As I have been in the Philippines almost two years now. I can't say what's actually going on there. But what I see on the internet don't look good at all. I am glad I am here that's for sure.
How’s it going in America
- Thread starter RyanScanner
- Start date
Hello; well it did not take long to have politically charged comments show up. Inflation & vaccines.
First inflation. That scourge has been with us for decades and/or centuries depending on the time frame you pick. As an example back in 1970 I wanted to buy a new Camaro RS. Just got my first job out of college. The Camaro listed for $4,000. However, my salary for that year was $4,500. So I did not get it.
Go back a century or so and $40 a month was a common salary. I do not have a handy comparison for a price on horse. One point can be that inflation is not a big issue if a salary increase can match the increase. Those of you who can make more do not feel inflation as much as those like me on a fixed income.
Another point is the rate of inflation is the bigger factor than inflation exists at all. I try to find analogies which fit but most fall short. Here is one which sort of works. Picture a large basement. I sometimes have used a large ship but lets try a basement. The basement is slowly filling up and as long as it is a mere trickle it is not too much of an issue. Picture your income as the capacity of a pump to almost but not quite keep ahead of the leak. The basement is still slowly filling up but we can live with it.
Then something happens and the rate of the leak increases dramatically. Say the leak increases five fold. To keep up with the leak more income has to be inputted into the pump. But most of us cannot boost our income five fold quickly. So the basement has more and more water in it because the pump cannot keep up with the leak. Every day more and more water in the basement.
Then a plumber comes along and does a decent job of fixing the leak. He slows the leak back down close to the trickle. Now there still is water leaking into the basement but at a much slower rate. Trouble is the big gush of water that got into the basement when the leak rate was high. That water is still there.
OK, that analogy falls short. Going back only a few years the inflation rate was slow from say 2016 to 2020. Then money was printed out of thin air and used for covid handouts, lockdowns and the like. Then soon after another huge amount was printed which mostly funded the green agendas, EV's and the like and not too much infrastructure. All that printed money is the bigger leak into the basement analogy. Led to well over 9% inflation.
Now inflation is back down to much lower levels. Prices are not rising very much currently. However, the prices we had at around 2024 are going to be much like the water standing in the basement. That being the prices are set. The plumber is doing a good job on inflation going forward but cannot change history that caused inflation for around four years.
Just as my salary slowly increased over the decades since 1970, so did inflation. I only got ahead every now and then by being very careful with my spending and taking on extra jobs. Camaros are no longer sold but an equivalent might be a Mustang GT. No surprise that a base Mustang GT costs much the same as my current income.
Vaccines are even more simple to figure out. We were lied to about the Covid 19 vaccine. Lied to many times in various ways. A big difference is even now no one is denied any vaccine. You can take any that are available. You just get to choose now rather than some being mandated. As a child I had measles, mumps and chicken pox.
I think the first vaccine i had was when in the fourth grade. They loaded my school into the back of a produce truck and took us to a school gym. we got the shots en-mass. For decades later I trusted the shots and the medical profession. They broke the trust. I am not yet anti-vaccine, but I will question from now on.
The trust can be won back, but such will have to be earned. No more exemptions from liability for drug companies. No more kickbacks to clinics based on how much product they can administer. No more heads of medical agencies lying on TV and then just walking away without a consequence. No more pardons.
First inflation. That scourge has been with us for decades and/or centuries depending on the time frame you pick. As an example back in 1970 I wanted to buy a new Camaro RS. Just got my first job out of college. The Camaro listed for $4,000. However, my salary for that year was $4,500. So I did not get it.
Go back a century or so and $40 a month was a common salary. I do not have a handy comparison for a price on horse. One point can be that inflation is not a big issue if a salary increase can match the increase. Those of you who can make more do not feel inflation as much as those like me on a fixed income.
Another point is the rate of inflation is the bigger factor than inflation exists at all. I try to find analogies which fit but most fall short. Here is one which sort of works. Picture a large basement. I sometimes have used a large ship but lets try a basement. The basement is slowly filling up and as long as it is a mere trickle it is not too much of an issue. Picture your income as the capacity of a pump to almost but not quite keep ahead of the leak. The basement is still slowly filling up but we can live with it.
Then something happens and the rate of the leak increases dramatically. Say the leak increases five fold. To keep up with the leak more income has to be inputted into the pump. But most of us cannot boost our income five fold quickly. So the basement has more and more water in it because the pump cannot keep up with the leak. Every day more and more water in the basement.
Then a plumber comes along and does a decent job of fixing the leak. He slows the leak back down close to the trickle. Now there still is water leaking into the basement but at a much slower rate. Trouble is the big gush of water that got into the basement when the leak rate was high. That water is still there.
OK, that analogy falls short. Going back only a few years the inflation rate was slow from say 2016 to 2020. Then money was printed out of thin air and used for covid handouts, lockdowns and the like. Then soon after another huge amount was printed which mostly funded the green agendas, EV's and the like and not too much infrastructure. All that printed money is the bigger leak into the basement analogy. Led to well over 9% inflation.
Now inflation is back down to much lower levels. Prices are not rising very much currently. However, the prices we had at around 2024 are going to be much like the water standing in the basement. That being the prices are set. The plumber is doing a good job on inflation going forward but cannot change history that caused inflation for around four years.
Just as my salary slowly increased over the decades since 1970, so did inflation. I only got ahead every now and then by being very careful with my spending and taking on extra jobs. Camaros are no longer sold but an equivalent might be a Mustang GT. No surprise that a base Mustang GT costs much the same as my current income.
