paying more for less

PAYING MORE FOR LESS


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Thursday the 6th is a memorable day for both the first snow day for Elko and the first day here on planet earth without Steve Jobs. The snow at least helps with its moisture, so we can celebrate that. As for as Steve not being with us anymore, I’m not noticing anything all that different between the two days. I know I’m an asshat, but I can’t help having the initial reaction, “why did they waste a perfectly good liver?”. As everyone is running around all excited that this guy was the second coming of Baby Jesus himself, I personally think that the media is using his demise as another excuse to cover up the collapse. Okay, I loved the Mac, but Jobs was just another guy with a good business model. Like Ford who he is likened to, the man didn’t invent anything himself, he just sold things much better. He put together a better package. And all his wealth didn’t keep him alive much better. Which ties in with today’s article. Soon, you won’t be able to be the highest bidder for an organ. You will, however, be the highest bidder for less services. And Jobs legacy, easier to use and flashier computers ( leaving aside the impact computers themselves had, which, if really cynical, would be to unemploy everyone ) were a pinnacle, soon to matter none at all. Just as the icon is dead, so too will be his creations grid down.

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Just as Steve had a wonderful business model ( sell My Pretty’s at high prices ), so do I. I keep repeating everything but always add a new factoid to refresh. And you pay me for this!!! Suckers. I’ve talked about this before, needing to decrease your bills because prices are rising. You must cut your expenses to compensate. Not to get ahead, but just to survive. Food prices are arising. Duh. The weather is screwy enough everywhere where the old model is breaking down. Before, region or country A had a famine/crop failure, our never ending bounty of oil shipped in grain from B. Now, all areas are having crop failures or reductions, all at the same time. China, after paving over the entire countries rice paddies, is finding out that food isn’t magically pulled out of other countries butts ( speaking of butts, a quick joke. Saw it on TV last night. Two tigers are walking down a jungle path. One starts licking the others ass. What are you doing, he asks. I just ate a lawyer and I’m trying to get the taste out of my mouth ). The US is about to forget what beef tastes like as the Texas desert takes over cattle country. Survival Acres reports there was another massive flood in Pakistan ( I hadn’t heard this anywhere else, one wonders if another huge crop was lost and if so, where the replacement grain will come from ). If for no other reason, you need to plan now for rising food prices. Not only buying your storage food now, while you can afford it, but freeing up more income to pay for soon to be much higher groceries. That itself is scary enough. If third world country citizens are paying 50% of their budget for food, and if we are rapidly becoming a third world country, can you afford food in the near future? Equally scary, the upcoming health care mandatory payments.

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If Obammy was JUST a socialist, liberal, commie, tree hugging ass whore, this wouldn’t be so bad. Those “progressives” at least look after the poor. But Obammy doesn’t give two craps about the poor. He only cares about what the bankers care about, and that is baling out the banks regardless of cost. And the insurance industry is all tied up into the financial markets. Remember AIG? The medical insurance scam won’t help out your friendly local insurance agent that has a cute lizard hawking car insurance. No, the insurance companies that are insuring the derivatives, that over one quadrillion dollar mess, they desperately need the help. I am betting ( and, no, I have no smoking gun here, I’m basically pulling this out of my ass GUESSING as to where the money trail leads ) that the mandatory insurance program soon to be taken out of your paycheck by force, will work its way into providing capital to the bankers, to cover all their failing bets. Obviously the “quantitative easing” isn’t working well enough. The pension funds, mortgage market, central banks, all are interconnected and the bit players losing on the housing market bet effect everyone else. The Greece debt problem is helping to crush banks in France that own municipal bonds in West Buttcrack, Montana which hedged their retirement accounts by buying California real estate which also owned stock in Toyota, etc. It is all very convoluted, but just remember everyone is leveraged out of control. When single digit failures occur, the whole system starts tumbling.

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So, unless the mandatory insurance was just a red herring, my guess is this will go through, and none of us will be able to afford it. I wonder if it might even be mandatory for the unemployed, upon penalty of prison time. These things don’t have to be rational, when things are desperate. If worse comes to pass, your only option is going to be to have the needed percentage in your budget already free. I don’t have my bills down to half my regular jobs take home pay because I want to save. Saving is pretty stupid in inflation. I don’t want to buy more books ( well, I do, but I haven’t the time to read a lot more ). No, I foresee food costs and medical insurance taking over that 50%, very soon. My philosophy before was, always have as much cushion as possible for whatever. Something unexpected always comes along ( although, not owning a used car cuts that down dramatically ). Now, I can pretty much see the three items that will spiral out of control in costs. Petroleum products ( in my case, propane ), all food, and this new medical insurance we will be forced to buy. This will be what eats up my cushion. Oh, happy. So glad I’m working my ass off to help out the failing rich.

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