White people have 13 dollars for every dollar held by black Americans

[PPeterson]

I might get flamed for this but I work with a lot of black people. Most of them view money as something that you just spend. If you have some left over, you spend it. So many of the females at work are single and yet have children, many form different fathers. One girl who I worked with (she has since quit) is 22 years old, unmarried, has 2 children and was living with her boyfriend and his children. She had to miss work one day because she had someone coming to asses her situation so that she could get on section 8 (she did; she get’s a $800 voucher every month now to pay her rent). A couple of weeks later she was all excited because she found out that she could put a yorkie dog on layaway at the pet store. Only $360 down and another $360 in two weeks. So, she is going to spend $720 on a dog while the government is paying her rent.

Another one I work with has $12,000 in credit card debt and just bought a huge quad-cab truck (she wrecked the Hummer H3 that she had). An older black man who works with us was trying to tell her that its good to save so that when you need money, you have it. Her response was “that’s what credit cards are for.”

There is another one who only works part time and no more than a certain amount of hours because if she does, it will impact her welfare payments. She does not have a car, rides the bus and lives in the ghetto but as long as she has her beer, cigarettes and a movie to watch, she is content.

I could go on but I think you get the picture. It is most true that before Johnson’s Great Society, married black people were on track to do as well as married white people. Now, it is more financially beneficial to live loose and free so that the government can subsidize you for life. Mitt Romney was absolutely right; the 47% of people who are being subsidized by the government will never vote republican because they don’t want to see their free ride come to an end. The democratic party has been a disaster for black Americans.

Interesting. I’ve been around a lot of white people and some of them get really defensive when race is brought up, deny that it’s true that black people are worse off than whites, then without conceding that it’s true say that it is caused by black people’s behavior and has nothing to do with discrimination, claim to not really be white anyway, then start ranting about big government, bring up Obama, mention the ACA, throw out the words communism and socialism, criticize the Bishops, then tell some nasty stories about black people they’ve met.

I wouldn’t argue that most white people are like this though.

Also: lol at the social security threads where the one person who needs SSDI is the lone voice realizing that it’s not totally a bad thing.

 

[Yeoman]

the irish assimilated nicely in less than a hundred years after initial persecution. i think it’s more about how people look (physical appearance) that causes segregation and injustice.

In actuality, it took about a century for the Irish to assimilate. It also took an entire series of wars. The Irish were so heavily persecuted in the service during the Mexican War that the Mexican government actively recruited them to desert and enough did to form a battalion in the Mexican army. Following the war, the Army took steps to address discrimination in the army against them, but it took the Civil War to really make the U.S. Army a home for the Irish in the U.S. Discrimination in civilian life continued on, however, and well into the 20th Century.

World War Two finally really ended it, as a byproduct of the war, the G.I. Bill, caused a large number of regular Catholics to be able to attend university for the very first time, and the full employment of the war, combined with the huge rise in education following it, brought about the end of the Catholic Ghetto. There’s lessons in all of that for what faces African Americans.

 

[Yeoman]

My husband and I are lower class, economically speaking. We opted for me to be a SAHM to raise our two daughters instead of having the huge house, the nicer cars, and a bigger bank account. Now that my husband is retired, we are living on his pension. Our house isn’t much, but it is all paid for. Both of our cars are 20 years old but they still run. We shop for a lot of our clothes at thrift stores.

I don’t care about being rich in money and possessions. I care about being rich in God’s grace.

According to a recent article I read by Froma Harrop, what you are describing is becoming increasingly common in the western world. Some fairly significant statistical minority describe themselves as post materialistic now, and are opting for jobs with less pay but more time if they allow them to live a lifestyle they’d prefer, without the stress of careerism.

I don’t know that this trend is real, but I hope it is.

 

[TEPO]

God established our government for our benefit. as catholics, we’re to obey and honor our leaders. sure, we can disagree, no problem.

Did God establish the Islamic State too…? Aka: ISIS…

 

[Ridgerunner]

In actuality, it took about a century for the Irish to assimilate. It also took an entire series of wars. The Irish were so heavily persecuted in the service during the Mexican War that the Mexican government actively recruited them to desert and enough did to form a battalion in the Mexican army. Following the war, the Army took steps to address discrimination in the army against them, but it took the Civil War to really make the U.S. Army a home for the Irish in the U.S. Discrimination in civilian life continued on, however, and well into the 20th Century.

World War Two finally really ended it, as a byproduct of the war, the G.I. Bill, caused a large number of regular Catholics to be able to attend university for the very first time, and the full employment of the war, combined with the huge rise in education following it, brought about the end of the Catholic Ghetto. There’s lessons in all of that for what faces African Americans.

