OK some of this i will admit i was a bit young, my hot rod was a 69 AMX (My avatar). My first car was a 62 Chevy Impala. Where else but America. Can any other country have the memories we have.


http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove.htm

rosco 357 wrote:OK some of this i will admit i was a bit young, my hot rod was a 69 AMX (My avatar). My first car was a 62 Chevy Impala. Where else but America. Can any other country have the memories we have.

http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove.htm

Our generation does not have those memories indeed, but I guess a lot of countries have caught up or even passed you by in the meantime, so there is no need to be so stuck up.

well hi there mays, the memories i was refering to was the link about the cars that were drove in our teen years, the different kinds of tailights, fins etc,, in the 50s my dad had a 57 chevy, now there was a car i loved. i wanted him to save it for me, but he traded it in on a new one in 64 before i could drive, like i said i bought my first car when i was 16 . about 1967 i guess, it was a 62 chevy impala.. but i worked while in jr. high and highschool as my family was in business, so i paid for it. and they rented parking places at highschool . i still remember 5 bucks for a years of parking, of course there were many post to this topic on the old sight, by lots of ppl. it was a fun time of life , i think every one remembers their first car..and installing those old 8 track tape players,,, and i remember most the cars in the car vidio, and drag racing. as a child my dad took me to stock car racing on weekends, i watched bobby allison race on short tracks here, before he moved up into then was called the grand national, that was the tracks like daytonna , and the rest on the that race circuit,.. well thanks for the post, i wish all the post on this topic had been transfered.by other countrys memories , i ment i would think mainly the United States had those types of cars in the 50s and 60s,, im sure other countrys had very expensive cars like mercedes, which we build the mercedes suvs here in our state now. back then,i mainly ment those fins and flash cars,, but as to telling me how to post about things pertaining to my country , i will post as i choose, mispelling and all, lol, . feel free to post things of ur county, it would not bother me. i would enjoy learning . take care

of course only the USA had those types of cars in those days, for you were most likely the only ones enjoying the post -war-period., while we were still suffering and rebuilding.
a lucky man had a bike in those days and the greengrocer sold his veggies from a cart, pulled by a horse, that is if he could afford a horse, otherwise he had to have his cart pulled by a dog.

I believe that I understand Mays feelings on this and it goes back to when rosco said "Can any other country have the memories we have" as if no other countries have as good a memories as we do. Well, perhaps rosco didn't mean it to sound that way and he only meant that only in this country can those particular memories be made. So it looks to me like it could be a misunderstanding (maybe not..lol) which would somewhat resemble the "Anglo-Dutch translation" post. :)

you could be right, Tyler, but I read it as posting a lot of bragging.
it seems to me, that it would have been more correct to write he has been very lucky in his youth.
when I was born the country was still in ruins and hardly anyone could afford a car in those days.
things have changed in the meantime, but we were talking about the 50ies and 60ies and of course you were the only country with so many cars .

I know that I feel lucky growing up and living where I do, but I wouldn't actually "Brag" about it. I feel bad for the people in this world who were not as fortunate as I have been. I've been driven everywhere as a kid, and at age 16 I owned my own car. Since then I have owned about 12 different cars and trucks through the years. But bragging about it is pointless and rude, but I'm only mentioning it just to show that I do feel fortunate considering so many people like yourself that didn't have that like I did.

I guess I am the odd one in this discussion. (what's new? Ha Ha!)

My father did not shower us with luxuries. He stressed hard work and earning our keep, and learning how to save. My years going up were years of sacrifice as we learned what it would take to have a successful future.


I never owned a car until I could pay for it myself. It was a previously twice owned jalopy! Burned oil like a worn out lawn mower. Ha Ha !

I honestly don't think any remarks made were meant to sound like boasting, but rather sharing something that made those years special.

Yes, America was once ahead, but no so much any more. Many Americans did have the gift of privilege, but not all that many.

Growing up,My Dad also thought hard work would benefit us,I remember having to go in to the fields at five in the morning and work till five that afternoon,
but we did find time to have fun,when cotton picking time was over, we would all go to the carnival, that was the celebration to end summers work..
my lesisure time was spent with friends dancing ,and listening to that evil rock and roll, we the rebels were all going to be ruined by it, my generation turned out pretty good I think..

my first car came, long after i left home, but i got to drive dads pontiac,occasionally~I think it was a starchief? can't remember that is how much i drove it..

