings. These words may be spoken or heard numerous times a day, however, I believe that they get diluted and that their true meanings get washed-out, overlooked, and taken-for-granted. We essentially get desensitized to their true and whole meaning. The idea is to bring out their substance and to put the word into your cognition.
Word of the Day
Truth -
The meaning of the word truth extends from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular.[1] The term has no single definition about which the majority of professional philosophers and scholars agree. Various theories of truth continue to be debated. There are differing claims on such questions as what constitutes truth; how to define and identify truth; the roles that revealed and acquired knowledge play; and whether truth is subjective, relative, objective, or absolute.
Source: Wikipedia
1. http://m-w.com/dictionary/truth
The meaning of the word truth extends from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular.[1] The term has no single definition about which the majority of professional philosophers and scholars agree. Various theories of truth continue to be debated. There are differing claims on such questions as what constitutes truth; how to define and identify truth; the roles that revealed and acquired knowledge play; and whether truth is subjective, relative, objective, or absolute.
Source: Wikipedia
1. http://m-w.com/dictionary/truth
Quote of the Day
"God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I posted this quote because I think that is poignant, and again, like every good quote, it speaks volumes with great efficiency.
This quote speaks to me for various reasons. One, being that I think this quote speaks to the fact that truth is not always easy, popular, and straight-forward and it can be down-right painful. Truth to me is an at times dynamic, elusive, and multi-dimensional enigma. Also, I believe that this quote alludes to the fact that the pursuit of truth is not a pursuit for the light-hearted and that superficial, shallow-thinkers will probably miss it all together. However, if truth were black and white, it would probably be a pretty dull existence for man. The desire for truth is probably the greatest propellant of all.
I posted this quote because I think that is poignant, and again, like every good quote, it speaks volumes with great efficiency.
This quote speaks to me for various reasons. One, being that I think this quote speaks to the fact that truth is not always easy, popular, and straight-forward and it can be down-right painful. Truth to me is an at times dynamic, elusive, and multi-dimensional enigma. Also, I believe that this quote alludes to the fact that the pursuit of truth is not a pursuit for the light-hearted and that superficial, shallow-thinkers will probably miss it all together. However, if truth were black and white, it would probably be a pretty dull existence for man. The desire for truth is probably the greatest propellant of all.
Interesting Essay
I found this essay. I thought that it was very interesting and unique. I personally like opinions/ideas that make you think and look at things from a different or new perspective. I also like to read things that are not inhibited and guarded with political correctness. Even if you do not agree with everything, something might touch you and get your "wheels turning". If you can take one thing from a reading, speech, etc., that sparks your mind and intellect, then that effort, no matter how extensive, was worth it. In today’s society it seems that we have to say and do everything perfect, with no fault, in fear of being criticized or ostracized or labeled as "crazy". Sir Isaac Newton devoted considerably more of his time and writing to the study of alchemy than he did to either optics or physics, for which he is famous. He wrote many works that would now be classified as occult studies and a lot of his endeavors are/were considered fanciful and pointless. However, no one would argue his immense contribution to society. There are countless examples of individuals that contribute things that are incalculable, yet they are not infallible and may have been sporadic in their genius.
I like original thinkers and believe the truth is always waiting to be uncovered and that this is not always an easy, straight-forward task. It is my opinion, that there is the truth and then there is the truth, i.e., the truth is (at least in this day and age) not always readily apparent and what may appear to be the truth is often times not. The “pseudo-truth” may be due to a popular or easy-to-swallow consensus. The “real truth", if there is such a thing, is at times elusive and covered-up by many layers, not to mention at times not always pleasant. As the world becomes more complex, so does the truth in many instances. As our speech and thoughts are surpressed, so is the truth.
Plus, this essay has some topics that I find interesting and important. Freedom-of-speech and thought is our most important rights as humans and should be vigorously, and if needed, aggressively protected.
Please comment.
“The Dilution of America”
“Schizophrenic Nation”
By WD8Z3A9M9UP
A government gives direction, manages, controls, rules, and most importantly provides for a functionally cohesive and largely contented society. A government at its core is an organization. An organization is a structure through which individuals cooperate systematically to deliver a product or to resolve and curtail ever-arising problems. Cooperation is the ability to work together for a common purpose, benefit, or resolution. These are undisputed facts, essentially definitions.
Therefore, it is virtually impossible for an organization to function effectively, productively, and efficiently without a certain sustainable and acceptable level of cohesion and cooperation. Aside from reasonable differences-of-opinions, a group at some point must cohere in order to function as a single outcome producing unit. The degree of cohesiveness and cooperation is directly proportional to the effectiveness of that organization.
That being said, the more like-minded and compatible an organization the better output it will produce, taking into consideration the normal and reasonable array of objective perspectives that are needed to achieve a broad-view and list of most likely scenarios. Also, an organization has to have some degree of collectiveness and unity in order to secure its identity.
