Lying Flat - A Trend. A Movement. Lost Hope.

Maybe it's just where I live, but I work 72 hours per week with a decent pay rate and half my pay being overtime to barely keep my family above water. I wish this were and option for anyone other than the privileged spoiled kids who have a lucky break and don't know what real life is like.

originally posted by: Jeremiah33three
Maybe it's just where I live, but I work 72 hours per week with a decent pay rate and half my pay being overtime to barely keep my family above water. I wish this were and option for anyone other than the privileged spoiled kids who have a lucky break and don't know what real life is like.

Blimey, hats off to you for working so hard. Maybe a reduction in gas useage, you know ride your bike. All the phone TV etc contracts, do we need them? Central heating on all day? Get a log burner, scavenge for wood. Eat less meat, veg meals are very good value. By doing all this things will ease

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

A lot of it is medical debt, multiple car payments and high rent.

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

Gosh! Forgot all about the medical side of things and sorry to hear that. I'm UK so never gave medical debts a thought as we have the NHS. Do appologise. Not too sure about car payments, I run old bangers like for £900 and follow shed principles there but do acknowledge some jobs need a classy motor to 'fit in' with the peers! High rents a bummer which we all face right now, it skiesrocketted here in Britain over the last few years while wages have remained stagnant or like many of us earning less than twenty years ago! Been seriously considering buying a field to live in off grid, though here in Britain we have the 28 camping law, we are only allowed to camp for 28 days even if the land is owned by you. There are two round this though, divide the field into twelve plots, sell or lease 12 to your friends family and then be a guset on their patch with monthly movements / rotation each year. Or become a shepherd and build a wooden shepherd shack but I'll need a some sheep to make this work.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

Cars are cheep enough, $300 and $400 each per month. Hospitalizations are expensive though, one of my kids has lung issues, so he's been hospitalized countless times. Luckily new medication is only about $1.5k a month and working great.

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

Not sure how you go with car payments that high. We have only ever had one car with a payment in that range. And we've been a two car household for going on 20 years now.

a reply to: ketsuko

Car prices are just going up lately. We've had between 2 and 3 vehicles for over a decade now and just got tired of fixing old cars and needed them big enough for multiple child seats. Most cars only accommodate two.

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn

I remember when I was in University, meeting students from other countries that came here believing the lies they were told about the "great" America, where the streets where paved in gold. Today, the young, don't have to fly over to a country to see the truth. And what they are seeing is not very promising. They see people just like them, going through the same things they are going through, and little hope of doing any better.

that is not "lies they were told", it's more along the lines of a great misunderstanding that has deep roots.

it really goes back to just a few decades ago, when pretty much until the age of the jetliner,pretty much the 1970's, when flying by jet made travel affordable, the only people who were able to travel were the rich. just for example take a look at the passengers of the Titanic, as representative of the ability to travel. other than third class/steerage passengers, most of those on board were either very rich, or working for those rich. so pretty much right up until the jet age, almost any non native in a poorer country you would meet was rich. they pretty much had to be, just to afford to travel outside of their country (other than to say a neighboring country), simply because the cost of travel was so high.

even today this can be seen to be true, just due to the difference of the value of money. this is why so many retirees from places like the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe, tend to go live in other countries, such as the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, etc. because quite simply they can typically live quite well on the same amount of retirement money they could barely afford to live a simple and basic life on in their home countries (and then in many cases there is the weather advantage, which really is just an added plus). especially when many of those worked "menial jobs". although at least in some cases that is starting to change a bit due to prices going up in at least some of those countries.

so the "natives" yet again get the false impression that everyone in those countries is RICH. after all they have seen it with their own eyes. since pretty much everyone they meet from such countries, live quite well, and seems to have lots of money. they tend to live in big houses, being able to afford a quite literally HUGE house compared to what the non rich in their country have. in fact the same size houses that the "rich" in their own country live in. they can afford to go to the big malls,and shop in the expensive stores. eat out at the best restaurants. possibly own a nice car, or take a taxi wherever they want to go. wear "expensive" clothing. etc. so they in fact "KNOW" that people from those countries are ALL rich.

