glomag

Float around and find out

Could you please elaborate on the claim that loans are essentially required for modern life in the US? You might be able to make the argument for a mortgage but even that is not absolutely required. Possibly student loans could be seen as required but those are largely government subsidized/administered and typically given out to younger people who haven't yet gone through a bankruptcy.

It's probably bad form to bring this type of comment over from reddit but in this case I can't help myself.

Username checks out.

Brazil

I don't have any evidence for this but it seems like the vaccine pushback is at least partially a desire to avoid responsibility. If they choose to vaccinate and their kid is in the 0.000001% who experience adverse effects then it would be their fault the kid was hurt but if they don't vaccinate and their kid just happens to die of measles or whatever then it was all part of god's plan and they didn't do anything wrong.

Take a look at your promised land. Your deed is that gun in your hand. Mt. Zion’s a minefield. The West Bank. The Gaza strip… Soon to be parking lots for American tourists and fascist cops. Fuck zionism. Fuck militarism. Fuck americanism. Fuck nationalism. Fuck religion.

Is the purpose of these subsidies to maintain oil and gas infrastructure so that the military can also use it?

If the infrastructure is necessary for defense but not necessary for civilian use then it sounds like it should be paid for via tax, be maintained by the government, and counted as defense spending.

This would increase the military's fuel cost (to the true cost) and higher gas prices brought about by ending the subsidies would incentivize lower carbon transportation methods for civilians.

Some other publications have commented on the original more recently. For example: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-11-nations-of-the-united-states-2015-7

I thought I had seen one with some more in depth historical analysis from The Atlantic or Bloomberg or something but I can't seem to find it again.

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There is a good general summary here.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/08/which-of-the-11-american-nations-do-you-live-in/

Stairway?

I'm far too sad and intoxicated

Yep, this man/woman is definitely a scientist working at a university.

Thanks for the information and I hope your next experiment goes well.

Yes a mortgage is an investment (which can make a profit or loss just like other investments) but it is also an obligation. With a mortgage losing your job could potentially leave you homeless. That is not what I consider "financially free". If you have a lot of cash up front you could potentially put it into higher yielding investments and make a profit on the difference between yield and mortgage rate at the end of 30 years but that takes some amount of luck and skill with investing. Especially now that mortgage rate are 7%. If you don't have all the cash up front then taking out a 30yr 7% loan for 300k will mean you're paying over 700k for the house with interest included.