I was listening to NPR News about the latest federal agency the President is attacking, this time the Smithsonian Museum and other federally-supported museums. More run of the mill Trumpsterisms, you know the War on Woke and DOGE, firing all of the talented people and then putting those who remain under a lot of pressure to revise history to conform to the President.
Kind of mundane. Trump is awful. But then as I finally got out of the hollow on my evening commute, I was reminded why I voted for Trump, when I heard them moving to some shooting at an “unsanctioned” youth car rally that ended up in a hail of gunfire with a bunch of kids getting shot, and the New Mexico governor pushing her latest gun control agenda, with liberal feigning over her absurdly strict and police enpowering laws, and how the Democratic legislature in that state was bounded to reject this latest group of proposals as being too far out there for a largely rural western state where a lot of people own guns. If the liberals weren’t so gleeful about gun control and locking up everything as wilderness, maybe I’d have more of an open mind to them. It’s like the liberals are almost gleeful when kids are murdered, as it’s a way to enrich the cops and themselves through the enactment of strict gun control measures. Maybe it’s all the campaign contributions from special interests that have blown all sanity out of their brains.
As a Democrat, I am sympathetic to many of the Democrats causes, and Trump 2.0 has proven so awful, but the Democrats aren’t winning gold stars in my book either. It’s so obvious in my mind, Democrats haven’t learned a thing since Trump and Republicans took over the nation. Hoping the Republicans would crash and burn and your party wouldn’t look so bad isn’t solution. Or the Democrats taking over the preaching for consumerism, now very concerned about inflation and trade barriers. Whatever happened to fair trade or living with less? Paying a bit more for fairness? Not that I think Trump is going the right away around trade. But we got to stop flooding our communities with so much cheap, disposable Chinese crap that is posioining our bodies, air, water, and land.
It was just one of those days. As the unit Director, I got to let people know about their COLAs and raises for the year today, and obviously the people who got big bumps and promotions were happier then those who did not. It’s tough to make good calls, you can’t give everybody what they want, and there was a lot of rules we had to follow in adjusting salaries, and ultimately it wasn’t my decision as lot of people had to sign off. Plus, I wasn’t thrilled with my COLA though I’m sure it’s equitable to other directors in my position with the same level of experience. I literally have $432 in my bank account after all the bills this week, with the car insurance, and I don’t know how people survive on so much less. People say it’s because I’m saving and investing so much, but it sure doesn’t feel like much after all the taxes are do. I tried to be fair. My unit did like the Italian cookies I picked up at the supermarket. Much more popular then the homemade ones I made a few weeks back, and the ones I tried to make last week and ended up making a lot of smoke. But those burnt cookies were good ground up and put in my coffee the next few days as sugar. I hate to waste anything.
I wish I was out camping this weekend, I had hope but it’s going to be another meaningless weekend stuck at home. Took the garbage out, looking forward soon to having a big fire. Not sure what was stinking so bad in the freezer, maybe it was the canned pumpkin I had in the fridge that was getting moldy. Still need to empty out the compost. And I’ve been doing a lot of dreaming about off-grid living and building a cabin. All because of that Homesteady YouTube of them selling their farm and moving to Alaska. At the same time, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking of what it means to live truly rural, to be poor, to be a homesteader and pulling things together from what you have. But all the freedom of living remotely in a rural state. And the knowledge and skills to do your own repairs and take care of your own needs. I do enjoy doing my own maintance on my bike, and I’ve really gotten to dislike just taking things to the store to be repaired professionally or replacing things unnecessarily. This has me researching and watching YouTube videos about building a cabin yourself.
"Americans’ are saving their money at the lowest rate in 73 years-the lowest rate since the Great Depression. The national personal savings rate was negative (!) 1% in 2006. That means that as a whole, the country is spending more than it is taking in. With the economy on a downhill slide, Americans may start tightening their purse strings. But I predict that instead, people will simply start running up more credit card and loan debt. They have gotten used to a certain lifestyle, and feel entitled to continuing living it."
One of the most concerning news stories of recent weeks is our low national savings rate. Last year it was a negative 1.6%. The previous year it was negative 1%. This year’s rate is the lowest in over 70 years.
For most Americans, that’s just another financial figure that goes in one ear and out the other. For some it’s not surprising, as they know first hand the impact of our mounting debt on their finances. They know what it feels like to be beholden to the bank.
Yet, for those who have a real understanding of this figure it’s pretty scary. It means we are spending more then we have money coming in. And a lot of that debt is not going to things that are improving us or building our country. It’s one thing to be borrowing money to get an education or buy an house or pickup truck, it’s another to buying more toys then you really need.
There is a lot of evidence that we are buying more toys then we need. We are too often sold consumerism and become blind to our own means or the costs of our consumption. Indeed, the personal financial transaction is minor compared to all the stuff we are amassing as individuals.
All those material possessions had to come from somewhere. They involved the exploitation of some material whether close or far away from us. They may have or may not have brought money into the local community. More likely then not, these days, they didn’t. And then they have to go somewhere.
There is no problem with making investments into the future. Likewise, there is no problem with purchasing material goods. But we need to be reasonable at what we buy and realize that there is only so much we really need. We need to focus more on ourselves and our communities, and stop buying things.
The cliche that got a lot of people mad at me at the end of 2022 was saying, “years don’t really matter much, decades matter much more”. To make people even madder at my, I pointed out years are only meaningful in how they contribute to the decade. A whole is the sum of it’s parts. But that’s so true.
One thing I’m seeing over and over about healthy eating, it’s much like investing and personal finance. Each little investment isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things, you will never have a secure future or retirement with one investment. But over time, that buck or two here and there, every day adds up. Likewise, each calorie consumed adds on to the waistline, each unhealthy food eaten leads you closer and closer to an untimely death.
Future goals are big and distant, as they are the sum of so many parts. But each part is meaningful as it contributes to the future. It’s true that life is like a flywheel in an engine, an occasional misfire here and there won’t add up to much. But that should not be an excuse for operating an engine that is regularly misfiring, as damage accumulates. People often think it’s okay to give excuses for occasional misdeeds or misfires — that occasional slice of cake or cup of store bought coffee– some liberties to lighten life up, but that is a dangerous practice.
There are things out of your control that you can’t address — like the a downturn in the market or that cup of coffee on the road you need to stay alert to drive home safely. Maybe you have to go out and have an unhealthy meal with some friends. But you should avoid incidental bad behaviors whenever possible. Misfiring in an engine is harmful, as it to your goals. Just because you can survive an occasional misfire, doesn’t mean you should build into your life.
The best thing when it comes to self-improvement is automation. I have a set investment and savings plan, I rarely look at it or give it much thought. A few times a year, I’ll check on my net worth but normally the money comes out of my paycheck and is invested. Each morning I go for a walk at 6:15 AM and each evening at 7:00 PM, regardless of weather, because it’s important to get my default 10,000 plus steps in. Likewise, I just make it the default option to buy healthier foods, and follow the one bowl or plate rule. As I don’t eat out often at all, whatever I buy is what I end up eating. I continue to learn to be a better cook and eater, but it’s not because I intend to be thinking about it non-stop, but because I want to make sensible defaults that make eating healthier the default option.
A lot of people think it takes willpower or effort to do the right thing. But that’s not the truth. If you want to do something, it’s best to automate it and give it as little thought as possible. And just move forward.
