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Grew up in a household where you knew that if you wanted something you had to work for it. We were solidly middle class, upper for the small town we lived in with a large home and parents driving (used) Mercedes and Porsche, but four of us boys "shared" the family truck until we bought our own cars with every penny of our own earned money.
My father was a Vice President of a small community college yet oddly although education was valued, it wasn't necessarily a certainty we were going to college as we would only get moderate help from the family if we chose to do so. That being said it took me several years of bouncing around a couple of community colleges, dropping out for years until I got my act together, transferred to a state university and graduated with a decent GPA. I worked as a cook or bartender every semester in college except my last. Not one penny of school loans- parents mostly only paid $150/mo. towards rent while in school.
After college, met my future spouse and worked in restaurants a bit more and then went back to school for architecture, talked my partner into going to college (the first of his family) and settled in renting, working and going to school for a few more years until both of us starting settling into our respective careers. Lived very frugally, for several years chocking away some money for the future.
Bought our first house (20% down) at the nadir of the market at the time (dumb luck) in a neighborhood we had an inkling was going to come into its own- it really did! Spouse ended up making far more that I do - ahh, the life of an architect- and we have put away just about everything we could into retirement for as long as we could. Still live frugally- go out infrequently but will not deny ourselves with some good restaurant meals with friends, season tickets to baseball, ballet and theater- experiences are valuable- first trip to Europe together as a couple after 28 years came last year. Also, no kids so that certainly makes a difference.
We make a lot more than many, but I don't think our lifestyle is that different than those making a quarter of what we make- 13 and 9 y.o. cars with no plans to replace them anytime soon, and we just live in an expensive city so it certainly doesn't feel like we have much disposable income.
But, it is kind of crazy to look back at all the jobs I've had since I was 13, the disjointed path that it took still had those very basic values that were imparted to me (and my very hard working partner) that allowed that upward trajectory to a very comfortable existence that we feel exceedingly pleased- and lucky- to have achieved.
Write a letter to POTUS. You could be in next year's SOTU address.
And that's not a tongue-in-cheek reply. As crappy as all of your story sounds, it would still be inspirational to many.
I don't want to be in next year's SOTU address. I want less attention from Leviathan, not more. And if my story was seized upon by Leviathan, they would be using it to tell you, me and everyone else how my story wouldn't have been so unfortunate had we allowed more tyranny back in the 70s and even more tyranny now, when not one thing about my ascension from rags to middle class rags has to do with scraps from Leviathan's table nor their "help."
My story is about the individual, independent of "helpers" and in spite of barriers, using individual effort and action to affect individual change for the better. My story is about looking in the mirror and tasking "I" instead of laying about and blaming "we". Leviathan HATES me and my individualistic approach to things, and you can hear the echo of that hate from Leviathan's loyal minions on this forum.
I want my story's beginning to be the exception, and the middle/end to be the rule. Leviathan would like the opposite. Leviathan would like everyone to begin life as similarly miserable as me, but instead of doing the individual thing I did, the rule should be that only with Leviathan's guidance/assistance/love can one possibly ascend from misery into prosperity. How else can Leviathan replace G-d Himself as the one true savior?
The other reason I don't want my story seized upon is because of what I'll be accused of or demonized for, which again, you hear echoed already in just this thread. Forgive me if I don't want millions of people telling me that any and all of my individual achievements are meaningless because well, I'm smart, or how dare I say individual effort is a worthwhile endeavor given the people in the world not as capable of said effort as me. Bad enough the peanut gallery on one tiny little corner of the Internet is so boorish, but take it national and have millions of people hating me for not being a victim? No thanks.
I can take the ghost in the machine called Volobjectitarian being hated and vilified for the sin of not being a victim, but the real person that ghost represents, and his real family and real friends...no, I don't need those people subjected to the anger, vitriol, and rage of people who hate the successful because they hate themselves. Not in the real world. No way.
I don't want to be in next year's SOTU address. I want less attention from Leviathan, not more. And if my story was seized upon by Leviathan, they would be using it to tell you, me and everyone else how my story wouldn't have been so unfortunate had we allowed more tyranny back in the 70s and even more tyranny now, when not one thing about my ascension from rags to middle class rags has to do with scraps from Leviathan's table nor their "help."
My story is about the individual, independent of "helpers" and in spite of barriers, using individual effort and action to affect individual change for the better. My story is about looking in the mirror and tasking "I" instead of laying about and blaming "we". Leviathan HATES me and my individualistic approach to things, and you can hear the echo of that hate from Leviathan's loyal minions on this forum.
I want my story's beginning to be the exception, and the middle/end to be the rule. Leviathan would like the opposite. Leviathan would like everyone to begin life as similarly miserable as me, but instead of doing the individual thing I did, the rule should be that only with Leviathan's guidance/assistance/love can one possibly ascend from misery into prosperity. How else can Leviathan replace G-d Himself as the one true savior?
The other reason I don't want my story seized upon is because of what I'll be accused of or demonized for, which again, you hear echoed already in just this thread. Forgive me if I don't want millions of people telling me that any and all of my individual achievements are meaningless because well, I'm smart, or how dare I say individual effort is a worthwhile endeavor given the people in the world not as capable of said effort as me. Bad enough the peanut gallery on one tiny little corner of the Internet is so boorish, but take it national and have millions of people hating me for not being a victim? No thanks.
I can take the ghost in the machine called Volobjectitarian being hated and vilified for the sin of not being a victim, but the real person that ghost represents, and his real family and real friends...no, I don't need those people subjected to the anger, vitriol, and rage of people who hate the successful because they hate themselves. Not in the real world. No way.
In 2010, 9% of first-time home buyers who made a down payment received a loan from a relative or friend, up from 6% in 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Twenty-seven percent said they received a gift from a friend or relative, up from 22% in 2009.
For those who are in the middle class, or even in the upper middle class, how did you come to your economic status?
Edit
We'll go with the median income of $51k. So $51k to $250k, or what would be the equivalent if your funding comes through your parents or a form of trust fund.
people are stupid, lying, or just blind
Almost 90% of you won the lottery
Here is the lotteries you won:
Lottery of birth
- parents
-parents education
-parents income
-parents drive/etc
- your school (highschool)
-location (united states and or western countries)
- skin color (i.e white is a big win versus other colors)
Then the lottery of luck
- getting the right job; going ot the right school; getting the A; not being hit by a car; etc
60% of being successful is birth lottery
30% is your own initiative (not necessarily intelligence)
10% is pure luck
you stand where you are because you stand on the backs of giants
Lottery of birth
- parents
-parents education
-parents income
-parents drive/etc
- your school (highschool)
-location (united states and or western countries)
- skin color (i.e white is a big win versus other colors)
Then the lottery of luck
- getting the right job; going ot the right school; getting the A; not being hit by a car; etc
60% of being successful is birth lottery
30% is your own initiative (not necessarily intelligence)
10% is pure luck
you stand where you are because you stand on the backs of giants
If you make over 80K anywhere you are not middle class.
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