Was life tougher when you had to roll down your car’s windows by hand – and leave them open in the summer, because your car didn’t have AC? How about having to drive a truck with a manual transmission and a leaf-sprung suspension?
In some important ways, it was arguably better – and maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing getting used to that again.
We may have to, courtesy of what they’re doing to our ability to afford the things we’ve gotten used to having over the past 30-something years.
And that may be a good thing, too.
When things like power windows and air conditioning were optional features in most vehicles, most people could afford a vehicle. Precisely because it was possible to buy a vehicle without those features, as well as others that have become standard equipment in pretty much every new vehicle. Which is one of the two reasons why the average price paid for a new vehicle approaches $50,000. The other reason is the cost of compliance with the litany of regulations issued by federal agencies such as the Department of Transportation and, of course, the Environmental Protection Agency.
These “departments” and “agencies” – bland words used to denote authoritarian bureaucracies – have somehow acquired the legal power to force new car buyers to pay for things like air bags and flimsy, easily damaged and very expensive to fix (and so, to insure) body panels. In order to reduce the weight of the vehicle – in order to “save gas,” which the vehicle would otherwise use more of because of the structural weight added to comply with “safety” requirements that do not make the vehicle less likely to crash.
But the main driver of cost is the willingness – and ability – of a sufficiency of buyers to shoulder unprecedented debt in order to pay for all of this.
When a sufficiency of buyers were unwilling to pay for equipment they knew they couldn’t afford – such as power windows and AC – the car companies offered vehicles they could afford. Including vehicles without things like air bags, which – when they were optional – very few people chose to buy. Italicized to emphasize how different things used to be, when America was still a country that respected people’s right to choose what they wanted – and what they could afford.
This made cars – and trucks – more affordable generally because if you didn’t want to pay extra for equipment such as AC and power windows (or air bags) you didn’t have to pay extra for them.
Today, you do – because they have become standard equipment in everything that’s new. This creates a kind of rip-tide effect that drags everyone along – who wants a new car (or truck).
Including the people who’d rather live within or even below their means.
Everyone has to pay extra for all of these once-optional features now. The cost has just been folded into the standard price. It is why you cannot buy a basic vehicle anymore, including a basic truck or an economy car. The latter italicized to reflect the fact that no such thing exists anymore. There are entry level cars – and most of them are crossovers now. But “entry level” is not the same thing as “economy.” Today’s “entry level” vehicles all come standard with features and equipment that were once considered optional luxury features, such as AC and power windows.
And that is why you cannot buy a new economy car like the VW Beetles and Datsun B210s people used to be able to buy.
It is also why you cannot buy a basic work truck anymore. One with a manual transmission and manual 4WD and a simple, rugged (and inexpensive) suspension system. Today’s “work trucks” are $40,000 trucks and they all come standard with automatics, automatic (electronic) 4WD, AC, power windows and locks.
You do not have to roll down the window in summer to keep cool. You just have to make payments – for the next six years. You no longer have the choice to do without AC – or the payments.
This works for a time – as long as a sufficiency of people are able to afford it. More finely, for as long as a sufficiency of people are willing to buy into the debt needed to finance it. Of course, there is a limit to almost everyone’s ability to buy into debt – and once that limit is reached, it is no longer possible to maintain the facade that a sufficiency of people can afford it.
At that point, the facade of false affluence crumbles. Would that be a terrible thing?
As things stand, many young people can’t afford a vehicle, because the cost of even used vehicles has been rip-tided out to sea by the pull of debt. In the days when most new vehicles did not come standard with AC or power windows (never mind air bags and a dozen mini-cameras embedded in the cheap-but-expensive to replace and very easily damaged plastic covered front and ear ends) used vehicles were so affordable teenagers in high school could afford to buy – not finance – them.
This facilitated their transformation from kids to self-sufficient adults while they were still in their teens.
Today, it is common for young adults in their 20s to be living like teenagers still in high school – living at home and borrowing their parents’ car to get around. Or even being driven around by their parents.
Was it worse for us who were in our teens when most used cars required you to roll down the windows to keep cool on a hot summer day? Was it worse for everyone when almost anyone with a steady job could afford a brand-new car or truck – and pay it off after three years rather than six?
