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America land of the glutinous

Have Americans become greedy little spoiled scum bags.

  • yes

    Votes: 19 48.7%
  • no

    Votes: 20 51.3%

  • Total voters
    39

sawyerloggingon

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When I was a kid in the 50s everyone except movie stars and Randolph Hearst lived in modest homes, drove modest cars and took modest vacations. Mom and dad loaded all 4 of us kids in the station wagon with the 16 ft Terry behind us and we went camping. Now you see people in 200K motor homes "camping". Houses are now huge and having a maid to clean it and a gardener to mow the lawn is common. Kids wear $200.00 tennis shoes, I wore PF Fliers. I could go on and on and give example after example but I think you get the point. IMO opinion Americans have become greedy, spoiled,voracious, rapacious consumers and I get sick of hearing people whine about not having enough. We have developed an entitlement mentality, "I am an American and I deserve to have everything I want". Makes me sick.
 
When I was a kid in the 50s everyone except movie stars and Randolph Hearst lived in modest homes, drove modest cars and took modest vacations. Mom and dad loaded all 4 of us kids in the station wagon with the 16 ft Terry behind us and we went camping. Now you see people in 200K motor homes "camping". Houses are now huge and having a maid to clean it and a gardener to mow the lawn is common. Kids wear $200.00 tennis shoes, I wore PF Fliers. I could go on and on and give example after example but I think you get the point. IMO opinion Americans have become greedy, spoiled,voracious, rapacious consumers and I get sick of hearing people whine about not having enough. We have developed an entitlement mentality, "I am an American and I deserve to have everything I want". Makes me sick.

I don't know anyone who lives in a huge home, has a maid and a gardener, with kids wearing $200.00 shoes . . . and on and on.

Even my sister doesn't seem to quite cut your view of excessive-Americanism though she does have a part time nanny - they're fastracking their mortgage and don't have auto payments anymore, no massive debt. . . so she's on top of **** with one income.

Just who in the hell are you talking about? Where exactly are you living in Idaho that has these lush living standards and really - maybe it's just a small area? Are you living in the posh hills or something?

You know - in my business research I learned that one of the fasted growing retail segment is the resale arena. Over the last 10 years with department and related resale sales dropping the resale industry itself is gaining. Clothing, especially - all items. From children's bedding to furniture, etc. People's debts are decreasing, savings are adding up. Even then - the average American is tight on cash and definitely mowing their own lawns *maybe* - because lawn equipment sales are down yet so are the number of lawn care businesses.
 
You are correct.

We are all spoiled-myself included! I require satelite tv or cable tv,

Car and house with working AC .

YES we're all spoiled!:peace
 
Part of it is inflation. Part of it is the rampant consumerism that started exactly from those 50's kids when they started making lots of money in the 70's and 80's. That's where the idea that greed is good came from. That's where Wall Street became more important than Main Street. That's where the idea that "he who dies with the most toys wins" came from.

Kids right now are not nearly as bad as you think, and the ones that are... they're merely emulating their parents.
 
I don't know anyone who lives in a huge home, has a maid and a gardener, with kids wearing $200.00 shoes . . . and on and on.

Even my sister doesn't seem to quite cut your view of excessive-Americanism though she does have a part time nanny - they're fastracking their mortgage and don't have auto payments anymore, no massive debt. . . so she's on top of **** with one income.

Just who in the hell are you talking about? Where exactly are you living in Idaho that has these lush living standards and really - maybe it's just a small area? Are you living in the posh hills or something?

You know - in my business research I learned that one of the fasted growing retail segment is the resale arena. Over the last 10 years with department and related resale sales dropping the resale industry itself is gaining. Clothing, especially - all items. From children's bedding to furniture, etc. People's debts are decreasing, savings are adding up. Even then - the average American is tight on cash and definitely mowing their own lawns *maybe* - because lawn equipment sales are down yet so are the number of lawn care businesses.

This recession has curbed enthusiasm I agree.
 
