Dr. Malone! Great advice! I paid my home off in 25 years rather than 30. I hope I did the math right. Give me Algebra anytime! I rechecked to be sure. My first husband passed away suddenly and I was left with the mortgage and the 2nd mortgage we used to do repairs. I paid both off 2009 and it has been wonderful! I do have a few subscriptions to keep out advertisements and make my life easier. You answered the question well about leasing cars or anything like that that. I’m so glad you addressed the 50 year house mortgage.
Oh! I also paid my recent car purchase off a year early. How? Pay on the principal a little each month. Young people you can do it!!!
Yes, every dollar paid above interest goes straight to principal, and it adds up, little by little. We paid off my wife's car early by rounding up the payments every month, the more the merrier! And yes, very disappointed in President Trump's 50 year mortgage idea - almost as bad as the $1,000+ checks to everyone from tariff revenue. Please sir, to whom are you listening? We have a national debt to address.
Very good general analysis of modern life. I would also add books. Buy a physical copy of anything that you might want to read again or pass on to someone else.
Good info! Years ago, I was late so many times returning books...the fines added up. I am a book buyer! Now, I have a home library of books...and I use thriftbooks.com, which saves money buying the books I want.
I bought 42 books last year...and many more this year. I have loved books..since I started reading at 8. I was a slow learner! Poor diet! No food during those early years and I would fall asleep in class. i got into nutrition in 1961 and it totally changed my life. I taught my last child to read and he could read at 6. .
I realize as I write this that I am responding to a post that I subscribe to, but even so, I have been increasingly annoyed by our growing subscription based society and I'm glad to see an article calling it out for the slavery it is. I still purchase older versions of Microsoft Office for our computers at work just to avoid the subscription fees. They haven't changed the basic features enough in new versions to justify the costs of subscriptions for us.
I tried Libre and another open source office suite but management would not go for them. I actually still use an old copy of Lotus Smartsuite on a daily basis and it does everything I need.
Good post! The 50 year mortgage idea proposed by Trump surprised me and I hate the idea! Even when car loans went to five years I was appalled! In our capitalist society we should be encouraging folks to own outright, to lessen their indebtedness. Yet so much of what we think we “need” comes by way of subscription, i. e. your Substack, Dr Malone! And yet I happily pay for it! Where do we each personally draw the line! A personal decision , eh?
"...nothing new under the sun." Remember the rotary dial phones that Ma Bell let us use for a few bucks a month for what would have been an eternity? And I like to think of subscriptions as greed-based vs. need-based. The $50 we pay annually for Malone News is one of the best deals around, and God bless them for their remarkable efforts!
Double Amen! He guided me through the COVID debacle and I learn invaluable information from his posts. Not to mention the twice weekly belly laughs from the “Funnies”!
I read the article by Dr. Demasi (that you reposted) with increasing enragement. You're a better man than I, willing to sit with Offit and listen to him without calling him out in public. What a weasel.
Sharp marketing practices abound in the internet world. Reoccurring Fees for everything is the name of the game. I am to the point were I will cancel my credit card every 90 days, so I don't have monthly re-occurring charges that I forgot about. Having annual is even more of a concern.
Our FTC is clueless as to the extent that money is being sucked out of the of the pockets of subscribers. Google and Facebook and Microsoft all indirectly contribute to the 17 Billion/yr in hacking that sucks money out of the individual's pocket. They deny they can monitor and reduce the scam internet sites. They can, but it means they need to employ more people. Consequently, the American public is the victim. I know I was almost one! One small step is to make everyone who charges a reoccurring fee to notify the user 7 days before the transaction. A few honest corporations do. FTC do YOUR JOB!
My solution is to subscribe to Substacks monthly, and I time my subscriptions so that the statements all arrive on the same day each month. It's a reminder of how many subscriptions I have, and I can unsubscribe easily if/when I no longer see a benefit. Malone News is a keeper though!
I've been death on these "cloud storage" services since they began offering them maybe what... ten or 15 years ago. I just looked it up and I can buy 640 GIGA BYTES worth of flash drives on amazon for forty lousy bucks. Why would I trust some outside service to store anything I own over a 40 dollar, one time price tag. Just look at what amazon web services, apple store and google did to Parler and tried to do to Rumble.... Why would you trust them to keep your data safe?
