I agree with most of what you say (though I am no Musk fan),
Ha ha, I'm no fan of Musk either. I think he's a "smart idiot," if you will. But I know LOT of people who think he's an amazing innovator and businessman, so I used him as an example. (My first instinct, showing my age, was to use the classic Jobs/Gates duo )
but I don't understand why you felt the need to put the first half of the 2nd sentence here. Isn't the entire rest of this post a good argument why the Democratic party is less terrible than the Republican party?
No, I mentioned that to make clear that I was not making an argument for this party over that party. The argument is about policy. The "welfare state" tends to get fetishized in discussions; if you follow the mainstream narrative, conservatives must be philosophically opposed to the very concept of a welfare state at the very core of their beings, and and liberals must be in favor of partial wealth redistribution for its own sake.
I think @Balrog99 made a very insightful point which has nothing to do with those philosophical positions: that there are practical goals that a society should have - goals that are not very liberal at all, like maximizing individual achievement - and that what are seen as "liberal" policies can in fact be tools used to achieve those goals. The Republican party might be a lot more alluring to me if they didn't blithely cast aside these potentially powerful tools for the sake of stupid ideology.
> > > > >
The trouble is that maximizing people's potential might not be as wonderful as folks think. In this day and age just try to tell somebody that they're not engineer material and should focus on maybe being an electrician or a plumber. Worse yet, how do you tell somebody, "Well I know you want to get into Harvard and become a lawyer, but how about maybe serving ice-cream at the local Dairy Queen instead?". There would need to be a fair, impartial and comprehensive evaluation of 'potential' because believe me, not everybody is destined to become an astronaut, but they will get pretty pissed off when you tell them that...
So, Today, I had the displeasure of running into a "Make everything Shit Again, Vote Democrat" hat meme from someone who is a 1 issue voter. And that issue is abortion. Now, she is quite rightly being told people do not agree with her (and I added my voice to that, telling her that Trump is being downright cruel and that I can't believe she supports that kind of Cruelty.
If she really disapproves of Abortion so much there are ways to lower it or remove the need for it. In fact, there is a lovely list I found from Facebook. (I'll post it on my thread.) And speaking of Donald Trump, Stephanie Ruhle (of Velshi and Ruhle) called out the President for lying numerous times in his speech, to which his spokesman said that President Obama wasn't treated this harshly, so she said, "They called him out for wearing a tan suit!" And the spokesman said, "They never called him a liar." to which she shot back, "He didn't lie." https://caching.grabien.com/c/streams/0553/NrGecZNfg31mggCTpT2pYw/1549536621/553631.mp4?key=NrGecZNfg31mggCTpT2pYw
Then, before the speech, Trump's EMS director posted a picture of a wall where the decapitated heads of men were hung, saying "Be thankful Trump is building his wall. This is what mine would look like." (also in my thread). Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
There's an interesting article from the Atlantic on a subject similar to one we've discussed earlier: conservative ideology is strongly linked with the ability to feel disgust and, presumably, the fear of contagion. It's about a series of studies that have found unusually consistent findings that apply across cultural boundaries. Here are three of the quotes I found most interesting (the bolded text is mine):
The team expanded the part of the study that focused on the U.S. It got state-by-state breakdowns of the prevalence of infections, and also analyzed statistics compiled by Google Trends, which tracks internet searches related to contagious illnesses in an effort to spot early signs of outbreaks. Crunching the numbers (the results are as yet unpublished), the researchers found that resistance to immigration is greatest in states with the highest incidence of infectious disease and where worry about this, as reflected by internet activity, has also been high.
Another experiment involved two groups of subjects with similar political ideologies. One group was exposed to a vomitlike scent as the subjects filled out an inventory of their social values; the other group filled out the inventory in an odorless setting. Those in the first group expressed more opposition to gay rights, pornography, and premarital sex than those in the second group. The putrid scent even inspired “significantly more agreement with biblical truth.” Variations on these studies using fart spray, foul tastes, and other creative disgust elicitors reveal a consistent pattern: When we experience disgust, we tend to make harsher moral judgments.