When an organization becomes too unlike or too contrasted in ideation and deduction, then that organization becomes impotent and misaligned, thus becoming non-effective to a degree that is correspondent to the degree of its variances. Any discernable productive output becomes inefficient at best. Aside from productivity, the vulnerability to applicable competing organizations is a major side-effect.
I believe and fear that this is what is occurring in America today. As America becomes increasingly heterogeneous and contrary, it becomes unbounded. America has become diluted. America has been, and is in the process, of losing its identity, i.e., it is losing the collective aspects of the set of characteristics by which it is definitively recognizable or known. We can no longer answer the question of “what defines America”, without spewing out politically correct, nonsensical, fanciful, and vagarious answers that do little to form and support a robust and potent citizenship. The US Government is becoming more and more detached from its core citizenry and its associated culture and ideologies.
In effect, this country has become a schizophrenic nation. There are, in some instances, severe signs of emotional blunting (people are in fear of expressing their emotions), intellectual deterioration (as seen in our educational institutions and interpersonal relationships), social isolation (one form being self-segregation), disorganized speech (in the form of speech suppression), and aggravated behavior. The United States is in a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory and incompatible elements the likes-of-which are, in many ways, impervious to one another with little to no hopes of confluence, not unlike the reaction of oil mixed with water. Consequently, this adversely creates a divide in an otherwise generally harmonious, upstanding, and proven community. These barriers, of which, are unprecedented and ever-growing will continue to be irresolvable at the expense of our national prosperity and individual pursuits of happiness. History, in this case, will not add any insights or testaments to possible resolutions, as the degree of this setting has never before been seen and renders cultural pluralism outmoded.
Therefore, the productivity, as seen in various forms, of the United States has become compromised by its “mental health”, which is in turn a product of its lack of cohesion and conflicting, unaligned special interest groups. The US Government, under the ulterior veil of tolerance, has become blinded by illogical, impulsive, naïve, overzealous and shallowly-thought-out persuasions and misguided actions. It has become an inefficient, unorganized, and detrimentally-divided organization as a result of a nation that has ultimately become too contrasted and too unalike. Tolerance, having an unchecked positive connotation, has inherent, a permissible range that is absolutely limited by common sense and logic and should not be quixotically endured at the expense of unity and national well being. Moreover, under the rash wedge of diversity and tolerance we are effectively being divided and conquered. “United we shall stand, divided we fall”.
It is proposed that a realignment of sorts must occur before it is past the point-of-no-return. If this essay speaks to you then be prepared, be alert, and be proactive.
I like original thinkers and believe the truth is always waiting to be uncovered and that this is not always an easy, straight-forward task. It is my opinion, that there is the truth and then there is the truth, i.e., the truth is (at least in this day and age) not always readily apparent and what may appear to be the truth is often times not. The “pseudo-truth” may be due to a popular or easy-to-swallow consensus. The “real truth", if there is such a thing, is at times elusive and covered-up by many layers, not to mention at times not always pleasant. As the world becomes more complex, so does the truth in many instances. As our speech and thoughts are surpressed, so is the truth.
Plus, this essay has some topics that I find interesting and important. Freedom-of-speech and thought is our most important rights as humans and should be vigorously, and if needed, aggressively protected.
Please comment.
“The Dilution of America”
“Schizophrenic Nation”
By WD8Z3A9M9UP
A government gives direction, manages, controls, rules, and most importantly provides for a functionally cohesive and largely contented society. A government at its core is an organization. An organization is a structure through which individuals cooperate systematically to deliver a product or to resolve and curtail ever-arising problems. Cooperation is the ability to work together for a common purpose, benefit, or resolution. These are undisputed facts, essentially definitions.
Therefore, it is virtually impossible for an organization to function effectively, productively, and efficiently without a certain sustainable and acceptable level of cohesion and cooperation. Aside from reasonable differences-of-opinions, a group at some point must cohere in order to function as a single outcome producing unit. The degree of cohesiveness and cooperation is directly proportional to the effectiveness of that organization.
That being said, the more like-minded and compatible an organization the better output it will produce, taking into consideration the normal and reasonable array of objective perspectives that are needed to achieve a broad-view and list of most likely scenarios. Also, an organization has to have some degree of collectiveness and unity in order to secure its identity.
When an organization becomes too unlike or too contrasted in ideation and deduction, then that organization becomes impotent and misaligned, thus becoming non-effective to a degree that is correspondent to the degree of its variances. Any discernable productive output becomes inefficient at best. Aside from productivity, the vulnerability to applicable competing organizations is a major side-effect.
I believe and fear that this is what is occurring in America today. As America becomes increasingly heterogeneous and contrary, it becomes unbounded. America has become diluted. America has been, and is in the process, of losing its identity, i.e., it is losing the collective aspects of the set of characteristics by which it is definitively recognizable or known. We can no longer answer the question of “what defines America”, without spewing out politically correct, nonsensical, fanciful, and vagarious answers that do little to form and support a robust and potent citizenship. The US Government is becoming more and more detached from its core citizenry and its associated culture and ideologies.
