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  4. How do you think our lives will change...

How do you think our lives will change...

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  • A Offline
    A Offline
    AndyD
    wrote on last edited by
    #2

    If its anything like the UK, probably nowt really changes very much over a few years.

    I mean, we gave 6 billion to Ukraine last year in our 'proxy war' with Russia and what do I recall?

    A few people protested about some things, like wages not keeping up with inflation, or some world injustice.
    But taxes, illegal immigration, price of a tin of soup? All go up a bit as usual. Climate change doesn't affect us.

    Newish LabourDem Starmer government will be the same as the old boss.

    I've completely stopped worrying, often have little whinge at the news (often aimed at young males who haven't a clue), then go do something like play with the dog.

    1 Reply Last reply
    • S Offline
      S Offline
      Steve Miller
      wrote on last edited by
      #3

      We’ve been thinking about this a lot and last week we went in to overdrive - cleaning, mending, maintaining, cooking, preparing the yard for winter, bringing paperwork up to date - all sorts of tasks that kept our minds busy and needed to be done at some point anyway. It was the reason I started the thread “Order”.

      But having thought about it more, we’ve now decided that little will change, at least not for us, which is the same thing that happened last time. Grocery prices might rise but at this point in our lives we don’t buy many groceries or really anything else.

      The market is the big question, but last time the market did fine and there isn’t much we can do about it anyway.

      wtgW 1 Reply Last reply
      • ShiroKuroS Online
        ShiroKuroS Online
        ShiroKuro
        wrote on last edited by
        #4

        I work in higher ed and most of the grad students in my program are international students. So one thing I’m worried about is the impact of policies on my job.

        My spouse is not a US citizen, although he has a green card. But I do worry about immigration issues. And even if immigration polices don’t affect us directly, the crime things that I foresee happening hurt my heart.

        There are other things, but these are at the top.

        P 1 Reply Last reply
        • ShiroKuroS ShiroKuro

          I work in higher ed and most of the grad students in my program are international students. So one thing I’m worried about is the impact of policies on my job.

          My spouse is not a US citizen, although he has a green card. But I do worry about immigration issues. And even if immigration polices don’t affect us directly, the crime things that I foresee happening hurt my heart.

          There are other things, but these are at the top.

          P Offline
          P Offline
          pique
          wrote on last edited by
          #5

          @ShiroKuro said in How do you think our lives will change...:

          I work in higher ed and most of the grad students in my program are international students. So one thing I’m worried about is the impact of policies on my job.

          My spouse is not a US citizen, although he has a green card. But I do worry about immigration issues. And even if immigration polices don’t affect us directly, the crime things that I foresee happening hurt my heart.

          There are other things, but these are at the top.

          Sk, the NYT had a piece today about expected impacts on higher education. I think that's where I saw it. Yes, an op ed by Masha Gessen. (Byline is M. Gessen).

          fear is the thief of dreams

          1 Reply Last reply
          • P Offline
            P Offline
            pique
            wrote on last edited by
            #6

            This Is the Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump’s Return https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/opinion/donald-trump-orban-putin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aU4.nhn0.KduUZzxGTthH

            fear is the thief of dreams

            ShiroKuroS 1 Reply Last reply
            • S Steve Miller

              We’ve been thinking about this a lot and last week we went in to overdrive - cleaning, mending, maintaining, cooking, preparing the yard for winter, bringing paperwork up to date - all sorts of tasks that kept our minds busy and needed to be done at some point anyway. It was the reason I started the thread “Order”.

              But having thought about it more, we’ve now decided that little will change, at least not for us, which is the same thing that happened last time. Grocery prices might rise but at this point in our lives we don’t buy many groceries or really anything else.

              The market is the big question, but last time the market did fine and there isn’t much we can do about it anyway.

              wtgW Offline
              wtgW Offline
              wtg
              wrote on last edited by wtg
              #7

              @Steve-Miller said in How do you think our lives will change...:

              last week we went in to overdrive - cleaning, mending, maintaining, cooking, preparing the yard for winter, bringing paperwork up to date - all sorts of tasks that kept our minds busy and needed to be done at some point anyway

              We did the same, including a bit of grave shopping in the township cemetery four blocks from our house. We were just looking and didn't buy. 😇

              But I did stumble upon a sad story that I was previously unaware of that's related to some graves in that cemetery...one just never knows when your last day will be...

