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US income inequality at record high

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#861
Then tell some of those amazing stories! I admire Bill Gates.

For the sake of their privacy, I don't tell stories about my family. But I'll bet that almost all of us have grandparents or parents who made it through the Great Depression, or through worse things happening overseas.
 
#864
Truktek2 said:
Why do I suddenly feel like we're being trolled.

According to your profile you were on the road for 22 years (as a working musician?) had up to 32 bass students. Drive in a 1000.00 car as per the "chasing me in the mall thread" (with a broken door handle if memory serves me correctly)

Collect rent from shady people in your section 8 rental units and YOU PLAY BASS?

Exactly what 1% are you a part of?

Not that I'm looking to start a fight or anything, after all according to your sig, you must be one bad@&& mofo.
Click to expand...

Ah. Very observant.
I did play music for more than 22 years. At many points, I even did it for a "living". However, I almost always had another job and/or ran a side business while I was doing it. At one point, I worked as the manager of a music store, where I also taught as many as 32 students, beginning at 6:00 p.m. when the store had closed and my paperwork was done. (I was single at the time so being at work from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. wasn't a big deal.) I taught Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and was the house bass player for a blues night on Tuesday and was co-owner of a private/corporate band on the weekends.

I could write a check for just about any car/truck I want to drive. But I am a cheap bastard so I drive a '99 Tahoe with about 217,000 miles on it. It is a little beat up and, yes, it has a broken door handle I refuse to pay my mechanic $125 to fix. It has a street value of about $1,000. My wife is a partner in a private medical practice and it is all I could do to talk her into buying a used TrailBlazer at $25,000. But I wanted us to have at least one vehicle that was reliable with kids around. I will drive my Tahoe 'til the wheels fall off. Then I will put them back on and drive it some more. When they fall off again, I will WELD them back on and drive it some more. I don't need or want a new vehicle.

I do not participate in Section 8. (You weren't paying attention to that post very well.) Not worth the hassle and (by all accounts locally) the constant damage to my properties. I do, however, own rental properties in neighborhoods where there are Section 8 units.

These days I play mostly fill-in gigs. And they have to be worth my time. I only play for good money or good friends.

And your last statement was not lost on me. You were calling me stupid. I get it. Funny how easy that is from behind a computer screen. Rest assured, I am not stupid, but tough enough. ;) I got tough by 1) making a lot of stupid mistakes along the way and 2) learning from them so I never made them again. Most people (yourself probably included) stop at step one. :eek:

I sold one of my businesses and went back to school full time starting last January. I have two children. I like long walks on the beach, pina colatas, and getting caught in the rain. I like other people's dogs. I have a barn, but no horses. I have a pool I rarely set foot in. I play softball on Thursday nights. I hate mustard. I need to lose about ten pounds to get back into my 32" waist jeans before the weather gets really cold. I sing the pure crap out of "Your Love" by The Outfiled. That alone gets me more gigs than I want to admit. My Keen sandals are wearing out a lot sooner than I expected they would. That makes me sad. I keep all my cutoff jeans shorts from the 80's in a big rubbermade container in the attic because I am positive they are going to make a comeback. And when they do, mine will be "vintage" and I will be a HUNDREDAIRE!

Anything else you wanna know there hotshot?
 
#865
two fingers said:
Ah. Very observant.
I did play music for more than 22 years. At many points, I even did it for a "living". However, I almost always had another job and/or ran a side business while I was doing it. At one point, I worked as the manager of a music store, where I also taught as many as 32 students, beginning at 6:00 p.m. when the store had closed and my paperwork was done. (I was single at the time so being at work from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. wasn't a big deal.) I taught Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and was the house bass player for a blues night on Tuesday and was co-owner of a private/corporate band on the weekends.

I could write a check for just about any car/truck I want to drive. But I am a cheap bastard so I drive a '99 Tahoe with about 217,000 miles on it. It is a little beat up and, yes, it has a broken door handle I refuse to pay my mechanic $125 to fix. It has a street value of about $1,000. My wife is a partner in a private medical practice and it is all I could do to talk her into buying a used TrailBlazer at $25,000. But I wanted us to have at least one vehicle that was reliable with kids around. I will drive my Tahoe 'til the wheels fall off. Then I will put them back on and drive it some more. When they fall off again, I will WELD them back on and drive it some more. I don't need or want a new vehicle.

