Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[MJ DeMarco]

Like to post something but it doesn't need its own thread?

This thread is for you!

Thought I'd create a random thoughts and chit-chat thread for anyone who'd like to post something, but it doesn't need it's own thread.

For example, I just learned today that an idea I had years ago for an airport valet service is now reality. Not only is it reality, but it is growing and grabbing funding.

The service is EXACTLY as I envisioned it would be.

OAK and LAX Long-Term Airport Parking : Never Park Again

Darn it!

The old, "Damn, I had that idea!!" strikes again!

That said, I might invest as they are taking accredited investor money.

 

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[Chris25]

For example, I just learned today that an idea I had years ago for an airport valet service is now reality. Not only is it reality, but it is growing and grabbing funding.

The service is EXACTLY as I envisioned it would be.

I was reading a book about this topic a while ago by Elizabeth Gilbert. She describes how ideas are an energetic life-form looking for a human partner. If it thinks that you can do the job, it will pay you a visit. But, if it notices that you won't collaborate to the execution, it will find someone else. It will not wait for you forever.

Now I know that this is magical realism, but it always stuck with me in a way to remind me that if I don't take action, someone else will.

 

[Timmy C]

Random thoughts and rant on how the script has a massive hold on society.

Was at a party last week for grand final day, if your not from Australia you won't get it.

Was speaking to one of my lady friends about investing business etc, we got talking she asked if I read the barefoot investor.

I said is it another ETF circle jerk?

She said no its about a guy who was broke in his 30s and turned it around. I said did he turn it around from writing the book?

She said oh I think he made a bit from the book but Yada Yada.

I started to speak about fastlane ideas indirectly, about having a product or service people want and need making it run separate of my time eventually so I am no longer a slave like everyone else

She says well you'll need to go get a business degree for that and basically told me it wasn't possible....

I left it there and just said yeh I could tell she was just so defeated alive but not living.

The script has a great hold so glad I've taken the red pill.

 

[Fox]

Okay so this will probably ruffle someone's feathers but I'm curious... Why keep struggling like that?

Good question.

It is a combination of a lot of stuff so I'll list them off.

1) I am not in a high-risk group.

I am in good shape, I don't drink or smoke, I train every day, and I am in my early 30s.
My health has always been really important to me.

So right of the gate - I just don't see much need at all.

2) I don't even see it as effective.

If it was 100% effective then maybe my first point wouldn't matter because "I would be doing my part".
But from what I have seen through the effectiveness is not that good and is getting worse all the time.

What was a solid promise of "one dose" is now up to 4 doses in some places. It feels like if I get on the train there is no telling where it stops - in 2025 would they be suggesting monthly doses?

Plus even if I did get it I don't see any data to suggest that I still won't spread it anyway, no matter how many shots I have.

3) I don't see it as risk-free

So even with points #1 and #2, I would still have considered it IF there were no serious side effects.
Again - I would try my best to do my part if it can help others... but only if it doesn't damage me.

I don't see that as the case though - from what I can tell it does come with serious risks.

- I have a close friend who got one dose and still isn't 100%. For months he was super ill.
- I see a lot of social media posts that are suppressed about serious negative side effects to get vac
- The news can't be trusted to report things as they are (more on that later)
- I see there has been a massive uptick in heart-related conditions.

The bottom line is it isn't risk-free, it is hard to get factual info, and I would basically have to roll the dice on my health.

4) Nothing else has been addressed

Let's say I still consider all of the above and felt like "hey - I will still do it to help society"

But what about:
- no government promotion of healthy living or lifestyle choices
- no effort to reduce obesity
- no promotion of things like zinc or Vit D
- no focus on getting people to work out more or be more active
- also add in making people wear masks and stay at home which only makes it more likely people get sick

It is very hard to roll the dice on my life "to help out" when I don't see any of the many obvious other factors being tackled at all. It's not like the vac is the one and only solution to help fix this issue.

If they will go to such extreme measurements to get people vac'd why not also come down hard on the Fastfood industry or have free gym membership/health classes for people at risk etc?

