What are the top three things that give your life meaning?
(I will not be commenting on anyone's lists(Except for Jeppy's, if they take petty cheap shots on an otherwise pleasant thread). Just curious, perhaps looking for ideas! haha)
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What are the top three things that give your life meaning?
(I will not be commenting on anyone's lists(Except for Jeppy's, if they take petty cheap shots on an otherwise pleasant thread). Just curious, perhaps looking for ideas! haha)
My first instinct was to list my three biokids, but that didn’t work because it leaves out my other kids.
so, no help to you at all:
my kids
my relationship with my husband
other people’s kids
which is actually a really funny list for an introvert who would happily go a week without seeing or speaking to another human.
is my life meaningful? is the question meaningful? Sure some things could be better and more meaningful probably (survival occupied a lot of my time last few years, until recently)
But what occupies my time and mind now voluntarily? (sure work takes time but it's just what I have to do and not meaningful).
- spending time with my bf
- political involvement (along with my bf)
- learning things and thinking about things. I'm INTP, i can't help it (yes sometimes with my bf as we read together)
Reading the theology of Walter Wink
Reading science fiction
Helping people that I cross paths with each day - by treating them kindly
#1: My family (kids, grandkids and husband)
#2: Curiosity about the world
#3: Finding beauty in the present moment
Ditto for me!Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
Family
Nature
Making something better, ie being creative and resourceful in all that I do
Family, friends, dogs.
I don't know that my life needs meaning, but I'm happy to be here.
Family
Work
Living according to my values, including not expecting other people to pick up the tab for my debts
Petty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Dishonest.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
Commentary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
A bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Just for you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Jeppy, see above. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
Edited at 7:52 by Ultralight. Original promise reneged on.
Serious question, Jeppy. What is your problem with me? Let's work it out. Let's talk.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
You make more than me yet are sticking me and other taxpayers with your debts.
Let's assume, for a moment, that the premise of your argument is valid. Why does that bother you so much?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
It's regressive, it's unfair, it's reverse Robin Hoodism.
Lots of things in this world fit those three (individually or in sum), so why does this particular issue with me bother you?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Because you are unrepentant. You brag about your international jet setting lifestyle. You insult people who dare to question your freeloading. You lack character.
Is this really true? Perhaps you are projecting something onto me. I regret every single day taking out so many student loans. Every day I go into my cubicle and do a job all day I really have no affinity for and I am only slightly above average at. I often think: "If I had not taken out those loans, maybe I could be doing something else, something I enjoy or derive meaning from."Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
But nope.
I do? Bragging? I am not sure what you are referring to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
I will zing someone back if they zing me first. Can you really blame me? Turnabout is fair play.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Please explain more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
A person with character pays for his mistakes instead of expecting those less fortunate than himself to do so.
Are you less fortunate than me?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
There are many taxpayers who never had the opportunity to go to college. They work two or three jobs trying to cover housing, food, and other basics while you fly around the world. The fact that you cannot see the unfairness in them paying your debts shows that you are a narcissist lacking in character.
Jeppy, here is something I want you to think about. Could it be that back in 2007 when the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created by congress and had strong bipartisan support that maybe these representatives thought something like this to themselves:
"Well, we really dropped the ball on a lot of these young college students. College and graduate school just aren't affordable, and part of that was because we failed them at the policy level. Maybe we should do something to make this right, to pay for our mistake as elected representatives of the people. Now, sure, some of these students went way overboard with their loans -- call it youthful indiscretions -- so we won't just forgive the loans outright. How about we make them do ten years of public service and make them pay monthly based on their income for those ten years? Yeah, that sounds like a good compromise!"
Then they passed the PSLF program into law.
Does that sounds as bad as you make it out to be?
If someone in the US is intellectually capable of going to college then they can go. They can pay for it several ways -- some join the army or coast guard. Others do Americorps. Some work full time and go part time to college to pay as they go -- which can take a looooong time. Others take out loans. Some folks work low level jobs at colleges to get free tuition. Some employers, like UPS offer some tuition reimbursement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
If they are working three jobs just to cover their food, housing, and basics, then they are simply doing it wrong. Perhaps you are romanticizing the working poor. Remember, I come from the working poor, the wrong side of the tracks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Narcissist is a very strong label to apply to someone. Are you really sure it fits?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
I could possibly support a loan forgiveness program for people living below the Federal poverty level only allowed to have minimal assets, as with other welfare programs - you can only have a car worth a few thousand dollars, no bank accounts over a minimal amount, etc.
