Collapse Cafe 2024

monsta666 · Feb 05, 2024, 12:05 PM

@K-Dog: What people in my generation need is actionable hope i.e. what can we do today to ensure a future that is better for us. A lot of us are kind of resigned to the fact the conventional idea of retirement won't apply to us but what can we do to reduce the hurt?

No one out there in the mainstream is offering a solution except "work harder" which only enriches the current elite. People feel it in their bones that something is not quite right but cannot articulate this feeling like you can. What people want is a roadmap on what to do otherwise they are tied to working within the matrix whether they like it or not.

This feeling is made all the worse as the social contract made was if you worked/studied hard you would have a stable job that would enable you to raise a family and live a comfortable life. This hasn't been case and is seen as a failure hence the rise of less mainstream parties or leaders such as Trump or Le Pen... People are realising the current status quo is failing but don't know the answers so clamour for anyone that is not conventional.

K-Dog · Feb 05, 2024, 02:38 PM

I am working but I earned my social security so I don't have to work full time or have a job with beaucoup responsibility. An argument could be made that I don't have to work at all. I am not so arrogant to claim that. With the job I have I can eat good food. Steak dinners, and I do not worry about the extra cost. If I only had social security I would have to watch every penny. I have savings but I might need that later. I do not know how long I will live. Arbitrary spending would ruin me in a few years. Am I retired?

If I did not work, what would I do. People who 'retire' get old fast. Then they die. As long as I have the health to work, not working makes no sense to me. It keeps me young, as long as it is not overdone.

Even if I had a few million. In that case I would rent a space and make wood furniture and things to give away for free. I'd make sure I put in at least four hours a day doing it. It would be my choice in that case for sure.

Retirement means not having to pay for health insurance. You get it for free. By that standard not many Americans ever get to retire. RE can weigh in on that one. I have to pay for supplemental insurance every month.

What exactly do we mean by retirement? Not having to work? By that standard all sorts of people of all ages are already retired. We have to define our terms.

TDoS · Feb 05, 2024, 05:03 PM

Quote from: K-Dog on Feb 05, 2024, 02:38 PMWhat exactly do we mean by retirement? Not having to work?

Doing as we wish? Be it work, or not? I think I will work until my mental acuity becomes an issue and I am no longer capable of doing mental gymnastics with the young and brighter generations. After that I'll probably give up and do as much traveling as I have capabilities for it. Social security would be nice, I've got a huge leg up when it comes to health care and who pays it, regardless of Medicaid and whatnot. As has been expected since The Great Dieoff became a bust, personal doom is far more likely than the real deal finally getting around to thinning the herd as it were.

Quote from: K-DogBy that standard all sorts of people of all ages are already retired. We have to define our terms.

I'm not retired yet. I am completely eligible for everything under the sun in about 3 years. I'll go that much longer and then decide I suppose. As much adventure travel as the wife allows perhaps? 4 wheels and 2, North America specific. No urge to venture international.

RE · Feb 05, 2024, 05:15 PM

Quote from: K-Dog on Feb 05, 2024, 02:38 PMI am working but I earned my social security so I don't have to work full time or have a job with beaucoup responsibility. An argument could be made that I don't have to work at all. I am not so arrogant to claim that. With the job I have I can eat good food. Steak dinners, and I do not worry about the extra cost. If I only had social security I would have to watch every penny. I have savings but I might need that later. I do not know how long I will live. Arbitrary spending would ruin me in a few years. Am I retired?

If I did not work, what would I do. People who 'retire' get old fast. Then they die. As long as I have the health to work, not working makes no sense to me. It keeps me young, as long as it is not overdone.

Even if I had a few million. In that case I would rent a space and make wood furniture and things to give away for free. I'd make sure I put in at least four hours a day doing it. It would be my choice in that case for sure.

Retirement means not having to pay for health insurance. You get it for free. By that standard not many Americans ever get to retire. RE can weigh in on that one. I have to pay for supplemental insurance every month.

What exactly do we mean by retirement? Not having to work? By that standard all sorts of people of all ages are already retired. We have to define our terms.

