So basically we have a spoiled self indulgent population across multiple economic layers who incessantly compare themselves, not with the rest of the world, but with their equally spoiled neighbor and bemoan how bad they have it. We've become a late eighties movie cliche about endless greed and micro economic ladder climbing on an increasingly narrowing ladder. 'Bout sums it up
So basically we have a spoiled self indulgent population across multiple economic layers who incessantly compare themselves, not with the rest of the world, but with their equally spoiled neighbor and bemoan how bad they have it. We've become a late eighties movie cliche about endless greed and micro economic ladder climbing on an increasingly narrowing ladder. 'Bout sums it up
Add to that the real world 'vulture chart'. Productivity high wages for too long stagnant and the insanely wealthy getting even more insanely wealthy. Even with real world gross wages exceeding inflation it just isn't enough to make up for the vibe (and in some ways fair) that the game is rigged.
And yet, so inevitable. I vividly recall how Europeans in the 1980s and 1990s consumed all things American (Dallas, sitcoms, movies, McDonalds, KFC) and believed the McMansions and excesses they saw on film represented the US. Similarly, Americans at that time felt they were falling behind if they didn't have the lifestyles depicted on TV and in movies.
Fast forward to the internet and social media, and no surprise.
It's even worse than that. They're not comparing their lives with the real lives of real people, but with fake online personas constructed to compete in that game. That's why everyone who plays that game feels like they are losing.
So basically we have a spoiled self indulgent population across multiple economic layers who incessantly compare themselves, not with the rest of the world, but with their equally spoiled neighbor and bemoan how bad they have it. We've become a late eighties movie cliche about endless greed and micro economic ladder climbing on an increasingly narrowing ladder. 'Bout sums it up
Add to that the real world 'vulture chart'. Productivity high wages for too long stagnant and the insanely wealthy getting even more insanely wealthy. Even with real world gross wages exceeding inflation it just isn't enough to make up for the vibe (and in some ways fair) that the game is rigged.
And yet, so inevitable. I vividly recall how Europeans in the 1980s and 1990s consumed all things American (Dallas, sitcoms, movies, McDonalds, KFC) and believed the McMansions and excesses they saw on film represented the US. Similarly, Americans at that time felt they were falling behind if they didn't have the lifestyles depicted on TV and in movies.
Fast forward to the internet and social media, and no surprise.
It's even worse than that. They're not comparing their lives with the real lives of real people, but with fake online personas constructed to compete in that game. That's why everyone who plays that game feels like they are losing.