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The quiet rebellion of a little life

caitlynrichardson.substack.com

61–70 of 135 posts

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#61
post #5

I always think these kinds of mentalities are based on people who have never been in dire straits or financially insecure. Living a simple life is almost impossible, pursuing wealth is probably the only way to be secure in a simple life. Even if you FIRE, you need to pretty aggressively pursue wealth at the beginning to make it work.

with all due respect this cannot be further from the truth. americans are taught from young age that to make it in life they must increase their earnings. america needs modern day slaves working in cubicles 9-10 hours per day (even if you are at FAANG making high six figures you still a slave…).

but economics which america would not dream teach their young is that you can also cut expenses :) this is the quiet life part that you missed in the post… how much money do you think you need to make to have an insane level-of-comfort life in say Hope, Arkansas…?

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#63
For those that don't know, the lack of capitalization is a Gen Z affect. To the people who write like this, using capitalization is a type of formality that is reserved for serious topics and is almost like most of us would consider all caps, but more nuanced. Writing is inherently a form of self-expression, and so is ripe for artistic expression. The topic and the lack of capitalization actually make a lot of sense together given the author's cultural context.

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#64
post #38
post #3

Ok, no capital letters as a writing affectation is immediately upsetting... but I'll let my anxiety about that subside and focus on the content. I get it, I really do. I find it a daily struggle. Last week I told my boss I couldn't travel this week. He was fine about it, there wasn't even a discussion. But I've worried about it ever since. Not because I want a raise or a promotion, but because I need this job and I w…

> So, there is no compact that will create the feeling of safety and fulfillment that this article wishes for. Just money. Money is the best freedom buyer. Don't trust anyone who says "Money doesn't buy happiness". That's rich-people propaganda to keep the rest of us dependent. As Lucy Liu said in a fantastic interview: Do everything in your power to accumulate fuck you money as early as possible. Because then you ca…

The issue is game-theoretic. There’s value in having money, absolutely, but most people end up having to chase it and never get any. If one person chases money, emancipation results for him. If everyone chases money, as most of us are forced to do, we end up miserable, and nobody wins except the people we should be removing from power as fast as possible.

Money clearly matters a lot, though. Why? Because we live in an objectively evil society—an oligarchy that has no language but money.

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#65

the irony in all of this, is that if social media were completely eradicated from the world and everyone had a chance to look inward in order to pursue being the very best version of themselves possible, both emotionally and logistically in their career pursuits, imagine the repercussions of this and how it would positively impact our society… but alas, i’m dreaming of a world where that could never exist again. coul…

Are you the author on an alt? This article and comment are the first time I've ever seen someone on this website not use capitalization.

I wish I was that eloquent :)

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#67
post #5

I always think these kinds of mentalities are based on people who have never been in dire straits or financially insecure. Living a simple life is almost impossible, pursuing wealth is probably the only way to be secure in a simple life. Even if you FIRE, you need to pretty aggressively pursue wealth at the beginning to make it work.

with all due respect this cannot be further from the truth. americans are taught from young age that to make it in life they must increase their earnings. america needs modern day slaves working in cubicles 9-10 hours per day (even if you are at FAANG making high six figures you still a slave…). but economics which america would not dream teach their young is that you can also cut expenses :) this is the quiet life p…

[deleted]

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#68
post #63

For those that don't know, the lack of capitalization is a Gen Z affect. To the people who write like this, using capitalization is a type of formality that is reserved for serious topics and is almost like most of us would consider all caps, but more nuanced. Writing is inherently a form of self-expression, and so is ripe for artistic expression. The topic and the lack of capitalization actually make a lot of sense…

Oh please. The author describes "the little life" as an absurdly posh mid-life retirement which no actual person can afford if they don't come from immense inherited wealth: their "cultural context" is Manhattan trust fund brat. In that context, trying to look like bell hooks with the all-lowercase affect is ridiculous and bordering on offensive.

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. It reminds me of the average “indie hacker” mentality: just move to Bali and live off $2-3k. The problem is that it just doesn’t work once you are past a certain age, and suddenly have “adult life”: parter, kids, aging parents. I’d love to life a “little life”. Read books with my partner, drink coffee in the morning while watching the birds. The problem is that one small unlucky event, like being laid off, or s…

what prevents you from asking partner, kids, aging parents to live "little life" too? > The problem is that one small unlucky event, like being laid off, or someone you love getting sick, and it can all snowball into oblivion. that's why financial health would be to allocate 15% of your indie $2-3k to saving account to cover this unlucky event.

Because they are their own individuals, and they have their own life based on their own experiences. And while I can suggest, or even influence a little, their life choices -- I can't command them to change themselves 180 degrees.

Sometimes I feel like we, as society, became so detached from each other and from reality. Maybe it's because of social networks that keep pumping up the idea that everyone can be rich by investing $5 a day instead of buying Starbucks, or that the path to financial freedom is as simple as "just buy a house and rent it for $5k a month"; or that people suddenly started to call randoms in Twitter their friends. But I feel like people lost the ability to be empathetic towards others. They simply are unable to see and accept that there are different people who were born, raised, and live under different set of rules that the ones they grew up under.

Re: The quiet rebellion of a little life

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And spaces! They don't even have any content, just the wasted space! Let's drop those too.

>'The Art of Asking Your Boss For A Raise' by French experimental author Georges Perec is best read aloud. It’s a theatrical piece with dazzling, recursive language that evokes laughter and pity at 'your' plight as you tackle the practical and emotional burden of asking for a much needed (if not deserved) pay increase while in the employ of one of France’s largest companies. >The entirety of the book's 80 pages are o…

It speaks volumes that this is the first and probably last time I'll hear this.
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