Where the Bailout Went Wrong

[Ducimus]

Personally, i don't see what the debate is. In my mind, its all as clear as day and as real as the traffic light down the street. Now, i'm not disowning personal responsiblity or accountability, far from it. I am where I am, because i got comfortable and lazy. However, i also recognize we live in a plutocracy, and in what some call a "great recession". There are far fewer opportunites now then there were 10 to 20 years ago.

The cost of living keeps going up, pay stays the same, and a crapton of people are unemployed. Yet this rich elite are making record profits, with pay bonuses in the millions. That too, is plain as day, and as real as the traffic sign down the street. There's no abstract thought to that. Poor get poorer, rich get richer. That's just how it is, and it is what it is, because we have the best government money can buy. I just find it therapeutic to whine about it on a messageboard because i can't elsewhere, and because there is absolutely NOTHING i can do about the situation. So that to me, is all there is to it.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Personally, i don't see what the debate is. In my mind, its all as clear as day and as real as the traffic light down the street. Now, i'm not disowning personal responsiblity or accountability, far from it. I am where I am, because i got comfortable and lazy. However, i also recognize we live in a plutocracy, and in what some call a "great recession". There are far fewer opportunites now then there were 10 to 20 years ago.

The cost of living keeps going up, pay stays the same, and a crapton of people are unemployed. Yet this rich elite are making record profits, with pay bonuses in the millions. That too, is plain as day, and as real as the traffic sign down the street. There's no abstract thought to that. Poor get poorer, rich get richer. That's just how it is, and it is what it is, because we have the best government money can buy. I just find it therapeutic to whine about it on a messageboard because i can't elsewhere. That to me, is all there is to it.

You got it, brother. There are those that realize what's happened, but they know that we have no real power. We can write to our congresscritter and tell them how unfair it is, but they know our protests will be filtered through some unpaid intern and met with a form letter. They face no real repercussions. They keep fellating that corporate pipe and let us believe that we have some sort of say in government.

And they have their true believers who defend the right to screw us over at all turns, saying that they're not really at fault, and that the old American dream of "you can make it if you try" is still alive and well. What are you gonna do, man?

[Ducimus]

What are you gonna do, man?

What i always do. Survive.... as dramatic as that sounds. I Make my ends meet, keep my head above water, live one day at a time, enjoy what i have, take pleasure in the simple things in life, and try not to worry about things i can do nothing about.

[Platapus]

Maybe not as bad as it could be?

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/30/news...dex.htm?hpt=T2

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that the money it gave to banks during the financial crisis has been paid back, and then some.



The bank bailout -- part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program -- is now $6 billion in the black, a profit that might ultimately rise to $20 billion, according to the Treasury.
And that's nice. But if you look at the whole program, there are still some trouble spots, and not everyone is happy.


...

Interesting article.

[gimpy117]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

What i always do. Survive.... as dramatic as that sounds. I Make my ends meet, keep my head above water, live one day at a time, enjoy what i have, take pleasure in the simple things in life, and try not to worry about things i can do nothing about.

Im still worried, being so young and only half way through school. What happens to my generation? Maybe I should just pick out a nice comfy box. Preferably one thats waxed so it will keep out the stream of urine coming from the top percent.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by gimpy117

Im still worried, being so young and only half way through school. What happens to my generation?

Assuming you get your foot in the door somewhere...soar above them.
Have and show Integrity. Never compromise it, ever. It's the most valuable thing you can have. Own up to your mistakes, and be your worst critic. Show and prove your reliable, Do what you say your going to do, and never ever say "not my job" and never leave something half assed. Do all that, and you should be fine.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Assuming you get your foot in the door somewhere...soar above them.
Have and show Integrity. Never compromise it, ever. It's the most valuable thing you can have. Own up to your mistakes, and be your worst critic. Show and prove your reliable, Do what you say your going to do, and never ever say "not my job" and never leave something half assed. Do all that, and you should be fine.

Good advice.

gimpy - be principled. Stand up for your beliefs. Act in such a way that no one can indict your character. Do the Marine thing -do the right thing even when no one's looking. Make yourself indisposable. Learn whatever job you get inside and out - be the expert at whatever. Make it so they have to think twice to get rid of you. Go the extra mile. Be a jack of all trades. They can replace one job position, they have trouble replacing two or three - know and do those two or three job descriptions.