I think back then, life was simpler , and the good old days!

I remember before tv, gathering round the radio, and listening to green Hornet, squeaking door, amos and andy~ and many more`



memories are made from the simplest of things..

Not sure about this, and I guess I could have investigated it to get some facts together, but what the hell I'll just spit it out - Doesn't America have more Millionaires and Billionaire's now than its ever had? And if so, how is America not ahead so much anymore? It seems to reason that if there are more rich people now then ever before, then more kids would be privileged. But perhaps I'm missing something here.

Mays Gilliam wrote:of course only the USA had those types of cars in those days, for you were most likely the only ones enjoying the post -war-period., while we were still suffering and rebuilding.
a lucky man had a bike in those days and the greengrocer sold his veggies from a cart, pulled by a horse, that is if he could afford a horse, otherwise he had to have his cart pulled by a dog.

yes i was just talking about the cars,and ment that probably no other county had those types of cars, see i thank u for posting what u posted, i had not give that a thought to what u just posted. i guess i was figuring smaller cars in other countrys, and not the hard times of the war still lingered., i forget how close 1960 was to the end of wwII . forgive my ignorance on the issue, i remember and i dont know where, and this is insensitive of him to say,some guy on a tv documentary said some ppl loved hitler because factory workers here got so much overtime they never made so much money. that shocked me, so i never will forget it, heck i cant believe vietnam has been so many years ago, time seems to slip away, take care

runawayhorses wrote:Not sure about this, and I guess I could have investigated it to get some facts together, but what the hell I'll just spit it out - Doesn't America have more Millionaires and Billionaire's now than its ever had? And if so, how is America not ahead so much anymore? It seems to reason that if there are more rich people now then ever before, then more kids would be privileged. But perhaps I'm missing something here.

well i agree and think i have heard what u have just said, i know i have heard the difference in the lower paid, and the wealth is growing farther apart. a bigger divide and the divide is on the upper end growing,. i will be glad to hear if u research it, but off the top of my head, i think ur correct, on there are more wealthy ppl now.. good ness knows in the county south of mine, super expensive houses are growing like weeds, and unimployment is only 2.8 percent in that county. and i worked since i was in the 9th grade and paid for every penny of my first car at 16 and every car, and its insurance and i had to pay for all my college tuition.plus paid board to my mom, and dad, not much but some.. im not saying this is a big sacrifice, but i had to work after school till 9 at nite even saturday nites 6 nites a week, i never got to go to my highschool football games, but again, i know this is small potatoes,,
but i know my kids had more than me, and my grandkids will be rotten, lol

gypsy wrote:Growing up,My Dad also thought hard work would benefit us,I remember having to go in to the fields at five in the morning and work till five that afternoon,
but we did find time to have fun,when cotton picking time was over, we would all go to the carnival, that was the celebration to end summers work..
my lesisure time was spent with friends dancing ,and listening to that evil rock and roll, we the rebels were all going to be ruined by it, my generation turned out pretty good I think..

my first car came, long after i left home, but i got to drive dads pontiac,occasionally~I think it was a starchief? can't remember that is how much i drove it..

I think back then, life was simpler , and the good old days!

I remember before tv, gathering round the radio, and listening to green Hornet, squeaking door, amos and andy~ and many more`



memories are made from the simplest of things..

gypsy? are u sure, that starchief was not the name of ur mule,, lmao,,, sorry i could not help myself, u sounded like scarlett at Tara,, lol, teasing ofcourse,
ok i better shut up before i get into anymore trouble, take care,,

Okay! Okay!

Perhaps, I should have stated it differently. Yes, we have wealth in the US but it is not distributed equally.

I remember the exchange students who came to the US when I was in my first years of higher education. They thought ALL Americans were wealthy, because they had so little in their native countries.

Lets face it America has a lot of old money (millionaires and billionaires) and it is staying put in those sectors of our society for the most part now.

