The Heart and Soul of the SOUTH

The front door to my modest 1,800 square foot home is open and the all glass storm door allows full sunlight to enter.  I am sitting in a recliner just left and back from the front door wearing sweatpants and a fleeced lined sweatshirt jacket because it is a tad chilly inside our home during these months as we keep the thermostat on a constant 68 degrees which ordinarily is fine but as I grow older, I tend to need more warmth wrapped around me.

The outside temperatures have been in the 50's and tomorrow it will reach well into the 60's and whatever remnants of snow remaining will be for sure melted away.  Tomorrow, I will take down and package up our outside Christmas decorations...  well before New Years Day which is the tradition around these parts...  as they say in these parts...

My door is open because I feel relatively SAFE in East TN and not the slightest concerned that BLM along with the help of ANTIFA will be running around this neck of the woods rioting, burning, and looting...  although, we have plenty of black families living in this area...  and, actually not too far away if one were to take a notion to measure.

With a 30 minute drive, I can be in the heart of Knoxville, or Sevierville and if I were to add 30 more minutes, I can be in the heart of NASCAR country or Bristol, TN to the north and to the east Dollywood and/or Pigeon Forge and the resort area of Gatlinburg...  and in none of these places will I find any traces of BLM or ANTIFA...   even though more and more people are visiting these places from those bigger cities where BLM and ANTIFA seem to thrive.

Tennessee was one of the first STATES of our nation and was split in half more or less when we decided to have our Civil War...  as there were places about an hour from here that made munitions for the Union Army...  but, mostly it is a confederate State and because it was and still is in the business of "running moonshine" along the back roads provides the heart and soul of NASCAR...  along with North Carolina as they share The Great Smokey Mountains...  although, North Carolina may be a little more sophisticated.

But...   and, more importantly...  at least to me...  is the fact that on days like today, I can open my front door and let the sunshine in...   and, politics BE DAMNED...  and, I say that quite forcefully being the 73 year old threat that I am because...  politics has changed very little in this damn country of ours...  we have pretty much kept the STATUS QUO which is exactly why the BLACKS are bitching so much...  they see it too...

And, that is the great IRONY about POLITICS...  once you become a POLITICIAN and go that route under the FLAG of CHANGE... and WIN...   you quickly decide that nothing needs to change at all other than one's vocabulary...  in the sense of telling the people what they want to hear...

This is exactly why my front door is open and will continue to remain open while other front doors across the country at SHUT TIGHT and BOLTED.

America's problems lies not with her people but with her LEADERS...

Whites Must Understand Being White

Let me explain my life a little...

1. I was born in Raleigh, NC (1947) but live my life just outside Alexandria, VA until 1962 when we moved to Cairo, Egypt.
2. From 1966 until 1990, I lived in the rural Piedmont of North Carolina
3. From 1990 until PRESENT, I lived in the TN Valley of East TN

💜Not once was I stopped by law enforcement for being white

💜Not once did I witness white cops stopping blacks because they were black

💜Not once was I cognizant of any racial discrimination taking place

💜In the late 1960's/early 1970's, I was ostracized for having shoulder length hair

💜Not once did I feel the need to use the "N" word except around my parents

💜Not once was I given a job instead of a black person

💜Not once did I see a black person forced to ride in the back of the bus

💜Not once did I see a black person being refused service

💜Not once did I see a black person being asked to use a difference entrance

💜Not once did I encounter any black or white drug dealers

💜Not once did I hear of any black person stealing from my friends and/or neighbors

💜I have only seen a Confederate Flag fly on the back of a pickup truck once

💜I do remember watching THE AMOS AND ANDY show as a child

💜I also watched REDD FOXX at an adult

💜I got my shoes shined once in NYC when I was in the 8th grade by a black man while another black my cut my hair

💜I have been served by black and white waiters

💜My vacation rooms have been cleaned by black and white maids

If these things happen where I have lived, then they must have happened when I was not around because I have witnessed NOTHING either in NC or here in EAST TN that I have seen on the television that has taken place in literally ALL THESE OTHER BIG CITIES:  Atlanta, Washington DC, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, Pittsburg, Baltimore...  etc.

