Politics

[275r7x57]

Over 50K?

Yep, 50k. The only good that came from it was, they upgraded their single wide trailer to a newer single wide trailer with a bigger payment. I guess in their eyes they got a new house out of it. Crazy!

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

That’s IQ of 50 stuff…

 

[275r7x57]

That’s IQ of 50 stuff...

I think you are being quite generous! Have you looked at the gene pool lately? And yes they vote and breed!

 

[rookhawk]

I think you are being quite generous! Have you looked at the gene pool lately? And yes they vote and breed!

 

[BJH65]

Life is not easy. It does not matter if you make 1m or $1. It all can be spent. Most people have no concept of what a $1 is or what it takes make one. Most live way beyond their means rich and poor.

Last year we had a distant neighbor win 50k on a lottery ticket, next morning he quit his above average job and told everyone at the local coffee shop that he and his family would never work again. 3 months went by and he was begging for his job back. Point being that he had no concept of money. He never had 50k in his life, probably never had 1-3K at any given time in his life, so 50k was like winning 5m to him and he thought it would never run out.

Just like most need a structured work environment, most need a structured savings program. Most can not voluntarily set money aside each week or month and not stick their hands in it and spend it.

I’ve read nearly one-third of lottery winners go bankrupt within 3-5 years. Of course 50k wouldn’t last long in America but would pay for a nice LDE hunt in Cameroon.

 

[Aaron N]

The other thing that the UK and Continental Europe have is a very effective trade school system. A tiny percentage of European students go on to universities compared to the US. Where here someone is racking up $150K in debt for a useless degree in general studies, his or her European counterpart is learning a useful and lucrative trade.

The odd thing to me is the resistance millennials have in embracing such technical and profitable careers for which there is huge demand in this country. Many would seem to be happier complaining about no jobs and greedy Boomers.

We all want better for our kids. My father was a farmer, we had a good upbringing, but he didn’t want me to be a farmer.

I’m an electrician, have made six figures since I was 23 and the trade has been good to me. I know also own my own small business that also does well. Do I want my kids to follow in my foot steps? I’d rather they become engineers, or doctors, or lawyers. Anything but tradesmen although it as given us a pretty good life.

 

[BlueFlyer]

Another interesting perspective on the last week.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-11/trump-china-and-the-possibility-of-tariff-trade-war/105155856

 

[BJH65]

We all want better for our kids. My father was a farmer, we had a good upbringing, but he didn’t want me to be a farmer.

I’m an electrician, have made six figures since I was 23 and the trade has been good to me. I know also own my own small business that also does well. Do I want my kids to follow in my foot steps? I’d rather they become engineers, or doctors, or lawyers. Anything but tradesmen although it as given us a pretty good life.

I could be wrong, but in some states at least it seems tradesmen like plumbers and electricians do as well as some of the professions you mentioned without the huge school debt. Likely due to a shortage and fewer people in these trades, therefore they command a higher wage. Certainly it takes dedication to learn the trade but at least they are getting paid during their apprenticeship and of course in some states the test to obtain their contractor’s license requires much studying and isn’t easy.

 

[Aaron N]

I could be wrong, but in some states at least it seems tradesmen like plumbers and electricians do as well as some of the professions you mentioned without the huge school debt. Likely due to a shortage and fewer people in these trades, therefore they command a higher wage. Certainly it takes dedication to learn the trade but at least they are getting paid during their apprenticeship and of course in some states the test to obtain their contractor’s license requires much studying and isn’t easy.

I’m not saying that I’m thinking rationally. Do the trades present an excellent opportunity? Yes. Is it the life I want for my kids? No.

 

[steve white]

God bless the United States Marine Corps, at least for me and young farm boys and girls like I was. God please also bless the other U.S. military services for the guidance and occasional size 10 boot rammed up assess when appropriate! I’ve heard VP J.D. Vance thank his Gunnery Sergeant (paygrade E-7) for direction. Prior to his Gunny, J.D. Vance had his grandmother for stern guidance.

