A bailout rant

I don't post many rants but every once in a while I get annoyed enough with what's going on that I just can't help myself. I can't believe how lazy people are. This country is so well off and so successful that we can't imagine what we'd do if we actually had to TRY to get by. The poorest people in the country live better than the "well off" people living in third world countries. There's enough money floating around to support millions of workers who do nothing but sit on their ass all day and push buttons. Then they have the gall to bitch about how much their job sucks. They're also shocked when their job is shipped overseas or they're fired because of "budget cuts". This entitlement mentality is what's destroying this country. The politicians are certainly helping but you can't put all of the blame on them. There are most definitely some legitimate, hard workers that are swept up in all of this mess and are hurting because of what's going on but those are the people that will, 99% of the time, bounce back and recover.

My mother in law is a 60 something retiree. She skis damn near every day in the winter and hikes almost every day in the summer. She's in better shape than I am. She's got a masters degree. She owns her house outright and takes multiple vacations every year. One day we got on the subject of social security and when I suggested that we just get rid of it she looked at me like I'd just smacked her in the face and said that she'd never be able to get by without it. When my wife was growing up she remembers her taking the occasional substitute teaching job but otherwise she lived the same lifestyle. This is the mentality of the typical American. Everyone wants to live the easy life but no one wants to work for it. That's how it's been for half a century so why should we change anything now? They look to our politicians to make sure that this lifestyle is maintained.

Winston Churchill was right. The best argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter. Most people are retarded. Most of the people who aren't realize this and just do what they can to make sure that they and their's can live comfortably. The people who are in a position to actually make a difference and pretend to care about the average joe are already incredibly well off and will never "give till it hurts" to make sure that the people that they "care" about get a helping hand. Stop worrying about everyone else and start worrying about yourself. Educate yourself. Work hard. Make sure that YOU and YOURS are taken care of. Become exceptional at what you do. Be able to do something else if what you want to do doesn't work out for you. If everything goes to shit and your neighbor decides that he deserves what you've got more than you do then be willing and able to prove to him that he doesn't one way or another.

I say let the cards fall where they will. We'll see hard times one way or another. The question is what position do you want to be in when the cards are falling and after we start to pick up the pieces? The harder we try to prop things up the farther we'll fall when everything crashes. The last thing that I want to see is for us to stave off another crash just long enough for the politicians to make sure that honest people who are willing to protect themselves when the government can't do it for them have no means to. We need to be honest with what REALLY caused our biggest problems and have systems in place to make sure that it doesn't happen again when we start to rebuild. We need to stop relying on other people to do everything for us. Unfortunately, thanks to shit like political correctness and greedy assholes posing as philanthropists that always seem to gain a lot of steam when most of the population is well off I don't see how we can ever stay successful forever. Human nature is a bitch.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I absolutely agree with you - very well said. The trouble we're in is a trouble of our own making, and you spell it out very well. BTW keep up the great work here; love your site.
Anonymous said…
I too often think about this. I mean even growing enough food for yourself to eat is a LOT of work. But every little bit helps. I have an easy button pushing job and love it! At least I'm learning other skills on the side.
Marine 83 said…
This was a great rant. Thanks. One of the things I find disturbing is the tendency even among this preparedness community to blame others, usually .Gov for their problems. It has been my experience in life that the vast majority of us, are where we are, because of choices we have made. I include myself in this category. Yes there are people who have been screwed by the system, but in general if you want to see the bastard that hurt you the most, all you have to do is look in the mirror.
Anonymous said…
hey, this is a great blog, i usually check it every couple of days to see if you've updated, it's a good resource. the bit on roasting coffee was particularly intersting to me.

even though i'm from canada, i take a bit of an issue with your characterization of american workers as lazy.

here are a couple of links:

"Study: US workers are world's most productive"

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/09/03/study_us_workers_are_worlds_most_productive/


"Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1223406598-uCD5ziwExCxwsQViaO8bqg&oref=slogin
Anonymous said…
screwed up the boston.com link, sorry

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/09/03/study_us_workers_are_worlds_most_productive/
Anonymous said…
WTF! hahaha

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/09/03/study_us_workers_are_worlds_most_productive/
Anonymous said…
So, you don't like Social Security, what do you plan on doing? You gonna work 'til you die?

