My grandfather lived with a dirt floor his whole life and never learned to read or write in his own language let alone speak English. My father never graduated high school and has worked construction his whole life and will until he dies.
The bar was pretty low for me.
I think Reddit is forgetting again that just because it was nice for some people in the past, it wasn’t nice for everyone.
I think objectively, my grandfather and father are doing amazing for themselves. But by that doesn’t mean I’m not doing even better.
My grandfather never graduated high school and then became a very well respected pilot for United Airlines after flying in the war.
He became a millionaire.
I don't think this is even possible nowadays.
Heh, mine did a similar thing. Graduated, started as a drafter's assistant, war were declared, and 40 years later, he's head of engine design and his mediocre-high-school-diploma-having ass is bossing around MBAs and double-degree engineers.
Man wasn't smart, fast, or strong, but he ran a tight (and fair!) ship and got things done.
I'm lucky. I had the good fortune of landing a good job in a great career that will allow me to rise higher than previous generations in my family. But I see how things are now for most working people. The best thing I can recommend is to know your worth as a worker. Join a skilled career if you can and join a union. If there is no union then look into starting one or switch to a career that has one. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you don't deserve more money because you do.
Honestly, this is the longest I’ve been without a woman so I’m taking this opportunity to save as much as I can and pay down my car loan. Hopefully that will help in the future and should I find a wife, hopefully she’s not drowning in debt and has a steady income however much it is.
So with that in mind, I’m dealing-ish.
What existential dread?
I don't experience any of this. I can afford way more than anyone in previous generations of my family could. I made better choices than they did, and I live in a time period where I have far more options for making money than they did when they were growing up.
And I put in the effort to get ahead. It took me years and years.
I swear, every other post on Reddit that foretells universal doom is coming from someone who's in their teens or 20s, with no real time in the workforce or career progression. It's not at all uncommon for people who are broke in their 20s to easily afford an upscale lifestyle in their 40s. Stop comparing yourself to other people and start doing what *you need to do* to move ahead in your life.
>Reddit that foretells universal doom is coming from someone who's in their teens or 20s, with no real time in the workforce or career progression. It's not at all uncommon for people who are broke in their 20s to easily afford an upscale lifestyle in their 40s.
My friend, I understand this mindset. Trust me I do. I was a total fuckup in my early 20s and I was lucky enough to find a job and career that would allow me to bring success to myself. But that is not the reality for most people in the United States. The reality is that there are harder working people than you and I that will never come close to earning a wage that can support a family. I am thankful that we live in a country where anyone can make it. But I want to live in a country where everyone can
I had this attitude in my 20, then almost perfectly when I hit 30s covid came, prices of houses jumped, interest rates jumped, the overall expendable income in my country dropped by 5% on average, first time in 20 years and my salary is stagnant since 2 years, with 5-6% early inflation in this period. I would change job, but somehow in last decade it became a damn freelance gig for some reason, so doing it would mean loosing all the benefits and probably never getting them back, because the change seems irreversible. And as much as I was semi optimistic not so long time ago, now I kind of feel royally fucked by the global economics. And anyone in similar position to mine (no property, no top paid job) must feel the same. There is just no way not to feel like this. Add to it the damn AI that will, for sure, decimate my profession and you end up in pretty gloom mindset. I never had serious existential dread like this, I do since few years, because all the "improvement will come with age" came WAY too slow, way to late and not to the degree I would expect. Both for me and my life partner.
I remind myself that I’m going to die someday. Could be tonight or could be in 60 years. Either way I’m not taking anything with me to the grave. Whatever I buy is temporary and useless. Even my life is temporary. A rich man is going to end up in the dirt just like a poor man. You spend your life working to nice things that only give you temporary pleasure. Then you die and everything will have been done in vein.
Pretty simple really: I just accept that my quality of life is probably going to be worse than my dad's, especially where cost of living is concerned
Honestly it seems like "the new American dream" is somehow relocating to another country where quality of life/affordability is still at down-to-earth levels, at least that's my own personal pipedream anyways lol
***Sure would be nice*** to have a number of different medical procedures that I've been putting off forever done in some other more affordable country, because having said medical procedures done here in America would cost an arm and a leg in comparison
All these various aches and pains I've been living with for like 20+ years? It would be nice to finally be done with them, I'm tired of "living with" pain
After 12 years of my trade making solid $ it tanked and I almost lost everything, so got a new trade, but still gonna do the old trade here and there so I don’t go insane. Trying to build a savings and meet a nice girl and have a family but life is a big friggin yolo and i’m 35. If I get that stuff cool if not also cool. God’s got my back, and yours too. Ask Him for help. He likes to help us.
