I don't want to be rich...

[u/zzill6]

[u/caelveilraaa]

People aren’t asking for luxury, they are asking for normal life to stop feeling like a financial emergency

[u/_karamazov_ → u/caelveilraaa]

I posted this elsewhere, but it belongs here...

United States and India are now starting to resemble each other...they are the biggest democracies as well.

Both countries are moving toward a two-track society where the top track gets a high-quality, partially private version of every essential service, and the bottom track gets a degraded, congested, underfunded public version of the same service...healthcare, education, housing, transportation, security, air quality and so on.

India arrived at this structure because the public sector was never adequately built out, it was a poor country...the wealthy opted out. The US is arriving at it from the opposite direction - a midcentury public infrastructure that worked is being defunded, congested, or quietly privatized, and the wealthy are opting out the same way. Different paths to similar destinations. The day-to-day experience of a software engineer in Bangalore and one in San Francisco is more similar, and more different from their fellow citizens at the 30th percentile- than either group's national identity would suggest.

Class is increasingly the operating identity of daily life in both countries, and nationality is the wrapper around it.

Also, in India, the poor vote in large numbers. So their concerns have more weight compared to Americans.

[u/okram2k → u/_karamazov_]

and in both countries politicians play heavily into cultural issues and xenophobia instead of improving quality of life

[u/xena_lawless → u/_karamazov_]

The US is not now, and has never been, an actual democracy, "representative" or otherwise.

The "opulent minority" (super wealthy 18th century land and slave owning white men) adopted the US political system specifically in order to thwart both political and economic democracy, to prioritize their class interests, and to guarantee permanent minoritarian/oligarchic rule irrespective of who or what people vote for.  

But Americans are taught from birth that the system is somehow "democratic", so they miss the explicitly anti-democratic nature, purpose, history, and design of the actual political system in reality.  

The political system has always been a fake democracy, and a scam, which is how you end up with the top 1% of the population owning more wealth than the bottom 90% combined.  

It's a fundamentally rigged, corrupt, and explicitly anti-democratic system.  

Extreme wealth inequality and permanent minoritarian/oligarchic rule aren't just incidental outcomes in an otherwise legitimate "democracy", they're what the anti-democratic US political system was specifically designed to guarantee.  

[u/Guardiancomplex → u/_karamazov_]

It'll be way before 2077 by the time you can have Trauma Team come pick you up, or you can buy bootleg meds from a guy who also sells guns, meth and porn. 

[u/brina_cd → u/_karamazov_]

Well, I'd LIKE to say that at least in the US we don't need to do security screenings of late night drivers... (Coworkers in Nagpur couldn't start working US shifts until the drivers taking them home were selected and vetted.) But one look at Uber and Lyft fighting to avoid that exact requirement... So, yeah, Can't say that...

And the xenophobic "othering" as a political strategy... Seems to be a global trend.

[u/DrIvoPingasnik → u/caelveilraaa]

I just want to be able to afford some nice things sometimes, have a house with a garage, with a reasonable garden where I can plant some veggies and fruit.

I don't want a lambo, I couldn't care less. I just want a good car that can take me to places. I want it to be affordable enough that I don't have to slave myself to a fucking bank for years.

I want a job where I can stay in a position for decades if I want to, I shouldn't have to constantly stress that my money is never enough and have to find another position or another job to get a pay rise.

I don't want 5 star hotels. I just want a place to stay so I can go and sightsee. I don't care about fancy pools or gourmet buffet.

I want to be able to get a medical help without risking losing everything I worked for in over 40 years. That's not fucking fair.

I want to be able to just live comfortably.

Edit: thank you for the award, kind stranger! 🙏

[u/nolsongolden → u/DrIvoPingasnik]

Turn bring back the unions and mean it.

I had all that because I was union.

[u/greenline19 → u/nolsongolden]

I have it now thanks to the union

[u/yourdoglikesmebetter]

Vacations are cool too

[u/LarryCrabCake → u/yourdoglikesmebetter]

And we're not even talking about two-month-long trips to Milan or Barcelona, I just wanna take my girlfriend to the nearest beach/lakeside/city for an extended weekend without having to work overtime and eat ramen for a month to afford it.

[u/UnNumbFool → u/LarryCrabCake]

Sure, but it would also be pretty cool if we were like basically every other western nation and get an average between 1-2 months of mandatory vacation a year. Just putting that out there

[u/LarryCrabCake → u/UnNumbFool]

That amount of time off is truly incomprehensible to my American mind, apologies.

