RickJWagner

At this point, it is a marathon between Bill Shatner and Keith Richards.

We may not live long enough to know who wins.

I grew up without any family money and found the US economy ( with some advice from the Bogleheads community ) conducive to building a good life.

I now have 3 adult children, all seem to be likewise on good paths.

I truly believe the US economy offers an excellent chance to grow wealth, if patience and discipline are used. Even for salaries that are only decent. Plenty of teachers, plumbers, etc. become millionaires by retirement age. You just have to have a little luck ( avoid the rare financial catastrophe) and follow the Bogleheads trail.

About ‘the wealthy’, don’t worry about them. Just manage your own affairs, you’ll be fine.

I don’t begrudge anyone in the USA for building a fortune. They had opportunities much the same as my own, they ‘won the game’. Good for them, the challenge is the secret sauce that powers the great economy.

So I oppose taxing that secret sauce away.

Taxing the transfer of great wealth to next generations seems a better thing. Allow the transfer of some degree of wealth, but not all of it. Make the future generations earn their huge wealth, as their ancestors did. Keep the competitive spirit going.

I don’t understand faulting Trump for Epstein.

Epstein died in 2019. Biden was in office from 2021 to 2025, no files were released.

Trump took office in January of 2025, since then some ( but not all? ) files have been released.

Why fault Trump but not Biden? Didn’t Trump actually do better?

In the US, the people have the second amendment. The rooftop Koreans, Kyle Rittenhouse, etc. are examples of the counterweight ready to reign in protests gone feral.

I play banjo in bluegrass jams. Fiddle is not an easy instrument to play—- being fretless, it takes a lot of practice to catch a chord perfectly. The jams I go to usually have a mix of male and female fiddlers, and they tend to skew to the older side.

I think when people have fairly mastered guitar or banjo they’ll sometimes pick up fiddle next. They can make awesome music or terrible noise, depending on the skill of the player.