trying to explain to tumblr that the Middle Class in not their enemy
saw someone say that someone complaining about only having 7k in savings makes them contemplate “doing something bad”
you know that 7k covers like. one hospital visit WITH insurance, right?
“people who make six figures shouldn’t be allowed to complain —“ most people who make six figures are, these days, solidly middle class. where i live, a combined household income of $110k is *lower middle class*.
“people who can afford homes —“ are typically 400-600k in debt for them. also if “can own your own home” is your threshold for the rich you are contemplating eating, i think you are genuinely stupid
“boohoo your investments dropped, stop complaining rich boy” idk how to tell you this but. most of us have a retirement account. you should probably open one
I've said some of this before, but I want to elaborate further:
There are privileges that should be given only to people who have earned them, but are sometimes even kept from those who did earn them, e.g. a driver's license, any professional license, awards of achievement, etc.
There are privileges nobody actually needs, but everybody should have access to, which are more properly called "luxuries", e.g. game consoles, fancy hats, craft supplies, a kayak, a premium vacation, etc.
There are privileges everybody should have, that life is much harder without, but not everyone actually does have, which is why they're called "privileges", e.g. convenience appliances, internet access, media access, financial stability, owning a home, retirement funds, etc.
There are basic rights everybody needs to survive, but not everybody does have, and that's a fucking crime e.g. adequate food, clean air and water, safe shelter, electricity, healthcare, etc.
And then there are privileges nobody should have, e.g. billionaires hoarding, amongst dozens, resources that could provide everything listed above to half the human population without depriving themselves of any of the same.
Seriously.
Nobody who will lose their only home if they stop working before retirement age is getting anywhere near what billionaires are doing to the world. These days, even people with several million dollars in equity aren't necessarily in a position to retire early, or own a second home, much less cause the kind of harm we're angry with the billionaires for.
There are three orders of magnitude between a millionaire and a billionaire, and now the world has a trillionaire.
Nobody who has an amount of money you can begin to imagine clearly is the problem.
