The "green shoots" sighted by Field Marshal Bernanke this past spring were a mirage. The 2010 economic "recovery" predicted by the same experts, authorities and financial boy scouts and cheerleaders who didn't see the economic crisis coming is pure delusion.
By 2012, even those in denial and still clinging to hope will be forced to face the truth. It will be called "Obamageddon" in America. The rest of the world will call it "The Greatest Depression."
Fuel price hikes would hardly matter if Americans changed there profligate lifestyles and the US govt contributed more to building good public transport. But would that happen? unlikely, as the US govt is more interested in spending trillions on arms and wars around the world rather than on building efficient public transportation systems. And ofcourse the citizens love there big sedans and SUVs, so is it surprising that they feel the pinch more these days. The funny thing is that Americans still pay less for gas than there counterparts around the world and they use a lot bigger cars too...so why complain!
Rediff has managed to choose such losers to interview...
These people were so naive in thinking that USA is going to have unlimited cheap fuel forever and ever. And seriously, why are you driving 65 miles to work everyday, move closer to work... but no.. I want to live in my fancy little house in my fancy little area. And then I want to cry about paying for gas.
As a lot of people have pointed out here, there are people with more serious issues - such as the poor in India who may not even get daily meals.
And there are poor Americans in USA who are facing bigger problems than these well off Indian-Americans.
RE:Cry a River
by efwke on Jul 11, 2008 01:22 AM
Hahahah, you really have a sense of humor. and most of the issues that you pointed out are true. I live in the US and it is painful to see the prices up, but some people are cryin too much
RE:RE:Cry a River
by Vikram Kapoor on Jul 11, 2008 07:21 AM
Its a pity, u live in the US and cannot understand why "some people are crying too much"...? looks like u have a great sense of humor too:-)
RE:Cry a River
by Vikram Kapoor on Jul 11, 2008 07:18 AM
"Poor or Rich American Indians", gas prices are affecting all, all over the world. In America there wont be a single household who donot own atleast a car. Call it a "car-culture". So if some people are crying too much they are particularly affected too much by this price hike. And if a person is driving 65 miles to work, there might be various aspects why he bought his house so far. Probably the gas prices were not high when he bought it and also he might have bought his house on mortage. Hence he cannot just move closer to his work place. Also if he has children, the rule in US is that the children must be admitted to schools closer to homes and not far off. Hence in US, parents choose home closer to reputed schools. In other words, there are a lot of issues. This article is based on Indian Americans who are affected by the rise in gas price and these were their response. This article was NOT on the general problems facing Indian Americans.
ANd its a pity if there is any article here on such issues, the responses will always be "we are not talking about the poor in India, daily meals... blah..blah.." Dont u think we have talked about it a lot, now suggest some useful remedial measures as well. Can U?
RE:Cry a River
by sonia gupta on Jul 14, 2008 08:19 PM
yeah ... try to live simple... no need to buy $500,000 homes in fancy areas, far far away from your workplace and from every other thing.
Re: RE:Cry a River
by ravi sankar on Sep 11, 2009 09:05 PM
if you are there with me, I can try sonia..................Sorry reminds me of some one...........but that's another issue.
is this an article? why does rediff and many indian portals have a love affair with "US indians"? as one myself i can vouch that this is a nonsensical article
plus - are you saying that indians / everyone else for that matter globally is not suffering due to high gas prices?
ps: millions of ppl cannot afford a meal due to high costs - who the f cares about some desi who cannot afford to fill his mercedes? bs!
Re: RE:useless
by ravi sankar on Sep 11, 2009 09:07 PM
America will see riots in 2011.....according to the Institute for predicting internal dynamics of which I am the Director.
RE:useless
by Guest on Jul 11, 2008 06:59 PM
You said it... I can't believe the guy with a Mercedes crying about gas... just like those ordering a double whopper with a diet soda...
RE:Ridiculous
by tamil on Jul 10, 2008 06:09 PM
Most of Indians in US spends only for the basic needs unlike ppl in present India they spent a lot more percentage on their earnings...
Also the US americans know only to send money back to India.. rising the inflation in India...
US Indians r the main reason for the rise in real estate ...