I do not participate in Section 8. (You weren't paying attention to that post very well.) Not worth the hassle and (by all accounts locally) the constant damage to my properties. I do, however, own rental properties in neighborhoods where there are Section 8 units.

These days I play mostly fill-in gigs. And they have to be worth my time. I only play for good money or good friends.

And your last statement was not lost on me. You were calling me stupid. I get it. Funny how easy that is from behind a computer screen. Rest assured, I am not stupid, but tough enough. ;) I got tough by 1) making a lot of stupid mistakes along the way and 2) learning from them so I never made them again. Most people (yourself probably included) stop at step one. :eek:

I sold one of my businesses and went back to school full time starting last January. I have two children. I like long walks on the beach, pina colatas, and getting caught in the rain. I like other people's dogs. I have a barn, but no horses. I have a pool I rarely set foot in. I play softball on Thursday nights. I hate mustard. I need to lose about ten pounds to get back into my 32" waist jeans before the weather gets really cold. I sing the pure crap out of "Your Love" by The Outfiled. That alone gets me more gigs than I want to admit. My Keen sandals are wearing out a lot sooner than I expected they would. That makes me sad. I keep all my cutoff jeans shorts from the 80's in a big rubbermade container in the attic because I am positive they are going to make a comeback. And when they do, mine will be "vintage" and I will be a HUNDREDAIRE!

Anything else you wanna know there hotshot?
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Nope. Carry on.
 
#866
two fingers said:
OK so I'm elitist because I use an attorney.

Let's break this down to "working class" terms, shall we? You get ready to buy a used car. Unless you are a dipstick, you don't just trust the slick sales guy to have the best advice on buying a car, or your best interests at heart. You take the dang car to a mechanic to have it looked over to make sure the slick sales guy isn't ripping you off. Fair enough? Now, let's say the mechanic charges $75 to look at the car. If you can't afford to pay the $75 then you can't afford the car. That has been my point all along. If you can't afford an attorney fee to have a contract looked over BEFORE you sign a mortgage for HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars, then you obviously (obvious to anyone with an IQ higher than that of a box of rocks anyway) can't afford the freakin HOUSE.

Too stupid to understand all the ins and outs of a mortgage contract is nothing unusual (I'm that guy too). Too stupid to take the thing to someone who DOES understand it is Darwin on parade.

Sorry. At SOME point, the guy had to know that $20K (or whatever) annually plus bills plus car plus gas plus food plus taxes plus healthcare plus everything else we all encounter as humans here on Earth and in the US will NEVER EVER EVER equal $300,000 plus even the SMALLEST of interest rates........ like...... ever. Didn't need a banker OR a lawyer to figure that out, now did we? I didn't pull out my calculator once... and even left my SHOES on. :hmm: So how is it that THIS dipstick isn't more than just a LITTLE bit responsible for signing a mortgage that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES (short of winning the lottery) he would EVER be able to pay back, mo matter WHAT the banker did or didn't do? Like...... EVER. There IS NO REALITY in which the guy could have EVER paid back ANY lending institution THAT amount of money making THAT much money.

Seems like 50/50 responsibility to me. Being inexperienced in finance means nothing. You don't have to know a lot of math to figure out what will never add up.
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You are of a different socioeconomic range if you're using an attorney regularly (assuming you're doing it out of choice;)). Our mariachi musician probably doesn't even know an attorney.

You're privileged if you're interacting with certain people. Money isn't the only thing that separates people it's also social savoir faire. Just as there is social knowledge specific to lower income levels, middle and upper levels have income and social specific knowledge of how and who to speak to.

I would probably embarrass myself eating caviar in public, or engaging in appropriate demeanor at a country club. Knowledge of financial planning is the same way.

I expect the bank to be a better financial planner than the consumer. That's their job. Literally.
 
#867
Unrepresented said:
You are of a different socioeconomic range if you're using an attorney regularly (assuming you're doing it out of choice;)). Our mariachi musician probably doesn't even know an attorney.

You're privileged if you're interacting with certain people. Money isn't the only thing that separates people it's also social savoir faire. Just as there is social knowledge specific to lower income levels, middle and upper levels have income and social specific knowledge of how and who to speak to.

