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rant about USA

thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
edited February 2002 in General Discussion
There is something really wrong in our country and it scares the hell out of me. On my quiet street in my quiet town 20 miles outside of Boston, a beautiful 4 bedroom colonial was leveled and a monstrous house is being built.This was a beautiful house, better than what 99.9% of Americans live in. It sold for $700,000 this past year. Now it is gone, so someone bought a $700,000 lot. By the way, the family lives in TX and seem very nice. This is their summer home.Now I'm not saying they should not be allowed to do this. I am saying it is sickening and it is everything that is wrong with America. When 99.999% of the people on this earth live in a glorified shipping container, it makes me sick to think that we live in a place where someone would spend that kind of money on a summer home for 2 months of the year.What's wrong with our society is that having nice cars and homes, cell phones, DVD players and computers, and fancy vacations has become more important than raising good kids, being a good person, and caring about one's fellow man.
The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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Comments

  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Why would you assume, that because these people have a nice summer home, they do not raise their children properly, and perform all of the other virtues that you mentioned.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I assume it because all the kids on my street are raised by day care workers instead of their parents.
    The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    If it is a "summer home" why would they need day care workers. I would assume a "summer home" is a vacation home, and baby sitters would defeat the purpose.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I knew a guy who did the same thing. He bought a house for about $800,000 on a lake and after moving-in and redoing every room in the place he decided to tear it down and start over. Now he has an elevator and indoor pool in his house. While it is very impressive now, more so than before, it does seem wasteful. But, isn't wasteful a relative term? This guy has millions of dollars and to him this isn't a big deal.So, what I'm saying is, almost everything we Americans do could be considered just as wasteful by somebody who has less. I bet that when we throw out the leftovers of a meal at a restaurant there are people elsewhere who don't get that much food all week. If they heard about it they'd probably say "what a shame". I say if you have it, spend it. If you choose to help support charities that is noble, but not required. In the end the best we can do is leave it for our children anyway.Also, I don't think that just because somebody chooses to do the kind of thing we're talking about that there is any correlation to whether they are good parents. Heck, maybe the old house aggravated their child's allergies so they built a new home that would help....p.s. He did actually help his fellow man by giving work to the contractors that tore down his old house and built the new one.
    Gun Control Disarms Victims, NOT Criminals[This message has been edited by concealedG36 (edited 02-13-2002).]
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    You are right Butcher.I think we should all pull a "walden-thoroeau" and go out and live in a shack and eat nothing but potatoes and dandelions.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I never said they shouldn't be allowed to do it. The greatest generation was just so because they sacrificed and lived through a depression. This type of wanton spending is sickening and the greed it breeds corrupts our society.For all the flaming on in some circles, we have forgotten very basic Christian lessons.
    The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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  • Gordian BladeGordian Blade Member Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mr. Butcher, I have two comments here. First, I own a summer home. My wife and I have worked damned hard since we were 20 or so in order to afford it. (And sometimes I wonder if we can, like when I pay the taxes.) It's the one place where our kids can get together with their grandparents on my wife's side for an extended period, since they live in another state.There is a much grander place right on the lake downhill from us that a wealthy couple bought for about $1M and then put about $3M (maybe more) into a total fixup. Was it necessary for their immediate needs? Obviously not. But I saw a constant stream of tradesmen in and out of there for two years, and every year they got something else done until the husband passed away. Do you think they should have lived in a two-bedroom condo and deprived all those workers of a living? (And no, we aren't friends with them or even acquaintances. Different social orbits.)In my opinion, economic liberty is an important component of the American Dream. In other words, if people get their money legally, they should have the right to spend it in whatever legal way they want.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    First question is if they live in Texas, why buy a summer home 20 miles from bean town??stir anyone? Isnt it the American dream? I thought that was one of the benifits of living here. Atleast they didnt buy a beautiful farm, subdivide it, put a shopping center on one end and a housing development on the other. They used an existing lot, far better than what yuppies with money usualy do. let em have at it, heck maybe they will bring your property values up a little more. Also if they got that kind of money I would buddy up to them, may be some good come out of it. Just imagine the bbq's around the inground pool you could enjoy while visiting them. You never know, could be the nicest family you ever met. One other thing, it seems to happen alot up there, why is it if you want to do something it has to meet approval by the town, somebody is always critisizing what you do up there, your constantly being judged. Why is that. I don't care what happens down the street as long as they aint selling drugs. They want to tear down a house and build a new one, more power to them. Simple rule, I mind my bussiness, neighbors mind theirs, and we get along great.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have nothing against summer homes or spending money. The problem I have is that a house that was better than 99.9% of all houses in America is now scrap in a dumpster.
