It’s called life. Somehow people got the idea in their heads that they could have everything in life without working for it. Well, someone had to build the material things we use, like houses and transportation. Someone has to grow food to feed us. How does that get done? By work! Grueling hard work.
So yeah, you work those 40+ hour weeks, live frugally, and build your skills while you are feeding yourself and hopefully your family. You don’t buy $7 cups of coffee every day, don’t eat takeout or use DoorDash, and you drive a used vehicle that you do most maintenance on yourself. You put aside 10-15% for the future, so you have something left over for emergencies and someday retirement.
Over time, you gain promotions as you work your way up. You raise your children and pay off your mortgage. You stay true to your spouse and avoid divorce. Eventually, you both retire and get to enjoy your golden years.
Bottom line: life is work.
Good luck with that. Thanks to Joetato, the Dumb-O-Crats and the GOPee, the younguns will have to settle with eschewing restaurants and Starbucks while working on their own cars.
My friend, we agree 100%. I have done that all my life and I suspect you as well. Frankly, for me it has worked out. But, it certainly was not done in a 40-hour week, but more like a 60 or 70-hour week, or without some sacrifice to my family for not being a more engaged father and husband.
But you forgot to mention that the system is somewhat rigged. You and I do all the things you mention in the post and live by the rules, and hopefully, it all works out. But is it fair?
When you realize there is a two-tier (maybe more tier) system, you quickly realize that it impacts things like our justice system, our social life, our ability to advance, and all other conditions. I use "our" to include your family -- which is really what it is all about. And that multi-tier system is designed to keep us in our place. That is, in that sweet spot where we work from can to can't with incremental advancements (the carrot) but always keeping it just out of reach.
Anyway, I'm not complaining. Life has been very good to me. I make these points because I'm not so sure that there is some degree of manipulation, maybe even a lot of manipulation, going on to achieve someone else's goals.
I don't know the answer. I simply pose the thought.