RE:Ridiculous
by CoolDude on Jul 10, 2008 09:19 PM
This Article is complete bullshit. Indian living in America are the people who thinks 100 times before spending a dollar. They only save save and save the money thinking may be the money will give birth to children dollars. They will never spend it and cry for every 50 cents.
Secondly ,the author of this article is one of them, she write nonsence stuff. All calculations are full of error and bullshit. Get a life..
RE:Ridiculous
by Sujan Kapadia on Jul 11, 2008 08:18 PM
Just to clarify I'm not saying this because I'm upset with the amount people are earning. At the age of 27, I am a senior software engineer at a very good company, making an excellent salary, and I own a home. But I don't have the aforementioned mentality or interested in racing to get the latest luxury items...
RE:Ridiculous
by Pyare Mohan on Jul 11, 2008 10:38 PM
thats good to know sujan baba... but what exactly is ur problem? indians coming to usa - is that the problem? indians buying bmws & big houses - is that the problem? indians having huge groups of friends, grocery stores - is that ur problem?? u have rambled on and on for so long but to me u r just one more confused product of those so-called 1st generation immigrant desis who successfully earned us a name 'stinking brownies'. what do u want a exclusive club for urself because ur parents came here in the 70s? and whats with "these h1bs"? how abt when we say - "these abcds"? does it hurt? plainly - u r jealous because we do/buy more stuff in 3-4 years that took ur loser parents 25-30 years.
RE:Ridiculous
by Sujan Kapadia on Jul 14, 2008 07:26 AM
My problem is how shallow, overconfident, and super-materialistic you all have become, just because overnight India was showered with billions of dollars from the US... Nothing but consumption and purchases matters to you in life, that's how pathetic it is...
And those loser parents you talk about... they came to this country (just like those now) for a better opportunity and education for their children, at a time when Indian economy was failing and opportunities were scarce. They worked extremely hard to provide themselves and their children a good life. Those loser parents sacrificed everything to come here... They didn't have the luxuries you do or the easy path to money you do... they couldn't just fake their resumes, pass some stupid certification exams and get jobs here... Yes Americans are dumb for giving away jobs like that...
RE:RE:Ridiculous
by Sujan Kapadia on Jul 11, 2008 07:57 PM
They have everything from India here, huge group of friends all over US, Indian shops, grocery stores, cheap calls to India, Internet, Indian TV over satellite... and all these things are great, I enjoy them as well, but you see there is no transition period for new generation, its not difficult to adjust to US anymore since everything is available.
People (including relatives) still have mentality in India that dollar is king and I can afford anything and they tell me that oh you're from US, 20,000 rupees ($500) a night for a hotel should be nothing for you... Ummm excuse me???
Over here we also work our butts off.. We work from high school (luckily we have employment opportunities early on in US), start paying rent very early, and buy our own homes with huge mortgages... Some of the youth in India just now are understanding what the real world is... paying rent, mortgage.. where most of my relatives in India get the homes from their parents and have never payed a rupee of rent in their life... They don't see all of the other expenses in the US that eat your salary as well...
I just wish this new generation would appreciate money more, understanding saving a little better, and not get so tied up in "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. You don't have to own a BMW or Mercedes to feel good... You don't have to have a 4000 sq ft house to show off to your friends and relatives in India...
I know that the economy in India is / was booming and consumer
RE:Ridiculous
by Sujan Kapadia on Jul 11, 2008 07:50 PM
Correction. Indians from previous generations are "the people who think 100 times before spending" came from a completely different India. I am a child of parents from that generation and they passed those values to me. This new generation comes from an India where people spend with reckless abandon, where everybody has to have the latest and greatest, trendiest, most expensive items. It has taken materialism to unbearable heights and you can see that in the overconfidence and hubris of the youth there. They word saving is just not in their vocabulary.
These H1-Bs come over here with the mentality that we must have a BMW or Mercedes and within hardly a few years they buy one. They overspend, overindulge, and have to have luxury items. They have to buy $500K houses and show off status to other Indians. Think about it, there is no struggle for Indians coming to US now. If both the husband and wife each are making even minimum $60K, that is combined $120K from the moment they land in America, they are doing better that 99% of the US population.
The new generation coming here are only interested in showing their wealth, buying the biggest houses, most expensive cars... The previous generation came here with conservative values but integrated well with American society, that is they lost their preoccupation with "social status" etc. The new generation coming here don't care to integrate into US society. They have everything from India here...