    The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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  • Gordian BladeGordian Blade Member Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    OK, that nice home is now scrap in a dumpster, but think of all the jobs people will have building the new one. Think of it as the WPA with private funding.
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  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Because they can.I had a Jewish friend tell me..."A Jewish businessman will live the first half of his life like you wouldn't so he can live the last half like you wish you could."Don't know how true this is but it gave me something to think about. In the 5 years before I retired, I was putting in 70-75 hours a week to build up my pension $$$$. Because of that extra effort, I have a check coming every month that is half again as much as it would have been had I not put in those hours. Maybe these folks worked that hard too.(Maybe they won the lottery. Who knows? Who cares?)Like I said...because they can.Mudge the content
    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Very good Gordian. I think Butcher is right. I think we should only have the bare necessities, and return any excesss property or money to its rightful owners-the government.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Very good Gordian. I think Butcher is right. I think we should only have the bare necessities, and return any excesss property or money to its rightful owners-the government.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mudge- I don't begrudge you at all for working your tail off. I also know about your wife's profession and that she probably made a lot of sacrifices to do the right thing. Something you said, though, struck me:"Because they can." Essentially this is what is wrong with America. We are the "if it feels good do it culture." Just because you can do something doesn't make it right. On top of that, ignoring the widening gap between rich and poor is a mistake. I am not advocating a forced redistribution of wealth, so you can exhale salzo. All I am saying is that if stuff like this can happen, we are all going to end up screwed.Salzo, I never said anything about the government taking anything so I don't know where that came from...
    The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How the heck is someone blowing their wad on a fancy house, tearing it down and building what they want going to screw all of us? What is the problem with that? I totaly do not understand your way of thinking. God bless them for having the money to do that. They are not breaking any laws, so whats the problem. somebody else mentioned jealously, maybe that is the problem. Don't worry about you neighbor spending money. Y'all see why I can't stand it up there, this is exactly what I complain about with those people, each and every one of them act like that. Sheez man, let them build thier dang house and worry about your own problems.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • JudgeColtJudgeColt Member Posts: 1,790 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The ultimate freedom in this country is the right to own private property and do with it as you like. (But for zoning laws, building codes, etc., which is another story.) It sounds like the constant "hate the rich" campaign of the Democrats (most of whom are really rich) has worked in at least one case. Envy exists at all levels. When I see people who have more than I, it is hard not be be a bit jealous, but then I see so many who have so much less. Years ago, we bought our youngest daughter a very nice bicycle, largely because her mother and her father had Schwinn bicycles growing up and we wanted her to have the same (even though Schwinns are no longer made in the USA). Some jealous kids destroyed it. She wondered why anyone would do such a thing, and it really bothered her. Later, someone with similar feelings "keyed" her car. Those of us in the gun hobby may spend more on a gun than those less fortunate would spend on a car, if they had it. To someone with an old junker that is not reliable, or is not running, the $1000 or so we may spend on a nice gun would buy them a better car than they ever had. Is not that the same "waste" as tearing down a very nice house to put up a better one? After all, we have perfectly good guns to start with. While I may sometimes wish I could have more than I have, I do not fault those who do have more. If I had their money, I might do the same thing. (There is an office site I covet and, if I were to win the lottery, I would buy the site, tear down the perfectly good buildings on that site and build my dream office complex.) Some would undoubtedly have the same reaction as the original poster to my actions. It is all relative.[This message has been edited by JudgeColt (edited 02-13-2002).]
