Why do we view losing money as "bad" ????

X

I love to read, research, write and learn.

 

@Kate Moloney Ha, I only like 1, 2 & 4 on your list! And having watched someone go through the process of writing a book, I just find it hard to believe anyone would do it without at least hoping that there'd be a paycheck at the end of it all!

 

X

LOL - tell you what, if you decide to write a book, come back and lets have a talk about perception vs reality.

 

@Kate Moloney Write a book?? Nope, never going to happen - I value my sanity too much.

Much happier making money in other ways.

 

'I agree with what most of what you say.
Its the power we give money that is what I want to debunk. '

@Kate Moloney I don't believe it can be debunked in the capitalist society we live in. First you'd have to get rid of capitalism, then you might stand a chance of 'noting giving money power'.

 

@Random Username I can't 'ensure' anything in life. The Fascists might come to power again--or, worse still, the neolibs.

What I can do is attempt to ensure that if the proverbial hits the fan my children and grandchildren have some kind of safety net.

 

@Kate Moloney , you are in good company, the much esteemed British economist Maynard Keynes 'dreamed of something better than the pursuit of money'

In 1930, while the world was still reeling from the impact of the Wall Street crash, John Maynard Keynes published a remarkable essay: in “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” he imagined a world where, as he put it, mankind’s “economic problem” has been solved. By 2030, barring unforeseen wars and given the population did not rise too fast, a combination of technological advance and rising wealth could leave enough for everybody.

This would be quite a big change, he pointed out, because the entire history of humanity has been determined by there not being enough for everyone.

“For the first time since his creation,” Keynes wrote, “man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem – how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well.”

There is something breathtakingly far-sighted about the “grandchildren” essay. At its heart is the proposition that one day:

• capitalism will grow into something else;

• if that happens the cause will probably be technology;

• we will have a major psychological problem adjusting our lifestyles to a situation where money is not important;

• the love of money will come to be seen as a disease;

• economics will become as mundane as dentistry.

Postcapitalism : @BigKahuna , what will it look like? I'm reading a book by Paul Mason on Postcapitalism as i am interested in his views of how automation, robotics, information technology will revolutionise the way work is done.
By 2030, according to the Oxford Martin School, 47 per cent of all US jobs, mainly in retail and services, will be automated. Automation used to mean the replacement of physical labour by machines; now it means the replacement of mental labour by software – and software is just a machine that never wears out and costs nothing to reproduce. Unless whole new industries based on whole new sources of economic demand grow up, the purchasing power of the majority will fall; and ultimately there is only so much money you can print, and only so many asset bubbles you can stimulate, until it comes to a full stop.

The capitalist system depends on people having purchasing power to buy the goods and services companies product, but without jobs and the money it provides, how are people going to purchase the goods and services manufactured and thus keep the stock prices of these companies going up and up?

Governments the world over may have to explore the concept of 'Living Wage'
(I haven't got my head round this concept of living wage yet)

Just wanted to let you know Kate, that there are movements in economics that are trying to grapple with a future where humans can no longer be paid a wage for their labour and services because automation, robotics and artificial intelligence have taken over the jobs humans used to do. e.g Lights-out factories

 

Interesting book @Beanie Girl. imho, capitalism is destined to fail. In fact, it's failing now. The USA, last bastion of free enterprise, is losing ground as the world's superpower. It's a nation in decline.
Capitalism is predicated on having winners and losers. The greedy are lauded. Unregulated markets benefit only those at the top of the totem pole. A miniscule number of people control more and more of the world's wealth. Capitalism creates inequality, which is on the rise. Instead of making life better for the majority, it makes a very few people obscenely wealthy. Those wealthy few are in a position to influence banks, governments, media, and ultimately people. They are able to make or break economies. One only has to look at the Koch brothers or George Soros to see how capitalism has failed the majority. Capitalism is anything but democratic.

 

@Beanie Girl I thought a 'living wage' is a wage that allows you to live--put a roof over your head, buy food and what's necessary to live. Many people in the US (and in developing countries) on minimum pay don't get a 'living wage'.

Capitalism requires people buying. If people have no money, they cannot buy. Perhaps the impetus to give people a 'living wage' is to keep the economy going.