In effect, this country has become a schizophrenic nation. There are, in some instances, severe signs of emotional blunting (people are in fear of expressing their emotions), intellectual deterioration (as seen in our educational institutions and interpersonal relationships), social isolation (one form being self-segregation), disorganized speech (in the form of speech suppression), and aggravated behavior. The United States is in a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory and incompatible elements the likes-of-which are, in many ways, impervious to one another with little to no hopes of confluence, not unlike the reaction of oil mixed with water. Consequently, this adversely creates a divide in an otherwise generally harmonious, upstanding, and proven community. These barriers, of which, are unprecedented and ever-growing will continue to be irresolvable at the expense of our national prosperity and individual pursuits of happiness. History, in this case, will not add any insights or testaments to possible resolutions, as the degree of this setting has never before been seen and renders cultural pluralism outmoded.
Therefore, the productivity, as seen in various forms, of the United States has become compromised by its “mental health”, which is in turn a product of its lack of cohesion and conflicting, unaligned special interest groups. The US Government, under the ulterior veil of tolerance, has become blinded by illogical, impulsive, naïve, overzealous and shallowly-thought-out persuasions and misguided actions. It has become an inefficient, unorganized, and detrimentally-divided organization as a result of a nation that has ultimately become too contrasted and too unalike. Tolerance, having an unchecked positive connotation, has inherent, a permissible range that is absolutely limited by common sense and logic and should not be quixotically endured at the expense of unity and national well being. Moreover, under the rash wedge of diversity and tolerance we are effectively being divided and conquered. “United we shall stand, divided we fall”.
It is proposed that a realignment of sorts must occur before it is past the point-of-no-return. If this essay speaks to you then be prepared, be alert, and be proactive.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Word of the Day/Thought of the Day
Wasteful
–adjective
Given to or characterized by useless consumption or expenditure: wasteful methods; a wasteful way of life.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
I chose this word due to the fact that this has been and is increasingly becoming one of the biggest problems facing this country. Again, I know that this is no big revelation that we are wasteful and that there has probably been numerous articles written about it, but it has gotten to a point of absurdity, to the point were it is not only creating a problem for us pollution-wise, but also limiting and inhibiting us as a logical, self-sustaining society. We have become a society that just throws things away and gets a new one (I believe someone referred to this as the “throw-away” generation). We buy things that we do not need; manufacture things that have little life-expectancy and are not easy or able to fix. We are dupped by sales people into thinking that we need something we do not, or are not given the cheapesy way to fixing a problem. Also, somewhere along the line, manufactures realized that if they make an inferior product that the public can overlook than they can sell more when they need replaced. Or, the product is produced just to function long enough for sale and the ride home. Long-gone are the days when we buy something and if we maintain it properly it not only lasts our lifetime, but can be past down to generations. Also, we are so busy working to buy the next disposable item that we can not maintain things properly (this seems to be my case). It seems like another viscous circle that is not getting better. It has almost come to the point, if not already there, where it makes more economical sense to produce an inferior product. Consumers are as much, if not more, to blame for this. It seems to me that we are buying a lot of things just because they are cheap.
This is an extremely broad topic that can me spoken-to from numerous angles, but it was just something that was on my mind. This is something that humanity needs to reel-in before we bocome inhuman, or atleast more so. I believe that this wasteful state we are in is contrary to our essence and a detriment to our well-being.
–adjective
Given to or characterized by useless consumption or expenditure: wasteful methods; a wasteful way of life.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
I chose this word due to the fact that this has been and is increasingly becoming one of the biggest problems facing this country. Again, I know that this is no big revelation that we are wasteful and that there has probably been numerous articles written about it, but it has gotten to a point of absurdity, to the point were it is not only creating a problem for us pollution-wise, but also limiting and inhibiting us as a logical, self-sustaining society. We have become a society that just throws things away and gets a new one (I believe someone referred to this as the “throw-away” generation). We buy things that we do not need; manufacture things that have little life-expectancy and are not easy or able to fix. We are dupped by sales people into thinking that we need something we do not, or are not given the cheapesy way to fixing a problem. Also, somewhere along the line, manufactures realized that if they make an inferior product that the public can overlook than they can sell more when they need replaced. Or, the product is produced just to function long enough for sale and the ride home. Long-gone are the days when we buy something and if we maintain it properly it not only lasts our lifetime, but can be past down to generations. Also, we are so busy working to buy the next disposable item that we can not maintain things properly (this seems to be my case). It seems like another viscous circle that is not getting better. It has almost come to the point, if not already there, where it makes more economical sense to produce an inferior product. Consumers are as much, if not more, to blame for this. It seems to me that we are buying a lot of things just because they are cheap.
This is an extremely broad topic that can me spoken-to from numerous angles, but it was just something that was on my mind. This is something that humanity needs to reel-in before we bocome inhuman, or atleast more so. I believe that this wasteful state we are in is contrary to our essence and a detriment to our well-being.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Thought of the Day/Article of the Day
Trust me; I am a capitalist through-and-through. I have a degree in finance and follow the market and economy more than the average person, in my opinion. My love for prosperity and finacial well-being is second-to-none.
