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> So below the threshold you get pushed down, above the threshold you get lifted up. It takes incredible effort and discipline to pass the threshold from below.

by bko 4y ago

> So below the threshold you get pushed down, above the threshold you get lifted up. It takes incredible effort and discipline to pass the threshold from below. At the very low end you could be pushed down. If you can only afford $5000 for a car, it'll be expensive in the long run. But its also true that on the high end you get pushed down as well. If you have a lot of money and feel the need to buy an expensive car that's no more reliable than a much cheaper car. Plus you have to pay more for insurance, maintenance, etc.

Applejinx 4y ago
That really doesn't count as being pushed down. That's you burning money for fun. I know what that's like too but it sure doesn't count as the Man keeping me down, you're describing one hell of a 'first world problem' that doesn't really make sense in the context of this discussion. Wanting a 5 million dollar car doesn't count as getting pushed down. And its unreliability isn't really in the same context as depending on the $5000 (or $500) beater. If your 5 million dollar car conks out, you are more frustrated than endangered: no thing that you do is seriously at risk, as you'll have alternate ways to get to work etc., including the random acquisition of the same $5000 car, which to you is pocket change, beneath consideration.
- hansword 4y ago
  https://twitter.com/search?q=0th%20world%20problem https://twitter.com/search?q=0th%20world%20problem - it seems like hundreds of people have independently coined '0th world problem' to name such non-inconveniences. Edit for two Examples: * I want ice cream but I don’t want to actually leave my apartment and none of the grocery stores have delivery slots open for the rest of the day. * Champagne cork flying damaged my priceless artwork
- bko 4y ago
  > That really doesn't count as being pushed down. That's you burning money for fun. I know what that's like too but it sure doesn't count as the Man keeping me down, you're describing one hell of a 'first world problem' that doesn't really make sense in the context of this discussion. Maybe its fun burning money, working a job you hate, spending time away from your friends and family, working till you drop dead. I don't know I'm not rich. > If your 5 million dollar car conks out, you are more frustrated than endangered: no thing that you do is seriously at risk You have a very weird perception of things. First, there are no $5 million cars. Have you ever met someone with money? Are they chill about trashing their property? Oh I totaled my $150k car, no big deal! I have an infinite amount of money. People go broke all the time. Take it from a literal billionaire and former CEO of Goldman, Lloyd Blankfein: > “I can’t imagine how all this is going to come out when you publish,” he says, looking fleetingly concerned…. Blankfein insists he is “well-to-do”, not rich. “I can’t even say ‘rich’,” he insists. “I don’t feel that way. I don’t behave that way.” He says he has an apartment in Miami as well as New York. But he abjures most of the trappings. “If I bought a Ferrari, I’d be worried about it getting scratched,” he jokes. No one has enough money or doesn't care about burning money. https://dealbreaker.com/2020/02/blankfein-sanders-trump https://dealbreaker.com/2020/02/blankfein-sanders-trump
  - hansword 4y ago
    > I don't know I'm not rich. > First, there are no $5 million cars. There are cars selling $4M new from the factory.[0] Because of the scammy economics of these limited edition hypercars, if you are eligible (!), you can buy these and instantly flip them with a million or two in profit. If you get into vintage collectible cars, there is no real upper limit. Here is a 1955 Mercedes for $140M: [1] If you think that is ridiculous, you are too mild. But it is real. [0] https://www.caranddriver.com/bugatti/chiron-2021 https://www.caranddriver.com/bugatti/chiron-2021 [1] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/19/business/mercedes-worlds-most-expensive-car/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/19/business/mercedes-worlds-...
bluGill 4y ago
A $5000 car is about the cheapest in the long run - most of the depreciation is done with. There is still maintenance, which can be expensive, but not nearly as expensive as payments on a new car. Payments are easy to budget for $400/month, no maintenance for 6 months than a $2000 bill is hard to budget even though it is less total.
- xur17 4y ago
  Agreed. I had a car I paid $8k for, and I ended up selling it for pretty close to what I bought it for. Maintenance was very minimal. A brand new car absolutely is not necessary.
dahart 4y ago
Expenses by themselves aren’t what “pushed down” means, the term was referring to the discrepancy between income and expenses going negative, so whether someone on the top end is pushed down depends completely on their income, right? (And it might be reasonable to assume they’re on the high end already because their income exceeds their expenses, no?) The reason the pushing down is asymmetric for rich & poor when it comes to cars is that cars have some minimum expenses that can be pretty high relative to a poor person’s income, and below that minimum they lose access to a car (which in reality pushes them down eve further). Someone on the high end might choose to spend more on a car than their income safely allows, but they actually have a choice of how much to spend on a car, whereas someone on the low end might only have the choice to spend slightly more than they can actually afford, in other words very little choice.