AND NOW...

because of what other people have done, I am supposed to surrender my whiteness and my love of being a SOUTHERNER because it OFFENDS BLACK PEOPLE...   and, my very presence reminds them of SLAVERY...

NOW...

our Federal Government can force us to do a lot of things and if they do, then I will comply, but regardless of what they force us to do, MY THOUGHTS WILL NEVER CHANGE nor will a lot of the thoughts of my friends based upon hearing their conversations.

If this is SYSTEMIC RACISM down here in the SOUTH then this is what you are going to get because it will never change...   not will this kind of approach...  and, especially not after what I have NOT SEEN HAPPEN.

Who Are We Kidding?

AMERICA IS DIVIDED JUST LIKE 

A BAD MARRIAGE...

A Fist of Violence for PEACE

American has been divided for a long time...  it's just recently that situations in this country have made the division worse...

We have always been divided on WEALTH but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on RACE but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on POLITICS but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on LAW ENFORCEMENT but it is getting worse

We have always been divided on GENDER and it remains about the same

Black Lives Matter have brought to our attention how law enforcement and a lot of white folks are racially biased...  and, as a way of appeasing the movement, several Confederate Statues have been removed from public property... and now BLACKS will no longer be reminded each day of slavery...  but, that WILL NOT STOP RACISM on either side of the equation...

Blacks HATE Whites as much as Whites HATE Blacks...  otherwise, this racial issue would have resolved itself.

Just like in a marriage both sides have to agree to change...  if you just ask one side to change their attitudes and behavior without the other side doing the same...  DIVORCE is inevitable and actually should be required or mandated...  since two parties are involved...

The same holds true for BLACKS...  who don't change but expect WHITES to change first so they can make sure the change is real and not just pretend.  It is that suspicion that will always be a deal breaker.

My Neck of the Woods

In my neck of the woods, it snowed right around 5 inches on Christmas Eve...  the same day that my wife and I celebrated Christmas 2020 with her son and his girlfriend and while they left our house at 6:30 pm it still took them over an hour to return home for a trip that usually takes 12 minutes.  That night, it was as cold as a witches tit in a brass bra or so we used to say in elementary school, even though we really had no idea what it actually meant or if was even possible.

The snow stayed on the ground until Sunday when a majority of it started to melt away and it will all be gone on Wednesday, two days from now when our temps rise into the low 60's.  I will take advantage of that warm day to remove our Christmas Decorations from the front yard which consists of 4 lighted deer plus 3 Christmas boxes also lit with lights.

I used 1/4 inch PVC pipe and electrical ties to secure the deer and the boxes from blowing away in the wind because the anchors that came with these items simply was not sufficient to do the job so I had to improvise even though I was never a Marine...  but, a sailor who liked to drink his lunch along with others of a like mind.

Christmas in East TN is not so much of a big deal for the people around here although many do put out all sorts of decorations and one or two houses tend to go a little over-board but as those people continue to age, what they put outside dwindles each year.

There were no Christmas Carolers walking around the neighborhood this year, nor has there ever been any in the 30 years that I have lived here.  That memory is one from my childhood and our neighborhood in Alexandria, VA...   actually, our neighborhood was Wellington Heights in between Hollin Hall and Hollin Hills Shopping Center, just off of Fort Hunt Road that paralleled Mount Vernon Blvd....  and Admiral Drive was just off of Morningside Drive.

After we walked around the neighborhood singing Carols to all those who could not leave their houses, we always returned to the basement of one of our neighbors where we had hot chocolate and glazed doughnuts.

In the 1950's and 1960's there was still a strong sense of COMMUNITY but that like most everything else that was good either faded away or died as we got more technologically minded and became more mistrusting of our neighbors...  and, started locking our doors at night just like they do in most of the big cities.

As we become more affluent then crime increases as well...  nowadays, I trust my neighbors as about as far as I can throw them with the wind at my back.  COVID makes the holidays even more cautious and it was apparent inside our house when my wife's son and his girlfriend both wore their facemasks when not eating even though we maintained a safe distance of more than 6 feet away.

