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Originally Posted by gekkogecko
In *this particular case*, actually, I blame the oil speculators who keep trading their "shares" of the supply, artifically driving up the price when the market supply runs short.
NEIITHER IS MAKING A PROFIT.
And the problem is that American Dream is a lie...nobody, but NOBODY, despite the lie, EVER made something from nothing. It was in fact, ALWAYS built from the hardship of others. Hence, while the second part of this quote is often true, the referenced criticism is entirely justified.
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I dont know how to quote specific things individually (someone has to teach me please!)
As for the comments here are my responses...
The oil speculators are speculating on what we will pay and they are in the "business" of doing that and thats what makes them a profit. So kind of the same thing...I am not saying they are moral or just or right...just that they are doing it and making a profit as is the purpose of what they are doing.
No one claimed making a profit is a god given right but it is something we all strive for and even require to live. As crappy as it is....money makes the world go round.
As for the American Dream being a lie....you are very wrong. I have first hand experience in this reality. My grandfather fled Russia and walked into China...then took his family and fled China when the Japanese came in. He took his wife and 2 daughters to Australia. He left them there and moved to the US. Speaking NO English, having less than 5$ to his name. He worked 4 jobs (for Pan Am, painting houses, tending bar and in a jam factory). He lived in a water tower and after 5 years sent for his wife and 2 daughters. My grandmother was one of the first women doctors in China...she worked changing bed pans in the hospitals here because they wouldn't recognize her skills, she also cleaned houses, and did mending on the side. They all lived in that water tower. They saved and worked and bought a small deli...then later bought a house...and 50 years later (with NO government help and nothing but hard work) owned 2 successful businesses, over 20 houses/rental properties, put all of their grandchildren thru college with no student loans, and did all this themselves. They worked till the day they died. They built a legacy (sure we aren't the Hiltons) that has provided for and left enough for our children. The American Dream is possible....it's just not easy.
They did not build this at the expense of ANYONE. They did not play on the hardship of anyone. They worked hard, they sacrificed, and they had hard times. They also then spent years helping get other families out of China and other areas and help them.
Please don't get me wrong...I think that there are MANY that benefit at the expense of others...that is not the American Dream. But the American Dream is possible...its rare...but possible. My grandparents moved here because this is one of the few places such things are possible.
I won't disagree that many use the concept of the "American Dream" as a way of justifying the type of behavior you are talking about....that doesn't make it the American Dream nor does it make it right.
Wyndhy -
I agree and thankfully the only way I was able to trade in my SUV was that my oldest two are finally out of car seats and my youngest is in a booster. And not sure what I will do when they get a bit bigger!! They are growing so fast!! (Don't get me started on food costs or anything else!)