However, I think that the success of our nation is being directly and seemingly only related to the growth/health of the economy. Again, I know that the health of the economy is huge and no doubt is the bottom-line to most. However, call me what you will, but shouldn't the measure of our success be tied to, what I think is equally important, our levels of contentment and tranquility as a nation. It seems to me that we are blindly sacrificing our well being at the expensive of building/sustaining our economy.
For example, we as Americans are extending ourselves financially beyond our means to sustain a life that is, for the most part, materialistic in nature and wasteful. We are almost urged to spend, spend, spend, which in turn is good for the economy (at least in the short-term and or mid-term), but we do not save and make smart fincial descisions, thus making things harder on ourselves, not to mention the fact that the more we spend the more we are charged. It is a viscous cycle if you ask me. It seems to me the more we spend and don't ask questions the more we get gouged.
Also, for the "sake of the economy", we outsource jobs to other countries, allow people to migrate to this country with seemingly no forethought, etc., just to expand the economy. We do not measure the "costs" of these actions against the reward. In a lot of instances I believe we are sacrificing our tranquility for the perceived betterment of the economy. I know that there are very valid reasons for the aforementioned, but my gripe is when we do them for purely financial reasons, as well as unethical ones. It is a quick-fix that has long-term implications or a long-term process that will have abrupt devastating consequences.
I have attached and article that is good news about "getting-back-to-the-basics" but bad news for the economy (don't worry our economy will always thrive, it just won't be artificially propped-up). We need to realize that we can do without somethings and that we need to put America's "mental health" at least on the same level as its economic health. We also have to put a stop to being gouged and taken advantage of as consumers. We need to stop being gluttonous and wasteful and greedy. If more people would say I am not paying this price for that then that price would come down. It is my observation that people who freely throw their money around (mostly people who do not have it to through around) make it harder on us who want to be more responsible with our money so that we will not have to be indebted our whole lives and also someday want to have the opportunity to break free and become financially independent. It seems like the "better" or economy gets the more headaches we have to deal with and the more compromised our tranquility becomes. It seems to me that our economy is a giant that we must keep feeding at all costs regardless of the consequences in order for it not to squash us. We are trading economic growth for gluttonous consumption. At best, we are breaking even, more likely atrophying economically.
This is an extremly complicated subject that is far from "cut-and-dry", but the underlying sentiment is there.
Americans Prepare to Live Within Their Means
CREDIT, US ECONOMY, CONSUMER, RETAILThe New York Times
The New York Times
| 05 Feb 2008 | 09:55 AM ET
For more than half a century, Americans have proved staggeringly resourceful at finding new ways to spend money.
In the 1950s and ’60s, as credit cards grew in popularity, many began dining out when the mood struck or buying new television sets on the installment plan rather than waiting for payday. By the 1980s, millions of Americans were entrusting their savings to the booming stock market, using the winnings to spend in excess of their income. Millions more exuberantly borrowed against the value of their homes.
But now the freewheeling days of credit and risk may have run their course — at least for a while and perhaps much longer — as a period of involuntary thrift unfolds in many households. With the number of jobs shrinking, housing prices falling and debt levels swelling, the same nation that pioneered the no-money-down mortgage suddenly confronts an unfamiliar imperative: more Americans must live within their means.
“We don’t use our credit cards anymore,” said Lisa Merhaut, a professional at a telecommunications company who lives in Leesburg, Va., and whose family last year ran up credit card debt it could not handle.
Today, Ms. Merhaut, 44, manages her money the way her father did. Despite a household income reaching six figures, she uses cash for every purchase. “What we have is what we have,” Ms. Merhaut said. “We have to rely on the money that we’re bringing in.”
The shift under way feels to some analysts like a cultural inflection point, one with huge implications for an economy driven overwhelmingly by consumer spending.
While some experts question whether most Americans, particularly baby boomers, will ever give up their buy-now/pay-later way of life, the unraveling of the real estate market appears to have left millions of families with little choice, yanking fresh credit from their grasp.
“The long collapse in the United States savings rate is over,” said Ethan S. Harris, chief United States economist for Lehman Brothers. “People are going to start saving the old-fashioned way, rather than letting the stock market and rising home values do it for them.”
In 1984, Americans were still saving more than one-tenth of their income, according to the government. A decade later, the rate was down by half. Now, the savings rate is slightly negative, suggesting that on average Americans spend more than their disposable income.
Though the savings rate does not account for the increased value of stock and property, or the gains on retirement accounts, many economists still view it as the most useful gauge of the degree to which Americans are making provisions for the future.
For the 34 million households who took money out of their homes over the last four years by refinancing or borrowing against their equity — roughly one-third of the nation — the savings rate was running at a negative 13 percent in the middle of 2006, according to Moody’s Economy.com. That means they were borrowing heavily against their assets to finance their day-to-day lives.
By late last year, the savings rate for this group had improved, but just to negative 7 percent and mostly because tightened standards made loans harder to get.
