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This is a problem is a long time in the making and will hurt to correct. Cheap money, government bailouts and speculation have sustained companies with bad business plans since the great recession. In order for capitalism to work, stuff needs to fail. Would Boeing be solvent without cheap credit and the implied government backstop? Boeing in particular focuses more capital on lobbying and regulatory capture than engineering. That only makes sense if the conditions allow it. I know I'm picking on Boeing, but some version of that exists in a multitude of industries. And with the banking industry, will you get more bang for your buck from lobbying, or better underwriting and research? Until the risk of failure is back on the table, companies will play with the house money, knowing their hedge is the government bailout.

While I agree with you...the biggest thing the Air Force can't control is locations. That is 100% politics at nearly the highest level. Good luck convincing any of those Senators who control the real purse strings to shut down bases in their states.

I would say the lack of having any disposable income is a pretty big barrier to the poor investing.

I bought 5k in crypto when it went down in Feb…watched it go to 8.5, now it’s at 3.2. Just play money but I’m not sure it’ll ever reach predicted peaks. It’s funny the people at the sq bar who lived talking about all their gains when they bought at 30 and it shot up to 60 are silent.

I think the environment on Crypto has changed for a host of reasons with one of the biggest being China outlawing all Crypto. Two years ago there was a path to $300K but I think the emergence of new options took away a lot of the steam as investors sought to hit a million dollar home run on a $100 investment. Ethereum gained a lot of traction for a host of reasons and hit $4000 before falling, I think the crystal ball believers saw it going to $12,000. I never bought Bitcoin, thought it was fun to watch. I did buy $3K worth of Dogecoin at .055 when it started to bump and sold half at .51 for a nice profit and kept the rest as a long-term Hail Mary. I thought it might go back up due to inflation as you mention but it faces some serious headwinds beyond China...I think it was New York that has outlawed and is actively looking for mining operations.

Here's an unpopular opinion: You shouldn't have to invest in the stock market to improve your financial situation. There is one constant over the last three recessions. The retail investors always get cleaned out. Look up how Robin Hood makes money. The further we get from being an economy that rewards productivity, the worse this is going to get. Banking should not be the easiest way to become a millionaire.

the locations suck, but it's really the money. how many know people here someone know that took a contractor gig in Kuwait/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/other desert shithole for $$$?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: base locations are the largest barrier to Air Force retention. Laughlin can't even retain geriatric sim instructors reliving their 80's glory days.. never mind young CFII candidates wanting to travel, make money, and maybe even have a social life. This will crash and burn just like countless other efforts have, because they continually fail to address the root cause. location location location I'd love to see a study done on the 7 day opt rate for active duty guys getting assignments to places like Laughlin, cannon, holloman etc... But I doubt we'll ever see that. It might actually make the Air Force confront a real cause for the retention issue: the Air Force has systematically closed bases in good locations, and no matter how cool the job, people do not want to live in shitholes.

I'd run a bus full of orphans of a cliff for a threesome with her and AOC.

Oh, the retirement is still moving forward - but also here's a bunch of last minute taskings we have absolutely no one else to do. What do you mean you don't have a crew?

Haven’t you heard? It’s cool to hate the -46. All the cool kids are doing it.

What generation do you think made this possible? What's the average age in Congress? What generation has dominated academia for the past 30 years? Who ran the Fed? Obviously it's not an indictment on *all* boomers. There are plenty who lived honest, honorable lives. But anyone who decries the laziness, weakness, sensitivity, neediness, absence, wokeness, etc of a generation that is only just now reaching the age and ability to have influence over the vast systems they are a part of (millennials, the genZers are still completely subordinated) is being obtuse. Millennials did not create participation trophies. They didn't create infinite useless social-studies degrees to justify tuition costs for themselves. They didn't increase the tuition costs, nor did they increase the administrative staffs. They didn't change the interpretation of Title IX. They didn't put critical theory or Marxism into the curriculum, nor did they invent critical race theory or intersectionality. They didn't create CDOs, mortgage backed securities, or order-flow processing fees. They didn't set the interest rates to zero. They didn't rezone entire regions to prevent stable housing growth. They didn't lower the lending standards in 2002-2006, and they didn't bail out the banks when those lending standards destroyed them. They didn't invent Quantitative Easing and they didn't raise the debt ceiling a few dozen times. They didn't outsource our entire manufacturing base to a geopolitical adversary. They didn't come up with global warming and they certainly didn't fly their private jets to Davos to pontificate on carbon emissions. There's a huge list of societal changes that the US underwent from 1990-present, and the boomers were overwhelmingly steering the ship. Gen X certainly didn't help, but they were more profiteers than anything, and their sins, the wholesale destruction of the common polity through social media algorithms designed to increase marketing revenues, are another topic. I'm sure our generation will have our own sins, but that doesn't change the facts, or who owns them. The successful millennials who were lucky to have good parents (another factor that didn't used to matter as much in America), good genetics, and good timing should be wary of leaving the others behind. That evolved sense of fairness is not easily tamed. The boomers who created the greatest income inequality in modern American history will be dead by the time the bottom half radicalizes and starts "eating the rich." If the poor can't save (0% interest rates + inflation = savings destruction), can't invest (wildly overpriced equities), can't support a family on a single income, and especially when the implications of the Millennials being the first generation to be worse-off financially than their parents becomes the norm, cheap TVs and free phones won't keep them quiet.

