well, it wasn't depressing because it was lucrative for ME. sales. those were the days when I was busy ignoring how I was a cog in the machine. I did not walk the walk. you are darn tooting on those arch and art books. at least they're pretty. and have glossy inserts

Wow! That would have been depressing! I know my art history books, and architectural standards books were EXPENSIVE!! The arch standards books had to be new, too, because of new rules and regs in the building industry.

I saw that myself at the drug store, true story. Free child care, and lots of money. Crazy, but this is the attitude here also, why work when we can get everything for staying home. The underlying concept of not earning your own way destroys the person, the family and the country.

My Father was one of 8 children and I still hear the stories of the embarrassment of taking mustard sandwiches to school, working the field, hunting and working a job as early as possible. What a difference in family values. I am so glad he passed that on to us.

I "lugged" sides of beef in a packing house.

Good for you! I have several friends who happen to be very successful, and they both didn't finish college. One is a mechanical engineer, the other a financial planner.

IMO, no, not yet. But they (communists) are progressively working towards that.

Yeah. 13 children. That would be nice, but then that would mean either buying a Chevy Suburban or (gasp) a minivan! Poor wife...tired & worn out. Funny you know, the muslims don't seem to give a damn about their wives. Yes, plural.

selling books to schools is a BIG market. got to keep those prices artificially high-
a long time ago I worked for a publisher that was dominant in college trade. They had no interest in secondary markets for those titles. there was a huge kickback(in books) to professors who required high priced new editions. that was 15 years ago. I don't know how it works with downloading titles.

yeah...what's with destroying books?

and a little sad

Do you really believe that it is going to be 15 yrs? I thought that was happening right now.

Here in the great USA, the more children you have, the more money you get, so when you get free medical and prescriptions, you can't remember all the birthdays of your 13 children.

That's a little creepy....

that is EXACTLY where I read that. and THAT was weird. and I was a little jumpy after that. :) also, Calumet K. I stole that one. partly because all 25 books were sent back. like no lit classes. mostly I skimmed and fast read. does nothing for your long term memory I've decided. coverless books. land of misfit toys

Did the Fahrenheit 451 police ever question you...on your way out...with your small, hand crafted, overly taped boxes that were empty and didn't contain books?

also worked multiple jobs. here was my worst one. I worked in the back room of the bookstore and had to carve off the cover page of books, send them back to the publishers because it was too expensive to send the whole book back. the next semester they just sent new editions or the same edition back to the school. the cover-less books? incinerated. and it was of course theft to take any of those books home. temptation much? I'm sure my work product suffered because I was busy scanning tables of contents and surreptitiously reading. on the other hand, I gained powerful skills of manipulating tape dispensers and building boxes. small boxes cuz no books were in them...

I know that one. Worked three jobs to pay for college. I would have been better off working and saving my money. I had to ignore everything I learned in college to make the big time.

By spiritual side I mean their minds, what they're doing with their lives, etc. Right now they seem focused on things.

Wait... I know sarcasm when I see it. :-)

I don't see how they can be happy. Everything I read in the article points to signs of materialism, ignoring their spiritual side.

Yep. With all that leisure time, you'd think they'd have more kids...what else is there to do if you're not dysfunctional?

This is what we are up against. How do we make work and gaining skills more attractive than welfare? This family has far too much liesure time. Perhaps manditory service for the community.

At one point during college, I had three jobs. It was crazy, but it was necessary. I had to pay for my education, so in order to do that, I had to work. It was a valuable lesson in what it takes to survive, and made me work that much harder in school.

You're looking at Amerika in about 15-20 years from now, where the gov't says to you 'Sure, go ahead and work, but you'll only be poorer. Do nothing and be 'rich!'

The welfare trap... Wonder who they vote for... I would work more jobs or look for a way to increase my skills and value.