5 ms·

The level of privilege fucking burns. This is not an understatement for anyone who has just finished reading the entire article. It's in every paragraph. You h

The level of privilege fucking burns. This is not an understatement for anyone who has just finished reading the entire article. It's in every paragraph. You have to read it just to get a sense of the level of selfishness on display at every level. That said, I don't think these people are evil, it's easy to loose sight of the fact how lucky you are for all of us. We need to guard against it at all times and it's not easy. I'm guilty of having got somewhat irritated by a homeless person in the past and now I think I was an idiot for being like that and having children has made me so much more understanding and loving of everyone. Going up is also easier than going down, if these people had as much money as me (and owned no properties) they might be suicidal, however I'm quite happy with my life :-) Although of course I do aspire to own one home at least for my family.

Mo3 9y ago
Yeah. This paragraph Luckily, we still owned the two-bedroom condo at King and Bathurst. I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of the soon-to-be four of us sharing 900 square feet, but I figured it would only be for a few months. almost made my blood boil. Oh dear, how could life treat you that badly. My god. This is nothing but two privileged naive idiots stupidly buying a half million dollar house without even having looked inside and then trying to backwards rationalize and talk themselves deeper into neurosis.. publicly even, so they can farm consolation and attention so their mental abstractions never have to fall apart.
- mrpopo 9y ago
  That paragraph was when I closed the tab. Nothing to learn from them.
gutnor 9y ago
I keep the (UK) National Statistic report of salaries. * 22K is the median salary. The people under 22K get propped up by social security up to around that amount (theoretically, practically not) * top-20% percentil starts at 38K * top-13% is 45K (relevant in the UK as it is the limit for high tax bracket) * top-10% is 50K * top-5% is 70K * top-2% is 110K * top-1% is 160K The average cost of a house is 250K, 400K in London. Only the smallest fraction of the population will be able to get that amount of money from just working. You need to be propped up by something, your parent, luck, post-code lottery on your first ring of the property ladder, ... You need to borrow from the future and the past to afford the present. edit: formatting edit2: all amounts are in GBP.
- danbruc 9y ago
  Which currency, GBP?
  - gutnor 9y ago
    Yes, GBP.
- MagnumOpus 9y ago
  You are very right on your main point, but some nitpicks on your data: * Your data is for all workers including part-time workers (including students and part time for lifestyle reasons like parenting). Full time work pay averages are quite a bit higher - median at £28k, 90th percentile at £56k. In London where the housing lottery problem is more extreme, it is partly because pay is also higher - full time annual median at £35k, 90th percentile at £75k. * The median earner doesn't buy property - the people who buy houses are the prime-age segment who earn quite a bit more.

Mo3 9y ago

Yeah. This paragraph Luckily, we still owned the two-bedroom condo at King and Bathurst. I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of the soon-to-be four of us sharing 900 square feet, but I figured it would only be for a few months. almost made my blood boil. Oh dear, how could life treat you that badly. My god. This is nothing but two privileged naive idiots stupidly buying a half million dollar house without even having looked inside and then trying to backwards rationalize and talk themselves deeper into neurosis.. publicly even, so they can farm consolation and attention so their mental abstractions never have to fall apart.

mrpopo 9y ago
That paragraph was when I closed the tab. Nothing to learn from them.

gutnor 9y ago

I keep the (UK) National Statistic report of salaries. * 22K is the median salary. The people under 22K get propped up by social security up to around that amount (theoretically, practically not) * top-20% percentil starts at 38K * top-13% is 45K (relevant in the UK as it is the limit for high tax bracket) * top-10% is 50K * top-5% is 70K * top-2% is 110K * top-1% is 160K The average cost of a house is 250K, 400K in London. Only the smallest fraction of the population will be able to get that amount of money from just working. You need to be propped up by something, your parent, luck, post-code lottery on your first ring of the property ladder, ... You need to borrow from the future and the past to afford the present. edit: formatting edit2: all amounts are in GBP.

danbruc 9y ago
Which currency, GBP?
- gutnor 9y ago
  Yes, GBP.
MagnumOpus 9y ago
You are very right on your main point, but some nitpicks on your data: * Your data is for all workers including part-time workers (including students and part time for lifestyle reasons like parenting). Full time work pay averages are quite a bit higher - median at £28k, 90th percentile at £56k. In London where the housing lottery problem is more extreme, it is partly because pay is also higher - full time annual median at £35k, 90th percentile at £75k. * The median earner doesn't buy property - the people who buy houses are the prime-age segment who earn quite a bit more.