They recruited 1,601 subjects from shopping malls and from the Cornell campus and gave them paper strips containing a chemical called Prop and another chemical called PTC, both of which taste bitter to some people. Sure enough, those who had self-identified as being conservative were more sensitive to both compounds; many described them as unpleasant or downright repugnant. Liberals, on the other hand, tended not to be bothered as much by the chemicals or didn’t notice them at all.
Not all conservative values are correlated with this, of course. I don't notice any indication that conservative tax policies have any link to this, so there's more to political differences than this one emotion.
The article semi-jokingly points out that George H. W. Bush famously hated broccoli, and describes it as "an unusually bitter vegetable," bitter tastes being associated with rotting foods. I love broccoli, and I've never tasted the least amount of bitterness in broccoli in my entire life. I never would have guessed that it would taste bitter to anyone!
@Balrog99: Million dollar question: Does broccoli taste bitter to you?
There's an interesting article from the Atlantic on a subject similar to one we've discussed earlier: conservative ideology is strongly linked with the ability to feel disgust and, presumably, the fear of contagion. It's about a series of studies that have found unusually consistent findings that apply across cultural boundaries. Here are three of the quotes I found most interesting (the bolded text is mine):
The team expanded the part of the study that focused on the U.S. It got state-by-state breakdowns of the prevalence of infections, and also analyzed statistics compiled by Google Trends, which tracks internet searches related to contagious illnesses in an effort to spot early signs of outbreaks. Crunching the numbers (the results are as yet unpublished), the researchers found that resistance to immigration is greatest in states with the highest incidence of infectious disease and where worry about this, as reflected by internet activity, has also been high.
Another experiment involved two groups of subjects with similar political ideologies. One group was exposed to a vomitlike scent as the subjects filled out an inventory of their social values; the other group filled out the inventory in an odorless setting. Those in the first group expressed more opposition to gay rights, pornography, and premarital sex than those in the second group. The putrid scent even inspired “significantly more agreement with biblical truth.” Variations on these studies using fart spray, foul tastes, and other creative disgust elicitors reveal a consistent pattern: When we experience disgust, we tend to make harsher moral judgments.
They recruited 1,601 subjects from shopping malls and from the Cornell campus and gave them paper strips containing a chemical called Prop and another chemical called PTC, both of which taste bitter to some people. Sure enough, those who had self-identified as being conservative were more sensitive to both compounds; many described them as unpleasant or downright repugnant. Liberals, on the other hand, tended not to be bothered as much by the chemicals or didn’t notice them at all.
Not all conservative values are correlated with this, of course. I don't notice any indication that conservative tax policies have any link to this, so there's more to political differences than this one emotion.
The article semi-jokingly points out that George H. W. Bush famously hated broccoli, and describes it as "an unusually bitter vegetable," bitter tastes being associated with rotting foods. I love broccoli, and I've never tasted the least amount of bitterness in broccoli in my entire life. I never would have guessed that it would taste bitter to anyone!
@Balrog99: Million dollar question: Does broccoli taste bitter to you?
Hmmm... I love broccoli, dark chocolate, espresso, India pale ales and red wine. Maybe I'm a closet liberal!
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
It tastes bitter to me. Kinda gross. I don't like it, so I don't eat it. I do like dark chocolate, just not the really dark dark chocolates (like 80% and above. They just have a sort of "meh" taste to me.
Supposedly, people who don't like the taste of Broccoli belong to something called "Supertasters", who have more tastebuds on their tongue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster They also don't like superfatty or sugary foods, and some things I do find much too sweet. I've never taken the test, though.
I love dark chocolate. My two favorite brands are at 85% and 90%! They used to be so bitter that I had to chase them with a piece of fruit (I'd eat the chocolate with figs or berries), but after a while, I got very fond of the bitterness, just because it got associated with the chemicals in the chocolate. These days, I don't eat much in the way of chocolate bars, though; I just pour a very tall spoonful of pure cocoa powder into my oatmeal in the morning. It's like eating fudge for breakfast, but it's healthy.
So, the governor of Arizona pulled her National Guard troops from the border, "New Mexico will not take part in the president's charade of border fear-mongering by misusing our diligent National Guard troops," Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
She kept 12 in the south to help with the humanitarian crisis and discharged some police to the border to help with the policing of the border. She also put up a video of herself running through walls while shouting "Here's what I think of Trump's Wall!"
