Hi Donald, long time reader, first time commenter, just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your writings about what I refer to as "this modern world" we live in (America 2.0).
I'm in my early 40s and have seen a steady decline in this country since my younger days and it makes me wonder how things will look in 20 years. I live in Kalamazoo, MI where I up until recently worked as an insurance adjuster and have moonlighted as an Uber driver (I live alone and worked from home so this was a nice way to make a few bucks and be social).
2 realizations occurred to me:
1) while the adjuster job paid modestly well, I still needed to supplement it
2) Driving around the people in the community who have less has been eye-opening. I've picked up from crumbling apartment conplexes and driven on pot holed roads *one which gave me a flat tire* whole carloads of families stuck in a never-ending cycle of poverty. I've also seen how other communities somehow are worthy of public/private investment (Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor) and some are left to wither and die on the vine.
I hope more people wake up to how the wealth that has been generated needs to be shared more generously.
Hi Jason. I can't thank you enough for the kind words. Hearing from people like you is what keeps me writing and talking, and holding on to some trace of optimism. I very much appreciate hearing your first hand experience as an Uber driver. I would imagine that those desperate families you speak of have to hire Uber, because they don't own their own vehicle. This is one of the saddest parts of the "new normal" that is America 2.0. Back in the'70s and '80s, people working the lowest paid jobs still had at least some kind of car. Might have been old and beat up, but they could provide their own transportation. That is clearly not the case now. I know too many young people especially that can't begin to afford a car- even older used cars have gone up astronomically in cost. Again, thank you!
My pleasure Donald, I'll report in periodically for a "man on the streets of America 2.0" perspective. I remember when I was a child in the early 80s, my parents had a few clunkers in between buying newer vehicles. We were never without transportation.
I bought my current car, a 2013 Buick Verano, in December 2017 for $10,000. I just read that in 2019 used cars for this price made up 49% of the market; now, it's like 14%, and the average used car goes for $20,000. I hope and pray I don't have to buy a new one anytime soon or I'll be, as they say, up shit creek without a paddle.
Like you, I hope and pray I don't ever have to buy another car. We will ride our 2015 Toyota Prius and 2017 Subaru Forester for as long as we can afford to keep them running. I wonder what the percentage of those in the bottom half of America- the ones who make less than $30,000 and have less than ONE PERCENT of the collective wealth- is that have vehicles. I would bet it's very small. Thanks again!
My husband collects antique cars. We own a VW Karmanm Ghia. He saw a couple for sale, $23500. They spent $12k on an upgraded engine. I told him I think we should buy it..you can't buy a new car at that price. The amount of work done to this car makes it a "new" car and affordable. The person selling it must be losing money!
This new thing about about people not being able to afford cars is shocking. My first car was a '67 Rambler American that was purchased for $200. when I was 17-years-old. Most TEENAGERS could buy a car back then. This is deliberate...part of the green agenda.
Exactly right, Kris. Teenagers could afford the kind of old jalopies that full time workers can't now. As I detailed in "Survival of the Richest," the vast majority of workers simply aren't being paid enough to meet the ever increasing costs of living. Thanks!
Donald...I started Hidden Histories the other day. I showed my husband the table of contents and asked him what stood out. He said death count!
I am curious if you could rif on any of the truths you have found true? I feel like I live in an alternate reality. Thankfully my isolation with my husband works because we live in the reality together. But most of my family and friends and patients live in the other reality. I am so thankful and grateful that I built my home to retreat to. And that I did it in 2017 because I could have afforded it today.
Keep on sharing here in this "reality" so we have one another. And thanks as always for your insights and musings and thoughts.
I appreciate hearing that, KTonCapeCod. People have suggested I devote an episode of "I Protest" to going over some of the highlights of "Hidden History," and how I feel about it today. I could also write a Substack about that. I stand behind everything in the book-it's all true, and I don't theorize. Thanks!
I definitely cover the alleged death of Bin Laden. I really can't recall if I covered them dying in a helicopter crash. That info might have come out after the book. Thanks.
To be honest, one must at least have an idea of the truth, but that is impossible for those, whose priority is mere survival, which I call the "survival of the dumbest":
Hi Donald, long time reader, first time commenter, just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your writings about what I refer to as "this modern world" we live in (America 2.0).
