Well, I was trying to figure out how to get as many posts up for you this week with the Holiday and maybe even keep it all interesting… I hadn’t decided to do a Readers Questions for sure yet but after the barrage stemming from yesterdays post, I have to respond…

 

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Question #1 -     “Are you an unhappy person?”

 

   Actually, I am a very lonely and miserable person… NO, I’m not an unhappy person! That is a really strange question but I guess we are still all getting to know each other? I have a feeling that this person is looking for a more in depth answer. See my lengthy comments to follow and I think it will fill in the blanks you’re after.

 

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Question #2 -     “Are you trying to mock the American Dream?”

 

   Yes and no, I am mocking the American Dream that was outlined in the “story” I posted yesterday. Let me clarify, I am a proponent of any and all of the things that Mr. Right did in the story, as long as they are things that help you achieve your goals. Such as education, I’m all for it! What I am wholeheartedly against is DEBT! All to often that education comes with a DEBT that lasts longer than it takes to raise a child. Don’t tell me that you did it without debt because I do know it can be done, it just seldom is…

 

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Question #3 -     “Is this story what the American Dream means to me?”

 

   Bingo! Absolutely not! This is the stereotypical version of the American Dream – HALLMARK CARD CONSUMERISM, even if the things being spent on are “good ideas”, my definition or yours… My friends we have been sold a bill of goods on the whole American Dream idea! Hollywood has corrupted every foundation of this once great society.

 

   Think back to what we all learned in High School history class… I know, I know – a lot of it was revisionist history but still the part I’m going to refer to was pretty accurate as far as I can see. Do you remember the immigrants that came from around the world to settle in “AMERICA”? Why did they come here? Was it possibly an “American Dream” that they were following? Yes, even in large part to provide better living conditions for their families, much like the choices Mr. Right made yesterday… Take this a little deeper though, these folks came from great distances to get something we had and they could never have? Can you think what it was?

 

   I’m going to tell you – It was LAND! Land folks, not a new HUMMER or a 100K college education, so they could work as a barista at Starbucks when daddy or the tax payers got done paying for them to have the “College Experience”. Does anyone disagree? These folks came from every corner of the globe to seek out the riches that America had, yes but in large part they came for the LAND. America was the only place in the world that a common person could actually own land! Ever think about that? We are still one of the only nations that allows the little people to own it! We have allowed the ugly boot of government to bastardize this freedom with a property tax that goes on forever but still we own it as long as we pay their fee! Mexicans can gain the use of land but never own it, they get a lease from the .gov for 99 years? Now why would that be? So, it never actually changes hands and the common man has nothing to hand down to his children and leaves the .gov firmly in control of their peoples destiny!

 

The American Dream was land and the FREEDOM that the land could provide! We’ll talk more about that important point soon!

 

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Question #4 -     “Do I have a problem with prosperity?”

 

   Not in the least. I want to have money and nice things in my life, just like anyone else! I DO have money and nice things in my life! I don’t buy into the popular misconception that many Church’s teach their parishioners, “Money is the root of all evil”. Its not the money but the LOVE of money folks that’s our undoing. Poverty is not what my God wants for me and I don’t espouse an ideology of the “Righteous” poor.

 

   Where my views on money differ from others is that I have adopted a real HATERED of DEBT. I have previously looked at debt as being potentially both good or bad. Let me give you an example of this good debt…

 

   If a real estate investor was to buy a rental house with a mortgage payment of $1000 per month and then rent it out for $1200, he would have a cash flow of $200. I’m over simplifying this process but you see how this mortgage debt could be viewed as acceptable… I used to believe this was true, actually made these kinds of investments myself. I guess in truth I couldn’t fault someone for believing this but I choose to no longer participate in the DEBT scam! I have a few more to pay off and then I’m out and I’m not going back… There are other creative ways to create opportunities, even in real estate without exercising your credit score!

 

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Question #5 -     “Am I Mr. Right?”

 

   Yes, I’m Mr. Right – at least as far as Mrs. Prepper is concerned! No, I was writing about a fictional character but I do have a few young guys that I know and see a treacherous road ahead of any young person starting out in life! Exciting times to be sure!

 

   The Mr. Right in the story could be just about anyone of us. Male or female for that matter. I would even admit that as far as the choices made in the story, Mr. Right did better than 90% of the folks in our society right now!

 

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Question #6 -     “What exactly was the stories point?”

 

   I guess I have to apologise for not making my point very clear. It is difficult to get all these thoughts in my head out on to the page. What I was hoping to accomplish with this illustration was nothing more than to show that even when a young guy played by the rules, he could become trapped. Trapped in debt!

 

   The trap was NOT the wife or the kids… It wasn’t even the house, student loans, cars or credit cards. It was the place the young man ended up. He had lost his freedom, not for an individual item or even any individual choice… He lost the freedom to come and go as he wished, work less hours or make a drastic change in lifestyle. All because of the well thought out snare he laid for himself in trying to do the right things and from a young age.

 

   Time has a way of teaching us lessons. What looked good and made sense a few years ago might look like a HUGE mistake now! How can this happen? Just like the young Mr. Right, we make decisions today that have a long lasting lifespan! We sign 30 year Mortgages, like they were nothing more than a credit card receipt at the steak house on Saturday night… 30 years is a very long time to make a commitment for. All to often as Americans our marriages don’t last anywhere near as long as the mortgage commitment we signed.

 

The moral to this story is simply – “Be very careful what you sign up for or you may find yourself arriving at a destination you hadn’t intended!”

 

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I want to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING! The Preppers will be heading out to first the BOL and then to spend a couple of days with family… This means that my access to the internet will be sporadic but I will be attempting to have a couple more posts before Monday!

 

Prepper