Compared to Australia and UK food is much cheaper and also petrol. People were driving big gas guzzlers like SUV. Time to change all that.This problem may be a blessing. They will encourage public transportation and every one will bebenifited. America was depending on automobile economy . GM is bankrupt now.
RE:US is still the cheapest place to live
by Calspadeaspade on Jul 10, 2008 05:29 PM
contd.. Health care is the one that is most expensive in US. In other places they are cheap.
" We do long-term planning - my retirement plan, my savings and my family's travel to India, all have been upset,"
These freaking immigrants (esp. of Asian origin) are no less than the commies. Whatever happens to the world, they look at it as to how it affects their 401K, retirement etc. These people eagerly await retirement life where they can enjoy the world without any work. American government(democrats or republics) has been patronizing these dirty conservatism for decades . After 60, all these guys live a second life at the expense of the blood from younger genre of the world with no value to this world. I have been hearing that the social security is heading to bankrupt soon beacuse of baby boomers since late 60's or so. Whatever may be, one of the major causal factors of world economy weakening every 5 years is a accumulated risk occurence of this retired poluation in the US rest of the west .
RE:Retired and enjoying
by nagesh varma on Jul 10, 2008 04:31 PM
Everyone grows old. How long you to reach 60? How does your parents, grand-parents manage?
RE:Retired and enjoying
by Ganesh R on Jul 10, 2008 05:35 PM
I'm sure you know nothing about US work because in US people get retirement only after 70 unless they plan to take an early retirement.
RE:Retired and enjoying
by asdfg on Jul 10, 2008 07:54 PM
correction my friend. you can retire whenever you want. your Social Security kicks in after 65 years. Your medicare kicks in after 65 years. the amount you make from Social security depends on the points you accumulated while working in USA. on the original point about Social security going bankrupt, this is what American social system was built on. Youngsters contribute towards elders welfare. This is the back bone of american socitey and we as immigrants don't have any right to question it. it is like hmmm why would i give a day off on August 15th in India, i am not an indian......
Thanks Sheela mam for de-valuing Indian Rupee to Rs.68 a dollar. California is the most expensive at $4.552 a gallon(US gallon is 3.78541 litre). So for me, they are still paying Rs.51.86ps per litre and they are crying for that. What a story.....God bless you.
This is desi thinking... i.e. part of NRIs thought process where he compares everything to India.
In this case, $4 is not a big deal for a gallon. In UK the prices are 1.2 pounds ($2.4 per litre) i.e. approx $8 a gallon. This is case with most non-oil producing countries (majority of the world)
But, Desi Thinking..... Convert every expense to Indian Rupee (in mind/brain) and keep the income in original foreign currency.
So a desi always thinks he earns $4000, but when spending thinks he is spending $100 X 40.... and becomes unhappy and starts cribbing.....
But, a person who has changed himself into the local mould will not have these issues... The article above also has same base, every figure is converted to Rupee in brackets.
Article written by a desi, to console cribbing desis :-)
RE:Desi Thinking
by asdfg on Jul 10, 2008 08:01 PM
again.. wrong thinking... it is not just the INDIANS thinking in this direction. Most of the people whom i know, work, associate, have business dealings with is feeling the crunch. Wake up and don't stereotype people of Indian origin. It is the same with everyone. Also, don't talk about UK. The sheer size of US is the issue. How are you going to provide public transport? I have a huge family in UK and all of them are well set but their main means of transport is either the tube(local rail) or buses. Even thought LA, NY and Chicago might have well developed public transport, not all the major cities in US have the same.
So please don't be too judgemental about Indians and their way of thinking. Everyone is feeling the pinch at this junction....
RE:Desi Thinking
by Ganesh R on Jul 10, 2008 05:39 PM
If you have a "DESI" friend who's an average middle class staying in US with family, then you'll know why ppl crib about $4 gas. PS - During 80's the gas price was 50 cents a gallon. During 2004 (when I first visited) it was $1.50 a gallon & in a span of 3 months it rose to $1.99. During 2005 the same was $2.50 & during 2007 end it rose to $3.18 & now its finally $4.08. So CRIBBING DOES MATTER whether its in ruppess or in dollars
