The Next President is...

[Lord Ratner]

23 hours ago, brabus said:

nobody forces these kids to go and get that expensive, but useless degree

Do you have kids? Were you ever one?

 

To imply that a bunch of 16-17 year olds supposed to have the experience and rationality to ignore/refute/buck their parents, teachers, role models, politicians, etc is just absurd. Just like when the boomers complain about millennials and genZ getting participation trophies.

 

Well yeah, clown, who exactly bought the trophy?

 

If your argument blames teenagers, it's probably a pretty weak argument.

[brickhistory]

Generations past, to include those who came here prior to us being us worked hard, tried to make it better for their off-spring.

If the off-spring don't appreciate it, but rather blame their parents (which every generation has done), then who really is to blame for outcomes?

But, what the hell, get the vaccine.  You'll be GTG in life.

[brabus]

11 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

Do you have kids? Were you ever one?

 

To imply that a bunch of 16-17 year olds supposed to have the experience and rationality to ignore/refute/buck their parents, teachers, role models, politicians, etc is just absurd. Just like when the boomers complain about millennials and genZ getting participation trophies.

 

Well yeah, clown, who exactly bought the trophy?

 

If your argument blames teenagers, it's probably a pretty weak argument.

The root cause is shitty/lazy parents for sure. They wanted to be their kid’s best friend instead of their parent and mentor. And because of that they’ve produced kids who are entitled, lazy, ignorant, etc. And did you call me a clown for buying trophies? My son’s participation trophy he received in t ball years ago went directly in the trash at the field - he learned a valuable lesson on attitude and effort that day. Several millennial parents were mortified, the difference years later is my son doesn’t have an attitude or work ethic problem, where as their “best friends” do (I know some of them personally, their kids are everything we’ve been talking about). 
 

And now that I think about it, my boomer parents (and friend’s boomer parents) worked hard to give us kids a good life within their means. They parented and mentored us instead of coddling us. They actually did a hell of a job raising that wild pack of animals (err, kids) back in the 80s and 90s. The point - blaming someone else (especially in the past) while sitting on your ass gets nobody anywhere. Again for the 3rd? time, adapt and overcome or be a whiny bitch who will go nowhere. It’s actually pretty simple. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by brabus

[Negatory]

Cool, we’ve figured out the root cause. Now do we punish the children, when we agree they aren’t the root cause?

[brickhistory]

[brabus]

9 hours ago, Negatory said:

Cool, we’ve figured out the root cause. Now do we punish the children, when we agree they aren’t the root cause?

How exactly are WE punishing children? Hurdles in life are not synonymous with the Royal we punishing anybody. But I have a feeling that’s exactly what you think.

[Lord Ratner]

On 6/25/2022 at 9:33 AM, brabus said:

And now that I think about it, my boomer parents (and friend’s boomer parents) worked hard to give us kids a good life within their means. They parented and mentored us instead of coddling us. They actually did a hell of a job raising that wild pack of animals (err, kids) back in the 80s and 90s. The point - blaming someone else (especially in the past) while sitting on your ass gets nobody anywhere. Again for the 3rd? time, adapt and overcome or be a whiny bitch who will go nowhere. It’s actually pretty simple. 

Neat. But societies don't work through anecdote. You can pull yourself up by the bootstraps all you want (I certainly did as I sit comfortably in the upper 10%), but the distribution of wealth doesn't lie, and the boomers leveraged trillions of future wealth into their pockets, so now their kids have to pay more for housing, education, transportation, and investments. All while real wages have stagnated or declined. But hey, we can get TVs pretty cheap...

 

And while all this has happened, the upper echelon of society has engineered weapons-grade blinders to avoid the unpleasantness of the increasingly desperate reality of those in the bottom half. It's much more comfortable that way, until the proletariat come knocking on your door with their pitchforks and torches.

 

Most intelligent animals have a very finely-tuned sense of fairness, and brother, it hasn't been fair for a while. COVID was the single greatest transfer of wealth to the top earners in history. Most people can't follow the complicated chain of financial implements used to move money from the middle-class pockets into the investment accounts of the rich(Robinhood, Bitcoin, etc), but they can still smell a scam somewhere in there.

 

What's amazing to me is how the conservatives have been asleep at the wheel. They seem so fucking proud of their non-representative success stories, like yours, that they have completely missed the raping and pillaging of our capitalist system by politicians, foreign actors, and the financial industry. Those who *do* are now subordinated to those who manipulate. 