Just my $0.02

[gimpy117]

sounds advice guys

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Make yourself indisposable.

We JUST had another round of layoffs today, it i was reminded of THIS specific sentence mookie wrote.

Making yourself indisposable is easier said then done. Though i suppose it depends on who's in charge. A couple years ago we had a change in management, and they've been going at things. To the powers that be, you as an employee represent one or two things.
Functionality or Productivity.

Someone who provides functionality is indisposeable. Someone who provides productivity is replaceable. Needless to say, the management has been doing their utmost so they don't have to rely on any one person for anything. Including me. I WAS indisposeable, but my primary duty has been automated. Now my existance is being carried through on my secondary duty, and i now represent productivity , and am a replaceable widget.

Anyway, i cleaned out my desk 3 months ago. In my mind, it isn't a question of IF, but WHEN. As long as i get a severance, i don't give a ****.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by gimpy117

Im still worried, being so young and only half way through school. What happens to my generation?

Your generation will be just fine. Things won't be as bad as you fear, nor as good as you hope.

People have been predicting the downfall of the United States for many years, each one condemning the next generation to utter despair.

And somehow we always survive. We change and we adapt, but we survive.

Your generation will experience things that my generation could only dream of. And at the same time, you will miss out on experiences my generation holds dearly. That's just life on this wacky rock.

[August]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Your generation will be just fine. Things won't be as bad as you fear, nor as good as you hope.

People have been predicting the downfall of the United States for many years, each one condemning the next generation to utter despair.

And somehow we always survive. We change and we adapt, but we survive.

Your generation will experience things that my generation could only dream of. And at the same time, you will miss out on experiences my generation holds dearly. That's just life on this wacky rock.

Even more good advice.

[CaptainHaplo]

I can sum up why the bailouts (bush and obama's) went wrong in 2 words...

"They happened."

Nuff said.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

I can sum up why the bailouts (bush and obama's) went wrong in 2 words...

"They happened."

Nuff said.

QFT

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

And they have their true believers who defend the right to screw us over at all turns, saying that they're not really at fault, and that the old American dream of "you can make it if you try" is still alive and well. What are you gonna do, man?

I know I'm going to be mocked horribly for this but.... join the Tea Party! Granted, their material results haven't been all that great yet, but their political results over a relatively short span of time can't be argued with, and you'll never take out the government-industrial complex without removing the government part first. Easiest way to do that is to demand government fiscal responsibility, which is exactly what the tea partiers are all about.

What the tea-party movement represents, maligned as it is by the left, is a shift in Republican politics and eventually (I hope) party platform. The Repubs are infamous for spending just as much (and in some cases, more) than the Dems. I think the success of the tea-party movement may be indicative of Americans actually sending a message to Washington more or less successfully, which is better than nothing at all.

More importantly, in a two-party system, if one party definitively adopts a stance, the other party is all but required to adopt the opposite stance to garner the largest possible number of votes. In the event of another tea-party success, that could put the legislature in the hands of the tea-party Republicans and independents.

My main worry about them is that they will lose momentum and stop complaining, or conclude that the effort is hopeless or too much work. If they do that before 2012, we just continue with the same system, so we're screwed. If they do it after 2012, or even 2016, we may well end up with another single-party legislative dynasty, which would eventually be even worse.

Aside from that, there's always the option of supporting a third party with a fiscal-responsibility agenda, like the Libertarians. I'm not saying you need to throw away a vote in a presidential election or a presidential primary. Just get the word out in a local election. Or just cast a vote in one. Nobody votes in those things anyway, so your vote carries more weight, but what really matters is that every Libertarian elected at a local level carries the weight of thousands of district votes (y'know, unless your district has less than thousands of people). Apply pressure from the ground up, rather than the top down.

Or don't. Whatever you do, don't just give up. Every vote of no-confidence in the current government is ammunition to bring about the reform of government, even if all you do is convince one person on one forum. Y'know, as long as you don't convince them to vote for more government to fix the current government.

[Ducimus]

Whatever you do, don't just give up. Every vote of no-confidence in the current government is ammunition to bring about the reform of government,

When our representitives can be bought, be it corporate or special interests, what does it matter? It feels like every jackass that gets elected does the exact same thing. They BS their way into office, and then pander to wherever the money is coming from.