Unpopular Opinion

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Living paycheck to paycheck doesn't necessarily have to FEEL miserable. Capital just encourages that. (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by _number8_@lemmy.world to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I am obviously not saying people should be exploited, I am saying given the current conditions, one shouldn't force themselves to be miserable, ashamed because they don't physically have tons of money in the bank, or owe money, or whatever -- if you are """"just making ends meet"""" [a phrase that basically means, getting an A or B on the test of paying all your necessarily bills etc], it is as though you are expected, DEMANDED to vaguely feel like shit every day you're not Wolf of Wall Street.

I am obviously not saying either that it isn't a bummer i can't buy a telescope or book a cruise right now. If you watch commercials, everyone lives in a damn magazine, and that's probably not good for the psyche to see.

I am speaking broadly of the gray shroud that regularly having <$20 in the bank feels like it casts upon us: it is literally fake. to paraphrase karl pilkington, money is just something you have in case you don't die tomorrow. your bank account is a pane in the settings screen, not a constant HUD.

Many with good intentions denote it as being a miserable, thankless, deprived way of life - and sure yeah, in a sense. I am trying to not make the boring point about 'happiness is possible anytime' 'who cares about concert tickets' 'they make it seem miserable to sell doordash' etc but -- I noticed myself just instinctively literally physically hanging my head the other day - because I was thinking about how I wanted to buy a thing. Which is insane? Why should I feel like shit about that?

The story we tell ourselves about what our currency management MEANS about ourselves -- about EVERY FIBER of EVERY MOOD, at times -- is ARTIFICIAL. I was moping around a lil tonight because, seemingly, I wasn't living in a resort. That is an INSANE standard to have for yourself. (You can shift into the lens of letting yourself feel things like you are in a resort, however.)

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[–] kubok@fedia.io 5 points 1 month ago

If you live paycheck to paycheck, that means that you can eat cheap food and ideally pay your bills. If something breaks, it will stay broken. If food prices go up, you'll get hungry. If you cannot pay rent, you'll become homeless in certain parts of the world. It gets worse if you have kids.

The result: constant stress which will remain with you for the rest of your life, even if your situation gets better.

If you can read Dutch, try to find the book by the Flemish journalist Tim 's-Jongers (apologies if I spelled his name wrong). He wrote a very poignant book on how it is to be poor and what it did to his mental state, even if he has a stable income at the moment. I am not sure whether that book was translated into English.