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21 Ways To End The Phrase "Americans Are So Broke..."
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
Did you know that 77 million Americans have unpaid debts that are "in collections" and that Congress is actually thinking about letting post offices offer payday loans? We live in a country where almost everyone is drowning in debt and where most people are either flat broke or very close to flat broke. Years ago, "your Mama is so broke" jokes were all the rage, and at the rate we are going they could make a big comeback. Some of my favorites were "your Mama is so broke she went to McDonald's and put a milkshake on layaway" and "your Mama is so broke your family ate cereal with a fork to save milk". Unfortunately, the facts that I am about to share with you are not funny at all. In fact, they are quite sobering. Yes, things are going fairly well for the elitists that live in the good areas of New York City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco right now, but most of the country is deeply struggling as our economic fundamentals continue to crumble.
Please share these numbers with as many people as you can, because we need people to understand that there has not been an "economic recovery" for most of America. In fact, in many ways things just continue to get even worse. The following are 21 ways to end the phrase "Americans are so broke"...
1. Americans are so broke that about a third of them have debt collectors on their heels. One recent study discovered that more than one out of every three adults in the United States has an unpaid debt that is "in collections". That is a total of 77 million people. In other words, the debt collection business in America is absolutely booming.
2. Americans are so broke that Congress is now actually considering allowing post offices to provide payday loans and check cashing services.
3. Americans are so broke that they are keeping their vehicles longer than ever. The average age of vehicles on America’s roads recently set a new all-time high of 11.4 years.
4. Americans are so broke that car dealers are having to go to extreme lengths to get new customers. Last year, one out of every four auto loans in the United States was made to someone with subprime credit.
5. Americans are so broke that 52 percent of them cannot even afford the homes that they are living in right now.
6. Americans are so broke that they are falling farther behind on their student loans than ever. The total amount of student loan debt in the U.S. has now reached a whopping 1.2 trillion dollars, and approximately seven million Americans are in default on their student loans at this point.
7. Young Americans are so broke that half of all college graduates are still relying on their parents financially when they are two years out of school.
8. Young Americans are so broke that only 36 percent of American adults under the age of 35 currently own a home. That is the lowest level that has ever been recorded.
9. Americans are so broke that many of them can't even afford to shop at Wal-Mart and dollar stores anymore...
Discount stores are slowly dying.
Yesterday, Dollar Tree announced it would buy Family Dollar, a chain that is in the process of closing hundreds of stores and firing workers.
Other discount stores have been struggling as well, writes Heidi Moore at The Guardian. Fashion discounter Loehmann's filed for bankruptcy, while Wal-Mart's sales have declined for the past five quarters.
"There’s just not enough money deployed by American families to keep all the discount chains in business," Moore writes.
10. Americans are so broke that they are running up record levels of debt. Overall, U.S. households are 11.68 trillion dollars in debt right now.
11. Americans are so broke that the wealth of the "typical American household" has fallen by 36 percent over the past decade.
12. Americans are so broke that one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.
13. Americans are so broke that more than 37 million Americans are now being served by food pantries and soup kitchens.
14. Americans are so broke that there are 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity.
15. Americans are so broke that the number of people on food stamps has increased by about 14 million while Obama has been in the White House. Ten years ago, the number of women in the U.S. that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.
16. Americans are so broke that the U.S. government has had to spend an astounding 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs over the past five years.
17. Americans are so broke that more than 20 percent of all children in the U.S. are living in poverty.
18. Americans are so broke that we have a record number of kids sleeping in the streets. In fact, we have more than a million public school children that are homeless at this point.
19. Americans are so broke that 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
20. Americans are so broke that 26 percent of Americans have absolutely no emergency savings whatsoever.
21. Americans are so broke that approximately two-thirds of all Americans do not have enough money saved up to cover six months of expenses if an emergency arose.
If things are this bad now, during the so-called "economic recovery", how bad will things get during the next major economic downturn?
Unfortunately, most Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security. The financial crisis of 2008 seems like ancient history to most of them now, and most people appear to believe that our leaders have "fixed" whatever was wrong the last time.
Of course that is not the case at all. In fact, our long-term problems have just continued to grow since then.
The truth is that what we are experiencing right now is about as good as things are going to get for the U.S. economy. When the next crisis arrives, all of the numbers in the list above are going to rapidly get a lot worse.
So enjoy the rest of this "bubble" while you still can. It certainly will not last for too much longer.
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First
Americans are so broke because they are the slowest Bitcoin adopters.
