If you earn less than the average wage, you're not middle class. It's all a scam

Originally posted by rebeldog
reply to post by HunkaHunka

 

we may be going round and round.. my wife says we are rich, i say we are flat broke. paid off house can't afford to renovate it.

to me rich means being able to buy what you want when you want it. rich means kids getting to go to the best schools, colleges, yearly vacations to different countries, never stressing over bills. Never worrying about car breaking down because its new.

i understand Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Saudi royality, prince Charles are rich.
I have 2 not new cars, no armani suits, no rolex, no servants. i imagine you gotta have a couple servants to be considered rich??

having enough money to be able to stockpile food, buy a farm with a creek, build it, run it, hire ranch hands,etc

so, what is your meaning of rich?

There is a myth, that at some level of affluence a person can avoid uncertainty... and a myth is all that is. In fact, the more wealth one has, the more drastic the fluctuations of income typically are...

But what I mean by rich is having access to all the currency you need to do whatever you want...

There are many different levels of wealth, for sure, but those are all based on how much one needs to meet all of their desires... Honestly.

For me, it's never having a job... Sitting around my house, generating revenue on my iPad or making music or spending time with my family. Doing it when I want, and never answering to anyone as to what I do with my time.

Add on to that having my child in the best school system in the state, stocked shelves, and ordering from menus without ever looking at prices... Taking vacations whenever etc

And specifically, being able to design the life I live based on how I want to live...

All this talk about being rich, I guess I could be considered stupid or foolish but I do not care. In my view a lot of money causes more problems than it helps with happiness.


I am not wealthy financially by any means. I still consider myself well off though because of the things I do have. I have my faith (even though at times the road is rough), I have a wife that will do anything for me, I have a son that though is a pain in my but I still love to death, and I have a car that to me is one (not "the" but one) of the coolest cars made.

I have a house that I am paying on as well as two payments on cars and I also have a beater car that I drive daily. None of the cars I own are new (the newest is 2003, actually both we are paying on) and I am not the first owner of any of them.

I disagree that everyone can be rich at least financially. People can be rich though by having lower debt or no debt at all. I do not plan on replacing my daily driven car until it dies for good. I do not plan on ever replacing the car I love. My wife's truck I hope we keep until it dies as well. With proper care I can make them last longer than the average persons car because simply put most people view cars as disposable and do not give them the proper care.

I work a full time job for a company that pays me just enough to keep me there. The pay is not great but for the area it is decent without a great deal of training or years of schooling involved. I have been there long enough to be of some asset to the company, they look to me at times for advice. I am very thankful that in this economy I have an income.


Richness and wealth are simply figments of imagination. I agree anyone and everyone can be rich, I disagree that everyone can be financially wealthy. Wealth and richness are simply a mindset. What is important to you might not be important to me. Importance to me is happiness, and money has yet to ever bring me happiness that lasted.

Raist

reply to post by Raist


Agreed!

reply to post by HunkaHunka


You sir are completely truthful. I'm inherently a lazy person and make enough money working only 4 hours per day making what the average middle class makes. That is because I saw a niche to fill that nobody else did. I do what I love. but, could work more hours and make more but, time and laziness I love much more than money. The difference is that the average middle class person feels trapped doing jobs they don't enjoy for long hours. Life it too short to live like this. One could snooze late on the sofa instead.. :-)

Heck there's a guy from hometown that started out as a homeless man. He found a niche in that local companies and businesses that wanted to recycle so he started out collecting their aluminum cans from them. This expanded into a scrap and precious metals collection business. His teenage son now owns a lawn care business that has contracts with a great deal of the local companies.

He lives in a million dollar home and really works very little now as he has hired others to do most of the work these days.



The Snuggie creator envisioned turning a housecoat around backwards and selling it to those that wear throw blankets. He made many millions off this idea. haha
.

reply to post by phoneix


This is exactly what I'm talking about.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


It all depends on attitude and how you want to approach making a living, and still be living. There are slave traps and nowhere jobs but that's what is to avoid, yet many if not most of us paid our dues in these kinds of jobs and hopefully learned the ethics of doing a quality job so that we could get on to our real calling, Been there, retired age 53 and live in Mexico for the past five or so years. Magick worked the magic for me.

I couldn't help but notice in even the most back-to-basics posts in this thread listed running water, hot running water even, as being a minimum basic. A luxury. I have it, but I know many to think that is just another complexity to deal with. Not having running water doesn't mean you're poor here. They have a pila...

Pila - Water customs

In many of the ranchos nearby and towns in the tierra caliente and coast perhaps the majority do not use a tinaco and prefer the older system of having a "pila" for their water. Think of a pila as a storage device. Many also refer to batteries as pilas as well. For water it is a big open pool which in some there may be parts of the pila that extend a section into the kitchen and bathroom areas of the home. Water for cooking, washing dishes, and bathing is taken from the pila with a cubeta (bucket) then poured in where needed. The people have developed habits about handling the water so as not to sour the pila - one never reaches their bare hand into the pila, for instance.

Magic is simple, visualize the life you want and see yourself living it. Then get ready for an adventure. You just might find....

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


I think its funny. I work in the "Slave Trap" and myself along with many people I work with, highly intelligent professionals many with unique or rare skill sets and knowledge want out. We all know how. We could all do it, but every day is a new excuse not to.

I think the problem anyone has with socio-economic mobility is that your mind has some kind of block and you really do need to use meditation, visualization etc to convince your subconscious it is a good idea and get out of your way.

reply to post by phoneix


anyone who gets rich on their own is a graet thing. but they guy turned into a douchebag (slave master) because im sure he is sitting at home making money off of their backs and paying them far less then himself. that is the root of all the evil in this world. making money off another mans sweat.

nothing is more despicable than that. everyone who makes money off of others are the true enemy to freedom and deserve death.

If you earn less than the average wage, you're not middle class. It's all a scam

Obviously. How can someone earning less than average wage consider themselves "middle class"...?

Even if you earn more than average, or are wealthy, it doesn't necessarily mean you're "middle-class".

Class is more than money. It consists of certain values, morals, aspirations etc. It is a lifestyle.

Here in England you cannot be a member of the aristocracy unless you are born in it or marry into it, regardless of how much money you have.

Originally posted by FOXMULDER147

If you earn less than the average wage, you're not middle class. It's all a scam

Obviously. How can someone earning less than average wage consider themselves "middle class"...?

Even if you earn more than average, or are wealthy, it doesn't necessarily mean you're "middle-class".

Class is more than money. It consists of certain values, morals, aspirations etc. It is a lifestyle.

Here in England you cannot be a member of the aristocracy unless you are born in it or marry into it, regardless of how much money you have.

Possibly when you average in those who are disproportionately wealthy that could raise the average. The middle class should be accessible to those who are widely spread around the average, upper middle class and lower. Middle class values are seemingly what even the governments want for the largest chunk of their population.

Whereas the aristocracy is a closed fraternity the middle-class is open to everyone, theoretically. Despite what this OP suggests I believe that is where most people lie. Middle-class does not necessarily imply its classmates are all secure and happy; it's just means that they have 2.3 children, eat at Mcdonalds a couple times a month or more, and watch American Idol. -a touch of sarcasm-