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America, the Needy-ful
Townhall.com ^ | August 18, 2011 | Kathy Fettke

Posted on 08/18/2011 7:53:12 AM PDT by Kaslin

“How can the government help me?”

This seems to be a growing sentiment among the American middle class. “The land of opportunity” is quickly becoming the “nation of the needy.”

Here’s a question I received from a reader just last week:

“I am not happy with how things are going since the Bush Administration allowed tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy. These cuts were supposed to end for those who just keep earning more off the middle class. My question is: I am told that investors can invest as little as $1000.00 in real estate, and make a living doing so. As a person who has followed the straight and narrow, and helped others, how can I help myself in this attitude?” - Suzie from Los Angeles

I applaud Suzie for wanting to change her attitude, because in spite of her desire to live “straight & narrow and help people,” she has chosen a victim attitude - one that will never give her the financial success she seems to desire.

Suzie’s question first assumes that businesses and the “wealthy” are taking from her. Is this really true? If there were no businesses or wealthy people, would she be better off?

Where would Suzie get her groceries if there was not a business owner nearby selling food supplies? She would either have to grow food, hunt for it, or start her own store.

Where would Suzie live if no business existed to build a home or apartment for her? She would have to build her own.

Where would Suzie work if there were no businesses or wealthy people who could afford to hire her? She would have to create her own income source.

Businesses provide needed goods and services. They are not “taking” from the middle class. They are giving what is needed.

Businesses that don’t offer what is needed go out of business quickly. Just ask the former CEO’s of Blockbuster or Borders. We, the consumers, decide who is worthy of our wallets.

People who work for failed businesses lose their jobs. The government offers unemployment benefits, but how long can a government sustainably pay the unemployed?

The government has to get its money from somewhere, and if it relentlessly takes it from successful employers, more businesses will eventually fail and more jobs will be lost.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for the government to support solid businesses in growth so they can provide more jobs, rather than tax them to death to pay for those without jobs?

Rather than blame successful businesses and the wealthy for our troubles, let’s learn from them. What does it take for businesses to survive today? They must:

- Stay current with trends (and trends change quickly).

- Be the best at what they do

- Be willing to grow through on-going education

- Live with in their means and avoid unsustainable debt

- Enjoy what they do because customers notice

I told Suzie that if she follows these five success tips, she could become a wealthy business owner herself. In fact, she started to think like a business person when she asked about real estate.

People can indeed buy real estate with $1000. It requires education and effort, but it can be done. Do you think Donald Trump uses his own money in his acquisitions? No, he uses OPM.

Using OPM (other people’s money) is a skill that can be learned and sustained as long as the OP (other people) are making money too. This is one of the keys to building a successful business.

Millions of people have created financial independence through smart real estate investing. They live off the income generated from their rental properties and are totally unaffected by the ups and downs of the stock market. Most of those people saved for a down payment, and used OPM for leverage (OPM can be bank money, private funds, or seller financing.)

If you are like Suzie and desire financial independence, consider this:

Instead of paying for expensive real estate classes that teach you how to buy property with no money down, go to a book store and get educated for $12. There are thousands of books on how to increase your wealth mindset and financial success. Pick one that jumps out at you.

Then start looking around for people who are successful at what you’re trying to achieve. Get to know them. Hang out with them. Work as an intern. Gather as much information as you can possible get your hands on. You may be surprised to find that in every town in this country, there are successful people thriving in any stage of the economy. These are the folks you want to emulate.

Relying on the government, your employer or anyone besides yourself can end in grave disappointment. The truth is, no one has your best interest at heart the way you do.

Once you realize it’s ultimately up to you to make decisions that are best for you and your family’s financial future, you will take back control of your life. Independence is true freedom.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: business; businesses; ceo; consumers; customers; cuts; debt; education; employers; goods; government; income; independence; invest; investors; jobs; middleclass; money; opportunity; realestate; services; success; tips; victim; wallets; wealth; wealthy

1 posted on 08/18/2011 7:53:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

My long passed away grandfather used to tell me about the Great Dperession.

It sounded like they all made due and toughed it out and didn’t sit around and wait for the government to help them


2 posted on 08/18/2011 7:55:30 AM PDT by LMAO ("Begging hands and Bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"...Anthem from Rush)
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To: Kaslin
just keep earning more off the middle class

Which just shows how successful the Progressive propaganda machine has been.

They don't "earn it off the middle class". Seems too many Americans are caught in the Zero Sum Fallacy. They assume because someone has more then them, they "stold it from me".

NO they did not. They earned it.

3 posted on 08/18/2011 7:57:47 AM PDT by MNJohnnie (Giving politicians more tax money is like giving addicts free drugs to cure their addiction)
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To: Kaslin

Let’s be honest - 95% of people need “jobs”. They simply can’t or won’t do the things that are necessary to become financially independent.


