Yeah, the sad thing is that necessities seem designed to suck up every disposable piece of income each generation has, at least the so-called "average" wages.
Yet the curve keeps rising, each goodie like HD TV becoming the latest minimum acceptable "necessity."
Starting out, we were so envious of people who had paid-off mortgages and owned their own houses free and clear. Made a huge difference in the monthly budget whether you had a mortgage payment, let alone usurious interest on credit cards.
Our house also has appreciated about tenfold since we bought it 35 years ago. Catch is, unless moving to a lower cost of living area, selling it would not buy a comparable house because of ridiculous real estate agent commissions and general housing parasite costs.
Reading the real estate advice columns in the newspaper is a good way to lose sleep if you have to sell or buy a house. Don't see how the process could get much more confusing and complicated. As others have mentioned, slavery is still alive and well in capitalism -- we just call it mortgages, or rent, or whatever it takes just to be able to earn a living.
But nothing new about that. Most societies throughout history require a lot of work just to survive.
We'll probably stay in our house until we exit feet first. The neighborhood has changed a lot but fortunately it's still a nice place to live.
Oh yeah, the main thread topic, guns then and now. Guns are probably one of the best investments and often also come with guarantees better than practically any other commodity.
For example, I bought a Ruger .357 Single-Six used. Was keyholing and having an ejection problem. Ruger refurbished it, including new barrel, FREE with my only cost shipping to Ruger. Let's see any other industry match that kind of lifetime warranty!
