Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'll quote my Dad: "life's tough. Quit whining about it"
I you don't believe in the American Dream, then that's too bad for you because believe it or not, with the right combination of risk, guts, hard work and yes, Luck, The USA is still the land of opportunity but you have to work for it.
That's the problem, not enough people complain, they just continue to elect the same rich politicians that don't give a f*ck about them. I've taken risks & busted my ass only to get further behind. Most people I know have the same outlook as I do. Spend a day in the trenches with some blue collar workers and see how positive the outlook is. If the US is the land of opportunity & the American dream is so alive & well then why are the number of people in poverty INCREASING and child hunger INCREASING? It's not everyone choosing to be poor & work the system.
That's the problem, not enough people complain, they just continue to elect the same rich politicians that don't give a f*ck about them. I've taken risks & busted my ass only to get further behind. Most people I know have the same outlook as I do. Spend a day in the trenches with some blue collar workers and see how positive the outlook is. If the US is the land of opportunity & the American dream is so alive & well then why are the number of people in poverty INCREASING and child hunger INCREASING? It's not everyone choosing to be poor & work the system.
It's all about perspective, isn't it? A lot of the people in this thread haven't been "in the trenches" for a very long time, but they think they are.
For example, sometimes I'm taken aback by people that say "$200k/yr is barely a middle class income in my area!" or "a basic 4 bedroom home in my area starts at $1 million and up..." as if that's middle class. A million dollar home. Do you think people that are making the median US household salary, $50-60k, are buying million dollar homes? No, that's an affluent area, hardly Anytown, USA. A "middle class income" has nothing to do with geography.
I know, some people will say "but cost of living differences are real!" And I agree. But that just identifies how affluent an area is, not what social class an American is in. Whether you're a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond doesn't change what size fish you are.
I think people just feel average or "middle class" because they compare themselves to their local peers, not a national standard.
For those of you who viciously claim that people own luxury cars because they want them and that showing off/status has nothing to do with it, well, I can disprove it quite simply in Some situations... It has to do with Garages.
Here in McMansionville I pass new wastes of space going up all the time with 4, 5, 6 garages attached to them. They look kind of like loading docks or the backside of Home Depot with all these doors lined up (and each one has a special light that goes on at night to shine on it, for the simple purpose of impressing passers by who want to Count them: "Oooh, look at this house, there's 5, 6, Seven garages! He must be Important! I wish I had that many!").
Now the real kicker here is that these morons don't know the Purpose of garages--or do they?
I can only state my humble old fashioned values and my own ancient home which has a garage attached to it and I can access my car through the cellar. I was taught that the garage was built to house the car/s. (Yeah, just like mustard was meant for hot dogs--I won't go into that old A&C routine!). Granted, today some people use the garage as a workshop or some sort of storage area. But in McMansionville they're usually 100% Empty (probably because the McMansion itself will never be fully filled up!) or at least they have Some vacancy. The bottom line is that they Should be parking their expensive cars Within the garage (especially when there's no logical excuse Not to).
The modern McMansion (at least around here) is typically designed with a very deliberate circular driveway right smack in the front yard where they can park multiple cars (like a showcase, yes, just like a showcase, right down to expensive paving stones!).
And That is where they park their cars--if not on the Side of the Road itself. Why? THEY NEED TO SHOW THEM OFF, and not just when going to work but while at home. They're like extensions of their McMansions, much like the over-manicured grass (which they're too entitled to cut themselves, of course).
Seriously, people who do this are Nailed as narcissists. A garage-kept car will last Twice as long as one parked outside exposed to the elements. And the real laugh I get is in the winter with a foot of snow or when there's pouring rain coming down. I mean, Duh, if parked in the garage they could Access their car from Inside their home without getting wet, without getting snowed on, blown by wind, risking a branch on their head, slipping on the pavement... But, no, they must March outside, sometimes 50 feet down their driveway as many like to Display Them on the outer Lip of their driveways!
