Shifting to the Right

As a late Boomer who grew up on Long Island, it just seemed a given that I would be politically liberal. My parents were Democrats, and that made them second generation members of the party -- I was in the third. My Dad was politically incorrect, though still liberal. I remember one lovely Spring day, in the late 70s, my Mom suggested my Dad not go into work, and instead take us to Jones Beach for a picnic. My Dad responded that he wasn't only supporting his family -- "10 Puerto Ricans in Spanish Harlem who don't want to work" depended on him to work, too -- he couldn't simply miss a day. 

I truly am my father's son -- my political incorrectness would have been a MAJOR problem for me had I gone into academics...

But, following Churchill's observation that an older man who isn't a conservative has no head (a young one not a liberal has no heart), I have been following that path.

Just this am, the NY Times had an extensive article about the plight of targeted immigrants -- from places like Haiti and Bangladesh, who were the victims of predatory lending in the NY taxi industry. I had always believed they just had bad timing -- many bought expensive medallions just as Uber and Lyft were cutting int the taxi business -- sort of like modern versions of the folks who opened new horse stables as the auto was coming into widespread use.

Nope, the Times explains -- these poor folks were victims of banks and other lending companies who "took advantage"  of them, so that financing companies could become rich. The Times even included a note about a young man, the son of a taxi driver, who got so rich in the biz that he hired Nicki Minaj to "play for his son's Bar Mitzvah."  So, of course, clearly many of the predators were Jews...

If you read it the way the author intended, you have to feel bad for these innocent victims.

But then I thought about it.  Our friend Edna's father Meyer came to the US in 1960, also with limited English skills. He started supporting a family driving a taxi. He saved and saved, and bought his own medallion, I guess in the late 60s. He worked crazy long hours, and when he retired in the early 80s, sold his medallion -- for , I think, about 1/4 of a million dollars. He enjoyed a nice retirement in Hallandale -- bought a condo for himself and his wife, and even fully supported a daughter, Edna's sister, who never launched, as the saying goes.

So because luck ran his way, and Meyer bought right and sold right, he wasn't a victim, but the new wave of immigrants are?

Nah -- smells funny to me. I mean, I'm sorry for the Bangladeshi guy who blew his life savings trying to buy a nearly $1 million medallion, but that's the system.

I stupidly bought a condo in Palmetto Bay at the height of the real estate bubble, in '06, and sold it at a substantial loss 11 years later. The only person I blamed was myself, for getting caught up in the market, and making a stupid call. I don't at all blame the developer for marketing a 750 square foot former garden apartment that I KNEW was worth around $100k in such a way that I paid close to a quarter million for it.

Maybe the Times should investigate. The developer used "granite counter tops and steel appliances" so that a schmuck like me would overpay to that extent.

It's just the system. Poor folks aren't always to be pities for making dumb choices...

I know two people who lost nearly everything investing their life savings in franchise businesses. One of them took me along -- I was a major investor -- it took years to get paid back the principal only.

It taught me a lesson about franchises. They are terrific for the franchisor, and a sucker bet for the franchisee.

The good news is, ride sharing companies allow anyone willing to work to make money without a major investment.  I just learned about a former day trader, and son of a rich man, who is driving Uber up in Broward. Good for him. He has a nice car and plenty of free time -- so why not.

Hey -- wait a minute. That describes me as well...

If I do it, and lose money, though, I won't blame others.

It's funny how our point of view shifts as we age.

I remember being in law school, and seeing a Ferrari parked at the school. I scoffed -- that car cost more than my first house! How could anyone justify spending so much on a car.

Now I think -- good for that guy. He's made it (or his parents did), and he gets to drive whatever he wants.

I'd much rather aspire to greater wealth than envy it.  Hopefully the "victims" of the failing taxi trade will get that lesson, too.