Anniversary of Columbine High School shooting

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by StabbyTheIcePic
Do not blame womens lib on the fact that most households can only survive if both parents work. There is no reason women shouldnt have equal rights in the office.

Do not blame corporate America if we wanted higher incomes either.

[Sixpence]

Womens Lib is fine with me, I can stay home with the kids, works for me. The facts speak volumes Rip. The amount of hours worked by the single working parent has increased alot, now add that to the second parent working. I heard an ad by a mattress company stating the results of a study showing how Americans sleep hours have decreased over the years(to show the point of making the most of the sleep you do get by having the right mattress). At the pace we are going, we will be taking vacation every three years and sleeping 4 hours a day.

[StabbyTheIcePic]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
Do not blame corporate America if we wanted higher incomes either.

Yes it is crazy for us to demand that wages be increased with inflation. CRAZY!

[Ripsnort]

If I were to blame "Corporate America" for anything it would be over commercialization of products, how you should live, what you should wear, bigger is better, fancier is better, etc.  We used to be a society happy with a small home, a yard, one income and a Chevy in the drive way. Now we're a family of Michael Jordon shoes, the best car money can buy, 4,000 sq. ft houses, and "I have to have the latest computer game on my computer" type of America.  With our craving for bigger, better and faster, comes the need for duel income.

If you have to  blame anyone (instead of the correct responsible thing to do, that is, ask yourself what you've learned, and correct YOUR behavior) then blame TV, its made you believe you have to have something you do not need.

The simple fact is this:

These parents failed to do their job. You can't blame anyone but them for the fact that they did not know what their kids were up to, nor try to correct their behavior except with drugs.

Its time WE take responsibility for our children, not point the finger at someone else.[/size]

[Sixpence]

Well, you need to pay your mortgage and your bills, and the single working parent doesn't quite do that anymore.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Sixpence
Well, you need to pay your mortgage and your bills, and the single working parent doesn't quite do that anymore.

If you can't pay your mortgage, then your living in too big of house for your career/income. Downsize.

If my wife chose to not work, we'd be in a 1300 sq. ft house, not our current 2600 sq. ft. house. Fortunately, we work alternative work schedules so one of us is always home with the kids 6 days a week (one day a week we have a nanny for a portion of the day, but its while they're in school, so basically shes a house sitter)

[StabbyTheIcePic]

Originally posted by Sixpence
Well, you need to pay your mortgage and your bills, and the single working parent doesn't quite do that anymore.

Rip does have a point. The bills wouldnt be so expensive if the parents didnt have his and her h2's and live in a 4-5 bedroom house when they only have 1 kid. Our consumer culture has gone into overdrive over the past 20 years.

[Sixpence]

Yeah, we could do like some immigrants and live 5 families to a house.

http://www.indiana.edu/~ocmhp/040904/text/workweek.shtml

http://www.ufcw.org/worker_political_agenda/where_we_stand/ufcw_letters_to_congress/hr1119_overtimehours.cfm

http://www.laborresearch.org/story.php?id=16

[Ripsnort]

You're preaching to the choir, sixpence, I started out homeless at age 18...and I felt my standard of living was acceptable when I had only $100 in my pocket as I do today with $1000.  You can't blame corporations for income, you have to earn it.  If you want a better living, you must get a better education. Pretty simple, nothing is "free" in life.

Here's a good article, I ask you, no...I BEG you (and Stabby) to please take the time and read it.

American standard of living offers proof that profit is a positive force Michael Braude
I hope I succeeded last week in giving you a method of teaching our young people about the beginnings and strengths of capitalism.

 
Today, I tackle a more difficult, but equally important, task. I want to discuss how we counter the large number of adults in our society who erroneously believe that "profit" is some kind of dirty word. Such misguided thinking does a huge disservice to the vital process of economic education.

Folks are accustomed to hearing parables, particularly in religious settings. Let's try one in this effort.

A young man named Bill Smith grew up right here in Kansas City. He went to Center High School and was an all-around super kid. He was National Honor Society, president of the student body, and captain and quarterback of Center's state champion football team.

All the mothers and fathers in south Kansas City exhorted their children to "Grow up and be like Bill Smith."

Bill had the good judgment to say no to both Bill Snyder and Mark Mangino and yes to Gary Pinkel.

He went down to Mizzou and led the Tigers to the Big 12 title. He was Phi Beta Kappa and student government president. He majored in accounting. Word of his academic, athletic and extracurricular activities filtered back to south Kansas City. Once again, legions of parents begged their children, "Grow up and be like Bill Smith."

After Bill graduated, all the big accounting firms courted him. He joined Pricewater-houseCoopers in New York. He attained his CPA and received numerous promotions.

Each time, they were noted in The Business Journal. Locals once again pleaded with their kids, "Grow up and be like Bill Smith."

After several years, Bill decided to return to the roots of his raising. He came back to Kansas City and hung out a shingle: "Bill Smith, CPA." Of course, his practice thrived. His small clients grew larger and referred even bigger clients to him.