So maybe it won’t be all that bad when things become affordable, again.
It’s just a matter of getting used to it, again.
. . .
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Read the comments: As a people, we’ve gotten addicted to comfort and convenience. We are soft and pathetically weak. Our owners know that.
Here in south Louisiana, I would pay extra for AC in the car. I don’t want all the other crap that’s in the cars today.
Dude just read this entire comment thread …..and, not a lick to add!!
Dang….
So, going forward I will limit my comments to kool travel story/automotive experiences…
Thus Chapter 1… reflections on “CoonAss Country”…..
A Cajun named Robichaux and I finagled a non-leave “120” (5 day pass) from USMC Base Camp Lejeune NC (the company Gunny was a Coonass…nice!)
.. “tearing” down to Lockport LA in a 1964 Ford Falcon….was a nice adventure.
I-95 stopped somewhere in south Georgia….took secondary roads to connect to I-10 in Jacksonville FL…then traversed the “Redneck Riviera”….into my first introduction to the following:
-French Qtr, NOLA ;
-Insane mosquito attacks at dusk with the weird sweet smell of “Bagass”…in the air:
– Southern LA…located “at sea-level”….the roads were flush with the Bayous…..a boat wake at more than 5mph would literally flood the road;
– Grand Isle (Port Fourchon)….Subsequently visited in 2009 was the take off point for resupply to the bp Deepwater Horizon disaster in apr 2010…notable….
-There are “Land for Sale ” signs in the water!!!!
– The infrastructure “Enhancements” to the area were outright crazy e.g..2009 this MONSTER Trailer hauling a 150 ft? oil rig component made me back up for a quarter mile …
so they could make the turn to get to base….
All things considered… a unique area….enough said..
“For True”
My first house was in Baton Rouge, at thirty (30) feet above sea level. Neighbors were from Plaquemines Parish, way out on the Mississippi River Delta. Their house was swept away by Hurricane Camille, leaving nothing but the concrete slab. They fled to ‘higher ground’ [sic] in Baton Rouge. :-0
Years after I sold, saw a photo of my former subdivision in the 2016 flood — with three-foot deep water in the streets. And the Cajun navy (individually-owned motor boats) rescuing people and delivering aid.
Living thirty feet above sea level, 50 or 75 miles inland, ain’t a great idea. My brother learned this lesson in Houston. He lives at 5,400 feet elevation now. 🙂 As do I …
>Living thirty feet above sea level, 50 or 75 miles inland, ain’t a great idea.
Waal, shewt, Jim H. All yiz gots to do is put yore house on stilts, the way they do in the Land called Hanalei, on he north, i.e. wet, shore of Kauai.
SOP, there.
Hi Jim,
I heard a story that a lot of Navy people retire to Ozarks, because of its high elevation. They obviously saw a future map of the US, which was very persuasive. I wonder if there’s any truth to it. The source of this story is John Moore, “The Liberty Man”.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110720120139/http://www.thebyteshow.com/JohnMoore.html
Making do with an old analog ice car….because you don’t want an EV with a lithium fire bomb battery….
900 tons of lithium car batteries catch fire in France….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9xYVxhP2bc
I made do with a Studebaker Lark.
I made do with a Chevrolet Biscayne.
I made do with a 1965 Ford Galaxie, which was a good car.
I made do with an American Motors station wagon.
I made do with a 1983 Chevrolet Impala, a work car.
Same for the Chevrolet station wagon.
I made do with a 1978 Ford station wagon, lasted a while, then it was gone.
The Plymouth mini-van lasted just long enough, enough of that.
The 1997 Chevy Suburban was driven for about 10 years, then it couldn’t go another mile. Spent quite a bit of money to keep it going, wasn’t always a Sunday drive, mechanical problems persist sometimes.
Something new and different has to be bought, have to have transportation, four wheels and an interior with some comfort works just fine.
For now, it is the Pathfinder and the Ford truck.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway must have some top notch asphalt on the speedway track.
“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway must have some top notch asphalt on the speedway track”
It’s all atop the original bricks 🧱 laid down in 1909, hence the nickname “The Brickyard”. 👍🏻
I dont get your disdain for AC Eric, you act like you’re living in Cali where it’s perfect weather all year round.
