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From the executive summary of the Federal Reserve report linked in the article: >When asked about their finances, 74 percent of adults said they were either do

From the executive summary of the Federal Reserve report linked in the article: >When asked about their finances, 74 percent of adults said they were either doing okay or living comfortably in 2017—over 10 percentage points more than in the first survey in 2013. >Individuals of all education levels have shared in the improvement over the past five years, though the more educated still report greater well-being than those less educated. >Three in five urban residents describe the economy in their local community as good or excellent ver- sus two in five rural residents who offer this posi- tive of an assessment of local conditions. Etc. Far less bleak when one focuses on the whole picture. But don't let that stop wapo et al. from implicating Trump while trotting out predictable sob stories about people who spent half their lives pursuing 3 uneconomical degrees, had 3 more kids than they could afford, in cities with some of the highest costs of living in the world, and now complain that they're living paycheck to paycheck. I'm getting really tired of the agenda based fear mongering by wapo, huffpo, and the like. Trust in media is rightly at an all time low[1]. 1.https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/10-reasons-why-americans-dont-trust-the-media-d0630c125b9e https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/10-reasons-why-...

Larrikin 8y ago
All of those statistics appear to be feeling based and not actually grounded in any meaningful numbers.
vailprogrammer 8y ago
> sob stories about people who spent half their lives pursuing 3 uneconomical degrees, had 3 more kids than they could afford, in cities with some of the highest costs of living in the world, and now complain that they're living paycheck to paycheck. So the person who .... - never attended any sort of college, but did graduate high school - is single and childless, in fact have no family at all as their parents died poor and young - is living paycheck to paycheck, whether in a city or rural area ...just doesn't exist? And if they do exist, please enlighten me on what steps they should take to correct their situation? Just curious, but are your parents college educated?
- fromthestart 8y ago
  There will always be those who are unlucky and downtrodden. The point though is that media like these focus exclusively on this negative minority and exaggerate the negativity of the status quo. My parents are first generation immigrants who fled the Soviet Bloc and built their lives here by living within their means, and making practical decisions, like getting degrees with some probability of return on investment. They came here with nothing and it took them 30 years to find their way into the upper middle class. I have little sympathy for people who consistently plan poorly and make bad decisions by placing immediate satisfaction over long term financial security.
  - vailprogrammer 8y ago
    > media like these focus exclusively on this negative minority and exaggerate the negativity of the status quo. Can you expand on 'this negative minority' ? Because I think there are a lot more poor people than 'upper middle class' people in this country. > I have little sympathy for people who consistently plan poorly and make bad decisions Why not? Self control isn't some moral, righteousness, trait. To possess a certain level of self control, is to be lucky in its own right. Turns out its generally dictated by the Pre Frontal Cortex. And when that gets damaged (whether via head injury, lead poisoning as a child, malnourishment, any number of reasons), people lose self control: https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/71/6/720 https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/71/6/720
    - fromthestart 8y ago
      >Why not? Self control isn't some moral, righteousness, trait. Exhibit B. Personal responsibility is increasingly fading from the collective American vocabulary, and articles like these, which normalize nonsensical, narcicisstic decisions, like throwing away a decade pursuing 3 low demand liberal arts degrees, make the media complicit. Self control absolutely is a moral, righteous trait, particularly because those without it lower the standards of living for those around them. Somehow other cultures tend to place virtue in the development of discipline, a personal responsibility which can mitigate all kinds of external erosions of self control. But in the U.S. a sizable minority, if not a majority, expect the world to throw money at them and their 3 children in LA for an advanced English degree.
scarface74 8y ago
It’s not “fear mongering” when 800,000 people aren’t getting paid purely because the President was getting bashed by right wing media.
- walshemj 8y ago
  And the US is an outlier any other democracy not getting a budget though would result in a vote of no confidence and a new election at the least a new government.
  - logicchains 8y ago
    Not directly budget-passing related, but Belgium went 589 days without an elected government due to disagreement between the parties: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Belgian_government_formation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Belgian_govern...

Larrikin 8y ago

All of those statistics appear to be feeling based and not actually grounded in any meaningful numbers.

vailprogrammer 8y ago

> sob stories about people who spent half their lives pursuing 3 uneconomical degrees, had 3 more kids than they could afford, in cities with some of the highest costs of living in the world, and now complain that they're living paycheck to paycheck. So the person who .... - never attended any sort of college, but did graduate high school - is single and childless, in fact have no family at all as their parents died poor and young - is living paycheck to paycheck, whether in a city or rural area ...just doesn't exist? And if they do exist, please enlighten me on what steps they should take to correct their situation? Just curious, but are your parents college educated?

fromthestart 8y ago
There will always be those who are unlucky and downtrodden. The point though is that media like these focus exclusively on this negative minority and exaggerate the negativity of the status quo. My parents are first generation immigrants who fled the Soviet Bloc and built their lives here by living within their means, and making practical decisions, like getting degrees with some probability of return on investment. They came here with nothing and it took them 30 years to find their way into the upper middle class. I have little sympathy for people who consistently plan poorly and make bad decisions by placing immediate satisfaction over long term financial security.
- vailprogrammer 8y ago
  > media like these focus exclusively on this negative minority and exaggerate the negativity of the status quo. Can you expand on 'this negative minority' ? Because I think there are a lot more poor people than 'upper middle class' people in this country. > I have little sympathy for people who consistently plan poorly and make bad decisions Why not? Self control isn't some moral, righteousness, trait. To possess a certain level of self control, is to be lucky in its own right. Turns out its generally dictated by the Pre Frontal Cortex. And when that gets damaged (whether via head injury, lead poisoning as a child, malnourishment, any number of reasons), people lose self control: https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/71/6/720 https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/71/6/720
  - fromthestart 8y ago
    >Why not? Self control isn't some moral, righteousness, trait. Exhibit B. Personal responsibility is increasingly fading from the collective American vocabulary, and articles like these, which normalize nonsensical, narcicisstic decisions, like throwing away a decade pursuing 3 low demand liberal arts degrees, make the media complicit. Self control absolutely is a moral, righteous trait, particularly because those without it lower the standards of living for those around them. Somehow other cultures tend to place virtue in the development of discipline, a personal responsibility which can mitigate all kinds of external erosions of self control. But in the U.S. a sizable minority, if not a majority, expect the world to throw money at them and their 3 children in LA for an advanced English degree.

scarface74 8y ago

It’s not “fear mongering” when 800,000 people aren’t getting paid purely because the President was getting bashed by right wing media.

walshemj 8y ago
And the US is an outlier any other democracy not getting a budget though would result in a vote of no confidence and a new election at the least a new government.
- logicchains 8y ago
  Not directly budget-passing related, but Belgium went 589 days without an elected government due to disagreement between the parties: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Belgian_government_formation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Belgian_govern...