As for mortgages: there is no reason a 30 or 50 year mortgage has to last 30 or 50 years. When we bought our current (don't laugh, 1000 sq. ft.) house back in '96 we had a 20 year mortgage and paid it off in seven years. The amount of interest paid is totally within the control of the payer. BUT, these days it seems that everyone who wants a house just can't imagine how they could possibly exist in a house smaller than 3000 sq. ft. Buy what you really need, not what you merely want.
Same with credit cards. I have had the same credit card for most of 20 years and have never paid one dime in interest. So I basically don't care one bit what the interest rate is.... Since I pay my bill in full every month I'm not paying any interest anyway.
I could probably rant on for a couple hours on these subjects, but I'll stop now before my hair catches fire.
Fortunately there are still some "free memberships" but those are getting rather rare. This also applies to copyrighted materials verses creative commons. Software that is unlicensed is great stuff...donations accepted. If companies really want their products to be used, then perhaps a different approach like ownership is possible...own or rent. I still have boxes of software I own...and the computer those apps run on is no longer accessible by internet...not a bad thing really. Hard to put a virus on a disconnected device.
I too was surprised by Trumps promotion of 50 year loans. I guess for someone worth billions, it’s easy to lose sight of microeconomics. I’ve never carried any home loan terms longer than 15 years. Debt is the shackle of economic slavery. Live debt free or die. (A variation on New Hampshires motto).
It is a Band Aid approach. Solves nothing! The problem is that the modern lifestyle sucks most of the income out of a family. Time to rejecting the conveniences and go back to basics.
We have to return to a family formation where the mother stays home and nurtures the children. That was a push by corporation to reduce their labor costs! Moving to a two parent working household to make ends meet.
Oh my word. YES!! Here in our home, and in our years, we have seen this creeping in like kudzu in Florida...and began the simple way. Saying "no". We'll do without it thanks. We'll buy a used car, we have two of them...each over 15 years old, maintained by us--grateful for being able to still get parts; they run like tops...and one has heated seats. We use a garmin GPS in the car, and when we need it, a pre-paid hot spot for a month for our ipads. You may well wonder. Poor Dears...are they desolate, in despair, ground to the ground by such (what seem to be limiting decisions). Nope. Not a whit, nor a bit, books, a few movie sites that provide a few ads (not yet enough to make us quit like we quit cable)...with no subscription. We have paid subscriptions to few very worthwhile things...specifically because we wish to support them...witness our subscription to this very substack. We're looking at you, Dr. Robert Malone...even though you, (and we mark this with respect) provide your thoughts, invaluable insights, discussion, GRATIS. Thank You. In addition, our residence, modest, and in sylvan surroundings one might even say, "rural"...was years ago fully paid for through 40 years of work life...through the buy, live, sell and reboot system, to which I might add...don't go into hock to do "improvements"...other than basics like rood, plumbing, etc....all it does it put you back into more debt...AND....your property taxes will be raised at the next assessment. Aaaaand don't buy a new car, buy a used one it doesn't require a monthly subscription for a steering wheel, hehe. And it won't tell your insurance company if you go a few miles over the speed limit to pass a truck that is blinding you with water off the road; it won't stop if someone somewhere decides you drove too much this week...and you can get a maintenance manual! Get an old sunbeam mixer and other needs at the many vintage/antique/thrift/donation stores, aaaah, no don't you laugh, that mixer is humming like a top...fantastic, efficient, heavy (doesn't hop all over the counter and is quite minimalist in the space it takes). Love it in all its vintage glory. We joke that motor could send a rocket to the moon. (Note to self, notify Elon). All kidding aside, and with great encouragement we say..."just say NO to a world that is nothing more than attempting to impose upon us what was a "company town" of old. Grok can tell you what that was as you are all likely younger than this writer. So. Beware..."all that glisters is not gold". No need for the newest "thing" each time something pops up. It is wise to have the skills and means to take care of one's self. "God helps those who help themselves". Stay tuned! More platitudes are available upon request. Sitting at my solid vintage oak table, (courtesy of St. Vincent de Paul), looking out at the pine trees, as I tappity tap on this years old venerable I-Pad...assuring all of each of everyone of you, it is utterly well worth the work to be independent. Be alert to the calls for standardization, "one size fits all" language, and the absurd notion that being dependent upon anyone, or anything else, for ones food, shelter, clothing, entertainment, travel, health and/or welfare for a monthly/yearly payment for same is magically somehow a great way to live. That is what is being sold you when they prattle "you will own nothing and be happy". Oh sure. Right. Uh huh. Lets rephrase that shall we? How about simply, starkly, honestly stating the truth, which is: "We will own everything and we will charge you for everything from toothpaste to cherry doughnuts, we'll let you know what is available and how much you can have, and too bad if you can't pay.....in return...WE will be very happy". To that a resounding reply: "In a pig's eye!". Or "when hades turns into frost". Or as my Grandfather used to say: "Pull the other one!" Cheers to all with prayers for all. You all be good to each other now.