I got to retire early at 55 due to disability. If it wasn't for the health issues, retirement would have been by far the greatest time of my life. Even with being crippled, it's better than working. I would have no trouble finding shit to do with myself, and I can live on just SS no problemo. I learned how to live cheap. I'd probably have driven my van and picked up a trailerable sailboat to cruise around the fjords up here in summer if I wasn't crippled, then drive it down trailering behind the van to costa rica in winter and sail the coast there. As it is, I write, make some vids, play chess and watch crappy TV.

I love not having any responsibility or having to answer to a boss or have a test to prepare for or paper to write. Do what I want, when I want. No worries about money. Just that amount of freedom is great, I don't need to be rich.

Far as medical bills go, there are 2 solutions, either you are filthy rich or just poor enough to qualify for state Medicaid to go as your secondary insurance behind Medicare. I fit Door #2. Nothing costs me a dime. Ive had $100sK in operations, more in hospital stays, still more in the nursing gulags and in home health aids. Free drugs all around, including my narc prescription. My guess is over the decade I have been disabled/retired, I have pulled well over $1M in medical bennies, not including my SS & Pension checks. I'm just under the income allowed for subsidized housing as well, so I have had 2 very nice apartments, a 1 BR and a 2BR both at 30% or less of my monthly income. I have zero debt and both my cars were paid off and bought for cash. I no longer have a car, but I have an EV scooter to go shopping or to restaurants, which is all I ever go out to do. If/When I get a new apt, I intend to upgrade to one of those Chinese mini EVs that sell for around $15K. It will take a little while to save up for it once I have control over my retirement money again, about a year if I watch my pennies. Don't really need it, but there is one I think is really cool.

One thing I definitely would NOT do if I was healthy is to work as K-Dog has chosen to do. I would have downsized out of his McMansion, which is worth a fortune. Split the proceeds with his wife and bought a top of the line RV and parked it somewhere cheap running on solar panels and growing bushels of high quality Ganja and wacky Mushrooms. But that is me, and K-Dog is not me. He's a foot taller and I think breathing the thinner air up there addled his brain. lol.

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K-Dog · Feb 05, 2024, 09:28 PM

QuoteHe's a foot taller and I think breathing the thinner air up there addled his brain.

I definitely have a different perspective.

Part of the reason I am so healthy is because the work I am doing gives me a bit of a work out. It is nice to be twice as strong as I would be without the job. Paradoxically the best thing a person can do to maintain mental acuity up is exercise. The benefit of good blood flow is more important than working crossword puzzles and stuff like that.

We all know it takes more than exercise to be smart. But smart people exercise. Steven Hawking might have been an exception to this rule. But maybe not. His brilliance was shown before his motor neurone disease developed. I don't know his story well enough to say if he did significant work later in life.

QuoteI would have no trouble finding shit to do with myself, and I can live on just SS no problemo.

I also have no trouble finding things to do. There are not enough hours in the day to do what I want. I absolutely am not working 'for something to do'. But I have experienced periods of unemployment. I learned it is hard to keep your own steam up without outside stimulation on a long term basis. Left to our own devices we get lazy and slow down.

This summer I was scheduled for too many hours, and I let my employer know. I was told they want to keep me, and will schedule me for fewer hours. Whatever I want. Things worked out.

My situation is like a student with a part time job. If someone goes to school and works part time they will have better grades than someone without a job provided the part time job is less than 20 hours a week. More than that 20 hours a week and the job gets in the way.

Everybody's situation is different. The number of hours will be different for different people. Some schooling is more demanding. But the idea is, a bit of structure gives back more than it takes away, provided the structure does not overwhelm.

RE · Feb 18, 2024, 04:56 PM

The longest in the new 2024 season on the Collapse Cafe. In this one Monsta & I discuss the issues with transitioning to EV passenger vehicles. We intended to discuss trucking and oil supply issues also, but we're both long winded when we get going, so those topics will be covered in future vids. 1:13 is already longer than the 1 hour I consider maximum for the attention span of most viewers.

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RE · Jun 16, 2024, 09:17 AM

Got a new articulated swing arm bracket to mount my phone on my EV Cripple Cart.

First video, more to follow!

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RE · Jun 17, 2024, 07:27 AM