Hawkcreek wrote:Most agree it isn't about stuff. And I don't think it is about simple purpose either. If you absolutely have to pick cotton every day and then go back to a nice middle class house, you will have purpose (picking cotton), and you will have stuff, but you will not have control over your life.
Everyone wants to feel that they have volition.
"Volition or will is the cognitive process by which an individual decides on and commits to a particular course of action. It is defined as purposive striving and is one of the primary human psychological functions." Thanks, Wiki.
You don't get this from going to a debt-required job every day and bolting on fenders, or picking cotton. Our entire educational process, and our lives in a whirlwind of buy-me-propaganda, makes this a very hard thing to gain.
We want to have some input to the direction we go. Our gov wants us to have NO input to the direction we go. This is a problem. This is one of the main reasons people are bitching about the 1%.
Brilliant.
But notice THE BIG CHOICE that is almost never mentioned that this implies. In the US we see this general pattern a huge proportion of the time:
1). People, with their volition re their buying choices generally CHOOSE to buy all the stuff AND services they can afford AND borrow for. (Notice that this implies NOT to live frugally or save all they can or ignore the social ladder climbing, or choose to suffer the "pain" of being different, so personally choose NOT to be a long term labor slave and worry about money until the day they die).
2). Then, people notice that they don't have as many choices, as now they have to PAY for all that stuff. AND they feel they "have" to pay to maintain the lifestyle they have "obtained' with all that stuff and services. Note that in today's society and current interest rates, that includes a huge pile of credit card debt on average, at an interest rate (for those with fairly good credit) of roughly 25% ABOVE what they can earn in a savings account. (So every three years, roughly (by the rule of 72), they pay for the things bought with credit card debt AGAIN). Think about that. I recently read that on average, families have something like $25,000 in high interest consumer debt, which is mostly credit card debt).
3). Eventually, they notice they're going backwards, as raises are relatively few and small in this subdued economy, where international labor competition is growing due to technology changes. Meanwhile taxes increase over time, etc.
4). Finally, they have to BLAME someone. Who they choose varies, but it is almost never THEMSELVES. In this thread, it is the dreaded "One Percent".
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Now the key thing here is this is by CHOICE. This is SELF INFLICTED. And no matter how much it happens, no matter how many books like "Affluenza" point it out, no matter how many times we hear and read "Keeping up with the Joneses" -- a huge proportion of people outside the 1% NEVER seem to learn.
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I suspect a lot of it is upbringing, and I don't know how we fix that, given the proportion of people NOT taught to be frugal in their childhood.
My parents had two kids. I went with their values on things, and preferred not to be a wage slave to "the man", and retired after 26+ years in pretty decent comfort -- given the simple lifestyle I'm comfortable with.
My sister, who was raised just like me OTOH, 33 years into her career is deep in debt with her husband, and they both love to spend spend spend and be socially "hip", so retirement is nowhere in sight. And her 4 kids are mostly the same way, as that's what they observed growing up.
I have no children, so once I die the frugal line disappears from our family tree. (I'm trying to work with my sister's kids, including providing them money over time to save and invest and stay out of big debt etc -- but it's a losing battle, net. I know that, but at least I did try).
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This is why I'm a "bad guy" and think a lot of it has to do with choices, and don't think it gets solved by redistributing ever more wealth. And worse, this is why not only am I a bad guy, but I'm completely unapologetic for it.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.