Living paycheck to paycheck - must be hard wired

Yea sure that’s why I just got a job offer that I’m about to take. You think I mope around all day thinking that I can’t get up and do something to change my situation and the world around me? Some things I can’t change. I work as a caddie at a golf course. Today I went down there and sat for 3 hours and didn’t get a round, so I made no money. There is absolutely nothing I could have done differently to have changed that. But what I can do is realize the summer is almost over and I’m going to have to find a new job soon, which it looks like I already have. I think it was pretty lucky though that I did.

A lot of the excuses you mentioned are true. It is much harder to get ahead nowadays. It just means I have to work twice as hard to get something, which isn’t necessarily right that I should. But I’m not just talking about me. If, for example, foreign workers are coming here taking low paying jobs and depressing the wages and job markets for Americans, that means I have to work harder to get ahead. Let’s say that I do and eventually can make decent money. But another guy has 2 kids and doesn’t have the time and recources that I do. Odds are he will stay like that forever. Not because he didn’t try hard enough, but because eventually the odds are going to catch up to most people. He can “think” about changing his life all he wants, but the odds say there’s too much going against him.

I would argue that improving people’s odds is a whole lot better solution for the little guy than some motivational speech about “changing your mentality” and “the way you see the world”. That’s not as exciting to talk about though, is it?

BTW I’m still waiting for your response to my question to the post that you misquoted. Any day now would be great.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2456968#post2456968

 

There are a heck of a lot more US-based "foreign workers" picking crops than writing code. Are those in favor of eliminating that source of competition also willing to pay 2x for their food?

 

Thanks I appreciate this. But you also left out health insurance. That is another 3k a year. Also you are basing this on 50k gross a year. That’s fine except I don’t know one person under 30 who makes that much.

But the kicker is to take all these figures and add 10% to them every year. Then take the income figure and only add 5% every year. Then do that for the next 30 years and then tell me how they are supposed to stay ahead.

 

Nothing against poyayan but if he/she can’t understand that debt is debt no matter who it’s owed to or what it’s used for, not much to talk about.

 

Isn’t that exactly what’s happened over the past year? Except when the “few select people” got hurt, they got a bailout.

 

This is too many true facts for an ET thread. They don’t understand this. What you say about financial aid is abslutely true. They gave me $500 for one semester when I was 18 and said I didn’t qualify for anything. I applied a few months ago and all of a sudden they said I was eligible for $3500. My sister, who is 2 years younger than me, applied at the same time and she got nothing. So now I’m thinking about taking some courses now that I know I can get some money

The people around here worked in the Summer to pay for their whole year’s worth of college and can’t figure out why kids today can’t do the same. Then when they graduated, they got jobs right away and the turn around and say absolutely retarted things like this:

 

Exactly. You have no idea what he’s talking about because Fox News hasn’t told you about it.

 

your kids are right. they understand hyperinflation is coming.

 

I am not totally disagreeing with you. I say that both get hurt, rich and poor. Remember that it is mostly poor that get the aid in printed money.

 

Sure debt is debt. Genius..