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  • CAndres35CAndres35 Member Posts: 453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    being a tight * dutchman the only thing i see wrong with this is the waste. i have seen comercial property demolished with machinery in order to replace it with the same type of establishment.no thought to the waste. knock it down run over it with bulldozer until small enough to get in a trash dumpster and through in a landfill. glas,lumber,wood,masonry,everything. this does rub me the wrong way. it may be jealoousy? as i have to pay dearly when i need this type of material.spend,spend,spend dont save,bad for economy. CARL
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    I painted a house,that a billionaire bought for 4 millon just to have a place to dock his 96 foot,7 million dollor yacht,since there was no more room left behind the 2 houses next to it,which he owns. Anyway,this house will come down soon..and there will be a minimum of 15000 sq. ft. built in it`s place.Oh yeah..he lives half the year in the pittsburgh area.This is just an axample of the stuff I see..218
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  • thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    None of you have any idea what I have, and therefore should not jump to jealousy. I worked very hard to get a college degree and am working very hard on my law degree. And I hope I'll make a lot of money, which I probably will.I guess "up here" we are all that way. I wish that all the self-proclaimed Christians on this board would read the bible. Your arrogance astounds me.
    The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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  • steve45steve45 Member Posts: 2,940 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If youve got it spend it. Its his right. Hes employing a lot of people to build these things for him.
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  • whiteclouderwhiteclouder Member Posts: 10,574 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    When I was a youngster I was with my dad when a brand new 1956 Corvette pulled into the coffee shop parking lot. I said "Boy, I wish I had that car?"Dad said, "Go to school and work hard, Son and you can have one like it, but you let him keep his."Clouder..
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  • thebutcherthebutcher Member Posts: 374 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You are mostly missing my point but I see that most of you don't agree. I am not jealous of what my neighbor has. I think it is great that we live in a country where someone can get rich. I don't want his house. I am trying to express my disgust with the fact that a completely good house, better than what most people could ever dream to own, is now in a scrap heap just to keep up with the Joneses. We were a better country before everyone tried to see who could have the bigger house, faster car, greener lawn. I believe that this was a colossal waste of money.Also, it seems impossible for some on this board to understand the distinction between thinking something is bad and thinking something should be illegal. I never said they shouldn't be able to do it, I said they shouldn't do it. There is a big difference.Maybe I'm nuts (which apparently can go along with the assumptions that I am a righteous, jealous yankee). When I talk to people who lived through the depression, they seem to have a certain set of values that came from their sacrifices and I admire that. Waste and gluttony make me sick.
    The definition of an "expert":An "X" is an unknown quantity and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
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  • twinstwins Member Posts: 647 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Waste not want not. Sounds like a waste, but then again, sounds like they can afford to waste. YOU KNOW, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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  • marshdogmarshdog Member Posts: 10 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hey butcher, I really don't understand your problem with your nieghbors. Judge Colt has it right with personal property laws ... it's what seperates us from them. It's the same as with the people that don't care one way or the other about guns, they don't want one so why should anyone else? Then they are ready to "give up" my rights (and hopefully yours). But give my ultimate vote to this thread just being the ol' pot gettin stirred.
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  • pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Can't believe anyone would build a summer home in SHARON. Unless he plays for the Pats.
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  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Judge Colt and Clouder said it.If you don't believe in property rights how can you believe in other rights? The property y'all are talking about belongs to the owners. The owners can do with their property as they damn well please. If you don't like it that's too darn bad.
    PC=BS[This message has been edited by badboybob (edited 02-14-2002).]
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Butcher- I do not think that "gred" and a want for materialistic possesions is what has contributed to the demise of our society. You have mentioned several times that those folks that you talked to who lived during the depression era, had character and morals that we no longer have. You attribute this demise to wealth and greed. That is a very liberal way of looking at it. I think the fact that you can no longer have god in school, that there is no one at home to watch and teach the children, that there is no longer personal accountability for ones actions are what caused the decay of our society. You can thank the liberals for all of the above mentioned.Typical liberal behavior: They screw it all up with their BS, and then try to blame money and greed for the ills of society.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If someone came to this town and did what they did, I would be jealous yeah I would I admit it. BUT I don't think I would throw a fit about it. Heck, I'm gonna go make me some new friends! Maybe they are some nice people, get to know them. Don't look down your nose at them because they are doing something you cant afford or don't want to do. This is America, they can do what they want.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    You keep repeating this "...better house than 99.9% of the people in this country could ever afford..."Where did you come up with this percentage?You say the house they tore down was worth 700,000 bucks? Hell, I think the average price of a home in San Francisco is more than that. I know there are neighborhoods in the greater Seattle area where you probably couldn't find a home for a measly 700 grand.To hell with the "colossal waste of money." It's their money and their waste. Nobody else's business.
    Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    of all of the things to complain about.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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