No government has made any effort to help people make real lifestyle changes and/or improve their health.
This could have been a moment to really teach people about health and get everyone fit, active and eating well.

Instead, the approach has been to lock everything down and focus on insane rules and hoping Big Pharm bails us all out. I just can't get behind this mindset/approach - why do my part when the whole approach is BS?

5) No politician takes this serious in private

This adds to the last point but it's worth mentioning separately.

So many politicians have shown that once the cameras are off they don't care less about this nor see it as dangerous.

We have politicians partying on sweaty dance floors, going to and hosting huge events, having huge weddings, travelling all over, laughing it up etc.

But the second the cameras are back on they have their mask on telling you how you need to stay home, make huge sacrifices, and that kids have to wear masks for 8 hours straight at school after being isolated for a year.




6) I like having the right to control my own body

"Section 10(2) of the Human Rights Act specifically prohibits involuntary medical or scientific
experimentation – a prohibition which stems from Nazi experimentation in the Second World War, but
remains relevant today.

However, the protection is broader than medical or scientific experimentation. Section 10(2) provides that
no medical treatment can be administered on a person without that person’s free and informed consent."

I guess everyone has to draw a line where enough is enough. Keeping my basic human rights is mine.

Look at taxes, personal privacy, the right to express your own opinions freely etc. All of these (and a lot more) are only heading in one direction - more rules, restrictions and government interference.

Now what's up for play is the government to decide what experimental drugs get to go in your body several times a year.

F that.

At what point do you decide "nah I am not going with this?"

- When you are on dose number 9?
- When your non-vac neighbours can't make a living or travel freely? (pretty much there already)
- When the government decides in 2024 that the next big crisis also requires some new drug so now you got to get that also?


I see this as one big "boiling the frog" experiment.

Right now we are at:
"These people can't pump gas" (Slovenia)
"These other people can't leave the house" (Austria)
"These people have to go to a government camp" (Australia)
"These people can't leave the country" (Canada).

We also have many places requiring your papers or a QR code so they can track everything.

This is 2 years into this with no science to back up any of these crazy rules.

To me it seems like the water is close to boiling but I guess everyone has to decide for themselves.

"I'm just wondering if it's really worth wasting your life like that when the solution is so easy and fast."

The only thing that seems easy is giving up my basic rights.

Gibraltar is one example of many where easy wasn't really that easy.



99.9% Vac yet...


"Health Minister, the Hon Samantha Sacramento, described the increase in case numbers as "drastic", encouraging people to come forward to receive their booster vaccine.

The government has advised members of the public to wear masks, avoid large gatherings and maintain social distancing.

The vaxxination programme for 12 to 15-year-olds and the booster vaxxination programme are now underway, and Gibraltar received 4680 more doses this week.

Everyone who is eligible for a vaccine or a booster is strongly encouraged to take up the offer when they are called."

---

To me "easy" is the carrot to get me to sign over another basic human right I won't ever be getting back.

Look I don't judge anyone who has gotten this shot. For a lot of people, it was the right move.

But I am pro-freedom.

No government has the right to force this on you - that is a freedom we all enjoy because millions of people paid for it with their lives.

I just don't plan on giving that up - no matter how hard it gets.

 

[Mike Partee]

In February, I told the GF "You keep talking about XYZ biz you want to start, when are you actually going to do something about it?!" and boom, a month later a new biz is born.

After being out of the entrepreneur game for a couple years, It's been a lot of fun coaching from the sidelines and seeing this slowly blossom. Of all things, doing freaking picnics for couples has turned into a great business for us...and it continues to pick up steam.

Ladies of the forum: Enjoy. Start one in your area!

 

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[theag]

 

[Kak]

Our baby's gender reveal yesterday!
View attachment signal-2020-11-08-160015.mp4

The Gun: Blaser .338 Lapua Magnum
The Marksman: Your's Truly
The Shot: 250 Yards to a 3 inch circle
The Target: 2lbs of Tannerite shaped charge through a 5 Pound bag of colored chalk powder

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Meta launches new features for Facebook Groups to improve communication between members, strengthen communities, and give admins more ways to customize the look and feel.

