Why does it seem like almost everyone is playing the hate game these days?
“It’s the money, Jimmy.”
That’s why.
Man, the stock market is at 22,000 today, a record and still climbing. Big business is on fire, like Apple with a recent profit of over $8 billion.
Nice, for them.
So why all the hate?
BECAUSE WE’RE THE ONES PAYING THEM.
Most folks struggle just to pay their monthly bills, let alone get ahead. A single person making $40,000 to – $50,000 a year has to live pretty lean these days just to get by.
Remember just 15 years back when a decent one bedroom apartment was say 500 bucks a month? Just an average joint.
Today that same apartment is likely $850-$1,100!
An average car used to cost about $12,00 to $17,000. A similar car today is $22,000 to $28,000.
Now its about the payments.
Car insurance has gone up and the deductibles are huge- $500 to $1,000 per damage claim. So if it’s say $1,300 in damage you get 300 bucks to fix your car. Plus the towing service to boot.
How bout those phone bills mixed with internet and cable?
Used to be about $100 a month. Now?
Try a couple hundred for your cell phone bill and $150 and up for cable.
And don’t forget health insurance!
The list is seemingly endless.
What the hell happened?
We used to get a bill or two in our mailbox each week – now it’s like 20 bills.
We have pretty much the same stuff, but now we have seven or eight credit cards from stores plus Visa/Mastercard.
People are frantic today to hurry everywhere – to the store, the doctors office, a business meeting or their jobs. So there’s more tension on the roads, more anger.
We’re all on social media, right? Even that loser Harley.
So it’s mostly anger about what somebody did to us or someone else so we hate ’em.
Look at comments section on any website or blog.
It’s mostly angry hate mail.
“I hate her.” “I hate them.” With maybe a few nice comments sprinkled in.
Our TV is mostly reality where people attack each other with cruel words or fists – even spit on one another. That’s the model today.
Don’t go out after dark unless you have to because cops are everywhere writing tickets and checking to see if you had a drink or two…why? Not to help you, but to pay the bills that law enforcement needs to continue their buying new cars, equipment, new hires, etc…same boat.
All of which creates more anger and mistrust. So we try and stay home more to minimize the bills and damage. Not much fun, huh?
How much does it cost to go see a Royals or Chiefs game? How much was popcorn and beer 15 years ago? Parking, the tickets, see my point?
These are the real issues today.
Life has gotten beyond most people’s pay grade.
Too many folks are in a panic to just survive their BILLS. So they are pissed and angry at everyone else. They especially hate the people that seem to have it easy, political leaders, sports stars, film stars, music names, you get the picture.
How do we fix it?
Boy, these problems are magnified in lower income areas.
Wonder why the crime rate is so high and violent?
The government needs to look at not making low level DUI busts, but a murder case costs anywhere from five to ten grand to deal with today. Why? It’s over the top.
Credit card interest rates are from 8%-29% damn….yet we get 1% on our savings!!!! WTF.
The average American needs financial help, a lowering of their day to day bills and living expenses. Heck we haven’t addressed food and clothing let alone other entertainment.
If people could work and have money left over for their bills I believe the nation would be kinder and less violent.
Oh well, we can’t even fix the health care problem. Guess we all need to inherit some big bucks or find a way to make them.
sorry loser…its not the costs of items today. Look who’s talking…the guy who
leases a 80K car….spends big money on strippers.
We’re upset because we were screwed. We fell asleep and the world changes
so fast we have more people on anti depressants than ever before…an opiod crisis
that some rich guys tricked us into and going to cost us trillions.
Yes…we’re mad…turn on the tv. Fox made americans hate each other…everyone’s arguing….rules are being broken while the rest of us sit back and obey the law and
see people get off for nothing. The banks thegovvernment stole our houses with
shady deals..and we are seeing the stock market go to 22,000 for a few while we’re
arguing over needy in wheelchairs getting their measly 1000 bucks a month taken
away.
You glamorize the wealth and the rich and famous but you’re nothing.
Yes we’re mad…the russians stole our democracy…the only thing we had left.
We were taught to hate mexicans now the labor force is drying up!
Lies after lies from the president.
Yes we’re mad….we see big corps making billions while our planet implodes….
Hell yes we’re mad.
Politicians taking billions in exchange for their votes….they want a program approved to keep us healthy that only 16% were in favor of. Fuck yea we’re mad.
Turn off the tv…read about the world. It’s not just hookers/nightlife in westport/
its about what our world has come to.
There will be no jobs for our kids (see mr. musk) ……a generation ischanging how we live….fuck yeah we’re mad…..because all we can do is sit and watch it change.