Americans are so poor that we have to get second mortgages on our cardboard boxes.
or third mortgages on our trailer homes.
or fourth mortgages on our dog houses. Poor Fido thought he would finally have his own space, instead of sharing it with his human companions, LOL.
Americans are so broke they have to threaten Russia to distract the sheeple from their own shitty, pathetic lives.
Americans are so broke they listen to douschbag Canadians like foneystar about shitcoin.
Who's broke? Zero debt here...
Americans are so broke, but the bastards are still richer than us brits! ;)
Americans are so broke the number of dual citizen passport applications is skyrocketing
Americans are so broke the megayachts have the engines on idle and stocked for a years worth of supplies and diesel.
Americans are so broke they are tripling the military aid to Israel
They are so broke they cant afford the medical insurance, and car insurance, and homeowner's insurance, and life insurance, well basically we cant afford paying money to worthless insurance.
They keep their cars longer but 99% of todays cars driven daily are brand new looking.
Americans are so broke they actually believe in hope and change.
Americans are so broke that they are living in hope for change.
BTW, don't knock payday loans ... it's a very high margin business.
Americans are so fat ..... oh wrong thread.
Americans are so broke they can afford to invite millions of unskilled illiterate illegal aliens into the country to further strain our social and welfare systems.
Forward (over the cliff)!
Americans are so broke, but the bastards are still richer than us brits!
Never mind just lay back and think of that famous polly who told you....YOU have never had it so good
Well, at least those of you who have pensions have pensions that are inflation indexed.
So broke they suck govt dick
Douche bag Canadians +1
Fonestar can't be Canuck. He's an obnoxious jerk. Canadians are polite.
Lore , I once worked phone support for a printer company ... a solid 50% of my inbound calls were Canucks trying to scam "free" replacement ink out of us...
Interesting. As a troubleshooter, I would want to know who told them to call and work from there to find the source of the abuse. Competitors?
fonestar's mama so broke she live in his basement. dah dump dump!
21 examples of how it's Putin's fault...
via youtube and other trusted sources
Americans used to have front door mats that said "welcome". Now they say "welfare".
Americzan's are so broke their backs are against the wall. Now the bank wants to foreclose on the wall.
Americans are so broke that Family Dollar has started a layaway program.
Americans are so broke, rents in Seattle have collapsed to all time lows, and property managers practically kiss your feet if you have money to pay. What? No?? Damn, who didn't get the memo.
If your business depends on the continuing 'prosperity' of the middle class, good luck to you.
If you tailor to oligarchs and rich criminals, boy are you in luck!
This list is pretty sobering but in reality the implementation of ObamaKare and the addition of 30 million third world diseased peasants with an average 5th grade education should have us right as rain in no time.
Say, I wonder if that black professional player of sports is still apologizing for his latest 'mistake?'
Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets...
"A hard rains gonna fall"
Bob Dylan (the 1974 Bangladesh rendition is the best, IMHO)
+1 for Taxi Driver reference.
Did you get your Obama Guide Book?
He explains a couple things about third world people.
I can't find the book right now, but:
- We will change a little in the USA as our cultural make-up changes
- In the Third World you have Shanty Towns, Favelas, and Squatters
- Sometimes laws are changed to support the Squatter's rights if you leave your property un-attended, or vacant regardless of if it was just a lot, home, or apartment.
- And then after you have squatter's rights, the Property Title Search becomes unclear.
Americans are so broke that they cannot afford a fence on the Mexican border to keep out the illegals.... oops I forgot that Obama wants to destroy the social cohesion of the US to introduce the USSA.
Americans are so broke that they're like John Wayne's toilet paper - rough, tough, and won't take FRN's (shit) off-of anyone.
Americans are so broke, they have to import cheap south- and central-American labourers to build the wall to keep the cheap labour from the south out.
Americans are so broke that they've fired Pedro and are doing their own gardening and landscaping.
Americans are so broke Israel only got a tripling of aid instead of the customary sextuple.
Nope. Lardasses can't be bothered to do yardwork anymore. It's to save the planet, don'tcha know.
Eco-Tyranny: How the Left's Green Agenda Will Destroy America
I have been inside quite a few homes as part of my work, and submit that a lot of people would be better off in a zoo. It is truly disgusting, how many seem to lack basic life skills even for going to the bathroom and cleaning themselves, much less taking care of their yards. Wild animals do a better job of cleaning around their nests and dens. The market for stack-em-and-pack-em yard-free apartments will continue to benefit from the increasing uselessness and laziness of the American lardass.
