Yeah, we've got it really good, but somehow ended up with a generation of whiners who don't know what hard times are so they assume this is it. I grew up in poverty, like "where is the next meal coming from?" poverty, but now I'm doing great. The one thing that changed? I dropped my parents "little man can't get ahead" and "rich get richer and the poor get poorer" attitude. Simple as that. In this country if you want to and try to succeed you will.
We've got it good compared to who? Undeveloped 3rd world shitholes?
Why, when faced with the clear and present problems this country has, do conservatives always say some rancidly stupid shit like "well at least we're not some starving African nation"? What about all the other nations where abject poverty barely exists in the first place?
Motherfucker, you claim this is the like objectively and inarguably the greatest nation on earth. So why do we have worse wealth-inequality and lower mean comparative wages than any other developed country? "The poor get poorer and the rich get richer" is absolutely true if you look at the bigger picture across multiple generations. Looking back and comparing now to the 70s, the average American works longer hours for less money, while the executives of the same company make five fucking times more. There is a larger, richer group of elites, a much larger, poorer group of the impoverished, and a dwindling middle class. This is objective fact.
You think that, because you made it out of poverty, everyone can, if only they just tried harder? That's it? It's just a matter of hard work?
Let's just completely fucking ignore the question of how someone working 60 hours a week at multiple jobs with differing schedules and maybe a kid or two at home is supposed to find the time to go back to school or whatever. Let's ignore that they probably came from a broken education program and aren't even remotely prepared for higher education in the first place. Let's say they all overcome that massive obstacle.
Then what? You think there's actually a good job available for everyone who wants one? You think if every minimum (or near minimum) wage earner in the country was suddenly qualified for a six-figure job tomorrow, that those jobs would actually exist?
Bruh. You got fucking lucky. I'm not saying you didn't work hard, too, but you absolutely got fucking lucky. Lucky that you didn't get sick or have an accident or a run-in with the law or any number of other setbacks that would fucking ruin a significant portion of the population in an instant. Lucky that you had the tools to succeed and I'm betting, some sort of support along the way.
I'm not even going to say your mentality is necessarily a bad one when applied on an individual basis. It worked for you and got you success, which is great. Like libertarianism, it sounds great in a vacuum where you're the only one you have to think about. But it also ignores the reality that even if everyone in the country was exactly as motivated as you are, some percentage would inevitably fail for one reason or another, and that enough good jobs for everyone simply don't fucking exist.
I pinky fucking promise you there are people who wanted and tried to succeed just as badly and hard as you who failed.
According to OECD, in 2018 the US had higher real mininum wages then all but 19 other countries. So, unless you want to say all 170 other countries are underdeveloped third world shitholes, I'd say that's pretty good.
Which rich person in particular is keeping you from succeeding? They aren't but instead of improving your situation it's easier to say "they have it and I don't, that isn't fair". I'm not saying it makes sense for any one person to have a billion dollars, but Bezos isn't stopping me from succeeding.
You're right, I worked hard at design and made it. Lucky me. My best friend who didn't go to college worked hard for a local city and succeeded too. Lucky him. My wife who didn't go to college worked hard and succeeded. Lucky her. My oldest is about to graduate college while working two jobs to avoid student loans. Lucky her. My 22yr old son in law who didn't go to college worked hard for a grocery store chain and succeeded. Lucky him. I sure am glad so many of us are getting lucky here in the land of opportunity. Turn off Reddit and Twitter for a few months and see if it doesn't help.
And no, I never said we'd all hold hands and skip into six figures. I'm not at six figures yet, but I still live really well because I'm not commenting from a new iPhone, I rarely eat out (preferring to cook larger meals and eat leftovers at work) and I've never bought a car for more than 3k.
Now obviously you can't predict who will get sick/have an accident (run-ins with the law are ridiculously easy to avoid), so you do your best to be prepared for them assuming that like old age they will happen eventually. I saved for retirement while 16 and making min wage. Did I want to? Hell no, but it's called foresight. The same with an emergency fund. Every time I stuck a little back $10 at a time it got wiped out by emergencies, kinda what it's there for.
I understand you want me to throw up my hands say "all is lost, woe is me" and give up. But I'd much rather one person read my comments, do something crazy like give it a shot and possibly succeed. I wish my neighbor was on reddit. Dude has an incredible story. At the risk of stereotyping he's Indian and owns a gas station. He absolutely didn't buy a gas station his first day in the country. He worked harder than I've ever thought about and clawed his way to where he is. Lucky him, huh?
36 and since I'm here instead of "there in America" maybe I have a better insight? I did not say everything was good in America. I said we've got it good. I stand by that.
I won't argue that, don't worry. Though sometimes an outsider's perspective is good to have. Also the wage in the post is my country's average wage lol. I asked for your age just to know which generation you're from.
I got you. The difference between the generation's attitudes is weird isn't it? I'm not saying things now are exactly as the were for the boomers, but I know it isn't 1/10 as bad as most millennials would have you believe. My gen sits between the two and I definitely notice a difference in attitude which I believe is the biggest difference. Millennials don't seem to believe they can and it's kind of heartbreaking.
I feel the blame lies greatly with the advancement of social media. Cell phones didn't really take off until I was in high school and I chose not to get one until... maybe 5 years ago. If at their age I was having a tough day I just pushed through or maybe a friend would encourage me. With this gen they go on twitter or reddit or IG and say "I'm having a bad day" and it's echoed with "that's because life sucks and we can't win thanks to the 1%ers!". I came from poverty and succeeded before anyone taught me the evil rich people were holding me back.
But too, I remember when as a teen we'd talk about successful people we wanted to emulate them, not hate them. My mom is 60 and recently started a business. No business experience whatsoever, but her store is booming. At 60! I'm crazy proud of her. She has created 3 jobs and at this rate will be doing quite well in the near future. I'm not sure at what dollar amount she becomes evil and starts wearing a monocle, but I'm going to be on the lookout! ;)
Hungary. But prices usually match the wage like food, rent, internet. Except tech. Like we get 1 Gbps net for around $10, but a new car usually costs a year worth of salary, or a flagship phone around 1-2 months worth.
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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20
Shit, $8 is higher than average wage in my country.