But it changes…and either we change or we perish.
Read about trump and his businesses….millions…billions…and he’s not the only
one…..
so stop crying you big baby….this is it….get used to it….
NO MATTER WHAT SPOILED BRATS WHO TOOK OVER DADDY’S BUSINESS
AND PROBABLY RAN IT INTO THE HOLE…..WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO CRY
ABOUT. SOUTHY AND ADMINI BOTH INHERITED THEIR WEALTH.
I STARTED WITH NOTHING…NOTHING…A DOOR!
I’VE LIVED THE GREATEST LIFE…NO PRISON/DRUGS/HOOKERS/LIES/
BUT I WOULDN’T CHANGE WITH ANYONE.
UP AND DOWNS? OF COURSE…I’M HUMAN.
And you wonder why people are mad…look around. See the real world not just
your selfish narcisstic way of life….
Worst of all you cause the royals to lose three straight….jinx!
And noone hates perez/hosmer/cain….they are the only heroes left…til we find out
about the cocaine problem in mlb.
Are we mad…yes…..but when we realize life is short…live it wise….be good to others…
and don’t think the world revolves around you.
YOU’RE THE LOSER! NOT BOOM BOOM. Your attitude sucks and that’s
worth millions.
gotta go…volunteer night for Boom Boom with ptsd victims. Come by. Boom Boom helps everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I figured it all out…
Boom Boom is perfect; Boom Boom is a prince among men; Boom Boom has a heart of gold.
That sound about right?
not quite lurch (your new nickname)….I’m not perfect…none
of us all….
As I said have had ups an downs…but I think i handled
them pretty well…even being at rock bottom.
I do have a heart of gold compared to you and the rest of the
old seniors on here. Need a list of what i do…donated almost
50,000 worth of furntiure to women’s shelter…do extensive
pro bono work for vets and we’re close to really making news
there. donate money to go fund me causes regularly…and am
hoping to start a new non profit for kids.
I rarely talkk with others about what i do. Just do it. I’ve gotten no thanks or recognition except being on all the national news networks/front page of the largest papers in u.s./and thousands of correspondence for what i do.
No my life is not perfect….far from it…but unlike doing drugs/chasing whores/selling cars/hanging in jazz cclubs/
hanging out as a creepy old man trying to hustle girls one third my age….I gotta say I’m doing a lot better than anyone on this blog or most people i come in contact with. My list goes on…and so will I. Lots of things left to do besides sit in a chair and bitch. As for you hearne….daddy’s money must have run
out or why sell cars. VW’s? the worst ones made.
Good luck boys…and remember it’s never too late to change your life.
Such magnanimity!
Seriously, boomy, you are a model citizen. And so insightful…like being able to calculate that every other person on this site pales in comparison to your vast successes.
As for you not getting any thanks or recognition – let me take care of you on the “thanks” part of that – I have an idea.
How about you step out of the shadows into the light right here on KCC and tell us your identity so we may properly recognize your?
Hey Harley, I thought I was supposed to win in a landslide?
You have the credibility of Anthony Weiner.
The IQ of Forrest Gump.
The looks of Lyle Lovett.
The accomplishments of Bernie Madoff. (And an equal number of friends.) (And now, the same bank account.) (And the same ethics.)
Jesus! I got it! YOU ARE BERNIE MADOFF!! You lying, gonif piece of shit!
Could this be the true identity of the boom boom one?
Hey, leave Forrest out of this. He was way more successful than Harley!
“How do we fix it?”
– we don’t, CG… can’t fix destiny.
“If people could work and have money left over for their bills I believe the nation would be kinder and less violent.”
– with apologies to Universal Basic Income proponents, Kerouac dissents. UBI would not cure what a professor of economic history referred humanity’s greatest existential threat: stupidity.
According to Carlo M. Cipolla “there are no defenses against stupidity. The only way that a society can avoid being crushed by the burden of its idiots, is if the non-stupid work even harder to offset the losses of their stupid brethren”.
“Stupid people share several identifying traits: they are abundant, irrational and cause problems for others without apparent benefit to themselves, thereby lowering society’s total well-being.” How Carlo managed to avoid his own assassination, considering that he taught at the University of California, Berkeley, miracle.
https://qz.com/967554/the-five-universal-laws-of-human-stupidity/
Young master Kerouac was told in 1950’s grade school why, even were everyone gifted a similar amount of income or windfall, it would make no difference in the lives many, long term.
