Power is out, but not me!

Maybe. Maybe not. Not all investments yield what one might hope.

My PITI was about the same as renting. (For my first house, it was less than the rent we'd been paying). We've been living here for 24 years, so its finances are much more significant than the two houses we bought previous to it. We haven't sunk anywhere near as much into maintenance and improvements as our house has gained in appreciation.

Indeed. Look at INTC or GE. They've lagged -way- behind the inflation rate, unlike property. Boeing has inherited the GE gene apparently and are headed towards oblivion.

You're cherry picking those equities. Look at the long term track record of S&P index funds, or if you want to look at something more managed, look at the long term appreciation in Vanguard's Wellington Fund just to pick something out of the air that's both managed and diversified. When I mention investing, I'm talking about investing properly, being diversified, mixing equities with bond funds (both corporate and municipal), avoiding funds with high management fees, holding for the long term and willingness to have a mix of low risk and higher risk items in the portfolio. My investment horizon is infinite. I never intend to sell anything and never have sold anything by choice. I'm happy with the dividends, interest, and capital gains distributions my investments provide. My heirs will get it with stepped up basis and avoid all or almost all capital gains taxes if they choose to liquidate soon after inheriting.

I'm not an anthropologist, but I believe that there are many examples, mostly but certainly not all in the distant past where the concept of private property does or did not exist. I believe that may still be the case for nomadic tribes and until corrupted by circumstances beyond their control, the Inuit people. I believe it was also the case for what is commonly known as the "American Indian" tribes before the European explorers ruined those societies as well. All contributed their efforts for the common good of the group and all shared in the fruits of those labors. I'm not advocating for that model, just questioning your apparent belief that capitalism has been the standard for 1000's of years. Those of us who were born into a "civilized" society forget that our ancestors were once nomadic hunters who migrated out of Africa, or so goes the most up to date understanding.

The statement was "Not all investments yield what one might hope."

I confirmed it.

Yes, the index funds are generally safer. However, timing is everything, if you need the funds during a recession or depression you're pretty much screwed even with an index fund.

Partly but the first thing this president did was close down pipelines and sources and declare war on fossil fuels. This left the market under control of OPEC and not our production. Russians and Iran profited and not only inflation but their foreign adventures were financed by this.

Just checked rentals in my area and it would cost about $3,000 a month for what I have now.

No, there were no active pipelines closed. A potential pipeline that had never transferred a single barrel was terminated. This had _zero_ effect on the global price of a barrel of crude, or the refinery profits produced by high pump prices.

Please cite such a "declaration of war". In fact, the US generates more petroleum products now than it did during the prior failed administration. However, a rational individual would understand that ultimately, there is a limit to fossil fuels, there are side effects of the use of fossil fuels and the lack of the first and the effects of the later suggest that a transition to a better energy source is not only desirable, but required. Thus, the infrastructure bill that congress passed and the president signed.

The US exports a large amount of heavy crude and imports a large amount of refinery-friendly light crude. The oil market is global.

There's no evidence that any of this has anything to do with executive orders or anything that the President has any control over.

As micky said, 'capitalism' has become almost meaningless like many other words. The advent of capitalism as a system is usually placed in the 16th century as the feudal system petered out. Others would say the 14th century as the plague reshuffled the deck.

I'm not fond of Marx but it's hard to avoid terms that were coined by marxist thinkers. I differentiate between productive and financial capitalism.

Blah blah blah. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

FACT: When the Democrats stole the 2020, Trump gas was $2.10 a gallon. Today, Bidengas is $3.50.

Joe Sixpack bought a 2000 sq ft house in 1974 for $50k. Fifty years later, Joe sells the house for $500k

Wheeeee! 10x gain!

Problem is, Joe's wife doesn't like the homeless lifestyle. Joe needs another house. The market price for a 2000 sq ft house is about $500k.

UofM math aside, did Joe actually gain anything?

I was only thinking about the need for "capital" to begin production, and not thinking about the diffeence between private property and communal ownership. I too am not an anthropologist and I don't know the ratio of communal to private property societies, But I know private property is far from a brand new notion. IIAC, the Israelites and the Judeans by the time they left the wilderness about 3000 years ago had private property, and paid taxes individually, and the Greeks and Romans too although I only know about them from 2000 years ago

Wikipedia puts it this way, "Capitalism, in its modern form, can be traced to the emergence of agrarian capitalism and mercantilism in the early Renaissance, in city-states like Florence." so they limit it by talking about its modern form, but if one wants to sell his book,he has to say something new and if possible, iconoclastic. So I'll continue to phrase it my way in order to increase sales of my books.

P.S. an interesting section:

Havent' read:

I shouldn't say this until I look more, but I'm running out of interest. So far, no one has emphasized capitalism as revolving around gathering capital to start production, as my first post here did. Maybe that's becausse I always look at words literally, and others don't, or maybe because it's so obvious they skip it and talk about other things. I think this is one more thing I'll never get straight.

That's not the end of the story. Profit is certainly important. Most people invest in order to earn some money on their money, but corporations, boards of directors and CEO's are allowed to spend money, probably on worthwhile projects, that do not bring profit to the shareholders. And plenty do.

Maybe you should contemplate this:

Capitalism: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.

Words have specific meanings in order to further communication. You could call it weoj;i but nobody would know what you were talking about.

At least 3 of my neighbours sold their $ 500. k + homes and moved north or to the Maritimes. The exodus _did_ create a slight kerfuffle in those real estate markets, though .. delighting the sellers ; PO'ing the buyers. John T.

Sure, he has $500k to use for a new house. Rent receipts would not help him much.

That's what some of the other investments are for, e.g., bond funds, high yield money management accounts with at least 6-12 mos of anticipated expenditures as balance, short term CDs, etc. That's why I mentioned diversification. Everyone's risk tolerance varies. What percentage of your portfolio is very low risk, moderate risk, and/or high risk varies with your personal financial posture and your tolerance for risk.

And you think Biden controls OPEC and that we're the only customer for OPEC's oil? Trump belittles the concept of man-made global warming and threw benefits to big oil the way he threw rolls of paper towels to the unfortunate people of Porto Rico after their devastating hurricane. He was happy to keep oil prices artificially low in the U.S. to impress voters. Biden recognizes the need to phase out carbon based energy production and makes alternate sources of power more competitive by allowing petroleum prices to rise towards a more accurate reflection of market supply/demand effects on price.