what they don't see, and don't understand, in fact can't even really comprehend, is that many or most things are much cheaper in their country, then in the "rich countries". in fact things like the internet don't help at all, they actually reinforce that idea of everyone is rich in countries like the US and Canada, Europe etc. they can easily see the value of say US money, compared to their money for example. heck they can also see the exchange rates posted at all the money changers around. they also of course see news stories. stories like the call in the US for a $15 minimum wage. and of course, they can then easily work out how much that is in their money. but what they don't comprehend at all is that in countries like the US we are not paying the same price for things that they are.

i have literally been told i was lying when i have said not everyone in North America is rich. and their "proof" is what i just said. i have also been told i am (and so are all North Americans), "greedy", when you won't somehow arrange a job, and immigration to your country for them. or when i try to discourage them from taking that "minimum wage job" (or below), in North America they have found they can apply for through a job agency (many of which are ripoff scams in the first place). and how they "know" that with that low paying job, they can live well, AND send lots of money back home, for their extended families to live on (because remember they KNOW, how much for example $15/hour is worth in their home country, and it is a lot. and even worse their calculations are based on 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week, since that is what is the common work week in their country). i remember a few years back talking to a guy while we were smoking. at that time a carton of Cigarettes cost about $10, where at home it was about $100, you could see it in his face that he thought i had to be lying, and that there was no way they could possibly be that expensive. i even know one guy who managed to get to Canada, he lasted under 2 years once he figured out just how bad those "great wages" they see really are, when you are trying to live in that country. yet another one who refused to believe we were not "all rich", because of those "high minimum wages".

just as example of how different prices can be. i mentioned people shopping at the "high priced" stores. well while they are doing so a newcomer is stunned by just how cheap many things are, you can buy a nice top, name brand pair of shoes or jeans, for under $25, that might cost over $100 at home. even in a big major city, you might be able to rent a big 6 bedroom house for $500 a month. want a car? you can get a nice brand new Ford for about 3/4 the price you pay for it in Detroit, or Ontario where it is actually built. and due to Japan's crazy emissions laws, you can buy a couple year old used, in great condition, "Japanese surplus" vehicle cheap, including being changed over from right hand, to left hand drive. and while these things a "cheap" to say a North American, they are seriously expensive for the average person in that country. even worse is when it comes to electronics, where for most electronics, the cost is pretty much the same once the money is converted, which makes such thing rather expensive for the average person. for example you really won't save any money buying the new I phone overseas. although thanks to having so many more brands available to can get a phone just as good much cheaper, like say $50 for a really good smartphone, which is still expensive for the average person, but you can get decent non top line ones even cheaper. and then you have things like milk, which may cost over $5/liter (imported from countries like the US), again extremely expensive for the average person, heck it's really expensive for a North American, but since most non imported food is cheaper, it can be affordable. and so since they really can't comprehend the difference in prices between theirs, and other countries, it shows "just how rich people from countries like the US are, especially since they "know" "huge" even minimum wage in those other country's are. which just perpetuates the myth that everyone from countries like the US is rich beyond belief

originally posted by: Jeremiah33three
a reply to: ketsuko

Car prices are just going up lately. We've had between 2 and 3 vehicles for over a decade now and just got tired of fixing old cars and needed them big enough for multiple child seats. Most cars only accommodate two.

Why don't you buy govt. surplus vehicles. State, county, cities offer up lots of vehicles for bid. Pennies on the dollar.

www.govplanet.com...

originally posted by: Jeremiah33three
a reply to: ketsuko

Car prices are just going up lately. We've had between 2 and 3 vehicles for over a decade now and just got tired of fixing old cars and needed them big enough for multiple child seats. Most cars only accommodate two.

The cost of everything is going up lately.

We work super hard to make sure we never carry more than one car payment at a time if we can help it. The reality is that 3 to $400 x 2 every month adds up really fast even weighed against car repair costs on an older car especially if you're carrying other bills and debts along with it.