Teacher’s instruction, example: even were we to give everyone $10k, would be some who multiplied said, others who would use it judiciously, and still others who would squander it all – Cipolla’s ‘stupid brethren’. “No matter how many idiots you suspect yourself to be surrounded by, invariably you are low-balling the total.”
Upshot: am not my brother’s keeper.
the upi is becoming more and more a neccessity as we see jobs disappear.
Between the fast pace of technology/AI/and robotics there won’t be much left for
the geneeration behind us. UPI is being used somewhere (sweden/norway) whereever
and I read where it was somehow working.
You’re not your brother’s keeper kerowacky!
Your brother is your keeper!
No matter how much you put into social security, chance are you will spend more than you put into the fund (based on your life expectancy)
No matter how much you paid into medicare your health costs will exceed that
amount (based on your health costs and what you ned done after 65).
Your brother…or your sister (let’s be pc)..is your keeper.
That’s “UBI.”
20 years ago a family shared one phone line. Their tv had about 30 channels. Now everyone (even 5 yo kids) has their own phone and their tv has about 500 channels. People used to think a 25″ tv was big…now everyone has a 50″ tv. My guess is that even the poor have a huge tv, iphone, and some kind of expensive cable package nowadays. I’m not sure when all of that became a “necessity” or a “right”, but it’s definitely happened.
Everything else you mention is just inflation. Cars are more expensive, but they last longer. Insurance is higher because the cars cost more to fix (because they’re more expensive to begin with). Salaries have also increased.
The solution to most money problems is very simple….want less.
I’ve got a two year old 65 inch TV and that’s not even a big deal anymore…
Kinda wish I’d gotten a 70″
You are on the right track Glazer…vast amounts of wealth are being created but only a few are really at the trough slopping it in. The rest of us get the scraps. Enough scraps to give us hope, but the rope keeps tightening as the months roll by.
I doubt politicians have any clue or answers to this. Quite frankly the American public will continue to vote against their own interest, primarily based on what you indicated..anger.
What we can do is look for more ways to enjoy things that do not cost a lot of disposable income. Hit the West Bottoms on the weekend mornings or the River Market weekends and take some strolls, people watch. Super Flea, Swope Disc Golf…reset the fun button with the amenities the city provides…hold onto the dollars the best way we can..
“Enough scraps to give us hope, but the rope keeps tightening as the months roll by. I doubt politicians have any clue or answers to this.”
You’re too trusting; it’s by design.
My father, (God bless him) came from a poor, but hard working family. His father was an alcoholic, who beat him fairly regulary. The minute he turned 17, he joined the Navy and made his own way in the world. He raised a family of 3 boys and a wife, started his own business in his 50’s. Long story short, here’s a guy that worked his ass off for everything he’s got. No one gave him anything. He always told me that people who have to work for their money, value it more. He also said if you give a rich guy $1000 and a poor guy $1000, the rich guy is going to end up with the poor guy’s money eventually, because he’s the one that creates goods and services that the poor guy wants/needs. That’s one of the big reasons he opened his own business. He also stated “When you try and get something for nothing, you often get nothing for something.” Truer words were never spoken. Bottom line? The federal government isn’t your daddy. Get off your ass and get to work. Not making enough money to pay your bills? Expand your skill set and make yourself more valuable in the job market. Take control of your own life and career, and quit waiting for some political messiah to wave his wand and make things all better.
SO TRUE GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CG you are 100% correct. I’m not agreeing with you just to agree with you. I was out of the country for 20 years and came back and immediately noticed that big business/corporations have won. They own EVERYTHING so they can charge what they want. Plus, I noticed the food corporations got everybody addicted to junk food and now everybody is FAT and easier to control. Remember when tobacco companies had everybody addicted to their cancer sticks? Yep, this is the same thing but much, much worse.
The corporations won, YOU lost. Unless everybody fights back it’s going to stay this way for a long, long, time.
nice comments eh….until we wake up nothing is going to change.
The greatest generation gave it all for the common good.
the baby boomers gave it all for their personal good.
The millenidals are giving it for noone’s good!
Asfar as giving out my real name…won’t happen. Boom Boom is better
unknown to express what not only what i think but what millions are
thinking.
find something wrong with my original comment and print it…because
it is the truth!
So go on wishing /hoping/ bitching….this is the best your life gets.
Want more…it’s there for the taking.
For glazer it’s all about me…me….me…..think the world is bad? Sit like digger and bitch and moan. Think the world needs to change…get off your ass and
start using your skills for something positive!
Maybe it’s too late for all you guys because you’re tired and worn out.
Don’t think you can’t change the world.
the world’s been changed by one great man…and then think about this…
WHAT WOULD MY GOD THINK ABOUT THE LIFE I’VE LED?
