In the "houselessness" issue one could in fact blame someone other than the individual to a degree. Government. Every year government increases the cost of taxes, housing taxes, gas taxes, food taxes, bracket creep, compounded taxes and a million more taxes. They even have the balls and unmitigated evil to tax wages.
They create inflation that suffocates everyone in the lower strata as well as the middle classes. This inflation combine with regulation creates loss of jobs, drops in purchasing power of wages and savings destroys opportunities for everyone.
At some point, some of the people at the bottom get sick of the treadmill to nowhere and simply give up.
Government is MORE to blame than they are for this, though they are the only ones who can do something about the problem.
But it is a pernicious system created by stupid voters. Voters who vote 2 party and ensure nothing works. All the ruling class has to do, is insert a barely perceptible level of complication into the process and voters choose to hand a hammer to the same people who hit them with a hammer every year of their miserable short lives.
A lot of our homeless and shooters could be helped with mental assistance. Been going on for 70 years as the government has cut mental health programs. To our detriment. We used to have sanitariums to help but they are mostly gone. Just sayin'.
Excellent point! It would be a much better America if we used the money wasted on forever wars for mental health. Deep thinkers fix problems whereas prohibitionists just exacerbate them :-)
Not just America - here too. We (collectively) did a terrible job, in many instances, of housing those of us who were not really capable of looking after themselves. But out went the baby with the bathwater, and instead of improving how some of our mental institutions were run, we just closed most of them down. So here we are.
Even if most of these unfortunate people were given a home absolutely free they wouldn't know what to do with it. They need, in most cases, care and attention, but if we think that we can no longer afford those sorts of institutions, then come up with another plan - because letting them loose on society ain't a plan. Well, at least I assume it isn't a plan!!
Yes, a relative of mine worked downtown L.A. when this happened. Reagan was President then. She said it was terrible and very sad. Most of them would be sleeping in doorways and begging for food or money. Mostly money. She didn't feel safe.
And now the commander in chief has been struck down with covid despite having had about half a dozen jabs. Remember that time he said "you're not going get covid if you take the vaccine". Clown show.
While Rome burns, Joe Biden is going to save the world from climate change, no matter China, Russia, and India are the biggest polluters. The US is going to do it! Nothing else really matters. Whatever.
The Globalists are playing for all the marbles. They're sacrificing the European economy which is America's largest trading partner. They're betting the war in the Ukraine will remain conventional. Putin has shown remarkable constraint so I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be Kabuki Theater.
No diplomacy and no statesmanship in the year 2022? This just doesn't smell right. There's no doubt the financial system needs a reset, but this has the potential to go horribly wrong. I'm strongly in the no confidence camp :-)
When will the citizens of the world wake up to the fact that one of the most important jobs of government officials, arguably the most important, is to calm fears, not to stoke them. And if all government officials are doing, every day and in concert with the media, is stoking old fears and generating new ones, then that constitutes prima facie evidence of a dereliction of duty most profound. Such leadership must be summarily rejected by the people. There is no more important quality in a leader than level headedness, healthy mental outlook, and prudence.
But the world has gone mad, led there daily by the wicked and insane. What kind of people follow such leaders?
I did see the Pantomime that you think was a 'Coup' - fancy dressed selfie takers! Unlike a summer of fires when the BLM truly looked as though they were revolting (they are, but that's a pun) and the Democrats supported that!
They say, a million a year are pouring across the border, aided by government transport. Most are uneducated and never worked a day In their lives. In 1970, Honduras, campesinoes worked 12 hour days and walked six miles to the fields.
When I was a kid, we had a resident drunk living in the garage. People took care of each other. That has been zoned out of existence.
Two years ago, in Charlotte County, FL, they were selling 700sqf condors for 60k, now, they are 125k. A news blurb, 60% of Americans can’t afford a starter home. Even two married school teachers would find it difficult to buy a house in Sarasota County. The working poor, two incomes, can’t afford housing.