Pitfalls of Age

I remember visiting my brother over Thanksgiving because I was in NYC on medical business the day before anyway...  and my brother had just flown back from a business trip overseas and was experiencing jetlag so we were both up at 5:00 am...  it was my choice but not his.  I remember this for some reason because as I age, my sleep habits change especially under the influence of over a decade of chemo.  So, on Sunday...   that is to say, yesterday, I was up around 8:00 am but slept pretty much all afternoon and evening until close to midnight when I woke up and felt like I needed to eat and drink something so I would not get dehydrated again.

Trying to go back to sleep two hours later was a waste of time as well, so it would appear I am in for an inverse sleep pattern again and hopefully it will only last until tonight as long as I keep myself awake and not sleep like I did today or actually yesterday now.   And, it is not like I have not gotten enough sleep because I have gotten more than enough sleep...  to last at least two days...

I have written and posted articles that will be published at precise times throughout this week in three of my four blogs...   not necessarily because I needed to in case I was out-of-town which I was not because I wanted to and during the days that I write all these articles I had nothing better to do with my time.  So, once could say that I am good to go until next Sunday when I will be up against hard deadlines again, unless I continue to write into the future which I know is possible but overlooks what might have happened unexpectedly.

Still, most of my writing is about the same...  complaining of this or that in the hopes that someone will get the idea that several items in America must change if we are really going to move ahead...  

like:

1. improve our educational systems K-12
2. improve our healthcare systems
3. improve our system of inequalities
4. improve our illegal drug system
5. improve our law enforcement system
6. improve our immigration system
7. improve our tax system
8. improve our wealth distribution system

True...   these 8 points are all domestic...  and, we have a few problems on the international front, the least of which is Russia and North Korea and the Middle East because those powers are relatively calm in comparison to what is waiting for us with CHINA.

Some see China as our friend but I can assure you that DEMOCRACIES are not the FRIENDS of COMMUNISTS and if we think that we want to see this differently then we are fooling ourselves.  Communism and Democracy is like mixing oil and water.

The more that we allow those 8 points above to fester inside our political body, our divided citizenship will become even more divided and it will divide one day beyond the point that it can be repaired and that is exactly when CHINA will take over GLOBAL CONTROL that will result in the USA being forced to do what the CHINESE say...

FOR INSTANCE...

Do you seriously believe that the USA can END systematic racism during a 4 year Presidential administration when a BLACK PRESIDENT could not accomplish that goal in 8 years?  Systematic Racism will take decades to resolve...  but we have not got that long.

2030 will be the first nail in our coffin...

2050 will see the world totally under the influence of CHINA...

BY 2030, 

1. the USA will still be working with PhD's on how to fix our K-12 educational systems because we keep falling father and farther behind.
2. the tax structure in the USA will become a severe burden
3. robotics will have replaced 25% of all jobs
4. there will be more global billionaires than US billionaires
5. China will control the global economy

Are Blacks Really Oppressed in 2020?

BLACKS write about their OPPRESSED LIFE in America...  and yet, America is full of successful

• black athletes
• black singers
• black artists
• black producers
• black millionaires
• black billionaires
• black bankers
• black coaches
• black restaurant managers
• black military officers
• black writers
• black teachers
• black clergy
• black politicians
• black lawyers
• black doctors
• black law enforcement
• black leaders
• black executives

NOTE: 

1.  only 13% of the population is BLACK which is why their numbers are not higher but it appears that no one is keeping track of that data.

2.  only lower class black are oppressed and not successful and quite interesting is the fact that lower class whites are in the same situation.

3.  do you honestly believe that you are going to get a black drug dealer to stop selling drugs for a little bit of education and $20/hour wages?

4.  lower class citizens regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender perceive themselves to be oppressed of kept from being successful by THE MAN...   THE MAN being the white man...  even though we have had a BLACK PRESIDENT and now have a BLACK VICE PRESIDENT...

More Pessimistic Than Optimistic... (Sarcastically of course)

My first encounter with Politics came in the 1960's with the Presidency of JF Kennedy and his assassination, the increase in US involvement in the Vietnam War, Anti-War Protesting in the US especially on College Campuses, and race riots in many of our larger cities over the inequalities that still manifested themselves in the USA....