I get not wanting automatic climate control, ionizer and other add ons, but basic heat and cold air is more than essential in the humid summers and frigid winters. Windows I can go either way about, though those pop out side windows seem like theyre asking for trouble, but basic climate control, especially in areas with traffic where there you’re not getting constant air flow, is generally non negotiable
Hi Carmelo,
I didn’t mean to convey disdain for AC; far from it! I was only trying to point out that when it was optional, it allowed for more affordable cars. I am now at a point in my life that I want (and am willing to pay extra for) AC. But when I was 20, it was nice to be able to buy an old VW Beetle without AC for $700 or so, which I did. That made it feasible for me to save money – and be in a position to buy my Trans-Am. Which has AC!
Gotcha gotcha.
You’re right, there’s no more basic econo cars anymore, nor sporty variants either. I get whatcha mean now, my bad!
Roger that!
Back in ’89, just after college, my buddy – who wanted to start a roofing business – bought a new Ford F-150. Straight six, manual and manual 4WD. No AC. It was what he needed – and what he could afford. He built the foundation of his roofing business with that truck and it’s still running. His 17-year-old kid drives it now.
Let me guess: it had that bulletproof 300 cu. in. straight six that Ford used to make. That was a GREAT engine!
>Back in ’89, just after college, my buddy – who wanted to start a roofing business – bought a new Ford F-150.
>it’s still running.
I am still driving my 1989 F150, which I bought new in 1989. Paid just over $7000, cash. 300 CID straight six, 4 speed manual (Borg Warner T18 – 3 + granny ), 2WD. Original engine gave up @ ~25 years. Currently have ~45,000 mi on a remanufactured NAPA engine. Runs great, looks great. Aftermarket re-paint is clear coat over deep shadow blue metallic, which appears to be superior to the factory paint job. I get compliments on the paint job all the time. Kudos to Jorge & associates at Kimmel Paint & Body for their excellent work.
Late 1980’s pickup are really nice vehicles. They were still trucks, but were not as bare as earlier ones. My cousin had an Eddie Bauer one back in the day.
I know I am not the only one that appreciates them far more than I once did. A friend had a 1985 F150 in about 1995 (when he was in high school) and he wishes he still had it (though he still likes his modern one).
Good examples of them today are going for not cheap prices!
Parts of Cali gets gott-damned HOT also!
Thinking about the type of car that I would like to be able to own.
A rear wheel drive 4 cylinder sedan
AC
No power windows, locks,
no automatic climate control, manual only
blue tooth radio (so I can listen to old music)
Radials
sway bar
disc brakes all the way
rear window defogger
6 speed manual
extra sound insulation
That’s it.
Cost: 17k
add leather seats
and a light package – illuminating the interior. extra long range driving light
Make mine V8 powered, I’ll pay a few bucks extra, but I need power from a big engine, or toss on 2 more cylinders, ’cause why not V10.
Hi Swamprat. Just to let you and others know Scosche makes adapters to connect your phone or MP3 player to your radio.
Just give me a stick & ac and Ill be set
I prefer AC and Heat, and do miss cd players and aux jacks for iPods and mp3 disks, rest other than hid/led lighting I couldnt care for, ESPECIALLY the 20 zillion airbags for saaaaaafety purposes
As much as I agree with Eric on political matters, and even with cars, the problem here isn’t “power windows” or “Air conditioning” as standard items in a car, it’s government, always government.
But the argument made here always looks like this: remember when life was better because AC was optional and you could drive around with your crank windows down with 95 degree air blowing into the car? Wasn’t that awesome?
No, it wasn’t. I like AC and I like power windows. I don’t need or want government requiring, demanding, or mandating any of those.
It’s akin to the argument I’ve seen made here that cars were BETTER when you had to spend every weekend working on them just to keep them running (remember how much fun it was to change points every two weeks? Wasn’t that awesome? NO it wasn’t).
The extra gadgetry and computers aren’t needed and are part of the government mandates that make cars suck today, but the idea that “bare bones” cars are everybody’s pride and joy is a joke. Sometimes the extras (like AC) are nice.
