College Debt
Monthly payment on college debt
Credit Card Debt
Interest payment on credit card debt
Mortgage Debt
Interest payment on Mortgage Debt
Car Debt
Interest payment on Car Debt
Gasoline purchases (prices rising)
Parking expense (prices rising)
Car insurance (price rises after collision)
Car maintenance (should have bought a Toyota)
Life Insurance
Property Insurance
Health Insurance (rising)
Cell phone monthly payment
Internet, cable TV, and land-line monthly payment
Electric and gas monthly payment (rising)
Grocery bills (prices rising)
Clothes purchases
Things purchases (all made in China)
Beer and wine purchases (increasing amounts)
Entertainment expenses
Vacation expenses
Christmas expenses
Taxes (not enough to cover expense of American Dream)
Engagement ring (must be at least 1 carat)
Engagement ring monthly payment
Wedding expense
Babies expense (and the cycle continues)
Isn’t the American Dream great? Who makes out in this deal? Thank goodness we can toss what little money we have left into the 401K so our Wall Street buddies have some cash to play with at the casino.
Maybe in our next life we can soar freely like the Albatross.
Contemplating The Human Direction 
That is some hilarious shit! The American Nightmare.
One problem: There isn’t going to be a “next life”. It is that very illusion that allows so many people to succumb to and “bear” that nightmare. They imagine they are going to wake up from it and into a “dream come true” . . . . when they die. That is a bad bet at best.
Time to wake up now, shed all that weight, sprout some wings, and launch into the Beautiful Abyss.
Anyone care to join me?
One of the people I listen to on a regular basis is Dave Ramsey. Currently, my wife and I each have college loans, and we have a mortgage. That’s it for our debt. Around here, gas prices are doing their usual fall drop. I had very little money for my wife’s engagement ring, but I paid cash for it (smaller than 1 carat, but very cute). I think our wedding came in at $5000, paid for by her parents and her best friend doing the catering.
To me, the American Dream is not about having stuff, but about having the ability to be comfortable. We generally have managed to avoid new debts, and it makes us happier. We don’t get to eat out as often as we’d like, but we don’t get harassing calls from the credit cards, either.
Contentment is a wonderful thing.
Hello WingedPanther. Thanks for your comment. So you define the American Dream as “the ability to be comfortable” and you say “contentment is a wonderful thing”. Here is my reply:)
“Let us not underestimate the privileges of the mediocre. As one climbs higher, life becomes ever harder; the coldness increases, responsibility increases.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche–
Wow. I’m flabbergasted by this reply . . . yet it also explains so much.
Very apropos quote Tincup. My first response when I saw this very telling confession was: “Right. No way we are going to find our way to the Overman if comfort and contentment are the desiderata. Even less, will we find our way to the Overworld.”
“Contentment is a wonderful thing.” Holy Shit! That strikes me as the modern equivalent of “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here.” It is the sign hung up over this Hell we live in.
Well, at least we know what we are up against. This enemy isn’t some kind of fire-breathing dragon ready to rip our fucking heads off for encroaching on its territory–it’s a self-described “tech-geek” babying itself in a hot tub and suckling on the nipple of being “saved” from the slightest touch of uncomfortable self-overcoming.
My response won’t even be a quote of some else, but my own:
Contentment is for pussies. Grow a cock and some balls, and learn how to overcome yourself. Yes, it will likely “hurt”–but at least you will know that you lived and died a man.
And I see that you seem to have a particular fondness for Nietzsche. I think you are mistaking contentment with stagnation. They are two very different things. Contentment is the simple feeling that life is good, and I’m enjoying it. Stagnation is the failure to change. I am constantly studying and learning. Currently, my reading list includes Java, Lisp, Refactoring, and several other programming books.
Similarly, I’m engaging in discussion/debate with people I know disagree with me. The goal is not to convince you I’m right (though that would be nice), but simply to engage in discussion. Hopefully, the thinking of all involved will be sharpened, and all of use will have a better understanding of why we believe what we believe.
Indeed WingedPanther…hang in there with Dragonstrand…he is tough but means well…I am less tough and may disagree with you but I also mean well. Don’t give up listening to the dark side….you never know…you may indeed involve into a WingedPanther….RRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAR
Just something from another woman who has more wisdom than I on the last comment:
“Why do people say “Grow some balls”? Balls are weak and sensitive! If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding!” -Betty White
I say let’s just grow whatever we individually need to grow to collectively “get it.” Yes, I know, I am dreaming.
Oh, Tincup, I nominated you for a blog award. Details on my page. Just fun but no requirement to participate in what I believe is meant to get more readers to pages we admire/enjoy/engage in.
Many times have thought of just walking out the door with the clothes on my back and my thumb out. Freedom. Is it more or less free to have more or less… I know what I think… off to pare down… yet again… Wonder how many people will fit on the back of an Albatross?
Each of us should be like an Albatross…an Orca…a dolphin…not with less…but with more!!! More “things”, more time, more culture, more intelligence…more…more…more:)
I will check out your blog award…that is very nice…as long as it doesn’t make me popular…famous…or rich…LOL
Well, clearly some women are tougher than some men–suggesting that someone grow a spirit though just doesn’t seem to hit the mark. I suppose if I had been referring to a woman, I would have said grow a vagina. Saying to someone to grow the gentitals that pertain to his or her gender is not automatically a denigration of the genitals of the opposite sex–I guess its a way of saying become what you are: Own it. Perhaps I should said not have said: “Contentment is for pussies”. Tincup, when you get a moment, maybe you could change that to wussies.
She doesn’t understand that balls may be sensitive…but it is what the balls contain that are so powerful…tadpoles and testosterone….and then of course there is always the symbolic sword…or in some cases merely the dagger:)
“Each of us should be like an Albatross…an Orca…a dolphin…not with less…but with more!!! More “things”, more time, more culture, more intelligence…more…more…more:”