S_204

I keep bringing up jealousy because it's so evident how pathetic your mindset is when it comes to other people.

You're a failure. Not everyone who isn't a failure is wealthy. Some of us are just normal people living normal lives. A normal middle class life is exactly what I'm fortunate enough to be living.

Still rambling on with jealousy eh? I feel good about myself surrounded by my loving family and friends. I don't feel good about myself because I can afford a house and others can't.

You are jealousy is preventing you from accepting reality. It's also quite clearly what's holding you back.

You're so confused. You alternate between saying I'm trying to impress people and then I'm trying to deny it. I'm doing neither. I'm simply stating reality. A reality that you seem too dense to grasp and yes, you're absolutely impoverished and when I say that I'm not talking about your bank account, I'm talking about your mental abilities.

Which bridge collapsed, other than the one hit by the boat in Baltimore?

I'm not telling on anything by being honest with you. I can't afford a new car right now. In 2 or 3 years. I'll have saved up enough to be able to afford one, but right now it's simply not in my budget. I also can't afford the kitchen renovation that I have planned. Can't afford a lot of things that you seem to think the wealthy people can.

I can't afford them because I'm a pretty firmly middle class household that can afford some of the nice things in life but not without working for them. Like the wealthy are able to. At no point am I downplaying my privilege. I've said a number of times even in these posts how fortunate that I am. That you think admitting to going on a vacation is gloating just reinforces your jealousy. We budget to be able to take a vacation. I read the other week that over 30% of Americans take multiple vacations per year. By you're jealous framework, you're claiming that they're all wealthy, which is obviously an absurd thing to say or position to take. I'd chalk much of my fortune up to the fact that I'm not a moron with my money running around charging my life on a credit card, like the vast majority of people that you see around you today. I'm not benefiting from the exploitation of others any more than the manager at a McDonald's is. I get paid for the work that I put out. I don't get paid for other people's work and I don't get paid from real estate holdings or investments or any of the other wealth creating vehicles that the wealthy in our society utilize, if I had the ability to I certainly would but seeing as a middle class those avenues to earn are not available to me.

You're accusing me of lacking critical thinking when you apparently don't have the ability to think critically enough to budget your own life or to think critically enough to put yourself in a position where your paycheck will allow you to live the middle-class lifestyle that I happen to be able to live right now.

That you think my understanding my place in the social hierarchy is an attempt to make me look bad. Really demonstrates your lack of ability to think critically your poor emotional intelligence and your lack of overall social context...... Which probably at least in part explains why you're jealous of someone who's living a middle-class lifestyle and probably why you'll live in poverty for the rest of your sad life. Crabs in a bucket.

If I were wealthy I sincerely doubt I'd be driving my broken down Ford but you tell yourself whatever you gotta to alleviate your feelings of failure.

Nah man, redefining things doesn't work at all. I'm not wealthy. I'm pretty firmly middle class based on just about every definition of middle class that's available to any sociologist on this planet. People ignorantly seem to think that middle class is tied to your salary or household income which is not the case.

I've got no problem with people seeing me living the life that I live. I grew up in a twice broken bankrupted household and I'm pretty damn proud of what my partner and I have been able to achieve. I live a pretty comfortable middle-class life and I try to help uplift the people around me so they can do the same.

I look around me and I see people struggling to achieve the middle class lifestyle that I'm grateful that I have but the fact that parts of society are falling behind doesn't by default make me wealthy. If I were wealthy I wouldn't have a mortgage or a host of other things that are currently saddling me financially. The people who can be categorized as wealthy are those who don't need to work for a living and whose capital sustains them.

You might not agree with me but that doesn't change. The facts are reality surrounding our individual financial situations.

I'm happy to admit that I live the life that you described. For the most part. Big house and a desirable neighborhood. Couple of six-figure jobs. Couple of nice cars, at least one warm vacation every year and another one to visit family. Kids educations will be fully funded by the time they're 18. Registered savings accounts are nearly maxed out and will be by the end of this year. The house I grew up in was a single parent home that went through bankruptcy when I was a young teenager, so I'm quite familiar with the other end of the spectrum and I'm putting plans in place to avoid ever ending up there.... While still not thinking twice about picking up $1,000 dinner, tap while out with friends for a celebration. Balance as possible if you're willing to sacrifice some of the shiny things that people seem to want these days.

I'm grateful for our fortunate position. When I look around I see people living lives quite a bit more extravagant than ours and I don't quite understand it, but I'm more focused on building my family's future. So I keep the blinders on and keep doing what seems to be working for us. I'd suggest more people do the same and that would involve spending less time on sites like this.

That's not wealthy though. That's maybe well to do or upper middle class.

Wealthy is your children not having a mortgage and also having a trust fund.

I know a guy who's worth over 10 and probably closer to $50 million. He still lives in the same house that he did when he graduated university. He drives a 10-year-old car and his son who is one of my best friends drives the car that he had before that as a handme down.

Some people flaunt it. Some people build it quietly.

This gentleman that I know has bought both of his son's houses cash so they have no mortgages. He owns a million dollar cottage on a beautiful Lake and another property on the panhandle in Florida. You would think that he's on social security though if you just saw him bumbling about his yard.

https://www.statista.com/chart/31152/share-of-us-respondents-who-have-taken-private-trips/#:~:text=Around%20a%20third%20of%20Americans,the%20other%20hand%2C%20were%20rarer.

1/3 of Americans take multiple vacations a year. Have you tried not being poor? It's worth a shot if you haven't.

You're right, it is very different. The campus encampments are calling for intifada. Calling for violence should not be accepted. That is starkly different from an invitation to a foreign Ally being scuttled by people too afraid to hear what someone has to say.