True Dat, Lore. A lot of people would be better off in:
Orphanages
Asylums
Workhouses
Prisons
Poor Farms
All these things ridiculed by Dickens a 170 years ago as abominations. And yet... So many people who live on free shit would actually have better, healthier lives in those institutions.
Imagine the re-introduction of the "Treadmill" from jolly old England, circa 1825.
put the useless, stupid, able-bodied, sexually overactive youth who otherwise cannot assimilate on a big treadmill. Hook it up to a generator so at least we get some value from them.
Instead of just converting air into CO2 and free food into shit, they would be doing that PLUS producing electrical power for the grid. All voluntary, of course.
(if you don't work, you dont eat)
Make the food KFC & put ups creens of the Kardashians for their comfort.
Our ancestors were onto something.
That's warped. You're reading Glenn Beck's book? I'm not statist. I regard decency as a lifestyle choice in keeping with the Golden Rule. A better world comes from treating yourself and others better, trying hard to understand different views, and taking power away from psychopaths.
If you wipe your bum with your bare hand but consider bacon to be unclean ... You may be a Muslim.
Americans are so broke because they trade their lives for worthless debt aka fed bux.
back to back awful opening posts... doesn't happen to often here on the Hedge.
Who does that "first" crap anymore? So juvenile!!!
gh0atrider
C'mon. We're posting under the headline "Americans are so broke...."
The tone was set.
Americans are so broke that the currency which they spend is just someone else's debt.
Fuck the Shitcoin.
Americans are so poor, they have to jerk off the dog to feed the cat.
amerika is so broke
Israel is send them foreign aid ..
Yeah but we have a weeping cheeto for a speaker of the people's house. So we got that going for us
"weeping cheeto"
That is some serious humor there, lol.
Chester the molester with Boehner.
thank you Mr. Spaulding, we know you...we've played with your balls...
Amerikans are soo broke they can't pay attention.
pods
squirrel!
So broke that I wrestled a squirrel the other day for his peanut. I lost.
Americans are so broke they elected an unkown because he promised them a whole bunch of free shit.
http://www.zazzle.com/democracy_tee_shirts-235137631564640146
What was the middle thing again?
If you like country music at all, listen to Sturgill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNV16tz1NK0
That line is @ 30 seconds in.
> like country music
ERROR SYSTEMS FAILURE DOES NOT COMPUTE
Arrest Loyd Blankfein.
or we could just hang the little fucker?
Pike 'Em. Pike 'Em all
Cement a stripped down Blythe Master's hands and feet in a cement block with her arse sticking in the air, then drop off that cement block in the middle of Harlem at midnight. In the morning we can ask her about lessons learned. We can do the same with her ex-boss Jamie on Polk St. in San Fran.
Yeeeeeeee Hah! Come and get it!
Americans are so broke that America is a Nazis state
Americans are so broke...........because they consider themselves far richer than they are.
I'm so broke I can't even pay attention ......
Which is why Twitter and Pop Up Ads are all the rage.
Doug MacLeod says hi
Americans are so broke that they can't afford to go on a diet, therefore most are obese.
Amerikans are so broke that anyone not ordering off the value menu is a high rolla.
pods
It's 'broken'. Not 'broke'.
I'm pretty sure it was BROKEback Mountain. Or was it BAREback Mountain?
Definitely not Brokenback mountain though.
pods
it was bareback barry
Americans are so broke that a fucking 515 credit score will get you an $500K mortgage...
Here Michael, My list is better:
1) I'm so broke I can't afford to pay attention!
2) I'm so broke, I go to KFC and lick other peoples fingers.
3) I'm so broke that I just went into McDonald's and put a small fry on layaway.
4) We were so broke, that at Christmas, all we could exchange was glances
5) I don’t have enough cents to finish this sentence…
6) Both the Democratic and Republican Parties removed me from their donor mailing lists.
7) That I e-mailed the Obama Administration asking them if they could spare some change I can believe in.
8) I'm so broke, the bank asked for their calendar back.
9) I'd do 21, but I'm so broke that I can't afford the copy and paste.
3. Americans are so broke that they are keeping their vehicles longer than ever.
Horseshit. I am keeping my car longer than ever because (1) buying a new car is a waste of fucking money, (2) my 12 year old truck with 200k miles runs like it's new, (3) I refuse to buy anything and voluntarily pay more (sales) tax to this fucking monster govt that is hell bent on oppressing me and robbing natural rights and liberties, and (4) I refuse to buy and feed an economy full of fucking losers who vote for assholes in this fucking monster govt that are hellbent on oppression.
