A Deja-Vue Report from Southern California...

[PositiveOutlook]

Furnishedowner,

"He thanked his parents for GIVING HIM THE GIFT OF POVERTY.  He said he wouldn't have achieved anything without that fire in his belly.  What are we giving our kids?"

Based on other posts, that's quite a dicotomoy there in philosophy, Furnisedowner...

I would argue that the more people rely on the government for our needs and wants, the LESS of a life they realize...  they get USED to living a substandard life... the government will NEVER give you a good life, just ROB people of initiative...  more and more government programs, LIKE NATIONALIZED HEALTHCARE, just drag more people into the net of reliance on government, as opposed to themselves, and give up their their freedoms in the process...

The less you expect of people, the more they give it to you...

Allowance without context (i.e. - just giving them money to spend) just gets them USED to spending money they never earned...  THEY CAN'T APPRECIATE IT...  NEITHER can all those who are STUCK on government assistance programs... they just find ways to get a bigger allowance BECAUSE they are just USED to having someone else do for them...




"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining NOR aiding them in their pursuits." - Thomas Jefferson

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government." - Thomas Jefferson

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." - Thomas Jefferson

[furnishedowner]

My post had nothing whatsoever to do with Nationalized Healthcare or the Welfare State! 

Kids are not living a substandard life--they are living an entitled life.  They are living an affluent life.  Why else turn turn a $5.00/hour easy-money job?  I sure wouldn't have @ that age.

I am so busy right now that I can't really spend much time debating you all online much. I'll get back to you later and hammer your poor conservative brains into the ground. (Joke!)

Furnishedowner

[PositiveOutlook]

Furnishedowner,

"My post had nothing whatsoever to do with Nationalized Healthcare or the Welfare State!"

Point is, it is the same mentality... given without earned... the pattern created as a kid is hard to reverse as an adult, which is why it is generational, unfortunately...  only difference is, as an adult, the government becomes the allowance giver...  why do you think they keep popping out kids...  more allowance!

"Why else turn turn a $5.00/hour easy-money job?"

It's like the kid said... he gets an allowance FOR FREE... no work involved, his perceived needs are covered by his allowance... who's offering the better deal from his perspective?

Now, I wonder if the outcome would have been different if you offered something of value to him...  Find out what he likes and what his motivators are, then key in on that...  If it's a model airplane, start by offering a barter... work for the airplane..,. when the work is done, give him the circular, hand him the MONEY and tell him he EARNED enough money to buy FOR HIMSELF that which he wanted... follow-up with - "it feels good, doesn't it?" (big smile)...  then make him feel special by making a big deal out of the fact that he acted so mature and did it for himself, rather than have to wait for an allowance to get his plane... Then, ask him, hand on shoulder - "should I keep you in mind the next time I need some work done, so you can earn some more money?"...  if he says yes, smile and tell him - "I'm proud of you, and because you did such a good job, with a good attitude, I'll be sure to give you the job first before anyone else!"...  If he says no, tell him - "OK, I'm sure there a lots of other kids who want to feel as good as you do now.. thanks for your help"...

Or some variation of that dialogue...

" I sure wouldn't have @ that age"

And that's why you have your own business... you either had the drive or the right set of circumstances in your life...

"I'll get back to you later and hammer your poor conservative brains into the ground."

Hammer away...   

[tatertot]

[[[[[......Why else turn turn a $5.00/hour easy-money job?"......]]]]

Hate to tell you this, but $5 won't buy squat, anymore. I don't think that's even minimum wage anywhere in the country. It's about half minimum wage in Oregon.

I wouldn't expect a kid to take a job where he'd have to work 3 hours just to pay for lunch at a fast food place or get into a movie.

[propertymanager]

They don't ever have to miss a meal; be even a little bit hungry, cold, worn-out or over-worked; have blisters; sore muscles; or worry about a thing.  That's thanks to the socialists that believe in the 'share the wealth' philosophy.

The real problem that I don't hear people talking about (and is probably not politically correct) is that the low class, drug addicted scumbags are breeding at an alarming rate.  It's ridiculous and more of a national security threat than Al Qaeda!!!  Just this past week, the tenant that I'm evicting (unmarried, unemployed, deadbeat), said that she is pregnant and another 21 year old druggie on the block that is the grandaughter of one of my tenants is also pregnant.  Something needs to be done to keep the riff-raff from breeding!  And let's not kid ourselves, this low income riff-raff isn't breeding rocket scientists - they're breeding more riff-raff that the socialists want me to support from cradle to grave!  UGH!  Sterilization anyone?  If Obama is going to have death panels to kill grandma, why not forced sterilization panels too?  That's change I could live with!!!

Mike  

[furnishedowner]

propertymanager,
I feel for you, really I do.  It has to be terribly wearying to always deal with low-income, welfare people.  You seem to be renting to the bottom 10% of the Ohio population.  But somebody has to do it!

After a while you start to think that EVERYONE is a welfare-cheat, babies out of wedlock, drug-addicted scumbag as you say.