by bko 4y ago

Applejinx 4y ago

That really doesn't count as being pushed down. That's you burning money for fun. I know what that's like too but it sure doesn't count as the Man keeping me down, you're describing one hell of a 'first world problem' that doesn't really make sense in the context of this discussion. Wanting a 5 million dollar car doesn't count as getting pushed down. And its unreliability isn't really in the same context as depending on the $5000 (or $500) beater. If your 5 million dollar car conks out, you are more frustrated than endangered: no thing that you do is seriously at risk, as you'll have alternate ways to get to work etc., including the random acquisition of the same $5000 car, which to you is pocket change, beneath consideration.

hansword 4y ago
https://twitter.com/search?q=0th%20world%20problem https://twitter.com/search?q=0th%20world%20problem - it seems like hundreds of people have independently coined '0th world problem' to name such non-inconveniences. Edit for two Examples: * I want ice cream but I don’t want to actually leave my apartment and none of the grocery stores have delivery slots open for the rest of the day. * Champagne cork flying damaged my priceless artwork
bko 4y ago
> That really doesn't count as being pushed down. That's you burning money for fun. I know what that's like too but it sure doesn't count as the Man keeping me down, you're describing one hell of a 'first world problem' that doesn't really make sense in the context of this discussion. Maybe its fun burning money, working a job you hate, spending time away from your friends and family, working till you drop dead. I don't know I'm not rich. > If your 5 million dollar car conks out, you are more frustrated than endangered: no thing that you do is seriously at risk You have a very weird perception of things. First, there are no $5 million cars. Have you ever met someone with money? Are they chill about trashing their property? Oh I totaled my $150k car, no big deal! I have an infinite amount of money. People go broke all the time. Take it from a literal billionaire and former CEO of Goldman, Lloyd Blankfein: > “I can’t imagine how all this is going to come out when you publish,” he says, looking fleetingly concerned…. Blankfein insists he is “well-to-do”, not rich. “I can’t even say ‘rich’,” he insists. “I don’t feel that way. I don’t behave that way.” He says he has an apartment in Miami as well as New York. But he abjures most of the trappings. “If I bought a Ferrari, I’d be worried about it getting scratched,” he jokes. No one has enough money or doesn't care about burning money. https://dealbreaker.com/2020/02/blankfein-sanders-trump https://dealbreaker.com/2020/02/blankfein-sanders-trump
- hansword 4y ago
  > I don't know I'm not rich. > First, there are no $5 million cars. There are cars selling $4M new from the factory.[0] Because of the scammy economics of these limited edition hypercars, if you are eligible (!), you can buy these and instantly flip them with a million or two in profit. If you get into vintage collectible cars, there is no real upper limit. Here is a 1955 Mercedes for $140M: [1] If you think that is ridiculous, you are too mild. But it is real. [0] https://www.caranddriver.com/bugatti/chiron-2021 https://www.caranddriver.com/bugatti/chiron-2021 [1] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/19/business/mercedes-worlds-most-expensive-car/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/19/business/mercedes-worlds-...

bluGill 4y ago

A $5000 car is about the cheapest in the long run - most of the depreciation is done with. There is still maintenance, which can be expensive, but not nearly as expensive as payments on a new car. Payments are easy to budget for $400/month, no maintenance for 6 months than a $2000 bill is hard to budget even though it is less total.

xur17 4y ago
Agreed. I had a car I paid $8k for, and I ended up selling it for pretty close to what I bought it for. Maintenance was very minimal. A brand new car absolutely is not necessary.

dahart 4y ago

Expenses by themselves aren’t what “pushed down” means, the term was referring to the discrepancy between income and expenses going negative, so whether someone on the top end is pushed down depends completely on their income, right? (And it might be reasonable to assume they’re on the high end already because their income exceeds their expenses, no?) The reason the pushing down is asymmetric for rich & poor when it comes to cars is that cars have some minimum expenses that can be pretty high relative to a poor person’s income, and below that minimum they lose access to a car (which in reality pushes them down eve further). Someone on the high end might choose to spend more on a car than their income safely allows, but they actually have a choice of how much to spend on a car, whereas someone on the low end might only have the choice to spend slightly more than they can actually afford, in other words very little choice.