I can buy an above average car new well over 100 times tomorrow, cash, but like fuck if I am going to.
Sounds good, what's your address?
The NSA already knows, I'm sure.
I am in same position. I have plenty of money but I have refused to feed the fucking beast any longer. I buy nothing but essentials and earn as little as possible. Fuck You .gov
This is the way. Pay attention young ones.
Same here. 14 year old car running fine and fuck if I am going to feed the beast, including the insurance beast...
Word.
My 1992 Toyota Corolla is going to outlast me.
I would be willing to employ some of them girls for the Butters Kissing company.
I am so broke that I have to pawn my keyboard. so this is my last post.
we are so broke we obviously can't pay attention
American's are so broke they're still buying GM cars.
GM is so broke, the government is making American tax payers buy their cars.
FIFY
TY
....masturbation, spam, top ramen, hedonic adjustments, rat meat, cannibalism, starvation, typhoid mary.....
.that shit's broke!
fagony: fake agony (i so broke my bugatti don't got no hip hop).
Damn, at first I thought you were describing me?
But I don't do hedonic adjustments. Everything is straightup.
If you dont believe me, just email me at eightinchesflacid@gmail.com
pods
I heard that if you cut off 2", there'd be a hole an inch deep!
Been talkin to the missus eh?
She says that to keep all the other ladies away.
pods
@m3r1c@ns @r3 s0 br0k3, th3y c@n’t 3v3n b{_}y @ v0w3l.
So broke they can't pay attention. I consider myself rich beyond measure and very lucky!
Im so broke I got married just for the rice
Americans are so broke, they're actually losing weight!
Sorry, don't see any signs of that happening. If anything it's the opposite.
Europeans are so fucking broke that they use American's debt, US Dollars, to capitalize their insolvent banks because it is the World's Reserve Currency.
The stupidity of Eurotrash never ceases to amaze me.
breaking Top Ramin in half
They’re so broke that . . . they all own 11” cell phones that can do the laundry, play chess against Spassky in his prime and illuminate 3 city blocks at 8 billion lumens.
But that's usually all they own. Since these devices seem to have them hypnotized, however, they don't complain much.
If your cousin Richard M. had one of those wondrous devices, he could have erased all the tapes, not just 18 1/2 minutes.
If they sold their cell phones, they still couldn't afford to pay their student loans.
American teens are so broke they stopped sniffing glue, so they can use it to mend things.
Wonder if the age of America's car fleet has anything to do with DESTROYING thousands of late model used cars in the Cash For Clunkers program?
"Unfortunately, most Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security." I see this alot. I think many more people realize whats going on, more than ZH's gives credit for...but the problem is...Americans are broke, and there isn't a fuckin' thing they can do about it.
Americans are so broke they create gmail accounts just so they can eat the spam
I'm going to move to a desert island and eat the sand which is there.
No shit, I've lost over 25lbs over the past year due to not eating!
"I'm so broke I can't afford a can of spam!"
Oh fuck it! I give up!
Guys, come live in Canada!! Here the air is pure and there is tons of space available!!
We'll rebuild a new america 2.0 :-)
For a new era!!!!!
GOGOGO
I'd be happy to move to Canada, but first you have to get rid of your central bank, or the same thing will happen there.
Sounds great, but can you do something about the weather?
(Cue up South Park episode)
Thanks, Barry is looking for some lebensraum for a few million fairies.
True story. Went to the store yesterday and the woman in fornt of me at checkout (obese black lady) had three items; loaf of bread, gal bottle of wine, and a package of sleep aid pills. Payment method; EBT card. Woman behind me (obese Hispanic woman) 2 boxes of crackers, 2 of the large cans of BUD and EBT card in hand ready to pay. My wife and I had a good laugh about it, not necessarily because of what they were buying (see that all the time), but because we were trying to figure out exactly why the black lady needed the sleep aids. Pretty sure after guzzling down a gallon of wine sleep would come pretty easy.
alchohol and drugs are not allowed to be bought with an ebt card so you are full of shit. that is not to say a lot of ebt cardholders don't budget well but it can be told with the truth.
Point wasn't about paying for the alcohol with EBT card (she used cash for that, although there are plenty of places that don't give a shit about what you buy with the cards), it was about the seeming ridiculousness of purchasing sleep aids with a giant bottle of wine, and the crap that people are buying with the little money they have.