In 1994, I built a house, on a lot, for 350k, today it is 5 million. Asset appreciation from money creation.
Most of this can be tracked to government manipulation ... always a better plan, a new victory.
After you pay principle and interest, you have to double that for taxes and insurance. Lord help us when state and local employees cry for wage increases. The tax base, in FL, has doubled in two years with real estate appreciation. Everyone wants to move to FL because of DeSantis, a practical man, and I wonder if he can get re-elected. The haters are confounded and confounding. America has gone crazy.
Yet the trucker truck and most Americans speed down the hi-way without a care in the world. All seems right with the world. It is all right for me.
For a large part of my 65 years, I've been acquainted with Latin Americans, mostly Mexicans, working here on a green card. (BTW, they would be offended to be called a lateenks.) They usually worked two full time jobs and lived in rentals at multiples of the recommended occupancy. Almost all sent money back to wherever home was on payday.
The idea that somebody born here, educated here (OK, maybe that should count as a negative), can get to anywhere in the USA on a modest amount of bus money (that pearl used to end with "$50", but I doubt that's true any longer), or at worst join the military, is unable to avoid sleeping in his/her own feces on a sidewalk is just nuts. Yes, there are the mental cases and sometimes hard luck just happens, but by and large people just expect somebody to take care of them.
Yes Bill, I think a nuclear winter would benefit the world immensely! I’m pretty sure all the idiots that push for this ending with Russia have exactly that in mind..or mindless, which ever, for in order for the world to cool, let’s kill a couple of billion birds with one stone. Get rid of those pesky humans and cool the planet so it’s survived can enjoy cooler summers underground. Damn, I wonder how that will effect our wine crop?
Government zoning restrictions that prevent the building of affordable housing are a major cause of homelessness (and inflation). In the 1950s, I lived in a simple, nonfancy 2000 square foot house in Los Angeles. It was bought for about $ 20,000 by my parents. It was sold for $ 245,000 in 1981. The present estimated value is $ 2.5 million! Guess who runs California and is responsible for this mess? The Democratic Party! They claim to be on the side of the "little guy", but act in a manner to protect the interests of the "wealthy elite" in the housing market.
If you've ever seen the film, "V for Vendetta" you will have noted how the television news becomes more and more inundated with crisis upon crisis as the government's narrative becomes threatened. I feel like I'm watching a live streaming version with the fear mongering we're witnessing today.
Biden's shadow mentors (which he needs since his ability to think seem impaired) have him talking about "Code Red" regarding temperatures are similar to the British Chancellor late in the film when he addresses the media and law enforcement saying, "I WANT THE PEOPLE TO KNOW JUST WHY THEY NEED US!"
No doubt he has empirical evidence to support his contention that the planet can house many more of our species than it does now. My opinion is just that: my opinion. It's based foremost on the crowding out theory; that is, the more of us means the less of other species.
As it is now, we're the only species in the existence of life on Earth that now has the capacity to destroy all other species at will. And the more of us, the more wars, trash and greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere. We are a smart but vicious and destructive species; too many by half
The 'gas and food prices are not the 'executives' fault, they are the fault of cultists like you. The Net Zero agenda means that now Russia is the place who has everything that the US & world needs. The people who stopped the US providing it? Look in a mirror.
So, Joel, as a sometimes resident, how does the Argentine economy function day to day? I know you mentioned previously that they quickly exchange pesos for hard goods, but you can only buy so much stuff. If the peso falls so precipitously daily, how do people/businesses there make any plans and secure their futures?
In the "houselessness" issue one could in fact blame someone other than the individual to a degree. Government. Every year government increases the cost of taxes, housing taxes, gas taxes, food taxes, bracket creep, compounded taxes and a million more taxes. They even have the balls and unmitigated evil to tax wages.
They create inflation that suffocates everyone in the lower strata as well as the middle classes. This inflation combine with regulation creates loss of jobs, drops in purchasing power of wages and savings destroys opportunities for everyone.
At some point, some of the people at the bottom get sick of the treadmill to nowhere and simply give up.