Personally, I think since about 1890, people have been spoiled. It all started to go downhill once they had Montgomery Ward distribution! ;)
 
Part of it is inflation. Part of it is the rampant consumerism that started exactly from those 50's kids when they started making lots of money in the 70's and 80's. That's where the idea that greed is good came from. That's where Wall Street became more important than Main Street. That's where the idea that "he who dies with the most toys wins" came from.

Kids right now are not nearly as bad as you think, and the ones that are... they're merely emulating their parents.


It's not even bad at all. We've had rapid consumerism many times before in our history, and indeed, yes, the exact same complaints were raised.
 
When I was a kid in the 50s everyone except movie stars and Randolph Hearst lived in modest homes, drove modest cars and took modest vacations. Mom and dad loaded all 4 of us kids in the station wagon with the 16 ft Terry behind us and we went camping. Now you see people in 200K motor homes "camping". Houses are now huge and having a maid to clean it and a gardener to mow the lawn is common. Kids wear $200.00 tennis shoes, I wore PF Fliers. I could go on and on and give example after example but I think you get the point. IMO opinion Americans have become greedy, spoiled,voracious, rapacious consumers and I get sick of hearing people whine about not having enough. We have developed an entitlement mentality, "I am an American and I deserve to have everything I want". Makes me sick.

I was not around in the 50's - but I guarantee you people were just as greedy then as they are now.

But technology has made things that were unthinkable to own then, now within the budget of almsot everyone.

Plus, America had virtually free run of the world for about 25 years. Every major power was either destroyed, communist or flat broke after ww2 - except America (who made TONS of money off the war).

And lately - since 1971 and the end of Bretton Woods - America has grown through massive debt and being able to print the world's reserve currency whenever she wants and how ever much she wants.

But it is all coming to an end as the debt bubble is reaching a climax.

When it blows? I know not.

But when it pops - the U.S. standard of living will be far less then it is now.

Still decent - but much more modest then today.

It will be countries like Canada that will zoom past America in GDP per capita...countries that have huge natural resources and small populations to look after. The commodity haves will get rich selling to the commodity have nots - assuming the have nots don't conquer the haves.
 
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When I was a kid in the 50s everyone except movie stars and Randolph Hearst lived in modest homes, drove modest cars and took modest vacations. Mom and dad loaded all 4 of us kids in the station wagon with the 16 ft Terry behind us and we went camping. Now you see people in 200K motor homes "camping". Houses are now huge and having a maid to clean it and a gardener to mow the lawn is common. Kids wear $200.00 tennis shoes, I wore PF Fliers. I could go on and on and give example after example but I think you get the point. IMO opinion Americans have become greedy, spoiled,voracious, rapacious consumers and I get sick of hearing people whine about not having enough. We have developed an entitlement mentality, "I am an American and I deserve to have everything I want". Makes me sick.


I don't see that kind of wealth for the majority but I do see $100 - $150 sneakers. People will buy outrageous personal items before paying the bills on necessities. When I saw the cost of the average, smart phone plan for a small family I about fell over. It was in the thousands of dollars in some cases.

Though I came along a little later than you I do remember we didn't have so many extras, especially electronics like they have today. We were alright on basics and did a lot more outdoor activity with biking, swimming, sports, fishing, beach visits, playing in the woods, throwing frisbee and football, etc. But now days I can't buy Xmas gifts for family because they have everything, except real expensive stuff. It is different.
 
I don't know anyone who lives in a huge home, has a maid and a gardener, with kids wearing $200.00 shoes . . . and on and on.

Even my sister doesn't seem to quite cut your view of excessive-Americanism though she does have a part time nanny - they're fastracking their mortgage and don't have auto payments anymore, no massive debt. . . so she's on top of **** with one income.

Just who in the hell are you talking about? Where exactly are you living in Idaho that has these lush living standards and really - maybe it's just a small area? Are you living in the posh hills or something?

You know - in my business research I learned that one of the fasted growing retail segment is the resale arena. Over the last 10 years with department and related resale sales dropping the resale industry itself is gaining. Clothing, especially - all items. From children's bedding to furniture, etc. People's debts are decreasing, savings are adding up. Even then - the average American is tight on cash and definitely mowing their own lawns *maybe* - because lawn equipment sales are down yet so are the number of lawn care businesses.

