On your point about what things cost. Hal O'Brien makes a good point that a lot of Libertarians (with a big L) act like teenagers behave when presented with the true cost of running a household by their parents.
I used to have arguments with the apprentices in the engineering company I was a graduate at about this. They'd earn similar amounts to me but pay their mothers 20 quid a week for rent, over lunch one day I explained to one of them what the difference between paying mum 20 which included meals, washing, ironing, cleaning, utilities, phone etc... was and paying 20 in rent which didn't include property tax, meals, washing, ironing, cleaning, utilities, phone etc...
They'd really struggle to get that what they were paying their parents was a fraction of the actual cost of living.
The other thing I've noticed is that people on lower incomes, like somebody starting their own business, either haven't ever or have forgotten what the disposable income from, say, $200,000 a year feels like.
There's a point you cross where you do stop thinking about buying something because you know that the money is in the bank. It's not the same as rich, you're not going to buy a yacht. But there is a degree of comfort in finding you need to get a car repaired, a new PC, a gadget and just doing it without checking the bank account.
Losing a couple of percent of that "fuck off" money really isn't something most people will notice unless they're continuing to live WAYYYYY beyond their means.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-08-11 04:59 pm (UTC)I used to have arguments with the apprentices in the engineering company I was a graduate at about this. They'd earn similar amounts to me but pay their mothers 20 quid a week for rent, over lunch one day I explained to one of them what the difference between paying mum 20 which included meals, washing, ironing, cleaning, utilities, phone etc... was and paying 20 in rent which didn't include property tax, meals, washing, ironing, cleaning, utilities, phone etc...
They'd really struggle to get that what they were paying their parents was a fraction of the actual cost of living.
The other thing I've noticed is that people on lower incomes, like somebody starting their own business, either haven't ever or have forgotten what the disposable income from, say, $200,000 a year feels like.
There's a point you cross where you do stop thinking about buying something because you know that the money is in the bank. It's not the same as rich, you're not going to buy a yacht. But there is a degree of comfort in finding you need to get a car repaired, a new PC, a gadget and just doing it without checking the bank account.
Losing a couple of percent of that "fuck off" money really isn't something most people will notice unless they're continuing to live WAYYYYY beyond their means.