We had thought of the objections to the "affordability" issue pushed by the Left. This article carries the same sensibilities.
Remember this: the Left plays to the Cardinal sin (Vice) of ENVY. That's where their "affordability" line comes from.
The lifestyle expectations of the typical working- and middle-class American are driven by a one-way ratchet that only goes up. What we treat as the minimum for a “normal,” well-provisioned life looks like what only aristocrats could expect or achieve until very recently.
From conversations about the “necessity” of daycare to the desire for one car for every driver in a household to the notion of the “starter home,” what ordinary Americans think is the baseline outstrips what even the wealthiest of their ancestors could afford. ...
Yes.
The article covers "Day Care," (necessitated by the luxe-lifestyle/dual-income demands), multiple cars, heavily-optioned "starter homes", and--on the other hand--the horrific burden of college loans and lack of inexpensive housing driven partially by Government codes.
The conclusion?
...our baseline expectations for what constitutes a decent middle-class life are far higher than they’ve ever been. It may be time for a renaissance of the old-fashioned American values of moderate expectations, frugality, and making do.
Indeed.
2 comments:
My husband & I were discussing this over the weekend.
As I became an adult decades ago my frame of reference were people who eventually bought their forever home usually about the time their kids were in high school or college. It may have been a step up from a "starter" home or their 1st purchased home.
But my husband and I noticed that our peers were graduating and getting their 1st job AND buying a home. Nice, middle class homes that at one time were those forever homes. Since those were their starter homes as you can imagine within a few years they were buying/building homes quite beyond what was once considered middle class, family homes. (What our family called "regular" homes without every high end upgrade.)
Until recently you had 30 years olds in a 1st or 2nd job buying half a million to a million dollar homes--living a lifestyle it took their parents 2 or 3 decades to achieve.
Now I hear about how they can't afford vacations. My grandparents didn't go on vacations. Eating out costs too much. My grandmother cooked every.single.meal.at.home. (A picnic was eating out! A box of donuts was a treat, not a snack. Soft drinks were for parties.)
I suspect most people's idea of "making do" is at best postponing a purchase and not foregoing it altogether.
Dead-on. Our first home had two bedrooms, one bath, and an "octopus" furnace. Kitchen sink was one of those 6' across single drop jobs. ZERO air conditioning. No garage. 30X120 foot lot.
We managed. Went on two vacations in first 20 years--one paid for by an employer (prize winnings) and another where we stayed with relatives. Took ONE real 'vacay' while the kids were around, and one more (4-day) two years ago.
We managed.
Post a Comment