IRONICALLY, over 50 years later we still have the same problems today that we had back then except for the Global Warming situation...   but equality in the US for many has not got better, we are still fighting in foreign wars in countries where the people don't want us there...  our healthcare is decreasing in value...  our education is decreasing in value...  the wealthy are getting wealthier...  and politics on both sides keeps everything in the range of status quo...

Americans are so gullible and stupid when it comes to thinking our country has actually improved on its behavior...

1. Our family units are deteriorating
2. Our children are taking more drugs than ever before
3. Our children are drinking more alcohol than ever before
4. Our healthcare availability and quality is declining
5. Our education system K-12 is less than mediocre at best
6. Our law enforcement is racially biased
7. Our politicians are wealthy and corrupt
8. Our mainstream media censors the news

DO YOU THINK OUR  

CURRENT ENVIRONMENT 

HERE IN THE USA

IS CONDUCIVE 

TO ACROSS THE BOARD 

IMPROVEMENTS 

AND 

CHANGE???

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

Charlie Chaplin

 

Christmas 2020

 

Christmas Eve -- Christmas Music

 

Life Is Life

There is one undeniable certainty about life and that fact is IT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US ONCE WE ARE BORN INTO IT...

1. Whites have life
2. Blacks have life
3. Latinos & Hispanics have life
4. Asians have life
5. Alaskans, Hawaiians, & Native Americans

note:  list in rank order as their percentage of the population

AND...  while that life is hardly ever EQUAL in all aspects of EQUALITY, it is nonetheless life that can only be taken away by the hands of death knowing that those hands of death could be manipulated by a "live" person.

WHOEVER gave us LIFE, did not promise nor did they guarantee WEALTHY, STATUS, POWER, CONTROL, or HATRED...  we got these items on our own of course they are could have been inherited as well.

BUT...  natural talents, natural skills, natural abilities ARE NOT GIVEN to everyone...  and, the ones that receive that extra little gift get it through their DNA...

Government can never be held responsible nor can it be tasked with the authority to regulate the DNA or human beings in an effort to make us all equal.

The life we are given whether rich or poor or somewhere in between is precious even though some of us will NEVER EXPERIENCE what so many others take for granted...  and in that notion is the GREAT FLAW of the HUMAN BEING EXPERIMENT...  even in God's eyes we will never be completely equal because HE gave us DNA...  and, it is this DNA that gives us some of our unique characteristics and differences.

But, in LIFE as in DEATH we are equal in that we are all born and we all die...  and this happens regardless of our DNA.

What is it about life that makes it SO SPECIAL in that people either want to keep it or take it away from others?

• We eat, sleep, defecate, feel, smell, procreate, protect, and survive...
• We earn money, build houses, have children, and thrive...
• We worship or not, giving back to our community or not as well...
• AND...  in many ways what we do is a celebration of the life we have been given

LIFE GIVEN...  is the correct word to use here...  and while life comes from the seeds of our parents, the first set of parents had to be given this gift from somewhere otherwise we would be walking around like animals with no concept of being alive...  

That spark of AWARENESS is given...  it does not evolve...

With LIFE comes the desire to SURVIVE and with the desire to survive comes the need to CONTROL so that survival can happen.  Power shifts from one people to another and then back again.  Sometimes, we are on the top, sometimes we are on the bottom.  But, regardless of the outcomes, one group WILL ALWAYS CONTROL until resentment from the other group(s) grows...

AND...  the interesting thing about control is that the group under control is ALWAYS LARGER than the group doing the CONTROLLING...

The End of 2020

We are rapidly approaching the end of 2020 which incidentally marks the end of a decade as well...  A decade for me that marked retirement, being diagnosed with two cancers, having a heart attack, 3 heart surgeries, cardia rehab, numerous biopsies, hernia surgery, cancer surgery, radiation treatments, chemo treatments, immunotherapy treatments, and hundreds of doctor visits.

