This is a long one.
I am reading articles about the middle class squeeze on msn. I am not sure if I am middle class. I don’t think I am. But I do recognize that I make more money than probably half the planet and have a living standard that provides me with many comforts and non-essential goods.
I made $14,811 last year (husband made a little over $11,000). I was in school full time and working part time. I paid about $3,600 toward tuition. I also paid bills and my share of the rent for most of the year (stopped in the fall when I reduced my work hours even more). In all the years I’ve been with my husband, we lived mostly in one room structures (room in a house or a studio) and lived in a one bedroom for just two years before we downsized so I could go to school full time and finish up. We’ve also lived in poorer neighborhoods (ghettos) for most of our lives together. People in the article talk about having lower cost cable, but there is no TV in our house. Cost is partly the reason, but neither my husband nor I want to be exposed to ads and the brain washing that passes for television entertainment or "news". There is talk of cars in the article, I can’t imagine owning a car. There is talk of vacation. Our proper vacation we last had was in 2003. We paid for air fare and stayed with friends for a week. Before that I had 2 vacation trips in 2001. I stayed in a student hostel for one and with friends for another. We usually take day trips (by bus or train) to other cities as we live near so many of them.
Before we decided that we wanted to be child free, I couldn’t think about having kids because we couldn’t afford them. I remember I did a very rough calculation to see how much a kid would cost (from birth to college) and the figure I wound up with was $250,000. I looked at that number and thought, "I could retire on that amount!"
Many of my values have come about because of a lack of money and I always wonder much my thinking has been shaped by that fact. Would I be as much of a bike nut and anti car, if I had more money? I admit that I love driving. I happen to find driving very relaxing and a very luxurious activity, but I dislike how cars turn regular humans into these angry people who flip out if someone takes 2 seconds longer to cross a street or drive past a stop sign. Then there is also the pollution bit. But…I don’t mean to go off on a tangent…just putting my thoughts down that have been percolating for awhile. I wonder if I would travel more if I had more money. And thus increase that ecological footprint. I love visiting new places and trying new foods, but I haven’t done much of it as I don’t have money. And now I ride a high horse saying I am an environmentalist and refuse to fly, but I can’t afford it either.
In the MSN article and the subsequent discussion on the boards there was talk of how the official inflation rate isn’t reflective of real prices and there was a lot of finger pointing on who or what is to blame. I didn’t see anyone mention the excessive fucking (as in sex and then babies) is really the cause. I am an immigrant and its dawned on me that USA as the "land of opportunity" is code for "place where there aren’t as many people per square mile." I come from a very populated country.
I recently read "What is the What" by Dave Eggers and while the novel is a work of creative nonfiction, one recurring theme that really bothered me was the fact that people were having babies in refugee camps. Refugee camps! That is just cruel. And everyone wanted a piece of this ever shrinking pie. What sort of life did they aspire toward? The refugees that do come here and make it this middle class, do they find themselves lucky? Or do they wish for more? Of course you can’t quantify a group of people and their thinking, but I do wonder. I also think about what I want. And why do I want it. Right now I would like just a little bit more money. I will be getting a raise in a few months, so that extra padding will make me a bit less stressed. I also would like to own property. This desire was shaped after I read "The Good Earth" and recognized that once a person owned land, there was the possibility of some amount of security not possible as a renter - such as being able to grow some food and not worry too much about rising housing prices or having to move frequently. I also do have this goal of retiring early, and I still don’t know if I can manage it in the time frame I want. I am voluntarily forgoing alot of career routes and have quit jobs because of the ethical and moral values I hold. I don’t know if those decisions will hurt me in the long term, they have hurt me in the short term financially. Overall I am fairly satisfied. I am happy actually. I need very little (both tangible and intangible) to make me content. So I don’t feel squeezed. I like the view that says I made my own bed and should thus, lie on it. I am comfortable with all the decisions I have made to date, and I wish that more people were.
Did you read Pinker’s piece in the NY times about morality? It’s very interesting and touches on some of the topics you bring up. It’s interesting how much of our morality is aligned to our own personal set of values. For example, I would never buy an SUV, but I love to travel. Kind of hypocritical when you think about it.
Similarly, I think the the reason most environmental blogs don’t bring up children/population control is because it’s simply not popular. Once again, it’s people’s own set of moral values. For me personally, I am thinking more and more about adoption, but in the end it will have to be a decision I make once I get married with whomever my husband is.
To a certain extent, I think it’s okay. My personal feeling is, we all need to lessen our individual impact and we all need to figure out our own ways to do that. For some people maybe that’s not flying, for others it might mean adopting (or not having children), for others they might just be committing for now to using reusable bags at the store.
Anyhow, that’s my 2 cents. If you’re interested in the article it’s here: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804EFDB1F3CF930A25752C0A96E9C8B63&scp=1&sq=pinker&st=nyt
Comment by arduous — January 25, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
I wondered the same thing about the excessive sex leading people to have kids they can’t afford therefore driving the economy and spiraling our spending.
My coworker and I discussed this similar issue. We think people with kids should be taxed heavier than kidless couples. The janitor who works in my office complex was one of 14 children. Can you imagine 14 kids’ impact on the economy, government spending and the pressure it puts on our social programs?
One of my coworkers is a new immigrant. She has two kids. Her husband has a stable job so they’re not necessarily living on welfare. But recently she told me how she became pregnant by accident. It wasn’t a planned one. she was going to keep the baby but she’s starting a new job soon so she’s getting an abortion. That sort of bugged me but I didn’t say anything.
I don’t know if any of what I said was specifically relevant but you made some valid points.
Comment by sfordinarygirl — January 26, 2008 @ 12:53 am
Arduous: Thanks for the NYT story. I had not read it previously and thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite line, “moral rationalization: they begin with the conclusion, coughed up by an unconscious emotion, and then work backward to a plausible justification.”
SF: Thanks for your comment. I echo your sentiments too, so I can empathize.
Comment by Beany — January 28, 2008 @ 12:39 pm