Costa Rica mortgages and the falling US dollar

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Viewing 9 posts - 16 through 24 (of 24 total)
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  • #188421
    Alfred
    Member

    Sprite, I have to agree with you on the loss of youthful enthusiasm. My days of tilting at windmills are relegated to keyboard strokes and pulling a voting booth lever for the most part. I too, see the entire hemisphere undergoing a change that may be irreversible, but however small our efforts, we still should try. I sincerely wish you well also. Retirement is one of those things that can be a blessing or a burden. Keep your mind active, and enjoy yourself.

    Rebeca, I don’t think the US would willingly hand over control to any foreign entity either, but the fact remains, the heads of the US, Canada, and Mexico had their discussion, and all seemingly agreed it was a good idea. The hope I hold out in this is that Fox and Martin are gone, and it won’t be too long till Bush joins them in the dustbin of history. However, if the next administration here carries on with this plan, we’ll have to challenge it.

    Last month in New York, our governor proposed a new drivers license program for illegal aliens. It would also have provided new licenses for legal citizens, and would act as a passport between Canada, Mexico and the US. The outcry was so great, he dropped it a week after he proposed it.

    I don’t think we will see the Amero anytime soon, but the incremental changes we are receiving now makes me think we are going in a direction that will involve some sort of deal to “protect us” from some sort of unknown or unseen enemy. Somebody is pulling the strings. It’s time to get out the scissors.

    There will always be a small group of greedy people controlling nations, and the general population has little choice in the matter. Whatever choices we do still have left in this country should be exercised before we lose them entirely

    #188422
    rebaragon
    Member

    Well, Alfred, that’s why fear is indeed a very bad counselor to listen to all the time and that’s what the US has been fed and been living on since 9/11. I’ve always understood courage not to be the lack of fear, but rather the willingness to step forward and ACT in spite of it–which will entail more than just voting conscientiously…You’re right, we will have to challenge it…I don’t like the idea of such a “merger,” mostly because of the conglomeration of power and all that this could unleash. Maybe I should say hostile acquisition because I don’t think there are many Canadians out there rooting for this and who knows how they would fool the Mexicans into voting for their own enslavement–I’m sure they will sugar wash it somehow…Look at what the US has done with the power it already has??!! But you are right, they have been doing it incrementally and that’s what those little trade agreements are all about, and they say those are bilateral….I reaaaaaaally don’t think so and this “union” would NOT mean a fair division of power, wealth nor resources either…Unfortunately, my businesses, real estate holdings, savings, investments and SEPs & IRAs are all starting to feel the economic changes and I’m not happy about that…and I’m sure that this will be the next “fear factor” used to get people in the US behind crazy ideas like the union of Canada/USA/Mexico…I hope we all still remember to challenge it even when our own monetary balance sheets hang in the balance…

    #188423
    sprite
    Member

    I get the image of a large group of very wealthy people of all nationalities coming together with a common interest which overrides nationalism; that of protecting their wealth and power and increasing it. This would be done at the expense of the workers And it will be done with their assistance as well because North Americans will do almost anything to increase their wealth since materialism and consumerism is the only value system they have been brainwashed to appreciate. Like the frog in the pot of warm water, people won;t realize their peril until the water boils and it is too late. This is why I see it as a done deal. Best thing to do is recognize it and position yourself for the poop storm before it hits.

    #188424
    rebaragon
    Member

    Sprite, I don’t disagree with you at all, that’s why I said I hope we’re all still willing to challenge this when doing so may just be against our own material interests, but LIFE has to be worth so much more and I guess like it or not, it’s time to reposition ourselves in order to be able to get thru this time period with more than just our balance sheets to show for all of our efforts–I’d rather have much less than to the consequences of such a union and more war on my conscience.

    #188425
    Alfred
    Member

    Sprite, my sentiments exactly. In the email I got from this post, I read Rebeca’s first, and thought of responding with exactly what you said. You took the words right out of my post. lol. We have gone down that slippery slope and put our material wealth and all the other self-serving things ahead of what is important. The endless striving for just a little bit more, has been drummed into our heads. It’s what makes capitalism work, but it also brings out its dark inhumane side. That’s why there is no perfect form of governing.

    Rebeca, The balance sheets are one of the major controls of our lives, much to our shame. As much as we like to think we are altruistic, real life and the situations we have been brought to, and what we’ve been exposed to on TV and in the media, makes us focus on self preservation and wealth accumulation. Not all of us, of course, are like this, but I would venture a guess it is a large segment of the population.

    #188426
    rebaragon
    Member

    Greed is a hunger that is never satisfied and in the end if we measure our lives by our balance sheets then we may find we’ve lost our monetary “safety blanket” anyway and only been left with our shame…I’m not proposing an unattainable idea that we all become so altruistic that we give up every cent (to God knows who??…) in order to live in poverty, but if the only thing that will motivate us to act against a government or for a government is the thought of holding onto some material wealth then we have no hope already because that is exactly what will be used to manipulate us–Then we’ve already sold our souls to the once all mighty dollar….Humans are the only animals that are self-delusional and we forget that we’re just little fish in this sea of greed. There will always be plenty of big fish willing to use our fears to obtain our support in stripping “others” of their resources and their dignity and then it will be those same big fish that will use the bastardized “survival of the fittest” ideology to strip us of whatever material wealth we sold our souls for in order to fill their own overabundant coiffures…Frankly, it makes me ill and if people are as lost as you say Alfred and Sprite, then I do believe that this nation may not only die by the sword, it may die due to its arrogance and greed and I don’t think that will be a peaceful fall either…(I hope to be in Talamanca by then…) When crisis hits close to home, sometimes people reconsider their values–I hope this will be the case in the US, there certainly is a lot riding on this and I hope people will hedge their bets based on their conscience and not on a crumbling monetary symbol…In the end money is necessary, but it cannot be the basis of your values…

    #188427
    Alfred
    Member

    Rebeca, You may think I believe all is lost, and there is no hope at all, but that is not the way I see it. My belief is we are in very tough shape as evidenced every morning on the news and in the papers, but there still is a shred of human decency and hope here. We have to live against our natural inclinations for self, and begin to live a more servant to others lifestyle. It isn’t an easy thing to do, but the little things you perform in your daily life goes a long way. It could be as simple as saying a comforting word to someone even though you are having a terrible day. The small things you do give way to bigger and better things.

    We are not totally lost, yet. Close, but not at the bottom of the slope. If you live your life as a good and kind person, that transfers to others around you. It may not transform them immediately, still, it may leave a lasting impression that will move them to do in kind.

    We can’t all be Mother Theresa, and most of us probably shouldn’t try to be. All of us have our own unique gifts. It is that we have to find them first, and then be satisfied that they may be less grand than we had hoped for.

    #188428
    rebaragon
    Member

    I’m glad you still hold out some hope Alfred…I don’t give up hope that people will act with basic decency–hopefully it will not be too late, but you know, whatever we have to offer, any of our gifts, they don’t have to make us famous like Mother Theresa (as a matter of fact–I’d much rather not be famous for any reason)…They just should remind us of the fragility of life and what’s decent and good in the human spirit–in ours and in others…money is not a factor in that equation…

    #188429
    Roark
    Member
Viewing 9 posts - 16 through 24 (of 24 total)
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