What do you think the future looks like?

Some how I got cut off on the post so here is the finish.
Get your self out of debt, work two jobs sell everything you don't need. Cut off the satalite, cable, cell phone, turn off the lights get rid of the suv do it now. And best of luck.

I'm with Wind in her Hair. MOST people aren't going down the tubes. Quit watching television and listening to politician's organic fertilizers. Talk to your neighbors and friends. MOST people are working.

Yeah, a lot of people are whining, but like WIHH said, there's a lot of people driving nice cars and going to work in all those offices and shops every day.

I wish the 'when the s--t hits the fan' Chicken Little folks would spend as much time looking for positive things to post about.

My positive observations for today--
My sons are both adults, married, employed, and self supporting. My grandson is a delightful, well mannered, 2 1/2 year old. Hubby is self employed. I'm self employed. Our only debt is my truck and a rental property that will pay for itself in short order.

All my residential property renters have jobs. I don't even have to advertise when someone moves out (which is rarely) because there are lots of folks looking for nice rental property. It doesn't take long to find someone with a job who wants to live in one of my houses and pay rent.

Future? Who knows, and who cares? Take care of today, take care of your family, be financially responsible. NONE of us can even begin to see the future, we only project images from what we have seen and heard. We can only live NOW.

When we lived in Indonesia, the native people were poor by American standards, but happy. What I see now is that Americans are rich by the standards of the rest of the world, but unhappy and predicting gloom and doom. So unfortunate! What a waste of time, talent, and energy.

Climbing down from my soapbox now.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

Very much in agreement! If all you do is focus on the bad you won't be able to make good.

Govt is legeslating out that type of lifestyle. Everyone should have an 8 hour factory job, have an apt or small house, be hooked up to sewer & water, and not do anything with their lives.

This makes mid-level govt types all warm & fuzzy. Raising critters, having a few acres to do your own thing on, controling plant growth, controling varmits that hurt livestock - all that is not understood any more by mid-level govt types, and thus it must be regulated. They have regulated everything else.

So, going to be a tough row to hoe long-term.

I won't say any more, it just gets me wound up.

--->Paul

Space isn't the problem. The problem is energy. We are supporting all these billions of people using stores of fossil fuel that won't be available indefinitely. Some people think that some unkown source of energy will appear from somewhere sometime in the future to rescue us when the fossil fuels run out(or become too expensive to be practical), but I don't see that as a good "plan" to depend on for our future survival.

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"I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did."
— Henry James

EEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!

Let me tell you about a family member.Living the good life,all of the American dream.Big money management job,BIG house,toys everywhere.Vacation condo in Hawaii.They lived for today.

Right up til 2 years ago

He has found minimum pay work or 10.00 /hour work,that wont begin to pay the bills.
Not much work for a former middle weight manager from Caterpillar.
401K,gone.
Started a business,its failing.
They are going BK.

Yep,live for today,when tomorrow comes....you can go BK and lose it all.As this family is losing the American dream.

Another true fact.The chasm between the haves and the have nots has NEVER been bigger in America than right now.

Another fact,this is the first generation in American HISTORY to have a lower standard of living than the one before it.

Ignore it at your peril.

The jobs being lost in America are NOT being replaced with equally well paying jobs,and they DONT include health insurance.

But ignore all that.And ignore the global economy,because you now compete with peasants.Not everyone can be a Dr,lawyer,we just need only so many of them.Where does that leave the rest?

Competing on a global scale with peasants.With computer degrees,engineering degrees,nursing degrees,all coming here to compete with you.Or being outsourced,like your xrays being read,via internet,by Drs. in India.Nobodies job is secure,and no amount of education can protect you from the Globalists.

Open borders,disasterous immigration policies,all on the back of the middle class.
Remember the middle class???Thats where the transfer of wealth is coming from,to the wealthy.Go back to the economic divide between rich and poor,its fueled by the elimination of the middle class.

BooBoo

Somehow Im making good while not pretending all is rosy,in fact,it gives me a leg up to be informed of future trends.

BooBoo

I never thought it was rosy. I'm lucky. If I have to walk away from everything we still have income. If it gets worse, I'll say goodby. As far as trends go I've got some really good advice that we trust.

