PeakOil is You
in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
by phaster » Wed 30 Apr 2008, 13:17:08
opps double post...
Last edited by phaster on Wed 30 Apr 2008, 13:37:31, edited 1 time in total.
truth is,...
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phaster - Tar Sands
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Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
by phaster » Wed 30 Apr 2008, 13:36:25
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')oney creates the poor and the rich.
That, and, in many cases, work ethic.
its not that simple, there are many poor people who work hard, and I have to admit if I had to be categorized by my 2007 tax return I'd be "rich" because I made too much money to get political panderinging money (aka an economic stimulus check), but I'd also also consider my self lazy because I do what ever I can to actually do anything productive. I think I could be lots more richer, if I didn't procrastinate so much (for example instead typing this long message, I could actually be doing some stock market analysis looking at ways to profit from the massive mismanagement made my politicians and business leaders).
The big problem I see is people's priorities! I studied physics at university, so I tend to look at life in terms of equations, there is always a demand on one side and supply on the other. Didn't take any economics classes, but in the past few years I've been fascinated by the topic because it attempts to quantify how and why people make life choices.
I found an interesting paper about "Conspicuous Consumption and Race" that is a partial answer why this country is so short sighted...
ABSTRACT: Using nationally representative data on consumption, we show that Blacks and Hispanics devote larger shares of their expenditure bundles to visible goods (clothing, jewelry, and cars) than do comparable Whites. Moreover, we show that accounting for differences in reference group income characteristics explains most of the racial difference in visible consumption. We conclude with an assessment of the role of conspicuous consumption in explaining lower spending by racial minorities on items likes health and education, as well as their lower rates of wealth accumulation
http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/erik.hurs ... ission.pdf
it is my belief looking at various sources of data like the paper cited above, that an economy like the one we have in the USA that is 70% driven by the consumer and consumption is unsustainable! The big problem is at all social economic levels is people buy lots of crap thinking it is a way to buy emotional happiness....
Personally I realized long ago that money is nothing more than a tool, that can be leveraged to make even more money, while at the same time be used to improve society and help save natural resources... (basically this is the triple bottom line theory).
An example from my own life, of how I use the triple bottom line is I just got done totally redoing one of my apartment buildings here in San Diego.
Basically one project that was completed last year was a 1920's era 12 unit apartment building which was torn down to the studs and rebuilt "literally" from the ground up to be the most energy efficient and thus environmentally friendly apartment building in the area. Work done on the building included a new electrical system, new plumbing, pre-wired for cable/dish-network and cat5 for multiple phone lines, etc. Each unit has a new tile bathroom with new fixtures, an all new tiled kitchen with custom built cabinets (half of the units have a walk in pantry), new kitchen appliances, walk in closet with organizers, other new custom built storage spaces, new floors, etc.
Because drought(s) will become more sever in the western part of the United States and seriously impact the San Diego area. I opted for low-water use or xeriscaping principles were used in place of traditional turf landscaping because landscaping accounts for about 50 percent of San Diego's residential water usage.
Actually what I did for landscaping was plant citrius trees and strawberries in large terraced planters. Would have liked to try and plant other crops like in an urban farm
http://www.pathtofreedom.com/
but since its a rental property, that would have been just a bit too much...
Basically when I opted to look at the triple bottom line, I leveraged a bank loan into something very profitable and sustainable. The environmental benefit is I'm providing housing that uses less than 1/2 of the water and energy of comparable units in the area (so the carbon foot print of individuals who live in that building is below that of not only typical americans, it's going to be below that of many europeans when I add solar panels in the near future). I'm getting above market rent rates rates from tennants in that building, so I'm pretty happy from the $$$ standpoint. And if ya look at the fusion of new young blood brought into the neighborhood, I'd say that part of how the local society wins.
truth is,...
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phaster - Tar Sands
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Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
by Stonemason » Tue 06 May 2008, 14:01:33
How about we just educate them, minus all the stupid suggestions. If the people were educated properly in the United States, many problems would vanish. Don't blame the fools, blame the ones making them so.
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Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
by bodigami » Tue 06 May 2008, 15:35:31
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('phaster', 'j')ust thought I'd remenind people reading this post, in the grand scheme of things you're pretty will off!
don't know how many of you have traveled in parts of the third world, but life there really sucks and if you think you have problems then just remember (...)
don't know how many of you have traveled in parts of the third world, but life there really sucks and if you think you have problems then just remember (...)
it's really getting tired that posters asume that this is either a USA forum, or a "1st world" forum.
I live in Costa Rica, a "3rd world" country. My life doesn't suck because of the geographic location I'm in... my life doesn't suck either way, I'm happy "even if living in a 3rd world country".
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Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
by phaster » Fri 09 May 2008, 00:41:44
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zensui', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('phaster', 'j')ust thought I'd remenind people reading this post, in the grand scheme of things you're pretty will off!
don't know how many of you have traveled in parts of the third world, but life there really sucks and if you think you have problems then just remember (...)
don't know how many of you have traveled in parts of the third world, but life there really sucks and if you think you have problems then just remember (...)
it's really getting tired that posters asume that this is either a USA forum, or a "1st world" forum.
I live in Costa Rica, a "3rd world" country. My life doesn't suck because of the geographic location I'm in... my life doesn't suck either way, I'm happy "even if living in a 3rd world country".
ya didn't read the part where I added a qualifier,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('phaster', 'j')ust thought I'd remenind people reading this post, in the grand scheme of things you're pretty will off!
don't know how many of you have traveled in parts of the third world, but life there really sucks and if you think you have problems then just remember "There is nothing simple about living on less than a buck a day, which 1.2 billion people do, or on two bucks a day, as three billion people do. Income of $6 a day puts a person in the middle class in developing countries, but only 400 million people now qualify."
I first went down to explore your neck of the woods back in the '80, wow am I getting old.
anyway I also managed to stop in Nicaragua and Honduras and back then things there were just a bit more exciting than costa rica. Compared to your country which never did have a banana republic military, or massive slums, like I've seen in asia and in other parts of central and south america, etc., Costa rica is pretty darn stable and rich in the grand scheme of things and not what I consider 3rd world.
truth is,...
www.ThereIsNoPlanet-B.org
www.ThereIsNoPlanet-B.org
