The Office of Senior Affairs reported recently, hat 50% of the boomers reaching retirement age, could retire POOR!  I believe it!  With all the greed, gouging, and corruption going on in the country, it's no wonder that anyone can still survive, much less save for the future, etc.  And, it's getting worse all the time!

"Greed is good!"  Back in the Stone Age of the 1980's, me and my wife saw a movie entitled, "Wall Street."  And, in the movie...one of the Wall Street characters...a cigar-chomping man, with an arrogant smile, proclaimed, "Greed is Good!" 

In the year 2008, greed is NOT good...but it's everywhere and all of have to deal with it.  Everywhere you look...everybody's in it...from sea to greedy sea! 

It used to be that companies were happy to make millions of dollars every year...but no more!  The corporate world and their stockholders, are not happy unless they make hundreds of millions of dollars a year.  And, many companies and their stockholders, are not happy unless they make billions of dollars every QUARTER!  This is obscene and a disgrace!

"The man who has millions at the cost of his conscience...is a failure!"  BC Forbes 

Medical:  This is an area which is important to all of us, and the medical field is one of the most gouging and greedy in our society...especially the pharmaceutical industry!  Most American's don't have health insurance, or are under-insured.etc.  As the nation ages...the problem will get worse!  The health situation in this country is a disgrace!

Housing:  The American Dream...OR the American nightmare?  The cost of housing in America has been appalling for years!  I told a friend about ten years ago, that the bubble in the housing industry was going to burst sometime in the future...and it did!  The greed in the housing industry is astonishing...and there are fools who are paying $150,000 to $200,000 for a cracker-box house!  Many people who have done this, can't possible pay back the mortgage before they retire!  How did it get to this?  Easy money; easy credit; no down payment...heck...just show up, and you'll get the keys for your brand new house, etc. 

Financial/banking; I asked a bank teller, how much a money order cost, and she told me $4.00.  So, I went next door to the grocery store and bought  money order for 49 cents.  Back in the Stone Age, you could have a document notarized for free...but not anymore!  Today, the bank will charge you $5.00 or more!  It's all part of the greed in this country!

 Grocery:  Here's another epicenter of greed and gouging, and we all have to deal with it on a daily basis!  Back in the 1970's, there was a company who manufactured baby diapers.  The company raised the price on the diapers, and the American public answered back, by letting the diapers rot on the shelf, etc.  Guess what the company did?  They lowered the price on the diapers, and they began to sell again!  The power of the people!  Leave it on the shelf to rot...and buy store brands to same a little money, etc.

Department Stores:  You've probably heard the song entitled, "Fools Rush In,"  That song reminds me about that ridiculous day, called Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving, when people make fools of themselves attacking department stores at four o' clock in the morning to throw their money away in the start of the Christmas shopping season, etc.  Christmas is losing its meaning...and that irritates me!  Christmas in NOT about how the retailers are doing during the holiday season or during the year, etc. 

Many retailers buy their wares and espercially their clothes from the sweat shops in Central America and the Far East in Asia for pennies on the dollar.  And, then they gouge the American consumer!  That's the simple truth of it all...like it or not!  I could care less if the retailers go belly-up!  If they can't keep their prices down and reasonable, they deserve to go under!  The American people are getting tired and fed up with the gouging that's going on in the retailing industry, etc.

Albuquerque, New Mexico has three large shopping malls of over 300 stores each.  Cottonwood is on the west side of the river, and Coronado Center and Winrock Center (Winthrop Rockefeller) was built in 1860, and is now a ghost town, and it has no stores that are open!

That's probably due (in part) to the effect the Internet is having on business, etc.  But, greed and gouging probably have something to do with it as well.  I hape Albuquerqeueans do their tiny part and stay away from these greedsters and put them out of business!  The power of the people!  So, if the other two shopping malls, don't keep their prices down and reasonable for the consumer, they might become a ghost town as well.

"At the endof the day...anybody who thinks there are rewards for nothing...ends up losing."  Kerry Stokes

Wall Street; Real Estate; Banking meltdown:  There's no doube in my mind, that when all the dust settles in this meltdown that is occurring in 2008...the finger will point to greed; gouging; fraud; corruption, etc...etc...etc. and all American's will be worse off because of it!  

Sports:  I think this realm, is the greediest of them all.  Over-paid football; basketball and baseball players, and don't forget the over-paid coaches and managers as well, etc.  Most of these over-paid coaches and managers as well, etc.  Most of these over-paid crybabies and spoiled brats...have the arrogance to go with it!  And, who's the fool in all of this...meaning higher ticket prices...the fans, of course!  With all the cheating going on in sports and the obscene salaries, I have found something to occupy my time. 

Music/concerts:  Here's another greddy realm...that has shot itself in the foot...in my view!  I think the greed and gouging began in the early 1980's, whtn the Michael Jackson had tickets for a concert at $30.00.  This was a jaw-dropper for many people at the time, but $30.00 in the greedy year of 2008, doesnt't seem so bad. 

Before Ray Charles died, I wanted to see him live in concert.  And, about ten years ago, he made an appearance in Albuquerque, New Mexico (where I live).  But, the tickets were $50.00! FORGET IT!  Nobody is worth $50.00 to me...and I'm not paying $50.00 to see Ray Charles or anybody else!

Entertainment:  The cost of a movie...another rip-off!  The actors, directors, and producers in the movie business don't deserves to be well paid...it's the writers...because they originate and lay down the blueprint for the movie.

I have not attended a New Mexico State Fair in over twenty years, because of all the gouging and greed that goes on there, etc.  The headlines in the Albuquerque Journal for September, 2008 reads, "State Fair Cuts Prices of Tickets."  In the first week of the State Fair, it drew a dismal 14% less attendance than the year before!  And, that's when governor Bill Richardson got involved and ordered theFair manager to reduce the prices.  By law, the state fair has to break even, so prices were lowered across board...food; tickets; parking; rides, etc...and only time will tell how the Fair did in 2008.    

UPDATE:  In an article dated September, 2008 and appearing in the Albuquerque Journal, the headline reads, "Attendance at the State Fair Drops 17% by the end of the fair!  Governor Richardson and his puppets at the N. M. State Fair should tell New Mexican's the truth!  Sure, high gas prices and a shakey economy have contrubuted to the lower attendance.  But, it's the gouging/greed at the State Fair that has gone on for years, that has kept people from attending the fair as well, etc.  I applaud the citizens of Albuquerque and New Mexico for not attending! 

SOLUTION?  I don't know if there's a solution for the gouging and greed in this country!  The only thing I can do, is to tell the reader what I do to combat greed and gouging.  I leave the product on the shelf to rot; I do not watch sports that are filled with cheaters and over-paid players that cry all the time; I do not go to music concerts to get mugged, either! 

"If you think of life as a big pie, and you kill yourself trying to keep it...or you can slice it up and give to those around you...and you'll have plenty for yourself."  Jay Leno

Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA) does not have a major league sports team in football; basketball or baseball...because I wouldn't support it if it did.  Albuquerque is just a little one-horse town of 500,000 people, which is better off without those greedy players and owners...where you have to take out a loan...and get yourself in debt...just to buy a box of pop corn! 

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