4 posted on 08/18/2011 8:01:17 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ( "The right to offend is far more important than any right not to be offended." - Rowan Atkinson)
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To: Kaslin

It’s been a steadily growing problem for three decades at least. My parents had their finger on this when they used to blow a gasket whenever my school sent home an application form for reduced-price lunches. They were offended, and wanted to take it back to the school and cram it up somebody’s arse. The fact that all of the other parents, save for the most destitute, did not seem to agree they found very upsetting.


5 posted on 08/18/2011 8:12:25 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Kaslin

Americans have habituated themselves to be subservient to the government and they are attached to the dole.

This is something new in the last few decades.

My grandparents told me stories (and my parents as well) about the Depression.

I gained a better understanding of them as a people and as individuals, and I have immense respect for them, knowing how they dealt with privation, sacrifice and how they all stepped up to the plate.

• They did NOT go out and buy unnecessary and expensive things, take vacations, get a bigger, better house, etc.… either with cash (which NO ONE HAD) or on credit (which was ONLY extended once ACTUAL creditworthiness was established)!

• They did not apply to the sympathy of the MSM (such as it was at the time) to sway public opinion in THEIR favor against the Government, politicians, other taxpayers, etc. My grand parents and parents knew… EVERYONE was in the same boat.

• They did not/could not cast themselves on the mercy of charities or other organizations or government agencies. Even IF they qualified for this stuff (available in limited quantities and grudgingly given) they still would NOT ask, out of sheer pride!

• The older ones left school and went to work…. THAT was a real sacrifice back when a high school education MEANT something!

• Everyone respected the efforts of everyone else….
• No one turned to crime, sat around moping or feeling sorry for himself.

You get the picture.

Where is THIS kind of character now?


6 posted on 08/18/2011 8:16:30 AM PDT by SMARTY (A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.)
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To: LMAO

“My long passed away grandfather used to tell me about the Great Depression.
It sounded like they all made due and toughed it out and didn’t sit around and wait for the government to help them.”
I questioned my parents who lived through the ‘30’s. The things they and their parents did can’t be done today. Everything my grandfather did to put food on the table has been rendered unworkable. He’d sell his labor by the job; just negotiate with somebody and get cash. He built buildings, moved pianos to second floors with block and tackle, etc. Each thing he did would require government partnership, HR forms, taxes, licenses, fees, zoning changes…Oh, and INSURANCE!

Minimum wages, mandatory reporting, mandated benefits and a host of laws prevent us from even having the child next door mow our lawn. (He can sue is he’s injured.) I don’t know how we get away from it all this paternal government “help.”


7 posted on 08/18/2011 8:22:34 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: SMARTY

It ended when people were brought up to think that life should be the same for everyone and that someone else would always be there to make the sacrifice for them. People knew the price of what it was that they wanted and were willing to pay it. These days, everyone wants the new car, new phone, new designer clothes, and new everything, for everyone.


8 posted on 08/18/2011 8:50:40 AM PDT by Niuhuru (The Internet is the digital AIDS; adapting and successfully destroying the MSM host.)
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To: Gen.Blather

You’re correct that today’s government regulations and requirements have made most self-help survival measures our great-grandparents used to survive the Great Depression impossible.

My granny remodeled her small house to turn a bedroom into a room that she could rent to a single gentleman. She had a door cut so he could enter from the entry way and another door cut so he had a pass through to the one and only bath. Now days many cities have zoning against non-family members in homes and against rentals. My granny baked bread and pies and sold them to neighbors or others that heard about her. Now days food sellers are regulated and have to have commercial kitchens. She bought a vacant lot and turned it into a garden for her and for others that rented space in her garden. She ran on cash and the income tax rate was so low, who cared. Now, she would get audited and fined for any tax non payment.


9 posted on 08/18/2011 8:54:43 AM PDT by RicocheT (Eat the rich only if you're certain it's your last meal)
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To: Kaslin

The USA has been reduced to the PRODUCERS & the PARASITES.

There is nothing in between.

There isn’t one person in a thousand who is qualified to sign the FRONT of a paycheck.


10 posted on 08/18/2011 8:58:21 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: Niuhuru

It’s like the man said:

“Communism, now there is a piece of moral extravagance”


11 posted on 08/18/2011 8:59:43 AM PDT by SMARTY (A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.)
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To: SMARTY

Where is THIS kind of character now?””””

Lost forever in 5 generations of Welfare/WIC/Food stamps/Section 8 Housing/Free school meals (not just lunch, suckers)/Earned Income Credit on a tax return..................


12 posted on 08/18/2011 9:48:32 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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