“For them, that game is over,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. “They have been spending well beyond their incomes, and now they are seeing the limits of credit.”
Many times before, of course, Americans have found innovative ways to finance spending, even when austerity seemed unavoidable. It could happen again.
The Me Decade was declared dead in the recession of the early 1980s, only to yield to the Age of Greed and later the Internet boom of the 1990s. Over the longer term, the economy should keep growing at a pace that reflects improving productivity and population gains.
But for the first time in decades, credit is especially tight as the bursting of the housing bubble has spread misery across the financial system. In homes now saturated with debt, conspicuous consumption and creative financing have come to seem a sign of excess not unlike that of a suntan in an age of skin cancer.
The return to reality is on vivid display at shopping centers, where consumers used to trading up to higher-price stores are now heading to discounters. Wal-Mart and T. J. Maxx are thriving, but business has slowed at Coach, Tiffany and Williams-Sonoma.
Not long ago, Elena Gamble would have looked at the Cadillac parked across the street from her modest home in Elk City, Okla., and felt a twinge of jealousy.
“We live in a small town, and everybody looks at your clothes and what you drive and where you have your hair done,” said Ms. Gamble, who earns about $2,600 a month as a grievance counselor at a local prison.
Now, she and her husband — a prison guard who brings home $2,000 a month — are grappling with $10,000 in high-interest debt. They no longer go to the movies or out to eat, except occasionally to McDonald’s. They quit their Internet service. Their car was repossessed. “What we say now is, ‘If we can’t afford it, we can’t buy it,’ ” Ms. Gamble said.
And when she looks across the street at that Cadillac, her envy has been replaced by pity for the neighbor on the hook.
“I say, ‘Oh my, you’re living here, and driving that? There’s got to be something wrong,’ ” Ms. Gamble said. “ ‘You’re in debt, and you’re in trouble.’ ”
For decades, that envy has been a prime engine of economic growth. Debt-willing consumers hungering for the latest-generation this and the fastest that kept factories busy from Michigan to Malaysia.
From 1980 to 2007, consumer spending swelled from 63 percent of the economy to over 70 percent, according to Economy.com, while the share of after-tax income absorbed by household debt increased from 11 percent to more than 14 percent.
During the technology boom of the 1990s, an extravagant mind-set took hold. In ads for the discount broker Ameritrade, a spiky-haired hipster ridiculed middle-aged professionals for settling for conventional returns.
Even after the “stock market as money machine” line of thinking proved bogus, extra spending continued. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near record lows, banks marketed mortgages with exotically lenient terms and another fable of wealth creation took hold: the notion that housing prices could go up forever.
The come-ons for stocks were replaced by a new crop of advertisements. A house was no longer a mere place to live; it was a checkbook that never required a deposit. Between 2004 and 2006, Americans pulled more than $800 billion a year from their homes via sales, cash-out mortgages and home equity loans.
“People have come to view credit as savings,” said Michelle Jones, a vice president at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta.
Some Americans have so much wealth that they can spend enough to fuel much of the economy. The top fifth of American earners generates half of all consumer spending, noted Dean Maki, chief United States economist at Barclays Capital.
For the others, some say credit is an intrinsic part of modern life, and Americans will soon be back for more. “A river of red ink runs through the history of the American pocketbook,” said Lendol Calder, author of “Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit.”
“Partly because of desire, partly because of optimism, partly because lenders have been free to invent useful borrowing tools that minimized shame and bother,” he added, “I think it will take a great catastrophe, greater than the Great Depression, to wean Americans from their reliance on consumer credit.”
Credit counselors are now swamped by calls not just from people of modest means, but from professionals earning six-figure incomes, their access to finance warping their distinction between necessity and desire.
“The longer someone has lived on a high income, the harder it is for someone to cut back,” said Manuel Navarro of Money Management International in San Diego. “I ask them, ‘Do you really need to have a 60-inch flat-screen TV hanging on your wall?’ ”
Fran Barbaro has an M.B.A. and a résumé of computer industry jobs with salaries reaching $150,000 a year. She used to have a stock portfolio worth about $1 million. She hung original art on the walls of her three-bedroom house in Boston.
But divorce, illness and motherhood drained her savings. Her home is worth less than she owes, and she owes another $200,000 to credit card companies, banks and tax collectors.
Ms. Barbaro, 50, said she knew she was living beyond her means. But her house demanded work. Her two boys needed after-school programs running $25,000 a year. Medical bills multiplied.
“These were simple day-to-day expenses,” she said. “The money was always there.”
Until it wasn’t. Her take-home pay is $5,200 a month, but her debt payments reach $4,400.
Ms. Barbaro has rented out her house while negotiating to lower her mortgage. She has moved to an apartment, where her sons sleep in the lone bedroom while she sleeps on a pull-out sofa.
“It’s the worst,” Ms. Barbaro said. “How do you salvage what you have and hopefully go back?”
