I think that’s the mythical middle class that some of us in the working class are lucky to be a part of. In my case, I’m not in a comfortable saving situation now because the Covid years fucked my finances with a cactus, but living in a cheap neighborhood and having a white collar job means I can see a way out.
This got me thinking about the use of “middle class” in politics. It’s like the carrot for reasonable people that know they are not temporarily embarrassed millionaires. You don’t work hard and save for yachts, you do it for actually retiring.
Oh yeah, I definitely do it for retirement and to give me kids the benefit of getting an education without being saddled with massive debt. Although, I think they should have some skin in the game for college as I hope it will make them take it seriously, unlike with me who partied way too much.
But make no mistake, we can afford these things because we live frugally. We both drive used hondas, our grocery store is Aldi, we review our budget every month to keep things in check, we walk everywhere we can, we rarely eat out, etc…
Haha, 2012 mazda and 2013 Honda here for the foreseeable future.
I think I can see myself getting a fun fast electric car in several years, but I also really really like the idea of retiring a bit earlier, so we’ll see.
Yep, I like reading the “fuckcars” communities, but where I live was built to accommodate car culture only. And given the reddish tint (as in US Republican) of the area, I don’t expect it to change, especially to anything “European” looking. We do have traffic circles though!
The only big change I expect to see will be when robotaxies are ubiquitous. But even then it’s not like it will make the area more walkable. You just wouldn’t need to own a car to live in the suburbs and even some nearby rural areas. But I assume I’ll be using the car/bus-centric infrastructure my whole life.
Bless you. The more people who know and care about this stuff the better. I’m hopeful the tide will eventually turn and it will be political suicide to oppose urbanist design.
I think that’s the mythical middle class that some of us in the working class are lucky to be a part of. In my case, I’m not in a comfortable saving situation now because the Covid years fucked my finances with a cactus, but living in a cheap neighborhood and having a white collar job means I can see a way out.
This got me thinking about the use of “middle class” in politics. It’s like the carrot for reasonable people that know they are not temporarily embarrassed millionaires. You don’t work hard and save for yachts, you do it for actually retiring.
Oh yeah, I definitely do it for retirement and to give me kids the benefit of getting an education without being saddled with massive debt. Although, I think they should have some skin in the game for college as I hope it will make them take it seriously, unlike with me who partied way too much.
But make no mistake, we can afford these things because we live frugally. We both drive used hondas, our grocery store is Aldi, we review our budget every month to keep things in check, we walk everywhere we can, we rarely eat out, etc…
Haha, 2012 mazda and 2013 Honda here for the foreseeable future.
I think I can see myself getting a fun fast electric car in several years, but I also really really like the idea of retiring a bit earlier, so we’ll see.
Get a fun fast electric bike and retire even earlier.
(sorry I know this is unrealistic for most north americans I just fucking hate car culture and can’t help myself. Have a nice day)
Yep, I like reading the “fuckcars” communities, but where I live was built to accommodate car culture only. And given the reddish tint (as in US Republican) of the area, I don’t expect it to change, especially to anything “European” looking. We do have traffic circles though!
The only big change I expect to see will be when robotaxies are ubiquitous. But even then it’s not like it will make the area more walkable. You just wouldn’t need to own a car to live in the suburbs and even some nearby rural areas. But I assume I’ll be using the car/bus-centric infrastructure my whole life.
Bless you. The more people who know and care about this stuff the better. I’m hopeful the tide will eventually turn and it will be political suicide to oppose urbanist design.