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[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”Imxploring”]I’d love to hear about it, your observations, and any questions.[/quote]
Thanks for asking. I went into a fair bit of detail about it on [url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/cfmbb/messages.cfm?messageid=47FFF102-24E8-5ED2-F1F8936BC8D93D01#47FFF102-24E8-5ED2-F1F8936BC8D93D01]this thread.[/url][/quote]
Next trip come a little further north to the Lake Arenal area, You might really enjoy it! Lots to do and see, beautiful scenery, a great and growing mixed expat community, and some wonderful Ticos!
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]The Carib coast is, I am told, lovely. Also hot, humid and full of bugs. The Pacific coast is also hot, humid and buggy.
If you are thinking of retirement in CR, make sure you spend several days (or a week) in the Lake Arenal area. Temperatures 68-85 year round. No worries about air conditioning like there is on the coast where electricity can run you $500 a month. Water is cheap. There is a large and growing expat community and good medical care. This is becoming the best location for a new life in CR.[/quote]
Don’t let the secret out…. I’ll never be able to get a table at Moya’s on Friday night!
[quote=”sweikert925″]I hate to keep sounding like a Pollyanna but I do seem to need to point out that whomever is elected president may not have a majority in the Costa Rican Congress and thereby rather limited in what he can do. Even if he did have a majority, the pattern is that the president is replaced after one term in office. (Arias served twice, but those terms were 16 years apart). So whomever is elected will most likely be gone in 4 years.
By most accounts few will be sad to see Chinchilla go, so that seems to be an added bonus.[/quote]
Political change comes in small steps most of the time. It’s just important that you’re on the right path. Barring some major upheaval in the world the damage done by a one term president will not be that great. Part of the reason the constitution is written as such. The problem is if there is a major black swan event we may see tremendous changes. Just look at what happened after 9/11 and suddenly the log jam in politics was eliminated and all kinds of new laws, secret rules, and “programs” were launched… many of which we have only found out about years later.
Crisis leads to changes one once thought impossible…but it’s not always for the best!
Steve, Please start another thread about your trip south, if I’m reading the information right in that other thread you went on a tour? I’d love to hear about it, your observations, and any questions.
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”Imxploring”]I don’t think that anyone would call 47,000,000 people dependent on the government to eat each day a myth or a tiny figure. Nor is it a healthy or sustainable situation. [/quote]
The figure has reached 47 million as a direct consequence of the Bush depression. Before 2008 the number on food stamps was under 28 million. During the second Clinton administration the figure averaged under 20 million.
In fact since we’re talking about how terrible it is that our debt has reached such high levels let’s talk about why. The Bush tax cuts, the Bush Iraq war catastrophe, the Medicare Part D benefit passed by a Republican Congress with not a dime of funding and then – to top it off – the Bush housing bubble which was directly caused by aggressive and reckless banking deregulation – all that combined to swell the federal debt by $6.5 trillion since 2007. If you are concerned about the debt then the most sensible solution is to make sure Republicans are never again entrusted with the country’s finances.
[quote=”Imxploring”]I wonder what would happen if suddenly government was unable to provide for these folks… do you think they’d all be starting small gardens to provide for themselves… or would they be rioting in the streets?[/quote]
I don’t know, but what makes you think some of these folks aren’t already growing their own food? I’ve seen news reports of local neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago where many lots that had abandoned houses demolished are now put to use as communal gardens. If you’re implying that all SNAP recipients can grow all the food that they need to survive then I have to assume you’re not much of an expert on vegetable gardens.
But as I pointed out above, we could eliminate the SNAP program [b]ENTIRELY[/b] and it wouldn’t put any more than a tiny dent in the budget deficit – total annual funding for SNAP is $76 billion out of a total federal budget of $3.8 trillion and that comes to 2%. Is that you are proposing that we do? If so why, when the results wouldn’t come close to fixing our federal budget problem?
Another myth put out by the right is that we’re subsidizing all the food expenses for those lazy welfare bums but the fact is that SNAP assistance comes [b]nowhere near[/b] to paying for all of the recipients’ food needs. The average monthly benefit per person is $133.08 which comes to $1.48 per meal. How many people do you know that can feed themselves on $1.48 per meal?[/quote]
I’m not on Food stamps… never have been. But yet I take tremendous pride in my produce garden. I even pickle for the future.