 

Capitalism is undoubtedly failing as a system that makes humans contented, happy and fulfilled.
The financialization of everything and the need to have higher and higher profits with lower and lower costs will ultimately lead to the demise of capitalism and the unique conundrum capitalism faces is well illustrated by this ancedote

“Ford CEO Henry Ford II and United Automobile Workers president Walter Reuther are jointly touring a modern auto plant. Ford jokingly jabs at Reuther: “Walter, how are you going to get these robots to pay UAW dues?” Not missing a beat, Reuther responds: “Henry, how are you going to get them to buy your cars?”
― Erik Brynjolfsson, Race Against The Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but having just read the whole 14 pages, I can't say that I've learned a thing besides that some forum threads should have a "click bait" warning.

You'll have to wait for the book.

 

Why you need to avoid life coaches and their pretentious bull***t

Naive message for young adults everywhere

Drop out of college because billionaires out there did the same. Aim to change the world with your passion. Love life to the fullest. Money is not important etc etc.

http://alden-tan.com/think-life-coaches-nothing-pretentious-********/

 

I have not entirely read up on 'The Living Wage' but gists of the concept goes like this:
Germany and other countries make a lot of money on patents
In future, according the Erki Brynjofsson's "Race Against the Machine", companies will need very little human input into the production of good and services which are carried out by robotics, technology artificial intelligence etc . But these companies still need people to buy/consume their products

An argument has been advanced to get companies that own patents and are receiving a lot of monies for their patents and all these 'Lights-out Factories' (in all its myraid forms) to pay the Govt taxes so that the Govt can in turn give its citizens a Living wage as well as give its citizens "monetary credits" for doing things that private sector will never pay but have social 'good' or 'benefit'. e.g. bringing a group of senior citizens in your neighbourhood to the park to get much needed exercise. All the things that get ignored because everybody has to go to work full-time can get done - 'playing chess to alleviate the loneliness of an elderly person in an old folks home". "Helping people rebuild homes that got damaged by fire or flood". "Policing beaches to look out for people in difficulty". Home help, shopping assistance for those debilitated by illnesses". People can use these monetary credits or their Living wage to buy the products of these "Lights out Factories". Since people's work has been taken over by the machines, robotics and intelligence, people are freed up to perform work that centres around 'other humans'
It's putting people back into the 'centre' of things again and not putting the almighty 'dollar' at the centre of things.

That is just the basic gist of what I understand the economists have advanced in terms of arguments of how to fix our broken economic system based on the 'dollar' being the centre of our existence.

I'm trying to link all the above as a possible solution to Kate's question which is 'can we do things that are meaningful, fulfilling and lights us up and still be fairly remunerated for it?'

 

I somehow doubt it will contain the answers I seek, or anything of substance for that matter.

I've asked a couple straight forward and serious questions but they were avoided, surprisingly....

 

Kate, I'm not familiar with the exact details of your story. How did you manage to accumulate the property so quickly?

I have read that your portfolio decreased by 4 mil. Have you sold the properties?

How do you plan to recover financially from this experience?

 

A vomit warning I think and ffs we have people attacking capitalism on a property investment forum, if that's really how one thinks why on earth are they even here.

 

It's funny that some people on this forum get their knickers in a knot over discussion about the 'obscenely wealthy', as though it's a personal attack on them. Reminder to THX: you are not one of them. Relax. Turn to another thread if social conscience issues offend you.

@Beanie Girl You may enjoy this Ted talk by French economist Thomas Picketty. You have to get used to his French accent. He talks about the concentration of wealth in only a few individuals under capitalism. Thomas Piketty: New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century | TED Talk | TED.com

 

I don't view any person whether it is Bill Gates or you as obscenely wealthy because I don't view wealth as obscene. Strange you do and if you cared about social issues, you would know capitalism have lifted more people out of poverty than any other system in the entire history of the world.

 

This is a crappy and boring blog post to convince others that a life coaches are crapy and boring.

While I don't like that type of sensationalist style defamatory writing, life coaching is not for me either.

Nothing beats getting off your backside and just getting things done.

There is no substitute for hard work.

 

You don't need a vomit warning - there is an ignore function and you have been equipped (hopefully) with free will.