              When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

              1 Reply Last reply
              • P pique

                This Is the Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump’s Return https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/opinion/donald-trump-orban-putin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aU4.nhn0.KduUZzxGTthH

                ShiroKuroS Online
                ShiroKuroS Online
                ShiroKuro
                wrote on last edited by
                #8

                @pique well that is distressing.

                Some of those details I knew or was tracking, some were new, but reading it all in the same place is awful.

                P 1 Reply Last reply
                • ShiroKuroS ShiroKuro

                  @pique well that is distressing.

                  Some of those details I knew or was tracking, some were new, but reading it all in the same place is awful.

                  P Offline
                  P Offline
                  pique
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #9

                  @ShiroKuro it was that op ed that I think, subconsciously, prompted me to start this thread.

                  I am trying to walk a tightrope between being informed of the facts, so we can face them, and protecting my nervous system, which doesn't have a lot of reserves at this age, and after many traumas.

                  I've started doing Somatics, which is a form of exercise that helps you get out of your thinking brain and into your body and the present moment. Something I've never been great at. It really helps with everything, including horseback riding. Practicing full present moment awareness is something that horses do naturally. It can really refresh you and give you more energy reserves.

                  fear is the thief of dreams

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • P Offline
                    P Offline
                    pique
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #10

                    Here's an article that is more hopeful. This is falling in line with our thinking about making a move to MA.

                    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/us/politics/democrats-anti-trump-battle-plan.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aU4.0oLw.NUuLpyKQ2MWc&smid=url-share

                    fear is the thief of dreams

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • RontunerR Online
                      RontunerR Online
                      Rontuner
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #11

                      I'm doing my best at "Grant me wisdom to know what I can control" and focus only on that! Most of the changes to our lives last time were emotional. Living in a big (mostly Blue) city, I expect there to be plenty of strife and sadness to go around as targeted "punishments" are enacted..

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • S Offline
                        S Offline
                        Steve Miller
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #12

                        I think it’s important to remember the threats and chaos from the previous Trump administration vs. what actually happened to average folks. Tariffs and the tax cut is all I remember.

                        These guys are not good at follow through.

                        wtgW 1 Reply Last reply
                        • C Offline
                          C Offline
                          Cindysphinx
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #13

                          I'm in a deep blue state. People here are shell shocked. I doubt people are worried because of that privilege and other privileges.

                          My most direct concern is that one of my daughters might need an abortion. If medication abortion becomes illegal or there is a 15 week ban, I'd have to fly them to Europe for care, assuming that is not also illegal.

                          Regarding work, well . . . Use your imagination. I am afraid to say anything publicly. I do plan to stay, but I can imagine scenarios where I would have to quit. These scenarios are not outlandish.

                          I am not worried that federal workers will be fired en mass. You would just need one favorable ruling from one federal judge to get a nationwide injunction. And I think the biggest targets would be Education and EPA.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • ShiroKuroS Online
                            ShiroKuroS Online
                            ShiroKuro
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #14

                            @Cindysphinx re your comment about your daughter -- exactly. I am too old for it to be relevant for me, and I'm not a parent, but as a teacher, I care deeply about what happens to my students. Who are primarily 18022 years old, may get pregnant, may identify as LGBTQ... May not have papers. May have parents that don't have papers....

                            These I think are more immediate than the threats to higher ed, which I think are real but will be slower to take shape.

                            I am also deeply concerned about something like attempting to do away with the 22nd amendment....

                            That's where I hope @Steve-Miller

                            These guys are not good at follow through.