It was also a decade of 10 Cruises, including Hawaii, Alaska, and the Mediterranean, domestic trips to Vegas, Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, New York City, Chicago, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Gulf Coast, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Seattle, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Jupiter Island, Daytona, Washington DC, Williamsburg, Baltimore...  and international trips to London, Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Madrid. Geneva, Athens, and Istanbul.

All-in-all, our trips were always too brief but we always stayed just long enough to feel like it was time to return home.  Traveling, I suppose was fun, but I would not want to do it again...  and, it was not because of the leg room of air flights because I always had plenty of that...  but, there is always something different about sleeping in someone's else's bed all the time or eating different kinds of foods that may or may not taste good...  and having one's routine disturbed on a daily basis...  or, always having some place to be...

The decade almost over represents at least 3 week long trips to Myrtle Beach, SC each year regardless of wherever else we went and while the beach is always crowded and driving at night is horrendous, MB offers a sense of familiarity and certain expectations that always seem to be fulfilled, unlike other beaches we have visited like:  The Outer Banks, Hilton Head, Destin, Hobe Sound, Gulf Port...  etc.  The only beach outside of Myrtle like we both like is Daytona.

An aspect of life that some of never consider and others always seem to overlook, is the religious aspect of having a blessed life.  And, while that may seem a bit over the top, it is nonetheless a truthful observation.  My life continues to take place above ground and the only reason that this is happening the way it is... is because God has been watching over me in some way form or fashion overwise I would have already been dead and buried.

Coming Back From Knoxville

My wife and I live the valley of Eastern Tennessee about 30 minutes northeast of Knoxville, and about 60 miles southwest of Bristol...  the home to a NASCAR racetrack.  To our right (no more than 45 minutes) are the Great Smokey Mountains where some of the best moonshine is made and the best marijuana is grown and for the most part law enforcement simply ignores or tries to ignore what is going on.

What makes our location so perfect is that we are less than 10 miles from the interstate  and about twice that distance located in between 2 lakes;  Douglas and Cherokee, on which we used to go kayaking on the weekends.  There is no entrance fee for either lake unless you want to camp or park a camper, trailer, or whatever...  then there is a small daily or weekly rental.

In those Great Smokey Mountains are the homes and resorts of Gatlinburg and DOLLYWOOD which is quite an adventure all its own but too expensive for my tastes and what it offers.  We used to get season tickets just to have something to do but after a few years of going once or twice a month, there simply isn't anything really new to see.

Just about everywhere one drives and parks the car, a scenic view of the Great Smokey can be found except in my driveway...  however, if I walk through the open field, past a few not so reluctant deer, and to my neighbor's house up on the hill, I would have this view of which I speak.

In 1990, when I first relocated to East TN, I lived in Greeneville and every morning before going to work, I would stop by the local Hardees for a couple of cups of coffee (maybe more) and pick a table by the front windows where the amazing view of the Great Smokey Mountains was crystal clear.

Where we are living now is not too far from Morristown where COPPER HEAD ROAD can be found as it winds its way down to Knoxville....

Copperhead Road by Stevie Earle

Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only come to town about twice a year

He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
Headed up the holler with everything he had
'Fore my time but I've been told
He never come back from Copperhead Road

Now Daddy ran whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside

Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
When the Sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road

I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Columbia and Mexico
I just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
And now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know
You'd better stay away from Copperhead Road...

While Knoxville is not considered to be the big city that Atlanta or Nashville is, it does have it fair share of traffic, especially in the mornings and afternoons during rush hour...  although, if you hit it just right, you can breeze through the city in no time at all...  but, that breezing does not happen very often...  and, there is usually an accident at least once or twice a week, mainly because people ain't paying attention due to running late.

Anyway...  on my way back from Knoxville, regardless of the time-of-day, I pass a Weigle's Convenience Store and Gas Station about a mile from the house and ALWYS STOP for a couple of large cups of French Vanilla Cappuccino.  Your first cup costs $1.89 (largest) but if you bring back your cup, refills are less than a dollar...  and two are $1.95 including tax.  I keep two empty cups in the car just for this purpose.

I reinforce the sides of cup with clear box packing tape so the cups lasts longer than Weigle's expected but thy say nothing at all when I sit my refills on the counter to pay.

