But I will say that the end of this article and pieces of all the comments, well, opened my mind.

1. “A Capitalist walks by the same house and sais ‘All men should be this rich.’”

That’s where you Rand-ites don’t get loud enough!!! If I read that a little more, I would see this group a little differently. It’s not true that anyone who shakes their head at the wasteful or the mass-consuming is a COMMUNIST. It’s simply that they don’t know a.) The guy with the big house and ferraris PROBABLY wants as much for everyone else as he wants for himself, and b.) The guy with the big house and ferraris would probably share any of it with his friend (hence the comment from the person who lends his cars out when his friends’ are in the shop). That’s the stuff that doesn’t get said enough. Honestly, my “free capitalist” spouting HS buddy sounds like such a moron because all he talks about is his caddie and his mansion. What nobody hears is when he reaches out to old old friends and offers help whenever he sees that they might be in need. I’m not saying be conspicuous in your outreach. I’m just saying, it would be more visible if he were less conspicuous in his flashiness. (Is that a word?) He is not a greedy pig. He just seems to want to look like one. He is very sweet, generous and good-natured.

2. “Anyone can get a fancy car or big house. It’s training yourself on how to keep it.” I didn’t get this message from the article, but I really enjoyed reading it in the comments. There is something to be said for being financially committed to what you borrow, not just renting your cars and house from the bank that holds your lien. The minute the shady loan or interest rate shifts, the huge mortgage (and its collateral) are taken from you. Anyone could get a mortgage the last few years, on pretty much any house or car. Look around at how many of them are losing the rights to those things because their own financial standing did not back up the agreement they had with the lender. You are absolutely right. It’s not the acquiring, it’s the maintaining.

“Peace of mind has no price. Your family’s love is endless.” When I hear a little more of that from my FC friends with Escalades…the image of this organization, of this school of thought, will gain so much more clout. I promise you. The haters will respond positively when they can see that our value systems aren’t all that different. If your goal is to open minds that would otherwise be shut to you, I urge you to highlight the other great parts of what you believe. “Great things take time. Don’t look for the quick easy money. Look for the smart money.”

You have my attention now.

Even if people couldnt understand why Les , Rick , Gabe would drive those cars, Ideas have consequences , it was obvious that the consequences that were happenning as a result of their ideas were pretty good. So one would surely know. Whatever the reason , im sure it was a good one.