Never heard of the lying flat movement but is it really so different from the hippie movement as per involvement in the system? With the science fiction genre came robots and the concept of human irrelevancy. There were even songs like "In the year 2525" by Zager and Evans that were pop hits. Despite that there was still hope we could all find a niche to fill but those have slowly faded away. Now what is left to add purpose to human life? Ready-made movements like BLM at least filled an emotional void, something even Extinction Rebellion does.

I do understand how hard it is to be seen as someone uniquely yourself, not some poor copy. It's a life-long road to find identity and purpose but the most rewarding things for me personally were times I helped others in need or acted to protect nature in some way. Simple acts like picking up trash when going for a hike adds purpose. It's tough wondering how can I be unique among 7 billion people but know that genetically we truly are. Each of us is a masterpiece of creation whether you ascribe it to God or not. None of us are actually the same and a lifetime of deeds and words bears this out. Life is a journey but each begins with a step. Sad truth is those who lay down in the road of life will just get stepped on. Nobody has pity for those unwilling to try.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah, I can not argue with that.

originally posted by: Jeremiah33three
Maybe it's just where I live, but I work 72 hours per week with a decent pay rate and half my pay being overtime to barely keep my family above water. I wish this were and option for anyone other than the privileged spoiled kids who have a lucky break and don't know what real life is like.

I have a very close friend who works those hours and I just saw him last weekend for the first time in 2 years. We used to get together every week. You can look in his eyes and see the life draining from him as physical issues arise he didn't have working a sane schedule. Your life is your time. When it comes to kids they value your presence over any consumer extras.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Look at the narratives they are fed: the world is going to be an insanely hot hell hole with everyone and everything dying (Global Warming), the pandemic has cut everything off at the knees and they've been shut in, depending on their demography they are horrifically racist/sexist/oppressive just for being alive and should feel eternal shame for that because they will never be free of it, only idiots have faith any more, they aren't taught how to think and reason for themselves so they cannot even think their way free of it all.

a reply to: ketsuko

Doom in real time reporting. Holy #$*#@!:
Friend working insane hours mentioned in post above just texted me.
He's very sick with you know what.
it wasn't me, he didn't get it from me I swear.
Glad I knew where could go for non WHO approved treatment.
He refuses to go in hospital.

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: Jeremiah33three
a reply to: ketsuko

Car prices are just going up lately. We've had between 2 and 3 vehicles for over a decade now and just got tired of fixing old cars and needed them big enough for multiple child seats. Most cars only accommodate two.

The cost of everything is going up lately.

and that seems to be true everywhere in the world. and a large part of that in the end is due to fuel prices. fuel prices being driven higher by things like the "green"/human caused climate change proponents. and fuel prices reach into pretty much everything, it's not just your private vehicle and driving that is affected. it also means more expensive public transit, since they too need to pay for the fuel they use. it means every single product in the world costs more to ship, not to mention the raw materials needed to make everything, because they too need to pay for those rising prices. which means higher prices for goods, be it electronics shipped from China, or fresh food shipped from farms to the big food corporation, then shipped out to wholesalers, and then shipped to your local store. all those fuel costs add up. and sadly most countries don't have the "cheap fuel" that is available in the US. and thus are paying even far more than in "rich countries", when you consider how much people actually earn in many countries. paying say 80 cents a liter (based on the price of gas in Michigan, converted to 1 liter), when you are making pretty much at least $10/hour (mich minwage is a bit under $10/hour), is one thing. now imagine having to pay even more than that, say $1.25/liter for gas when you are only earning $10.72 A DAY (based on the gas price in Manila and the minimum wage in Manila), as well as the prices of things like food and electricity also increasing, seemingly almost daily.

and that is not all. combined with expensive "green energy" production, it also effects the cost of electricity. and again, even more so in "poorer countries", where things like oil and coal are mainly used to produce electricity, because they are the cheapest production sources (and it's still far too expensive for many people to use). so of course these fuel prices literally drive up the costs of pretty much EVERYTHING people need and do.