                            is right.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • D Offline
                              D Offline
                              Daniel
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #15

                              @wtg You win the internet today. Grave shopping. We just looked. We didn't buy anything. Lol.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • C Offline
                                C Offline
                                CHAS
                                wrote on last edited by CHAS
                                #16

                                Mutual funds do not have a great history of surviving crises. Thinking of moving funds to stocks.
                                I don't have a public profile and I don't go to gay bars anymore. I expect more violence against gays, but expect it against the
                                very visible. Thought about keeping a low profile, but I could hardly be more low profile.
                                Some asset values were going up very nicely. They settled back down. Commodity and cotton prices are down and, therefore, my income is down a considerable amount.
                                I expect Jimmy Carter level inflation, possibly higher. Don't want to be liquid.

                                “I’m at an age when remembering something right away is as good as an orgasm.”—Gloria Steinem to Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Wiser Than Me

                                P 1 Reply Last reply
                                • C CHAS

                                  Mutual funds do not have a great history of surviving crises. Thinking of moving funds to stocks.
                                  I don't have a public profile and I don't go to gay bars anymore. I expect more violence against gays, but expect it against the
                                  very visible. Thought about keeping a low profile, but I could hardly be more low profile.
                                  Some asset values were going up very nicely. They settled back down. Commodity and cotton prices are down and, therefore, my income is down a considerable amount.
                                  I expect Jimmy Carter level inflation, possibly higher. Don't want to be liquid.

                                  P Offline
                                  P Offline
                                  pique
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #17

                                  @CHAS okay color me clueless but aren't mutual funds often stocks? What kind of mutual funds are you talking about?

                                  A few days ago Mr Pique told me he'd moved a large sum out of stocks and into cash. I chided him for trying to time the market. He said "it's going down." Well looky here, he was right.

                                  fear is the thief of dreams

                                  C 1 Reply Last reply
                                  • S Steve Miller

                                    I think it’s important to remember the threats and chaos from the previous Trump administration vs. what actually happened to average folks. Tariffs and the tax cut is all I remember.

                                    These guys are not good at follow through.

                                    wtgW Offline
                                    wtgW Offline
                                    wtg
                                    wrote on last edited by wtg
                                    #18

                                    @Steve-Miller said in How do you think our lives will change...:

                                    I think it’s important to remember the threats and chaos from the previous Trump administration vs. what actually happened to average folks. Tariffs and the tax cut is all I remember.

                                    As far as a personal impact, I doubt a Trump administration will have much of an adverse affect on me.

                                    The rest of the country and the world? I don't like what I see coming. And am trying to figure out how I can contribute to preventing what I think will be unhealthy changes for the world.

                                    These guys are not good at follow through.

                                    He stumbled into the presidency in 2016. I think it's "game on" this time around and the people surrounding him have agendas and now have the power to move forward to implement them.

                                    When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • P pique

                                      @CHAS okay color me clueless but aren't mutual funds often stocks? What kind of mutual funds are you talking about?

                                      A few days ago Mr Pique told me he'd moved a large sum out of stocks and into cash. I chided him for trying to time the market. He said "it's going down." Well looky here, he was right.

                                      C Offline
                                      C Offline
                                      Cindysphinx
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #19

                                      @pique There are many kinds of mutual funds. Stocks are one kind.

                                      I try to avoid mutual funds. If I buy and hold an individual stock and its value increases over ten years, I will owe capital gains tax when I sell. No other taxes or admin costs.

                                      Say I buy a successful mutual fund and hold for ten years. Each year, the manager buys and sells stocks within the portfolio. I owe taxes on my piece of the action each year, not just at the end. I think I also owe tax when I sell at the end. And there are administrative costs too.

                                      That seemed to be the situation when I stopped buying mutual funds. There was one year in the 90s when our mutual funds threw off all of this taxable income. I was so annoyed that I now buy and hold individual stocks.

                                      I still use mutual funds for retirement accounts because those don't have immediate tax consequences.

                                      Everyone, please correct me if I'm wrong. I might be.

                                      P 1 Reply Last reply
                                      • D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        DeweyLOU
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #20

                                        I'd offer a detailed reply, but it's just too damned depressing. Suffice to say that we expect our lives to change dramatically, and we've had serious conversations about what the trigger would be for us leaving.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        😥
                                        • RontunerR Online
                                          RontunerR Online
                                          Rontuner
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #21

                                          Oh Dewey... no words.

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