I have a very rudimentary knowledge of current events, but lest I think that all I ever did during my 24th year is party, here are some other things that concern me on a regular basis:
Are you fucking kidding me? Let's hear it for checks and balances. Oh, wait.
In case you were concerned about the mortgage mess, here's something that'll piss you off even more:
"Now think about that for a minute. Regulators [the government] essentially said: We'll let you borrow 30 times your assets. If you blow it, we'll back you and give you more. If your bets work out, you get to keep the winnings.
"Who in their right minds wouldn't have taken that directive and gone straight to Las Vegas? And that is essentially what the executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did, ultimately buying up to half of all mortgages written in America and using the proceeds of the bond sales to provide lavish incomes to themselves, rich consulting fees to former congressmen and government officials and big donations to current representatives and senators."
It's a win-win for the top 1% and a lose-lose for middle America. Hey, that's me! And you!
And what's the solution they're floating around? Print some more money to bail out the banks that are now crumbling? Literally, creating more physical cash is the best they can come up with, which means killer inflation, and, like, I'm already paying too much for my organic free-range eggs, you know? And what's this I hear about preventing such a colossal failure of capitalism and government policy disguised as helping out the bulk of America? If you listen closely, you'll hear the melodious sounds of...nothing. Of returning to the old system of 20% down payments and, you know, buying a house you can afford instead of losing a house you can't. Thanks, guys.
For serious, you crazy kids, with all this sort of bullshit going on that is directly affecting YOU, you'd think the Democrats would have a lock on this shit, because IT'S NOT WORKING, people, the government is not working, and, like, obvious, okay! But then you do something like go to a family reunion in Peoria, Illinois, and you're like, thanks, assholes, for not educating yourselves before you vote, for not educating yourselves as to the actions of the person you voted for, and for repeating that pattern again and again and again. Can I give you some advice, my dear friends? If you don't know why you never have any money, it's because you don't understand how money works. Run, don't walk, to your nearest finance blog, and then take a brisk jog to your online bank to open a roth IRA. Like, now. You have $100 a month to throw into a savings account, especially since that $100 is actually worth, like, $500 or something ridiculous by the time you're going to need it.