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Interesting. "People are living.....more expensive lives,......" One aspect of the general picture is that our standard of living is such that we would no longer be satisfied with what was considered "normal" life 50 or 60 years ago. ....
Threads like this come up faster and more frequently than crabgrass.
One reason that I rarely follow them any longer is because the "hook" is seemingly always about going back to some magic era, and how this is impossible. As unhappy as the content of the Washington Post article may be, I really found Escort Rider's comment made another equally interesting point.
As ER points out in his first sentence, "...we would no longer be satisfied, etc." Exactly, it is in no small measure about personal choices, worldview, real needs vs. I want-I want-I want.... The cost of something like healthcare - exorbitant as it has become - is not likely to be an item that many of us will want to cut back to the "normal" levels of fifty or sixty yeas ago.
But choices about clothing, automobiles, personal gadgets, second homes, buying upward on the housing scale as soon we possibly can, travel, etc., etc. are not necessities but decisions to have more personal luxury...though probably a great many people would bridle at that assertion. They are about desire, not need.
That said, we do live in a society/culture where it borders on something close to morally wrong not to want to endlessly jack up the flash level of our lives. But you don't want put a brake on your I-wanna button like some nouveau-Mennonite? -- hey! your choice. If the luxury consumption level of half a century ago induces excruciating pain today, then spend, spend, spend, buy, buy, buy.
But let's get honest. "Taking the knee" for the Star Spangled Banner really means zilch, because this song has been our national anthem and Lord's Prayer rolled into one for more than half a century:
What makes life meaningful for a lotta lotta people is the lust for what we don't have. But it is a choice..."would not be satisfied" is not the same as could not be satisfied.
I expect that quite a few old people who run through their savings will end up living their children.
That's how most of the world has forever dealt with this problem.
My observation is that many people who tried to save had to deal with illness, job loss or divorce. Those big 3 can deplete savings quickly.
As for me, when I was a kid my parents had 7 children and not much money. So I learned how to adapt and thrive in spite of that. Those skills learned so long ago make it possible to be very satisfied doing without many things that most people regard as necessities.
One thing that impressed me was that in its time, the castle was cold, it had no central heating or running water or toilets or refrigerators. It certainly had no phones or flat panel TVs. Poor Kaiser Wilhelm had a standard of living way below the poor people who now live in America. And he was the boss!
I think that today people deem as necessities which back 40 or 50 years ago were considered luxuries, etc. That's not the whole picture, but it's an observance. For example, we never ate out. Maybe a couple times a year. I grew up on a farm in South Dakota. Very basic. Not that way so much now. Instead of starting with what one can afford, today, I see starting with what "wants" and then seeing how it goes!
The above is a generalization of course.
I agree, needs vs want has changed and plays into it. We repaired clothes, went to shoe repair shops, rarely ate out, kept appliances until we needed a new one etc.
Well. I wanted to read this article, but when I go to the link, the Washington Post wants to charge me $1.00 to read the article. Went to their website and got the same thing. Maybe it is because it is the end of the month and I have already read my allocated # of articles.
I cannot bring myself to pay Jeff Bezos $1.00 to read this article, so I will have to skip it. Maybe, in a few years, when I am in my Golden Girls situation, we can pool our funds and get a subscription. Or maybe I am being overly optimistic.
I started subscribing to their online paper last month. I had a trial version and really enjoyed it. I subscribe to the NYTimes also, but now I hardly read it - the Post is more interesting.
The subscription is 9 dollars a month - I used to buy lots of magazines, but now just stick to these two newspapers. The NYtimes is 14.99. I do get a couple of free subscriptions every now and then that I pass on to family members. Very tempted to just drop the NYTimes.
Enjoyable article but several things people are overlooking. The couple RV's it to where their children live. They do not roam the country looking for jobs. They know where they are going. Also with $22K in SS, I am quite sure they could settle down in one location (rent or buy a small home) and have fairly easy part time jobs such as in retail. They are more choosing that life style then being forced to live like that.
I agree. My MIL is 100. She started getting lonely at age 90. All of her friends and family of her generation were gone or senile. She was sharp, living on her own and driving until 97. She got her first speeding ticket at 97! She's been ready to die since she was 96.
Anyhow, she's in a nursing home now with dementia, though otherwise healthy. She cries everyday and wants to go "home" to be with her husband. She claims she's in an airport but she keeps missing her plane. Dear merciful God....please take her!
No way would I want to live that long. It's too painful.
Yes, painful. Sorry for your situation. I have seen it more times than I can count.
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