Meanwhile, the Mueller filings have raised the prospect of more prosecutions, and the House Intelligence Committe voted to send Jared Kushner and Don Jr's transcripts to Mueller. Meanwhile the New Jersey AG is investigating Trump's golf property over his hiring illegals.
And now, last surviving preosecutor at the Nuremberg trials has come out, calling Trump's family separation policy "A crime against humanity". Which is how I feel.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
It tastes bitter to me. Kinda gross. I don't like it, so I don't eat it. I do like dark chocolate, just not the really dark dark chocolates (like 80% and above. They just have a sort of "meh" taste to me.
Supposedly, people who don't like the taste of Broccoli belong to something called "Supertasters", who have more tastebuds on their tongue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster They also don't like superfatty or sugary foods, and some things I do find much too sweet. I've never taken the test, though.
And I'm liberal.
Strange, I would think 'supertasters' would be people who can eat just about anything without disgust. I find I like bitter foods and can taste the difference between types of red wines, beers and different spices/flavorings. Tasters with higher 'disgust' tendencies wouldn't appreciate these subtleties. There aren't many foods I wouldn't at least try. 'Supertaster' just sounds like a fancy word for 'picky eater' to me...
It tastes bitter to me. Kinda gross. I don't like it, so I don't eat it. I do like dark chocolate, just not the really dark dark chocolates (like 80% and above. They just have a sort of "meh" taste to me.
Supposedly, people who don't like the taste of Broccoli belong to something called "Supertasters", who have more tastebuds on their tongue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster They also don't like superfatty or sugary foods, and some things I do find much too sweet. I've never taken the test, though.
And I'm liberal.
Strange, I would think 'supertasters' would be people who can eat just about anything without disgust. I find I like bitter foods and can taste the difference between types of red wines, beers and different spices/flavorings. Tasters with higher 'disgust' tendencies wouldn't appreciate these subtleties. There aren't many foods I wouldn't at least try. 'Supertaster' just sounds like a fancy word for 'picky eater' to me...
No. People like that are the exact opposite. They can usually eat anything without disgust because they can’t taste what they are eating.
You can probably say they are over sensitive to a taste though.
I for one do find broccoli bitter. I still eat it though.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
It's not only corporate loyalty, it is also the housing market. I am not living in the US, but I think this is a pretty global development. Since the early 2000s rent has more than doubled and the price for buying a home has more than tripled. I earn reasonably good money (top 10%) in a reasonably secure industry, but buying a home without a 2 hour commute is close to impossible, or at least would require 20+ years of paying back the credit a very high rates.
So many old people underestimate how hard it can be for younger generation that are not coming from money and I am afraid that this development will be very bad for social cohesion... when my parents were young you could get a job right out of even basic education that was enough to feed a family and either buy a home or enjoy low rent.
Another problem from a meritocratic point of view is that I consider it dangerous if rent becomes a high and secure money maker for rich people. You should not be able to take money from money unless you are willing to take risks (i.e. stocks). The rising prices are already driven by it being used as investments, both foreign and domestic.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
It's not only corporate loyalty, it is also the housing market. I am not living in the US, but I think this is a pretty global development. Since the early 2000s rent has more than doubled and the price for buying a home has more than tripled. I earn reasonably good money (top 10%) in a reasonably secure industry, but buying a home without a 2 hour commute is close to impossible, or at least would require 20+ years of paying back the credit a very high rates.
So many old people underestimate how hard it can be for younger generation that are not coming from money and I am afraid that this development will be very bad for social cohesion... when my parents were young you could get a job right out of even basic education that was enough to feed a family and either buy a home or enjoy low rent.
Another problem from a meritocratic point of view is that I consider it dangerous if rent becomes a high and secure money maker for rich people. You should not be able to take money from money unless you are willing to take risks (i.e. stocks). The rising prices are already driven by it being used as investments, both foreign and domestic.