In addition, the company shares its vision for the future of communities on Facebook, which brings features from Groups and Pages together in one place.

Here’s an overview of everything that was announced at the recent Facebook Communities Summit.

LOL, give me a FN break.

When FB pages came out years ago, I worked my butt off and grew the page to 150K subscribers only to have FB change the rules so the group is now worthless. I post there and it is shown to 50 people.

f*ck FB. f*ck their groups. And f*ck whatever they do, as they will only change the rules to force you into paying. And if your content doesn't meet their Ministry of Truth's guidelines, you'll be censored to.

Not buying it. f*ck FB, I won't waste my time building ANYTHING there.

Fool me once...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Been thinking about hiring a house cleaner.

Recently received a direct mail advertisement from a cleaning company.

The ad was effective enough to get me interested to investigate the company, perhaps calling and hiring.

As I wrote in Unscripted , "advertising" more than likely indicates a productocracy doesn't exist and the company NEEDS advertising to survive.

I want to do business with productocracies, not marketers.

In my investigation at Yelp and other places, this company pretty much had the worst online reviews of all the cleaning companies.

As I wrote in Unscripted and explored via the productocracy concept, if your company can't survive without advertising, you're running a marketing company.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Facebook and Instagram have been down for a bit ... and I can almost feel the world is already a better place.

 

[MTF]

Quality of life in the Bay Area is turning to sh*t. Literally.

• If you walk around the financial district it is not uncommon to see someone shooting needles and pooping on the sidewalk. Every time I go for a walk it's pretty much guaranteed that I will see human poop on the ground. San Francisco's Sidewalk Poop Crisis, Explained - CityLab
• Due to the lack of cleanliness, there is a growing epidemic of a flesh eating bacteria that acts like a staph infection on steroids
• Tech money is pouring in and causing a price war for real estate, causing the cost of living to skyrocket. A middle class home 2 blocks away from me was bought for $2.8M cash and they completely gutted out the interior because it hasn't been updated since the 1970's.
• An overwhelming majority of homes in SF are renting out their garage for multiple people to live in
• Homeless people are on every intersection begging for handouts
• traffic has gone nuts(bumper to bumper traffic from 7am-10am, to give you an idea)

If you live in the Bay Area then it's probably in your best interest to leave unless you work in tech or have your own business here.

I'm now traveling in the US and it's my first time here. I've been to Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah (just the Monument Valley and surroundings so just a tiny tiny portion of the state) and now Hawaii.

My observation - and I hope that nobody from the US will get mad at me lol - is that quality of life in the mainland US (I'm only talking about the places I visited, and I'm not sure about Hawaii yet as I just got here) seems to be lower than in Europe and many other countries I've visited. I thought that people saying that were exaggerating but now I tend to agree.

Obviously, this is just a very surface observation of a traveler, not a person living here. The US is huge and I'm sure there are many awesome places to live there. Based on where I've been, here are a few outsider observations about the local quality of life:

• Homeless people (or people who appear to be homeless) and beggars are very visible. I don't think I've ever seen that many homeless people in other countries except for some poor countries like Morocco.
  
• I find it much harder to be healthy here (again, I'm referring to the mainland US, as Hawaii seems to be much better in this aspect). Almost all of the restaurants serve fast food, there's a lot of unhealthy stuff added to even the most basic products (I don't think I've ever seen stuff as weird as blueberry-flavored almonds), and unless it's Whole Foods (which is super expensive), in a supermarket you have a much, much bigger selection of junk food than healthy stuff (I can't believe how many flavors of Oreos, M&Ms, etc. people actually need).
• Never before I've seen so many morbidly obese or otherwise unhealthy-looking people. Then again, when you see people having breakfast at 8 am in McDonald's, it's pretty clear why that's the case.
• Again, just my perception limited to just a few places I've been too: it seems to me that food here (and this ties directly to the quality of life) is not that much about quality - it's more about gorging on as much sugary/greasy/etc. stuff as possible than actually enjoying it. The Mediterranean countries (which I often visit) are the opposite. There's more emphasis on food quality, the cuisine is so much healthier, you're supposed to eat slowly and enjoy it.
  