Copyright © 2008 The New York Times
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/23007200/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 CNBC.com
However, I think that the success of our nation is being directly and seemingly only related to the growth/health of the economy. Again, I know that the health of the economy is huge and no doubt is the bottom-line to most. However, call me what you will, but shouldn't the measure of our success be tied to, what I think is equally important, our levels of contentment and tranquility as a nation. It seems to me that we are blindly sacrificing our well being at the expensive of building/sustaining our economy.
For example, we as Americans are extending ourselves financially beyond our means to sustain a life that is, for the most part, materialistic in nature and wasteful. We are almost urged to spend, spend, spend, which in turn is good for the economy (at least in the short-term and or mid-term), but we do not save and make smart fincial descisions, thus making things harder on ourselves, not to mention the fact that the more we spend the more we are charged. It is a viscous cycle if you ask me. It seems to me the more we spend and don't ask questions the more we get gouged.
Also, for the "sake of the economy", we outsource jobs to other countries, allow people to migrate to this country with seemingly no forethought, etc., just to expand the economy. We do not measure the "costs" of these actions against the reward. In a lot of instances I believe we are sacrificing our tranquility for the perceived betterment of the economy. I know that there are very valid reasons for the aforementioned, but my gripe is when we do them for purely financial reasons, as well as unethical ones. It is a quick-fix that has long-term implications or a long-term process that will have abrupt devastating consequences.
I have attached and article that is good news about "getting-back-to-the-basics" but bad news for the economy (don't worry our economy will always thrive, it just won't be artificially propped-up). We need to realize that we can do without somethings and that we need to put America's "mental health" at least on the same level as its economic health. We also have to put a stop to being gouged and taken advantage of as consumers. We need to stop being gluttonous and wasteful and greedy. If more people would say I am not paying this price for that then that price would come down. It is my observation that people who freely throw their money around (mostly people who do not have it to through around) make it harder on us who want to be more responsible with our money so that we will not have to be indebted our whole lives and also someday want to have the opportunity to break free and become financially independent. It seems like the "better" or economy gets the more headaches we have to deal with and the more compromised our tranquility becomes. It seems to me that our economy is a giant that we must keep feeding at all costs regardless of the consequences in order for it not to squash us. We are trading economic growth for gluttonous consumption. At best, we are breaking even, more likely atrophying economically.
This is an extremly complicated subject that is far from "cut-and-dry", but the underlying sentiment is there.
Americans Prepare to Live Within Their Means
CREDIT, US ECONOMY, CONSUMER, RETAILThe New York Times
The New York Times
| 05 Feb 2008 | 09:55 AM ET
For more than half a century, Americans have proved staggeringly resourceful at finding new ways to spend money.
In the 1950s and ’60s, as credit cards grew in popularity, many began dining out when the mood struck or buying new television sets on the installment plan rather than waiting for payday. By the 1980s, millions of Americans were entrusting their savings to the booming stock market, using the winnings to spend in excess of their income. Millions more exuberantly borrowed against the value of their homes.
But now the freewheeling days of credit and risk may have run their course — at least for a while and perhaps much longer — as a period of involuntary thrift unfolds in many households. With the number of jobs shrinking, housing prices falling and debt levels swelling, the same nation that pioneered the no-money-down mortgage suddenly confronts an unfamiliar imperative: more Americans must live within their means.
“We don’t use our credit cards anymore,” said Lisa Merhaut, a professional at a telecommunications company who lives in Leesburg, Va., and whose family last year ran up credit card debt it could not handle.
Today, Ms. Merhaut, 44, manages her money the way her father did. Despite a household income reaching six figures, she uses cash for every purchase. “What we have is what we have,” Ms. Merhaut said. “We have to rely on the money that we’re bringing in.”
The shift under way feels to some analysts like a cultural inflection point, one with huge implications for an economy driven overwhelmingly by consumer spending.
While some experts question whether most Americans, particularly baby boomers, will ever give up their buy-now/pay-later way of life, the unraveling of the real estate market appears to have left millions of families with little choice, yanking fresh credit from their grasp.
“The long collapse in the United States savings rate is over,” said Ethan S. Harris, chief United States economist for Lehman Brothers. “People are going to start saving the old-fashioned way, rather than letting the stock market and rising home values do it for them.”
In 1984, Americans were still saving more than one-tenth of their income, according to the government. A decade later, the rate was down by half. Now, the savings rate is slightly negative, suggesting that on average Americans spend more than their disposable income.
Though the savings rate does not account for the increased value of stock and property, or the gains on retirement accounts, many economists still view it as the most useful gauge of the degree to which Americans are making provisions for the future.
For the 34 million households who took money out of their homes over the last four years by refinancing or borrowing against their equity — roughly one-third of the nation — the savings rate was running at a negative 13 percent in the middle of 2006, according to Moody’s Economy.com. That means they were borrowing heavily against their assets to finance their day-to-day lives.
By late last year, the savings rate for this group had improved, but just to negative 7 percent and mostly because tightened standards made loans harder to get.
“For them, that game is over,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. “They have been spending well beyond their incomes, and now they are seeing the limits of credit.”
