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October 25, 2009 at 11:36 PM #474345October 25, 2009 at 11:38 PM #473507
CA renter
ParticipantSDR,
Just read the article from Naked Capitalism, and it was excellent! Thanks for noting it, as I would have missed it, otherwise.
Agree 100% that we had the opportunity to finally do something to fix many of our problems last fall (2008), and I’ve been very frustrated ever since because no matter how many of us were calling/faxing/writing our representatives and other regulators, they made it blatantly obvious whose interests they served.
This quote from the NC article is right on target:
In fact, the big banks and sellers of exotic instruments pretended that the boom would last forever, siphoning off huge profits during the boom with the knowledge that – when the bust ultimately happened – the governments of the world would bail them out.
—————This is largely why I’ve come to have more socialist (very different from communist!) leanings. When a small group of wealthy people can easily gain control over finite resources that are basic necessities, they control the laws, the wealth, and the lifestyle of an entire population. People with this much power are **always** dangerous, because they will always seek to maintain and/or grow their wealth and power over these resources and the people who depend on them. IMHO, basic resources, infrastructure, etc. should be owned/controlled by “the people” — or at the very least heavily regulated — so that society is not decimated by the greed of a few, manipulative, powerful men.
October 25, 2009 at 11:38 PM #473683ParticipantSDR,
Just read the article from Naked Capitalism, and it was excellent! Thanks for noting it, as I would have missed it, otherwise.
Agree 100% that we had the opportunity to finally do something to fix many of our problems last fall (2008), and I’ve been very frustrated ever since because no matter how many of us were calling/faxing/writing our representatives and other regulators, they made it blatantly obvious whose interests they served.
This quote from the NC article is right on target:
In fact, the big banks and sellers of exotic instruments pretended that the boom would last forever, siphoning off huge profits during the boom with the knowledge that – when the bust ultimately happened – the governments of the world would bail them out.
—————This is largely why I’ve come to have more socialist (very different from communist!) leanings. When a small group of wealthy people can easily gain control over finite resources that are basic necessities, they control the laws, the wealth, and the lifestyle of an entire population. People with this much power are **always** dangerous, because they will always seek to maintain and/or grow their wealth and power over these resources and the people who depend on them. IMHO, basic resources, infrastructure, etc. should be owned/controlled by “the people” — or at the very least heavily regulated — so that society is not decimated by the greed of a few, manipulative, powerful men.
October 25, 2009 at 11:38 PM #474049ParticipantSDR,
Just read the article from Naked Capitalism, and it was excellent! Thanks for noting it, as I would have missed it, otherwise.
Agree 100% that we had the opportunity to finally do something to fix many of our problems last fall (2008), and I’ve been very frustrated ever since because no matter how many of us were calling/faxing/writing our representatives and other regulators, they made it blatantly obvious whose interests they served.
This quote from the NC article is right on target:
In fact, the big banks and sellers of exotic instruments pretended that the boom would last forever, siphoning off huge profits during the boom with the knowledge that – when the bust ultimately happened – the governments of the world would bail them out.
—————This is largely why I’ve come to have more socialist (very different from communist!) leanings. When a small group of wealthy people can easily gain control over finite resources that are basic necessities, they control the laws, the wealth, and the lifestyle of an entire population. People with this much power are **always** dangerous, because they will always seek to maintain and/or grow their wealth and power over these resources and the people who depend on them. IMHO, basic resources, infrastructure, etc. should be owned/controlled by “the people” — or at the very least heavily regulated — so that society is not decimated by the greed of a few, manipulative, powerful men.
October 25, 2009 at 11:38 PM #474126ParticipantSDR,
Just read the article from Naked Capitalism, and it was excellent! Thanks for noting it, as I would have missed it, otherwise.
Agree 100% that we had the opportunity to finally do something to fix many of our problems last fall (2008), and I’ve been very frustrated ever since because no matter how many of us were calling/faxing/writing our representatives and other regulators, they made it blatantly obvious whose interests they served.
This quote from the NC article is right on target:
In fact, the big banks and sellers of exotic instruments pretended that the boom would last forever, siphoning off huge profits during the boom with the knowledge that – when the bust ultimately happened – the governments of the world would bail them out.