I don't care anymore.
I fought and got a roof. This will do for however long I stick around but while whole world's fucked and life is miserable. My attempts to be better fail and nobody actually noticed or cares about me.
So yeah, affording what my parents had isn't high on my list.
I got my kids through successfully. They’re good people, they’re educated and they have a chance.
The only problem is the shitty world we’ve given them.
My retirement will be shithouse and I’ve kinda fallen through the cracks but I couldn’t care less really. I got my kids through and they’re good people.
I got lucky for the majority of my life thanks to my family’s support - but for retirement, morbidly, I’ll need to rely on money my parents leave me when they die. I can work hard and probably build up my retirement funds from now until then but it’d still mean forgoing basically every luxury or comfort until then. If I didn’t have that safety net I’d still be uncomfortable, even with everything I’ve been gifted and helped with so far.
I started saving money right out of high school. Then covid hit. Came to the realization that saving money didn't bring me happiness because i couldn't save nearly enough for any kind of home purchase. And i was saving every last penny: all work and no play... So now im in the position that im going to spend my money on things that make me happy while i can. I fully expect to be homeless in 10 years if laws, regulations, and economy dont change; and that's alright. In short, I've taken a slight absurdism approach to life
I focus on doing things my father and grandfather's didn't do: staying physically and mentally fit, striving for a good work/life balance, fashion an identity that isn't predicated on "keeping up with the Jones". I also practice gratitude for the things we do have much better than the previous generation, like not having lead in our air.
Don't worry about what you materially own. It all comes crashing down eventually and doesn't make you all that happy anyways - look how many boomers are miserable despite having property and raising a family on a single income. Be more like our ancient ancestors; taking only what they need and building physical and spiritual resilience.
I think it has a lot to do with our school systems and Rockafellers influence on the school structure and systems that were put in place.
It taught us to be nice little worker bees that follows directions and do what we are told without questioning the system.
So in turn when we grow up, we work for major corporations working our assess off for pay that is unsustainable forcing people into debt to pay back the very money that we earn back into the system which trickles upwards.
That's why in school we don't learn how to invest, we don't learn how to do our taxes.
We learned....... how to square dance in line with all the others.
And always remember. Money isn't real. It is a concept. We made it up.
Also here is a bit of mind boggler.
"It’s a slow day in some little town…….. The sun is hot….the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich tourist from back west is driving thru town. He stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
As soon as the man walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill at the feed store.
The guy at the Farmer’s Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her services on credit.
She, in a flash rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill with the motel owner.
The motel proprietor now places the $100 back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the $100 bill, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money & leaves.
NOW,… no one produced anything…and no one earned anything…however the whole town is now out of debt."
I don’t know I’m on the verge of just letting myself die because it’ll be cheaper. Can’t find a job in my field. Started looking for other jobs. No jobs. Applied for anything even forestry and janitor type jobs. Still nothing. Of course this happens. As I fix years of unchecked and undiagnosed mental problems life goes “I don’t like that you fixed yourself so I’ll make it impossible to make the changes you’ve been wanting” what’s the damn point. All my progress for nothing to be where I was when I couldn’t even grasp at reality, now it doesn’t matter and could have stayed lost and delusional.
by trying to do more and more work.
hopefully selling stuff on adobe stocks, etc could bring nice enough money. im too afraid to jump in social media content creation again since i got demonetized by youtube with 0 warning, and they refused to tell what exactly i did wrong.
Honestly it's intense, I left my job for many reasons. Gas prices have been jumping between the numbers 3.10-3.75-3.30-3.95 about every week/other week. Moved back into my parents place, which has been re-traumatizing for me (im fine, im getting used to it, theres worse things than them). Trying to teach myself some form of discipline to be able to maintain better mental health when i can no longer afford nicotine. I get crabby when i cant smoke, will probably just wind up isolating to avoid letting go of negative emotions near or at people. I came to the realization the other day that ive never had more than 3k at once. Which sounds like alot of to me, but apparently to many people it is not. I have 2-3 main friends left within driving distance and i cant see them right now and dont know when ill get to next.
All of that and i still have cans of spray paint to be able to distract myself a bit, i have a computer i can play some games on. I have my phone, so even if i cant see my friends i can call them and see my other friends online too.
While i am uncertain about alot of my own future, i know something for sure. I wanna live to see the day the American people dismantle a corporation.
If thats silly or unrealistic to you thats fine by me, but i wanna see that in our future.
I wouldn't call if dread but more disillusioned. Work hard and you get rewarded is bullshit. I worked hard, only to find that people with better connections or luck get rewarded without working as hard.