There is risk to renting. The owner is responsible for all repairs and maintenance for example. Those can add up fairly quickly.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
It's not only corporate loyalty, it is also the housing market. I am not living in the US, but I think this is a pretty global development. Since the early 2000s rent has more than doubled and the price for buying a home has more than tripled. I earn reasonably good money (top 10%) in a reasonably secure industry, but buying a home without a 2 hour commute is close to impossible, or at least would require 20+ years of paying back the credit a very high rates.
So many old people underestimate how hard it can be for younger generation that are not coming from money and I am afraid that this development will be very bad for social cohesion... when my parents were young you could get a job right out of even basic education that was enough to feed a family and either buy a home or enjoy low rent.
Another problem from a meritocratic point of view is that I consider it dangerous if rent becomes a high and secure money maker for rich people. You should not be able to take money from money unless you are willing to take risks (i.e. stocks). The rising prices are already driven by it being used as investments, both foreign and domestic.
There is risk to renting. The owner is responsible for all repairs and maintenance for example. Those can add up fairly quickly.
Sure, but this is mostly a small scale issue. The more units you rent out the more that risk is reduced by the law of great numbers. I am not really talking about someone who lets out a single house or even 5-10.
More importantly, a very large profit margin also reduces that risk. An apartment in a posh area is not proportionally more expansive to maintain than an apartment in a poor area, but the rent can easily be >1000$ more expansive.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
It's not only corporate loyalty, it is also the housing market. I am not living in the US, but I think this is a pretty global development. Since the early 2000s rent has more than doubled and the price for buying a home has more than tripled. I earn reasonably good money (top 10%) in a reasonably secure industry, but buying a home without a 2 hour commute is close to impossible, or at least would require 20+ years of paying back the credit a very high rates.
So many old people underestimate how hard it can be for younger generation that are not coming from money and I am afraid that this development will be very bad for social cohesion... when my parents were young you could get a job right out of even basic education that was enough to feed a family and either buy a home or enjoy low rent.
Another problem from a meritocratic point of view is that I consider it dangerous if rent becomes a high and secure money maker for rich people. You should not be able to take money from money unless you are willing to take risks (i.e. stocks). The rising prices are already driven by it being used as investments, both foreign and domestic.
There is risk to renting. The owner is responsible for all repairs and maintenance for example. Those can add up fairly quickly.
Sure, but this is mostly a small scale issue. The more units you rent out the more that risk is reduced by the law of great numbers. I am not really talking about someone who lets out a single house or even 5-10.
More importantly, a very large profit margin also reduces that risk. An apartment in a posh area is not proportionally more expansive to maintain than an apartment in a poor area, but the rent can easily be >1000$ more expansive.
I think it would hard to rent out an expensive posh place. Those people would be more likely to get a mortgage not requiring to rent.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
It's not only corporate loyalty, it is also the housing market. I am not living in the US, but I think this is a pretty global development. Since the early 2000s rent has more than doubled and the price for buying a home has more than tripled. I earn reasonably good money (top 10%) in a reasonably secure industry, but buying a home without a 2 hour commute is close to impossible, or at least would require 20+ years of paying back the credit a very high rates.
So many old people underestimate how hard it can be for younger generation that are not coming from money and I am afraid that this development will be very bad for social cohesion... when my parents were young you could get a job right out of even basic education that was enough to feed a family and either buy a home or enjoy low rent.
Another problem from a meritocratic point of view is that I consider it dangerous if rent becomes a high and secure money maker for rich people. You should not be able to take money from money unless you are willing to take risks (i.e. stocks). The rising prices are already driven by it being used as investments, both foreign and domestic.
There is risk to renting. The owner is responsible for all repairs and maintenance for example. Those can add up fairly quickly.
Sure, but this is mostly a small scale issue. The more units you rent out the more that risk is reduced by the law of great numbers. I am not really talking about someone who lets out a single house or even 5-10.
More importantly, a very large profit margin also reduces that risk. An apartment in a posh area is not proportionally more expansive to maintain than an apartment in a poor area, but the rent can easily be >1000$ more expansive.
I think it would hard to rent out an expensive posh place. Those people would be more likely to get a mortgage not requiring to rent.
Not if it aims at the young corporate type, who is moving often at that stage of their career. But I don't want to speculate - I just know that in my area there are places which have a profit margin of over 100% (e.g. rent is > than cost of maintenance & property taxes) and are snatched up quickly. I'll concede that this is the urban situation.