• The cities are not walkable (though still much better than in the Middle East). I find it super weird that there's not a single shop, restaurant, or anything like that for miles - just homes. I thought that it was an exaggeration that you absolutely need a car in the US but now I see why.
• The infrastructure is very dated. Some gas stations look like they're abandoned or not renovated in decades (and man I hate the pre-paid system), my debit card is sometimes not working at all (this has never happened to me anywhere else in the world, including some very exotic places), I have very bad reception on my phone and mobile Internet is slow even in a big city. But maybe T-Mobile in the US is just shit.
  
• The obsession with the military is disconcerting. But that's a sensitive topic so let's leave it at that.
• Just a random observation: not sure if it's only Delta Airlines, but I was shocked that all the flight attendants were 50-60+, and some of them were obese. I've never seen anything like this on any other airline. Flight attendants are supposed to be fit and healthy to be able to help passengers.

On the plus side, the people are very nice, laid-back, and friendly (except for the Border Patrol), it's very easy to drive (love the wide streets and roads), the wide open spaces are incredible (it's crazy that there are so many national parks and monuments here), and the diversity is very cool. I still enjoyed my stay in the US and felt comfortable in most places, but I don't think I'd like to live there (or to be more specific - live in the places that I visited).

And again - I might have had bad luck or maybe I went to the wrong places. Anyway, it's my impression after my first visit, so it might still change if I go back or see other places.

I guess that it could be a good idea for a thread: which places in the world offer the best quality of life and why, so if anyone's interested, I can start it as I really like talking about this topic.

 

[windchaser]

Based on true events:

Meanwhile in social media:

“I quit my job to start a new business”
10 likes
3 comments: Good luck!

“I will be joining [huge corporation X] next week”
200 likes
100 comments: Congrats!!

“My company just raised a $1M round at a $20M valuation”
50 likes
5 comments: Congrats! Great job!
30 comments: With a rich daddy and connections anyone could do it

“I got admitted at Harvard”
300 likes
120 comments: Congrats!!/ You are a rockstar!/ Well done!


Meanwhile at the bank:

- I would like to borrow $20k to start my new business
- Ok, I will need a detailed business plan including sales forecasts for the next 3 years, then we will see what we can do depending on the guarantees you provide.


- I would like a student loan for $200k to attend Harvard
- Congratulations! I will need the admissions offer.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

More like a crossroads.

I shall re-iterate... there are (3) groups here.

This forum has three distinct groups.

1. I have no money and don't know where to start <-- freelancing, hustles, "thousandaire fastlane" might appeal to them.
2. I have a small business that I'd like to make Fastlane, but aren't interested in employing 50 people and being the next Jeff Bezos. I just want to be FREE. I don't need no Lambo!
3. I have a business and would like to blow it up huge. Perhaps, become the next 9 figure millionaire, or better, billionaire. I'm starting a global enterprise.

Groups 1 and 2 are probably the dominant group, namely because, my message is for new entrepreneurs. Asking someone with ZERO money and ZERO business experience (or even corporate management experience) to start a $25M business with no experience is a bit of a reach.

These people need to be guided in, kinda like you needed guiding 8 years ago when your first jump at business was designing websites. Perhaps the forum can be re-categorized for each group -- hence, segregating the topics based on everyone's personal vision of "Fastlane". I for one, have no interest in freelancing or side hustles, but I think that content is awesome here because it gets people into their first baby steps.

Fastlane, as well as CENTS, is always up to interpretation for each reader and what they want for the life. I try to respect that ... not everyone wants the Lambos -- and I imagine right now in the world, a lot of people would just take financial freedom in a shed, far away from the current insanity.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Spent Friday afternoon with @AllenCrawley trolling the desert.

Afterward, Allen echoed how cool it was to spend the day in the desert (to him "business was closed") but his business still made money, because it's truly open 24/7/365.

Fastlane baby!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Per request, the reaction panel now has a "THANK YOU" (the clapping hands emoji).

 

[Deleted78083]

Ok, just want to say I was published on Medium by a big publication : D

As a non-native English speaker that used to be the worst student in the class, I must say, for once, that I'm proud of myself.