Government is MORE to blame than they are for this, though they are the only ones who can do something about the problem.
But it is a pernicious system created by stupid voters. Voters who vote 2 party and ensure nothing works. All the ruling class has to do, is insert a barely perceptible level of complication into the process and voters choose to hand a hammer to the same people who hit them with a hammer every year of their miserable short lives.
Mr. Smith goes to the insane asylum!
A lot of our homeless and shooters could be helped with mental assistance. Been going on for 70 years as the government has cut mental health programs. To our detriment. We used to have sanitariums to help but they are mostly gone. Just sayin'.
Don Harrell
Excellent point! It would be a much better America if we used the money wasted on forever wars for mental health. Deep thinkers fix problems whereas prohibitionists just exacerbate them :-)
Not just America - here too. We (collectively) did a terrible job, in many instances, of housing those of us who were not really capable of looking after themselves. But out went the baby with the bathwater, and instead of improving how some of our mental institutions were run, we just closed most of them down. So here we are.
Even if most of these unfortunate people were given a home absolutely free they wouldn't know what to do with it. They need, in most cases, care and attention, but if we think that we can no longer afford those sorts of institutions, then come up with another plan - because letting them loose on society ain't a plan. Well, at least I assume it isn't a plan!!
Yes, a relative of mine worked downtown L.A. when this happened. Reagan was President then. She said it was terrible and very sad. Most of them would be sleeping in doorways and begging for food or money. Mostly money. She didn't feel safe.
And now the commander in chief has been struck down with covid despite having had about half a dozen jabs. Remember that time he said "you're not going get covid if you take the vaccine". Clown show.
Quiet you...
Excuse me?
While Rome burns, Joe Biden is going to save the world from climate change, no matter China, Russia, and India are the biggest polluters. The US is going to do it! Nothing else really matters. Whatever.
The Globalists are playing for all the marbles. They're sacrificing the European economy which is America's largest trading partner. They're betting the war in the Ukraine will remain conventional. Putin has shown remarkable constraint so I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be Kabuki Theater.
No diplomacy and no statesmanship in the year 2022? This just doesn't smell right. There's no doubt the financial system needs a reset, but this has the potential to go horribly wrong. I'm strongly in the no confidence camp :-)
When will the citizens of the world wake up to the fact that one of the most important jobs of government officials, arguably the most important, is to calm fears, not to stoke them. And if all government officials are doing, every day and in concert with the media, is stoking old fears and generating new ones, then that constitutes prima facie evidence of a dereliction of duty most profound. Such leadership must be summarily rejected by the people. There is no more important quality in a leader than level headedness, healthy mental outlook, and prudence.
But the world has gone mad, led there daily by the wicked and insane. What kind of people follow such leaders?
Ever see a Trump rally..........
Not lately. DJT has been enjoying his time living rent-free in your head these past few years.
It's all that empty space ya know...
I did see the Pantomime that you think was a 'Coup' - fancy dressed selfie takers! Unlike a summer of fires when the BLM truly looked as though they were revolting (they are, but that's a pun) and the Democrats supported that!
They say, a million a year are pouring across the border, aided by government transport. Most are uneducated and never worked a day In their lives. In 1970, Honduras, campesinoes worked 12 hour days and walked six miles to the fields.
When I was a kid, we had a resident drunk living in the garage. People took care of each other. That has been zoned out of existence.
Two years ago, in Charlotte County, FL, they were selling 700sqf condors for 60k, now, they are 125k. A news blurb, 60% of Americans can’t afford a starter home. Even two married school teachers would find it difficult to buy a house in Sarasota County. The working poor, two incomes, can’t afford housing.
In 1994, I built a house, on a lot, for 350k, today it is 5 million. Asset appreciation from money creation.
Most of this can be tracked to government manipulation ... always a better plan, a new victory.
