The lower standard of living for this generation has "officially" been studied and published. Click here for the link. The article is circulated by The Guardian, which published the NSA information by Snowden. The title of the article sums it up for those that don't want to read it: Middle-class young will fare worse than their parents. Most of my blog readers know that I'm a big proponent of reading the news, using some critical thinking, and planning accordingly. The article further cements my thoughts that I'm on the right track in keeping our debt low, increasing our education, and preparing for the future by prepping.
"This will be controversial, but for the first time in over a century there is a real risk that the next generation of adults ends up worse off than today's generation. This is a problem for the children of parents with above-average incomes, not just a problem for those at the bottom. Many, many children face the prospect of having lower living standards than their parents." The slow economic squeeze, or Anaconda economy, will continue to force the people into lower and lower quality of life situations. I talked about a few things that can be done to counter the trend such as limiting your debt, getting more education, stockpiling food, and becoming more independent from the system.
I'm going to stand on my soapbox for a few minutes and be brutally honest with you. This isn't 1950s America in which we are the only industrialized nation left after WWII. We don't have an export surplus. The time when you worked for a company, retired, and they paid you a nice pension [and maybe medical] are over. The promise of Social Security and Medicare when you got older won't be around when you are older, and probably will be for people with absolutely no net worth. This isn't 1950s America, and the Leave it to Beaver American culture is gone. The slow squeeze of the Anaconda economy will continue.
My question for comments: What did your Grandparents do that needs to be done again for the future of your family?
My answer: We are already doing a lot of it. Living below our means, a deep pantry, and limited debt [house and car only]. We are lacking in our own food production, but have plans to expand it.
And yet people expect free medical care -- which Obamacare is not; And don't understand why the debt ceiling should NOT be raised.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have convinced our boys to come down here with us, but they didn't want to. Oh well. they're adults, right?
God bless. ♥
The responsible people are outnumbered in a democratic republic. I had a history teacher say that all empires fell for two reasons: The rot at the top or the barbarians at the gates. It looks like America has both.
DeleteYou raised your boys to be men, and they have to make their own way now. God Bless you too!
We need to cut out all the crap! And by crap I mean expensive tv. Mine is never on, yet we pay for it. And cell phones. Do I really need to pay for all this data when I stay home the majority of the time :/ I say grow as much of your food as you can, it's healthier, cheaper, and rewarding beyond belief. We are about to start cutting expenses drastically. My kids aren't going to like me LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteKelly, glad to see you stopping in and commenting. Start small and build upon those successes. Dave Ramsey, if you haven't done his program will change your life forever. I don't watch sports, so dropping cable was easy. We do have Netflix through our Roku player - so $9/month for our entertainment bill, but that doesn't include internet @ $51/month. My Sweetheart needs internet for work, so we have to have it.
DeleteMake it as easy for the family, set goals, and give rewards for achieving those goals! Email if you need an ear to bend or a cheering section!
In some ways, I have a leg up on this, because my family has been watching the decline from the inside for quite some time. Through the 60s and 70s, my grandparents lived well on the income from operating a small farm, and managed to provide college money to all of their 10 surviving children that wanted it. My Dad took up the mantle through the 80s and 90s, but the seed potato market, weakened by the turmoil of the 80s, was eventually gutted by NAFTA and the bottom fell out. We quit raising in 99, and all the industry people told Dad he did the right thing. We knew there was no way to carry on doing what we had been doing- a farm that had supported the growth and livelihood of a dozen people or more at a time now was such a slim margin that it couldn't stay solvent even with both my parents working full time and pouring money into it. And that is what the decline looks like. What do need to do? Right now we are working on getting our food supply under direct control- that way at least we know we won't starve.
ReplyDeleteAn inside view indeed from a long time frame. I have a friend that works for the US customs, and he always says that "free trade" agreements never help the American producers. When my schooling is over, we are going to be looking for some homestead property. Hope it holds together long enough.
Delete