Alaskans and their "big toys".... (Metlakatla, Hope: rent, mortgage)

[Lunabell]

I'm part of Gen X. I don't expect a damn thing from anyone at this point.

[SityData]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Indeed they are. I don't know anyone my age (or any age for that matter) who expects a high-paying job to just be handed to them. Maybe there are folks out there who want that (like organized communist groups and whatnot), but the majority of us who support this protest movement are not in favor of communism, or even socialism for that matter. I believe in hard work, and that's how it is. That's how you make money: you work your ass off. Here's the problem (and why they're protesting): those jobs will not support you anymore.

The best example I can give is my two good friends: they are in their late 20's, both have college degrees (one has a Masters), and they work three jobs between the two of them. They don't have hot water right now, they don't have fuel oil to run their heat for the winter yet, and they have to use food stamps in order to put food on their table. And they spend most of their waking hours WORKING their asses off. So it's not as simple as "get a job and you'll be rewarded". Now it's "get three jobs and you might be able to eat at the end of the day", and all the while there is a select group of people sitting in their bazillion dollar homes, eating friggin caviar, and driving Rolls-Royces. Those people are not inherently bad for having money, and people aren't protesting against the people who have the money necessarily. Mostly what is being protested is the broken system that allows them to have all that money and for the vast majority to have so little.

And for someone my age, who is just now starting out in the workforce world, all of it is absolutely terrifying.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT: There is a very simple solution. You go... .. where the work is!

[Metlakatla]

Rrpearso (aka highlife2), why are you still whining? If I recall, you make a fairly decent wage yourself for someone of your age.

I think you're pissed because you can't at this point in your life have a lot of "statusy" things, because I think that's what they mean to you. I don't think you get that someone like Tigre, for instance (who is probably younger than you are, by the way) has her sled because that's what brings her a lot of happiness and fun. Or that someone might have a boat for the same reason.

Let me tell you something about status that I didn't consciously realize myself until last spring, though I think I always knew it. I was noticing a lot of big new jacked up fancy trucks around the island, and just for a moment I felt a little ashamed of my old fish truck. Then I felt ashamed of feeling ashamed, because the real status is in every scratch and dent of an old work truck.

You're making better money than most your age, if what you said in your last incarnation on this forum was the truth. So stop whining.

[ArcticState]

Originally Posted by Moose Whisperer

I worked for every stinking penny I own. Yes, I have a nice house and a good income because I busted my ass out of High School, joined the military, and worked my way through college. No on has given me a dime. If you put all of the energy you spend whining about your lack of money here in this forum towards starting a business or working hard at a job, you would be a Millionaire in no time.

Right on!


#occupyTHIS...

[naturesdreams]

I say if you can afford the toys, still pay your bills and it makes you happy... go for it... I can't afford the toys myself and I don't want for anything at all... It's not that you have the best of everything in life, it is making the best of what you have...

[Nephler]

[Rance]

Broken system that allows "them" to have all that money? You mean all that money that they worked maybe their entire life for?

[Dakster]

Money can't buy you happiness, but it will let you choose your own form of misery....

ArcticState -- That photo is hilarious. I am going to print that out and post it at work.

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by Rance

Broken system that allows "them" to have all that money? You mean all that money that they worked maybe their entire life for?

I get this one a lot, people thinking that I'm saying that rich people got rich by some magical occurrence or don't earn their money; I understand that the majority of people with money in this country worked hard for it, but I don't believe that the hard work that some people do is worth $100 billion more than the hard work other people do and get paid squat for. Also, you have got to recognize - because I know that you have seen this firsthand - that some of the rich people in this country are very greedy people. Someone like Bill Gates, who gives away billions and billions and billions, is doing good things with his money in addition to buying himself a fleet of jets or whatever, because he gives to charity.

I'm not sure what the best way to approach something like this is. I mean, it doesn't seem right to make policies that somehow force people to give their money away, but at the same time, it doesn't seem right for a very very small group of people to have the vast majority of the world's wealth.

[SityData]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

I get this one a lot, people thinking that I'm saying that rich people got rich by some magical occurrence or don't earn their money; I understand that the majority of people with money in this country worked hard for it, but I don't believe that the hard work that some people do is worth $100 billion more than the hard work other people do and get paid squat for. Also, you have got to recognize - because I know that you have seen this firsthand - that some of the rich people in this country are very greedy people. Someone like Bill Gates, who gives away billions and billions and billions, is doing good things with his money in addition to buying himself a fleet of jets or whatever, because he gives to charity.

I'm not sure what the best way to approach something like this is. I mean, it doesn't seem right to make policies that somehow force people to give their money away, but at the same time, it doesn't seem right for a very very small group of people to have the vast majority of the world's wealth.

According to Steve Jobs - Bill Gates never had an original idea; he stole other peoples ideas.

Linux is a far far better operating system and that "student' gave it to the world - for free. Bill Gates was nothing more than a common theif whose greed was self evident !! That is just my opinion! Rich people don't make their money by being nice - it's a dog eat dog world out there.