I can serve myself French Vanilla Fat Free, French Vanilla Alert, or French Vanilla Supreme...  and, because I have tried all 3 and cannot decide which I like better, I fill up each cup a third of the way with each.  Every once in a while, there are people behind me waiting but I never turn around to see their expressions.

As soon as I get home, I pour the contents of both cups into a larger plastic pitcher, rinse out the Weigle's paper cups and sit them upside down on the counter to dry, putting them in the car later for my next visit.

Who I Fear

WHO I FEAR THE MOST BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN RANK ORDER...

Black People

BLM 

ANTIFA

Religious Zealots

Loss of Freedom

Medicare Denials

Greedy Americans

Law Enforcement

Mainstream Media

Wealthy

Powerful People in Charge

Lawyers

Time Share Sales People

City Traffic

Telemarketers

Russians

Chinese

Terrorists

Politicians

Democrats

Liberals

Socialists

Northerners

New Yorkers

Californians

Criminals

Drug Dealers

Mexican Gangs

Communists

Incompetent Physicians

White Supremacists

Born Again Christians

US of AMERICA: The Nation of Inequalities

When most of us think of INEQUALITY, we think of:

• Race
• Gender
• Justice

Basically because, this is how MAINSTREAM MEDIA has phrased it to the public...  and the public being gullible have swallowed the bait...  hook, line, and sinker.

BUT, INEQUALITY permeates every single fabric and layer of our society long before we ended WWI and WWII and I am being gracious with the time frame.

At the beginning of our INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, there is large scale inequality between:  MANAGEMENT and labor.

When the TITANS of INDUSTRY were sowing their wild oats, they were also creating large scale inequality between the:  WEALTHY and poor...  or, what some may call the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.

BUT...  INEQUALITY in AMERICA extends much much deeper into the ROOTS of our SOCIETY, and can be found in:

1. Those who are educated and those who are not
2. Those who are religious and those who are not
3. Those who are Catholic and those who are not
4. Those who are Jewish and those who are not
5. Those who are athletic and those who are not
6. Those who are musical and those who are not
7. Those who are married and those who are not (wages & taxes)
8. Those who have political connections and those who do not
9. Those who live in California and those who do not
10. Those who live in NYC and those who do not
11. Those who are disabled and those who are not
12. Those who are CEO's and those who are not
13. Those who are clergy and those who are not
14. Those who are legal immigrants and those who are illegal immigrants
15. Those who can have children and those who cannot
16. Those who graduated high school and those who did not
17. Those who are Democrats and those who are not
18. Those who are Republicans and those who are not
19. Those who are Socialists and those who are not
20. Those who are veterans and those who are not
21. Those who are cigarette smokers and those who are not
22. Those who drink alcohol and those who do not
23. Those who smoke marijuana and those who do not
24. Those who are retired and those who are not
25. Those who teach and those who do not
26. Those who have good grammar and those who do not
27. Those who like music and those who do not
28. Those who talk loudly and those who do not
29. Those who want to be with people and those who do not
30. Those who pay their taxes and those who hide their money
31. Males/Females that are attractive and Male/Females who are not
32. Males/Females who are in law enforcement and Males/Females who are not

NOTATIONS:  

1.  After reading through these 30+ points, I am sure you have a good idea where I am going with this...  Americans  are more unequal than equal and yet some people want to make a big deal out of all this inequality...   like it is all of sudden part of the landscape of society.

2.  America needs inequalities at all levels of our society, if we are to grow and prosper as a nation.  We have to have the wealthy and we have to have management and we have to have labor...   and, if everyone had a COLLEGE DEGREE and each student had made straight "A's" we would find some other way to have the Wealthy, management, and labor....  perhaps retention of knowledge or achieved outputs or some kind of competency exam...  The point is that not everyone can be on top and not everyone can be in the middle.

3.  INEQUALITY forces people to try and become better and the more that people strive, the stronger our economy becomes and grows...   and the people on the bottom will always suffer to some degree...   but, everyone else does not care, as long as it is not them.