Bold: Thats what I'd like to know. I live in Idaho and I certainly haven't seen this in my area....
 
I worked at a Footlocker in a poor mall when I was younger, it was astounding how many mothers feigned ignorance to how they would pay rent as they bought their children "The new Jordans" which were always $120+

I knew a lot of poor people growing up, but you couldn't tell it by their children's clothes or iPods or a car at 16.
 
When I was a kid in the 50s everyone except movie stars and Randolph Hearst lived in modest homes, drove modest cars and took modest vacations. Mom and dad loaded all 4 of us kids in the station wagon with the 16 ft Terry behind us and we went camping. Now you see people in 200K motor homes "camping". Houses are now huge and having a maid to clean it and a gardener to mow the lawn is common. Kids wear $200.00 tennis shoes, I wore PF Fliers. I could go on and on and give example after example but I think you get the point. IMO opinion Americans have become greedy, spoiled,voracious, rapacious consumers and I get sick of hearing people whine about not having enough. We have developed an entitlement mentality, "I am an American and I deserve to have everything I want". Makes me sick.

Yep. This attitude, entitlement and class envy, is the biggest push for a "living wage" (or a highly inflated minimum wage). What we have come to accept, it seems, is that ANY full-time work should support a "family" in middle class style. The standard of living is very, very high now in the US; compared to the rest of the world or even compared to the US in the 1950's.

What is Poverty in the United States: Air Conditioning, Cable TV and an Xbox
 
You are correct.

We are all spoiled-myself included! I require satelite tv or cable tv,

Car and house with working AC .

YES we're all spoiled!:peace

When those with a decent "disposable" income choose to have "nice" things, well beyond any real "need" that is simply progress, or enjoying the fruits of one's labor. The problem, IMHO, is that this is now "standard" and has been allowed to raise the bar for what is granted by "entitlments"; it is now assumed that "basic welfare" should provide "access to" a lower middle class lifestyle, an ever rising thing.

What is Poverty in the United States: Air Conditioning, Cable TV and an Xbox
 
I don't think so really. What I think has happened over the decades is the "American market" has been seen as a gold mine so to speak by those with products to sell. Americans had money and lots of it compared to the rest of the world so not only did industry target their products to us, market forces also inflated pricing that tbo we all benefited from in higher profits for investors and higher incomes for workers. Then starting in the 1980s there was the beginning of a gradual shift to overseas labor markets, which brought even greater profits to investors but started putting American workers in the ranks of the unemployed. The lobbyists simply had our elected officials tell us we are transitioning to a more "service-based" labor market (many higher paying jobs were going away forever to the third world and many Americans would fill lower income positions). As we all know from Economics 101, a glut in the labor market naturally leads to lower incomes for those with jobs since employers will understandably take advantage of many people wanting to fill fewer positions and will hire the best workers for the lowest salaries. Robotics and automation compounded the situation, which was great for the investment community but not so great for those who have to work for a living (capital gains earners doing great, employment earners not so great).

What I think we're seeing and I hope will bring some healing to the economy is an adjustment downward in consumer pricing. With average Americans now making less money means one possible cure is an adjustment in the economy would be for the cost of living to go down, admittedly something with both positives and negatives and a painful adjustment while in transition.

What's interesting is while life is getting tougher for people who earn their income from working a 9 to 5, life is booming for people who earn a living from the return on their investments capitalizing on cheap overseas labor and automation while cleverly pitching the notion that they need lower taxes used to hire American teachers, firefighters and highway construction workers so they can employ people in the private sector (code for New Delhi call centers and Chinese sweat shops). In the same communities we'll have more trailer parks but also more luxury high-rise condos and gated country club communities and fewer in the middle. In fact, one big push making the news recently are the new micro home and micro apartment industry which makes housing for the working class so much more affordable.

As part of the pilot program, the winning team comprised of Monadnock Development, Actors Fund Housing Development Corp., and nArchitects will build 55 micro-units between 250 and 370 square feet (including a kitchen and bathroom) at 335 E. 27th St. in Manhattan.