Well, depends on who your god is…
Thor? He might approve.
Then I worship? Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think he might have a bit if a critique for you. Something along the lines of, love thy neighbor and stop sliming everybody you cross paths with.
Just saying…
Stop the complaining. You let the fukstick back on here…
Interesting – he doesn’t talk about what he does. In fact, that’s all he talks about.
Thanks for assisting in ruining a great blog.
Stop the complaining…
Isn’t that just what you are doing now?
Saddle back up and do something pro active!
we were fine without your attack. Still in the
breadlines?
And admins answer was perfect! Stop complaining and get back on kcc so I can make you look like a freaking fool.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom boom for the
knockout!
The real culprit is the easy money / zero interest rate policy. Prices for items most people finance (cars, homes, college) go up even though the monthly payment stays the same. wages also don’t go up (try asking your boss for a raise because the fed lowered interest rates).
If I’ve got $30k in the bank and want to buy.a $30k car, I don’t care if interest rates are 0% or 10%. If I finance it, the interest I pay will be offset by the interest earned on my savings.
Unfortunately, the average idiot only cares what their monthly payment is, so GM takes advantage of the low interest rates and jacks up the price of the car to $40k. Now, my $30k won’t buy a car and it’s earning nothing sitting in the bank. All of a sudden, I’m a lot poorer. (And even the guy with no savings is poorer because the car might cost 1/2 his salary instead of 1/4)
Meanwhile, GM packages the $40k loan it made to you and sells it for $38k to an idiot investor that only demands a 2% return (because hey, 2% is better than 0%!). GM just increased its profit by $8k! Woo hoo…GM’s profit goes up, its stock price follows, and everyone assumes the economy is doing great (look at those increased profits!). Meanwhile, the average schmuck is struggling to make ends meet.
You want to fix things….increase interest rates and quit making it easy for people to get loans. Housing prices collapsed in 2010 because it was “hard” to get a loan….although it wasn’t any harder then than it was in the 80s. The for-profit colleges collapsed when the students could no longer get loans from the government….public college tuition would drop big time if the government wouldn’t guarantee the loans. Auto prices would also collapse if they got rid of 84 month, 0% loans.
As an added benefit, retirees and other people that have saved money would see their income go up, and would be able to spend more.
Jacking up rates would cause some short term misery, but it’s the only way out of this mess. You can blame Greenspan, Bush, Obama and Bernanke for getting us in the mess.
Should also mention that the easy credit policy (ie subprime lending) jacks up prices because it increases demand. Now 100 people can buy the house you’re looking at, even though only 50 of them can actually afford it. Since subprime borrowers aren’t good at managing money, they can usually be talked into paying the highest price. You (the rational one) now have the choice of overpaying for a house or renting something.
The sad thing is that the government and media all talk about these low rates and easy credit as if they’re a benefit to consumers.
God Phaedrus, you speak a lot of the truth. Really, the fix is in and the U.S. is controlled by big money, big banks, big corporations etc. Approx 90% of Americans are in debt and are slaves. The other 10% are living in gated communities laughing at the schmucks that they’ve enslaved.
I hate to be selfish but I have to..I’m going back overseas and saving as much money as possible for the next 10 years and when/if I come back I’m just going to pay cash for everything. I don’t believe in buying on credit anymore.
I feel sorry for most Americans, I really do. They got their ass kicked and most don’t even know how it happened. Heck, most don’t even really KNOW they got their ass kicked.
Their biggest SECRET is..shhhh..they trick everybody into fighting among themselves..all the while they laugh and laugh on how willing their cattle walk calmly to their slaughter!
LOL! Just stop lending money to folks who shouldn’t be owning a home in the first place. The problem is, the leftist/utopian/socialists in the media, Hollywood, etc will scream bloody murder. They’ll say it’s racist/bigoted and excludes the poor. They believe that owning a home should be a “right” for every American, and that the federal government should enact whatever policy it takes to make that happen. These assholes also believe in unicorns. Look, the only “right” anyone has or should have is the ability to own a home based on your credit history, which is by and large determined by your work ethic, skill in managing money, etc. If you don’t have those things, it’s not that someone is purposefully preventing you from owning a home based on your race, color, or creed. It’s due to your shitty credit, and inability to manage your money.
the mortgage scam was a criminal deal set up by banks/lenders/rating agencies/wall street etc to make
billions of dollars then pay off the politicians an noone goes to jail and the govt has to bail them out. Noting
to do with credit or race (redlining was not even considered)….just get the money on the streets…get the big boys their take…then watch everything go boom!
its all about turning dollars. Foodstamps are perfect. Family of 4 get $800 for
food. Ya think thats going into a 401 k or retirement account…no…its going to
price chopper or theconveniene store for booze or cigarettes or in the gas
tank or pay for rent or utilities….its turning dollars that makes our economy
go. And when people stop spending its a recession….so the government has to do deficit spending to get the economy running so people are working.
