I Like Peeing

Not true. At all.

charles vail

In todays economy I am too poor to buy a home even in the rural area that I live. I purchased mine for $36,000 back in about 1987 and now its worth about $175,000.......the only problem is, I make half as much as I did then and it costs more to live now, plus property taxes may force me out eventually. I never finished college and entered a zero growth field of work that is now on a decline. At nearly 50 years old I am concerned for my children and what it will take for them to buy a home. Without two very substantial incomes it seems somewhat impossible. I figure creative living situations with perhaps a small group of two couples may have to jointly buy together or rent together to allow more rapid savings for a down payment. Unconventional living situations and/or penciling out the bottom line on living close to work vs. out in the country. My own commute is 28 miles one way making it difficult to bicycle the whole distance. The way the economy is moving though, I think you will see more people working from home and more people renting close to work due to the ever changing job market. There isn't much company loyalty like there used to be, making the house in the suburbs with the white picket fence very rare, unless you inherit it. If you ever plan a family, having a choice where you live based on something other than affordable housing, is nice. Living on the cheap...........really cheap is probably the best way to go if you want to save. That means no luxuries, fancy weddings, vacations, new cars, new bikes, expensive furniture, eating out, $4.00 coffees etc. etc. if you really want to save money. Its harder to do now than in my youth and my parents too. I think their house payment was only 20% of their monthly pay whereas these days its more like 50%. Something is wrong about that whole deal with the distribution of wealth going somewhere. I'm thinking greed drives the whole process.

ralphm2k

I know, right? What a ******-bag!
He also said "The Jew is the enemy of the human race. This race must be sent back to Asia, or exterminated".

He was a f'ing ******.

Suttree

I don't have a house. Never owned a horse--never will.
House is in the works. Are you a teacher TP? Teachers
don't get paid what they are worth--probably makes it
more difficult.

asherlighn

I am 23 and have owned 5 houses. Huzzah.

I am still too poor to live in my own house by myself, but I have owned a few.

I think some people's aversion to property ownership and clinging to the idea of the proletariat vs the bourgeois just hurts themselves. Once one embraces the idea that money is nothing more, or less, than a measurement of goods/services then lots of things (such as purchasing a house) become more real. But I am a capitalist pig, so dont mind me.

666pack

buy a house?
that sounds like grown-up stuff that i'm not trying to think about for at least ten to fifteen years.

now that i'm nearing what is supposed to be the end of my obligatory four years in college i've never felt more like NOT growing up than i do right now. growing up really sucks. i want to remain perpetually in school and never have to worry about money, cause all the stuff i'm learning about it now just doesn't make growing up seem like any fun.

**** man. all this talk has me bummed out. i'm gonna go rip my bongpiece in the basement while doing no-handed trackstands.

Suttree

Hmmm--I sort of agree but don't. I think anyone who works for someone else
has something in common with other workers. Granted the problems
of one group of workers are different than mine. But I see a lot of my friends
in my profession putting in insane hours and getting their souls siphoned out--
and we make less than 1/4 of our billing rate in take home. I think our relationship
to the owners of capital is similar rather than dissimilar to other workers. This transcends
our relative means.

SeanBonham

Paying for education is the real killer. I went to a community college that was paid for by the state and everyday I am thankful for it. Carriers that require me to spend 40+ thousand on a degree are not for me. I have so many friends that struggle to pay their student loans, it's scary. I went to a university for two weeks after I got my associate degree and got my money back. I come from a long line of military retirees and skilled tradesmen so that explains my disposition and terrible spelling.
I am all for free education and self taught skills

asherlighn

Yeah, education should be free up to an undergraduate BA/BS degree. If I had to actually pay for it right now I would be super pissed (I have GI bill/scholarships).

Free education would be the best socio-economic equalizer I can think of.

queerpunk

I agree with you, with modifications. GOOD, EQUAL free education. the public education system in this damn country is an absolute disaster. if the whole country can stop funding public education from property taxes, it would be a great step toward equalizing public education. if the country could divert some resources from the military-industrial complex toward education...

thelung

Indusutrial civilization's war on the natural world makes a slow collapse inevitable but a fast one remains possible... you cant know for sure how events will play out. Besides, I already know the squirrel/stone-tools part...

*new*guy

the two yutes...

wroomwroomoops

HAHAHAHAHHHH I love that movie! "My cousin Vinny", what a blast! I laugh my ass off every time I watch it. I can't decide who's acting was the best (between Pesci, Tomei and Macchio), and never will. But Tomei is HOT in that movie - plus, she kicks ass with her car mechanics skills. Nothing as hot as a hot babe that knows her way around mechanics. OK, maybe a hot cyclist babe.

visitordesign

i dunno, man. that logic's pretty flawed.

3MTA3

zomg! tip! missed you!

schnee

From what I can tell, the change is directly proportional to how much of a selfish, inconsiderate ******bag you are. Good people don't really change. Selfish jerks that only take from others are suddenly in a position to be taken from, and they don't like that.

Myself, I long for the day I can tell some kid to 'get OFF my LAWN'. I could afford a place now, but it's not the time at all.

I Like Peeing

No, it's a like a van that you sleep in and stash your surfboard up top... they're great.

eskachig

This is the most hilariously misguided logic I've ever seen. In all honesty, there's no special moral high ground in being poor. You just have less resources to do with as you please, and that's it. And maybe having some empathy with property owners didn't hurt this artist of yours one bit. There are plenty of legal opportunities for street art.

As for houses go, that's a toughie. I live in SF, and on my salary of almost 90k there is no way I could afford to own a house around here. Maybe an apartment but even that's a stretch. I hope something will change in 5 years when I'm 30, but who knows.

*new*guy

nice. a yurt is pretty cool, too, so long as you have somewhere to erect it.

sp00ki

not too poor at all, but my credit looks like feces so it'd be more accurate to say that i'm not rich enough (or at least, time hasn't passed enough).

eogie

I was about to buy a house with my brother and the day before closing the financing fell through. ****ty.

wroomwroomoops

First of all, I totally agree that teachers are not paid what they should be. Teachers create the people of tomorrow - basically, they forge the future.

And second thing: please put your old avatar back, kaiju-velo. I need that to quickly recognize you. I don't care if you don a mohawk or not - the guy on the pic is indelebly etched in my mind in connection with you. So, pretty please with sugar on top - put that thing back, thanks.

Suttree

^ Deniro is the **** in Taxi Driver--

wroomwroomoops

^^^Ah, so that's where it's from! I have not seen the movie, and sure as hell didn't recognize de Niro.
Thanks a bunch for being yourself again I feel a bit ****ty for asking you this as I strongly believe in self-expression. But on the other hand, now things are much better.

Most grateful.

marqueemoon

My mom is in a similar situation. The house is paid off but now she struggles to pay the property taxes with a stagnant income because the house has appreciated so much.

I have some good friends who got hosed because the inspector failed to find a submerged oil tank under their newly purchased house. Not being able to afford to clean it up they basically had to walk away and take a devastating blow to their credit.

The American dream can really bite you in the ass sometimes.