Perhaps some internet research will provide you with a source of what percentage of those receiving SNAP produce ANY portion of their food.
The point is when people become dependent it becomes a way of life. When government allows it or encourages it with social programs it serves NO ONE.
THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BECOME A HAMMOCK.
[quote=”Scott”]This thread is about the Costa Rica’s coming elections…
[size=200]PLEASE POST ONLY ABOUT COSTA RICA’S COMING ELECTIONS OR YOU POST WILL BE DELETED.[/size]
Thank you ….
[/quote]
The conversation has a lot to do with the coming elections. Should we see a hardcore Socialist/Communist elected that does so by promising the underclass more then he can ever deliver under the current financial system we will all see BIG changes in Costa Rica. As I stated in the previous post when a government allows or makes a portion of the population dependent on it… it controls that part of the population and their votes. Just look at how Hugo got elected, look at who he appealed to, look who put him in power, look what he did once there…. and most importantly look at what is happening in Venezuela today! And we’re talking about a country with oil! Can you guess where a leader trying the same path to power or re-election in a country like Costa Rica is going to get the funds to pull off such a plan?
Already we’ve witnessed the current administration add additional taxes (Corp and Luxury home taxes for example) and requirements for residency (Required CAJA enrollment based on a percentage of income) that impact many of the folks on this board and those thinking about relocating to CR. All directed at what they see as a cash cow that the underclass will have no problem throwing on the sword to get what their elected leaders have promised them. The current conduct of the US government is no different.
This next election in CR has everything to do with what we’re talking about. The same games played by politicians in the US are not restrained by boarders. It’s a game they’ve all played back as far as recorded history and one we’ve seen played on the public over and over, and it NEVER ends well. There is always a reset. History shows us this over and over. You can look back at the Romans, the Nazis, or Hugo… all the same plan. All crumbled in time.
It would truly be a shame to see the good people of CR fall for the same trap. I’ve always admired their pride, determination, and self supporting attitude. Going down the path of entitlement and dependence works for a while… then the money runs out. In fact I’m holding off on a large purchase in CR to see how this election plays out.
With the current fiscal games being played by the big boys on the globe currently we might see a worldwide reset very shortly anyway.
[quote=”sweikert925″]If you take the list of horrors that I cited and compare it to the list you cited and asked people to choose which situation was worse, which do you suppose they would pick?
The idea that there is a vast dependent class of Americans is a hugely exaggerated myth. The numbers of people drawing various government assistance (i.e., not Social Security) is tiny – as you can see [url=http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/]here[/url]. The total on food stamps is available [url=http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/snapsummary.htm]here.[/url]
[Incidentally, almost everyone on food stamps is currently employed, but they make so little – 130% of the federal poverty level – that they qualify for food stamps. 6 million of those 47 million on food stamps are drawing Social Security benefits.]
With the current budget deficit at around $680 bill this year you could cut out [b]every single dollar of welfare benefit spending PLUS every single dollar spent for the food stamp program entirely[/b] and you’d still have a deficit of almost $480 billion.
The widely discussed figure of 47% that Mitt Romney threw around is only that high if you include everyone on Social Security and Medicare. Are those the types of people you are referring to as the “entitlement and dependent class”?[/quote]
I don’t think that anyone would call 47,000,000 people dependent on the government to eat each day a myth or a tiny figure. Nor is it a healthy or sustainable situation.
I wonder what would happen if suddenly government was unable to provide for these folks… do you think they’d all be starting small gardens to provide for themselves… or would they be rioting in the streets?
I have my answer…. I’m interested in yours?
When you make or, through your actions, allow people to become dependent on you it gives you power over them and takes away their will and ability to provide for themselves. Doing so gives you control over people. It gets politician elected and re-elected. Ultimately the money runs out (as we’re seeing now) and things go bad. It’s not the actions of a responsible or intelligent government.
[quote=”davidd”]sweikert925
Your right!!! geeezz how in the world did you become so smart????:wink:
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”imxploring”]The majority of the improvements in everyday life over the last 100 years have to do with advancements in science, technology, and medicine.[/quote]
[quote=”Scott”]Couldn’t agree with you more imxploring.[/quote]
To someone who is a member of the privileged class (and who would have also been a member 100 years ago) I suppose you tend to think of progress purely in those terms. You both probably even think you got where you are today with absolutely no government help.