I commute to the NY weekly, last thing I want is no AC sitting in traffic in the summer
Have an uncle that I think was the last guy on earth that wouldn’t buy a car with power steering…… of course nothing else either. And he accomplished it for a long time.
He even had ramps in his garage when he parked every day so he wouldn’t have to put it in reverse! I tried to explain to him that he’s probably wearing out the clutch worse going up the ramp……….. he refused.
He’s now 92 and has obviously succumbed to most of it.
a funny, when he locked the door to his retail store every day, he would pull on it 5-8 times to make sure……………..
‘the last guy on earth that wouldn’t buy a car with power steering’ — ChrisIN
I reached driving age when some of those were still around … including my dad’s blue dinosaur 1955 Buick Special. Steering wheel diameter was 17 inches, with about 5.5 turns lock-to-lock for mechanical advantage when parallel parking and such. A heavy cast-iron V8 weighing down the front wheels meant quite an upper arm workout. Manual brakes needed a good stomp, too. When the single master cylinder failed, you found out fast. :-0
On the highway, with the sloppy front suspension and steering links of the era, one had to saw away at the wheel, constantly giving it half turns back and forth just to stay in the lane. Lane keeping was your job, and it was unrelenting mechanical work.
What a revelation it was, when I first drove a 1977 Honda Accord, with its taut, quick, go-kart steering. Who knew a car could be so responsive? It instantly made the old Buick into an ancient relic — like a wooden pole-propelled raft rocked by the wake of a powerful ski boat.
Hi Jim, I would still take the 55-70’s cars vs stuff today, as much as I love my late model ram and what it can do and does, I lust for the old boats, sucky steering and all…… I remember.
There still are basic trucks to be had. Toyota makes one. I think it’s ~13K or so.
You just can’t get it here. It’s available all over the world. There are others, I’m certain. Watch any video from Japan or Korea, and you’ll see all sorts of small, simple trucks that no way in hell you’d be able to get here.
For me?
I traded in a Rav4 (a soccer mom car my X bought) for a 2000 Excursion, which I love.
It gets maybe 10mpg. But when I look around at maybe getting a 4 banger beater to lessen the gas bill, The maths don’t work. The extra insurance nut is more than I spend on gas.
I bought a Kawasaki concours instead.
I surf auto trader from time to time just to get gobsmacked at the cost and crappy interest rates.
Eventually, I’ll take on a project car again. An 80s or 90s jap pickup, if I can find it. Most are unobtainium.
Did you get the old 1000cc Concours, or did you get the bigger and newer Concours 14?
And to go along with the AC, power windows, air bags etc., who in the world does NOT have at least one credit card? That would be me. Never have had one. In fact, since I’ve had no debt for 30 years, I don’t even have a credit rating.
I only have one but for international trips only, and I pay it off as soon as I get back. Otherwise I only use it when the bank threatens to close the account just to keep it active for future trips. Much easier to deal with fraud that way.
Not sure of any valid reason for NOT having credit cards.
I have three:
1) 2% cash back on all purchases
2) 5% savings on fuel
3) 4% savings on groceries
Saves 100s $$$ Credit rating: 840, have bought new vehicles with my signature.
Bingo, I don’t either.
No debt
No credit card
No credit rating and
Best of all, no worries
I have never, ever had a NHTSA compliant car. I used to purchase US Spec. cars and immediately convert them (starting with removing those stupid-ass, ugly Side Marker Lights) but around the early 2000’s, I just said ‘Fuck it’ and began sneaking in Euro Spec. models. Not that I have had that many vehicles but it can be done if you’re resourseful and careful.
Kids brought two euro rigs home from two Germany deployments. A Swiss Rails used Defender 110 V8 and the second time a Germany Army Mercedes G soft top 5 cyl. Diesel. Both great fun and the son-in-law loves that Defender. I’m partial to the G wagon especially with the top and doors off in the summer!
I like air conditioning. Growing up in Arizona it was necessary for me. As for meeting the neighbors… no, thank you.
Grew up in the time period you’d have to order a car with it. Most back then would have an add-on air conditioner,,, much more cost effective. Like everything else decent in our ‘free’ country,,, add-ons have about disappeared.
