"Simple Living" is a luxury of the wealthy

[sparrowrose]

We bought ourselves a Roku box a while back and one feature of owning it is that we're now able to watch NBC Nightly News every day. Last week they ran a series about simplifying one's life and we were suitably disgusted by all the information they *didn't* mention. For example, NBC was so enamoured of a millionaire who downsized and went to work

Comments

[moonwalker]

"A few times we’ve rented or borrowed a car, and boy, it really reminds me how lucky we are to be without one."

Did it remind you how lucky you are to have the money to rent a car? Did it remind you how lucky you are to have a social network of friends with cars they are willing to loan?

Plus, for most car rentals you need to have a credit card, with *three times* the price of the rental available credit on it. The company puts a hold on that much and says it releases it when the car is returned safely. Which means you have to have good enough credit to have a credit card in the first place, plus a hefty credit line.

I really get annoyed when wealthy people write these condescending articles about how to make do with less, and when they offer great "money saving tips" like "shop at WalMart!" *eyeroll*

Mary MMM

[sparrowrose]

ouch! I've never rented a car before because for most of my adult life I either didn't have a credit card, didn't have a driver's license, or both. I had no idea how much they ding your credit card for when you rent! I know I'm eligble for a veteran's discount at most car rental places, but I don't think the discount is for very much.

Geez . . . rent a car and then not have enough left on the card to buy gas with. I really want to go back to Kentucky some time to visit family and I'd *have* to rent a car once I got there because some of the family I want to see are spread out in the hills (presuming I'm willing to fly. I don't want unnecessary x-rays so I may be unwilling to fly any more.) and I just don't see how I could afford any of it, especially with a triple charge for the rental car!

Maybe in a few years I'll be able to afford a car I trust to leave town with (the one we have now is pretty reliable but I don't trust it to drive up the mountain sides or leave town) and I can just drive out there and sight-see along the way.

[christina_tm]

It's even worse if you're under 25. Most rental car companies charge $20-$30/day for insurance and either require or try to hassle you into paying extra for their insurance.

I don't want unnecessary x-rays so I may be unwilling to fly any more.

I'm thinking next week may be the last time I fly, ever, until the TSA either gets their head on straight or somebody torches the Department of Homeland Security. I don't want a government employee seeing me naked or frisking me like I'm a criminal.

[sparrowrose]

I didn't think one *could* rent a car under age 25 at all. At least that's what I was told when I was under 25.

As for the x-rays, if we don't take a stand on this and refuse to submit to these intrusive, unhealthy, and infringing security practices we can expect to see x-ray machines in our local courthouses next. How's about a nice dose of cancer-causing radiation (and never forget that radiation is cumulative over the course of your life. It never "wears off.") and some naked pictures of your children next time you need to renew your license plate?

[christina_tm]

Some companies won't, but most today will--of course, you have to pay through the nose for it. I learned that when I visited Hillsdale for their graduation in May.

I am not sure how true this is, but I heard on Glenn Beck today that the images the TSA says the screener sees are not what he sees and it is much more graphic.

I'm already dreading flying home for Thanksgiving. I have a choice between letting the government see me naked and letting the government feel me up.

[sparrowrose]

Robert just sent me a link to something Penn Jillette wrote in 2002 about how he called the police on a TSA agent who touched his crotch without asking first:

http://drudgereport.com/flash9p.htm