What is also true, and what I did not really write about earlier, that right now investing in rental property (let's say in New York) is not a safe investment. The time required to get back your investment from rent alone is quite high - which is an indicator that investors are betting that rent will increase further in the future. Whether that bet turns true or not, is the risk in the situation.
The risk-free part is more of an old-money problem - if you inherit a significant number of apartments (with the profit margin the required number is not very high), then you will continually get more money out of them than you put in for maintenance, virtually risk-free.
All of which is not a new insight; there is a reason why "rent-seeking" is a term to describe getting wealth out of the system without contributing to it's creation.
so my taxes went up $400. So much for the "middle class miracle" GOP Tax scam.
I'm guessing you didn't just add a substantial amount of income last year? Taxes going up isn't a bad thing if it's because you found a higher paying job or got a nice promotion. Just saying...
None of the above...
Sorry man, that sucks. Haven't done my taxes yet but I'm probably going to be one of the people where these tax adjustments actually help me (a little). My house is paid off so I can't itemize. The larger personal exemption helps me personally. I have to say though, being better off financially has made me somewhat more liberal I think. Since paying off my house I don't have to scrape anymore so I've been giving more to charity and I'm not as pissed off about taxes as I used to be.
Congrats on paying off the home. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on mine. I hope I'm exaggerating but srsly I owe and the numbers look overwhelming....
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
It is but the house is still going to be a money pit. The main reason I was able to pay it off early was the lower interest rates that happened in the early 2000's and not taking out home improvement loans. That means my house is a bit rundown. Since I intended on staying put, I figured it was better to pay it off than spend money on improvements. My plan only payed off because I was correct in assessing the company I work for as being a good long-term bet. I'm not sure the younger folks will be able to count on that kind of corporate loyalty. The next few years will see much more improvement money being spent on my part. C'est la vie...
It's not only corporate loyalty, it is also the housing market. I am not living in the US, but I think this is a pretty global development. Since the early 2000s rent has more than doubled and the price for buying a home has more than tripled. I earn reasonably good money (top 10%) in a reasonably secure industry, but buying a home without a 2 hour commute is close to impossible, or at least would require 20+ years of paying back the credit a very high rates.
So many old people underestimate how hard it can be for younger generation that are not coming from money and I am afraid that this development will be very bad for social cohesion... when my parents were young you could get a job right out of even basic education that was enough to feed a family and either buy a home or enjoy low rent.
Another problem from a meritocratic point of view is that I consider it dangerous if rent becomes a high and secure money maker for rich people. You should not be able to take money from money unless you are willing to take risks (i.e. stocks). The rising prices are already driven by it being used as investments, both foreign and domestic.
There is risk to renting. The owner is responsible for all repairs and maintenance for example. Those can add up fairly quickly.
Sure, but this is mostly a small scale issue. The more units you rent out the more that risk is reduced by the law of great numbers. I am not really talking about someone who lets out a single house or even 5-10.
More importantly, a very large profit margin also reduces that risk. An apartment in a posh area is not proportionally more expansive to maintain than an apartment in a poor area, but the rent can easily be >1000$ more expansive.
I think it would hard to rent out an expensive posh place. Those people would be more likely to get a mortgage not requiring to rent.
Not if it aims at the young corporate type, who is moving often at that stage of their career. But I don't want to speculate - I just know that in my area there are places which have a profit margin of over 100% (e.g. rent is > than cost of maintenance & property taxes) and are snatched up quickly. I'll concede that this is the urban situation.
What is also true, and what I did not really write about earlier, that right now investing in rental property (let's say in New York) is not a safe investment. The time required to get back your investment from rent alone is quite high - which is an indicator that investors are betting that rent will increase further in the future. Whether that bet turns true or not, is the risk in the situation.
The risk-free part is more of an old-money problem - if you inherit a significant number of apartments (with the profit margin the required number is not very high), then you will continually get more money out of them than you put in for maintenance, virtually risk-free.
All of which is not a new insight; there is a reason why "rent-seeking" is a term to describe getting wealth out of the system without contributing to it's creation.