The forum played a huge part in that since it taught me that to be successful, one needs to provide what others deem valuable.

So, thank you FLF!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Think I deleted ten meditation affiliate marketing spammers today.

To which one had the balls to email me a kind "f-you" -- I can only laugh... looks like that meditation is working great for your attitude!

 

[Matt Sun]

I oficially live in the poorest city of Argentina. Since 1 year ago, Hadn't been able to move cause of covid. Yet, some days ago I woke up to a whole sale order of my product, $310 of profit before my eyes where open. 3 times the minimum wage, $310 is something 53% of my city residents (more than half a million people) don't make in a whole month.
I just feel so grateful to MJ for his books and for being a life changer and greateful to all the cool helpful people on this forum. Who knows where would I be otherwise. Very probably much worst. Thank you all !

 

[Mike Partee]

 

[Kak]

 

[Vigilante]

As you know, I've not sold and am not interested in selling anyone anything. But I can tell you, you see an absence of the "old school" here and that could include you, AG, and a host of old school contributors that tend to ebb and flow, but eventually drift off.

I’m sorry I asked you all to listen to my new radio venture that some of you asked me to resurrect. I can see now how inappropriate that was to tell you about what I was working on.

The commonality there is the ROI of time ends up not being worth it. Not talking at all from a monetary aspect, but from a return on investment of time aspect.

Andy feeds off of helping people. When people use that to SHIT on him, you saw him drift away and we pulled him back.

Kyle? Makes almost zero coaching people. The only reason to charge ANYTHING is because they have skin in the game. If anyone out there in cyber space thinks ANY of Kyle's interactions with the forum have a profit motive, you would have no idea what you are talking about (unless your business is in selling rare liquid manufacturing chemicals, in which case he's be interested)

MJ? The amount of cash MJ makes selling ads here probably pays enough to pay his hosting fees. I am sure he makes some money on the insider memberships, but that's because we ALL ASKED HIM TO DO IT and the cost of that is probably 5% of what an EO membership costs (and heck, maybe because it's worth less than an EO membership) but that's beside the point.

People begrudge Lex for sponsoring the site and paying for an ad? Lets kick Lex off. Then nobody pays for an ad. Is it OK if Kenric has a class, but not Mike Partee? We want to now pick who advertises? Lex, a guy that was HOMELESS? Kung Fu Steve, a guy that was HOMELESS and now is a nationally sponsored motivational speaker? Let's make an approved list, and give it to MJ.

There's a new generation here that has their hand out, not looking for a hand up. And I can say that, because I have never asked nor taken a single dollar from the forum. If people don't want people like Kyle to share the details of his excitement and learning while he transparently builds a podcast, for free, from scratch... I guess there's a whole generation of people that will drift away or get pushed away because their sharing has to fit a "mold."

The Karens here got their panties all in a wad at me on ideological lines, for which I personally care zero. I am actually amused by it, but it has served MJ a disservice by feeding an undercurrent. I've never been interested in a popularity contest, but you can say all kinds of negative shit about me and I am supposed to just take it or else I am an elitist. This place was always an OASIS from the rest of the f*cking crazy on the internet, and in 2020 it has BECOME the rest of the internet.

Let's set the new rules, so people understand them :
1. no progress threads that highlight for-profit businesses. 501(c)(3) discussions are OK.
2. no advertisements. This is a community, not a business. If we wanted to financially support something, there's PLENTY of other places to do that. This place was intended to run at a loss.
3. no offering to monetize your experience even if people want to buy it. Unless, you're on the list of people that can.
4. no self promotion, which includes no talking about any outside ventures, even in an illustrative way
5. no self aggrandizement, but self depreciation is appreciated. No talking about past successes because that is kind of braggy and those without success might not feel welcome.
6. mods can't sell anything (LOL)

Add to the list anything that I have missed.

I have some commitments to MJ that I intend to keep (and they're not monetary, Karens). But when I wrap those up, hopefully the 10,000 posts that I have written will become part of the searchable history of this great institution, and hopefully MJ gives enough of a shit to pay the bills and play to the crowd long enough for the next wave of hopefuls to arrive.