You are 100% correct in every degree, or angle, when it comes to buying “vintage”; I feel new is not always best, or works better for that matter! My old furniture is fine, & has been with me for a long, long time! I can refinish the old, rough spots, use a little “elbow grease”, & it looks better than the new stuff made in China! Thank you, have a great evening!
If only someone would listen to us. Bring back simple things. Someone could make a killing doing so. The EV/AI push / the Real ID push - has been the tipping for many of us. Sadly, if AI happens in the way President Trump is talking, I believe, we will Lose in 2026, and 2028. People have had enough of Tech/China products/AI doom and gloom but the Trump admin has him convinced it's a Race. And to a athletic Winner type- that's all you need to say.
Son’s mom and I paid off what’s now MY palatial palace and landed estate in 7 years back when son was the same age. On one full time income - hers. You don’t need a subscription for home security if you know what you’re doing. There are a couple/several software packages that provide nearly all the functionality of software suites like MS360 - if you’re an Apple fanboy/gal, their software suite is free (that is, it’s paid for by the price of the hardware). You can build your own alternative to cloud based digital storage at home: I had something like 100TB of storage at hand (not all on line) and I just bought another 96TB that’ll be going into my main NAS (Network Attached Storage), which I access over a 10gbe network. If I wanted, I could access remotely - just haven’t set up yet. I have a 1,000 +/- books, mostly softback, ½ SciFi. There’s also 30 years of disc media and currently 7-10TB of recorded media on the server - there’s tech that allows you to record from ota broadcasts, which can be edited down.
All of my vehicles, from tractor to roadster, were paid for in cash, none with any subscriptions. It seems that the more expensive the vehicle, the more likely it will come with subscriptions. There’s a new USofA EV company based in the heartland (Indiana?) that will be low cost and subscription free — SLATE. You can have it in any color you want so long as you want grey 🤣.
You can free yourself from your power subscription ( being grid tied) by erecting solar and installing storage batteries. Where I live that means 3x -5x the batteries I bought and putting up so many panels for winter they’ll be able to see you from the ISS - during summer you’d be generating enough excess DC you could cool off a small arena.
My point in all these examples, esp the last one, we have the ability to separate from the subscription economy in ways we never could before when we didn’t really have a need to do so. I won’t address the housing issue - too complex an answer, but what I find fascinating is that, if you don’t HAVE to have EVERYTHING, the subscription model ain’t horrendous. Fer example, I pay for Apple One (mostly news, storage, video, music), Amazon Prime (shipping, video), two inexpensive streamers and two weather apps (hey, it’s Montana). I pay for my iPhone upfront from Apple and recently switched to an MVNO where I can prepay a year at a time for less than $500 that has all the stuff the big boys provide - except for the "free" addons, this first year it’s $225 for unlimited talk/text/Data. [even talked son’s mom into switching]
We’re in a subscription economy because we want to be. Supposedly we deserve all this 💩 and instead of doing something with all the extra time our technology provides, we’d rather fritter it away through useless/worthless activities. Unless, until people decide to change or, most likely, are FORCED to change, we’re gonna see those 600 month mortgages and 120 month auto loans, if we actually own either.
Appreciated the essay, doc/s, but I ‘spect the folks who need it aren’t/wont be reading.
My only subscription is also Malone News! I don’t like “cell phone apps”; my Daughter talked me into allowing her to pay for photo storage on Cloud, for me. I do not like the Cloud! My next purchase will be buying a data/photo storage unit & transfer all my photos so I can access them whenever I want!
I think the high cost of homes is greed in every way, shape, & form! A 50-year mortgage is definitely not the answer for young folks trying to purchase a home. Hopefully, this 50-year mortgage plan will not be the only way for young people to buy their first home!
Dr. Malone! Great advice! I paid my home off in 25 years rather than 30. I hope I did the math right. Give me Algebra anytime! I rechecked to be sure. My first husband passed away suddenly and I was left with the mortgage and the 2nd mortgage we used to do repairs. I paid both off 2009 and it has been wonderful! I do have a few subscriptions to keep out advertisements and make my life easier. You answered the question well about leasing cars or anything like that that. I’m so glad you addressed the 50 year house mortgage.