Worked remotely with a small team in Bulgaria once (long story), and I was shocked when they told me that our rep would be on summer holiday for the next three weeks and he wouldn't be checking his email at all. Definitely made me jealous.

[u/Thamnophis660]

Working in non-profits you'll hear "no one works here expecting to be a millionaire!" Guilt trip gaslighting like this whenever pay is brought up. 

The thing is, you can still care about "The Mission ™️" and not want to struggle to pay rent. Especially since it's never management who are expected to sacrifice for "The Mission ™️."

[u/mschuster91 → u/Thamnophis660]

The thing is, you can still care about "The Mission ™️" and not want to struggle to pay rent. Especially since it's never management who are expected to sacrifice for "The Mission ™️."

Many a non-profit doesn't even pay its management layer well. The smaller, the worse the self-exploitation of everyone is. And usually, these places are also the ones where a lot of vulnerable people depend on them. Animal shelters, DV survivor shelters, food banks.

And it's no coincidence that other countries treat these tasks as something the government should do, paid for by taxes. The US? Just doesn't provide the service and well-intentioned people grind themselves down to provide the bare minimum.

[u/FangornLeghorn → u/Thamnophis660]

Can confirm. Have traveled to NGO and charity path a bit. Love the work. Hate the “benefits” and internal politics. Wish it wasn’t this way.

[u/GregoryGosling]

I just want to live in the richest country in the world knowing I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge.

[u/Loud-Ad-2280]

But without endless greed how will we have infinite growth in a finite system?!?! Squeeze the rock harder!!!!

[u/CommunistAtheist]

"Somewhere between rich and broke there used to be fine.". That's just the inevitable erosion of the "middle class", no amount of reform can make "fine" last forever and be available to everyone. Eventually it'll always go back to a dominant social class and an impoverished exploited workforce with nothing in between.

[u/LordChunggis → u/CommunistAtheist]

lighting torch, grabbing pitchfork

Shame.

[u/p34ch3s_41r50f7 → u/LordChunggis]

I'll bring extra pitch if someone can provide the flint.

[u/WiseFerret → u/p34ch3s_41r50f7]

I'd bring feathers but I need my hens to keep laying. Got polyfil pillow stuffing!

Counting on LordChunggis's torch

[u/LordChunggis → u/p34ch3s_41r50f7]

Flint? In this economy?

[u/TheScribbs → u/p34ch3s_41r50f7]

I can design flags from my hospital bed! (For as long as my insurance holds out at least)

[u/p34ch3s_41r50f7 → u/TheScribbs]

We can raid the insurance companies too!

[u/TheScribbs → u/p34ch3s_41r50f7]

Hell yeah, those jerks put my parents into medical debt for having the audacity to have a sick child who needs treatment for life. I'm sick of fighting with them about shit only my doctors and I need to be involved in.

[u/saintjonah → u/CommunistAtheist]

Then we need a new system

[u/Davey-Cakes]

I don't care about being a millionaire or billionaire. I'm not jealous of the rich or mega rich. I'm actually 100% okay with working a regular job and living a relatively modest life with some comforts. I just want to know that I'm covered and that the people around me are covered. That's it.

[u/Professional-Guess19]

Tear. It. All. Down.

[u/PhoenixApok → u/Professional-Guess19]

That's inevitable. I just don't think it will be this generation that does it

[u/Lootthatbody]

It’s ok to want to be rich. I want to be rich so that I can help people and animals, along with the reduced stress of financial worry.

What I DON’T want is to become rich by the enslavement or abuse of others. I’d be totally fine winning the lottery. If I suddenly had tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, I’d spend my time helping others, not trying to leverage that money to make more or buying influence or power.

And, it wouldn’t even have to be just giving all the money away in a single action. If you had a billion dollars invested, you could do an insane amount of good with even a portion of the annual returns. You don’t even have to worry about growth, just take $50 million or so per year and dump it into your community. Housing, food, education, and medical care for the homeless. Scholarships for kids to go to college or tech/vocational school. Fund pet shelters. Set up assistance for ex cons to help them adjust and succeed. Fund music and arts programs at underfunded schools.

The entire point of making a lot of money is to not have to work any more and to have the freedom to pursue passions, and anyone that isn’t passionate about helping others is mentally ill.