Before long, Bill traded in his Civic on a Lexus. He stopped buying suits at Men's Wearhouse and started having Verl make them. He sold his house in Red Bridge and moved to Loch Lloyd.

 
Guess what? Many of those folks who had repeatedly sung Bill's praises suddenly became suspicious of him. In their twisted thinking, he became some kind of "profiteer."

Nonsense! We have an obligation to understand and teach our children that profit is a word that should be revered and respected.

It was profit that motivated Henry Ford to build the Model T and Thomas Edison to invent the light bulb.

It is profit that inspired half the items we see advertised on television each night, items that were not in existence a decade ago. These things, from Altoids to notebook computers, make all our lives better.

Recently, I visited a large timber operation. I was fascinated by a huge machine that transformed sawdust into usable board.

I had always thought that all you could do with sawdust was fill broad jump or pole vault pits with it or burn it.

Profit was the motivation for developing this ecologically sound and expensive machine.

I'm sure by now you get my point that profit is the key to our economic system and thus to our standard of living, which clearly is the envy of the rest of the world.

Reach Michael Braude at lmbraude@aol.com. He writes weekly for The Business Journal.


http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2004/01/19/editorial3.html

[Sixpence]

I'm sure by now you get my point that profit is the key to our economic system and thus to our standard of living, which clearly is the envy of the rest of the world.

According to a recent survey by Expedia.com, 63 percent of Americans work more than 40 hours a week, with some 40 percent exceeding the 50-hour a week mark. More than $21 billion dollars in vacation time goes unused annually (and back to employers!), as we spend 2.5 more weeks—and three months more—at work than do our Japanese and western European counterparts, respectively.

Yeah, I can see why they envy us.

[StabbyTheIcePic]

Trust me the rip, the western europeons and the japanese do not envy us(you can throw the aussies and kiwis into this mix as well.)
Noone said anything about profit being bad. We were just pointing out the downfalls of society when maximum profit is the only thing on people's minds.

[vorticon]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
Proof that kids need parents, and that your careers should never stand between you and nurturing/raising your children to be the best they can be.  To limit what violence they are exposed to involving video games, what they watch on TV, and monitor their every move.  Be intrusive. Know who their friends are.  

Too bad they may hate you for a few awkward teenage years, they'll thank you later on in life.

ah so because a person is under 18 not only do that not have any rights but everything they do must be the fault of there parents...

do you have kids? can you honestly say that you know there every move? do you beleive they they should have a tracking collar on them and give them a breathalyzer test every time they enter the house? do you know what happens at school? do you really think they actually tell you everything that happened?

heres a question...

you kid is 16 and is going to a party on a friday night...he's previously got it set up that hes going to sleep over... at this party he

a) drinks beer till he passes out or the booze runs out
b) has 1 or 2 beers to look "cool" but thats it
c) sits around playing playstation till 11 then straight to bed...
d) actually he went to his girlfriends house drank himself stupid and had unprotected sex with her...

the correct answers are A and D and trust me no matter how "good" your kid is (even if hes a nerd) will have drank beer till he passes out before there 18...unless your a mormon or a JW

[vorticon]

interesting thing that happened to a friend when he was in japan... he accidently left his wallet on a bench in a busy park...when he returned the next day it was untouched...

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by vorticon
do you have kids? [/i]
yes.

can you honestly say that you know there every move?

Yes, and when they are of teenage years, I will as well.

do you beleive they they should have a tracking collar on them and give them a breathalyzer test every time they enter the house?

I will teach them about responsibility, going to partys and drinking while a minor is not responsible.  If they do, they will be grounded.

do you know what happens at school?
Yes I do. They tell me.

do you really think they actually tell you everything that happened?

I believe that instilling in them at their young age about honesty and trust, and about a parent being a best friend, that there will be no need to lie.

 

heres a question...

you kid is 16 and is going to a party on a friday night...he's previously got it set up that hes going to sleep over... at this party he

a) drinks beer till he passes out or the booze runs out
b) has 1 or 2 beers to look "cool" but thats it
c) sits around playing playstation till 11 then straight to bed...
d) actually he went to his girlfriends house drank himself stupid and had unprotected sex with her...

the correct answers are A and D and trust me no matter how "good" your kid is (even if hes a nerd) will have drank beer till he passes out before there 18...unless your a mormon or a JW

My kids at that age will be much too busy to be going to parties, trust me on this one.  Your life may have been like that, and mine was, but I'm determined to learn from my parents mistakes, that is, leaving me to roam free as a teenager. I will be their best friend, one that they can tell anything.  I will be the guy they have their first beer with, underaged or not...I will be the guy that they'd rather be with than partying with a bunch of teens.  And if the party is one that doesn't involved getting drunk, I will be the father that my kids will want to invite to the party (well, thats my goal, might be unreachable, but you have to shoot for the sun if you want to go to the moon...)  I will teach them about sexual diseases and teach them to protect themselves. I will also teach them about themselves being responsible for their own actions, and thus suffering the consequences of their own actions.  I am Parent. Something that is a lost art in our culture today.

[TheDudeDVant]

Living to work and working to live are two totally different outlooks on life...  America is preprogrammed to follow the first outlook...

dude