Sounds reasonable. I bought an apartment in a developing area (they are building the metro station now) about 30 minutes from city centre, expecting to rent it out in a few years when I buy another one for myself. I would still think that to minimise risk you must optimise between number of potential tenants and expected rent in euros. In a more expensive area you run up the risk of not finding a suitable tenant.
For example your example of the young corporate type moving often would result in lower revenue. Simply put if your property is empty, you're not making money.
Rent pricing is, and always will be, based solely on supply and demand.
Those posh apartments are selling because there is a demand for them and people are willing to pay the advertised price to move in.
Developing those types of properties are not cheap to begin with either.
As I said that is besides the point. Developing and building new properties is a risk, yes.
The problem is that once the properties exist and have been paid off, they are not significantly more expensive to maintain because they are in a posh area, and become a steady source of almost risk-free money. Even Adam Smith saw that as a problem.
If you have inherit stocks, they can still crash. If you inherit cash, you will run out at some point. If you inherit a business, you need to run it (or at least find someone competent to do so for you). The bar with owning houses is a lot lower, because the profit margin is so high.
As for "more likely to buy than to rent", clearly the demand is sufficient high for the price to be as high as it is. There is no shortage of people seeking to rent at high prices in those cities.
I honestly don’t think you know how much it costs to maintain a high rise property. I have a relative who is a property manager, and yes her bosses are flush with cash but you need to be when an emergency repair happens. You can’t say “I can’t afford this till next month” or even next week.
We’re also reaching a breaking point (give it about 15-20 years) where there are going to be more sellers than buyers. Yes it can be the 1% that can swoop in and buy up all the property and just rent it out, but once again, it goes back to supply and demand and there are a lot of properties (especially old housing) where maintenance cost will not be worth that risk. A lot of people fall for the “I can just rent this house out to make easy cash” song and dance only to realize, it isn’t easy.
Affordable housing is a municipality issue. If you personally think housing prices are too high in your region, you need to let your local reps know that development of affordable housing needs to be prioritized when it comes to zoning.
So, now this is honestly stupid. Gucci Brought out a sweater with attached Balaclave that can make you look like... you're wearing blackface?!?!?!?!
Seriously?!?!?! How and why do people keep doing this shizz? I mean, really! It's 2019. This isn't Hipster "Ironic", this is just flat-out SAD, that people in this day and age think this is omehow "okay".
And now people are pushing back against Trump and his wall. Nogales, Arizona passed a city council resolution to sue the government if they don't remove the concertina wire they just installed. (I'll post the article to my thread). They said it makes the US look like a country that has completely lost their mind.
Now, in New York, an upstate Yeshiva (Jewish religious school) was painted with Swastikas and set on fire. It just seems like the USA is devolving into a pit of hatred, ignorance and stupidity. But, thankfully, New York also convicted a white supremacist as a terrorist. James Harris Jackson came to New York City with the purpose of starting a race war. After several days of looking, he stabbed 66 year old Timothy Caughman to death with a sword. Jackson was just sentenced to life in jail with no possibility of parole. Now, he could just have been charged with first degree murder and gotten the same punishment, but by charging him as a terrorist, but in declaring Jackson’s race-motivated violence terrorist activity, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. is sending the message that crimes carried out in the name of white supremacy will be treated not only as attacks on their direct victims, but also as attacks on New York’s entire civilian population.
This is something we need to do in more states- charge these white nationalists and race-motivated killers AS terrorists.
Meanwhile the FBI investigated a Civil Rights group, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) as a teeorist group while defending the rights of White Racists. There is something very wrong about that, when a Civil Rights group is thought of as "infringing the rights" of people who are racists. :P
On the Trump front, the Democratic-led House Judiciary committe has restarted the Trump investigation, and Trump is coming under fire for the cost of trips to his golf Club in Mar-a-Lago, which cost 3.4 million dollars per trip. According to the Washington Post, Trump has taken some 19 trips to Mar-a-Lago during his presidency so far. If the average cost of $3.4 million for the first four trips is extrapolated, that means the president's vacations have cost taxpayers at least $64.6 million. And that doesn't count travel to his club in Bedminster, N.J., where Trump goes in the summer.