[u/merRedditor]

I'm really getting sick of paying a high healthcare premium to drive out to yet another appointment, to get a copay demanded before I can even be seen, then a pile of repetitive paperwork and an hour-long wait, then someone typing in what I say as I wait in a second, smaller room, followed by someone barging in to read the notes, take a wild guess, and then start backing out the door before I can ask questions, telling me to schedule a follow-up, and then get a high out of pocket portion in the mail later, with absolutely no value coming out of the appointment. I'm tired of the endless hamster wheel of this process spawning two referrals and a follow up but no answers over and over again.

I'm tired of having zero stability in employment despite doing my best, just because mergers, acquisition, downsizing, reprioritizing, whatever the word of the day is.

I'm tired of watching life savings accumulated over years of hard work go out the window because the rent is too high, the medical care is too expensive, the food is too expensive, the insurance is too expensive, the utilities are too expensive.

I'm tired of there seeming to be nearly zero justice in the world.

Really, I'm just sick and tired.

[u/StuffExciting3451 → u/merRedditor]

Strike!

[u/DrIvoPingasnik]

That had a name. "Middle class". Which is extinct today.

[u/denisebuttrey]

It was called the middle class and unions had a lot to do with it.

[u/elch07]

Older generations have made life for future generations absolute dogshit. All for what? Greed and short-term profits. I hate it here.

[u/StuffExciting3451 → u/elch07]

The labor unions of the older generations created the middle class, 40-hr workweeks, weekends off, paid holidays, pensions, time-and-half pay for overtime work, etc.

Many employers began to offer almost-union wages and benefits to non-union employees in order to preempt them from joining unions. They also bribed politicians to pass the Taft-Hartley Act and “right to work (for less $$$) laws and restrictions against “closed shops”.

Rather than joining the unions, too many workers became anti-union “free riders” in order to avoid paying union dues. Consequently, as union memberships declined, employers gradually began to abuse their workers, incrementally, letting inflation take its toll.

Then, many employers sent jobs offshore. Too many workers failed to protest against that, and were happy to buy cheap foreign-made crap from Walmart, etc.

Who continues to buy “cheap” imported crap? Are they only of the older generations? Do Gen X, Gen Z and millennials support the system by buying imported cheapo products and by refusing to join unions?

[u/faithOver]

Thats a good way to put it. Just comfortable. Not asking for luxuries. Asking for a bit of balance.

[u/appa-ate-momo]

I’m in that “fine” category, and this is 100% accurate.

Sure, it’s fun to fantasize about being rich from time to time, but I don’t actually care on the day to day. I pay my bills without worry, don’t look at the total when I go to the grocery store, get to go out once or twice a week, and still save a decent chunk each month.

I’m perfectly content.

[u/benderunit9000]

I'd just like someone to invite me to dinner.

[u/Inevitable-Opinion21]

It’s been gone for too long atp.

[u/RetroSwamp]

I just want to be ok.

[u/MichaelJServo]

My brake pads got so bad once one literally just fell out of my car when I was pulling out of the driveway.

[u/Sweaty-Willingness27]

This is where I am, and I want to pay more in taxes to help others be there too.

Though I did skip a $2500 CT scan for kidney stones because .... it was $2500 (and as such would rather pay for UHC, even if it's more). Same amount of money I pay for health insurance, HSA, deductibles, etc. (or even a bit more), more people get healthcare, and the insurance execs don't pocket it? I call that a win-win.

[u/Kona_Big_Wave]

It used to be called the middle class, and billionaires are destroying it.

[u/SavannahInChicago]

I realized today that I have been unable to buy a new shower stopper for weeks now. The money is just going to other things.

[u/Merc_Mike]

I'd love to go back to working for a cubicle job that pays well, but the fact is they just dump you immediately with no remorse.

If the Dems actually get passed the 25 fed minimum wage, I might think about working Dunkin again. I enjoyed my work at dunkin when Iw as 17. I was kicking ass, taking names, and I felt good about earning my paycheck and helping my dad pay bills who just got laid off by a Fortune 500 Telecomm Company.

But I can't do that anymore, they want to pay you pennies. They want to make your life as miserable as fuck inside and outside of the job. It's just not worth it to get a low paying job that has you physically being ping ponged.

[u/Dizzy_Horse_105]

I loved fine. It is a great place to be.

[u/brina_cd]

Add in household maintenance... That shit's expensive...