| >Each of us consumes far more services than we produce. Speak for yourself, not everyone is in debt all the time, and some never in debt whatsoever even when they have no unusually above-average earnings. But as part of a vast majority, you are as correct as possible. Then again capital is just plain Other Peoples' Money, and you can't be a capitalist without capital, no matter how much you wish it was true. One problem with housing is that real estate has investment potential but for decades it has been too expensive for average people. Debt is crafted to barely make it possible to get into a property, and you may do well if values increase but there is an entire system in place so that others profit more from the same piece of property than you. Vehicles are another high-dollar item where debt is usually incurred, but these almost always depreciate fast. You can draw the line there and be pretty realistic, but there are plenty of people who are at the extreme where everything that costs money is borrowed. So that's about as close to capitalist as most people get. That's about all of OPM they have at their disposal, and the only thing invested in that has upside potential is the home. For those fortunate enough to have gotten in when it was more within reach. And there can still be a gradual spiral downward which is too slow to notice until it's too late. Sometimes it helps to do the math and not be afraid to admit how far from capitalist you actually are compared to how capitalist everbody thinks they are. Disclaimer: this article was DOA & flagged instantly with zero comments, but it seemed OK to me and I vouched and now look at it. Nobody's fault but mine. |