Will the Middle Class Want Micro-Apartments? - Businessweek
 
Bold: Thats what I'd like to know. I live in Idaho and I certainly haven't seen this in my area....

Oobviously I am making a gross generalization here but I honestly believe Americans by and large feel they deserve a very high standard of living that far exceeds basic needs. As ttwtt has pointed out this has spilled over into social programs which GIVE people enough money to have big screen TV's, cell phones, computers etc.
 
One more thing to prove my point about this. All these jobs that Americans won't do so we have to let Mexicans come here. A job you WON'T do??? WTF is that about? Are you too good to do manual labor just because you are an American? I don't get it.
 
One more thing to prove my point about this. All these jobs that Americans won't do so we have to let Mexicans come here. A job you WON'T do??? WTF is that about? Are you too good to do manual labor just because you are an American? I don't get it.

You give people a better choice, they will let others fill the void. We've operated under that notion since the start of the colonies.
 
You give people a better choice, they will let others fill the void. We've operated under that notion since the start of the colonies.

The problem is all these people on welfare that refuse to take jobs Mexicans come here in droves to fill. When I hear how Americans won't do these jobs I say pull their welfare and they will take these jobs. When I was young I picked apples and planted trees in clear cuts which is almost all done by Mexicans now. I wasn't "too good" to work.
 
When I was a kid in the 50s everyone except movie stars and Randolph Hearst lived in modest homes, drove modest cars and took modest vacations. Mom and dad loaded all 4 of us kids in the station wagon with the 16 ft Terry behind us and we went camping. Now you see people in 200K motor homes "camping". Houses are now huge and having a maid to clean it and a gardener to mow the lawn is common. Kids wear $200.00 tennis shoes, I wore PF Fliers. I could go on and on and give example after example but I think you get the point. IMO opinion Americans have become greedy, spoiled,voracious, rapacious consumers and I get sick of hearing people whine about not having enough. We have developed an entitlement mentality, "I am an American and I deserve to have everything I want". Makes me sick.

In the 50's, my Father's side of the family had already established themselves in the agricultural business, and lived in a pretty big mansion above their orchard. My grandfather drove a Mercedes, back when Mercedes actually meant something, and my grandmother had her very own Jag. They were anything but modest, same with everyone else in the middle upper-class. I've stayed in that mansion, it hasn't changed since its last big redecorating in 1974. Very lavish, very nice. You could get lost in it. Even the small guest house I stayed in was exquisite.

But yes, many Americans have become whining little bitches. Not because of what they buy, but because we've become a nation of soft, weak, dependent dogs who will do tricks for a buck, and would rather complain about the rich, than actually work to sustain themselves.
 
The problem is all these people on welfare that refuse to take jobs Mexicans come here in droves to fill. When I hear how Americans won't do these jobs I say pull their welfare and they will take these jobs. When I was young I picked apples and planted trees in clear cuts which is almost all done by Mexicans now. I wasn't "too good" to work.

This could pull you in the direction of supporting contemporary examples of migrant labor, but I am assuming you wouldn't want to go down that road in this thread.
 
Work is good, welfare is bad. Migrant labor is work.

But contemporary migrant labor is heavily populated by the population I seem to recall you do not appreciate being here. Perhaps examples of America's greed would bring you around to supporting it?
 
Yep. This attitude, entitlement and class envy, is the biggest push for a "living wage" (or a highly inflated minimum wage). What we have come to accept, it seems, is that ANY full-time work should support a "family" in middle class style. The standard of living is very, very high now in the US; compared to the rest of the world or even compared to the US in the 1950's.

What is Poverty in the United States: Air Conditioning, Cable TV and an Xbox

Well I'll be damned...poor people have refigerators, ceiling fans, and a coffee maker? Spoiled..
 
But contemporary migrant labor is heavily populated by the population I seem to recall you do not appreciate being here. Perhaps examples of America's greed would bring you around to supporting it?

Everyone on welfare now should be in the fields tomorrow and speaking of work, I better get going so if you want we can continue this tonight. Have a good day.:)
 
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