The economy is fine! We just have… money dysmorphia. /s

The gaslighting is at warp speed now.

  • aseriesoftubes@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    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.

    • CaptainSpaceman@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      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

      • dustyData@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        “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.”

      • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
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        10 months ago

        In a for profit world tech isn’t it mathematically straightforward that 50% is financially behind the other 50%?

    • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      It also says that people are doing far better than they think according to those who actually service these customers.

      • doingthestuff@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        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.

        • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          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.

            • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              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.

  • 3volver@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    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”. 🤡

  • MasterBlaster@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    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.

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      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.

  • PatFusty@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    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.

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      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?

      • PatFusty@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        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?

        • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Just live 100 miles away where the cost of living is dirt cheap and take a helicopter in to work.

      • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It’s hilarious how much effort your ilk puts in to convince everyone everything is normal in the middle of a global recession.

  • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    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.

  • Steve@communick.news
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    10 months ago

    Only 14% of Americans consider themselves wealthy

    Only 14%? I’m shocked it’s that high!

    I thought “Wealthy” was when the passive income of the money you already have, pays more than you typically spend.
    Basically when you can “Live off the interest alone.”

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I thought “Wealthy” was when the passive income of the money you already have, pays more than you typically spend. Basically when you can “Live off the interest alone.”

      I see your version of more of “Financial Independent”. Aka “Fuck you money”. At that level you don’t need to work anymore for a decent life, but you’re not living in what most would consider wealthy luxury. If you need a refresher on “fuck you money” I refer you to this primer (language warning).

      “Wealthy” is when you have “Financial Independent”, and you don’t have to look at prices of anything before you buy it. At the lowest tier of “wealthy” $100 is like $1. To the highest tier, there is no likely object on Earth that is outside of their reach.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    10 months ago

    In fact, more than half of Americans earning more than $100,000 a year say they live paycheck to paycheck, another report by LendingClub found.

    I think it’d be interesting to see what would happen if some states had personal finance classes in their curriculum and some didn’t, see if there is a measurable impact down the line.

    • TORFdot0@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Personal finance classes probably would have a non-negligble impact on the people that just mindless spend and don’t save for retirement etc.

      But I would think also that the wildly inflated housing and child care costs and the inelastic demand between the two means just an unexpected health emergency or unanticipated home maintenance spending would leave a family in debt and living paycheck to paycheck until its paid off.

    • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      The problem isn’t 40+ years of stagnant wages and corporate greed, it’s because people need classes on how to be poor correctly.

      That’s how you sound right now.

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        10 months ago

        The article stated that half of the American population earning over $100k/year lives paycheck-to-paycheck. They’re spending everything they’re making, aren’t directing funds towards building a cushion.

        I am sure that there are some pathological cases where a individual winds up compelled to do that. But I think that it’s pretty safe to say that rather more than half of the $100k+/year population can probably manage to put some level of funds away.

        You can pull in a whole lot more than that and still go through it.

        https://bestlifeonline.com/broke-celebrities/

        Though Depp is undoubtedly one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood, the fame and subsequent fortune accumulated by the star led to his ultimate downfall. According to his agents, he’s earned around $650 million dollars throughout the course of his career—most of which he has already spent.

        Building up a cushion and having it placed somewhere that’s providing an effective return is also part of that, having some idea of how much one should put away and how much one should spend, make moves that make sense relative to the tax incentives that the government puts out for people. And while the US provides a number of programs and incentives that reward people for building a cushion, my impression is that it doesn’t do a fantastic job of walking people through them and what makes sense to do in relative terms or where one should aim to be. My school certainly didn’t cover any of managing one’s finances over one’s life, what’s a reasonable thing to do. The only thing I recall them ever covering as regards personal finance was how to write a check and how to balance a checkbook. As I recall, pretty much everything I picked up in my early life was from my parents. I’m going to bet that not everyone’s parents does that. So…what happens to people where that doesn’t happen? Okay, maybe some people are self-driven, start from a base of zero information and go out and dig up material online (and manage to filter out some of the bad advice). I bet that that’s a long way from everyone, though.

        • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Pretty shitty of you to compare the spending habits of celebrities with normal people, there isn’t an intellectually honest bone in your body and I legitimately don’t understand how you can look at yourself in the mirror every day.

    • MasterBlaster@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Well, my own observation shows me that most people don’t know the first thing about basic finances: compounding interest, budgeting, critical thinking when seeing advertisements, and the cost of take-out vs making dinner are some examples.

      For gods sakes, check your credit card and bank balances once in a while!. smh.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.uk
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    10 months ago

    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.

  • Copernican@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    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.

    • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      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.