Some of the posters that have taken up swords in the name of PC have traditionally been the people that I most looked forward to reading, and as such there's not much of a reason to continue to invest here. The inmates can run the asylum until MJ decides he's had enough. For me, it's not worth opening the forum on an almost daily basis now to see someone taking shots at me and people I care about simply because they want to get off on it. I don't need it. Most of us don't. Somehow it morphed from a place to exchange ideas into a place to trade barbs and try and tear things down. People empowered by a statue being torn down in a park want to extend that crowd hysteria towards cyber bullyism and keyboard jockeys now get their covid-inspired claustrophibia out by tearing other people down. I'm not interested.

I offer no defense for what I have contributed here. This thread will die a slow painful death, but many of the things we have all added here over the years will be discoverable to those who come behind us as long as someone keeps the lights on. That was all it was ever about.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

ow being a web designer, copywriter, and other freelancing activities is actively promoted here. A lot of the forum content changed from building a millionaire business fastlane to a thousandaire freelancing fastlane. I remember years ago this "thousandaire fastlane" stuff was kind of a running gag around here.

Sounds like you are reading your own press clippings, worshiping your reflection in the mirror.

This forum has three distinct groups.

1. I have no money and don't know where to start <-- freelancing, hustles, "thousandaire fastlane" might appeal to them.
2. I have a small business that I'd like to make Fastlane, but aren't interested in employing 50 people and being the next Jeff Bezos. I just want to be FREE. I don't need no Lambo!
3. I have a business and would like to blow it up huge. Perhaps, become the next 9 figure millionaire, or better, billionaire. I'm starting a global enterprise.

You have an issue with 1 and 2 when the fact is, most people arrive here at #1, and most people want #2. Hell, I fall into #2.

But you're sad that you're commingling with the lowly 1s and 2s.

Many of the coaching gigs are for these two subgroups, #1 and #2 ... I'd say Kak's thing is for 2, mostly 3.

I got my start as a web designer, a program that Fox is offering -- so it fits as a start for someone with no experience. I also know, having been here for over a decade, that getting started is the hardest.

Your concerns are noted, in summary: All of us should work for free and the expectation of any kind of return, even after making 10,000 posts, is bad for the forum. That's why I spent $5K on another forum. And if you're not working to build the next billion dollar unicorn and a front page spread on TechCrunch, then everything else is noise, damn those plebs struggling to make their first buck.

 

[Mike Partee]

Thanks God for all the crazy shit that's been going on for the past 1.5 years as a painful, unforgettable reminder that being ignorant of world events is actually optimal.

Look around you; It's easier than ever to win, so long as you stay focused.

Seriously, How many people can you say are truly, 100% focused, as of late?

You should NEVER be a customer of any media outlet, even if you agree with it.

Can't have newsy shit running around in your head if you're going to perform.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

But I already got my social security number!!
They didn't ask me!!!


LOLZZLZLZLZLZZ!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1287446980298518529

View: https://twitter.com/DisrnNews/status/1287446980298518529

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Happiness is just finding out there are the NBA playoffs happening, and not knowing about it, not caring about it, and not giving one absolute f*ck. When did that start up again?

Then after learning that, finding out the MLB season started too. Ha Ha, not one f*ck given.

And now, the NFL has resumed.

Again, ZERO f*cks given.

I'm done with sports -- for me, CV19 just proved how "non-essential" professional sports are. Sports was already on the outs for me, but the last 6 months has been the nail in the coffin.

BTW, I heartily recommend a media detox so you no longer have to participate in whatever bullshit the media wants you to be outraged about next -- cultural ignorance is bliss. I can only speculate what people are talking about here and elsewhere because generally, I have no clue. I'm entering my 2nd month of this abstinence and I couldn't be happier.

Highly recommended!

 

[Mike Partee]

 

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[Thoelt53]

This is true as well.

I do often envy the guys pulling down big dollar amounts with just a dream and a laptop.

Haven't met anyone like that in real life, but very cool and very desirable.

