Ask HN: What is really wrong with the US economy, really?

I only have my own situation and experience to go on, so I will start there. I'm in my late 30's. I make roughly $110k per year. I am single, no dependents. I live in a studio apartment near Seattle. I drive a 10 year old economy car. I do eat out some of the time, but nothing extravagant, and no drinks. Overall, I am not absolutely as frugal as I could possibly be, but I think I'm fairly frugal. My biggest expenses in the last couple years have been rent, medical, and dental in that order. My retirement is very under-funded. I do have more savings than most people, but it isn't enough to change my lifestyle in any big way.

A couple things. I am not here to complain about my lot in life, or seek advice. I understand that I'm better off than most. I realize it is unavoidable that some people will argue that the economy is better than ever, and it's all about personal responsibility. I accept that - I can just ignore those comments.

The only people I know who seem to be comfortable and have their financial lives in order have had steady, high middle-management type positions for a long time. They're a small minority of the people I know.

My question is, what is the problem, really? I am fairly sure this is not the type of situation my grandparents lived in. I feel under a lot of pressure all the time, and yet it seems I am not quite 'making it' financially or materially. Is that how it is for everybody? Is something wrong with the economy, or is this just how the human hierarchy has always worked? Is it me, the country, the region, the times, or everything, or nothing?

I wouldn't necessarily say this is related to the economy (The economy has other issues), but more related to our culture. Our entire culture is focused around consuming, buying the next thing, having the nicest stuff, etc. Heck our high schools even teach us how to properly consume, and how to acquire things we cannot afford.

However in life you will have to pass up some things you want in order to maintain living within your means, as a result you are going against the constant consuming behavior that our culture has taught us, and feel a failure for not buying all that stuff.

I couldn't speak to the social pressures of the past (I didn't live through them). My personal experience is that when I was able to ignore the consuming pressure society gives, the amount of stress and pressure plummet and I have been able to enjoy life much to a higher standard.

Those middle managers may be in that sweet spot of enough to be comfortable and feel successful, but not so successful they feel the need to compete with the consuming elite of execs and millionaires. Don't be fooled though, there are plenty of people in other "class brackets" that are able to shed the stress and pressure of the US culture.

I would say that the USA economy does not seem so bad right now because of Quantitative easing: a few trillion $$ in the last several years of new money created out of nothing. This has maneuvered housing and stock prices up, fueling a false sense of optimism and more consumer spending.

Long term, we have huge problems in my opinion. Our profligate military spending is going to catch up with us. If we are able to redirect our offshore military spending soon, things might be OK, but I am not hopeful.

Edit: I forgot to give my advice: don't get caught up in consumerism (stop watching TV commercials, don't get a new car every time your brother in law does, etc.). Try to save some of your after tax income. Invest time (and money if needed) in continuing education over your entire life.

I'll start by saying that I feel your pain. I've had lots of discussions with friends where we expressed the belief that we all thought we'd be financially comfortable by now. Almost none of us are.

Some thoughts on both sides of this: 1 - My grandparents lost it all in the Great Depression. My parents never had enough money to take overseas vacation once the kids were born. They were never comfortable. This isn't unique to our generation.

2 - We have a lot of material gains that aren't factored into the equation. (Free internet, etc) But this is forcing us to compare against others a lot more. We only see the people succeeding, and don't count the failures.

3 - Once you discount the effects of obesity, we are a much healthier generation than our parents and grandparents. Think of all the major diseases (polio, flu) that used to be fatal.

4 - For better or worse, there is a "Winner takes all" mentality in the current environment. Globalization plus Technology means the best get paid disproportionally more than in prior generations. Upper Middle Class is getting squeezed. The "winners" are now earning a lot more, and are a lot more visible.

5 - In today's environment, losing a job costs A TON and is incredibly destabilizing.

I don't know what advice to give, other than don't get sucked in to the consumerism, or feeling forced to keep up with everyone else.

What about spending on healthcare and pensions? We spend more on each of those than on our military.