Earlier quoted context omitted.
Come to Eastern Europe, your student loan money is enough for a whole new life here. P.s. honestly, I don't understand how ppl who are so hoplessly indebted are not migrating here. Bulgaria offers very cheap life with the opportunity of doing business with the EU and the US. Why work 24/7 when you can enjoy a good life in a place where the local people and economy need a foreigner to lead them in the business and glo…
Everyone I know and care about is here. That isn't inconsequential.
Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
281–290 of 294 posts
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#282US government backed student loans were a huge mistake. We needed something like rent control enforced on public universities, for government backed loans. But we didn't. So it created a situation that caused an enormous amount of millennials to be taken advantage of by universities and colleges. Those universities and colleges pumped full of government loan cash became increasingly predatory. They increased their ad…
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
Normally I don’t unload like this, but framing this as a “right-wing” thing is both stupid and dangerous. Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years. Just google it. Here’s one for you from the Brits, so no right/left anything: https://www.ft.com/content/456172b4-6b11-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a... And here’s another: http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas-county/retired-dallas-... And another: http:…
State government pensions are totally unrelated to Social Security. Under Federal law and under many state constitutions, vested benefits under state and municipal employee pension plans are a property right, and cannot be reduced unilaterally (depending on the theory, either because of the Takings Clause or Contracts Clause of the Federal constitution). And because, unlike private pensions and the USPS, Federal law…
So no, it’s not one party - it’s both. And that’s what the problem is.
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
What stuff has led to culture shock? What's stood out to you?
There's a lot. But to sum up a few: - The overwhelming political nature of everything here. It is "free-market is the solution to everything or you're a socialist" mentality. The Moore race is a good example of this. The only thing worse than a Dem is a pedo. I'm moderate right, for reference. (maybe some of this is just the political climate of the times) - Bible belt and churches around every corner. Religion is mu…
They say the confederate war flags are fine. Well, if it isn't racist to them, then it isn't racist to them. You won't fit in until you accept that. There are actually black people with that flag...
http://www.southernheritage411.com/hke.php?nw=006
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8hPo6mYnks
Based on your non-southern culture, you're reading something into the actions of other people. You are using an incompatible cultural context to make judgements about other people. They aren't unaware of this, which is why it keeps popping up. You are giving off some sort of vibe, perhaps disgust, and they can see it. The only fix is to adopt the cultural definitions of those around you.
Racism in the south is more obvious than racism elsewhere, but not more common. All across the north and west you can find tokenism and low expectations.
The appearance that everything is political is partly just the times, but also partly because you were unaware of it in your former location. Political opinions in your former location were just the norm that you'd always known, so you didn't really see them. Now they stand out. To see the other side of this story, how things are in fact political outside of the south, read through this lawsuit: https://www.scribd.com/document/368688363/James-Damore-vs-Go...
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks. I agree with you about the fact that what I'm doing isn't a direct influence on the bigger issues. However, consumers play a major role in these larger issues. For example, If we as a society would stop buying cheap food, it would force the hand of these industrial operations to change their behavior. So I'm taking the time I have now to learn and improve my mentoring and educational skills when working with…
If we as a society would stop buying cheap food While voting with your wallet and trying to be a conscientious consumer is great, the asymmetry between ad=hoc networks of consumers pursuing smarter more sustainable choices and people who are directly invested in selling crap fora quick buck is huge. Since the large industrial concerns can spend a fortune on advertising and demand creation how exactly are you going to…
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
My biggest concern with the Midwest is the erosion of healthy living top soil. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climat...
Just read the text in that link, and didn't find the part about top soil. Coul d you be a little more specific? FYI - I'm pretty sure central Minnesota is gonna be just fine.
"More heavy downpours may increase the likelihood of property damage, travel delays, and disruption in services. Sediment runoff and erosion may clog reservoirs and reduce storage capacity."
Erosion is harmful because the top six inches of the soil has the majority of microbial life that contribute to healthy soil. When their ecosystem is disturbed, it takes years for it to come back. No amount of fertilizer or additives will help in it's absense and only worsens the health of the soil.