Oh! I also paid my recent car purchase off a year early. How? Pay on the principal a little each month. Young people you can do it!!!
Yes, every dollar paid above interest goes straight to principal, and it adds up, little by little. We paid off my wife's car early by rounding up the payments every month, the more the merrier! And yes, very disappointed in President Trump's 50 year mortgage idea - almost as bad as the $1,000+ checks to everyone from tariff revenue. Please sir, to whom are you listening? We have a national debt to address.
Very good general analysis of modern life. I would also add books. Buy a physical copy of anything that you might want to read again or pass on to someone else.
Good info! Years ago, I was late so many times returning books...the fines added up. I am a book buyer! Now, I have a home library of books...and I use thriftbooks.com, which saves money buying the books I want.
Thriftbooks is awesome!
I bought 42 books last year...and many more this year. I have loved books..since I started reading at 8. I was a slow learner! Poor diet! No food during those early years and I would fall asleep in class. i got into nutrition in 1961 and it totally changed my life. I taught my last child to read and he could read at 6. .
Great idea about purchasing “physical books”! I share my books when my family wants to read one of my latest selection of new books since 2020!
I read a lot and have to have a physical book in my hands when I'm reading. I tried a nook years ago and hated it.
I realize as I write this that I am responding to a post that I subscribe to, but even so, I have been increasingly annoyed by our growing subscription based society and I'm glad to see an article calling it out for the slavery it is. I still purchase older versions of Microsoft Office for our computers at work just to avoid the subscription fees. They haven't changed the basic features enough in new versions to justify the costs of subscriptions for us.
Even better is to use Libre Office, which has all the features of a good office suite, and is FREE.
I tried Libre and another open source office suite but management would not go for them. I actually still use an old copy of Lotus Smartsuite on a daily basis and it does everything I need.
I subscribe to Malone News. Oh, by the way, I like the art.
Good post! The 50 year mortgage idea proposed by Trump surprised me and I hate the idea! Even when car loans went to five years I was appalled! In our capitalist society we should be encouraging folks to own outright, to lessen their indebtedness. Yet so much of what we think we “need” comes by way of subscription, i. e. your Substack, Dr Malone! And yet I happily pay for it! Where do we each personally draw the line! A personal decision , eh?
"...nothing new under the sun." Remember the rotary dial phones that Ma Bell let us use for a few bucks a month for what would have been an eternity? And I like to think of subscriptions as greed-based vs. need-based. The $50 we pay annually for Malone News is one of the best deals around, and God bless them for their remarkable efforts!
Double Amen! He guided me through the COVID debacle and I learn invaluable information from his posts. Not to mention the twice weekly belly laughs from the “Funnies”!
I subscribe to Malone News for the funnies, the articles are a bonus.
I read the article by Dr. Demasi (that you reposted) with increasing enragement. You're a better man than I, willing to sit with Offit and listen to him without calling him out in public. What a weasel.
I shouldn’t poke fun but Offit is off his rocker.
Sharp marketing practices abound in the internet world. Reoccurring Fees for everything is the name of the game. I am to the point were I will cancel my credit card every 90 days, so I don't have monthly re-occurring charges that I forgot about. Having annual is even more of a concern.
Our FTC is clueless as to the extent that money is being sucked out of the of the pockets of subscribers. Google and Facebook and Microsoft all indirectly contribute to the 17 Billion/yr in hacking that sucks money out of the individual's pocket. They deny they can monitor and reduce the scam internet sites. They can, but it means they need to employ more people. Consequently, the American public is the victim. I know I was almost one! One small step is to make everyone who charges a reoccurring fee to notify the user 7 days before the transaction. A few honest corporations do. FTC do YOUR JOB!
And Substack! quite pricey if you subscribe to 20 or so.
I hate most, that some stores want subscriptions. I never ever will go to one of those.
My solution is to subscribe to Substacks monthly, and I time my subscriptions so that the statements all arrive on the same day each month. It's a reminder of how many subscriptions I have, and I can unsubscribe easily if/when I no longer see a benefit. Malone News is a keeper though!
I've been death on these "cloud storage" services since they began offering them maybe what... ten or 15 years ago. I just looked it up and I can buy 640 GIGA BYTES worth of flash drives on amazon for forty lousy bucks. Why would I trust some outside service to store anything I own over a 40 dollar, one time price tag. Just look at what amazon web services, apple store and google did to Parler and tried to do to Rumble.... Why would you trust them to keep your data safe?
