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0 pointsTedShiller4y ago0 comments

No question it’s better to be wealthy than poor.

Most people here are talking about being rich vs just being normal.

Put another way, there’s a HUGE difference between not having enough and having enough. There’s almost no difference between having enough and having more than enough. You can play this out with anything: money, food, free time, etc

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11 comments · 2 top-level

carabiner4y ago· 7 in thread

Normal among millennials is being poor. Six-figure debt while working an hourly job with zero savings.

TedShillerOP4y ago

I don’t think six figure debt is normal. It also depends on where the debt is from. Is it something they had to do (borrow money for food and rent) or elected to do (borrow money for low income degree)?

not2b4y ago

In the US, for the young, it may mean that you went to college. You have the equivalent of a mortgage with no house.

And this is new: in many cases someone from their parents' generation who got the same degree and the same job would be debt free, because college used to be much, much less expensive (even after accounting for inflation) than it is now.

Example: University of California (Berkeley or UCLA, etc). Currently about $12k a year tuition. 35-40 years ago is was zero, with a couple of hundred dollars in fees.

uberduper4y ago

This is not normal. This is a vocal, and somewhat obnoxious, minority of millennials.

TedShillerOP4y ago

Most millennials are hardworking and responsible. A very vocal minority are not.

xvedejas4y ago

Hourly job with zero savings, sure. But is six-figure debt really common? I can find that the mean indebtedness is five figures, surely the median (amongst those without mortgages) is much less than that?

shukantpal4y ago

Regardless of that statement's truthiness, that's very much irrelevant for the OP. Nowhere did they say they were broke.

sokoloff4y ago

They did say “I’m at the bottom with nothing.” It’s not a long walk from there to “they said they were broke”.

yellowcake04y ago· 2 in thread

Normal is still pretty shitty when compared to being a member of the aristocratic leisure class. Of course there are diminishing returns to the happiness value of money, but it's a hell of a lot higher than being a normal middle class American.

TedShillerOP4y ago

Imagine if a member of this super rich aristocratic class has depression. That must be hopeless.

yellowcake04y ago

Why would it be hopeless? They have the time, energy and resources to address it properly.

Someone with depression who works two jobs without health insurance and is too exhausted outside of work to do anything but watch TV, now that's hopeless.

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11 comments · 2 top-level

carabiner4y ago· 7 in thread

Normal among millennials is being poor. Six-figure debt while working an hourly job with zero savings.

TedShillerOP4y ago

not2b4y ago

In the US, for the young, it may mean that you went to college. You have the equivalent of a mortgage with no house.

Example: University of California (Berkeley or UCLA, etc). Currently about $12k a year tuition. 35-40 years ago is was zero, with a couple of hundred dollars in fees.

uberduper4y ago

This is not normal. This is a vocal, and somewhat obnoxious, minority of millennials.

TedShillerOP4y ago

Most millennials are hardworking and responsible. A very vocal minority are not.

xvedejas4y ago

shukantpal4y ago

Regardless of that statement's truthiness, that's very much irrelevant for the OP. Nowhere did they say they were broke.

sokoloff4y ago

They did say “I’m at the bottom with nothing.” It’s not a long walk from there to “they said they were broke”.

yellowcake04y ago· 2 in thread

TedShillerOP4y ago

Imagine if a member of this super rich aristocratic class has depression. That must be hopeless.

yellowcake04y ago

Why would it be hopeless? They have the time, energy and resources to address it properly.

Someone with depression who works two jobs without health insurance and is too exhausted outside of work to do anything but watch TV, now that's hopeless.

1 more reply

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