100 years ago women couldn’t vote. Blacks were strung up from trees to the utter amusement of the local white citizens. Children were forced to work 16 hours a day in sweatshops or hellish factories. Tainted food, water and medicine killed thousands every year. 2 people of different races (not to mention 2 of the same gender) were forbidden by law to marry. The talents of bright children with poor parents were squandered due to inability to access higher education. Farmers whose crops failed starved or hung themselves from the barn because they had no recourse. Banks failed and the savings of thousands who had their money there was just lost. Old people routinely died of starvation and curable diseases.
Of course to many on the right, mention all that and the reaction you get will be “Ah, the good old days!”. (Some are doing everything they can to recreate that world). To them mention progress and they only think in terms of flat screen TVs, cell phones, Viagra and internet porn. But guess what? Progress is a whole lot more than that to people who occasionally think about more than their own comfort.[/quote][/quote]
You seem to have forgotten all the NOT SO WONDERFUL things government has brought about in the last 100 years. Including, in my mind, the dark side of some of the very “improvements” you highlight! It’s a long and very costly list many people, including yourself, seem to have no problem pushing the cost of on to our children and descendants.
Perhaps the biggest issue I’d mention is government’s creation of an entitlement and dependent class. Unlike 100 years ago if government wasn’t there to wipe someone’s bottom they figured out how to do it themselves. Today if government even mentions cutting back on it’s “care” of the public there is a major uproar! And that attitude and cost gets worse each year. At some point, and I believe we are getting close, the system has no choice but to reset or fail!
Just imagine if government cut half the social programs out… there would be anarchy in the streets! Just look at what happens during major black outs or natural disasters! That should give you some idea.
I don’t see it as a very intelligent of responsible government that creates such a situation…. more likely an effort by politicians and a government to enslave it’s people and keep themselves in power. Any doubt just look at what going on in some of the other Central and South American countries. Politicians have only one goal… getting re-elected! Those that speak the truth and tell it like it is and the unsustainable path we are on are mocked as alarmist. Time will tell!
Some readers will remember Scott and the “Perfect Storm” issue we discussed a number of years back. Some folks get it, some don’t. It has nothing to be part of a privileged class, just being part of an informed group that looks beyond the main street media and information that is spoon fed to the public.
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”johnnyh”]…there’s just no way we can get out of a 17 to 18 trillion Dollar debt plus another 200 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and a quadrillion of derivatives. [/quote]
That $17 trillion debt was 220 years in the making. We don’t have to pay it off immediately. The day I bought my condo I immediately had a debt that was several times my annual income but I had 30 years to pay it off. If we assume that we have 220 years to pay off the national debt it comes to $77 billion per year – about 2% of the current annual federal budget. Since annual federal revenue will increase as GDP increases that 2% would over time shrink to an even tinier fraction of the annual budget.
I don’t know where you’re getting this $200 trillion figure from.
Derivatives are part of the private financial system which is between a private buyer and a private seller and have no bearing on the nation’s financial situation.[/quote]
A couple of issues with your 220 year repayment plan.
#1 You are apparently making the assumption that there will be no additional debt added. And that the US will have a surplus during that entire period to make these repayments. That’s not realistic.
#2 You’re also ignoring the fact that interest rates will not remain where they are now as Federal debt is rolled over… it will not. Interest rates only have one way they can go right now…. UP! This will make it more difficult to even service the debt…. never mind paying it off.
#3 As this debt is rolled over during your proposed 220 year repayment… who is it that’s buying our debt… seems buyers are getting harder and harder to find… unless of course you count the banks and the Fed with the shell game they’re playing currently.
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”johnnyh”]…there’s just no way we can get out of a 17 to 18 trillion Dollar debt plus another 200 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and a quadrillion of derivatives. [/quote]
That $17 trillion debt was 220 years in the making. We don’t have to pay it off immediately. The day I bought my condo I immediately had a debt that was several times my annual income but I had 30 years to pay it off. If we assume that we have 220 years to pay off the national debt it comes to $77 billion per year – about 2% of the current annual federal budget. Since annual federal revenue will increase as GDP increases that 2% would over time shrink to an even tinier fraction of the annual budget.
I don’t know where you’re getting this $200 trillion figure from.