I've read a few responses...

All I think is what does God say?

We already walk under the number of the name of the AntiChrist - our Social Security number, without which we cannot buy or sell except for a few limited transactions. Really though, how would we hold a job without it? How could we pay our taxes without referencing our Soc Sec number? How can we keep a farm without paying taxes?

I don't really have any answers myself, except to live as I desire and continue to call out to God to know His mind for me. I know that He lives and He speaks, I have heard Him. So... what I have is... dear Lord, please show me Your desires and shape my heart to be able to hear and to obey You when You speak.

~ Carol

I'm not pretending that it's all rosey. I'm not just living for today like your family member in Hawaii. I'm in the country, have a garden, but I don't have big debt, we don't have credit card debt at all, etc.

What I'm saying is that NOBODY has a crystal ball, and it's a waste of time to predict global/national/weather issues or events.

Heck, just a couple of weeks ago we were told that gasoline prices would hit $4.00 by the end of the year, now we are being told that gasoline prices will be down to $2.00 by Thanksgiving. So much for prognostication.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

Wow, u folks have a pretty dismal out look of your friends and neighbors. The human race is all about adaption. We have been doing it for centuries. As time go by, we will adapt to our needs. New markets will open, old ones will close and life will continue pretty much unchanged in ones own life time. The world is not over populated, we have reliable food sources, and city dwellers are not all going to shrink up and die. City dwellers are what makes it possible for farmers like me to make a living. They create a demand for something and I do my part to fufill the supply, it's real simple. Life will go on and I believe the human race will prosper as we always have.

Great advice exactly what I was planning on cept the work two jobs part I have no debt "oh" yeah in short I think the future looks very, very, bleak for us and our late great nation.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

me to, When I am home with my family and working on homestead projects I will not be dwelling so much on Gloom and doom but you better believe I will be staying informed and making hard decisions as the need may arise.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

The under ground economy is worth trillions plenty of folks have found a way to live outside the box the machine would have us in. The farm taxes is a toughfer one I guess people in OK since they dont have property taxes would have a better shot at that one. I am sure their are other countries out there with out property taxes also.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

That is an awfully rosy outlook I wonder what the people who lived with millions of passenger pigeons and buffalo in America 200 years ago would think about things today? sure we may not see a whole lot of change in our lifetimes (I have a feeling I will see way to much) but the longer term trends look pretty bleak to me. There are times when various peoples did not prosper witness the down fall of many past civilizations they fell for various reasons climate, change politics and more, many of them destroyed their top soil and enviroment our civilization will not be any different except now it is pretty global so I only hope a few pockets of traditional and self sufficient folks can survive unmolested someplace until the vast and terrible machine we have created in our society crashes and burns and the former can re populate the earth.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Every day I wake up breathing is a good day.

I don't think things are that bad and I just got off a really bad financial stretch. I have income from a few sources and it averages out to $15/hour. We live nicely. I have satellite, internet, a cell phone, a land line. I can have Starbucks a few times a week if I want and have a bit to do this and that. I have shifted from 1-3 kids living at home during this time. I do help out the kids not at home (they are in college) when I can.

Man, I'm about to make myself out to be old, but it seems that younger people just aren't willing to work for what they get. They want to start out with at least what their parents have and figure if they can't get it, there's something wrong with the economy.

My very first apartment was furnished in milk crates and cast offs. I had like two plates and a few pieces of silverware. I drove a junky VW that often needed repairs and there were times I hit mom up for food. I didn't have all the nice stuff, but I was independent...mostly. As the years passed and both my responsibility increased and my earning power, I had to ask for help less and less. At times, my needs outweighed my skills, so I went back to school to increase my earning power.

I'm satisfied with my life right now. If I want more, then I'd better get out there and make some more money. If I don't want to work more, I could cut back in many different ways.

As a CNA, my earnings are limited. If I wanted too, I could go back to school and get my LPN or RN. Financial aid would pay, or I can get tuition reimbursement where I work, particularly if I agree to work for them when I'm done. I haven't done it, but I'm thinking about it. There will be no shortage of jobs in healthcare. Not in the next 20-30 years anyways. I expect my current lowly CNA job will continue to grow and remain in high demand, even if the wages aren't spectacular, but then the work is not really skilled labor.

