Three Big Bubbles Will Burst: Part V, The End

In the final part of this series, I want to reflect on price (cost). Sounds simply, but it isn’t really.

You hear the comment, “Wow, things are really going up. It costs so much more to live now.” This is the illusion that is being cast upon everyone. It mainly comes from politicians, and mostly from liberals (currently most Democratic candidates and a lot of Republicans).

They run on fear because they usually have no ideology their own, and figure they can scare the votes out of enough people to win.

Here are the cold hard facts. Almost all things we spend money on today are cheaper than they ever have been, with one exception.

People live in fear of gasoline prices going up. It cost about .32 a gallon in 1964 which in today’s dollar is about $3.84 which we have just currently exceeded. Stop and think about that. Until recently it was dirt cheap.

How about cars? A fully loaded 1967 Chevrolet Impala at the end of the season (I know this first hand) was sold for $4441. Now that would be a little less than $50,000. There is no equivalent car because they have improved so much and added so many features, especially safety ones. The MPG back then was 12 – 15. The same car today would probably be about $16,000 and wouldn’t be allowed on the road.

Everything considered, it costs a whole lot less to drive a mile today than ever.

Food is dirt cheap, really, even with the recent rises. Here are some examples. In the 1950’s, milk was .50 per gallon, that’s almost $8.00 today. Do you pay that much? Eggs were .35 per dozen, $4.00 today, again not.

On top of that, try and remember the grocery stores back, how much were mangos, ugly fruit, soy milk, tofu, 18 kinds of apples, Asian pears? What’s that, you don‘t remember? They weren’t even offered until 1970’s, or later: we had no real selection back then.

How about television? In 1957 we (my family) bought our first one, an RCA 21” black and white model for $225.00, in today’s money, that would be $3,150, more than the cost of a 65”, HD, 1080p, LCD, flat screen.

Don’t ever talk to me about the “good old days” and make me sit through a movie from back then. You just can’t compare Forbidden Planet with Iron Man.

What makes all the difference: technology, that’s it? From electronics, to food, to the clothing on our backs everything is so much cheaper even with the recent price increases. Don't blame business, price gouging, or anything like that. Put the blame where it belongs.

What hasn’t decreased? TAXES!!!!!! No matter what they do with the “progressive” federal income tax, they get you good. Each and every one of us, whether we pay federal or state income taxes or not, pays 60% to 90% of what we earn in taxes. Every loaf of bread, car, tomato, sponge, and on, has compound taxes built into it at every level. Most of what you pay for anything is comprised of taxes. This is why two people in the family has to work to make a go of it.

Our governments have gotten so used to feeding at the public’s teat, they don’t know any other way of existence. As long as we keep reelecting these people to run our lives, it will continue. Every one of them (liberals all), President Bush, Senators Obama, Clinton, & McCain has no interest in you or your lives, no matter what they say.

When Benjamin Franklin was asked what type of government we had gotten, he answered, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” We didn’t. The republic has been replaced with a mutant form of autocracy.

Why do I stay so upbeat? I’ve lived through some of the worst of them, and I will continue to survive with whoever or whatever is thrown at us. But… there will come a day, in the not too distant future, when this pimple will come to a head, and you had better be ready to pop it. I know that is a nasty analogy, but it will be that awful when it comes.

Be happy, survive, and be prepared. Live life to the fullest as if each day were your last.

The Hammer

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