Today’s high costs are due to jacked up taxes,,, jacked up cost for metals,,, jacked up labor costs,,, total destruction of the money,,, the advent of easy credit. Mostly due to an irresponsible government. No? Look at the absolute trash vying for El Presidente. No matter who/what wins,,, we lose.
I was a heretic in Western WA for insisting on AC in any car 1975 and on. That year I bought a 1970 Firebird that had AC, what a treat! Finally summer road trips without sweat welding to the vinyl seats. The other benefit was instant defog in the winter, Western WA is wet from October thru June and that AC on in defrost mode made for all clear glass, quickly. Very few Puget Sounders ever figured that out, lots of fogged up econo boxes in the morning commute.
My wife is a Mopar girl. I made had a promise that I would buy her that Mopar someday which came this summer…I bought her a 67 Dodge R/T Coronet with a 440 engine. (Also works as an investment to park some dough vs having it in someone else’s pocket in a crappy ETF.)
Back in the day these cars were below $4,000 for the standard and adding a few bucks got you the upgraded model with the big engine. Add a few more bucks and that got you the 426 street hemi. These cars were affordable, basic in design, no AC and crank windows with a huge mafia style trunk. I think these were so affordable many were abused by their owners to a point of sending them off to the junk yard when done was not a financial tragedy.
In the meantime, we get to drive to the cruse-in with some of our investment dollars in parked in our garage vs parked in Jaimie Dimon’s pocket.
The happiest days of my life were when all I owned was a nice used ’66 bug and a bunch of surfboards I made myself. Surfing every day and thinking that the people in the traffic jam on the highway dutifully going to work every day were nuts. That is until I grew up, met my wife, got a “real” job and “got happy” as Neil Young would say.
I miss the wing vent. In my neck of Dixie there’s few precious weeks where the humidity is low, and the temperature is comfortable enough to use the wing vent instead of the AC.
Hell, there used to be kick panel vents in cars, to supplement the wing vents.
Definitely made the Gulf Coast humidity more tolerable, back when such thoughtfully-appointed machines were still available.
Yes, the Commanders’ 1971 Nova had “wing wings” as my dad called them, plus the kick panel vents, lots of fresh air!
The modern car with everything has a knock-on effect of reducing desire and motivation. Back in the old days a successful man owned a Cadillac or Lincoln. It had gadgets and power everything. It was aspirational.
When tastes changed in the 1980s to European sedans, the small boxy BMWs, I think it changed the market. The old maker of success was a beautiful boat of a vehicle. The new Eurobox vehicles were nothing to look at, so the badge became the selling point. Oh sure, they could run like hell once you opened them up, but where could you do that? Certainly not on the gelded 55 MPH highways, with their potholes and congestion. On the back roads? Not with truck traffic, bad drivers, school buses and cops looking for their it’s-not-a-quota quotas.
Meanwhile the cost of adding air conditioning at the factory got easier with outsourcing entire subassemblies like the dash and center consoles. Building a big floor vent (and all the cables to control it) at the factory was hard. Just slapping a finished dashboard into the car on the line took seconds and the worker only had to remove the plastic bag.
Dealers liked having aircon as a selling point too. It only added a little more to the monthly payment so why not indulge? Not to mention that it helps with the aerodynamics to keep the windows up at highway speeds, as every high school physics class is told ad nauseam.
But now we see the cost of all that. There are no real prestige brands anymore, at least not aspirational brands. They’re all “supercars” that are actually worse for actual driving in real world conditions although probably OK if you’re the son of a Russian oligarch or Saudi royal touring Western Europe. Born into it.
If you want to show off these days, you’re better off investing in your footwear or displaying your YouTube sub count award. No one cares about your car.
One final off-topic thought is that air conditioning disconnects you from your community. I noticed it in my neighborhood, in summertime no one has any windows open, most of the houses don’t have screen doors. Cars are the same. As you’re cruising through town, with the windows rolled up, you’re just observing the world. I remember cruising the mall parking lot and the “Miracle Mile” shopping street (not technically called that but you get the idea), seeing friends and shouting a “hello” or trash talk comment. I don’t think that happens anymore. People keep the windows up, the AC on and live in the cocoon.
Hey RK.
