2 ms·

I agree with what you are saying, except for perhaps the first line. What I mean is - I would posit that if you aren't privileged, you have almost _more_ incent

I agree with what you are saying, except for perhaps the first line. What I mean is - I would posit that if you aren't privileged, you have almost _more_ incentive to slip out of society and into the middle of nowhere. There is cheap real estate in this country - just not on either coast. There is a cash-driven, barter-heavy economy out there for people who are willing to do ugly, dirty, time-consuming job in places far from the cities. Not an easy life, but perhaps comparatively less stressful or costly than one involving a multi-hour commute in order to work a minimum wage job in an expensive urban area. My then 96-year old grandmother put it best: Your generation has a lot more money than my generation, but you have more stress and will never know many of the simply pleasures my generation experienced. Yes, perhaps it is a privileged mindset, but I find myself wondering if/when "Average Joe/Jane" type people are going to decide to get off the roller coaster and seek a different path than the traditional one society / media / politicians / etc push, in their interest.

fcarraldo 8y ago
I think there are two flawed assertions here. One is that the non-privileged can even afford to attempt what you're suggesting without putting themselves or their families at immediate risk. You cannot drop your two jobs in the city and take your kids out of kindergarten to drive off toward "cheap real estate" (which you also can't afford, anyway) in a car you may or may not have, using gas you also can't afford without a payday loan. If you can afford to make that kind of move, you're more privileged than many. If you can do it and it fails, can you afford to come back and try to re-start your previous city life? Then you're even more privileged than the first subset of people. Those living paycheck to paycheck can't just shove off for greener pastures in today's climate, period, and the few who can would prefer not to take the risk because failure is just too stressful. The second flawed assertion is that your generation has more money than your grandmother's generation. You might have more dollar bills in your bank account, but they're worth less than ever before and "Real Wages" for the lower and middle class have been flat or falling for decades. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/for-the-biggest-group-of-american-workers-wages-arent-just-flat-theyre-falling/?utm_term=.fdb615c8808e https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/for-t... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/25/america-wealthy-class-betrayed-inequality https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/25/americ... https://www.middleclasspoliticaleconomist.com/2012/03/basics-real-wages-remain-below-their.html https://www.middleclasspoliticaleconomist.com/2012/03/basics... Now, HN surely has a concentration of workers who live outside of this phenomenon and have experienced increasing wages and live upper-class lifestyles, but hardly true of today's "generations" as a whole.

fcarraldo 8y ago

I think there are two flawed assertions here. One is that the non-privileged can even afford to attempt what you're suggesting without putting themselves or their families at immediate risk. You cannot drop your two jobs in the city and take your kids out of kindergarten to drive off toward "cheap real estate" (which you also can't afford, anyway) in a car you may or may not have, using gas you also can't afford without a payday loan. If you can afford to make that kind of move, you're more privileged than many. If you can do it and it fails, can you afford to come back and try to re-start your previous city life? Then you're even more privileged than the first subset of people. Those living paycheck to paycheck can't just shove off for greener pastures in today's climate, period, and the few who can would prefer not to take the risk because failure is just too stressful. The second flawed assertion is that your generation has more money than your grandmother's generation. You might have more dollar bills in your bank account, but they're worth less than ever before and "Real Wages" for the lower and middle class have been flat or falling for decades. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/for-the-biggest-group-of-american-workers-wages-arent-just-flat-theyre-falling/?utm_term=.fdb615c8808e https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/for-t... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/25/america-wealthy-class-betrayed-inequality https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/25/americ... https://www.middleclasspoliticaleconomist.com/2012/03/basics-real-wages-remain-below-their.html https://www.middleclasspoliticaleconomist.com/2012/03/basics... Now, HN surely has a concentration of workers who live outside of this phenomenon and have experienced increasing wages and live upper-class lifestyles, but hardly true of today's "generations" as a whole.