"Midwestern agricultural lands make up two-thirds of the region's land area and produce 65% of the nation's corn and soybeans."
Corn and soybean production has historically used harmful chemicals and harmful farming practices. These techniques harm the microbial life in the top-soil in addition to other ecosystems.
Industrial farming practices are negatively impacting ecosystems such as insects, birds, and microbial soil life.
"In the long-term, climate impacts are likely to have increasingly detrimental effects that increase variability in crop and agricultural production"
When these crops start to die off, the soil is going to be exposed to severe weather conditions and will only make it worse for the microbial life to live. Healthy soil need's protection from UV, typically that's in the form of a mulch layer (leaves, twigs, bark, wood chips, plants, bushes, trees, etc...)
'Many tree species are expected to gradually shift their ranges northward."
The forest edge is Nature's sign of the best growing conditions. Tree's provide protection, energy, and food for top-soil. Without them, it will require significant energy and expense to simulate what they naturally provide.
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
If we as a society would stop buying cheap food While voting with your wallet and trying to be a conscientious consumer is great, the asymmetry between ad=hoc networks of consumers pursuing smarter more sustainable choices and people who are directly invested in selling crap fora quick buck is huge. Since the large industrial concerns can spend a fortune on advertising and demand creation how exactly are you going to…
In my opinion, the solution here is education. The illiteracy of food is a tremendous problem and can't be solved with regulation. Corporations can easily find a loop-hole in regulations that allow them in principle to achieve the same yield. The only way we are going to stop that is by educating consumers. If a vast majority of consumers read labels, research ingredients, and only bought from local farmers, we would…
Surely you have noticed that there are also people who systematically attempt to undermine such public education efforts. I think you might at least acknowledge their existence and the existence of advertising that attempts to bypass educational channels to sell crappy foods.
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
Millennial here, thanks for the daily reminder of the future I have to deal with. Failing government systems, check. Unaffordable educational system, check. Limited housing and land, check. Degrading climate, check. Some days I believe I just may find a way out of it. But, for every day I participate in the rat race is just another lost when I should be working on building a better future for my family.
dont worry. put your funds into 'good money' like sensible cryptocurrencies and watch your savings multiply. that is how we will fight the crooked boomer system.
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "I don't want to make any child of mine grow up in the world it seems we're heading to" This is utterly short-sighted thinking. We in Western nations are utterly privileged and blessed to live in today's world. Abundance of clothing! Abundance of food! Free and accessible plumbing! Clean drinking water! Travel anywhere you like for relatively cheap! You probably own a large climate-controlled contraption that can t…
I am one who has decided not to have children, in part because I don't want to bring people I [would] love into this world in the state it's in. You are right that we (at least in the First World) are standing at the pinnacle of human civilization. We have access to the knowledge of the whole world, going back throughout much of world history. We have science, medicine, technology that would dazzle our ancestors. All…
If you are waiting for scary things to pass, you'll wait forever.
There will never be a perfect utopian time when the economy is running 100% efficiently, when humanity is in perfect harmony with nature, when there are zero threats of war, etc.
Your argument doesn't address this simple truth: there has never been a better time and place for humanity as now in first-world nations. It isn't perfect -- as you point out there are serious problems to tackle -- and yet, it's never been better.
Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am one who has decided not to have children, in part because I don't want to bring people I [would] love into this world in the state it's in. You are right that we (at least in the First World) are standing at the pinnacle of human civilization. We have access to the knowledge of the whole world, going back throughout much of world history. We have science, medicine, technology that would dazzle our ancestors. All…
Sure, there are scary and potentially troubling things going on in the world. If you are waiting for scary things to pass, you'll wait forever. There will never be a perfect utopian time when the economy is running 100% efficiently, when humanity is in perfect harmony with nature, when there are zero threats of war, etc. Your argument doesn't address this simple truth: there has never been a better time and place for…