Good point. I think we elect our government. Not sure what we can do about religious institutions or what they preach. My remark was directed to religion as the mentality who has controlled what has been taught in school for centuries.(obviously not today's public schools) I hope that as a society we will be able to learn from our mistakes and teach our children for their future. I think government is a mirror of it's society, if you want to fix government, you have to first fix society. (Or you have to have a government who has the power to fix society, which in our case it doesn't.) The only way society evolves is through growing pains, there is no other way.
sad but very true. It applies to all of us as individuals. After all society is the sum of the individuals.
very good post, bushite. One stupid poll said american men were prized as marriage mates because they "helped out around the house." LOL.
Umm, no. That's not the reason. Everyone today wants to be rich. Their inability to do so has nothing to do with the religious beliefs that were imposed on them. Honestly, I went to a catholic school until I was 12 years old and don't even remember the "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" quote. Nor do I remember anyone ever saying that "wealth is bad". Only a small percentage of the population will ever become rich. Nothing new here. Yet, you mention the importance of financial management skills for young people, but don't seem to realize that if everyone was frugal, the consumer markets we have today would not exist. Thus, the frugal types would have less access to opportunities designed for wealth creation. The reason why others are able to earn any real money investing is due to the fact that most people piss their money away. Don't show them the error in their ways. They'll never learn anyway. Rather, take advantage of it. It has been this way since the dawn of human civilization and will likely end this way as well. Do you honestly believe that if kids were required to take a personal finance course that they would grow up to be more responsible consumers? Give me a break.
Your reasoning that people are irresponsible provides the very cracks in the floorboards that allows gov. and churches to grow and prosper.
Tim.(6:10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Tim (6:9) But they that will be (have a desire to be) rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful hists, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Agree, but it doesn't have to be. Over the last 2 centuries we have had more wealth created within the masses than ever before. What do you think happened to the kids that lived through the great depression? Did they not learn something? That the generations that followed forgot about the lessons of those years is another story.
The government perhaps. Churches? I really don't believe religion is the root of the problem here. Yes, there are some dumb southern hick retirees who give their social security money to televangelists. However, no amount of financial education is going to teach kids to spend money wisely, just as sex education won't keep kids from having sex and the DARE program won't stop kids from doing drugs. Certain people are predisposed to impulse buying. In fact, the root of the problem may have more to do with nature rather than nurture.
So to summarize this thread... Leveraging income and assets to live beyond your means: bad. Leveraging income and assets to trade @ 10:1 or beyond : bad if you are Goldman Sachs or HSBC Leveraging income and assets to trade @ 10:1 or beyond : a Good Thing and Vitally Necessary For Well Functioning Markets