Many times before, of course, Americans have found innovative ways to finance spending, even when austerity seemed unavoidable. It could happen again.
The Me Decade was declared dead in the recession of the early 1980s, only to yield to the Age of Greed and later the Internet boom of the 1990s. Over the longer term, the economy should keep growing at a pace that reflects improving productivity and population gains.
But for the first time in decades, credit is especially tight as the bursting of the housing bubble has spread misery across the financial system. In homes now saturated with debt, conspicuous consumption and creative financing have come to seem a sign of excess not unlike that of a suntan in an age of skin cancer.
The return to reality is on vivid display at shopping centers, where consumers used to trading up to higher-price stores are now heading to discounters. Wal-Mart and T. J. Maxx are thriving, but business has slowed at Coach, Tiffany and Williams-Sonoma.
Not long ago, Elena Gamble would have looked at the Cadillac parked across the street from her modest home in Elk City, Okla., and felt a twinge of jealousy.
“We live in a small town, and everybody looks at your clothes and what you drive and where you have your hair done,” said Ms. Gamble, who earns about $2,600 a month as a grievance counselor at a local prison.
Now, she and her husband — a prison guard who brings home $2,000 a month — are grappling with $10,000 in high-interest debt. They no longer go to the movies or out to eat, except occasionally to McDonald’s. They quit their Internet service. Their car was repossessed. “What we say now is, ‘If we can’t afford it, we can’t buy it,’ ” Ms. Gamble said.
And when she looks across the street at that Cadillac, her envy has been replaced by pity for the neighbor on the hook.
“I say, ‘Oh my, you’re living here, and driving that? There’s got to be something wrong,’ ” Ms. Gamble said. “ ‘You’re in debt, and you’re in trouble.’ ”
For decades, that envy has been a prime engine of economic growth. Debt-willing consumers hungering for the latest-generation this and the fastest that kept factories busy from Michigan to Malaysia.
From 1980 to 2007, consumer spending swelled from 63 percent of the economy to over 70 percent, according to Economy.com, while the share of after-tax income absorbed by household debt increased from 11 percent to more than 14 percent.
During the technology boom of the 1990s, an extravagant mind-set took hold. In ads for the discount broker Ameritrade, a spiky-haired hipster ridiculed middle-aged professionals for settling for conventional returns.
Even after the “stock market as money machine” line of thinking proved bogus, extra spending continued. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near record lows, banks marketed mortgages with exotically lenient terms and another fable of wealth creation took hold: the notion that housing prices could go up forever.
The come-ons for stocks were replaced by a new crop of advertisements. A house was no longer a mere place to live; it was a checkbook that never required a deposit. Between 2004 and 2006, Americans pulled more than $800 billion a year from their homes via sales, cash-out mortgages and home equity loans.
“People have come to view credit as savings,” said Michelle Jones, a vice president at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta.
Some Americans have so much wealth that they can spend enough to fuel much of the economy. The top fifth of American earners generates half of all consumer spending, noted Dean Maki, chief United States economist at Barclays Capital.
For the others, some say credit is an intrinsic part of modern life, and Americans will soon be back for more. “A river of red ink runs through the history of the American pocketbook,” said Lendol Calder, author of “Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit.”
“Partly because of desire, partly because of optimism, partly because lenders have been free to invent useful borrowing tools that minimized shame and bother,” he added, “I think it will take a great catastrophe, greater than the Great Depression, to wean Americans from their reliance on consumer credit.”
Credit counselors are now swamped by calls not just from people of modest means, but from professionals earning six-figure incomes, their access to finance warping their distinction between necessity and desire.
“The longer someone has lived on a high income, the harder it is for someone to cut back,” said Manuel Navarro of Money Management International in San Diego. “I ask them, ‘Do you really need to have a 60-inch flat-screen TV hanging on your wall?’ ”
Fran Barbaro has an M.B.A. and a résumé of computer industry jobs with salaries reaching $150,000 a year. She used to have a stock portfolio worth about $1 million. She hung original art on the walls of her three-bedroom house in Boston.
But divorce, illness and motherhood drained her savings. Her home is worth less than she owes, and she owes another $200,000 to credit card companies, banks and tax collectors.
Ms. Barbaro, 50, said she knew she was living beyond her means. But her house demanded work. Her two boys needed after-school programs running $25,000 a year. Medical bills multiplied.
“These were simple day-to-day expenses,” she said. “The money was always there.”
Until it wasn’t. Her take-home pay is $5,200 a month, but her debt payments reach $4,400.
Ms. Barbaro has rented out her house while negotiating to lower her mortgage. She has moved to an apartment, where her sons sleep in the lone bedroom while she sleeps on a pull-out sofa.
“It’s the worst,” Ms. Barbaro said. “How do you salvage what you have and hopefully go back?”
Copyright © 2008 The New York Times
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/23007200/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 CNBC.com
Quote of the Day
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin
I like this quote because it is not only a great antidote but also does very well what a quote should do; speak volumes in few words. Not to mention it is the ultimate topic.