Blaming the victim.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
How many people with one or more university degrees would qualify for this? Why should you be the arbiter of who qualifies for loan forgiveness and who doesn't?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Also, does it really help society to forgive the loans of people who have multiple degrees but for some inexplicable reason can't get a job making $15+ an hour? The people at Whole Foods and Amazon make that and they do not need degrees.
Or would it be more helpful to society to allow educated, skilled folks the opportunity to serve the public by working for the government or 501c3 non-profits for a decade while they make reasonable salaries, make monthly payments based on those salaries, and then be forgiven their remaining debt after those terms are met? This way people in my situation can, if they choose, engage in the economy in a mostly enfranchised way. If I was married, I could very easily buy a house. If I wanted to, I could afford to have a family. I was able to buy a car, rent an apartment, and -- yes, afford some luxuries. For me these are once or twice a year trips to foreign countries. I can afford these trips because I don't own a house or have kids and because I live frugally otherwise in a sparsely furnished apartment and so forth.
Explain to me how working three jobs just to cover the basics makes any sense to anyone. I grew up deep in the working poor. I have never seen someone have to work three jobs to cover their basics.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
But you are digressing from the topic. So let's get back to that, if we can.
The cost of living is higher on the coasts, especially the cost of housing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
Some people have high out of pocket medical costs, the leading cause of bankruptcy.
Some people have dependents.
These people should not pay for what you admit are your "luxuries". But you are determined to justify your privileges gained at the expense of the less fortunate.
Okay... I would suggest people who cannot afford to live there move to more affordable locations. Now you might say: "But they can't afford to move!"Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
What is more costly, a one-time expense of moving to a much lower cost of living area or a lifetime of paying out the wazoo to live on the coast?
And as a liberal, I think that we should address this issue by creating a single-payer healthcare system like Canada has, for instance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
I also think these people should eat more vegetables and exercise.
What does this have to do with my Public Service Loan Forgiveness?
How'd that happen?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
People who are really poor don't pay much or any taxes. So they are not paying for my luxuries. If anything, I am paying for them as I pay taxes that go to many social programs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
You seem oddly fixated on me and on my enrollment in the PSLF program. You seem to begrudge me for making merely $58k.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
I went from making $50k to $58k by taking a job in a city/state where I know almost no one and to work for a university whose primary mission is socioeconomic uplift. 42% of our students have an Expected Family Contribution of $0. Over 90% of our students qualify for need-based aid. Over 50% are first generation college students -- the children of the working poor.
While I could have taken other jobs at more prestigious universities (such as the one I left) I chose this one for several reasons. One of this biggest reasons was that I wanted to empower students who come from the same socioeconomic milieu as me with a college education -- something that was absolutely life-changing for me, an unremarkable kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
Also, I get more money, more vacation time, some other good benefits, and I get to be the member of a union.
How did it happen that people land up with dependents? You tell me. How did you land up supporting a dog instead of paying more on your student loan debts?
Somehow they found time and wherewithal between their three jobs, debilitating medical debts, horrible bankruptcies, lack of opportunity to go to college, payments for my luxuries, and all around hard luck to knock boots? :~)Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Back when I was in graduate school, about ten years ago, I saw my future dog on Pet Finder. This was a dog in need of rescue! So I went and got my Harlan. The rest, as they say, is history!Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Again, you are digressing from the topic we set out to work through. Could it be that you are starting to realize it is time for you to update your beliefs about me and about the PSLF program?
It's free entertainment (pre-pregnancy).Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
Yup, you know you lost this argument. That is why you quit addressing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
I will never support a regressive program that funds your jet set lifestyle. Social programs should be for the needy not the greedy who have a sense of entitlement to let others pay for their overpriced educational mistakes. You claim to be a liberal but you support a regressive policy rather than a progressive one. $58K is a lot of money in the heartland. It's the average income for a household not an individual. There is nothing poor or deserving of a subsidy about it. But you have no shame and you keep wanting to re-argue the same points rather than admit you are a moocher.