[carlislematthew]

I’m not sure whether I agree with that or not. In most civilizations throughout history, religion has played a fairly large part. But what about the Soviet Union? A basically godless culture. A miserable one, to be sure, but I think that was more due to totalitarianism than to atheism. In any case, there wasn’t anarchy nor were there people going insane (that I know of).

Godless yes, but they had BELIEF! I’m not a communism expert, but as far as I know they believed in the people, the state, the ideology. Unfortunately, none of the beliefs addressed what happened when they died. I think that’s the major part of the religion crutch – addressing the purpose of your existence (i.e. not random) and having somewhere nice to go when you die, even if your life totally sucked.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30972

[carlislematthew]

I had a revolt and we had to scrap the proposal. Can you imagine that people did not like to be paid IN ADVANCE (like getting paid on the 1st of October for the whole month of October)?!

Wow. I guess this points to the admission of these people that they would be less able to manage their finances if you made the change? Did the employees give a reason why they didn’t like the proposal? Please don’t say it was “we don’t want to get paid less”!

[carlislematthew]

The strategy of renting now, and investing the difference can work in theory, but the reality is that Americans as a whole, whether they are renters or property owners, really don’t save very much, and some renters will not actually be investing and saving the difference.

I completely agree, except that I would say that it’s “most” renters that don’t save the difference and not just “some”. On this forum we’re the exception. Most people will see the extra income and just spend it! New car, big TV, and so on. A mortgage payment is a forced saving mechanism, and if you don’t “save” you lose your home, go bankrupt, and so on. There is no equivalent motivation for saving in a bank account. No, the future is not motivation enough for most. 🙂

I have to add that people in this country seem to be generally bad at managing their money. I’m from England originally and over there you get paid on a monthly basis, and a lot of bills are quarterly and not monthly like they are in the states. When explaining this to to my new American co-workers, they were amazed that you could live like this! The surprise was that you could easily just spend all your paycheck in one week and then have nothing for THREE weeks as opposed to spending all your paycheck in one week and then only having to scrimp for ONE week! It’s a sad fact that most people live paycheck to paycheck and so things are made easier when the paychecks are closer together.

Honestly, I’m waiting for the day when you get billed daily through some kind of low overhead “micro billing” system. Paychecks would have to move to this kind of system too. It might not be a bad idea actually – it would prevent people feeling rich when they got paid, when in fact they’re as poor as they were the day before.

[carlislematthew]

In fact, if I had a choice of leaving my daughter in the hands of a church full of people or an atheist club full of people, I’d pick the latter.

Well, being an atheist myself, thanks for your confidence.

As we’re in the “off topic” section of the forum, I’ll throw my opinion into the ring.

Belief is a good thing, for some people; it allows those that cannot accept the randomness of their existence to make it through the day. Blind faith is a crutch that some people need and I’d never want to take it away from them.

Myself? Well, I don’t need a bible or the fear of hell to not do bad things – I pride myself on being a good citizen and contributing to society. However, I’m thankful that those lacking in similar moral fiber have a smattering of commandments and some religious fear and guilt to keep them in line. If it weren’t for religion we’d have anarchy, because most people would go insane without some kind of “higher” purpose and reason for their otherwise meaningless existence.

Opium for the masses? Sure. But keep it coming. You keep your opium, and I’ll keep on enjoying my life, contributing to the world, and being happy.

Good day.

[carlislematthew]

In my opinion, the decision to vote for or against the current administration has little to do with what course of action you take NOW. Most people, including most democrats, agree that staying for *some* period of time is the way to go and that packing up and leaving in the short term is a bad idea.

What *does* matter is how much you trust the current administration to competently execute the plan. If you believe that they messed up in the past, then this should be a signal to you that you might mess up in the future! If you believe that the Iraq war has gone just great, then by all means continue to support the administration.

Again, it’s not about the direction we take; it’s about who you trust more to not mess it up.

[carlislematthew]

What do England, Denmark, Norway, and Iran have in common?

Ummm. You’ve never been to any of these countries?

I’m from England and the “Church of England” is by no means sponsored, except in history, which is totally meaningless. English politicians rarely/never invoke God, or “faith-based initiatives”. It’s about as secular is you could possibly imagine (or dread, in your case). To compare England with Iran, in religious terms, is just asburd and shows a lack of understanding of England’s history and current religous makeup. Iran is a muslim-led country, England is a Christian “flavored” country, and the flavoring is very weak indeed.

Talk to a few English people about going to church, how the church fits in with political life, and they’ll probably stare at you blankly wondering when you’re going to deliver the punchline.

[carlislematthew]

My work mentors taught me never to attack a person, but to debate the idea.

Proposal: Stop telling people they’re “delusional” or “liars” or implying that they are evil owner/realtors if they disagree with you, and I’ll stop saying you’re extreme…

It’s hypocritcal of you to ask that people don’t call you names, or assign labels to you, when you do the exact same thing. Yes, I just said you were hypocritical, and yes I know I just judged you.

