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I noticed it being used more and more often by successful socialite-type people whenever their power is even the slightest bit threatened. As someone who lives with their parents and is pocketing lots of money living rent free, I have no idea why many in America look down on that.
Basement anywhere is not a particulalry pleasant place to live. Same as saying somebody lives in a dump. You might also ask why is that? It's just the way it is. If you live in mansion, you are looked up to. It's called life.
A lot of people feel that, if a guy (especially) still lives at home, he is not very successful and is a moocher. This is nothing new, almost 60 years ago, girls I dated would look down on other guys because they still hadn't left the nest. They felt they were "Mama's boys.", not men.
Personally, I never wanted my own two sons to leave home. They were welcome to stay as long as they wanted, but both did leave and got their own places.
I noticed it being used more and more often by successful socialite-type people whenever their power is even the slightest bit threatened. As someone who lives with their parents and is pocketing lots of money living rent free, I have no idea why many in America look down on that.
To me, the implication is that the person to whom it is applied is incapable of providing for themselves (or unwilling) and must live rent-free in their parents' basements. Even Trump has used this trope.
I've lived in three basement apartments, for which I've paid the going rent. One of them was really nice, in a great house and great neighborhood. The other two not so much, but I was a starving student.
I'm a boomer, and I will say that we couldn't WAIT to get out on our own and pay rent, even if it was a dump shared with too many weird roommates. Like buying your first car, it was a visible symbol of growing up.
OP, if you are living rent-free even though you could afford to pay rent and only contributing your presence to your parents' house, I have to say that yes, I'd look down on you for that. I like independent people. If you are contributing materially in ways other than money, that's different.
I noticed it being used more and more often by successful socialite-type people whenever their power is even the slightest bit threatened. As someone who lives with their parents and is pocketing lots of money living rent free, I have no idea why many in America look down on that.
You have no idea why many people look down on mooching off your parents? Really?
Because most of us have lived in a basement...and the reasons become clear. Those are usually the lowest cost apartments...IF they are an apartment. If someone has to put a bedroom down there - it usually would not meet code, let alone the moisture, insulation dust, mold, etc.
As a remodeling contractor I got to visit a lot of houses. I will never forget the woman who loved her bulldogs so much that she gave them a bedroom in her small 2-bedroom house. Unfortunately, she also had a teenager - he slept in the basement. Really!
Failure to launch can be a real problem. We don't live in the little village anymore where the whole family stays in the house forever (well, some people do, but not most)...
I left home at 16 but then an arrest sent me home again (probation). Then I left for good at 17. I'm glad - but I love my parents and we are very close. I just desired to make my own way in the world...which differed greatly from theirs (counterculture and all).
Would you rather be a basement dweller or a person living in a van down by the river?
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