This 1970 newspaper ad for a Ford dealership is only barely indicative of where this post is headed. It is probably hard for anyone that isn't a car guy guy to imagine 1969 Shelby Mustangs selling for under 3k but I remember when you could walk into any Ford dealership in Columbus and drive a new one away for not much more than $4,000.00. The original prices shown for all three look a little steep to me but that's ad-men. Showing huge mark-ups to make buyers believe they are really receiving a great deal. In actuality the Galaxie 500 could have been bought anywhere in America for around $2500.00 back then and a savvy customer could have left the dealer with the keys to that T-Bird for less than $4500.00 if he held his ground and worked him long enough, especially if he went shopping for a new car late on a Saturday afternoon before closing time.
But this piece isn't about how Americans have grown to accept having their wallets and bank accounts gouged for nearly everything they want or must have; I mean, we all know that we pay more for everything than it is actually worth but like the old saying, "whatever you want or need is only worth what you are willing to pay for it" even if it is through the nose and it leaves you feeling as if you took something unpleasant or painful up your lowest sphincter! When it comes to being screwed when buying something none of us can claim to be virgins; we all get it, not eventually, but time after time when we count what we have left after spending what we have to. But it isn't just needing more and more money to keep going, we have entered a time in our history where the price of holding on to whoever you think you are has gone through the roof!
That person you were 15 or 20 years ago has either left, or changed drastically, or still lives within you lonelier or more disappointed in things and your fellow man than probably ever before because circumstances and other people's attitudes changed and became less forgiving and more expectant that you change to meet their needs and what they want from you! In short; the rules of living and survival have changed so drastically that you must either adapt or hunker down within yourself and do what you believe is best for you. Doing that is easier for me than it would be for someone much younger or anyone that feels forced to embrace change regardless of how it affects their lives because I have no long range plans that would include even being around in 15 or 20 more years! And because I have grown very comfortable with myself and how I reject changes that I want no part of.
The world might go to Hell by then; if those who are still around like it that way or only accept it, then it will be them, not me that will be expected to get on board with whatever changes or adjustments that must be made to make everyone else happy. Inflation is all around us now and it isn't just about money or the price of goods and services; it includes the rising costs we are expected to pay for who we want to be or are expected to become.
Things we always stood against might be things we no longer are allowed to and the way we behaved that always worked for us in the past might not be accepted by anyone anymore. Other people's ideals or beliefs that we might have thought unacceptable to us have become issues we either join in with or at least tolerate if we expect to be left alone or not vilified ourselves, and those prices for being true to ourselves and to those that raised us are rising every day.
When I was growing up and being educated I bought into all of it. I trusted my parents and my mentors and I believed in the things they wanted me to learn, I did my very best to support and nurture attitudes and behavior that always worked best in the world they wanted to live in but it didn't take long for everything to become strikingly different shortly after we said goodbye to the 20th Century.
It won't be long before the final changes will be in place and that won't happen until me and everyone like me has died off, and when I say people like me I am talking about anyone that spent at least 50 years on this planet being taught one way but now finding themselves in a world where a lot of what we learned no longer works and is no longer appreciated. The good people we thought we were have become an outdated epoch not unlike the period of Neanderthals. What was once widely regarded as taboo behavior has become the new norm and the old normal is now more than just a question of common decency, but totally unacceptable in certain politically correct circles.
But the rising price of being able to stay grounded and faithful to our own personal beliefs is being compounded by the politicians and their once barely populated sects that continue to grow in alarming numbers while the rest of us stand by and allow it to happen.
Everything we are allowed to think, do or hope for is engineered and controlled by politicians and they are all controlled by an oligarchy mindset. We really have no choice in the matter; get on board with the rising costs or get left behind and seek ways to remain where we want to be; not just geographically but within ourselves. I have chosen to be Rick Minerd and at times it can be a struggle, but the cost of it is worth it to me because acceptance into any place I don't want to go doesn't require a price-tag when I don't want to go there. I pay for only what I want.
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