Derivatives are part of the private financial system which is between a private buyer and a private seller and have no bearing on the nation’s financial situation.[/quote]
What do you think caused the banking crisis that created the financial mess in the US that we’re still paying to contain and clean up?
“…no bearing on the nation’s financial situation.” You’re joking right? What do you think is going on with monetary policy in the US and was the cause of the mess? The result was adding another $5 trillion to the national debt! I’d say that was a pretty big issue that had quite the bearing on the nation’s financial situation!
[quote=”sprite”][quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”sprite”] Cognitive dissonance kicks in whenever facts contradict the false paradigm to which you are accustomed.[/quote]
I agree completely. But the only one here who has presented facts is me and the only one who has dismissed them is you.[/quote
You’re right. I didn’t bother with facts because I am not in the mood to put together multiple paragraphs with links to sources you will probably dismiss as biased or conspiracy theorist oriented. We are looking at the world with radically different perspectives. It has been my experience so far that people will not see what is really happening until they are ready to do so. All of the substantiated facts and logical arguments that exist would not be enough to move you from the mind conditioned perspective that has been imposed upon you. I hope you are able to shake it off one day.[/quote]
Don’t bother Sprite… there’s an explanation for the uphill battle with our friend from Chi-town.
It’s called… (Via Wiki)… The Normalcy Bias.
“The normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.”
Anyone that would make the argument that it took 220 years to accumulate the current nation debt (Even thou most of it has been racked up in very recent history)… and then claim if we have another 220 years to pay it off then it’s not a big deal… MUST have some type of issue facing reality. Then again… Illinois has a big financial issue coming to a head with it’s retirement systems… perhaps after that crisis hits home we’ll see some change in attitude.
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”Scott”]But realistically, has anything actually improved from one election to the next in the U.S?[/quote]
Yes.[quote=”Scott”]Does anything actually improve from one election to the next in the U.K?[/quote]
Yes.[quote=”Scott”]Does anything improve from one election to the next anywhere? [/quote]
Yes.It sometimes doesn’t seem that much changes from election to election but if you compare life now versus what life was like for most 100 years ago the change has been dramatic and positive.[/quote]
The majority of the improvements in everyday life over the last 100 years have to do with advancements in science, technology, and medicine. And before you say it… all had little or nothing to do with the politicians that were elected in any given year or generation. Even the scientific advancements obtained by way of the space program came at a questionable economic cost/return.
We can however thank the politicians for the massive public debt that’s been accumulated for the programs they promised and used to secure the votes they needed to get themselves elected and reelected. The “gift” that will never stop giving!
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”sprite”]When the economy is reset…[/quote]
What does that mean?[/quote]
When REALITY replaces the FANTASY that the world is currently living in. We all got a slight taste of it a few years back, the future will hold even more pain. If you have any doubt Steve just look at what is happening in Detroit and other places around the world.
The current “system” cannot be maintained on it’s present path. This isn’t the rant of some doomsday preppers. Even the US GAO has issued statements in it’s annual audit to the effect that current fiscal policy in the US is unsustainable. Source http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-271R (issued Jan 17, 2013)
Major changes are coming and should have be made a long time ago when the pain would have been tolerable. Now the changes and the depth of the hole the US is in will force a major reset of values, expectations, lifestyle, and freedoms.
We are starting to enter the end game when the central banks just give up on pretending that currency has value and just start printing with total abandon! Just look at what the ECB and the Central Bank in Japan are doing. Then look at “QE to infinity” that the Fed has embarked on. There are countries positioning themselves for the mess headed to this planet, China being one. The US is not among them, apparently the powers that be think this is an neverending road that they’re kicking the can down, but it’s not.
Being aware of the future is the only way to prepare.
[quote=”wash_me”]I am 48 and plan to move to CR when I am 55. My goal is pull 1/2% to 1% out of the stock market per month to live on. If you have $500k to work with you could make $2500 to $5000 month. Stock trading is not easy and takes years to be profitable, I mostly trade options.[/quote]
Risky plan in today’s world and where we most likely are headed. With a nest egg of $500k a simple low cost life in CR might be possible without the stock market play. Think real estate rentals…. something tangible. Farmland is also a good play. Best of luck on your dreams!
