[Leanan]

...even though their paychecks are smaller.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/cen ... life_x.htm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')mericans' passion for living large is growing, even if their incomes aren't, a Census survey released Thursday indicates.

Since the beginning of the decade, their homes have gotten substantially bigger and more expensive. Almost half of all homes, about 46%, have six or more rooms. More than 15% have eight rooms or more.

Almost one in five families have three or more cars. And more workers are opting out of carpools and mass transit to drive to work alone.

But this lifestyle comes at a cost when incomes are stagnating and housing prices are soaring.

[Aaron]

Victims of our own success.

Each generation looks at the next with something like awe combined with disdain.

My grandfather was amazed at the relative affluence of my father.

I paid about as much for my last vehicle, as my dad paid for his house some 30+ years ago.

My own son... well you see where this is going.

In America, where "lifestyle" is celebrated more than anything else, it's hardly surprising. Each generation "bumps" it's expectations of life a little higher.

Maybe that's what really kills complex civilizations?

Overdeveloped expectations...

[Fred]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', '.')..even though their paychecks are smaller.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/cen ... life_x.htm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')mericans' passion for living large is growing, even if their incomes aren't, a Census survey released Thursday indicates.

Since the beginning of the decade, their homes have gotten substantially bigger and more expensive. Almost half of all homes, about 46%, have six or more rooms. More than 15% have eight rooms or more.

Almost one in five families have three or more cars. And more workers are opting out of carpools and mass transit to drive to work alone.

But this lifestyle comes at a cost when incomes are stagnating and housing prices are soaring.

[Leanan]

Same here. Only worse. I'm renting, and my car is 15 years old.

That means there must be four people who bought McMansions and huge SUVs to offset us two.

[Guest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'S')ame here. Only worse. I'm renting, and my car is 15 years old.

That means there must be four people who bought McMansions and huge SUVs to offset us two.

[DoctorDoom]

Same here - I rent a modest apartment, and agument use of my 10-year-old car with an 80 mpg scooter. Then again, time is going by, and I'm not getting any younger. I could afford to live better.

A few years back when everyone here in silicon valley was raking in the bucks from the dot-com era, I thought how foolish they all were for buying expensive cars, etc. Well now the stock market's in the tank, and you can't earn diddly on bonds or money markets. Those who saved their money got punished, while the "fools" at least still have their BMWs. So, who really is the fool?

[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hose who saved their money got punished, while the "fools" at least still have their BMWs. So, who really is the fool?

[NevadaGhosts]

It's called personal debt. Massive personal debt. Americans are so far into debt that it's almost funny. 6 year SUV car loans, 30 mortgage loans, tons of credit cards, college loans, etc. Yep, most Americans live far beyond their means. Gotta keep up with the Joneses, remember? People here in the US don't even realize how materialistic and wasteful they are.

[Soft_Landing]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'E')ach generation looks at the next with something like awe combined with disdain.

[Vexed]

[/quote]It's called personal debt. Massive personal debt. Americans are so far into debt that it's almost funny.[quote]

Almost?

I think it is ridiculous. I am not a person of modest means, but I live quite modestly (for an American). Small apartment. Subcompact car. Carpooling. Etc. I don't do it because I am an environmentalist. I do it because I ask myself: What do I really need?

And then I speak to folks who I would expect are doing very well for themselves: The $30,000 SUV in the driveway. The big home (often in an overvalued market.) The two kids in private school. And how often I discover their world hinges on credit is disturbing. Too many American lives hang in a balance...usually the bottom line on their credit card bills, mortgage debt, car payments, and expensive toys.

Perhaps the American Way of life is "non-negotiable" because any other course forces us to deal with our illusions. And the last thing many Americans want to deal with is the fact that they are floating high above reality.

[Josephus]

I read recently in the random jokes section of the Comedy Central site some "New Bill of Rights". One of the ammendments was, to paraphrase, that we have the right to life, liberty, and the PURSUIT of happiness. We are not entitled to being happy. There is no section in the Bill of Rights or Constitution that says you are guaranteed a life of splendor, free of displeasure.

This ties in with how so many in todays world (especially here in the US) somehow believe it is their god-given right to the way we live. We have the right to the pursuit of happiness and creature comforts and we have the technology and military power to give us those things RIGHT NOW, so why not? Screw my kids and grandkids, I wanna have a big house, two SUVs, a summer house in Idaho, etc., etc., etc. These are the same people that when faced with the realities swiftly coming down the pike at them will shut their eyes and plug their ears "la la la la! I can't hear it or see it, so it isn't happening!"

We have come to the point where we are entitled to instant gratification and shouldn't be bothered with foresight, hard work or a little pain and discomfort. What needs to happen is for us in the know to grab those people (gently now!) force them to look at what's happening and sit down and start planning. They need to learn their credit isn't going to grow tomatoes, little Johnny's Ivy Leage diploma won't keep them warm in the winter, and if it comes down to it, you can use the spare parts from that now useless SUV to help dig a communal well or build a windmill. Change needs to happen and soon.

Action or Reaction, it's all up to us.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('NevadaGhosts', 'I')t's called personal debt. Massive personal debt. Americans are so far into debt that it's almost funny. 6 year SUV car loans, 30 mortgage loans, tons of credit cards, college loans, etc. Yep, most Americans live far beyond their means. Gotta keep up with the Joneses, remember? People here in the US don't even realize how materialistic and wasteful they are.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')e have come to the point where we are entitled to instant gratification and shouldn't be bothered with foresight, hard work or a little pain and discomfort.

[lotrfan55345]

http://web.mit.edu/ming/www/pictures/Ja ... hibuya.JPG

Nahhh....