Vaccines are even more simple to figure out. We were lied to about the Covid 19 vaccine. Lied to many times in various ways. A big difference is even now no one is denied any vaccine. You can take any that are available. You just get to choose now rather than some being mandated. As a child I had measles, mumps and chicken pox.
I think the first vaccine i had was when in the fourth grade. They loaded my school into the back of a produce truck and took us to a school gym. we got the shots en-mass. For decades later I trusted the shots and the medical profession. They broke the trust. I am not yet anti-vaccine, but I will question from now on.
The trust can be won back, but such will have to be earned. No more exemptions from liability for drug companies. No more kickbacks to clinics based on how much product they can administer. No more heads of medical agencies lying on TV and then just walking away without a consequence. No more pardons.
How’s it going? Nearly $2billion in grants for community addiction treatment and mental health services cut today…
www.cbsnews.com
Trump administration slashes grants for mental health and addiction treatment programs
The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, lost around $1.9 billion in federal grants, which were abruptly terminated on Tuesday, a source said.
www.cbsnews.com
Hello; A very direct one side only criticism of a change in policy. Also a direct mention of an administration. Lets see if the old one sided standards still apply on here. I am careful to not do either.How’s it going? Nearly $2billion in grants for community addiction treatment and mental health services cut today…
Trump administration slashes grants for mental health and addiction treatment programs
The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, lost around $1.9 billion in federal grants, which were abruptly terminated on Tuesday, a source said.
I do not know much of this change. My guess is there will a reason or reasons for the change.
Hello; Some things ought to be mentioned with regard to the ACA. First being the original act depended on an unconstitutional part which was soon removed by the supreme court. That part included provisions which forced young and/or otherwise healthy to sign up for the health care plan. There were financial penalties to be applied to those who did not sign up. The court struck down that part.
That move by the court took away funding which was essential for the act to work at all. So, when in power advocates of the law started funding subsidies with taxpayer monies. I know of one man who is quite well off with a large fine home and acres of land outside of Louisville KY who managed to get on Medicaid some years ago because of these maneuvers.
Skip ahead to the pandemic years. Along with the massive printing of monies and shoving such out the door for the pandemic stuff the opportunity was used to sign up millions onto Medicaid. Millions who had not qualified before the pandemic and who currently continue to not qualify. The enhanced subsidies were scheduled to end by the very folks who wrote the law at the time. That was December of 2025. So, from a date during the pandemic unqualified people were given taxpayer monies to help pay for health coverage.
Here is an important take. Folks who did qualify back then and who today still qualify will not be losing the extra monies which help them get insurance. Only those who do not qualify have lost the subsidies as of 15 days ago.
Now we can discuss the reasons why some qualify and some do not if you wish to. The thing is those millions got a gift of taxpayer monies for a few years. It was supposed to be part of the pandemic largess and intended to be temporary. I know some people in my community who are truly disabled and do need such help as Medicaid. Those folks actually qualify. The millions you cite do not qualify so have lost he extra monies.
Call me a prophet I guess. I didn’t even get through my first bag of popcorn 
Hello; While i do not know the numbers such reports have been televised today. The flu cases are not a big change over the years. The flu shots have been hit or miss for decades. Some years the shots are close to what variety of flu virus dominates. Other years, perhaps this season, the shots are ineffective. The gamble takes place months before the flu season starts. The guesstimate which strain(s) will take hold and formulate the vaccine ahead of time. Takes time to make enough vaccine. Now i do not know what the poster is trying to imply with the post with regard to the flu.
With the measles his case is stronger. The measles shots are known to be effective. Hard to argue many cases could not be prevented with the shots. There are however at least two things to consider. One is a general backlash from the way the medical top bosses handled the pandemic as i already mentioned. Some folks were burned by the medical industrial complex and may be making decisions based on such an experience. Again the thing is a parent can have the shot for a child if they decide to.
The second thing is a specific question the medical community has yet to find an answer for. That being the autism spectrum. In the past the rate was 1 in 10,000. Now it is 1 in 30 something. Questions have been raised about ingredients in vaccines. There are some associations. but an association is not proof of causation. I forget the numbers just now it has been reported the number of required vaccine shots has been reduced. I grew up before the large number became common so was a bit taken back. A few are still required but the rest are up to the parent.
I cannot take a side of the measles shot.
A possible good thing could be the medical folks will have to get out and convince us their stuff is worth having. No longer "experts" making decisions for us mere peons and getting to mandate their very profitable products. Before the pandemic I would be shouted down for such a statement. But the truth has come out. We know much of what was done to us rather than for us.
In the short term the backlash may not be wise. I might get a kid a measles shot if the choice was up to me. But I had measles, chicken pox and the mumps back when that was the way to become immune.
Bloody hell! Hearing it from all your points of view it really sounds like the US is steadily turning into the UK!
welcome to our world ………. Although if you come by little inflatable boat could you please put them in the storage cupboards we are gonna set up on the beaches cos at some point some of us might need them to get to Australia!
welcome to our world ………. Although if you come by little inflatable boat could you please put them in the storage cupboards we are gonna set up on the beaches cos at some point some of us might need them to get to Australia!
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Exactly try to explain without the polarisation echo chamber bs, I don’t watch news or have any social media so I won’t get it anyway lol. Lived experiences on the ground is what I’m asking.Interesting question Ryan. As you know mate, I am a Aussie living in the US. This question is not one that is able to be meaningfully answered by any American WITHOUT including their politics or preferred media outlet narrative.
My prediction; this thread is gonna get ugly