(I have, however, met lots of these old school millionaires, easily verifying how damn rich they are too just by looking at county records)

I know of a guy who owned an $8M castle (literally a castle) on the ocean not far from me.

He produced plastics, resins, etc. with almost 100 employees.

I believe his wife still lives there, but he sadly passed away Christmas of last year. It wasn’t tragic, he was quite elderly. I wish I had got to meet him.

His business, I imagine, was “boring” AF.

His legacy will speak for himself.

 

[Kak]

 

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[Rabby]

People in the US need to hear this. We're selling ourselves out on a massive scale. All the political rhetoric lately about "we have to bust billionaires to pay for our program that has no cost" is a horrible sham. If you can't see it after reading below, your brain is already microwaved and I can't help you. Let me explain.

First it was the $600 bank account inspections. Basically, every tiny bank account in America will be reported continuously to the IRS. Doesn't matter if they change the amount to $10,000... it affects anyone with a bank account, even a part timer. Does that sound like it targets billionaires? No, because their wealth is sheltered all over the world, and certainly not in tiny bank accounts. It is surveillance, and it's leading in the direction of confiscating wealth from the middle class. Will inspecting all these tiny bank accounts increase revenue so we can "build back better"? No, because they have to DOUBLE the size of the IRS to do it. Double! Does that sound like profitable banditry?

Now it's "we're going to tax UNREALIZED capital gains," and thereby "target billionaires." Really? So let's examine what that means. Unrealized means you haven't sold the asset, so you don't have any money from it yet. But they're going to tax you for it. I suppose then you'll be forced to sell the asset to pay the taxes won't you? Do you figure some billionaires might help you out by buying it at firesale prices? I bet some of them would love to help you.

Ok, but what's an example of an unrealized capital gain? Well, your house, your retirement plan, your small business, interest on life insurance, employee options plans, stocks held in an investment account... huh... it sounds like things non-billionaires have, doesn't it?

I bet someone is thinking, "but they'll exempt people's houses!" What if they do? Will they exempt small businesses? Stock portfolios? Baseball cards? Even if they exempted most things, they're still expanding a terrible, draconic precedent. They're asserting "we can tax you on something you don't even have. We can make you sell an asset to cash out our taxes." Think that won't be expanded? Have fun in the coming dark ages if you're that naive.

What about those billionaires?! It will get them too right? Well very likely not, because they have sophisticated tax shelters, and can do their accounting in such a way that their assets never appear to grow in value. They can hire a legion of CPAs and people with PhDs in finance and JDs in Taxation Law. Plus, they have money stashed all over the world, let's be clear about that.

Please note: there are a few more than 600 billionaires in the country. It would be easy to target them if that's what anyone was trying to do. If they said "this only applies to people with over 1 billion in assets" nobody else would be affected. But that's not the plan.

All this is is a cash grab backed up by unprecedented surveillance of individual wealth, targeting the middle class. Just like all the income tax talks, it has nothing to do with billionaires (as if billionaires care about income tax... what #^#@ income?). This time, they've got their eye on the whole bag. If we're stupid enough to let this go because "it targets evil billionaires reee," I think we're done. Seriously, this is the item on the checklist that you know once you mark the box, we're going full Venezuela. And I mean fast.

Politicians, government bureaus, and academics live off of taxes. What they don't eat or spend on their projects, they lend to Fortune 100s and billionaires, or use to guarantee loans for the same. Even the Justice Dept is jumping in, talking about redlining. How does the government lend billionaires billions, and then not understand the mystery that a lot of their loans don't go to people in poor minority neighborhoods? Obviously, they know who they lent the money to, but sure let's investigate the "mystery." Stop falling for this ridiculous diversion!

They're never going to target billionaires, and they see you as a source of revenue. And it's no wonder they don't respect people's intelligence and humanity enough to see them as peers, because all they have to do is say "rich folks" or push any of a number of emotional buttons, and an army of mindless shills jumps in to defend the very people who take food out of their children's mouths, and attack anyone who asks questions.

Take a minute and think about it.

 

[Fox]

No more "sad" posts from me.

Back to getting things done and smashing big goals.

Life goes on and 1000s of years of people have had it a million times harder.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"