That’s a great observation about AC. I first noticed that when I moved to Texas in 1986. Even back then, I was amazed by the isolation. No one was outside. People locked themselves in their apartments. Of course, AC is responsible for the large population boom in the south since the 1950’s. I’m not a fan of AC for another reason. I don’t like the cold. I prefer the heat as a rule, though it’s sometimes nice to have AC to cool off for a little. I keep the tempeature at 81 degrees at home. When I work out I bump it down a degree.
As a wide eyed 20 something year old, I was surprised when I rented my first car in Connecticut on a business trip. All the cars had it. In our family some cars had it, some didn’t.
It’s a different world. I tend not to run the AC in the car unless the outside temperature is above 93 or so. Sometimes I even keep the windows open at 100 degrees since the humidity is less.
As a country, we over use AC. A little is okay, but a lot is no good.
The only thing Jimmy Carter got raight was set your temp to 78. That’s the best way to do it.
Which is one of the many reasons I really enjoyed driving a Miata. With the top down. In full contact with the world around you.
This. I always preferred open cars and murdercycles because you are living in, experiencing, the real world. So many people whine, but isn’t it noisy? Isn’t it (hot/cold/too)? Women butch about their hair getting messed up.
It doesn’t matter. Life is about the adventure, not blubbering along in unthought comfort.
Not butch. But autocorrect strikes again.
“ People keep the windows up, the AC on and live in the cocoon.”-RK….and a portion of those people will be wearing their face diaper.
The bureaucrats who “work for you” could not care less if you can afford a new car. In fact they would prefer you can’t. It’s much harder to hit a moving target.
‘“Departments” and “agencies” have somehow acquired the legal power to force new car buyers to pay for things like air bags and flimsy, easily damaged and very expensive to fix body panels.’ — eric
Let us not forget ’emissions’ controls, shoved down or up our bodily orifices by Maoist red guard Michael Regan.
A story told yesterday by my herpetologist friend: His hybrid RAV4 (2 or 3 years old) bottomed out on a dirt road and damaged a canister associated with the ’emissions’ system. He got a quote to replace it: $1,300. He was going to just blow it off, since there’s no mechanical inspection or emissions testing in our rural county.
Then the digital nannying started: on its own, the RAV4 switched off its digital speedometer to punish him for not fixing the canister. He could push a button to bring back the speedo for 5 seconds. Then it would disappear for good. The RAV4’s spiteful behavior was the wifey equivalent of making him sleep on the couch, celibate.
Obnoxious. Half a century ago, mechanical speedometer/odometer units were independent systems. They still worked, even with the battery discharged or disconnected. Now all the vehicle’s major systems are chip-controlled and interdependent. This creates hosts of new failure modes, which I deplore, deplore, deplore.
‘Dump that bitch,’ I told my friend. He MUCH prefers his Subaru Crosstrek anyway. So I don’t know why he even keeps that RAV4 p.o.s. around. (Nothing against RAV4s … Gen 1 and Gen 1 are great little go-karts, and I own one of each.)
Hi Jim. Tell your buddy to get one from your local u-pull-it yard or if it’s just a crack; just clean it and put some JB Weld on the crack. That’s what my mechanic did on a tiny leak on my Fords canister almost 10 years ago and it’s never leaked since.
Eric: “Or even being driven around by their parents.”
Yes, Eric I do know a family where the Mother drives her married lesbian daughter (who has her own place) everywhere and back and forth to work. Apparently because the cough will kill her if she takes the bus. In my opinion the daughters a parasite and the Mom’s an idiot.
As for new cars, I can afford a new car but I’ll be darned if I’m going to pay a small fortune for an over complicated depreciating asset that’s not going to last even 10 years before needing major repairs.
The one problem I foresee with producing an affordable car is that a lot of the cost is due to government mandated requirements. If you consider that you will realize the only options seem to be the sound system, AC and power windows. The automatic is for emissions, power door locks for carjacking prevention, ABS for automatic breaking, cameras for safety, over the air updates allow the state to brick your car, etc.
If you consider all this you will quickly see why more people don’t drive new cars anymore.
If I had a lesbian dauthter, I would hang my head in shame and disown her. That woman is an idiot.
A “married” lesbian daughter. The bad seed.