My parents raised me to be good and work hard, very hard. Coming from a strict home and quick tempered father on the farm, Marine Corps boot camp was easy for me! I did well in my Marine Corps career based on hard work and figuring out how to do the impossible with next to nothing. Sounds like farming, doesn’t it?

In two decades as a Marine and almost three has a technology consultant, those I most admire to a person had very mentoring parents. It was hard for me to conceive that their families would discuss politics, the economy, and how to make money around the dinner table.

In retrospect, I had the same opportunities as all others. I just lacked the foundation to understand what to do with the opportunities. Presently I have young adult stepchildren that I mentor nearly every day, rather they like it or not. I strive to implant in them the foundation to achieve much in life.

The U.S. military is a social melting pot and social elevator all at once. The great thing is there is something for every young person in the services. That is for those that qualify. Enlisting now requires nearly perfect medical records, no criminal records, and so on. Gosh knows I enlisted with five knitting needle size stainless steel pins in my hip and nearly got arrested two days prior to entering boot camp! I would have been arrested if the WWII vet I offended hadn’t figured that the Corps would remove any mental deficiencies from my brain housing group. Advance 50 years to today and police do not have the discretion to let youthful defenders go with a stern lecture or to allow their parents to punish the stupid kid.

For many young people and a lot of older ones who need a fresh start in life, the country needs something between military service and college. Something like the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930’s. A program where if young people would follow the rules they would learn a trade but with a payback to America. I think the AmeriCorps program did or does this for teachers. We need to create more learning opportunities for people to better themselves. Programs such as those would be a better use of my tax dollars than a lot of other questionable Government programs.

I have a friend who thought Marine boot camp was a walk in the park...he had grown up hauling hay for a living and with two cotton hooks would catch and then stack 1500 bales a day. Farm boys do know about work.

 

[Datchew]

God bless the United States Marine Corps, at least for me and young farm boys and girls like I was. God please also bless the other U.S. military services for the guidance and occasional size 10 boot rammed up assess when appropriate! I’ve heard VP J.D. Vance thank his Gunnery Sergeant (paygrade E-7) for direction. Prior to his Gunny, J.D. Vance had his grandmother for stern guidance.

My parents raised me to be good and work hard, very hard. Coming from a strict home and quick tempered father on the farm, Marine Corps boot camp was easy for me! I did well in my Marine Corps career based on hard work and figuring out how to do the impossible with next to nothing. Sounds like farming, doesn’t it?

In two decades as a Marine and almost three has a technology consultant, those I most admire to a person had very mentoring parents. It was hard for me to conceive that their families would discuss politics, the economy, and how to make money around the dinner table.

In retrospect, I had the same opportunities as all others. I just lacked the foundation to understand what to do with the opportunities. Presently I have young adult stepchildren that I mentor nearly every day, rather they like it or not. I strive to implant in them the foundation to achieve much in life.

The U.S. military is a social melting pot and social elevator all at once. The great thing is there is something for every young person in the services. That is for those that qualify. Enlisting now requires nearly perfect medical records, no criminal records, and so on. Gosh knows I enlisted with five knitting needle size stainless steel pins in my hip and nearly got arrested two days prior to entering boot camp! I would have been arrested if the WWII vet I offended hadn’t figured that the Corps would remove any mental deficiencies from my brain housing group. Advance 50 years to today and police do not have the discretion to let youthful defenders go with a stern lecture or to allow their parents to punish the stupid kid.

For many young people and a lot of older ones who need a fresh start in life, the country needs something between military service and college. Something like the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930’s. A program where if young people would follow the rules they would learn a trade but with a payback to America. I think the AmeriCorps program did or does this for teachers. We need to create more learning opportunities for people to better themselves. Programs such as those would be a better use of my tax dollars than a lot of other questionable Government programs.

Bravo. Excellent post.

I was 19, red/blond hair to my shoulders, combat boots, Metallica shirts, hauling boards and concrete at a lumberyard. Going nowhere.

Navy school of hard knocks got this head on straight at long last.