Yes, the wealth in this country is not equally distributed, it's not governed as such in an attempt to keep everyone equal. But I think what applies here is the phrase "the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer". And I agree with you that the separation between the two seems to be getting larger.

lol how did this get on share ur generation, lol, its ok thats a dead end, all the posting on it was on the old sight,
i am guilt of wanting to raise the tax on the very wealthy as hillary told Orielly, on her fox interview she wants to take it back to where it was when bill clinton was in office, i think over 150 thousand a year, would move up about 6 or 6 and a half more percentage points to 39 percent.. but for me help the middle class, who seems to be hit the hardest, but i may be wrong, BUT< total equal distibution of wealth which will not happen,that is socialism is it not, ??????i could look it up i know, lol,,i checked my 600 bucks will come in july, i think, or june i forget, lol

I read the socialism between Figi s and Tylers lines too and I found it refreshing to see.
Rosco on the other hand acts as if socialism is a dirty word.
Total distribution of wealth is of course out of the question, but some more humane approach of financial affairs would be a good thing.
I dont quite get, why you people complain so much about paying taxes - if I understand Rosco s post right, one pays approx. 33 per cent, if the income is over 150.000 $ ?
That sounds like Tax paradise to me - we pay 52 per cent in that case+ the necessary premium for health care, unemployment, etc. and I dont see the problem.

I think the problem most Americans have with paying taxes is they're tired of it being wasted on issues they don't care about. Those that oppose certain issues or they feel it doesn't apply to them, have money taken out of their paychecks to pay for it. Its a non-ending cycle that will always take place regardless of how much we complain about it. There will always be differences of opinion about how and where the tax payers money will be spent. Your countries taxes are higher, ours is lower, both sides complain about it at one time or another. The point is, no one wants their money spent on issues they think are not important and they don't care about.

I guess it has been good practice to complain about the "fiscus" everywhere, for millenia, no matter how much one had to pay.
It seems to be a universal thing :-)

MAYS i know i sound republican but actually i have voted democrate since clintons first election, mainly then because clinton ran on changing the welfare system,, and best i remember they did.. i agree with tyler, about taxes, so much is wasted on pork barrel projects, like the tenn-tom water way that was built here and mainly because of an alabama rep in the house,.i saw a tv story on it that it was at that time considered the largest waist of tax payers money there was. i will admit i saw this years ago, but pork barrel things are an endless story, im sure all americans have heard of totally siily ways to spend money, Mays, i just wanted to say one thing here that sounds different, u mentioned, unemployment here it is a state issue. unless in really high unemployment rated times, the feds have like a 13 week extension, but other than that , i remember so many years ago, anyone much younger than me will not remember. unemployment in my state was cut out of the employee and employer both paid, but the pool of money got so large so for probably 30 years or so, only the employer pays the state on unemployment for so long its hard to even remember i was cut on my check, i was real young. also the amount differs from state ot state on how much u draw, and my state is low compaired to like georgia, and i think tennessee. and some northern states get almost the whole salary,
i have always filled out my taxes, only year i used bookkeeper service was when my mom died, and had some issues.and i still do it the old fashion way,,, i just went and figured my federal and state income tax, how much percent i pay, on federal i actually after all deductions, i paid really close to 10 1/3 percent of what i made, and on state, i paid close to 3 1/2 percent . some states dont have income tax, i think texas is one, i think?? some have real high property tax, we have that also but not as much as some states and we have like 9 percent sales tax in the city,,, the reason mine was 10 percent on federal is because i forget but the first part of ur income is not taxed, ofcourse my top rate is more, on like interest i add to my income when figuring it.. but it averaged out to 10 and one third percent i paid, of my total earnings, i am perfectly satisfied with my health insurance, BUT since im not married now, i dont have her health insurance to fall back on incase of a lay off, i would have to do cobra. which is me pay the whole amount plus 2 percent, and i have done that for a few months. where i work now till my 90 days probation was over and i got on my companies insurance which is good, and i pay like 13 bucks a week, and dental is practically free. BUT again mays, i hope our new government gets a health policy, incase we had a down turn and i was layed off, i would have a government insurance program to get on, i think that was hillarys way., not sure about obama plan,, welll mays sorry to run on so,, u take care,
i concider my self a independent, but actually im kind of democrate on fiscal issues. but republican on national defense, that about sizes me up, lol,,

(Per capita income in the USA remains the highest in the world, among industrialized nations.)
--

