111–120 of 160 posts
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I've done quite well in Seattle living within my means.
Maybe you don't have the health issues his remark implies? (In that after rent, his next highest expense is 'medical and dental'.)
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Well, I have had two classes on Peak Oil and I really don't agree. To reiterate: The current U.S. economy/lifestyle is based on cheap oil. Cheap oil is gradually disappearing. It will only get worse from here. This is just the beginning. Since cheap oil is a foundation stone for our current culture, changes there will be felt wide and deep. But I guess this is the point at which we agree to disagree. Thank you for re…
Energy cost and availability are a real issue, it's just that if you look backwards, there isn't much of story about where we are right now. (I would take this a step further and say that $4 is still cheap for gasoline; it isn't clear that the much higher fuel prices in Europe have been bad economically. And I'm someone who got to start driving in the '90s when prices fell below a dollar)
And the residential energy link you gave: This is the headline: "Lower residential energy use reduces home energy expenditures as share of household income". So people are apparently reducing their use of energy, probably in part because they are feeling pinched.
At this point, it looks to me like you and I do not see the same conclusions from the same data. I don't understand how you can submit the links you did in support of your point of view here.
So I think it's probably best to walk away from this discussion.
Thank you.
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I was sort of sloppily making two points. Gas prices are energy prices that 'we really feel', and they have only gone up some; qualitatively, gas is still cheap enough that (many) people drive around without thinking about it much. This shows residential energy as a percentage going down: http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=10891 This shows gasoline roughly matching the other link: http://www.eia.gov/today…
I think it's a big mistake to assume most of the expensive oil effect are through direct energy expenditures. Consider what is listed as "shelter", "transportation" and "food". The biggest costs are there, according to the first page you linked. Those areas heavily affected by cost of energy and reduce what is available for all the rest, including spending on gasoline. Are vehicle miles going up or down? Maybe gasoli…
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Think about where your grandfather & grandmother lived, and what the place was like when they lived there. Silicon Valley, for example, was pretty cheap before the tech booms. Speaking to people who moved there in the late 70's and early 80's, there were still orchards and fields everywhere. What I'm getting at is it's easy to get by on simple jobs like that when you live in Nowhere, WY. Then, later, when the town bo…
They lived in a small house 6 miles from downtown Boston, in a nice middle class residential neighborhood. I couldn't afford to buy that house now. This is the sort of thing that suggests to me a big picture issue.
That's exactly my point though, then & now are almost certainly not apples to apples, and "Well I couldn't afford their house today" is exactly the thing that I am saying is a mistake to think.
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> It honestly feels like the goalposts keep moving That's a really great quote and I'm happy to see the honesty. This gets to the heart of the matter. You're stuck playing "keep up with the Jones'", which by very definition you can not win. You need to define your own goalposts, then they won't move, and you can actually get there. What makes you happy? How do you want to spend your limited time on this earth? What d…
I think goalposts move by nature, even when you set them yourself. Once upon a time, my goalposts were "graduate college". Then they were, "get a good job". Then they were, "get healthy". Then, "build social circles". These are moving goalposts. But without them, I would stagnate and achieve little.
The key to this is you said "my" goalposts.
As long as you're living your life aiming for goalposts you set, they can be achievable. The problems arise when you try to achieve someone elses goal posts.
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I've done quite well in Seattle living within my means.
What are your means? What is "quite well"?
I've survived in Seattle making that amount, and making half that amount. Each time I've had to adjust my life in order to get what I wanted out of life.
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Well, I have had two classes on Peak Oil and I really don't agree. To reiterate: The current U.S. economy/lifestyle is based on cheap oil. Cheap oil is gradually disappearing. It will only get worse from here. This is just the beginning. Since cheap oil is a foundation stone for our current culture, changes there will be felt wide and deep. But I guess this is the point at which we agree to disagree. Thank you for re…
Energy cost and availability are a real issue, it's just that if you look backwards, there isn't much of story about where we are right now. (I would take this a step further and say that $4 is still cheap for gasoline; it isn't clear that the much higher fuel prices in Europe have been bad economically. And I'm someone who got to start driving in the '90s when prices fell below a dollar)
We live in compounds built out of materials that at least in some phase of their production include major oil or gas inputs. We drive and walk on roads literally made out of oil, in vehicles that were built out of parts which required major amounts of oil.
We live in an era of oil, our life is based on oil.
For now.
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Maybe you don't have the health issues his remark implies? (In that after rent, his next highest expense is 'medical and dental'.)
I can't decide if he is commenting on his own situation or just added it in as part of a larger question about the economy.
Though I could certainly be wrong.