The Free Market & You

 

   I have a great interest in Hong Kong.  Their people are the #1 readers of this blog, with the US in a close 2^nd.  Singapore is in 3^rd position.  The low life that was our 45^th president says that there are great benefits to being a star.  The statistics show that if there were a thousand people in my front yard in Hong Kong, one of them would have read my blog, while in America it would require a million folks in the front yard for there to be two reads.  This, for me, would be a reason to consider moving there.  So naturally, I researched real estate values in Hong Kong.  A 1500 square foot townhouse sells for three to five million dollars there.  This effectively removes the top middle income folks and those below them to obtain reasonable housing.  I do not consider 3 bedrooms … 3 families reasonable.  In Hong Kong a recent college graduate with a family moves in with his parents.

   I believe that Hong Kong offers an opportunity to view the canary in the mine rendition of The Free Market Economy in real estate.  The “affordable housing” words are fast becoming an oxymoron in coastal America and even desirable inland cities.  I took a little over two decades for Hong Kong to fall off of the cliff to insanity.  I believe we Americans can do it faster.  Hell, we already have a pretty good start in removing affordable housing from our thriving commercial locations.

   Why is Free Market (greed) such a strong driving force in an economy?  Please revisit my Golden Goose Economy post.  Those who enter the economy are generally interested in personal income.  Those who are driven by success and are successful at obtaining their goals generally have the malignant form of survival instinct, greed, as their north star.  This driving force places profit above reason.  Those who have this trait, our successful financial leaders, are willing to destroy the society in exchange for personal financial gain.  Do I sound like a God Damn Commie here?  I am not.  I spent my business life as a motorcycle dealer.  I’m a Capitalist.  I tried to keep my customers happy and myself, my employees and my family happy as well.  I believe that these goals give more satisfaction in the long run than greed offers.

   My home (1350 sq.ft.) was built to sell for $17,500 in the 1970s.  My wife and I purchased it for $144,000 in 2002.  The present market value is twice that.  What will it be in another two decades?  Look to Hong Kong for a clue.  At some point in time an “effective government” (another oxymoron) will have to step in and stop the insanity.  Good luck with that taking place.  “Gold Rules.”

Cheers, Old Buz          June 23^rd, 2024

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

 

The Free Market:

“We will not fully appreciate the value of water until an Elon Musk or a Jeff Bezos owns our water company.” – Old Buz

A Hero

  When a young man joins the military and goes off to a foreign land to kill strangers, we call him a hero.  If one of the strangers happens to kill him, we call him a fallen hero and remember him on Memorial Day.  The young man travels to the foreign land with the blessing of his country.  He carries the nation’s flag with him and wears the nation’s uniform.  His target is the uniform of the enemy in that foreign land or its civilians.  This sounds crazy to me, but to most it is called patriotism and is applauded.  Their strongest argument would be: “Well, that’s the way it is and the way it always has been” or “What about Hitler and World War II?”

   To answer “That’s the way it is and the way it always has been” I would say, in the early 20^th Century women did not have the right to vote in America.  In 1919 that was the way it was and the way it had always been, but it didn’t make it right or just.  Today we sell war weapons to civilians with little or no regulation.  Seventy percent of our population would like to see effective gun regulation, but “that’s the way it is.”  If it is wrong, why not correct it?

   Now for Hitler.  If the young men of Germany had been capable of individual thought, they would not have put on the uniform or picked up the weapon.  But their heroes are the same as ours.  They sacrifice for God & Country.  The question is, does God truly ask for that sacrifice and does Country have a right to ask?  Did our young men have to respond to the actions of the young men of Germany eighty years ago?  Of course they did, but the leader of Germany made some bad choices and the population needed not to comply.  As a pacifist I am asking for individual moral rudders to steer the ship.  It would be a better world.  Is there any chance that individuals will stop mindlessly following their leader into war?  Probably not.  So the hero will always be willing to travel half way around the world to kill or be killed by a stranger.  “That’s the way it is.”

Cheers, Old Buz, The Pacifist      May 29^th, 2024

“I believe two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, but I’m not sure about the universe.” – Albert Einstein