Boy can I tell it is the dead of winter. I didn't check email for one day
and over 130 messages. But actually some of the coolest stuff in years.
As for the affordability & quality stuff, I suffer the same problem as
General Motors, that is insurance costs relative to income. Car insurance,
$1400 per year, home owners insurance, umbrella insurance, life insurance,
disability insurance, health insurance. Before taxes, I have to generate
about $18,000 per year just to cover frigging insurance. Next up, taxes.
I've coughed up over $40,000 in taxes this year. Property taxes, sales
taxes, income taxes, SSI taxes, medicare taxes, DMV taxes. You'd think a
$100k+ annual income would be gravy. You'd think living in close to a half
million dollar home would be something to brag about. Well the house is
only 1600 sq feet in a subdivision. Whoopty Doo! Some of you reading this
probably think I'm boasting, and I wish I were. I know what I make, and
what I can spend is above average, I just haven't figured out how Average
Joe makes ends meet. Heck, my PGE electric bill in the heat of July was
more than some of the farm labor foreman I take credit reports on make in 2
weeks. Some of you, my friends have the luxury of being retired. I doubt I
will ever be able to say "take this job and shove it."
Look, I don't have a solution, but I know part of it is that 25 years ago, a
new bicycle was made in America and sold for $75. Today an new bicycle at
Toys R Us is... $75 and made in China. My daughter is going to out grow it
long before it breaks, so what do I care if it is made to last 4 years or
40? People don't pay for what an item is, or what it cost to make it, they
pay for what it DOES. To make the same bicycle with all of the assembly
workers earning a USA living wage, and the company holding enough profit to
pay the insurance, the lawyers, the taxes, the share holders, that same
bicycle would have to sell for about $1200. Guys, it's not that I don't
love my daughter, but she ain't getting no $1200 bicycle. In my mind, and
for most other Americans, a kids bike is worth $75. So the company has to
find some place to build it where there isn't a health care burden, an EPA
burden, a legal burden, a tax burden. End of story. Just very amusing that
the same people that champion "we cheap" keep flipping the coin and
complaining about what "cheap" buys.
The music connection on this list is something I never expected. I'm a bass
player, I've got a mid 1980's Washburn 5 string I play through my old Sunn
Alpha-15. Never got closer to sucess than some garage bands, although one
of the guys I jammed with in highschool/college went on to become the
replacement singer in the '80's hair band Britny Fox. The Philly guys might
know them. His name is Tommy Paris. Another group of guys I used to jam
with went on to form Ten Pound Brown, a popular college band down in San
Diego.
David Riker
davriker@digitalpath.net
http://community.webshots.com/user/fool4mg
----- Original Message -----
From <b-evans at earthlink.net>
To: "Wm. Severin Thompson" <wsthompson@thicko.com>
Cc: <midgetsprite@yahoogroups.com>; "'Spridgets'" <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 4:53 PM
Subject: Re: [midgetsprite] Re: Can't Make it Here Anymore
> Wm. Severin Thompson wrote:
>
>>It's not like we have many choices either.
>>
>
> But there are choices. Americans just don't want to pay for quality.
|