[quote=”sweikert925″]By the time a conversation descends to semantics it’s probably well past any chance of a meaningful dialog, but I never used the word “agency” in my remarks – you did. Any entity which was created by an act of Congress, which has its top officers appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the US Senate, which is subject to Congressional oversight, whose profits are returned to the US treasury and which issues the currency of a nation would, in my opinion, qualify as a government entity.
However, lets make a deal – I will revise and extend my remarks, as they say in Congress, if you will. I will change my comment above to “That would be the US government in the form of the Social Security Administration, the Federal Reserve and other government entities [b]and quasi-government entities…[/b]” and you can change your comment above to “Who might be the largest [b]single foreign[/b] holder of US debt… willing to lend Uncle Sam cash to continue the life the US is living?”.[/quote]
Come now…. you can’t really believe that congress, or the president for that matter, have ANY control over the Federal Reserve. Congress has NO ability to modify or control any actions that Ben, or Janet come next year, make in their control of monetary policy. While the facade exist in the appointment and confirmation of the chairman, the US government has NO control over the actions or inactions of the Federal Reserve. The worst congress can do is call the chairman before a committee to pretend they have such power when infact they don’t.
While it might be your opinion, the Federal Reserve does not even remotely qualify as a quasi-governmental agency. The idea of presidental appointment and congressional confirmation was part of the original plan (1913) to add some type of appearance that the system was legitimate and not what it really is… a private banking arrangement that benefits it’s secret owners and has nothing to do with benefiting the American people. You can’t really say that a debt based monetary policy that has been allowed to grow unchecked is a positive or responsible outcome to what a central bank is suppose to do. And the current QE policy will be the kiss of death to this current system. Check out how the Fed is now carrying debt on their books instead of being added to the national debt. They must have picked up that accounting trick from Enron…. and we know how that ultimately worked out! LOL
Do a little research on the history of the Fed… there’s a great book (available on line in PDF fomat)… I believe it’s titled “The Creature from Jekyll Island”…. a really great read if you’re interested. You can also buy a copy and add it to that book shelf behind you. I found it fasinating!
There’s also a great series of videos out by Mike Maloney… “The hidden secrets of money”… (you can find them on Youtube)… one (EP#4) has to do with how the Federal Reserve and how the banking system really works. It’s truly a great series that breaks down how the system really works. I’d ask that you watch it. You’ll truly enjoy it and see how the system really works.
Have a great day my friend! Sorry for any typos…. busy day here!
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”imxploring”]
Who might be the largest holder of US debt… willing to lend Uncle Sam cash to continue the lie the US is living?[/quote]That would be the US government in the form of the Social Security Administration, the Federal Reserve and other government entities. The percentage of our debt held by American individuals and government entities is far larger than the percentage held by foreign individuals or government entities.
It is a common misconception that most of our debt is held by China. China does hold a pretty large chunk – about $1.3 trillion of the nearly $17 trillion, but that comes to less than 8%.
See [url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/10/10/230944425/everyone-the-u-s-government-owes-money-to-in-one-graph]here.[/url][/quote]
Thanks for the internet education… I’m well aware of how the current US debt is broken down. The point was the fact that China is the LARGEST foreign holder of US debt… as your research confirmed.
Perhaps a quick non-reference expansion of the facts that you highlight is in order…. looking beyond the numbers and the way inwhich they were presented.
The LARGEST holder of US debt is the AMERICAN people since all the governmental agencies you sited do not have the ability to pay this debt off. It can only be retired or serviced (never will be) by the taxes and forced payment that Americans will be required to make… therefore the largest holder of US debt is the American public. As well as being the one responsible for paying it off… what a concept! A massive debt “owned” by the American people but also the responsibility of the American people to make good on… hmmm… try getting your head around that concept!
BTW. The Federal reserve is not…. nor has it ever been a government agency. It is a PRIVATE corporation owned by banks. It’s “balance sheet”…. (had to put that in quotes since in a real corporation it would imply real assets and liabilities which the Fed does not have) has expanded to holding over 3 trillion dollars in “debt” that magically isn’t included in the publicly acknowledged national debt, but must be repaid by someone (refer to the prior paragraph to see who that might be) Fire up your net research engine on these facts… it’s a topic we can have quite an interesting exchange on. But be careful…. it’s a deep and twisted rabbit hole Steve.