And then there's the more obvious job of cleaning the snow off of them, starting them up in the winter (a garage-kept car is usually Not in 0 degree conditions and the battery Lasts Longer!)...
So they're sacrificing convenience, logic, and their vehicle for bragging rights!
It's either that or they're too brain-dead to realize the Purpose of a Garage!
Take your pick!
So for those guys who are ranting about "I bought the car because I wanted it NOT to showoff my status!" then I'd ask Why you don't protect your investment by garaging it...rather than parking it on the side of the road or at the bottom of your driveway? Because garaged cars can't be seen...and you can't show them off that way!
For those of you who viciously claim that people own luxury cars because they want them and that showing off/status has nothing to do with it, well, I can disprove it quite simply in Some situations... It has to do with Garages.
Here in McMansionville I pass new wastes of space going up all the time with 4, 5, 6 garages attached to them. They look kind of like loading docks or the backside of Home Depot with all these doors lined up (and each one has a special light that goes on at night to shine on it, for the simple purpose of impressing passers by who want to Count them: "Oooh, look at this house, there's 5, 6, Seven garages! He must be Important! I wish I had that many!").
Now the real kicker here is that these morons don't know the Purpose of garages--or do they?
I can only state my humble old fashioned values and my own ancient home which has a garage attached to it and I can access my car through the cellar. I was taught that the garage was built to house the car/s. (Yeah, just like mustard was meant for hot dogs--I won't go into that old A&C routine!). Granted, today some people use the garage as a workshop or some sort of storage area. But in McMansionville they're usually 100% Empty (probably because the McMansion itself will never be fully filled up!) or at least they have Some vacancy. The bottom line is that they Should be parking their expensive cars Within the garage (especially when there's no logical excuse Not to).
The modern McMansion (at least around here) is typically designed with a very deliberate circular driveway right smack in the front yard where they can park multiple cars (like a showcase, yes, just like a showcase, right down to expensive paving stones!).
And That is where they park their cars--if not on the Side of the Road itself. Why? THEY NEED TO SHOW THEM OFF, and not just when going to work but while at home. They're like extensions of their McMansions, much like the over-manicured grass (which they're too entitled to cut themselves, of course).
Seriously, people who do this are Nailed as narcissists. A garage-kept car will last Twice as long as one parked outside exposed to the elements. And the real laugh I get is in the winter with a foot of snow or when there's pouring rain coming down. I mean, Duh, if parked in the garage they could Access their car from Inside their home without getting wet, without getting snowed on, blown by wind, risking a branch on their head, slipping on the pavement... But, no, they must March outside, sometimes 50 feet down their driveway as many like to Display Them on the outer Lip of their driveways!
And then there's the more obvious job of cleaning the snow off of them, starting them up in the winter (a garage-kept car is usually Not in 0 degree conditions and the battery Lasts Longer!)...
So they're sacrificing convenience, logic, and their vehicle for bragging rights!
It's either that or they're too brain-dead to realize the Purpose of a Garage!
Take your pick!
So for those guys who are ranting about "I bought the car because I wanted it NOT to showoff my status!" then I'd ask Why you don't protect your investment by garaging it...rather than parking it on the side of the road or at the bottom of your driveway? Because garaged cars can't be seen...and you can't show them off that way!
Dude why you are so full of impotent rage and jealousy? You should change your screen name to Angry Avocado. Why do you give a **** what someone does with their money or how well or badly off they are financially. Are they taking it out of your pocket or something? Ok you are frugal, live frugal etc. not everyone is like you. Some people like to show off. Others don't. You know what I do when I see that what you described? Nothing. Because it doesn't affect my life in any way shape or form what. What some guy lives in, drives, how and what he does with his money just doesn't matter to me.