I would probably embarrass myself eating caviar in public, or engaging in appropriate demeanor at a country club. Knowledge of financial planning is the same way.

I expect the bank to be a better financial planner than the consumer. That's their job. Literally.
Click to expand...

...and once again, Mr. Bourdieu is relevant here on Talkbass. I confess that I have a bit of a man-crush on the late Pierre.

Bourdieu.jpg
 
#868
two fingers said:
I need to get something out of the way........

My writing style (so I've been told) is not very...... nice. Even my family members have a hard time with emails from me on occasion. I guess I am kind of a crass, sarcastic kind of guy. Quite often I am taken way too literally and way too seriously.

So, for the record, I don't hate anyone here. I don't think any of you are idiots (even if I actually type that word I don't mean it. I say it all the time to my closest friends and family members.) I have truly enjoyed this discussion even though some of us obviously disagree on many points. And I love this country no matter which direction it goes. And I don't wish anyone any ill will. Quite the opposite.

It truly bothers me that the vast majority of people, NONE of whom are any less talented than I, have been convinced that the "cards are stacked against them". They have been CONDITIONED to think there is no use in even trying because there are people who would put roadblocks in their way. This is a sad and ridiculous notion. Just about anyone, from the poorest among us, can make huge strides in the right direction if CONVINCED they can. I often go to the deity of my choice (almost got me on religion there, didn't you) to help me with something. If I ever come across anyone who tries to convince my children that they CAN'T accomplish something because of something SOMEONE ELSE will do to stop them, it will be all I can do to avoid violence. To me, that is the most soul crushing thing you can do to a person........ pound into their head that there is no use in going for it because your dreams will never be recognized.

This is the angle from which my hardcore opinions flow. My grandfather was my hero. Without going into too much rambling, he came up through the depression and not only survived, but thrived. Nobody today even understands what real hardship is. this thing we just went through was no Great Depression. And he did it from pure poverty. My father did the same. THESE are the stories we should see on the news. THESE are the things our children should be hearing! Not a bunch of talking heads sitting around spinning the line of the day about how "Things are so unfair in this country that only a few could POSSIBLY succeed in this climate. And even those people already made it before they tried because some rich guy had their back." Give me a break. That simply is not true. It isn't. Period.

Successful people used to be HEROES. Now they are filthy, greedy and the ENEMY. Are there bad actors in the "1%" (dumbest term on Earth)? Sure. But some of them are amazing men and women. And their stories could be used to INSPIRE people (particularly young people). But we lump them into one big ball of greed and contempt.

(Stop rambling TF)

Either way. You guys are great. I think I have bothered you enough for one topic. I'm sure that both my opinions and tone have offended some. For the latter I am truly sorry. For the former I am truly not. But I respect your right to disagree as well.

Carry on TBOT!
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Fair Enough, and I'll apologize for the crack about your sig.
We'll just agree to disagree.
 
#870
Unrepresented said:
I expect the bank to be a better financial planner than the consumer. That's their job. Literally.
Click to expand...

Not unless you hire them as a fiduciary, which would be rare. Most of the people selling you things like mortgages, stocks, mutual funds, insurance, and the like, are working solely for their commission. Even people who call themselves "financial planners" are not necessarily working on your behalf.

It's not like hiring an electrician. If you hire an electrician, they might engage in some salesmanship, but at the end of the day you know that their work will be safe and up to code. This is thanks to the regulation of their trade.
 
#877
fdeck said:
Not unless you hire them as a fiduciary, which would be rare. Most of the people selling you things like mortgages, stocks, mutual funds, insurance, and the like, are working solely for their commission. Even people who call themselves "financial planners" are not necessarily working on your behalf.

It's not like hiring an electrician. If you hire an electrician, they might engage in some salesmanship, but at the end of the day you know that their work will be safe and up to code. This is thanks to the regulation of their trade.
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Fair enough. Wasn't there some Glass-Steagall legislation that was supposed to fix that?
 
#878
Unrepresented said:
Fair enough. Wasn't there some Glass-Steagall legislation that was supposed to fix that?
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According to all-knowing Wikipedia, Glass-Steagall was enacted in 1933. There have been some newer measures that fall under the rubric of "truth in lending," but still no regulation that I know of to force bankers to act on behalf of consumers.
 
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