As for mortgages: there is no reason a 30 or 50 year mortgage has to last 30 or 50 years. When we bought our current (don't laugh, 1000 sq. ft.) house back in '96 we had a 20 year mortgage and paid it off in seven years. The amount of interest paid is totally within the control of the payer. BUT, these days it seems that everyone who wants a house just can't imagine how they could possibly exist in a house smaller than 3000 sq. ft. Buy what you really need, not what you merely want.
Same with credit cards. I have had the same credit card for most of 20 years and have never paid one dime in interest. So I basically don't care one bit what the interest rate is.... Since I pay my bill in full every month I'm not paying any interest anyway.
I could probably rant on for a couple hours on these subjects, but I'll stop now before my hair catches fire.
Fortunately there are still some "free memberships" but those are getting rather rare. This also applies to copyrighted materials verses creative commons. Software that is unlicensed is great stuff...donations accepted. If companies really want their products to be used, then perhaps a different approach like ownership is possible...own or rent. I still have boxes of software I own...and the computer those apps run on is no longer accessible by internet...not a bad thing really. Hard to put a virus on a disconnected device.
Mike beat me to it—subscription fees like Substack provide a great business opportunity to individuals and smaller enterprises as well.
"You will own nothing and be happy"
- The great and powerful Wizard of Oz
WEF Classic (1:47) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKyqZm7927Y
I too was surprised by Trumps promotion of 50 year loans. I guess for someone worth billions, it’s easy to lose sight of microeconomics. I’ve never carried any home loan terms longer than 15 years. Debt is the shackle of economic slavery. Live debt free or die. (A variation on New Hampshires motto).
It is a Band Aid approach. Solves nothing! The problem is that the modern lifestyle sucks most of the income out of a family. Time to rejecting the conveniences and go back to basics.
We have to return to a family formation where the mother stays home and nurtures the children. That was a push by corporation to reduce their labor costs! Moving to a two parent working household to make ends meet.
Oh my word. YES!! Here in our home, and in our years, we have seen this creeping in like kudzu in Florida...and began the simple way. Saying "no". We'll do without it thanks. We'll buy a used car, we have two of them...each over 15 years old, maintained by us--grateful for being able to still get parts; they run like tops...and one has heated seats. We use a garmin GPS in the car, and when we need it, a pre-paid hot spot for a month for our ipads. You may well wonder. Poor Dears...are they desolate, in despair, ground to the ground by such (what seem to be limiting decisions). Nope. Not a whit, nor a bit, books, a few movie sites that provide a few ads (not yet enough to make us quit like we quit cable)...with no subscription. We have paid subscriptions to few very worthwhile things...specifically because we wish to support them...witness our subscription to this very substack. We're looking at you, Dr. Robert Malone...even though you, (and we mark this with respect) provide your thoughts, invaluable insights, discussion, GRATIS. Thank You. In addition, our residence, modest, and in sylvan surroundings one might even say, "rural"...was years ago fully paid for through 40 years of work life...through the buy, live, sell and reboot system, to which I might add...don't go into hock to do "improvements"...other than basics like rood, plumbing, etc....all it does it put you back into more debt...AND....your property taxes will be raised at the next assessment. Aaaaand don't buy a new car, buy a used one it doesn't require a monthly subscription for a steering wheel, hehe. And it won't tell your insurance company if you go a few miles over the speed limit to pass a truck that is blinding you with water off the road; it won't stop if someone somewhere decides you drove too much this week...and you can get a maintenance manual! Get an old sunbeam mixer and other needs at the many vintage/antique/thrift/donation stores, aaaah, no don't you laugh, that mixer is humming like a top...fantastic, efficient, heavy (doesn't hop all over the counter and is quite minimalist in the space it takes). Love it in all its vintage glory. We joke that motor could send a rocket to the moon. (Note to self, notify Elon). All kidding aside, and with great encouragement we say..."just say NO to a world that is nothing more than attempting to impose upon us what was a "company town" of old. Grok can tell you what that was as you are all likely younger than this writer. So. Beware..."all that glisters is not gold". No need for the newest "thing" each time something pops up. It is wise to have the skills and means to take care of one's self. "God helps those who help themselves". Stay tuned! More platitudes are available upon request. Sitting at my solid vintage oak table, (courtesy of St. Vincent de Paul), looking out at the pine trees, as I tappity tap on this years old venerable I-Pad...assuring all of each of everyone of you, it is utterly well worth the work to be independent. Be alert to the calls for standardization, "one size fits all" language, and the absurd notion that being dependent upon anyone, or anything else, for ones food, shelter, clothing, entertainment, travel, health and/or welfare for a monthly/yearly payment for same is magically somehow a great way to live. That is what is being sold you when they prattle "you will own nothing and be happy". Oh sure. Right. Uh huh. Lets rephrase that shall we? How about simply, starkly, honestly stating the truth, which is: "We will own everything and we will charge you for everything from toothpaste to cherry doughnuts, we'll let you know what is available and how much you can have, and too bad if you can't pay.....in return...WE will be very happy". To that a resounding reply: "In a pig's eye!". Or "when hades turns into frost". Or as my Grandfather used to say: "Pull the other one!" Cheers to all with prayers for all. You all be good to each other now.