Dude why you are so full of impotent rage and jealousy? You should change your screen name to Angry Avocado. Why do you give a **** what someone does with their money or how well or badly off they are financially. Are they taking it out of your pocket or something? Ok you are frugal, live frugal etc. not everyone is like you. Some people like to show off. Others don't. You know what I do when I see that what you described? Nothing. Because it doesn't affect my life in any way shape or form what. What some guy lives in, drives, how and what he does with his money just doesn't matter to me.
What rage and jealousy? These are Objective Observations, nothing more and nothing less.
I give a **** about what someone else does with their money when it's WASTEFUL (you're not paying attention to my previous messages, now are you?). When I see a McMansion housing 2-4 entitled douche bags I say to myself, "With those dozen bathrooms and rooms everywhere, that estate could easily house a dozen Families like an apartment complex." I could also go on about how the entitled waste water and buy Bottled Water to water their Lawns (because tap water ain't good enough!) and all the problems with plastic non-recycling going on, land fills, and all that's also related to consumerism gone wild...but you don't want to hear that, do you?
I speak out because I'm trying to make a difference here; trying to open peoples eyes.
If I don't, nothing will happen and the same old will continue (maybe even into new extremes).
To put it another way, if there weren't people like me over a century ago we might still have Slavery in America. After all, Whites have their place, Blacks have theirs. Maybe that's God's will, slaves certainly seem happy enough! Free housing and free chains... All Whites should just keep their mouths shut and go about their business. If they don't want to own slaves, that's their choice! Doesn't affect their lives in any way, no-suh!
With that lovely attitude, maybe today things would be different and I wouldn't have to wash my own cars, I'd get one of Them to do it for me for free!!!
Bet you'd like that, too, eh.
Then we'd have the one-upmanship game of HOW MANY slaves each of us own... Now wouldn't that be fun. Instead of garages there'd be...uh...Cells?
Now I'm driving by another McMansion with, what, 6, 7, 8 cells! Wow, he must be rich! I wonder if each cell is for an individual or for a small family?
Now that's rage for you. As for Jealously, well, as I've said I'm financially independent now and I Could Have whatever I wanted, but I Don't Want because then I'd become Like Them. See where I'm going here? In essence I'm exempt from it. Again, re-read my previous posts: I'm a minimalist, I live a Spartan lifestyle, and I'm proud of it, being an environmental prick and trying to limit my carbon footprint and all that jazz. To put it another way, I'm not Jealous over Waste--I'm Disgusted by it. One little country on the planet spoiling the rest of the Earth via excess. Do I have to draw you a picture?
Again, we're talking Sheeple here: one does something wasteful and the others follow along trying to match or beat that one a-hole. That's the American Way.
It's best if people act Now before it's too late. Global Warming and all that. Also think about things like the destruction of the rain forests and the near-extinction of species. Do you wait till it's too late? And then what, blame some dicks and do the finger-pointing game?
That leaves me saying "I told you so." Well, that doesn't change anything when it's too late.
When it's gone it's gone.
I think people just feel average or "middle class" because they compare themselves to their local peers, not a national standard.
Why stop with a national standard, why not an INTERNATIONAL standard? World median household income is ~$10,000, so if you're making the median US household income of $52,000, you're SERIOUSLY RICH and should stop complaining.
What rage and jealousy? These are Objective Observations, nothing more and nothing less.
I give a **** about what someone else does with their money when it's WASTEFUL (you're not paying attention to my previous messages, now are you?). When I see a McMansion housing 2-4 entitled douche bags I say to myself, "With those dozen bathrooms and rooms everywhere, that estate could easily house a dozen Families like an apartment complex." I could also go on about how the entitled waste water and buy Bottled Water to water their Lawns (because tap water ain't good enough!) and all the problems with plastic non-recycling going on, land fills, and all that's also related to consumerism gone wild...but you don't want to hear that, do you?
In my neighborhood we water our lawns with imported San Pellegrino because American bottled water is not good enough.
The fact that 72 month loans for cars exist, means that not everyone that buys a car can afford one.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
