The economy is fine! We just have… money dysmorphia. /s
The gaslighting is at warp speed now.
Gaslighting? Did you read the article? It doesn’t say that the economy is fine. It’s about how social media makes people feel shitty about how much money they (don’t) have, because they see so many people living glamorous lives online.
Roughly 43% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials struggle with comparisons to others and feel behind financially
This is the kind of attribution they are making, that its just a psychological condition and not an actual endemic issue that needs to be addressed.
I can definitely see why the term “gaslighting” was used
“Sir, 50% of the population has this virus called COVID.”
“It’s just a virology condition and not an actual endemic issue that needs to be addressed.”
To know how endemic it is to younger gens, we would need a baseline and to know the prevalence in prior gens.
I suspect that the progression of social media and influencers has amplified a false lifestyle perspective — the same as tv and ads/consumerism would’ve amplified them for prior gens — but I haven’t seen any large cross sectional or generational studies; only ones that are, at best, anecdotal.
Purchasing power of different generations tells you everything you need to know - there’s zero ambiguity in this - things have objectively got far worse and far more unequal since the 70’s.
In a for profit world tech isn’t it mathematically straightforward that 50% is financially behind the other 50%?
It also says that people are doing far better than they think according to those who actually service these customers.
Well I’m not young but I haven’t been able to afford to go to the dentist in twenty years so I’d say that’s quantifiably shitty.
I’d say you’re using your specific experience to project to everyone else’s.
I’m middle aged and I’ve always been able to afford dental insurance and go twice a year as recommended.
Your experience is, indeed, shitty but it’s not an argument dispelling what the article’s experts are saying. It’s just a strawman argument.
LOL. Hilarious that you’re straight up gaslighting and strawman-ing in your response.
Just because one person has an issue and one doesn’t means nothing to the actual story. But I don’t know why I expect anyone to actually read the articles. Lot to ask, I know.
Our entire economic system is out of balance, debt is rampant in the midst of late-stage capitalism, and they come up with the term “money dysmorphia”. 🤡
newspeak
Its balanced exactly as the owner class wants: conveying all wealth and value into their coffers.
We pretend its broken, but its doing exactly what the elites want it to.
This is a muddled message. Are we caught up chasing an illusion, or are we just more acutely aware of our poor condition?
It reads like it is saying the former, but then quotes statistics that reflect real loss of buying power. On the coasts 100k is no longer a large income. People really do live paycheck to paycheck while carefully managing their spending.
I’m inclined to at least partially acknowledge the gaslighting comment as plausible.
100k is a fine income… People are still trying to live beyond their means if they can’t live somewhere decent in 100k
No, you’re not going to get luxury in a big city.
And you’ll not get 100k in bumfuck Iowa for the same role
Was it always the case that I would be turned down from multiple studio apartment complexes because I ONLY make ~100k a year? I cant afford spending the 2200 a month on rent and that being 33% or lower so I get denied. Has this always been the case or am I having money dismorphia? I’m only making 2X the median single income salary.
You aren’t a trust fund kid, that’s who’s getting all the rentals.
This has always been the case in an unaffordable big city. Even B4 covid.
What part of you guys can’t afford to live there don’t you get?
I can’t live 1 hour from a big city? I’m not in downtown lol how do you expect people to work regular menial jobs in big cities if none of the work force can live near them?
Just live 100 miles away where the cost of living is dirt cheap and take a helicopter in to work.
It’s hilarious how much effort your ilk puts in to convince everyone everything is normal in the middle of a global recession.
Median roperty prices have increased more than 600% relative to median wages in the past 50 years where I’m from. Now, on 2 incomes, I’m trying to buy a modest apartment in that pumped market, and I’m bidding against downsizers and investors that were the beneficiaries of all that growth after buying a house that cost less than my deposit.
Now these motherfuckers call us lazy and gaslight us, saying everything is fine? Noah, fuck the boat - we’re building guillotines.
