281–290 of 305 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it's a fantasy then perhaps you're not spending your time wisely...
It is a fantasy because the way the real world works means that people operate under constraints such that they do not actually have productive uses of their time, or that their time is already allocated toward necessary obligations, such as caring for children, or for parents.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disagree with what? That there are 24 hours in a day? They choose to spend that time working 2 jobs. I've done the same in the past. I've decided between buying dinner or getting gas to drive to work to earn enough to cover the commute in the first place. Eventually you make decisions to get you out of that life and into a better one. There's luck involved sure, but I absolutely reject any excuses as if it's complete…
"They choose to spend that time working 2 jobs." Because otherwise you'd say they'd "choose" to starve or be homeless?
Situations don't change instantly which is why there are always comments about how it seems impossible - but like any other large goal you only get there with slow steady progress. No matter how bad you think you have it, many others have climbed out of worse. So it's not about choosing to starve but about making those tiny decisions that build up to will eventually get you out of that life.
Or you can choose to ignore all that and give up.
I would also make the economic argument that a rich person that is still frugal is actively exacerbating income inequality. If Warren Buffett is indeed still paying only $3 for breakfast every day, that's giving a big middle finger to the economy. Money is half of the circulatory system of the economy. When it pools too long in one spot, it clots, and then a thrombosed clot can cause damage somewhere else. He really…
What do you think Buffett is doing with his wealth, keeping it in a money bin like Scrooge McDuck?
He buys companies with it. He invests and invests and invests during the day, and at night, he sits in his $150k house, with all the lights turned off except the room he's in, with the mechanical thermostat set low in the winter and high in the summer, mending his own socks.
He's an octogenarian, and it doesn't look like he has any plans to support the luxury goods and services industry any time soon. Nor does he seem all that interested in starting new, risky ventures with a lot of R&D. Instead, he has pledged to leave the majority of his fortune to the Gates charity, so they can spend it for him. He literally can't think of enough ways in which he'd like to spend his earned wealth, and has to give it to someone else.
It's not quite leaving it in a money bin, but there's a luthier out there severely disappointed that the best ukulele never made won't be bought by the richest ukulele player that ever lived, because he's just fine with the same $15 model they sell to elementary school kids. There's a professional cook out there severely disappointed that after all those years in school and as a sous chef, the guy that could give someone a break on the way to their own restaurant is still eating his breakfast at McDonald's. And there's a Patreon dependent only one $10/month subscriber away from making rent. And a Lyft driver that would rather be a personal driver. And a landscaper that is one big account away from buying another truck and hiring more employees. And a TaskRabbit peon that would rather be an executive assistant. And a gym teacher that would rather be a personal trainer.
He's just not doing what everyone expects from people with enough money. He's selling underwear and insurance policies and Dilly Bars, and not buying anything fun and expensive from any of the people who would desperately like to sell something fun and expensive, to anyone who could afford it.
Gates is buying malaria and parasite eradication. Musk is buying a Mars colony. Buffett is buying all the same old boring crap that poor folks can buy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The plummeting costs of technology over time make it a poor barometer for measuring wealth. Instead of mobile phones and TVs, look at bigger items like health care, housing, and education, all of which have gotten more expensive (in the case of education, astoundingly so) even as inflation-adjusted wages have decreased.
There's a simpler test here. If you weren't sure what color your skin would be, what income bracket you'd be born into, what level of health you'd have at birth, or even what country you'd be born in, would you rather be born in 2018 or 1950?
Maybe immersive VR solves this by allowing the mass of people to transition from "lives of quiet desperation" to being rulers of their own miniature virtual worlds.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity, how long do you think it would take your average "office professionals, small businesspeople, skilled tradespeople" to frugal their way into a 4-bedroom house on 66 acres, free and clear? ( https://www.frugalwoods.com/2016/04/06/that-time-we-bought-a... )
If you have a $100k/year take home between you and a significant other, and you have a 50%+ savings rate which you invest, not very long at all. If you have a 5% savings rate, on the other hand, it will take a very long time. Being frugal is incredibly helpful for all but the richest among us, and I'm amazed that people are so critical of it. I see so many people who would be so much better off than they are if they…
I actually think the higher-income you are the more frugal (in terms of savings rate) you should be.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"They choose to spend that time working 2 jobs." Because otherwise you'd say they'd "choose" to starve or be homeless?
This is tired sentiment. Yes, make a plan and get yourself out of it. Situations don't change instantly which is why there are always comments about how it seems impossible - but like any other large goal you only get there with slow steady progress. No matter how bad you think you have it, many others have climbed out of worse. So it's not about choosing to starve but about making those tiny decisions that build up…
No, it's reality. It's what you choose to ignore while you blame others.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is a fantasy because the way the real world works means that people operate under constraints such that they do not actually have productive uses of their time, or that their time is already allocated toward necessary obligations, such as caring for children, or for parents.
We all have obligations. Having children is also a choice.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We all have obligations. Having children is also a choice.
Tell that to a woman who gets pregnant in Texas, or any other red state.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is tired sentiment. Yes, make a plan and get yourself out of it. Situations don't change instantly which is why there are always comments about how it seems impossible - but like any other large goal you only get there with slow steady progress. No matter how bad you think you have it, many others have climbed out of worse. So it's not about choosing to starve but about making those tiny decisions that build up…
"This is tired sentiment." No, it's reality. It's what you choose to ignore while you blame others.
I'm not blaming anyone. I'm saying that life is in your control and your personal responsibility. Things happen to you, but you can always choose how to react and thereby overcome obstacles.
Interestingly, you seem to saying that nobody in that position is at fault and are instead blaming everything else and "reality" which I find rather disingenuous at best. You either have control over your life or you don't, and if you think you don't then there's nothing to discuss and you can pontificate on the lack of free will I guess.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But rich people largely advocate against policies that favor poor people, like generous welfare and equitable taxation. Rich people advocate for policies that protect their status and the value of their properties and investments. They advocate against redistributive inheritance taxes, so that their own children continue to have enormous advantages over anyone else. They advocate policies that guarantee they can cont…
>But rich people largely advocate against policies that favor poor people, like generous welfare and equitable taxation. Rich people advocate for policies that protect their status and the value of their properties and investments. Do you suppose it's possible for you to advocate for a specific amount of welfare that you feel is "generous" without attempting to villainize the very people you hope to pay for it? >They…