Thanks ever so much, President Trump! Remember when he criticized President Obama for taking vacations and said he'd be too busy working to do that? Yeah, Low-Energy Trump barely works at all! Most of his time now is "Executive Time" where he watches TV, reads newspapers (He can barely read) and Tweets.
Now, Yahoo News has come out with an article that says the Moscow Deal fell through because Trump wanted $20 million upfront and that Pavel Fuks (that is apparently his real name) and Trump couldn't come to a deal. Fuks wanted to pay $10 million in installments, while Trump wanted $20 million upfront. (article will be posted on my thread.) All the while lying about this to American voters. :P
Comments
Ha ha, I'm no fan of Musk either. I think he's a "smart idiot," if you will. But I know LOT of people who think he's an amazing innovator and businessman, so I used him as an example. (My first instinct, showing my age, was to use the classic Jobs/Gates duo
No, I mentioned that to make clear that I was not making an argument for this party over that party. The argument is about policy. The "welfare state" tends to get fetishized in discussions; if you follow the mainstream narrative, conservatives must be philosophically opposed to the very concept of a welfare state at the very core of their beings, and and liberals must be in favor of partial wealth redistribution for its own sake.
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The trouble is that maximizing people's potential might not be as wonderful as folks think. In this day and age just try to tell somebody that they're not engineer material and should focus on maybe being an electrician or a plumber. Worse yet, how do you tell somebody, "Well I know you want to get into Harvard and become a lawyer, but how about maybe serving ice-cream at the local Dairy Queen instead?". There would need to be a fair, impartial and comprehensive evaluation of 'potential' because believe me, not everybody is destined to become an astronaut, but they will get pretty pissed off when you tell them that...
If she really disapproves of Abortion so much there are ways to lower it or remove the need for it. In fact, there is a lovely list I found from Facebook. (I'll post it on my thread.) And speaking of Donald Trump, Stephanie Ruhle (of Velshi and Ruhle) called out the President for lying numerous times in his speech, to which his spokesman said that President Obama wasn't treated this harshly, so she said, "They called him out for wearing a tan suit!" And the spokesman said, "They never called him a liar." to which she shot back, "He didn't lie."
https://caching.grabien.com/c/streams/0553/NrGecZNfg31mggCTpT2pYw/1549536621/553631.mp4?key=NrGecZNfg31mggCTpT2pYw
Then, before the speech, Trump's EMS director posted a picture of a wall where the decapitated heads of men were hung, saying "Be thankful Trump is building his wall. This is what mine would look like." (also in my thread). Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
Edit: I draw the line at kale though. Blechhh!
Supposedly, people who don't like the taste of Broccoli belong to something called "Supertasters", who have more tastebuds on their tongue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster
They also don't like superfatty or sugary foods, and some things I do find much too sweet. I've never taken the test, though.
And I'm liberal.
So, the governor of Arizona pulled her National Guard troops from the border, "New Mexico will not take part in the president's charade of border fear-mongering by misusing our diligent National Guard troops," Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
She kept 12 in the south to help with the humanitarian crisis and discharged some police to the border to help with the policing of the border. She also put up a video of herself running through walls while shouting "Here's what I think of Trump's Wall!"
Meanwhile, the Mueller filings have raised the prospect of more prosecutions, and the House Intelligence Committe voted to send Jared Kushner and Don Jr's transcripts to Mueller. Meanwhile the New Jersey AG is investigating Trump's golf property over his hiring illegals.
And now, last surviving preosecutor at the Nuremberg trials has come out, calling Trump's family separation policy "A crime against humanity". Which is how I feel.
You can probably say they are over sensitive to a taste though.
I for one do find broccoli bitter. I still eat it though.
Anyway, it must be a relief to be free of paying rent and/or mortgage. Good deal.
I think it would hard to rent out an expensive posh place. Those people would be more likely to get a mortgage not requiring to rent.
I think it would hard to rent out an expensive posh place. Those people would be more likely to get a mortgage not requiring to rent.
Sounds reasonable. I bought an apartment in a developing area (they are building the metro station now) about 30 minutes from city centre, expecting to rent it out in a few years when I buy another one for myself. I would still think that to minimise risk you must optimise between number of potential tenants and expected rent in euros. In a more expensive area you run up the risk of not finding a suitable tenant.