 

I hope I'm wrong, but we'll know very soon. The chickens have all come home to roost at the same time, and the "smart money" (insiders) are already positioning themselves for the pain. I expect they'll all be on CNBC shilling their holdings to the retail investors before they become much less valuable. The final scam before the bill comes due.

[brabus]

9 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

They seem so fucking proud of their non-representative success stories, like yours, that they have completely missed the raping and pillaging of our capitalist system by politicians, foreign actors, and the financial industry.

Wait a minute, so now we’re talking about politicians, foreign actors and big finance fucking people over - yeah dude, completely agree. That’s a whole different ball of wax than just broad brush blaming a generation for the woes of the younger generation. 

[Swizzle]

57 minutes ago, brabus said:

Wait a minute, so now we’re talking about politicians, foreign actors and big finance fucking people over - yeah dude, completely agree. That’s a whole different ball of wax than just broad brush blaming a generation for the woes of the younger generation. 

This convo belongs in the Investment showdow thread!

Big investment idea(s): complex,  compound investing using OPM (other people $) principle and across multiple markets...we all know info is power/money

...kind of like TSP offering new funds after federal retirements changed to more TSP-matching schemas and less defined-retirement structures (i.e. BRS vs top 3 and older systems)...aka shifting the risk, creating new monetary fluidity using OPM...people with more info should see better returns, the average person is likely worse off. However, those informed people who play market bear and bull runs have new great options which could be quite lucrative. Classic TSP funds don't allow much room for bear market plays, save a TSP loan well timed and, with discipline, invested in growth (or short plays) elsewhere

[Lord Ratner]

9 hours ago, brabus said:

Wait a minute, so now we’re talking about politicians, foreign actors and big finance fucking people over - yeah dude, completely agree. That’s a whole different ball of wax than just broad brush blaming a generation for the woes of the younger generation. 

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.

[Prozac]

3 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

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.

Well said. 

[FLEA]

4 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

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.

BOOM!

[uhhello]

That god damn whack a loon (Boebert) won her primary. I feel like I'm on a deserted island surrounded by morons.  

[Lord Ratner]

17 minutes ago, uhhello said:

That god damn whack a loon (Boebert) won her primary. I feel like I'm on a deserted island surrounded by morons.  

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

[uhhello]

30 minutes ago, Lord Ratner said:

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

She's a god fearing christian woman.  No extra marital sex or pre marital sex for her. 

[Swizzle]

6 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

//

If the poor 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.

Agree with several attributable facts you present, however...

Who's says the poor can't invest? What's stopping them? 

If you don't understand Cramer's Rule 1: "Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money and Pigs Get Slaughtered"...then perhaps its their education/understanding that is the problem. Side note, last I saw Robin Hood made some small investors thousands, and yes others lost -- but they were investing!

[CaptainMorgan]

She's a god fearing christian woman.  No extra marital sex or pre marital sex for her. 

Explain all the god-fearing, Christian single moms.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kaputt]

1 hour ago, Swizzle said:

Who's says the poor can't invest? What's stopping them? 

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

[pawnman]

20 minutes ago, kaputt said:

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

Agreed. Tough to invest when you're making choices between paying the electric bill and groceries. 

[uhhello]

4 hours ago, CaptainMorgan said:

Explain all the god-fearing, Christian single moms.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Explain the sarcasm to you or?

[dream big]

6 hours ago, CaptainMorgan said:

Explain all the god-fearing, Christian single moms.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s always my fellow “Christians” that go ape shit on TDYs, to include female officers break dancing on dudes in clubs. 

[dream big]

9 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

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

As long as AOC doesn’t smile, or talk for that matter..can’t be that unpleasant. 

[Lord Ratner]

12 hours ago, Swizzle said:

Agree with several attributable facts you present, however...

Who's says the poor can't invest? What's stopping them? 

If you don't understand Cramer's Rule 1: "Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money and Pigs Get Slaughtered"...then perhaps its their education/understanding that is the problem. Side note, last I saw Robin Hood made some small investors thousands, and yes others lost -- but they were investing!

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.

[NKAWTG]

4 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

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.

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.    

[brickhistory]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:47 PM, uhhello said:

That god damn whack a loon (Boebert) won her primary. I feel like I'm on a deserted island surrounded by morons.  

But nary a word regarding:

-Maxine Waters 

-Ilhan Omar who 

- AOC

- Jamie Pressley

-Jamilla Prayapal 

- etc, etc,

I'd say those congresscritters, in particular, are more destructive than 2nd Amendment advocate Boebart.

Huh, interesting, I guess...