This American family is not the exception...they are the rule. They just didn't know it, because they (and the world) think, the rich stand outside the boundaries of personal economic failure caused by world trade.
I have to tell you, I despise when media stories start emerging one after another on the topic of how whatever is happening in American Society right now (or for a decade) is finally impacting the rich and powerful...Or just the rich.
Middle Class Americans have been feeling the pain, faster and harder than the affluent for years now. Hanging on by a thread... still barely feeding their families after the market crash (which one you ask? keep reading), the war, the real estate crash, etc ETC ETC!
Poor people know what it looks like, know how to deal, because they have to...year after year. Struggling to feed their families on minimum wages, and retail sales.
Middle class Americans know what it feels like, because they are only a generation (or three) away from a relative who is living in a trailer and they know that smell.
The affluent try to pretend they have no idea what a depression looks like, and want to deny it's existence, because in that moment it doesn't affect them. But in reality, it does indeed affect everyone. Trickle by trickle, eventually, whether by one less fur coat, or a loss of a summer home, or by the crash of your entire world by excessive spending and ignoring the need to strap the ship tight, everyone feels the crush of a country in economic distress.
In reading the linked article, the only thing that stood out in my mind was "who tries to maintain a millionaire's lifestyle, while accepting a teaching job that pays under the minimum wage"? Twenty grand won't feed one man, much less a family of four and maintain a 650,000 home in Vermont, Who are they kidding?
Live within your means!!!
This is, and has been the main downfall of our country.
We, as a country, have never understood how to live within our means, plan for the future, and be OK with that. Who cares if your neighbor has a horse farm, and a sports car? Are your kids fed and healthy? Can you retire and take care of your family? We have no concept of future. No concept of life without stuff.
Something to think about?
Exactly, this stems from a society of "freedom of speech", improprietous people. If everyone wasn't always telling their business, they wouldn't need to keep up with the neighbors.
ReplyDeleteKeep your own shit in check. Don't worry about what I have.
I hate showoffs as much as I hate stereotypes because they feed off each other - people wouldn't always be trying to pigeon hole someone in their viewpoint of who they want them to be, if they weren't so insecure about their own shit.
Typical stereotype: single moms struggle.
A lot of single mom's do struggle.
Some single mom's have trust funds.
Some single mom's have great paying jobs.
Some single moms are right down the middle like the majority of two-family households in this country - no excess, no struggle.
BUT, it makes people feel better about their struggle to look down on an entire group of people they assume, they must be doing better than ;)
Whatever gets you through the day~