It’s a huge circle. The mortage blowout was a plan perfected to a t.
a couple hundred people made billionsand the rest of us got fucked. That’s capitalism people. And nothing can change that…..who has the gold…rules!
Dumbass!
Phaedrus,
I disagree with your statement that salaries have increased with inflation.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/09/for-most-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/
Do you have any evidence of your claim?
Your chart shows real wages have remained basically constant for the last 50 years. If real wages remain constant, that means they’ve increased at the same rate as inflation.
Over the last 5-10 years that might not be true, but I was thinking about 20 yrs (since I’ve been in the workforce).
My favorite inflation story – my grandfather bought his first house for 5k in the 30’s. He bought his last car for 5k in the 70s. My father bought his first house for 25k in the 70’s. He just bought a new car for well over 25k. I bought my first home for 150k in the 90s. What will I spend for my last car?
The author makes good points with his questions (I’m assuming it’s a man) while not offering any solutions. The comments offer no remedies, either. Here’s my solution: Work longer, work harder and work smarter. Continuing education is important no matter what field people work in. Tech advances require us to go deeper and broader in our skill level. People shouldn’t think they can coast once they get to a certain age, income level or occupational attainment. Just keep working.
I offered a perfectly legitimate solution…want less.
The guy that makes $50k but can happily live on $40k is richer than the guy that makes $1,000,000 but thinks he needs $1,100,000 to be happy.
Here’s an idea. When gas prices go down, don’t buy a new car, even when the local media runs a story and says, “gas prices are going down, it might be time to buy a new car.”
WELL yes its Craig Glazer I’m a man…yes…I offered this a lowering of credit card fees they are far over the top….most over 15% when we get 1% from CD’s…and savings at best….also less regulation for small business…things like that help…there is no easy answer.
Okay Mr. Glazer, here’s solution: Obtain an airfare rewards card. It doesn’t matter what the interest rate is because you’re going to bring the balance back to zero every 24th day. Charge everything to the card you’d normally buy … groceries, fuel … whatever you’d normally buy with a debit card. If you’re saddled with a low limit, charge up to the limit. Pay it back to zero each month and keep doing that over and over. After a year, you’ll build up enough airline points to fly free somewhere for vacation. You’re welcome.
So your solution to save money (free vacation) is to spend even more money (rack up those credit card points).
That’s brilliant. Only in America…
or better yet glaze…put everything you buy for business an personal items on credit cards and get millions of points to use for anything you want.
There’s a very, very, very easy answer on the credit card fees.
glazer never has any answers or solutions.
Neither do the other writers on kcc.
Only boom boom has answers.
And they work.
So Laura B if you’re looking for answers to these complex problems like
why is baseball faltering or cable tv is $150 i suggest you go to another
site. These dudes here really know nothing.
Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear boom boom
Dumbass!
Tldr:yo (you’re old).
And even though I’ve never said a nasty word here, someone in the admin wants to moderate my comments. It must be my logic … see the above post, LOL.
No moderation, Laura…
Just the way the site works…for now
Boom Boom, Harley, JoJo, you proved the point of this story…hate for no reason…you won. ‘Writers here have no answers’ really….sometimes a writer just raises questions for the reader to consider. Other times a writer offers his or her opinion of how to fix something, who will win, why. I think I’ve done that. They are always opinons. Nobody is right all the time like Harley….Clinton will beat Trump, Atlanta will defeat the Pats and another 50 wrong answers. Harley you are not a real person, you have no name or identity. You lead us to believe you are an attorney? Really most lawyers spend hours writing, they tend to spell correctly and have far better than average grammar…me I fail in both areas…it sure cost me a fortune on writing scripts that I sold or optioned by forcing me to take on co writers with better skills not better ideas. ‘Finish college’…ha…no really.
Harley I have no clue what you are, surely not an attorney. As Admin has asked why not come out of the closet? Who are you? You love to attack others, state harsh opinions and be right. So who are you? Why the hate?
Because he’s a dumbass!
SEE WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF YOU HARLEY
Ah THE HATE GAME in full force today, North Korea, Sports, Tom Bady, Donald Trump, its a long list…not just Harley, huh.