My biggest concern about the future is the stock market. There is so much retirement money locked up there and that is how we gauge our economy. Remember, we have a "market based" economy. As those baby boomers age and withdraw funds, there is no way to replace it. Lord knows the companies don't actually have concrete value to match their stock, so they will find other "imaginary" ways to produce "income".

You can now put like $15K a year in a 401K. They are trying to keep that market boosted on the backs of the poor schmucks like me and you. I'm not going for it. Yeah, the tax benefits seem nice, but I'd rather have my money in a chunk of real estate or gold or anything else that is REAL.

I think that many will watch their retirement dwindle due to markets and it will get rough. I also think that there will always be people who adapt, who are willing to work for what they want and who will find a way to do so. I've had good times and bad times. I've always worked my way through the bad times and known that the good times were not going to last forever.

Jena

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...to be a rock and not to roll...

One thing is healthcare jobs can evaporate in a heartbeat.
It isnt a nursing shortage,its a shortage of nurses who will work.

In a good economy,nurses,predominately female,will stay home as hubby works.When hubby loses job,back into market they come.

Another one.They can change how bills are paid.When reagan went from pay for service to DRG payment system,healthcare money dried up overnight.If you werent staff,you werent going to be.Nurses flocked into hospitals,there wasnt a shortage,there was a glut.

Next is foriegn nurses.The latest proposal is if you have a license from anywhere in the world,the USA will accept it,NO state board licensure needed.

How about outsourcing care to India or wherever.
Latest trend? Your insurance sends you OUT OF COUNTRY for surgeries.
Its cheaper to fly you to India than treat you here,so out of country you go.

Jena,you would to will to get your Rn.Dont waste your time with Lpn/LVN,Ive been corpseman,lvn and Rn.Go straight to Rn.The money and opportunity far greater as Rn.

We,at our age,are probably going to escape the monumental changes coming in health care.
But even healthcare will face worldwide competition,and it wont be to our benefit in the labor market.

And for folks who think low wages mean cheap goods,it also means a lower GDP,and folks with lower wages have less to spend,meaning YOUR income decreases too.

Stock market is smoke and mirrors.Im glad its good for some folks NOW.It crashed before,and thanks to derivatives,is the shakiest house of cards ever.
For folks who blindly 'invest' without ANY understanding of what it really is,thats foolishness to the extreme with your retirement.
Its a game for the truly hugely wealthy and inside players,the market makers,and that aint you or me.When it comes crashing down,like Rockefeller before,those in the know escape with all the funds.Those to be raped,the uninformed masses,lose it all.History says so,unless you are a connected financial wizard,highly educated and in the loop,you will be slaughtered.The market is a house of cards.

Finally,for those who think the economy is so strong,one measure,those with healthcare benefits,have been getting slaughtered.The numbers dont lie.
Our standard of living IS declining.
Might not be you or me,but MILLIONS have lost healthcare benefits in this decade.MILLIONS.


BooBoo

I guess I'm the only one eagerly awaiting peak oil and the pop of the globalization balloon that will follow.

When our trusty transport system becomes too expensive to sustain itself, we will be forced to live in a much smaller "world". It will bring the watchmaker and the baker etc back into our own communities.

I believe the key to your survival "no matter what comes" is to have education and skills in some of the practical day-to-day needs - be the local business that globalization pushed out. Each community will still NEED shoes...if you can make them cheaper than China can ship... all I can say is bless that day!

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Hut on the Hill Farm
http://www.hutonthehill.org

Look at history, there has always been a portion of the population predicting doom. Y2K was the last big doom. Yes we do have depression eras, rationing in WWII, gas crisis, etc. Most of us weather thru fine. When we have to, we can make do. Americans are spoiled, look at New Orleans still wanting a hand out. How many of those people were already geting assistance before the storm? A "don't worry, the gov't will provide" attitude. And they have been taken care of. Those of us with the smarts, planning and drive will take care of ourselves. Besides Bibically we are in the last days, the rapture is pending. It will look like a global catastrophe as graves will open, live saints bodies will be changed and caught up to heaven, leaving dead bodies all around. Then will the world unite and have a brief time of prosperity before the beast arrives. So doom away.