FROM WORLD BANK DEVELOPMENT

FEB 2008: INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON PROGRAM

Luxembourg* had the highest per capita Gross National Income (GNI) in the world in 2006, followed closely by Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland, according to World Bank Development Indicators 2007. Ireland is in 6th place, just ahead of the US.

some statistics about gross national income per capita:
.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNIPC.pdf

yes but we have walmart, which makes up for the slack, lol., i dont know how wide spread walmart is, like around the world, all i know is, where i use to do tool and die work, for preengineered buildings,for 20 years, we made lots of walmart distribution centers, and some stores, we were told one big one we made was going to mexico city, it would have 70 cash registers, that is what we were told, they now have a factory in mexico,, and also one in china, or 2 in china, to build places for companies that are new and need a factory buiding.,
walmart has as u know hurt the small businesses but on the other hand when a walmart comes in small shoping centers follow around it,, but now they have a program going as the list is posted at our work, on our bulletin board of a huge amount of generic drugs that walmart will sell for 4 bucks most a 30 count supply, but i have not studied it alot . most insurances like mine would at another drug store charge a co-pay of 10 bucks a prescription with no count limit, and walmart will i just have read will sell a 3 month suppy of those 4 buck prescriptions for 10 bucks. i only say this because they already have hurt many other large grocery stores , it seem now smaller drug stores are in there sight, but i dont do scripts at walmart, i like my drug store, i just call ahead when i leave work and i go through the drive through, i work with seveal other machinist that make what luxemburg gni was and even a bit more, , but to achieve that they have to work alot of overtime.overtime where i work is an open door policy. we stay behind..i work some overtime,almost totally on some saturdays, the others do saturday, and double time on sundays, and work 12 or 10 hours a day, and not the 8 a day i work..

.our per capita income,given the effects of inflation, has put many everyday Americans into tax rates that can be seen (by them,at least) as confiscatory.
--------------
the various tax scales should be adjusted on an annual bases, because of inflation.
Is that not happening?

Mays Gilliam wrote:.our per capita income,given the effects of inflation, has put many everyday Americans into tax rates that can be seen (by them,at least) as confiscatory.
--------------
the various tax scales should be adjusted on an annual bases, because of inflation.
Is that not happening?

This is not a huge adjustment but it helps some especially on ppl with kids,
mays as i said earlier i do my own income tax the old fashion way, we do have an adjustment from one year to another for some who fall into this way of filling as i do, since i dont have any deductions that add up even close to more than the standard deductions , i take the standard, this is for an individual, the standard deduction goes up 200 dollars each year, a joint filing goes up 400 dollars a year. now thats just for ppl that use standard deductions, im not sure about if itemizing has any change, but also the personnel exemption deduction goes up 100 dollars a year, so for me that is it, a family of 4 it would ofcourse increase 400 dollars a year on the personel exemption, u subtract from ur income. that is federal,, i itemise state as state standard deduction in my state sucks, so i itemize, and u can take what federal tax u pay and social security and medicare insurance , off, which is the big chunk. u do not on either for most ppl count health insurance premiums off u can only take what health insurance premiums u pay that is over a certain percentage of ur income, so most companies take this option . as like a 401 account healthcare can and most companies with any smarts do, u can take healthcare premiums paid by the employee out in pretax dollars like ur 401 account is the same way, so the amount u make on ur w2 form is with those 2 figures already deducted, and reflect a smaller income. on fed, and state, also u can set up if u choose which i dont, a healthcare fund, taken out in pretax dollars, it puts it in a fund, so to speak, and u can spend out of it through out the year on healthcare, copays on dr visits, , new glasses, any health item that is not covered by ur insurance, but if u dont use it, if any is left over at the end of the year, u loose it, so its best to like find something u will spend on like save that new pair of glasses to the end of the year,. if u need to depleat that health account of the money u had cut to go in.. and again its in pretax dollars like ur 401 and health insurance , so it is not reflected in what u made that year,
one stupid thing i dont do, and dont ask me why i may this coming year, i have interest income, which raises my income, i have an IRA account,that just sits there, since the 80s . i should contribute the amount of interest income to my ira therefore erasing it from my income, stupid of me or what,they let u do that up to april 15 tax time the following year of ur taxes, take care