Many states issue an EBT card that can be used to pay for anything. Just like a debit card.
It is a way many get their unemployment "compensation" or general welfare payments.
Food stamps / SNAP card has restrictions - general electronic benefits cards maybe not.
I am sure you can buy Tide with EBT, and then get 70% of the Tide's value in cash (from a meth dealer).
I have seen people buying cigs, wine...all sorts of shit with an EBT "debit card"...so fuck yourself - fool.
Sleep aid pills for her 7 children. cheaper than feeding them.
Pffft...what part of 4% GDP growth don't you understand? We are fine.
After I finish this 20pk my dick's gona be broke.
Obongo's fundamental transformation of the USA... people can't even afford their Bath House membership fees or their welfare payments to illegals...
Easy credit and a fucked up sense of what "success" is has ruined an entire generation's understanding of what hard work and striving to fulfill your potential is all about.
Unike those I passed on my own way to the "top", I have ZERO concerns about the young whippersnappers threatening my career. I own my own business, but you get the idea...
When you see mouth-breathing peasants that can barely form a coherent sentence putting themselves in debt for sweet rims, cars, houses, and a new phone/ipad/weave every year or two, you KNOW that a little social and economic Darwinism needs to take place.
The herd needs a good culling. We have artificially extended the life of this country and those that refuse to take responsibility for their own selves and allowed them to dilute the lives of those that actually DO THINGS.
Our collective future is a virginity that has been prison-raped from us by the powers that be.
One pleasant side effect of a massive drop in quality of life: It is hard to cry for baby seals, the climate, diversity and fuck-all else when you are just trying to eat and keep a roof over your head. Maybe we will see a decline in diverity-related political-correctness grab-assery.
"When you see mouth-breathing peasants that can barely form a coherent sentence putting themselves in debt for sweet rims, cars, houses, and a new phone/ipad/weave every year or two, you KNOW that a little social and economic Darwinism needs to take place."
No, it does not happen like that. When things really fall apart, the people you refer to will be hired at good pay by the rich and influential to keep people like you and me from getting out of line.
I take it you are not part of the herd - with which tribe of cattle do you self-associate ??
If you don't mind my asking.
Dipshit eliteist
I am a part of the "I built that' tribe.
You, obviously, are a part of Obama's "We built that" tribe.
Don't worry, I still have not quite figured out how to avoid paying my "fair share" completely, you can still enjoy the free ride for awhile. Tax attorney is getting close though, I expect to be in the very low teen effective tax rate in time for your 2015 handout bill to come due me in April.
Such a shame all those people had guns to their head to force them to buy new cars, overpriced homes, $600 cell phones, eat out all the time, multiple vacations each year, .....
you are a self righteous asshole, aren't you?
Failed NGO planning once again. Learn the process to look important. At the end of the day, dancing to bullets fears them the most.
World-Systems Theory
broke is when the blow jobs are free. the new warm meal. were months away from that. relax.
That reailty TV looks like opera.
they are so broke, they will eagerly pass through the gates of the Hope Camps, because "work shall make you free!"
"Arbeit Macht Frei"
We so broke can't eat iPads but eating wood pulp.
Don’t forget, Blythe Masters stated that you can’t eat gold/silver. USD fiat is cotton based nutrition to eat.
/sarc
me want gold and silver, fuck fiat and Ms. Maters
Retirees are so broke they spend their golden years at the Golden Arches asking, "you want fries with that?"
The truly unfortunate stand at a door saying, "Welcome to walmart".
If I want a jaccuzzi I have to fart in the tub.
The Huge Manatee!
Well spent money with space research on how lizzards have sex in space.
http://www.electronicproducts.com/Analog_Mixed_Signal_ICs/Communications/Satellite_shoots_geckos_into_space_to_study_development_in_zero_gravity.aspx
Free Jon Corzine.
...so broke it's not a joke anylonger.
I'm so broke I ate my dog.
B. Obama
More like --
I am so broke I ate some pussy.
BHO
Unlike the greedy inbred oligarchs that are trying to conquer a world not worth conquering, with our newly earned free time,. we are studying and applying our cultural achievements M'Fers.
...so broke, we're watching our kids live in poverty. crying for them for what they lost out on, and dying a little each day.
Americans are so broke they have to jerk off the dog to feed the cat.
I found it especially ironic, as I went to the clip of jerking a dog off, that the lead-in ad was for "Sign and Drive... 0% Down, 0% Interest."
Cat food, you say...
http://southpark.cc.com/clips/152832/red-rocket