—————This is largely why I’ve come to have more socialist (very different from communist!) leanings. When a small group of wealthy people can easily gain control over finite resources that are basic necessities, they control the laws, the wealth, and the lifestyle of an entire population. People with this much power are **always** dangerous, because they will always seek to maintain and/or grow their wealth and power over these resources and the people who depend on them. IMHO, basic resources, infrastructure, etc. should be owned/controlled by “the people” — or at the very least heavily regulated — so that society is not decimated by the greed of a few, manipulative, powerful men.
October 25, 2009 at 11:38 PM #474350ParticipantSDR,
Just read the article from Naked Capitalism, and it was excellent! Thanks for noting it, as I would have missed it, otherwise.
Agree 100% that we had the opportunity to finally do something to fix many of our problems last fall (2008), and I’ve been very frustrated ever since because no matter how many of us were calling/faxing/writing our representatives and other regulators, they made it blatantly obvious whose interests they served.
This quote from the NC article is right on target:
In fact, the big banks and sellers of exotic instruments pretended that the boom would last forever, siphoning off huge profits during the boom with the knowledge that – when the bust ultimately happened – the governments of the world would bail them out.
—————This is largely why I’ve come to have more socialist (very different from communist!) leanings. When a small group of wealthy people can easily gain control over finite resources that are basic necessities, they control the laws, the wealth, and the lifestyle of an entire population. People with this much power are **always** dangerous, because they will always seek to maintain and/or grow their wealth and power over these resources and the people who depend on them. IMHO, basic resources, infrastructure, etc. should be owned/controlled by “the people” — or at the very least heavily regulated — so that society is not decimated by the greed of a few, manipulative, powerful men.
October 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM #473512SD Realtor
ParticipantYeah I here ya….It is really really hard for me to sit and keep espousing the benefits of a free market when it is a consistent realization that greed ultimately corrupts and leads to the downfall of that same market.
I don’t know man… doesnt seem like there is any way out… in the utopia that is socialism or communism or whatever “the people” never really had it well. In that same vein, there were those privileged few. Seems the same way with our free market as well.
Like I said… no easy answers my friend. My wife and I have done the same thing with our reps as well.
October 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM #473688ParticipantYeah I here ya….It is really really hard for me to sit and keep espousing the benefits of a free market when it is a consistent realization that greed ultimately corrupts and leads to the downfall of that same market.
I don’t know man… doesnt seem like there is any way out… in the utopia that is socialism or communism or whatever “the people” never really had it well. In that same vein, there were those privileged few. Seems the same way with our free market as well.
Like I said… no easy answers my friend. My wife and I have done the same thing with our reps as well.
October 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM #474054ParticipantYeah I here ya….It is really really hard for me to sit and keep espousing the benefits of a free market when it is a consistent realization that greed ultimately corrupts and leads to the downfall of that same market.
I don’t know man… doesnt seem like there is any way out… in the utopia that is socialism or communism or whatever “the people” never really had it well. In that same vein, there were those privileged few. Seems the same way with our free market as well.
Like I said… no easy answers my friend. My wife and I have done the same thing with our reps as well.
October 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM #474131ParticipantYeah I here ya….It is really really hard for me to sit and keep espousing the benefits of a free market when it is a consistent realization that greed ultimately corrupts and leads to the downfall of that same market.
I don’t know man… doesnt seem like there is any way out… in the utopia that is socialism or communism or whatever “the people” never really had it well. In that same vein, there were those privileged few. Seems the same way with our free market as well.
Like I said… no easy answers my friend. My wife and I have done the same thing with our reps as well.
October 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM #474355ParticipantYeah I here ya….It is really really hard for me to sit and keep espousing the benefits of a free market when it is a consistent realization that greed ultimately corrupts and leads to the downfall of that same market.
I don’t know man… doesnt seem like there is any way out… in the utopia that is socialism or communism or whatever “the people” never really had it well. In that same vein, there were those privileged few. Seems the same way with our free market as well.
Like I said… no easy answers my friend. My wife and I have done the same thing with our reps as well.
October 25, 2009 at 11:52 PM #473517Participant[quote=Russell]CAR, Didn’t you sell your house because you speculated that it would benefit you in the long run? You bought it for less than you sold it for and got rid of it for financial gain (protection against reversal in your equity position) …or in other words, flipped it?[/quote]
I wasn’t intentionally trying to time the market. We had a growing family and needed more room (former house was under 1,300 sf), and wanted to move to a safer neighborhood closer to work. We had originally made an offer on another house, but backed out because of some issues during the inspection, and I wasn’t comfortable with market prices. This was at the peak of craziness (spring 2004), and we sold our house within an hour of listing it, so needed to find a place to live. I knew prices were too high, and thought so since 2001. I also saw how people were taking on far more debt than they could ever pay off, and had a number of people tell me about their “great new mortgages” where they only had to pay 1.5% per month! That was obviously not going to end well (and yes, I told them so), so we rented and waited.