For some Irish it didn’t take a century. If one was, e.g., from the Pale and had been English-speaking for generations, and especially if one had a Norman-Irish name or one that sounded vaguely more Scottish than irish, and particularly if one headed west, it didn’t take any century to assimilate.

But having said that, I recognize that it was much more difficult for others. If, say, you didn’t have a way to get out of the slums of NYC and go claim free land in the Cherokee Strip, your conditions didn’t improve dramatically. If you could, they did. One interesting thing is to notice how Irish populations exploded in railroad towns going west. Yes, they worked on the railroads in very physical jobs, but they also started trades in those places when they could.

Some of this categorization can give curious results depending on how one does it. For example, Nigerian blacks do better here than native born blacks. Catholics do better than most protestants except Anglicans. Jews do better than Catholics but are still eclipsed by Anglicans. Mexicans do better than Central Americans. Cubans do better than Mexicans.

Things like that can change, and might have since the last time I read stats on those things. The very fact that such groups are sufficiently similar within the group to be considered a group, is surprising, and one is always curious as to why.

 

[bisco1]

Did God establish the Islamic State too…? Aka: ISIS…

everything in heaven and on earth is ordained by God our creator.

 

[TEPO]

everything in heaven and on earth is ordained by God our creator.

…Thats what a Hoodoo doctor said in an article i read recently.

“[In] Hoodooism, anythin’ da’ chew do is de plan of God undastan’, God have somepin to do wit evah’ thin’ you do if it’s good or bad, He’s got somepin to do wit it . . . jis what’s fo’ you, you’ll git it.”[8]

The Truth is that God gives free will to do either good or evil. This applies to those in leadership positions just as it does anyone else.

 

[bisco1]

absolutely. He either wills it, or He allows it. and He also can bring good out of evil.

 

[stinkcat_14]

I think a lot of the explanation for this result is more class based than anything else. This is exacerbated by the fact that financial education in this country is beyond horrible. There is no reason why even a below average earner cannot acquire a sizable nest egg over time, but few people understand the power of compound interest, let alone teach it to their children. Our financial system is more open to people of even modest means today, yet a large fraction don’t take part in that system. For example, do companies like Fidelity really even know, let alone care about the color of their clients skin?

 

[Tbrightson]

Money is racist

 

[bisco1]

i’m getting 1% on my cd’s, now that’s the power of compound interest!

 

[stinkcat_14]

i’m getting 1% on my cd’s, now that’s the power of compound interest!

Which illustrates my point about the importance of financial education. CDs are not long term wealth building assets. They are great if you need to park some money for a short period of time.

 

[bisco1]

everything else is rigged for the house.

 

[stinkcat_14]

everything else is rigged for the house.

What do you mean? For example, the Vanguard Total Market fund has averaged about 9.5% per year since it was started 20 years ago. Is that rigged for the house?

 

[bisco1]

they make money on the buy and on the sell. not a bad gig. what will you say if it goes bust tomorrow?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Which illustrates my point about the importance of financial education. CDs are not long term wealth building assets. They are great if you need to park some money for a short period of time.

There have been times within my lifetime when CDs were a very good investment from the standpoint of return. Presently, though, I agree with you. In fact, I’ll go you one further. If one is holding onto cash for whatever reason, whether to hedge against investment debt until the investment pays itself off, or to watch for market dips or good deals of other sorts, or even if one doesn’t trust the economy, there’s still little reason to lock it up in a CD right now. Might as well have it in an interest bearing checking or money market account because it’s more accessible.

 

[stinkcat_14]

they make money on the buy and on the sell. not a bad gig. what will you say if it goes bust tomorrow?

Over the past twenty years, who made more money on the fund, the fundholders or Vanguard?

 

[bisco1]

past performance is no guarantee of future returns, please read the prospectus.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What do you mean? For example, the Vanguard Total Market fund has averaged about 9.5% per year since it was started 20 years ago. Is that rigged for the house?

Sure it is. Everything is “rigged for the house” to some degree. Those in control of some segment of the economy or some commodity or even a money fund structure things to their own advantage to the extent they can. But they still have to share the wealth sufficiently to induce people to deal with them. If they don’t, people leave the deal and the game is over.

So, sure, an investment fund will make money on your money. But it has to at least make you think you will too, to a level satisfactory to you, or you won’t play. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[bisco1]

nothing at all, as long as gwb doesn’t force me to invest. of course, it wouldn’t hurt to level the playing field by keeping government out of wall street. then, let’s see how they do.