In my interpretation, I believe that this quopte portrays liberty as being fragile and always being suppressed and that liberty must always be defended vigorously defended. It has many more underlying meanings in my opinion.
I like this quote because it is not only a great antidote but also does very well what a quote should do; speak volumes in few words. Not to mention it is the ultimate topic.
In my interpretation, I believe that this quopte portrays liberty as being fragile and always being suppressed and that liberty must always be defended vigorously defended. It has many more underlying meanings in my opinion.
Word of the Day
Liberty
In modern times, liberty is generally considered a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the ability to act according to his or her own will.
Source: Wikipedia
1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.
2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.
3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
Source: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 05, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberty
I chose the word liberty because I think that it should be the basis for all governmental actions, meaning that liberty should always be at the forefront of any law or rule that the government imposes. I believe that in today's environment liberty is taking a back seat and that we are suffering from an ever-increasing body that threatens our liberties. I believe that a large part of society is ignoring the basic idea that this country is founded upon.
In modern times, liberty is generally considered a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the ability to act according to his or her own will.
Source: Wikipedia
1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.
2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.
3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
Source: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 05, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberty
I chose the word liberty because I think that it should be the basis for all governmental actions, meaning that liberty should always be at the forefront of any law or rule that the government imposes. I believe that in today's environment liberty is taking a back seat and that we are suffering from an ever-increasing body that threatens our liberties. I believe that a large part of society is ignoring the basic idea that this country is founded upon.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Today's Observation
I drive a lot on the Baltimore and Washington Beltway's among other various interstates.
I have noticed that "18 wheelers" are increasingly becoming "10 wheelers". The usual two-tire combinations are being replaced by single "jumbo" tires. I thought that this was interesting. I am sure this has to do with economics, but I am not sure of the exact reasons they are showing up more-and-more. I will try to do some research.
I have noticed that "18 wheelers" are increasingly becoming "10 wheelers". The usual two-tire combinations are being replaced by single "jumbo" tires. I thought that this was interesting. I am sure this has to do with economics, but I am not sure of the exact reasons they are showing up more-and-more. I will try to do some research.
Word of the Day
Vice
Vice is a practice or habit that is considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit.
Vice is a practice or habit that is considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit.
Quote of the Day
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." - Abraham Lincoln
This quote, for the most part, speaks for itself. However, I personally believe that this speaks to the complexity of us as human beings. We are always condemning ourselves and others for our vices, but these vices in essence are what makes us dynamic human beings. We are fallible and probably meant to be that way. If we were meant to be perfect than we would probably be pointless. We must embrace our character flaws in order to be whole. Also, I believe that this speaks to our modern day epidemic of overzealous political correctness. We are expected to be perfect but at the expense of our uniqueness and true selves. We are becoming a bland lot.
This quote, for the most part, speaks for itself. However, I personally believe that this speaks to the complexity of us as human beings. We are always condemning ourselves and others for our vices, but these vices in essence are what makes us dynamic human beings. We are fallible and probably meant to be that way. If we were meant to be perfect than we would probably be pointless. We must embrace our character flaws in order to be whole. Also, I believe that this speaks to our modern day epidemic of overzealous political correctness. We are expected to be perfect but at the expense of our uniqueness and true selves. We are becoming a bland lot.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Word of the Day
Greed
noun
1. excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
2. reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins) [syn: avarice]
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The reason I choose this as the word of the day is that I think that this is one of the major underlying problems with this country today. I know this is no huge revelation due to the fact that greed has been with us since the beginning of time, however, I believe that it is getting worse and worse and it is getting out-of-control. I believe greed along with some people's sense of entitlement is what is a big factor in crippling this country.
Examples to come...
noun
1. excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
2. reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins) [syn: avarice]
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The reason I choose this as the word of the day is that I think that this is one of the major underlying problems with this country today. I know this is no huge revelation due to the fact that greed has been with us since the beginning of time, however, I believe that it is getting worse and worse and it is getting out-of-control. I believe greed along with some people's sense of entitlement is what is a big factor in crippling this country.
Examples to come...
Today's Observation
This is just an observation that I have been making for a while. I know that it is just a superficial observation with no scientific research behind it, at least from the standpoint of my blog. Take it for what it is worth.
I ride the DC Metro (subway system) to work on a fairly regular basis. After a few months of riding it and observing what people read from time-to-time, I have noticed that men tend to read newspapers and non-fiction books whereas women tend to read fiction. Just an observation. Maybe someday I will research to see if there is any substance behind this.
By-the-way, is it me or is the Metro the most efficient way to lose faith in humanity as well as to be dehumanized. Just curious.
I ride the DC Metro (subway system) to work on a fairly regular basis. After a few months of riding it and observing what people read from time-to-time, I have noticed that men tend to read newspapers and non-fiction books whereas women tend to read fiction. Just an observation. Maybe someday I will research to see if there is any substance behind this.
By-the-way, is it me or is the Metro the most efficient way to lose faith in humanity as well as to be dehumanized. Just curious.
Quote of the Day
"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from his government." - Thomas Paine
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