After you pay principle and interest, you have to double that for taxes and insurance. Lord help us when state and local employees cry for wage increases. The tax base, in FL, has doubled in two years with real estate appreciation. Everyone wants to move to FL because of DeSantis, a practical man, and I wonder if he can get re-elected. The haters are confounded and confounding. America has gone crazy.
Yet the trucker truck and most Americans speed down the hi-way without a care in the world. All seems right with the world. It is all right for me.
Thank you Bill you are the best. Sharing your time and thoughts is a great gift to all of us.
Jerry C
For a large part of my 65 years, I've been acquainted with Latin Americans, mostly Mexicans, working here on a green card. (BTW, they would be offended to be called a lateenks.) They usually worked two full time jobs and lived in rentals at multiples of the recommended occupancy. Almost all sent money back to wherever home was on payday.
The idea that somebody born here, educated here (OK, maybe that should count as a negative), can get to anywhere in the USA on a modest amount of bus money (that pearl used to end with "$50", but I doubt that's true any longer), or at worst join the military, is unable to avoid sleeping in his/her own feces on a sidewalk is just nuts. Yes, there are the mental cases and sometimes hard luck just happens, but by and large people just expect somebody to take care of them.
Yes Bill, I think a nuclear winter would benefit the world immensely! I’m pretty sure all the idiots that push for this ending with Russia have exactly that in mind..or mindless, which ever, for in order for the world to cool, let’s kill a couple of billion birds with one stone. Get rid of those pesky humans and cool the planet so it’s survived can enjoy cooler summers underground. Damn, I wonder how that will effect our wine crop?
Government zoning restrictions that prevent the building of affordable housing are a major cause of homelessness (and inflation). In the 1950s, I lived in a simple, nonfancy 2000 square foot house in Los Angeles. It was bought for about $ 20,000 by my parents. It was sold for $ 245,000 in 1981. The present estimated value is $ 2.5 million! Guess who runs California and is responsible for this mess? The Democratic Party! They claim to be on the side of the "little guy", but act in a manner to protect the interests of the "wealthy elite" in the housing market.
Homelessness will get worse as rents climb.
600 billionaires and 40 million on food stamps !! Capitalism in America.
So do something to help our great Nation fiend.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out...
This is not capitalism!!! This is crony capitalism.
Economic Fascism is a far cry from Capitalism. Come on Friend; you need to know your audience.
If you've ever seen the film, "V for Vendetta" you will have noted how the television news becomes more and more inundated with crisis upon crisis as the government's narrative becomes threatened. I feel like I'm watching a live streaming version with the fear mongering we're witnessing today.
Biden's shadow mentors (which he needs since his ability to think seem impaired) have him talking about "Code Red" regarding temperatures are similar to the British Chancellor late in the film when he addresses the media and law enforcement saying, "I WANT THE PEOPLE TO KNOW JUST WHY THEY NEED US!"
GH
Too many people; not enough trees on this planet
There are enough trees.
Try watching Prof Hans Rosling's lectures on the internet, there are NOT too many people on the planet.
No doubt he has empirical evidence to support his contention that the planet can house many more of our species than it does now. My opinion is just that: my opinion. It's based foremost on the crowding out theory; that is, the more of us means the less of other species.
As it is now, we're the only species in the existence of life on Earth that now has the capacity to destroy all other species at will. And the more of us, the more wars, trash and greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere. We are a smart but vicious and destructive species; too many by half
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/21/revealed-oil-sectors-staggering-profits-last-50-years
Yup. Darn Capitalists, Investors and responsible Executives are at it again...
Enjoy your ' responsible executives ' gas and food prices.
The 'gas and food prices are not the 'executives' fault, they are the fault of cultists like you. The Net Zero agenda means that now Russia is the place who has everything that the US & world needs. The people who stopped the US providing it? Look in a mirror.
So, Joel, as a sometimes resident, how does the Argentine economy function day to day? I know you mentioned previously that they quickly exchange pesos for hard goods, but you can only buy so much stuff. If the peso falls so precipitously daily, how do people/businesses there make any plans and secure their futures?