A long time ago when I was working in the ICU, I started to feel that EVERYONE could be having chest pain.  EVERYONE could be critical.  EVERYONE could die at any moment from a brain bleed or a car accident!  I even started to feel that way when I was not at work.  Very pessimistic and fatalistic.

Then I left the hospital and started selling real estate.  Slowly I realized that MOST people are healthy!  My whole attitude changed!  I no longer saw the daily trauma of sudden acute illness and accidents.  No more crying relatives, just happy home buyers.  Whew!

What about taking a vacation, Mike?  Please tell us when you were LAST away from your business for 2 weeks... Wherever you go, let there be sunshine and no low-income deadbeats.

Furnishedowner

[PositiveOutlook]

Furnishedowner,

I hardly think that Propertmanager (he can correct me if I'm wrong) thinks his friends and relatives are like the people he deals with...

[propertymanager]

Furnishedowner,

No, I don't think everyone is a scumbag, but the lower 15% or 20% of society definitely are... and yes, about 1/2 of my rentals are low income rentals so I do deal with this riff-raff all the time.  Furthermore, they're breeding like rabbits and the percentage of these scumbags is rapidly increasing.  That was my point.

To contrast that, I would say that about 50% of the population are hard-working, upstanding citizens who are productive citizens.  PositiveOutlook is right, my friends and relatives are all productive, upstanding citizens.   I live in a beautiful neighborhood with Doctors and other professionals and we haven't had a single crime that I know of in the 15 years I've lived here.  My neighbors and I would never even see the sheriff if it weren't for him frequently coming to my house to serve me papers (to testify against one scumbag or the other- often not my tenants).  Furthermore, about half of my tenants are lower-middle class, honest, blue collar workers and I certainly respect them. 

Having said all that, I do need a vacation and actually will be taking 3 vacations in the next three months.  We're headed to the beach for a week; then a local Ohio vacation; then to the land of socialism (California) for a week.

Mike

[allagash]

Mike,

one of these days we need to park that RV of yours up at Algonquin and do an "interior" canoe trip.

hands down....kevlar is the way to go....+-33 lbs. vs 65 with fiberglass.

http://nhest.org/cloon.wav

-Mike

[furnishedowner]

Good for you! Have a great vacation.

I am heading for a Mid-West vacation next month! Going to a family reunion --reunion of the kin descended from my grandmother's 2 brothers who immigrated to Audubon, Iowa in the 1920's.  They founded families of dozens of Andersens.

I have never been to Iowa or Arkansas or Oklahoma. It's going to be very interesting.

Furnishedowner

[justin0419]

Furthermore, they're breeding like rabbits and the percentage of these scumbags is rapidly increasing.  That was my point.

Yeah..  Our tenant's daughter who rarely wakes up and gets off the couch by 3pm and got fired from DQ for not being able to make a milkshake - should be giving birth any day now.  She's finally getting ready to move out into her own place.  Guess who's paying for that one?  It's sad that there are so many people like this bringing kids into the world who aren't going to stand a chance because of the example (hand-outs) that has been set for them. 

[propertymanager]

They were just talking about the excessive breeding of the lower class on Cashin In (on Fox News).  I guess Obama already had a provision in the health care bill to counsel the deadbeats about their over-breeding.  I'm sure that will work!

Mike

[furnishedowner]

We have to start with the kids.  Start with the future generation.  I know there are a few rays of light--educators who have bootstrapped whole classes of kids out of the social quagmire into which they were born.

I have heard of a couple of schools in Chicago and Brooklyn/Bronx where great success has been achieved in changing those kids social mindsets.  They became strivers.  They became successes.  They left their ghettos.

Think of what the billions spent in Iraq could have done in a real war on poverty.  Not handouts, but a hand.  But the kids have got to be encultured while they are young.

Wasn't it the Jesuits who said, "Give us a child until the age of seven, then we have that child forever."

It is a huge National tragedy that millions of kids have only their inner-city ghettos to inspire them.

Furnishedowner

[PositiveOutlook]

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" - Proverbs 22:6

"Think of what the billions spent in Iraq could have done in a real war on poverty.  Not handouts, but a hand.  But the kids have got to be encultured while they are young."

When they are kids, it is a handout... but I am all for helping the kids, because they don't know any better...  adults, limited, short-term help could be jusitified to a certain extent... but NOT permanent subsidization...

TRILLIONS have been spent in the war on poverty... only to find out we still have the poor with us, in roughly the same percentage of the population as when it started.  I am curious as to why do you think that will change with even MORE money?...

"The poor you will always have with you" - Matthew 26:11

I am not saying it is not good to help those in need... in fact, it is good for citizens to help one another...  we agree on this, but we disagree on how it is done...  you want government to haphazardly and inefficiently do it, and I believe that private charities and individuals are much better at it...  But, because the government CONSUMES so much of it's citzenry's taxes, it makes it a struggle to raise funds...

Imagine, if we didn't have a $500+ BILLION DOLLAR INTEREST ONLY payment this year...  Two years of interest only payments PAY for 8 years for TWO wars...  think about the inanity of that...