The whole "American Dream" is identical to "buying crap you don't need"...

Your people even calls it "the pursuit of happiness", LOL!

Capitalism, Made in USA.

Apr 26, 2012 -- 9:44AM, Bodean wrote:

I don't fall in a religious category!

I don't even remember putting reconstructionists/heathen on my profile ... for that matter .. I don't even remember making a profile.  [that was 12 years ago].  Who knows ... maybe that was what I was studying at the time.

I've studied a LOT of religion and such .. including all the stuff that good Christians are not supposed to study.

Actually ... I was raised Catholic.  Thus .. I guess I'm still Catholic .. but I don't follow Catholic "doctrine".

Perhaps you should update your profile then. 

Apr 27, 2012 -- 6:17PM, costrel wrote:

Apr 27, 2012 -- 10:42AM, Bodean wrote:

Well .. there are those of us who whole heartedly support any person buying crap they don't need, provided they don't look to someone else to pay for it. ... like .. Government Subsidy.

And then there are those of us who do not support this kind of crass and materialistic consumerism and consumption of goods. It's one thing to have a special and meaningful collection such as model trains or pewter unicorns or favorite films on DVD, and quite another thing to indiscriminately buy lots of crap that a person doesn't need. 

OH contrare costrel ...

If you support Democrats .. then you most certainly do support people buying crap they don't need, ... AND ..you support wealth redistribution to ensure those at the bottom can buy crap they don't need as well.

I mean ... SSI .. free cell phone .. at your expense.  Food Stamps ... a monetary value that can be traded for cash, so someone can buy crap they don't need.  The subsidy forumula of S.S and disability ... ensures that a person can continue to by crap they don't need.  ALL Wealth redistribution in the United States supports the recipient buying crap they don't need.  Even in cases where they use the subsidy as intended, ... like let's say .. Food Stamps ... if frees up their cash so they can buy crap they don't need.

Remember Katrina????  Those $2000 Debit Cards ... most ALL of it went to buy crap people didn't need.  The Katrina Victims had never held that kind of money in their hands at one time ... whooo hooo ... now I can buy something those rich folks carry around .. like a Coats Purse!

There's a better way to provide people with what they "NEED" vs creating a system that buys votes so they can abuse it for they want.

Apr 29, 2012 -- 9:53PM, costrel wrote:

Apr 29, 2012 -- 4:40PM, Bodean wrote:

OH contrare costrel ...

If you support Democrats .. then you most certainly do support people buying crap they don't need, ... AND ..you support wealth redistribution to ensure those at the bottom can buy crap they don't need as well.

I mean ... SSI .. free cell phone .. at your expense.  Food Stamps ... a monetary value that can be traded for cash, so someone can buy crap they don't need.  The subsidy forumula of S.S and disability ... ensures that a person can continue to by crap they don't need.  ALL Wealth redistribution in the United States supports the recipient buying crap they don't need.  Even in cases where they use the subsidy as intended, ... like let's say .. Food Stamps ... if frees up their cash so they can buy crap they don't need.

Remember Katrina????  Those $2000 Debit Cards ... most ALL of it went to buy crap people didn't need.  The Katrina Victims had never held that kind of money in their hands at one time ... whooo hooo ... now I can buy something those rich folks carry around .. like a Coats Purse!

There's a better way to provide people with what they "NEED" vs creating a system that buys votes so they can abuse it for they want.

I'm not talking about providing people with what they need, nor am I talkking about wealth distribution. I am talking about people taking responsibility for their consumptive habits by choosing not to buy things that they don't need. In other words, I am talking about personal responsibility, not about government responsibilty or political party responsibility. Nor am I or the Democrat Party responsible for what the Katrina victims did with whatever disaster relief aid they received. Likewise, I also do not view this as a Republican vs. a Democrat issue. I am sure that there are many Democrats and many Republicans who would not support simple living, reducing consumption, living in smaller-sized houses, owning fewer possessions, taking their own reusable shopping bags and baskets to the stores rather than using the throw-away plastic and paper bags provided by the stores, etc. 

The problem is that it is all connected.

How do you propose urging people to take personal responsibility for their consummerism, when out government is practically falling all over itself to give them money to spend??

Why "save today" .. when the government has your back in retirement??  Why put money away to take care of your future healthcare needs .. when the government has your back on healthcare via Medicare??  Why try to live in the "simple life" as you put it, when the Govenment is handing you fists full of dollars for you to spend??

This is why Government Subsidy doesn't work out in the long run.  Government Subsidy changes the mindset of the populace.  In our case, it has changed us .. well, not me, I'm frugal as hell, ... but "most" people, into a bunch of entitled consummers who think they deserve everything they see.  And .. since they don't have to worry about the future, ya know . retirement, healthcare cost, etc ... they spend away.

Apr 30, 2012 -- 11:16AM, costrel wrote:

Apr 30, 2012 -- 9:35AM, Bodean wrote:

The problem is that it is all connected.

How do you propose urging people to take personal responsibility for their consummerism, when out government is practically falling all over itself to give them money to spend??

And why should I be the one to urge other people to take personal responsibility? They should take responsibility for themselves and do it because they want to. I am not some apostle or street preacher of simple living, nor am I a reformer, a protester, or a wannabe revolutionary.

Because, it is your tax dollars that are allowing it.  If people would take the responsibility for themselves, then they would have already done it.  But they haven't!  And .. they don't, because the nanny state has their back!

I'm not saying be a street preacher ... but your "vote" counts.  Your voice does count when contributing to the many other voices.

 

Why "save today" .. when the government has your back in retirement??  Why put money away to take care of your future healthcare needs .. when the government has your back on healthcare via Medicare??  Why try to live in the "simple life" as you put it, when the Govenment is handing you fists full of dollars for you to spend??

Everyone I know understands that people nowadays cannot survive through their retirement years just on things like Social Security and Medicare. People need to save, plain and simple, and save throughout their lives.

Yet .. according to CNN money ... 43% in 2010 had 10K or less retirement savings.  While everyone you know understands this, apparently 43% don't.  But they all have the latest smart phone!! 

This is why Government Subsidy doesn't work out in the long run.  Government Subsidy changes the mindset of the populace.  In our case, it has changed us .. well, not me, I'm frugal as hell, ... but "most" people, into a bunch of entitled consummers who think they deserve everything they see.  And .. since they don't have to worry about the future, ya know . retirement, healthcare cost, etc ... they spend away.

Everyone has to worry about the future, and everyone I know worries about the future, including young people in their early '20s. I don't know where you live or what kind of people you are talking about, but they're not the kind of people I meet on a daily basis in the small prairie towns where I live. Yes, I agree that many people buy too much junk they don't need, live in houses that are too big, etc., but I doubt that they don't worry about the future. And I think there are many reasons for why the American people have become the kind of consumers they currently are, and why the American people often seem to think that a "pursuit of happiness" is related to consumerism, consumption, and the ownership of material possessions and private property. It is not so simple as blaming government subsidies. Advertising and brand names, for instance, play important roles in influencing our consumer habits. 

But Costrel .... if they were "worried about the future", they'd plan for it and act accordingly.  But that is not what we see.  Do you want to know what they are worrying about?? .. just look at the reaction when someone mentions changes to S.S. or Medicare!!!  THAT is what they are worried about!  They are fricken worried that they might have to sacrifice a tad because the evil politicians are going to take away their government subsidy!!  Maybe not the people you meet, but their is a very LARGE percentage of people who are more concerned about what the Government is going to do with their S.S. and Medicare, than they are about saving to provide for their own future!

THEY DON"T WANT TO TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!! .. and thus . .they are not worried about it in the least!