The High Cost Of Trashy People

America has a plague of trashy, aggressive people- and they cost you a lot of money

That cute little house you want to want to buy costs $650,000.

You remember when houses like that cost $200,000.

Your 6 month car insurance premium is now $1,000.

You remember when it was around $300.

Why have the cost of so many things skyrocketed? Inflation and the economy play a part. But a large part of the cost increase of many daily necessities is completely overlooked by economists:

Things cost more today because of trashy people.

America is infected with an epidemic of trashy people. These aggressive, hostile people are everywhere. You see them in public places, and especially while you are driving.

They pride themselves on how much chaos they can cause and how obnoxious they can be. They are the people who race past you, inches away, at 30 mph when you are walking in a parking lot or through a crosswalk. They are the ones who tailgate you, then zoom around in front of you and slam on the brakes. They are the neighbor who blasts their music, then tells you go go f*ck yourself when you ask them to turn it down.

They all share identifying characteristics that make them easy to spot: Their face pulled into a permanent tough-guy scowl. The grown men who dress like children, with baggy shorts below the knee, a turned around baseball cap, and goatee. The sallow skin tone that indicates regular consumption of drugs, alcohol, or both. The permanent posture of hostility and aggression.

Often their car is festooned with political bumper stickers for things such as gun rights or FJB. (This may be a feeble attempt to cloak their asinine behavior in political ideology, in effect saying "I'm not a jerk, I'm just a freedom loving dude.")

These are the Trashy Aggressive People infesting our society. Let's call them TAPs for brevity.

(We are not referring to people who are simply in a lower socio-economic status or follow one political party. TAPs are characterized by their aggression and hostility. They come from all walks of life, rich and poor- but usually they are poor because they lack self-control and self awareness, two key traits required for building wealth.)

TAPs are a plague on modern society. They are a nuisance everywhere you go. But what you may not realize is that trashy, aggressive behavior has a very high economic cost. And you are the one paying for it.

That cute bungalow in a nice neighborhood that costs $650,000? A large part of that eye-watering price is due to TAPs. Nobody wants to live around trashy, aggressive people. Nice neighborhoods where people behave decently command a huge premium. People will pay a fortune not to live with TAPs as their next-door neighbor.

(You can prove this by going to the neighborhoods where TAPs live. The houses are the same size. It's the people in the neighborhood that are different.)

Your sky-high car insurance bill? Again, you can thank TAPs. A favorite pastime of TAPs is aggressive driving. It's how they attempt to prove their feeble manhood, or lack thereof. In traffic is where the TAP is most easily spotted by their aggressive and bullying driving behavior.

That hostile driving style results in many accidents: fender benders and rear-end collisions that could easily have been avoided. All of those accidents flow through to the sky-high car insurance bills that you are paying.

(On a side note: have you ever passed a car accident scene on a bright sunny day, without a drop of rain and perfect driving conditions? The accident was caused by a TAP. They were pushing and shoving in traffic to prove how "cool" or "tough" they are. It shouldn't really even be called an "accident," because it was a deliberate act by the TAP.)

If you add up your mortgage payment on your overpriced house, and your car insurance payment that is far more than it should be, you can see that TAPs cost you thousands of dollars per year. That money is just wasted- gone forever because some grown men and women choose to live a lifestyle acting like spoiled children.

It's time for America to start pushing back on TAPs. Recognize them for the trash they are. In Europe, the authorities have a regimen for cracking down on "antisocial behavior." These programs are backed by the legal system but fall short of criminal charges: for example, in England the authorities issue an "ASBO," or Antisocial Behavior Order, compelling TAPs to knock off their behavior or face serious consequences.

Americans are generally not fond of European style social governance. At the same time, America needs to start pushing back on TAPs. We must begin calling out the behavior- naming and identifying it- and pushing back with social exclusion. (Of course, we should not hesitate to call the police on TAPs when their behavior rises to the level of criminality- such as intimidation, menacing, or driving their vehicle in a way that amounts to assault with a deadly weapon.)

It's time for America to say "Time's up for TAPs." Your daily life will be more pleasant, your neighborhood will be more cheerful- and your bank balance will increase significantly.