Even over this past year, I was perfectly able to engage in all the flipping, as I follow the market closely and could see where things were going, but refrained from doing so because I don’t believe in it on an ethical level. I have looked into bulk sales, but mostly because I just want the inventory to come onto the market. It’s frustrating to see the amount of manipulation going on because so many people are going to be harmed by it, IMHO.
October 25, 2009 at 11:52 PM #473693Participant[quote=Russell]CAR, Didn’t you sell your house because you speculated that it would benefit you in the long run? You bought it for less than you sold it for and got rid of it for financial gain (protection against reversal in your equity position) …or in other words, flipped it?[/quote]
I wasn’t intentionally trying to time the market. We had a growing family and needed more room (former house was under 1,300 sf), and wanted to move to a safer neighborhood closer to work. We had originally made an offer on another house, but backed out because of some issues during the inspection, and I wasn’t comfortable with market prices. This was at the peak of craziness (spring 2004), and we sold our house within an hour of listing it, so needed to find a place to live. I knew prices were too high, and thought so since 2001. I also saw how people were taking on far more debt than they could ever pay off, and had a number of people tell me about their “great new mortgages” where they only had to pay 1.5% per month! That was obviously not going to end well (and yes, I told them so), so we rented and waited.
Even over this past year, I was perfectly able to engage in all the flipping, as I follow the market closely and could see where things were going, but refrained from doing so because I don’t believe in it on an ethical level. I have looked into bulk sales, but mostly because I just want the inventory to come onto the market. It’s frustrating to see the amount of manipulation going on because so many people are going to be harmed by it, IMHO.
October 25, 2009 at 11:52 PM #474059Participant[quote=Russell]CAR, Didn’t you sell your house because you speculated that it would benefit you in the long run? You bought it for less than you sold it for and got rid of it for financial gain (protection against reversal in your equity position) …or in other words, flipped it?[/quote]
I wasn’t intentionally trying to time the market. We had a growing family and needed more room (former house was under 1,300 sf), and wanted to move to a safer neighborhood closer to work. We had originally made an offer on another house, but backed out because of some issues during the inspection, and I wasn’t comfortable with market prices. This was at the peak of craziness (spring 2004), and we sold our house within an hour of listing it, so needed to find a place to live. I knew prices were too high, and thought so since 2001. I also saw how people were taking on far more debt than they could ever pay off, and had a number of people tell me about their “great new mortgages” where they only had to pay 1.5% per month! That was obviously not going to end well (and yes, I told them so), so we rented and waited.
Even over this past year, I was perfectly able to engage in all the flipping, as I follow the market closely and could see where things were going, but refrained from doing so because I don’t believe in it on an ethical level. I have looked into bulk sales, but mostly because I just want the inventory to come onto the market. It’s frustrating to see the amount of manipulation going on because so many people are going to be harmed by it, IMHO.
October 25, 2009 at 11:52 PM #474136Participant[quote=Russell]CAR, Didn’t you sell your house because you speculated that it would benefit you in the long run? You bought it for less than you sold it for and got rid of it for financial gain (protection against reversal in your equity position) …or in other words, flipped it?[/quote]
I wasn’t intentionally trying to time the market. We had a growing family and needed more room (former house was under 1,300 sf), and wanted to move to a safer neighborhood closer to work. We had originally made an offer on another house, but backed out because of some issues during the inspection, and I wasn’t comfortable with market prices. This was at the peak of craziness (spring 2004), and we sold our house within an hour of listing it, so needed to find a place to live. I knew prices were too high, and thought so since 2001. I also saw how people were taking on far more debt than they could ever pay off, and had a number of people tell me about their “great new mortgages” where they only had to pay 1.5% per month! That was obviously not going to end well (and yes, I told them so), so we rented and waited.
Even over this past year, I was perfectly able to engage in all the flipping, as I follow the market closely and could see where things were going, but refrained from doing so because I don’t believe in it on an ethical level. I have looked into bulk sales, but mostly because I just want the inventory to come onto the market. It’s frustrating to see the amount of manipulation going on because so many people are going to be harmed by it, IMHO.
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