4 ms·

I think he meant carefree as a state of mind. On the edge of losing everything but not worrying about it.

craftinator 6y ago
I don't understand that point of view. Being homeless is awful; it will kill you, after years of suffering from hunger, sores, achy joints, dysentery, loneliness, etc. And once you are homeless, it takes a huge stroke of luck, and a massive amount of work to capitalize on that luck, to pull yourself out of homeless, and back onto the brink of being homeless again. Where you'll most likely stay, because you haven't built up wealth or savings, and haven't been developing yourself along a career path that will be profitable to do so.
craftinator 6y ago
I also don't understand how one can be in a carefree state of mind while being poor (choosing not to worry about loosing everything), but not be able to attain that mental state while being wealthy (choosing not to worry about losing a negligible amount). Is the relationship such that the more there is to lose, the easier it is to be unaffected by worry?
lotsofpulp 6y ago
ellyagg's post makes no sense even in this context. Not worried about not being able to feed one's family when making $20k per year, but worried about your employer and colleague's when making $100k per year? There is nowhere in the US where $20k per year will give you security of any type (food, water, shelter, healthcare, schooling, etc) to provide for your family, not to mention a $20k per year job is likelier to have no ability to move up in any significant way.
- nitrogen 6y ago
  They didn't say what year it was, nor where, nor before vs after tax. $20k/yr is definitely enough for some lifestyles in some places, especially in the past. I've lived on less.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    The claim was one could live a worry free life with a spouse and child to support. Pre tax or post tax, that hasn’t been true for decades (unless you just choose worrying about things most people worry about such as healthcare and education).
    - nitrogen 6y ago
      I'm not sure why we're all policing someone else's definition of worry here. My experience growing up in a rural area around people who are just content to be content leads me to take the OP at their word.

I don't understand that point of view. Being homeless is awful; it will kill you, after years of suffering from hunger, sores, achy joints, dysentery, loneliness, etc. And once you are homeless, it takes a huge stroke of luck, and a massive amount of work to capitalize on that luck, to pull yourself out of homeless, and back onto the brink of being homeless again. Where you'll most likely stay, because you haven't built up wealth or savings, and haven't been developing yourself along a career path that will be profitable to do so.

craftinator 6y ago

I also don't understand how one can be in a carefree state of mind while being poor (choosing not to worry about loosing everything), but not be able to attain that mental state while being wealthy (choosing not to worry about losing a negligible amount). Is the relationship such that the more there is to lose, the easier it is to be unaffected by worry?

lotsofpulp 6y ago

ellyagg's post makes no sense even in this context. Not worried about not being able to feed one's family when making $20k per year, but worried about your employer and colleague's when making $100k per year? There is nowhere in the US where $20k per year will give you security of any type (food, water, shelter, healthcare, schooling, etc) to provide for your family, not to mention a $20k per year job is likelier to have no ability to move up in any significant way.

nitrogen 6y ago
They didn't say what year it was, nor where, nor before vs after tax. $20k/yr is definitely enough for some lifestyles in some places, especially in the past. I've lived on less.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  The claim was one could live a worry free life with a spouse and child to support. Pre tax or post tax, that hasn’t been true for decades (unless you just choose worrying about things most people worry about such as healthcare and education).
  - nitrogen 6y ago
    I'm not sure why we're all policing someone else's definition of worry here. My experience growing up in a rural area around people who are just content to be content leads me to take the OP at their word.