You are 100% correct in every degree, or angle, when it comes to buying “vintage”; I feel new is not always best, or works better for that matter! My old furniture is fine, & has been with me for a long, long time! I can refinish the old, rough spots, use a little “elbow grease”, & it looks better than the new stuff made in China! Thank you, have a great evening!
If only someone would listen to us. Bring back simple things. Someone could make a killing doing so. The EV/AI push / the Real ID push - has been the tipping for many of us. Sadly, if AI happens in the way President Trump is talking, I believe, we will Lose in 2026, and 2028. People have had enough of Tech/China products/AI doom and gloom but the Trump admin has him convinced it's a Race. And to a athletic Winner type- that's all you need to say.
Love this comment. Exactly our thoughts.
Son’s mom and I paid off what’s now MY palatial palace and landed estate in 7 years back when son was the same age. On one full time income - hers. You don’t need a subscription for home security if you know what you’re doing. There are a couple/several software packages that provide nearly all the functionality of software suites like MS360 - if you’re an Apple fanboy/gal, their software suite is free (that is, it’s paid for by the price of the hardware). You can build your own alternative to cloud based digital storage at home: I had something like 100TB of storage at hand (not all on line) and I just bought another 96TB that’ll be going into my main NAS (Network Attached Storage), which I access over a 10gbe network. If I wanted, I could access remotely - just haven’t set up yet. I have a 1,000 +/- books, mostly softback, ½ SciFi. There’s also 30 years of disc media and currently 7-10TB of recorded media on the server - there’s tech that allows you to record from ota broadcasts, which can be edited down.
All of my vehicles, from tractor to roadster, were paid for in cash, none with any subscriptions. It seems that the more expensive the vehicle, the more likely it will come with subscriptions. There’s a new USofA EV company based in the heartland (Indiana?) that will be low cost and subscription free — SLATE. You can have it in any color you want so long as you want grey 🤣.
You can free yourself from your power subscription ( being grid tied) by erecting solar and installing storage batteries. Where I live that means 3x -5x the batteries I bought and putting up so many panels for winter they’ll be able to see you from the ISS - during summer you’d be generating enough excess DC you could cool off a small arena.
My point in all these examples, esp the last one, we have the ability to separate from the subscription economy in ways we never could before when we didn’t really have a need to do so. I won’t address the housing issue - too complex an answer, but what I find fascinating is that, if you don’t HAVE to have EVERYTHING, the subscription model ain’t horrendous. Fer example, I pay for Apple One (mostly news, storage, video, music), Amazon Prime (shipping, video), two inexpensive streamers and two weather apps (hey, it’s Montana). I pay for my iPhone upfront from Apple and recently switched to an MVNO where I can prepay a year at a time for less than $500 that has all the stuff the big boys provide - except for the "free" addons, this first year it’s $225 for unlimited talk/text/Data. [even talked son’s mom into switching]
We’re in a subscription economy because we want to be. Supposedly we deserve all this 💩 and instead of doing something with all the extra time our technology provides, we’d rather fritter it away through useless/worthless activities. Unless, until people decide to change or, most likely, are FORCED to change, we’re gonna see those 600 month mortgages and 120 month auto loans, if we actually own either.
Appreciated the essay, doc/s, but I ‘spect the folks who need it aren’t/wont be reading.
My only subscription is also Malone News! I don’t like “cell phone apps”; my Daughter talked me into allowing her to pay for photo storage on Cloud, for me. I do not like the Cloud! My next purchase will be buying a data/photo storage unit & transfer all my photos so I can access them whenever I want!
I think the high cost of homes is greed in every way, shape, & form! A 50-year mortgage is definitely not the answer for young folks trying to purchase a home. Hopefully, this 50-year mortgage plan will not be the only way for young people to buy their first home!