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Originally Posted by demonrail666
It depends how you want to define rich.
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overabundant food
too many clothes
horseless carriages
central heating
refrigeration
power on demand
24/7 hot water
running water
sanitation
garbage service
home theaters
telecommunications
fire/police/ambulance on call
washing machine
dishwashing machine
blender, microwave, etc
year-round ice cream
spices!
and yes, yes, MODERN MEDICINE.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
Yes I can get more stuff than say, my parents generation,
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we all can
this thing about standing on the shoulders of giants is true
we sit on piles of accummulated wealth we can’t even perceive
we’re spoiled as fuck
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
but they could buy a house on a very modest income in a city I can now barely rent a room in.
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real estate changes. reason we left dc in the mid aughts. saw a $50k apartment go for $500,000 and said “we’ll never be able to buy a house here”
at the time i cried “gentrification!” and sure it was not easy to leave a city you love, but when i came back it was a different city. things just change. such is life. we all lose things.
if your parents generation did not cash in on the golden opportunity of exploding real estate prices it was probably due to taxes, fees, “excess profits”, and that kind of stuff. but how lucky to have invested at the right time! imagine? in dc a lot of modest homeowners walked away with millions.
i could have done the same in d.c. actually. i remeber looking at a $60k apartment that must have sold for 20 times a decade later. but i chose to pursue bohemian foolishness and globetrotting adventures instead! can only blame myself, but hey, i was young, had my fun, was stupid.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
They could plan for the future whereas the thing that marks the current era is an almost total lack of stability.
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so we are richer but less stable. sure... or more mobile.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
I'm one of the lucky ones, with a (for now) steady income
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well, like you said, you have discipline and accept limitations. it’s nice of you to thank your luck but those are qualities an employer would appreciate.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
but I look around me, especially at those a generation or two below me, stuck in jobs with zero-hour contracts, with no prospects and the only word I can think of to describe their situation is hopeless.
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what is a zero-hour contract and what types of jobs are we talking about? i cant see what you mean.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
Tomorrow for those people is a horrifying place so it's hardly any wonder that so many of them are blowing what little they have on things that help blot it out.
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haaaaa haaaa i did the same thing at their age. i was not serious. road of excess, palace of wisdom, all that shit.
i understand the notion that delayed gratification is difficult for the distressed (jordan peterson talks about that extensively actuallly) but it’s up to the individual to get their shit together. we can’t be children forever.
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Originally Posted by demonrail666
Your excursion into the middle ages may have been a voluntary experiment but for many it's an enforced reality, even if they happen to own a smart-phone and a pair of Nike Air-Max.
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do they chop their own wood? grow their own food? butcher their animals and preserve their meat? haul their water? i seriously seriously doubt it. it takes constant hard work and is exhausting and it doesn’t pay.
unless you’re talking about the homeless—different story.
i had the luck (we all have some luck some time, like your lucky steady income) of having a chance to build my own house in a remote area. living there was super cheap but very hard. it definitely had its joys. but i found first-hand why peasants left for urban life. IT’S HARD BEING A PEASANT.
what works best in the modern economy is:
-specialize in something that has a future (a career, not a “job”)
-trade with the rest of the world
-mommy is not here. be entrepreneurial about what you have to offer the world. don’t sit there waiting for opportunities to come to you.
-strive to provide a good value instead of just crying for more
-be grateful about what you have instead of envious of what you see on teevee/facebook/whatever
-and learn to manage your resources like a grownup. dont make excuses.
-keep your wits about you and be aware of change
is success guaranteed? no. will your shitty poetry get you the big bucks? FUCK NO. lolololol. unless you’re a rapper then maybe you’re onto something haaa haaahaaa.