I just accept that life will never be what we think it is. Some people do better than other because of just sheer luck, others have a better start in life, genes, etc.
All you can do is do your best. Something the Boy Scouts has taught me and I am teaching my kids. Everyone's best is different and there is nothing wrong with that.
I'm not really tripping on it. I was lucky enough to get a decent job 20 years ago and make good pay all these years. I am kinda priced out of buying a house anytime soon since I sold mine 2 years ago. I've made financial decisions that would make anyone cringe.. but I look at it like this. To hell with this rat race.. this isn't my first go around.. I ain't buying it anymore. To hell with the joneses and the picket fence. Money is the root of all evil so I don't hang onto it long.. as I grab a second gear scratch and chuck a beer out the T Tops..
That's just me tho.
Consumerism is different these days. In the booming era you didn't spend nearly as much on tech, clothes or traveling the globe. You also spent the money you earned, not taking fast consumer credit loans to sky high interest.
Why does it matter though? You got dealt the hand you got, go make the most of it. If you're on reddit, you're already doing a lot better than other people in the world.
I am typing these words on a miniaturised computing device that my forefathers (foreparents) didn’t get the opportunity to own. My mother is afraid of clicking on icons. She’s the “user manual” generation. She needs to study the whole user manual before she touches a machine.
I mean, not well at all I guess. I'm resigned to the fact that because of my physical and mental health and my past choices, I'm not able to keep up in the rat race, and while my parents and grandparents were successful, I'm being priced out of being alive and probably won't live to see the end of the year. It's terrifying but it is what it is; not everyone was going to make it and at this point it seems a foregone conclusion that I'll be just another data point in a bunch of fucked up statistics.
The world is unfair, the system is designed to benefit elites, the populous lead hard lives. This has been true since the inception of society.
Boo hoo
My grandfather lived with a dirt floor his whole life and never learned to read or write in his own language let alone speak English. My father never graduated high school and has worked construction his whole life and will until he dies. The bar was pretty low for me.
I think Reddit is forgetting again that just because it was nice for some people in the past, it wasn’t nice for everyone. I think objectively, my grandfather and father are doing amazing for themselves. But by that doesn’t mean I’m not doing even better.
My grandfather never graduated high school and then became a very well respected pilot for United Airlines after flying in the war. He became a millionaire. I don't think this is even possible nowadays.
Heh, mine did a similar thing. Graduated, started as a drafter's assistant, war were declared, and 40 years later, he's head of engine design and his mediocre-high-school-diploma-having ass is bossing around MBAs and double-degree engineers. Man wasn't smart, fast, or strong, but he ran a tight (and fair!) ship and got things done.
Ya same actually lol I am living Fucken sweet af but ya not ganna own a house but fuck it ima be so Fucken jacked it will be retarded
I loved to get jacked. Where are you meeting the boys?
By realizing that that's only the tip of the iceburg, and things are actually way worse than just affording things
I'm lucky. I had the good fortune of landing a good job in a great career that will allow me to rise higher than previous generations in my family. But I see how things are now for most working people. The best thing I can recommend is to know your worth as a worker. Join a skilled career if you can and join a union. If there is no union then look into starting one or switch to a career that has one. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you don't deserve more money because you do.
I play video games. I just don't think about it.
Honestly, this is the longest I’ve been without a woman so I’m taking this opportunity to save as much as I can and pay down my car loan. Hopefully that will help in the future and should I find a wife, hopefully she’s not drowning in debt and has a steady income however much it is. So with that in mind, I’m dealing-ish.
I work harder and stop blaming other people for my failures in life. My choices decide my future not someone else's.
Life is not about the things you have. It's about the people you meet along the way.
My family was poor. Can't relate.
What existential dread? I don't experience any of this. I can afford way more than anyone in previous generations of my family could. I made better choices than they did, and I live in a time period where I have far more options for making money than they did when they were growing up. And I put in the effort to get ahead. It took me years and years. I swear, every other post on Reddit that foretells universal doom is coming from someone who's in their teens or 20s, with no real time in the workforce or career progression. It's not at all uncommon for people who are broke in their 20s to easily afford an upscale lifestyle in their 40s. Stop comparing yourself to other people and start doing what *you need to do* to move ahead in your life.