Best decision I ever made.

 

[Red Leg]

So where is all this free money going to be found?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1910390255280128389

 

[deewayne2003]

I’m not saying that I’m thinking rationally. Do the trades present an excellent opportunity? Yes. Is it the life I want for my kids? No.

This is why we have very few qualified gunsmiths left in this country…

 

[Datchew]

You hit the bullseye as usual Mark!

A good friend of mine was born into a bad situation and told me about having to make trips with his mother to the food bank, he worked construction for a little while and then joined the army.

3 tours in Iraq and 19 years later he is a Command Sargent Major in the Airborne with a beautiful wife and nice house in Austin and is genuinely one of the finest people I know. The last time I saw him he told me that he is now taking college classes and working towards a degree.

He frequently speaks about how many people have been lifted out of poverty by armed service.

As for the Civilian Conservation Corp, I like the idea of a modern one but would put my own twist on it.......
Mark Twain said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness"

My idea would be to require all high school students to spend at least 6 months living abroad and working on projects to help developing nations, not only to get the travel and language experience but to also give the privileged minority a glimpse of how people live in a world where only 1:50 has running water as well as giving those from modest means the chance to see the world that largely they wouldn't otherwise have a chance to experience.

I think modern society should have starship troopers as required reading and seriously consider basing citizenship and voting rights off the political and philosophical theories in that book.

 

[Brent in Az]

I have a friend who thought Marine boot camp was a walk in the park...he had grown up hauling hay for a living and with two cotton hooks would catch and then stack 1500 bales a day. Farm boys do know about work.

I've unloaded a large flatbed semi trailer loaded with hay into the hay storage area in a 2nd level of a barn. Damn hard work.

 

[Brent in Az]

The U.S and Panama lock in a deal to deter China.

 

[Red Leg]

I’m not saying that I’m thinking rationally. Do the trades present an excellent opportunity? Yes. Is it the life I want for my kids? No.

Wow.

My son, who is one of the best read young men that I know, has a "degree" and certifications in imaging from Texas State Technical College. Rather like Charlie Kirk (another fellow without a university degree), I am confident he could handily debate you on any public interest topic you cared to surface. To further clarify, he is what is termed a medical services engineer and he is the poor ignorant fellow who services and repairs all that exotic imaging equipment that may save your life one of these days. His salary, adjusted for inflation is more than I made as a colonel in the United States Army - God knows his hours are somewhat more manageable. The home which he and his wife own is larger and more modern than anything we had until we moved to Texas a little more than a decade ago.

 

[BJH65]

This is why we have very few qualified gunsmiths left in this country…

And those gunsmiths who can build an excellent custom or semi custom African big bore hunting rifle even fewer yet.

 

[Red Leg]

I think modern society should have starship troopers as required reading and seriously consider basing citizenship and voting rights off the political and philosophical theories in that book.

Robert Heinlein was one of the great cultural philosophers of the 20th century. "Starship Troopers" and "Stranger in a Strange Land" should be required reading. Let's throw in "Glory Road" as well.

 

[BJH65]

I've unloaded a large flatbed semi trailer loaded with hay into the hay storage area in a 2nd level of a barn. Damn hard work.

Spent many a summer as a teenager bucking hay, damned hard work, and every one of the 8-9 hands (extra help during hay season) were tough and worked hard. But where are these tough kids nowadays? Couple summers ago I bucked & limbed a dozen Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and Larch at our Montana ranch and I outworked the teenagers I hired to help me form burn piles with all the cut tree limbs.

Same kids didn’t want to help me buck hay from our recently bailed pasture (I offered $20 an hour) so I loaded a couple hundred bales onto the trailer while my neighbor stacked and his 12 year old daughter drove the tractor. Neighbor said I worked harder than the kids he hires for seasonal work on his ranch. I’ll be 60 in a couple months, and I’m thinking how am I outworking these kids nor do I consider myself to be exceptionally tough?

I finally found a couple of Mennonite boys I hired and they were tough, strong hard working boys and was pleased that yes, they still exist!