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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: benwood who wrote (100220)	2/11/2004 9:08:25 PM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

It's only happened to me once in my life, but losing everything, and finding yourself completely dependent on the whim and snap judgment of other people, is very depressing. But some people who are suddenly arriving at this condition have had decades to save, to deny themselves instant satisfaction, and to make prudent decisions about the future. And instead, they have borrowed and spent, consumed and wasted. Pretty soon it may be time to roll out all the "New Deal" ideas. Some of those "make work" projects of the 1930s did wonderful things--the federal writers and painters projects. As a child I much enjoyed hiking trails built by the CCC--Civilian Conservation Corps, young unemployed men living in tents and fed in tent kitchens. Kept them alive and busy for a while.

To: benwood who wrote (100220)	2/12/2004 5:59:16 PM
From: Bilow	Respond to of 132070

Hi Ben Henwood; Re: "Isn't that sweet... making, what, $100-$250 a month, free and clear, in place of the $3000-6000 they were taking home before?" There are plenty of people minting money on eBay. Some of those unemployed people ain't looking for work because no employer can match the pay that eBay can, at least for them. If you're a member of eBay you can look at their accounts and add up the dollar volume yourself. These people are selling $300,000+ per year, most of it profit. Of course the same situation obtains with the people who daytrade. Most lose at it, but despite that, there is fairly large number of people who consistently mint money at it, and have been doing it for many years, good times and bad. Just because most people can't do it is not proof that it's impossible, just that it's not completely trivial. The average person just isn't very smart. -- Carl