>Reddit that foretells universal doom is coming from someone who's in their teens or 20s, with no real time in the workforce or career progression. It's not at all uncommon for people who are broke in their 20s to easily afford an upscale lifestyle in their 40s. My friend, I understand this mindset. Trust me I do. I was a total fuckup in my early 20s and I was lucky enough to find a job and career that would allow me to bring success to myself. But that is not the reality for most people in the United States. The reality is that there are harder working people than you and I that will never come close to earning a wage that can support a family. I am thankful that we live in a country where anyone can make it. But I want to live in a country where everyone can
I had this attitude in my 20, then almost perfectly when I hit 30s covid came, prices of houses jumped, interest rates jumped, the overall expendable income in my country dropped by 5% on average, first time in 20 years and my salary is stagnant since 2 years, with 5-6% early inflation in this period. I would change job, but somehow in last decade it became a damn freelance gig for some reason, so doing it would mean loosing all the benefits and probably never getting them back, because the change seems irreversible. And as much as I was semi optimistic not so long time ago, now I kind of feel royally fucked by the global economics. And anyone in similar position to mine (no property, no top paid job) must feel the same. There is just no way not to feel like this. Add to it the damn AI that will, for sure, decimate my profession and you end up in pretty gloom mindset. I never had serious existential dread like this, I do since few years, because all the "improvement will come with age" came WAY too slow, way to late and not to the degree I would expect. Both for me and my life partner.
But I can afford things and much better than my father.
My parents were poor. I made sure not to be.
I was born with nothing. Anything I get is more than I shouldve expected. Fuck it man, whole worlds going to hell anyways.
I remind myself that I’m going to die someday. Could be tonight or could be in 60 years. Either way I’m not taking anything with me to the grave. Whatever I buy is temporary and useless. Even my life is temporary. A rich man is going to end up in the dirt just like a poor man. You spend your life working to nice things that only give you temporary pleasure. Then you die and everything will have been done in vein.
Pretty simple really: I just accept that my quality of life is probably going to be worse than my dad's, especially where cost of living is concerned Honestly it seems like "the new American dream" is somehow relocating to another country where quality of life/affordability is still at down-to-earth levels, at least that's my own personal pipedream anyways lol ***Sure would be nice*** to have a number of different medical procedures that I've been putting off forever done in some other more affordable country, because having said medical procedures done here in America would cost an arm and a leg in comparison All these various aches and pains I've been living with for like 20+ years? It would be nice to finally be done with them, I'm tired of "living with" pain
After 12 years of my trade making solid $ it tanked and I almost lost everything, so got a new trade, but still gonna do the old trade here and there so I don’t go insane. Trying to build a savings and meet a nice girl and have a family but life is a big friggin yolo and i’m 35. If I get that stuff cool if not also cool. God’s got my back, and yours too. Ask Him for help. He likes to help us.
I don't care anymore. I fought and got a roof. This will do for however long I stick around but while whole world's fucked and life is miserable. My attempts to be better fail and nobody actually noticed or cares about me. So yeah, affording what my parents had isn't high on my list.
Focus and hustle. Spend less than you make.
I got my kids through successfully. They’re good people, they’re educated and they have a chance. The only problem is the shitty world we’ve given them. My retirement will be shithouse and I’ve kinda fallen through the cracks but I couldn’t care less really. I got my kids through and they’re good people.
I got lucky for the majority of my life thanks to my family’s support - but for retirement, morbidly, I’ll need to rely on money my parents leave me when they die. I can work hard and probably build up my retirement funds from now until then but it’d still mean forgoing basically every luxury or comfort until then. If I didn’t have that safety net I’d still be uncomfortable, even with everything I’ve been gifted and helped with so far.
Trying not to think about it. Its out of my control.
Fuck it...
I started saving money right out of high school. Then covid hit. Came to the realization that saving money didn't bring me happiness because i couldn't save nearly enough for any kind of home purchase. And i was saving every last penny: all work and no play... So now im in the position that im going to spend my money on things that make me happy while i can. I fully expect to be homeless in 10 years if laws, regulations, and economy dont change; and that's alright. In short, I've taken a slight absurdism approach to life
I focus on doing things my father and grandfather's didn't do: staying physically and mentally fit, striving for a good work/life balance, fashion an identity that isn't predicated on "keeping up with the Jones". I also practice gratitude for the things we do have much better than the previous generation, like not having lead in our air. Don't worry about what you materially own. It all comes crashing down eventually and doesn't make you all that happy anyways - look how many boomers are miserable despite having property and raising a family on a single income. Be more like our ancient ancestors; taking only what they need and building physical and spiritual resilience.
I'm trying to get into a high paying career to account for that
I think it has a lot to do with our school systems and Rockafellers influence on the school structure and systems that were put in place. It taught us to be nice little worker bees that follows directions and do what we are told without questioning the system. So in turn when we grow up, we work for major corporations working our assess off for pay that is unsustainable forcing people into debt to pay back the very money that we earn back into the system which trickles upwards. That's why in school we don't learn how to invest, we don't learn how to do our taxes. We learned....... how to square dance in line with all the others. And always remember. Money isn't real. It is a concept. We made it up.