So, you figure the elderly should all live in grinding poverty?
It doesn't matter if I want it or not. At the rate things are going it won't be around when I get old enough to use it. I'll have to keep paying for it until it's gone, though. The biggest problem that I have with it is people expect it. They think that they're entitled to it. They assume that it'll always be there. Like most of our welfare system it's not doing what it was intended to do when it was implemented.
Anonymous said…
I love your rant!

I am one of those hard workers that got swept up in our economy unraveling. I got laid off after 20 years of "driving" a desk. But, I can truthfully say that they did me a favor. My husband and I have been able to pay off our home so all we have are the utilities to pay each month. I now have more time to devote to expanding my vegetable garden for next year. I also have been able to find a job where I work a couple hours a day for a handicapped individual. I also "baysit" 5 neighborhood children for 2 families. It is enjoyable helping them with their homework everyday and reading to them. This different type of work, I have found, is much more fulfilling than working as just a button-pushing, chair-filler in a corporation.

Unlike others, when I got laid off I did not lean on the system to help sustain my way of life. I would rather help myself, than to sit back and be helped by others.

I agree with you that we will see hard times either way. And yes, the ones to blame are ourselves, but we definitely can toss the uber-rich on that pile. Take the AIG execs who went on a $440,000 spending spree after getting an $85B bailout, for example.

Unfortunately, though, we humans are a very fickle bunch. We like to point fingers but we don't like to try to help ourselves. We have become a rather lazy society as a whole. Look at what is supplied in the grocery stores - a lot of already prepared foods that all you have to do is pop in the microwave oven. Thanks, but I would rather make a healthy meal from scratch. I know what goes into it!

Thankfully my growing up years were spent with a mother and father that made us kids work in the vegetable garden and chop or stack wood for the wood stove in the winter. I continued that when I moved to Idaho for many years. I raised animals and LOTS of vegetables. I canned, froze and stored enough food for a family to survive on for 2 years. I also learned how to use a sewing machine to make my own clothes!

It's too bad that a lot of younger people don't get to have this kind of experience. Too many think the world owes them something. I think if they did, this world would actually have a fighting chance.

I have tried to clue some of my friends into the Sh*tStorm we are in for, but, like the rest of the world, they walk around with blinders on. I feel sorry for those who can't or won't prepare for the coming train wreck. They will not be able to survive it. So, unfortunately all I can do is make sure that me and mine can survive as best as possible the impending storm.

Keep up the good work, Urban Survivalist!
Anonymous said…
Cash out your 401,stock,whatever..This is the big one!! We'll have marshall law soon,your dollar's are worthless! Buy silver,gold,food and ammo..And gun's,lotsa guns! The zombie's will be here soon!
Anonymous said…
I agree completely, I have been talking to people for years about the economy and politics and whatever is going on in the world. When something happens its always "Why didn't someone do something" I ask what did you do to help, and people get totaly offended. "Thats what the government is there for." Thats the problem, the govt loves this attitude and thats how they make more and more laws, limiting what was our freedom. Well I son't need a baby sitter and like making decisions on my own. If I make a mistake I own up to it rather than try to blame someone else. I also ran into this site and like what they have to say. http://www.downhomesurvival.com Helpful info if you are not afraid to help yourself, and get your hands dirty. Most of what people need to do to prepare is not that hard. One of the most important things I can think of though is learn to cook, cause fast food or any prepared food could be really hard to find. I know a lot of people who couldn't boil an egg. Yes you have to add water. LOL
Anonymous said…
gee, people, don't worry till the shelves at the liquor store are empty and when you turn on the tv... nothing !!!

it will be DAWN OF THE DEAD rough, at first. but survivors survive...

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