That’s the truth. My problem with lesbians is that they are always looking for new recruits. They pull jilted women in, pollute their minds with garbage and then you have a thinning selection to chose from. It seemed to take hold in the 1980s and it made it tough for me as a 20 something year old to get laid. I have a forever vendetta against their kind.
Also just remembered the old joke, “How do you know a Lesbian has a new gf?
There’s a moving truck outside her house”
They spared you dealing those, as Admiral James T Kirk put, or WILL put it, that are “fruitier than a nutcake”.
Whether faggots or dykes, homosexuals of themselves can’t reproduce. They must, therefore, get someone of the gender they’re otherwise not interested in to either furnish seed or the oven, so that one of them has a child. Or they manipulate the young and/or gullible. By their inherent nature, homes are PREDATORS.
I stopped reading after “Married Lesbian”, the fucks wrong with all this bullshit? They need to get back into the closets and act normal
I love the crank windows in my 1992 Mazda and 2006 Toyota. That aside, you make a couple very penetrating points, Eric.
First: “At that point, the facade of false affluence crumbles.”
It’s amazing how much debt people carry to appear well heeled. I see housing developments going up with signs saying, “Starting At the Mid-$500s” and I wonder just what these folks do to be able to afford such “luxury”. Is everyone but me a drug kingpin? Gated communities, leased cars, no furniture in the McMansion. Wait, that last one? There’s always Rooms2Go to let you fill that space with cheap ass furniture from Chyna. This paper tiger will go up in a flash.
Second: “This facilitated their transformation from kids to self-sufficient adults while they were still in their teens.”
Don’t you know that the human brain doesn’t “mature” until 25? (link below) One of the major goals of GovCo is to keep people dependent, child-like and on a leash which it holds. The last thing GovCo wants is young, reasoning adults able to live life independently. Unlike generations past, once physical maturity is attained people must still be treated as children for a decade or more. Thanks to GovCo only humans are treated as immature offspring once they can have their own children.
Link: https://journeytocollege.mo.gov/when-does-the-brain-reach-maturity-its-later-than-you-think/
Heavy debt load is something I really can’t grasp. Why would someone in their late 50s still be paying a mortgage? When interest rates were falling down down down down some people I know were refinancing every year, taking out “equity” and resigning on for another 30 years. Why? Sure that monthly payment goes down and that new car looks nice, but what was wrong with the old mortgage? The old car? Old isn’t a bad thing.
I wanted rid of my mortgage as quickly as possible. Now, I understand that inflation favors the debtor, but for almost all my adult life interest rates have been drastically surpassed. I have access to $40K in debt with a swipe of a few cards, not even a signature needed. The assumption is that things will never change, there are no more black swans and if there were any you’ll get bailed out. Or someone will.
But what about all those old guys who are still working? Will they continue to pay that mortgage, even when they’ve run out of f***s at work? When they do chuck their career for the sans-a-belt slacks and early bird special lifestyle will they be able to keep paying that mortgage from their 401(k)? Or will they downsize and demand low cost downsized housing (not tiny homes!) so that they can dump the McMansion for something a little more practical? Or will they keep their kids at home (which seems to be happening for now) and start demanding rent as they can’t get themselves to the laptop zoom call they pretend to call work?
‘demand low cost downsized housing’ — Ready Kilowatt
Here is what passes for ‘low cost downsized housing’ these days: a modest one-bedroom, one-bath cabin in rural Washington state, built for — are you sitting down? — $600 per square foot.
https://archive.ph/kOZIm
As Dolly Parton used to say, ‘It costs a lot to look this cheap.’
Don’t ya know it’s all a great investment? That cardboard house is only going up, just like stocks. There will always be a bigger sucker to sell them to. And by trading in that gently used car for a new one every year or two, you come out all right and always get a shiny new car.
That’s the real American dream, not that crazy old freedom and independence bulls#!t.
And when it goes sour, all you have to do is vote in the right lawyers to fix it.
I’ve heard that the brain reaches full maturity at 25, but I don’t believe it. Sounds like a convenient excuse to stay in the basement.
If it’s really true, Swamp, why do we allow military recruiters in high schools? Isn’t 16 & 17 a bit young to decide to go kill someone on behalf of GovCo?