I guess most of America is stupid and are looters
Just watch the stock market go down and gas go up now.

Beautifully said. I'm sure you're not the only one.

This is an old thread, but since I just stumbled onto it, I want to go ahead and respond. When you get tired of supporting the moochers, tired of working for the benefit of someone else, when you realize your dreams are no longer possible, when you know your elected officials are corrupt and cater only to the ignorant among us, when there is no hope for the future, you'll either shrug or join the moochers. Right now, we're experiencing the agony of "death by a thousand cuts" and for many, it's too easy to join the ranks of the moochers.

How do you shrug? Work only for yourself. Ignore the demands and expectations of those around you. Simplify your life. Stand up for your rights. Accept the fact that you don't "owe" anyone, anything. Protect yourself. Plan for a worst case scenario. Most of all, stand tall and accept the consequences of your actions. Our forefathers put eveything on the line when they fought for our freedom. Is that freedom any less valuable today than it was during the Revolutionary War? If you answer, "no" ... then shrug.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

Eudaimonia - Do it. You'll get over it. I did. I've never been happier. I no longer pay for my own enslavement. Free at last!

Did you hear Dennis Miller (formerly of SNL, now of DMZ/radio)? He will fulfill his contractual obligations, then he is done. He said before the election that if Obama won, he was throwing in the towel, and he is following through on that.

Bravo.

Same with me. I have quit my day job. If I don't make it, they can't take it, right?

Well said!

The people such as you and I may see that we are in a cage. Or rather we are the cage constricting ourselves and our individual kind. The need to justify in the eyes of the cage crafting mongrels is nothing but a word, or a phrase. For like the ever posing question: Who is John Galt. Nothing... is what you are but a bar to the system that enslaves us all in a world as this may be.

I shrugged in 2007. I spent the first several years finding myself and learning to understand the world as it really is. For the last year I've worked
a minimum wage job just to feed myself. I used to have my own business, I received awards for my work, but when looters come to take... It was time to stop the madness. In the last year, I've come to realize that my own siblings are the worst of the moochers and looters. I had been in denial, but I have finally accepted the truth. I am now disassociating myself from them. Its very, very painful, but its a necessary move. I only wish there was a physical Galt's Gulch to move to... But alas, insanity is everywhere these days.

Could you be a bit more specific?

A bold statement, but without recourse.

I am intentionally living below what I can afford. I could move up from my current rental (that's right, could buy, but why? And in a country that's going Communist?) to one that's twice my current rent. But then, my $$ would go to the utility companies, which provide a discount to those "less privileged". I'm sick of providing "free stuff/services" to those who simply don't want to do it for themselves. You get out of life what you put into it. For those who choose not to put any effort into life, don't complain when you see us who do have a better life, better circumstances, education, career, etc.

Its a wonderful idea but I do not see how you can do it without turning into a moocher or a looter.

I would love to see how someone plans to shrug.

So, what do you do then??? Do you quit your job and get on the government dole? Do you move to another country?? How do "you" not comply?? I would love to know?? I might join you. So, what do you do?