I'm in my early 40s and have seen a steady decline in this country since my younger days and it makes me wonder how things will look in 20 years. I live in Kalamazoo, MI where I up until recently worked as an insurance adjuster and have moonlighted as an Uber driver (I live alone and worked from home so this was a nice way to make a few bucks and be social).
2 realizations occurred to me:
1) while the adjuster job paid modestly well, I still needed to supplement it
2) Driving around the people in the community who have less has been eye-opening. I've picked up from crumbling apartment conplexes and driven on pot holed roads *one which gave me a flat tire* whole carloads of families stuck in a never-ending cycle of poverty. I've also seen how other communities somehow are worthy of public/private investment (Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor) and some are left to wither and die on the vine.
I hope more people wake up to how the wealth that has been generated needs to be shared more generously.
Hi Jason. I can't thank you enough for the kind words. Hearing from people like you is what keeps me writing and talking, and holding on to some trace of optimism. I very much appreciate hearing your first hand experience as an Uber driver. I would imagine that those desperate families you speak of have to hire Uber, because they don't own their own vehicle. This is one of the saddest parts of the "new normal" that is America 2.0. Back in the'70s and '80s, people working the lowest paid jobs still had at least some kind of car. Might have been old and beat up, but they could provide their own transportation. That is clearly not the case now. I know too many young people especially that can't begin to afford a car- even older used cars have gone up astronomically in cost. Again, thank you!
My pleasure Donald, I'll report in periodically for a "man on the streets of America 2.0" perspective. I remember when I was a child in the early 80s, my parents had a few clunkers in between buying newer vehicles. We were never without transportation.
I bought my current car, a 2013 Buick Verano, in December 2017 for $10,000. I just read that in 2019 used cars for this price made up 49% of the market; now, it's like 14%, and the average used car goes for $20,000. I hope and pray I don't have to buy a new one anytime soon or I'll be, as they say, up shit creek without a paddle.
Like you, I hope and pray I don't ever have to buy another car. We will ride our 2015 Toyota Prius and 2017 Subaru Forester for as long as we can afford to keep them running. I wonder what the percentage of those in the bottom half of America- the ones who make less than $30,000 and have less than ONE PERCENT of the collective wealth- is that have vehicles. I would bet it's very small. Thanks again!
My husband collects antique cars. We own a VW Karmanm Ghia. He saw a couple for sale, $23500. They spent $12k on an upgraded engine. I told him I think we should buy it..you can't buy a new car at that price. The amount of work done to this car makes it a "new" car and affordable. The person selling it must be losing money!
This new thing about about people not being able to afford cars is shocking. My first car was a '67 Rambler American that was purchased for $200. when I was 17-years-old. Most TEENAGERS could buy a car back then. This is deliberate...part of the green agenda.
Exactly right, Kris. Teenagers could afford the kind of old jalopies that full time workers can't now. As I detailed in "Survival of the Richest," the vast majority of workers simply aren't being paid enough to meet the ever increasing costs of living. Thanks!
Donald...I started Hidden Histories the other day. I showed my husband the table of contents and asked him what stood out. He said death count!
I am curious if you could rif on any of the truths you have found true? I feel like I live in an alternate reality. Thankfully my isolation with my husband works because we live in the reality together. But most of my family and friends and patients live in the other reality. I am so thankful and grateful that I built my home to retreat to. And that I did it in 2017 because I could have afforded it today.
Keep on sharing here in this "reality" so we have one another. And thanks as always for your insights and musings and thoughts.
I appreciate hearing that, KTonCapeCod. People have suggested I devote an episode of "I Protest" to going over some of the highlights of "Hidden History," and how I feel about it today. I could also write a Substack about that. I stand behind everything in the book-it's all true, and I don't theorize. Thanks!
One more question...is there a chapter on the guys who killed Osama Bin Laden all dying in a helicopter flight?
I definitely cover the alleged death of Bin Laden. I really can't recall if I covered them dying in a helicopter crash. That info might have come out after the book. Thanks.
To be honest, one must at least have an idea of the truth, but that is impossible for those, whose priority is mere survival, which I call the "survival of the dumbest":
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/the-survival-of-the-dumbest
The situation upset me so much that I had to fix the theory of evolution:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/i-have-just-fixed-the-theory-of-evolution
Those who give up their own human dignity, cannot be trusted:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/what-can-the-truth-change
The winners' history is perhaps the biggest lie:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/the-horror-the-horror
Still, I would vouch for the "American Dream."
Great article, thank you.