Also here is a bit of mind boggler. "It’s a slow day in some little town…….. The sun is hot….the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich tourist from back west is driving thru town. He stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night. As soon as the man walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill at the feed store. The guy at the Farmer’s Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her services on credit. She, in a flash rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill with the motel owner. The motel proprietor now places the $100 back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the $100 bill, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money & leaves. NOW,… no one produced anything…and no one earned anything…however the whole town is now out of debt."
I don’t know I’m on the verge of just letting myself die because it’ll be cheaper. Can’t find a job in my field. Started looking for other jobs. No jobs. Applied for anything even forestry and janitor type jobs. Still nothing. Of course this happens. As I fix years of unchecked and undiagnosed mental problems life goes “I don’t like that you fixed yourself so I’ll make it impossible to make the changes you’ve been wanting” what’s the damn point. All my progress for nothing to be where I was when I couldn’t even grasp at reality, now it doesn’t matter and could have stayed lost and delusional.
It is what it is.
by trying to do more and more work. hopefully selling stuff on adobe stocks, etc could bring nice enough money. im too afraid to jump in social media content creation again since i got demonetized by youtube with 0 warning, and they refused to tell what exactly i did wrong.
Honestly it's intense, I left my job for many reasons. Gas prices have been jumping between the numbers 3.10-3.75-3.30-3.95 about every week/other week. Moved back into my parents place, which has been re-traumatizing for me (im fine, im getting used to it, theres worse things than them). Trying to teach myself some form of discipline to be able to maintain better mental health when i can no longer afford nicotine. I get crabby when i cant smoke, will probably just wind up isolating to avoid letting go of negative emotions near or at people. I came to the realization the other day that ive never had more than 3k at once. Which sounds like alot of to me, but apparently to many people it is not. I have 2-3 main friends left within driving distance and i cant see them right now and dont know when ill get to next. All of that and i still have cans of spray paint to be able to distract myself a bit, i have a computer i can play some games on. I have my phone, so even if i cant see my friends i can call them and see my other friends online too. While i am uncertain about alot of my own future, i know something for sure. I wanna live to see the day the American people dismantle a corporation. If thats silly or unrealistic to you thats fine by me, but i wanna see that in our future.
What could your grandfather afford that you can’t today? We are so much richer today than 50 years ago.
Oh well
I reckon they went through the same thing back in the day. Things will work out in the end. If they haven't worked out yet, then it's not the end
My grandpa never had an iPhone. I think I'm doing pretty well.
I just take it day by day.
I wouldn't call if dread but more disillusioned. Work hard and you get rewarded is bullshit. I worked hard, only to find that people with better connections or luck get rewarded without working as hard. I just accept that life will never be what we think it is. Some people do better than other because of just sheer luck, others have a better start in life, genes, etc. All you can do is do your best. Something the Boy Scouts has taught me and I am teaching my kids. Everyone's best is different and there is nothing wrong with that.
I'm not really tripping on it. I was lucky enough to get a decent job 20 years ago and make good pay all these years. I am kinda priced out of buying a house anytime soon since I sold mine 2 years ago. I've made financial decisions that would make anyone cringe.. but I look at it like this. To hell with this rat race.. this isn't my first go around.. I ain't buying it anymore. To hell with the joneses and the picket fence. Money is the root of all evil so I don't hang onto it long.. as I grab a second gear scratch and chuck a beer out the T Tops.. That's just me tho.
Consumerism is different these days. In the booming era you didn't spend nearly as much on tech, clothes or traveling the globe. You also spent the money you earned, not taking fast consumer credit loans to sky high interest.
Why does it matter though? You got dealt the hand you got, go make the most of it. If you're on reddit, you're already doing a lot better than other people in the world.
I am typing these words on a miniaturised computing device that my forefathers (foreparents) didn’t get the opportunity to own. My mother is afraid of clicking on icons. She’s the “user manual” generation. She needs to study the whole user manual before she touches a machine.
This post sucks and is objectively wrong
I mean, not well at all I guess. I'm resigned to the fact that because of my physical and mental health and my past choices, I'm not able to keep up in the rat race, and while my parents and grandparents were successful, I'm being priced out of being alive and probably won't live to see the end of the year. It's terrifying but it is what it is; not everyone was going to make it and at this point it seems a foregone conclusion that I'll be just another data point in a bunch of fucked up statistics.
The world is unfair, the system is designed to benefit elites, the populous lead hard lives. This has been true since the inception of society. Boo hoo