I’ve just come to the conclusion I will never own anything new or at all really.
Don’t give up yet, all it takes is a little billionaire blood on the street and things will change.
Someone please punch the writers for this shit.
I don’t know why you’re so upset at the article. Every time I compare myself to the Joneses I feel all sorts of inadequacy. /S
The issue is not with people feeling inadequate. The issue is fully with wealth inequality.
I count myself blessed for having earlier made the realization that I value financial security way more than the shiny new thing. What I also realized that often it’s not the shiny new thing where all my money goes to but it’s the repeating expenses from that daily starbucks coffee to groceries and utilities. If you find a way to save there it’ll start accumulating quickly.
That’s a big if.
A huge percentage of Americans (my family included) live paycheck-to-paycheck. There’s little or nothing left to save. They have everything from student loans to medical debts.
Criticizing someone for spending a few dollars a day on coffee to make their life a little more bearable is placing the criticism on the wrong party. You should be angry that anyone should have to make such unnecessary sacrifices. You should be angry that we can’t all get the shiny new thing if we want it.
You should never rely on luxury items to “make your life bearable”.
Pretending Starbucks makes you happy is literally half your problem.
How does it feel to be so weak your coffee literally owns you at this point.
You’re fighting giving up coffee harder than you’ve ever fought for higher wages.
You’ve shackled yourself and you blame the person pointing out your shackles?
Ignorant AF.
How is coffee a luxury item?
Should people be expected to live off of water and rice because they are poor?
Do the world a favour, go live in a cave, preferably one with no exits.
I’d love to see the starbucks/income ratio by year set next to rent/income ratio so we can finally put these kind of brain dead responses to rest.
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Are we still complaining about Starbucks? Let’s call it $7 for a coffee. That comes to about $2555 a year. Sounds like a lot of money.
Say I wanted to buy a house. The median home price in the start of 2020 was $329000. End of 2023, it was $417,700 (down from its peak). An increase of $88,700. Assuming a down payment of 20%, your median down payment went up buy $17,740. Almost 7 years worth of Starbucks. In just 3 years.
But wait. Interest rates also changed. Assuming the same %20 down payment, your principle increased by $70,960. The 30 year mortgage over that time went up from around %3.72 to %6.66. An increase of about %2.9. The increased interest on the increased principle is about $2,057; so I guess your Starbucks habbit would cover that.
Of course, that is a strange metric. You pay the full %6.66 on the increased principle. The %2.9 is the additional interest you pay on the original principle. So your annual interest payments went up by $12,358 just for delaying your purchase by 3 years. If you cut off your 4.8 starbucks coffees a day addiction, you’ll be able to afford this increase.
Hey, you do you. If $2555 isn’t a lot of money to you then you’re in the 0.1% of people. Most of us aren’t in a privlidged position like that so being able to cut down in repeating small expenses like that is going to have a massive effect on our personal finances. 2.5k is about what I earn in a month. I like coffee too but not so much that I’d be willing to work for a month to pay for it. That amount of money covers my groceries for 4 months. Seems like better value for my money.
Rightwing scum will do anything except admit their system doesn’t work.
Overwhelming evidence suggests social media has a negative effect on self-esteem.
That’s all they really need to say - it will clearly have an impact on how people perceive their own looks and lifestyle when they’re likely doing fine. I’m not sure they need to invent a new phrase to describe it.
gestures rudely at “writers” behind this
I believe the article. My junior coworkers that are young fresh out of college grads landing 100k salary feel behind. Median us household income is like 78k. The article is about the psychological impact. Although I don’t doubt that there’s people struggling and inflation and wage stagnation are real, I think we shouldn’t doubt that what this article describes as money dysmorphia isn’t also real.
Yeah there are people who earn a lot but are absolutely shit at managing their income. No wonder large chunk of them are also influenced by what they see on social media.
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I can give your bank account liposuction for a modest fee.