On the other hand, I will agree with others that you bring good information to the forum. You obviously spend a lot of time scouring the web for information and many on this forum, including myself, are very thankful for that. But in the move from presenting the data to adding your commentary (the analysis stage) you cannot help but let your personal bias get in the way. If you looked inside yourself (figuratively speaking) and understood your own bias, then I believe you’d make a better analyst. Instead of just searching for articles/information that PROVE your theories, look for articles that DISPROVE. Do both!

Look for faults in data that you support, as hard as you look for faults in data you don’t support. I remember one post (I’m not interested in searching for it) where someone presented a graph that supported the idea of increasing home prices (or something similar). You immediately, and correctly, jumped in it for not looking far enough back in time. A little while later you yourself presented some data to support your forecasts that didn’t go far back enough in time. In fact, it went back less than the data you *didn’t* like. So, with the forecast you didn’t agree with, you looked VERY hard for faults, cracks, problems. With the forecast you agreed with, you didn’t do the same. I believe it’s called confirmation bias, selective thinking, or some other term.

[carlislematthew]

CM, my feelings are hurt; I AM an over-the-top Puritan! Just ask my wife, kids, and coworkers. My kids enjoy ‘The Simpsons,’ and call me Flanders.

Life’s paths are easy to navigate with a well-grounded sense of right and wrong.

I agree, but I’d like to humbly request that you allow others to have a different sense of right and wrong. There is no universal morality…

[carlislematthew]

You’re right – they’re ugly. I was out bike riding along the path by Highway 56 on Sunday, and had plenty of time to take a peek. I almost get depressed thinking that I might some day, accidentally perhaps, end up living in one of those.

I agree that landscaping has a decent amount to do with it. You can soften anything with a good amount of trees, plantings, etc. Trees aren’t cheap though, and while you’re planting trees you’re wasting time as you could be BUILDING MORE HOUSES!!!!!

I feel sad for those people that moved into one of those as a stepping stone. “Must buy something, ANYTHING” was the idea. Then, of course, they’d make tons of money and magically move up to a much nicer house in La Jolla, which of course had also magically moved up in price and was still unaffordable.

[carlislematthew]

Research “Solo 401k”. Sometimes known as Self-employed 401k. In essence, you’re the manager of the plan and it can contain only you. The contribution limits are VERY BIG (up to around 40K I think, depending on your income). I researched when I was a consultant but I never followed through as I went back into full time employment.

Check out http://www.401kbrokers.com – they have a very decent FAQ.

You say “besides having one’s own business”, but if you’re self employed you *DO* have your own business. It doesn’t have to have a special name or anything… So, deduct your rent, portion of bills, capital expenditures (laptop!), etc.

Needless to say, I’m not your accountant, so please go and get professional advice. It will save you a ton of money.

[carlislematthew]

Unfortunately, anyone that becomes an American citizen is eligible for Social Security, Medicare, Aid for Dependent Children, food stamps, etc.

True, but only AFTER you’ve contributed 40 quarters of work (and taxes) into the system.

I agree with you on the healthcare issue though – that one’s difficult to solve without letting people die on the streets. Hardly something a civilized society would want to happen, but a problem all the same.

[carlislematthew]

Marriage without children is a sign of selfishness

LOL!

You play an excellent over-the-top puritan! I particularly love the classic black and white viewpoints you pretend to have.

[carlislematthew]

In regard to the rant from carlislematthew, I wonder if you would say all those things to me in person. I will be at the meet-up, and you have the opportunity to tell me exactly how you feel, face to face. When you call other people names in a public forum, while hiding behind your anonymity, it’s just being chicken.

I have absolutely no desire to meet you, ever, even though I find you clinically fascinating.

I’m sure I’d enjoy the meetup, but it’s just not a priority for me. Checking into a forum every day or two is about as far as I’m willing to go with this part of my life. You, obviously, have different priorities.

I recommend you read your own posts before you accuse me of calling you names. The hypocrisy is simply amazing. Finally, my nickname is actually my name. I revealed my true identity the day I signed up to this forum, “poway seller”.

[carlislematthew]

Are you mad at David Lereah for saying “real estate never goes down, never has, never will” ? Are you upset with Greenspan for saying “there is no tech stock bubble, and there certainly is no housing bubble; we can identify bubbles only after the fact”?

Yes.

[carlislematthew]

They say it is my style that offends, not my message. But hey, I am just a nice girl next door, that has coffee with the neighbors and carpools to church. I believe the threat is not my style, but the message itself.

Wow.

I happen to have also sold, am waiting for prices to drop, and generally agree with your predictions.

However, I often find your tone, your arrogance, and your lack of general diplomacy quite remarkable. You’re an incredibly frustrating individual to debate with because you instantly dismiss others if they don’t 100% agree with you. If someone disagrees with you, you believe it’s because they’re so kind of evil realtor/home-owner loser that’s totally delusional. It’s fascinating.

[Author]

Posts