President Donald Trump

I refuse to feel bad for anyone who is poor, but even occasionally spends money on this kind of thing.

...or on cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, tattoos, etc.

I sure can't afford to buy any of those things!

It isn't? For someone who goes to Starbucks every day it is!

Eh, I don't consider flag-burning to be violent and destructive.

The people who rail against flag burning must have not been Cub Scouts, because I still remember that there are two proper ways to dispose of a soiled or damaged US flag - burying it or burning it.

It is, however, considered improper to desecrate the US flag by using it on clothing. US Federal Law Code even says the flag isn't to be used for clothing, although it isn't enforced because of the 1st amendment.

So why do people who complain about burning flags often look like this?:

What?!? Even in a fairly expensive metro area like here in Portland, it is possible to buy a house for $150,000.

I think the idea is that it’s extreme delayed gratification that the human psyche isn’t well-equipped for. Ten years is a lot of time for humans and the utility of spending that money while you’re young enough to enjoy it can outweigh the prudence of strong personal finance.

Still I think there’s a balance to be struck here. Have a reasonable interface with your income in/income out. Understand the tradeoff you’re making by spending money on experiences and things you don’t need. Most importantly, recognize that by living in a high CoL area while going out frequently you may be resigning yourself to never actually owning a home.

I think also there’s some humility we should have when looking at people with bad financial practices. A lot of people that are good at finance learn the lesson by chance or are in positions where they never truly have a risk of going broke. If someone can move back in with their parents as a last resort, they aren’t really in as much risk as someone who had abusive parents or whose parents are also similarly bad at finance and actually started them on a bad spending path.

The idea that people aren’t ultimately responsible for their spending habits is hard to generalize in society, but I don’t think an attitude of moralizing those failings always makes sense. I get the impulse because it’s annoying when people complain about not having enough money when the problem is actually spending habits, but I do think there is an assumption that it’s always whiny privilege that I think is uncalled for.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Tesla CEO also threatened forming an ‘America Party’ if the bill, which would increase US deficit by $3.3tn, is passed

If you work for a living or you're a decent person who does not work of no fault of your own, I think you should be able to enjoy some treats and save money for a place of your own. There is no freedom in being a serf in all but name.

We got one life on this planet. Economic or political systems that strip it of joy in the name of "progress" are misguided, and that is regardless of what name we give them or what ideology we flag. And sure, some people find joy in balancing their resources, planning years ahead and achieving arbitrary financial goals, and that's fine - but society is not only for them.

bruh, the video showed protestors taking down a flag, pouring gasoline on it and burning it

and you're talking about "proper disposal" c'mon man be better than this

Fact is that in the USA at least you still can earn enough to treat yourself a bit AND build equity for a house.

But not in the most expensive and desirable places in the country unless you earn a lot more than average.

You can build house equity and treat yourself a bit by working super normal and east jobs at 22-25 dollars per hour.

But in republican (=real) america mostly. 30k ppl counties in Kentucky or Wyoming with low unemployment and normal wages with median houses priced 150k exist.

The whole problem starts when you take the 20% most expensive areas on a country and insist everyone should be able to live there

Ten years was the customary period of time working as an apprentice in guilds in the middle ages/renaissance.

7-10 years is also often what it takes to start harvesting fruit from the moment you plan to plant the trees (depends on the fruit ofc).

Some roman aqueducts required 50+ years of work. Speaking of Romans, many of them spent 10-15-20 years in the military knowing that after that they would get a piece of land to be independent and leave something to their children.

What's the difference compared to back then? That people want to play at 23 or 29.

Time to play is when you are 13.

As for the parents how isn't it literally the opposite? It should be those with abusive/failed families that are more obsessed with securing financial independence exactly because they know on their skin how devastating it is not to be financially safe.

While if you can "always go back to your parents" then that is when the splurging around while living in incredible places starts to make some sense. If you are "due" one million in inheritance 30 years down the line saving 300k looks far less important and relevant.

The moralizing here isn't happening toward them. We aren't berating anyone here with bad financial habits.

But we are making it crystal clear those people DO NOT DESERVE STATE HELP if down the line they fail at life. It's actually morally horrific to punish those with the proper attitude and reward people who behaves incorrectly (from the pov of financial stability).

I definitely agree that people should be able to enjoy their money while they get it. I’m not arguing for financial freedom style personal budgeting. I do think that no matter where you’re at in life you can benefit from keeping at least loose track of your income and expenses. You’ll never really be able to save money unless you do the bare minimum of personal finance, unless you just believe in abolishing money, which doesn’t even help you in the meantime.

Lucy: Why can't you poor bastards just be rich? (Or in Lucy's case: Do lots of business with several Mafia families)

Lucy is an absolute psychopath.
I'm just wondering if you were born like this or something really traumatic happened to you along the way?

Try from the pov of actual people.

Last year, for the first time ever, I made (slightly) over $40k. I live in a major west coast city and pay more for housing expenses than I ever have previously, even when accounting for inflation.

I am also what Luciom likely means by "financially independent". I have a savings cushion of about 10 years of my basic expenses (by which time I will be of typical retirement age). I have no permanent job and work however much I feel like working.
I regularly enjoy my favorite type of entertainment (live music).

I have never regularly gone out to eat, I have almost never purchased alcohol, never purchased cigarettes or drugs (or coffee). I have never spent more than necessary on things like clothing, grooming etc.

I believe the third paragraph is the reason for the second paragraph.

I understand that is different than proper disposal of a worn out flag. It is still less offensive than having a flag pasted onto your ass.

The main reason the avocado toast thing is nonsense because the average american was spending a record low percent of their income on food before and during the pandemic. People who are comfortably middle class people really misdiagnosis the issue when they talk about avocado toast or even fast food.

This is not at all normal, but it could be if more people would behave themselves and live within their means.

America is a giant candy store, and Americans are severely lacking in self-control, despite their general inability to afford the most desirable candies.

People post online about how much better things were 70 years ago, while conveniently glossing over the fact that the heads of those households probably grew up without indoor plumbing or electricity. Priorities were just a little bit different then.

You shouldn't have to live like a pauper, but people need to pick better spots. It's not ideal that we've destroyed the auto industry's affordability, so you have people new at life getting sucked into $30k+ car purchases right out the gate, but we're also going around spending $1500/year on a pocket computer that most people use for the sole purpose of making their own lives more miserable by comparing themselves to what they see posted online.

It just makes it so much more disgusting when the hide behind crap like "why don't you want us to deport the child molestor violent criminal rapist killers?"

You shouldn't necessarily be upset that grandmas who have been here illegally for 47 years get rounded up, but I think it's okay to be slightly annoyed if they actually get the boot.

At some point you have to apply some common sense to these situations. I get that if you give people an inch they'll take a mile, and incentivizing coming in and hiding for a few decades on the off-chance that you're allowed to stay if you've kept your head down prior to them finally finding you is a terrible unofficial policy to have. But when you're making this big enforcement push, making a few exceptions like this goes a LONG way toward building overall support.

But none of us really know the full circumstances. Maybe Donna is a meth kingpin in Louisiana.

You really are a horrible human being.

You beat me to it. I read that whole post with my mouth agape in shock.

lefties told you guys to abolish ICE. instead you gave them billions of dollars and built the prisons that Trump is using right now.

You guys have the same energy as tenants who get caught using the paid parking areas many months into their lease because of our lax enforcement measures and then get all bent out of shape when we backcharge them to the start of their lease.

Just because it took us a while to catch you doesn't mean you're off the hook.

I'm not the ******* here. You knew the rules up front.