Ah, youth. A time of growth and exploration. And a time to test limits and boundaries. A time to express yourself in all sorts of unproductive and unhealthy ways. A chance to act without any fear of consequence or concern of others.
I wax poetic about what I assume is youthful indiscretion at my local convenience store. Framing the behavior in flowery prose is about the best I can do in the situation. Certainly can’t catch them in the act; certainly couldn’t smack them in the head if I did. And in some ways, I even hesitate to address the problem. Not that my post is going to raise awareness of the problem and cause a rash of copycat actors, but sometimes it seems that just giving thought to problems seems to make them multiply.
So what’s the big, huge problem likely instigated by young hooligans upon my poor, local convenience store? Well, there’s these cookies, you probably know of them, Fudge Stripes. Shortbread cookies with chocolate stripes on one side and a chocolate back. I like them. I buy them every once in a while for breakfast. Don’t judge me. Tell me how cookies for breakfast is any worse than donuts. It’s the same thing.
Anyway, these cookies. At my local store, the cookies in the Fudge Stripes packages are always crushed. Crushed into tiny crumbs, so eating them is an experience more like eating cereal than eating cookies. And it’s not just a random thing. It’s also not attributable to shipping problems. Every pack is crushed. Once I came in and the box was brand new and full. I checked the lower layer. All broken.
As maddening as this is, I do actually get it. Breaking a shortbread cookie does have a measure of satisfaction. It has a nice firm, but silent, snap to it. I can understand why an ignorant child would be attracted, and maybe addicted, to doing something like that. It still doesn’t make it right, or good. And as an older person, I feel it’s my duty to express that these miscreants are going to be the future anarchists of the world. The "Jokers" of their generation. And I also have to comment on how bad the world has gotten compared to how it was when I was a kid, shoplifting candy from my local drug store. Wait – scratch that last irrelevant (although true) comment.
Is the world worse? Hell, yes it is. But it’s only worse because there’s more of it. More people, more opportunity, more stores, more products, more cookies. The suck grows in proportion to the size of our environment. And it’s this expansion that also feeds the proportional movement to create small, insular communities that attempt to keep out what is perceived as bad. A poor solution – completely unsustainable.
So again, I reach the conclusion I’ve held for ever so long. We need less people. Sorry, fewer people. We need to conserve everything we have – resources, sanity, cookies.
Ok, Boomer
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-11-04/millennials-should-be-happy-they-are-stuck-renting
“Millennials spend a lot of time bemoaning their inability to buy a home, forcing them to keep renting. They should want to stay renters, if they know what’s good for them financially.”
You son of a bitch.
This fucking article, written by an economist, is trying to sell the idea that people are better off renting than owning a house. And specifically, millennials are better off doing it. You wonder why young people hate the boomer generation? Well, this is a pretty good piece of evidence. Take away the condescending tone and you actually are left with malicious advice.
It’s amazing to me the slight of hand that is performed in order to make the pitch in this article. The author actually says that buying a house is a losing proposition. “…it has cost the homeowner 3% per year to own a house before taxes, maintenance, utilities and insurance. That’s a real negative return.” A goddamn economist, who manages investing funds, is selling this shit.
Then this paragraph:
“Some millennials were caught up in the subprime mortgage boom and collapse, and remain scarred by it. They believed they could buy houses with no money down and never shell out a dime because continuing rapid appreciation would allow for continual refinancings. So the bursting of the subprime mortgage bubble and subsequent one-third decline in house prices was a rude awakening, especially since it was the first nationwide drop in values since the 1930s.”
This needs some unpacking. First, not just millennials were caught up in this shit. Everyone was. But who was most vulnerable to it? And that snark about what millennials believed? You fuckers sold them that belief. You convinced them. They had no prior experience in real estate investing and falsely trusted you. So then we get the first housing crash since the 1930’s. Thanks for that.
Look, I’m no economist. I’m just a former renter who became a homeowner. When I went to purchase my new house, my simple criteria was, “is the same cost as what I’m paying in rent?” That was my budget and that’s where I went. I completely understand the issue of house prices being insane, but I also see what rent costs and it’s not much better. So, I encourage anyone to buy when they can. If you have to start small, do that. Don’t hold out and wait until you can afford big. And don’t listen to this bullshit that you shouldn’t buy at all.
Here’s the truth that the author is not telling you. It’s very simple. When you rent, you get nothing for your money. You get lodging and that’s it. When you own, you keep what you spend. People want to argue that housing doesn’t have a high rate of return on investment? Fuck them. It’s not supposed to. They say, what if you own a house for 10 years and sell it for what you paid for it, not gaining a cent? You fucking assholes, you gain all the equity in the property. All the money you paid into the loan (minus interest of course) is equity. You get that back. If you’re renting, what happens when you end your lease? What equity do you get from that? That’s “not gaining a cent”.
Then they can argue that property values can fall. Yes, this has happened once. Do I think it will happen again? Probably, but not as extreme as last time. But here’s the thing. You don’t lose money until you sell. I was underwater over $30k at one point. I kept making my mortgage payments and the property value eventually came back. And all the payments I made while it was underwater? Guess what? They still counted! Just like every other payment. It’s all equity. Stay the course!
So, you want to know why this fucking boomer wants you to keep renting? He’ll tell you right at the end of the article.
“The trend toward renting over owning should persist and may even increase. I continue to favor investments in rental apartments—assuming, of course, they meet the location, location, location test.”
So you better keep renting, if you know what’s good for you. And what’s good for you is very good for me.