For example your example of the young corporate type moving often would result in lower revenue. Simply put if your property is empty, you're not making money.
Those posh apartments are selling because there is a demand for them and people are willing to pay the advertised price to move in.
Developing those types of properties are not cheap to begin with either.
That was my point, posh people are more likely to buy than to rent.
As I said that is besides the point. Developing and building new properties is a risk, yes.
The problem is that once the properties exist and have been paid off, they are not significantly more expensive to maintain because they are in a posh area, and become a steady source of almost risk-free money. Even Adam Smith saw that as a problem.
If you have inherit stocks, they can still crash. If you inherit cash, you will run out at some point. If you inherit a business, you need to run it (or at least find someone competent to do so for you). The bar with owning houses is a lot lower, because the profit margin is so high.
As for "more likely to buy than to rent", clearly the demand is sufficient high for the price to be as high as it is. There is no shortage of people seeking to rent at high prices in those cities.
We’re also reaching a breaking point (give it about 15-20 years) where there are going to be more sellers than buyers. Yes it can be the 1% that can swoop in and buy up all the property and just rent it out, but once again, it goes back to supply and demand and there are a lot of properties (especially old housing) where maintenance cost will not be worth that risk. A lot of people fall for the “I can just rent this house out to make easy cash” song and dance only to realize, it isn’t easy.
Affordable housing is a municipality issue. If you personally think housing prices are too high in your region, you need to let your local reps know that development of affordable housing needs to be prioritized when it comes to zoning.
Seriously?!?!?! How and why do people keep doing this shizz? I mean, really! It's 2019. This isn't Hipster "Ironic", this is just flat-out SAD, that people in this day and age think this is omehow "okay".
And now people are pushing back against Trump and his wall. Nogales, Arizona passed a city council resolution to sue the government if they don't remove the concertina wire they just installed. (I'll post the article to my thread). They said it makes the US look like a country that has completely lost their mind.
Now, in New York, an upstate Yeshiva (Jewish religious school) was painted with Swastikas and set on fire. It just seems like the USA is devolving into a pit of hatred, ignorance and stupidity. But, thankfully, New York also convicted a white supremacist as a terrorist. James Harris Jackson came to New York City with the purpose of starting a race war. After several days of looking, he stabbed 66 year old Timothy Caughman to death with a sword. Jackson was just sentenced to life in jail with no possibility of parole. Now, he could just have been charged with first degree murder and gotten the same punishment, but by charging him as a terrorist, but in declaring Jackson’s race-motivated violence terrorist activity, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. is sending the message that crimes carried out in the name of white supremacy will be treated not only as attacks on their direct victims, but also as attacks on New York’s entire civilian population.
This is something we need to do in more states- charge these white nationalists and race-motivated killers AS terrorists.
Meanwhile the FBI investigated a Civil Rights group, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) as a teeorist group while defending the rights of White Racists. There is something very wrong about that, when a Civil Rights group is thought of as "infringing the rights" of people who are racists. :P
On the Trump front, the Democratic-led House Judiciary committe has restarted the Trump investigation, and Trump is coming under fire for the cost of trips to his golf Club in Mar-a-Lago, which cost 3.4 million dollars per trip. According to the Washington Post, Trump has taken some 19 trips to Mar-a-Lago during his presidency so far. If the average cost of $3.4 million for the first four trips is extrapolated, that means the president's vacations have cost taxpayers at least $64.6 million. And that doesn't count travel to his club in Bedminster, N.J., where Trump goes in the summer.
Thanks ever so much, President Trump! Remember when he criticized President Obama for taking vacations and said he'd be too busy working to do that? Yeah, Low-Energy Trump barely works at all! Most of his time now is "Executive Time" where he watches TV, reads newspapers (He can barely read) and Tweets.
Now, Yahoo News has come out with an article that says the Moscow Deal fell through because Trump wanted $20 million upfront and that Pavel Fuks (that is apparently his real name) and Trump couldn't come to a deal. Fuks wanted to pay $10 million in installments, while Trump wanted $20 million upfront. (article will be posted on my thread.) All the while lying about this to American voters. :P