Political Cartoons

 

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

Not Motivated By Greed

I am not a billionaire

I am not a millionaire

Over my lifetime, I saved $500,000

I have no money invested in the Markets

My wife and I earn $3,000 from Social Security

Our house is paid for

Our vehicles are paid for

We have no debt

Until the COVID pandemic, my wife and I went on 4-6 vacations each year for a week and our vehicles have never been purchased new but rented for a year by a business with mileage between 5,000 to 10,000...

We have more than enough clothes, for all seasons, to last us for the next 20 plus years and if we were more wealthy I am not sure what we would do with that extra money.

We don't want or need a bigger house and lawn nor do we have any desire to pay someone to maintain and clean.

We don't need more expensive vehicles or than the two we already have nor do we need to take more vacations because both of us are getting to the point, where we do not like to sleep for too many days somewhere else.

I suppose that we could fly places instead of driving which has its advantages...  no doubt...  or, even fly in private jets if our monies were sufficient enough...  but, we have done that with members of our family and it is very convenient but not something that we need to do.

We have a basement full of items that we thought we needed and purchased and played with them for a few years then lost interest...  so, that game need not be played again.

We have been to the big cities of Atlanta, Washington DC,  Dallas, San Antonio, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, New Orleans, Denver, Baltimore, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach and believe me...  we much prefer our small town, rural city life here in East TN.

My wife and I have just enough money (and then some) to pay our monthly bills and for the most part do whatever it is that we want to do and in so doing, at least so far, we want for nothing and are not envious at all of those who have money and spend their hours doing much, much more.  

While I was working, we installed a pool and a fairly large deck around it and almost against the house we poured concrete and located a 6 person hot tub with numerous jets to massage my back and shoulders.  Our acre lot keeps our neighbors close but not that close...  and, in the summer time, there are very few people in this community who spend any time at all outside.

We are 40 minutes from Gatlinburg and the Great Smokey Mountains and 90 minutes from Cherokee and Native American Gambling.  We are 40 minutes away from a 30 minute flight to Atlanta.  The University of TN Medical Center is a 30 minute drive from our front door and like all good University Medical Centers uses the latest in FDA approved research.

Their doctors come from the MAYO Clinic, MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering and their education has been received from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Duke just to name a few.

Retirement and Beyond

When will you retire...  if ever?

My father retired at age 62 with a pension from the Federal Government (that now is no longer) and a pension from the US Military with the pay of Naval Caption just under an Admiral...  not bad for being in the Reserves for 26 years.  His retirement was more than I ever made annually...  

I retired at age 67 with about $500,000 in the bank...  no pension from any company...  only Social Security...  however, my wife and I combined our Social Security which helped a lot and we had eliminated our debt over a decade ago...  However, we had a small investment that paid us about $1,000 each month +/- so we never had to pull any money out of our savings...  plus I taught about 6 night classes for a local university...

The odds are that if you can retire at all, it will be at the age of 70...  and, no doubt 75 for your children and their children as retirement age creeps up to 80.

Social Security will be gradually reduced over the years but it will still be available possible in the neighborhood of 50-75% of what it is today.  The average social security check is about $1,500.

Advances in medical technology will enable people to live longer and longer so one will either need to keep working or make sure that they have enough in savings or income coming to them from other sources.

It would not surprise me at all that by the year 2050, our life span will increase from right around 80 to right around 100... and, by the year 3000, it will be 120 to 150...

However, by the year 3000, there is also a good possibility that we will not longer be living on this planet we call earth...  which is difficult for some of us who care to comprehend.

• How much money will you need in retirement?
• Will you be debt free?
• How much money will you have saved or invested?
• How many jobs will you have had?
• How many homes and vehicles?
• How is your health...  do you eat healthy and exercise?
• How do you manage stress outside of drinking alcohol?
• How will you compensate for inflation?
• How long will it take for prices to double?

Back in the 1960's, I paid $.18/gallon for gasoline and cigarettes were $.25/pack and a hamburger was $.15 and wages were $.75/hour...  that was over 50 years ago...  and, you know what the prices of things are today...  can you imagine what they will be like in 50 years from today?  I was 23 years of age 50 years ago...