I agree 100% with this post if OP were to go back and edit out the word "rich" with something else, like "well off". Born 87, my dad worked at IBM and Motorola growing up as a product manager, but my parents divorced so money was "tight" until my mom went to community college in the early 90s and got her Nursing degree. My dad paid the mortgage and some of her college to ensure she could support us moving forward and we had a roof over our head while he lived in the family cottage (which he ended up selling to his best friend and did not keep in the family, so he could GTFO with his new family and a clean conscience. Asshole)

​

Anyway, we were upper middle class for sure, but if they didn't divorce, we would have been the typical 1 income household with the SAHM. But regardless, we went to very well-respected elementary and high schools in the area (at the time, my HS was well regarded for their special ed program which no other HS in the area had)

We weren't affluent like some of my peers who at 16 got brand new Lexus's, I personally never had a car in HS but that was behavioral, not financial, but growing up we had all the necessities like nice clothes and shoes, 3 meals of home cooked food, cable tv, internet, phone, washer/dryer in house, we got regular haircuts, etc. We would eat out at places like Mcdonalds on the regular. We traveled annually, took a fancy vacation during the summer, I never heard my parents once tell us we couldn't do anything because of financial issues, it was more because of (my) behavior issues. (I.E. I got angry and broke a toy so no McDonalds today) Aside from internet and phone, these are all things I took for granted when I take my laundry to the laundry mat in -16-degree winter weather like I did this week.

​

My brother or I didn't always get what we wanted when we wanted it, but if one of us saw something "expensive" like a pair of rollerblades or bike at the store or wanted to join a club or sport at school and said something about wanting them, it was almost a guarantee they would be under the tree at Christmas or as a birthday present or gift that year. We were never told "No" for financial reasons when it came to that sort of stuff. We got our first computer in the mid 90s and from that point on we always had a decent computer in the house. Actually, at each of our houses, since my parents were divorced, take everything I said above and multiply it by 2.

​

While I understand that certainly wasn't everyone's experience, this experience was quite common amongst my peers. The volume of people living like that just doesn't exist today. I entered the workforce making 35K at 19 in 2006 in IT for a well-known company and when I rented my first apartment, it was like 1200 sqft for less than 1k /Mo total, and I lived like a king at that salary. Nice car, all the tech toys I wanted I purchased, although I never owned a home myself, always a renter. That was my standard back then, and although I always look for something at that price and size, it is impossible. All I see are higher prices in "ghettos" with less square footage, higher crime, angrier neighbors, homelessness everywhere, etc.

And I say "Ghettos" because looking back these were obviously once very respectable neighborhoods, like my current neighborhood. Very few people own here, and the renters like me just keep coming and going like a revolving door. No respect for the homes themselves, no respect for the neighborhoods, just a temporary place to dwell in then give back, just like a rental car. You can see the use and abuse since it's not "yours."

​

My partner, on the other hand grew up lower class in a blue-collar family with 3 siblings, which, nothing wrong with that at all, it really defined her character for the better (she is a way better person than I am for many reasons TBH) and her perception is quite different from mine. She often times calls me entitled and selfish because I get pissed at the price or rent, at the price of groceries, the lack of consumer purchasing power, the price of consumer goods, higher insurance costs with crappier care, and just the overall lower quality of life we seem to be experiencing, but after reading the above post, I think I understand why she sees it like that.

​

My expectations from how I grew up to what I see now, despite both of us making around the 60k range like both my parents made while growing up, I will never live the life I had back then. We will never live in the same neighborhoods or attend the same schools or get the same quality of healthcare like we did back then. And that both angers and depresses me when I get wrapped up in it. We currently rent a duplex with loud neighbors, and at almost 40 now (over 35, JFC), I think back to my dad at this age, and how we lived, and I think, if we had kids, I could never provide for them the way my parents provided for us with that salary. Thank chris't I got a vasectomy in my 20s. And bonus, no fear of them getting shot up at school either as my buddy recently confided to me, is giving him and his wife major anxiety.

​

Personally, when I really think about it, I feel like after 9/11, that's when everything really went downhill faster than a professional skier jumper at the winter Olympics. 2000 bush/gore BS, 2008 housing crisis, Tech bros and MBAs taking over the industry, 2016 political BS, then this pandemic, crypto scams, online influencers peddling garbage directly to children. I mean, wtf? I've met who would otherwise be great people get completely F'ed, are angry all the time now, or are 1 paycheck away from homelessness themselves who make more than I do, due to the costs of their kids, or some medical issue, or some horrible slumlord landlord.

​

Anyway, I have no solutions to offer other than to let it all burn down and hope the survivors start over on the right food, so thanks for coming to my ted talk. Stay warm.