are people in the US starting to live like people in 3rd world countries

[JSOP]

Hmm, JSOP...Do you mean, for example, buying an iPhone over an Android for 50% more money? That would be runaway consumerism.

Buying the Android phone over the iPhone would be the smart move when you just need to buy a smart phone to do the stuff smartphones need to do.

No you can buy iphone over android if you really think there is merit in buying that iphone and pay for the higher cost but all I am saying it shouldn't be associated with your wealth level although there is less association with wealth level when it comes to smartphone choices. Iphone is a rip-off comparing to android regardless whether you are poor or rich.

I like you JSOP. One day I may work out what "JSOP" stands for. (No hints!)

Good luck!! LOL They were just 4 random letters that I just decided to throw in together.

 

[schweiz]

except for the politial governing elite... to whom all beneifits and wealth of the economy of the country will inure.

If you're shocked and appalled by this, you ain't been paying attention.

And who voted for them, so that they could benefit from it?

 

[Overnight]

No you can buy iphone over android if you really think there is merit in buying that iphone and pay for the higher cost but all I am saying it shouldn't be associated with your wealth level although there is less association with wealth level when it comes to smartphone choices. Iphone is a rip-off comparing to android regardless whether you are poor or rich.

Yes, I am agreeing with you there! What I am saying is, even though you may be wealthy, buy the Android over the iPhone! Screw Apple!

Good luck!! LOL They were just 4 random letters that I just decided to throw in together.

I do not believe in random when it comes to human consciousness.

You picked JSOP for a reason. You may not even realize why, but there was a reason.

My instinctive nature says "Just Shut-up Original Poster", but I KNOW that is not it. We'll figure it out one day.

 

[JSOP]

But I have earned the right to spend my money the way I see fit.

And what you consider agregious, I might not.

Of course you have the right to do whatever you want. Nobody is here to stop you and nobody is egregious about anything. We are just saying we don't agree with some of the concepts of forcing people to adopt certain purchasing habits just based on their wealth level.

 

[vanzandt]

There is a difference between having to buy a single dab of toothpaste on a street corner (India), and being able to buy a whole tube of toothpaste for a very discounted rate (USA). One is desperation, the other is frugality.

Hell, even if I was a millionaire, I would still shop for the best deals I can in the USA. That does not mean that I am a "third-world"-type person. It means I am frugal. Currently, the best deal one can get on toothpaste tubes in the USA is with AIM toothpaste. Anyone remember that brand? It is the same sodium fluoride toothpaste that Crest, Colgate, and all other major brands sell, but with a different name and color. And it's $1 at Rite-Aid. Same amount of fluoride toothpaste for few bux less. That is not third-world shopping, that is frugal, SMART shopping.

Fluoride is pure neurological poison bro-bro. Don't even drink the f'n tap-water if its treated with that sh*t.

If you want beautiful white healthy teeth for a lifetime, and fresh breath, and absolutely zero chance of any gum disease.... use a swish of 2% hydrogen peroxide and put straight baking soda on your toothbrush. That's being frugal AND smart. Go find a 90 year in the hood thats always been poor with a beautiful white smile and all their original teeth and ask them how they did it. It wasn't because of Procter and Gamble. H2O2 and Baking Soda. "Greatest Generation" stuff I guess.

 

[Cuddles]

Fluoride is pure neurological poison bro-bro. Don't even drink the f'n tap-water if its treated with that sh*t.

If you want beautiful white healthy teeth for a lifetime, and fresh breath, and absolutely zero chance of any gum disease.... use a swish of 2% hydrogen peroxide and put straight baking soda on your toothbrush. That's being frugal AND smart. Go find a 90 year in the hood thats always been poor with a beautiful white smile and all their original teeth and ask them how they did it. It wasn't because of Procter and Gamble. H2O2 and Baking Soda. "Greatest Generation" stuff I guess.

Don't drink the Alex Jones koolaid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_controversy

 

[vanzandt]

Don't drink the Alex Jones koolaid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_controversy

I didn't know he had an opinion on it... but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Did he go to Harvard Medical btw?
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/fluoride-childrens-health-grandjean-choi/

Either way, none of us are children so that's not an issue.... actual results are what matters.
Don't be a such Millenial H4M.... you don't need Crest dude. But you do want white teeth and healthy gums. Use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda... at least once every few days... and it DOESN'T remove enamel.

 

[Overnight]

Fluoride is pure neurological poison bro-bro. Don't even drink the f'n tap-water if its treated with that sh*t.

If you want beautiful white healthy teeth for a lifetime, and fresh breath, and absolutely zero chance of any gum disease.... use a swish of 2% hydrogen peroxide and put straight baking soda on your toothbrush. That's being frugal AND smart. Go find a 90 year in the hood thats always been poor with a beautiful white smile and all their original teeth and ask them how they did it. It wasn't because of Procter and Gamble. H2O2 and Baking Soda. "Greatest Generation" stuff I guess.

Oi, Vanz, my most beloved ET friend! I am so sad that you have brought that up! We could argue about the benefits of fluoride over non-fluoride until the fluoridated cows come home, and then there is the problem of how H2O2 kills live cells. This is a discussion for PM....That deep level-type stuff would have to be private. Send me a PM to discuss it, I miss that level of intellect! And I miss you!

(And to tease you into this Vanz, and I KNOW you are of my age...)

"...Studies in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s showed that water fluoridation reduced childhood cavities by fifty to sixty percent, while studies in 1989 and 1990 showed lower reductions (40% and 18% respectively), likely due to increasing use of fluoride from other sources, notably toothpaste, and also the 'halo effect' of food and drink that is made in fluoridated areas and consumed in unfluoridated ones..."

Fluoride for the win!

(P.S.) I was going to find the old cavity-creep commercial for you, but I came across this silly vid, which seemed a bit more "contemporary". Sorry Vanz.

We need to chat.

 

[schweiz]

A few decades ago an American investment banker (whose name I don't remember) advised his clients to invest in one of the two following market segments: the lowest one and the highest one. According to the American investment banker the middle class would disappear. Only poor and very rich would be the only remaining segments.

One of the clients of the American investment banker was the Schwartz Gruppe. Under the name Lidl they have opened the last 30 years 10,000 supermarkets and sales over 100 billions Euro. They are coming to the US now with a starting budget of 1.5 billion dollar. The retailer is at this moment the number for in the world, after Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco. They are now in 27 countries. Selling food for the "poor".

At the same time we see that Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche are selling more than ever before. Yacht sales go up to.

 

[viruscore1]

In 3rd world countries people cannot afford to buy a tube of tooth paste. instead as in India they go into the street with their tooth brush and buy one dab of tooth paste and brush their teeth on the spot. Is the US headed in this direction?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-06/target-s-new-2-toiletries-

Come on give it a break. Just because a retailer decides to sell a day-to-day necessity product at the lowest price possible doesn't mean we're living in a 3rd world. Actually, it's capitalism at its best. Think about the extra store traffic. Give it some thought.
Unless you're thinking of starting a new business selling dabs of toothpaste on the street corner.