"When he lost his job, Scott had no savings, his primary objective always having been to earn enough to cover the rent, eat an occasional steak, feed and clothe their children, ride his dirt bike, fish, golf, play poker, buy lottery tickets, and drink Bud Light."
This is the primary reason for the hardship that majority of the middle americans are facing in this tough times.
There has never been a culture of 'saving'. as an asian immigrant, saving has been deeply rooted into my psyche. Travel and recreation is one thing, but golf, fish, poker, lottery - when you have 2 kids and a wife to support ?
all aside, i thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments on HN more than the story itself.
I have heard (though I have not seen the hard statistics) that the savings rate in china averages 1/3rd of take home pay. This more than any "analysis" made me think that china will make good on its economic aspirations. for god's sake even some PROFESSIONAL ECONOMISTS in America think that consumption improves an economy rather than deferred consumption and investment.
This guy never had anything but shit jobs until 2007. So until then, he had no chance to develop a 'culture of saving'. Should he have put away $20,000 that first year? Yeah - I would have. But most people in this country don't see it that way.
You're surrounded by people who're living way beyond their means, and until you distance yourself from that, you want to be part of the 'fun'. That was what got us into the mess we're in - the average US family was $100K in the hole. So it's a cultural thing.
Maybe he knows better now. So do about 8 million other people. They bought in, and they got it socked to them. Find a heart before it's your turn.
This guy never had anything but shit jobs until 2007. So until then, he had no chance to develop a 'culture of saving'. Should he have put away $20,000 that first year? Yeah - I would have. But most people in this country don't see it that way.
You're surrounded by people who're living way beyond their means, and until you distance yourself from that, you want to be part of the 'fun'. That was what got us into the mess we're in - the average US family was $100K in the hole. So it's a cultural thing.
Maybe he knows better now. So do about 8 million other people.
This is the primary reason for the hardship that majority of the middle americans are facing in this tough times. There has never been a culture of 'saving'. as an asian immigrant, saving has been deeply rooted into my psyche. Travel and recreation is one thing, but golf, fish, poker, lottery - when you have 2 kids and a wife to support ?
all aside, i thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments on HN more than the story itself.