I am in favor of providing support to women who carry their babies to full term. Actually, a lot of people are and operate crisis pregnancy centers around the country, completely without taxpayer support!! However, lately they’ve been the recipients of a great deal of arson, vandalism, and other cowardly forms of attack from the champions of “choice.” And since I’m using quotes, I’d also like to give a big shout out to the Supreme Court for their recent ruling that has, at least for the past few days, granted the American Left the freedom to use the word “woman” again! Because “menstruating person” was extremely “offensive” to “persons” who do other stuff besides walking around bleeding everywhere all the time.

Gotten much worse, just look at Chief Bass. Still till this day, I don’t really understand what Chiefs do besides admin queep the commander doesn’t want to do. It’s especially worse on a staff. I know this thread is about shoe clerks but unfortunately many of the Chiefs I’ve met are perpetrators of that mentality.

Really good 15 min video on the recent SCOTUS ruling and Thomas’ opinion regarding the 2A. BL: This could be huge in striking down many gun control laws in the future.

You fundamentally do not understand the constitution, and thus do not understand Thomas. *Exactly* like Roe and the inferred right to privacy, substantive due process is a concept that has no actual basis in the constitution. Therefore regardless of their views, an originalist will oppose such precedents. The inability to separate legal reasoning from personal beliefs is a foundational flaw in progressive ideology. If you have the time, read the dissent with the specific focus of finding constitutional arguments. In over 60 pages, there are none. But on the risks of losing birth control and gay marriage, if we're cherry-picking non-majority concurrences, here's some from Kavanaugh, who will be on the court long after Thomas retires. "First is the question of how this decision will affect other precedents involving issues such as contraception and mar- riage—in particular, the decisions in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U. S. 479 (1965); Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U. S. 438 (1972); Loving v. Virginia, 388 U. S. 1 (1967); and Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U. S. 644 (2015). I emphasize what the Court today states: Overruling Roe does not mean the over-ruling of those precedents, and does not threaten or cast doubt on those precedents." "For example, may a State bar a resident of that State from traveling to another State to obtain an abortion? In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel. May a State retroactively impose liability or punishment for an abortion that occurred before today’s decision takes effect? In my view, the answer is no based on the Due Process Clause or the Ex Post Facto Clause" Roe proved that you can't answer deep societal debates with court-derived solutions. Now the system can once again work as intended. The population of each state gets to decide what is best for themselves, as long as it doesn't violate the constitution. Or a federal law protecting abortion can be passed. Or a constitutional amendment can be ratified. But if those solutions aren't reasonable, then maybe the left should reconsider the meaning of democracy.

How about this? I would say the points below are pretty mainstream for most of my conservative friends, I don’t speak for the extreme: -People don’t chose to be gay -Homosexuals are human beings and should be treated as such -Homosexuals should receive the same rights in the eyes of the government as heterosexuals, to include the benefits of a Civil Union…to that point I don’t think government should be in the business of marriage, period. -Churches should never be forced to marry homosexuals. To your earlier point on Catholics, gays would be welcome in any Catholic Church, it’s only their lifestyle that wouldn’t be approved or validated - I’ll bet you any money on that. -Homosexuals are welcome in the military, I couldn’t care less who you bang. Bring your same sex spouse to work events, you should not be treated any different because of your sexual preferences. -Have your pride parades off base, don’t care, it does not belong in the military and Nellis AFB should not be having drag shows or drag queen reading hours to kids. In fact, just leave kids out of this discussion until they are old enough. All they need to know is treat everyone with respect. -Not everyone is going to approve of your lifestyle, that does not give you the right to bully, intimidate or cancel. The gays who are still bullying the Christian bakers are the worst of people. -There are two genders, you cannot change genders. That’s basic science. Transgenders are still people and should be treated as such, those with gender dysphoria should seek mental help, and with no negative stigma just like any other disease. -No, the military shouldn’t have to pay for gender hormone treatment or transition surgery. I as a commander have better things to do than teach transgender awareness training. -BL, whether you are gay or straight, don’t be an asshole, and we can get a long just fine.