• evatronic
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    11 months ago

    This is the same demographic that overwhelmingly votes for Republicans. I am finding it very hard to empathize.

    That said, perhaps this train wreck will serve as an object lesson for the next generation about creating and maintaining social safety nets.

    • bestagon@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I always empathize. At the end of the day it comes down to education and rural parts of this country are massively underserved when it comes to educational spending. I come from a rural community and it seems like everyone regardless of party lines knows the issues but it’s infuriating to see people vote against their self interest because they’ve been disincentivized to discuss things with their neighbors and come up with the best solutions for their community

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Except they won’t call it a social safety net, because Socialism is evil. They’ll call it something like “Returns from your tax investment” that masks the fact that the younger generation is paying for the older one to retire and make room for the younger generations promotions.

      Maybe they’ll call it “Patriot Security” or some other bullshit term

    • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Agreed, the boomers are finally suffering after all the cruelty they inflicted on us.

      Let me find my champagne.

      • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        This isnt just boomers, it’s into Gen X too.

        Boomers: 1946 to 1964: 59 - 77

        Gen X: 1966 and 1980: 43 - 57

        "Only 1 in 10 low-income workers between the ages of 51 and 64 had any funds put away for retirement "

        • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I’m young genx, I hope we’re not that stupid, we should have learned something what with Boomers trying to scam us literally every fucking day of our lives.

          But if they haven’t, whoops, another point to Darwin.

          • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            What gets me riled up is I work w/ a bunch of GenX and some don’t even contribute to the 401k that is matched 6% (aka FREE MONEY). I just don’t get it, my leave money on the table. Go low risk if your not sure…

            • NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu
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              11 months ago

              Do you know if they have the economy to actually “loose” 6% of their salary?

              It might be “free money” in their retirement fund but they still have to afford to actually add anything to it.

              • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                He owns 2 houses and a plane, plus gets disability from the military (I have no issue w/ tat but an additional revenue stream)

                  • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    Its found money, it makes no sense. Even if I was struggling w/ my pay I would try to throw in 1-2% to get the matching.

              • dezmd@lemmy.worldM
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                11 months ago

                Several 401k providers I had before going the self employment route offerred loans secured by the 401k blanace for home purchasing and other uses, and at the end of the day, if you end up in an emergency financial crunch can always cash out the 401k, counts as income that you pay on that years income tax plus 10% irs early withdrawal penalty (amounts may have changed since I last looked).

              • dude@kbin.social
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                11 months ago

                Assuming it’s a 1:1 match and is immediately vested they would technically still gain more money by contributing, immediately withdrawing all of it, and paying the associated taxes and fees.

                So it’s definitely possible they’re leaving money on the table either way.

                • NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu
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                  11 months ago

                  Interesting, didn’t know of that possibility. Is it also possible to withdraw just a part and save some “for free”?

                  I’m not from the US so the exact workings of your pension system is a bit beyond my expertise 😊

                  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    No.

                    – employer matches typically have a vesting period where it’s not yours to withdraw

                    — actual withdrawal means paying the taxes you skipped plus a penalty

                    – loans can be useful, but you have to pay yourself back and meanwhile that money is not invested.

                    – loans have a low interest rate, so your loan to yourself is making almost nothing compared to if it was left in an investment

                    – loans need to be payed back immediately if you leave the company for any reason, otherwise it’s an early withdrawal with all those taxes and fees

            • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              It’s not that…

              Boomers legitimately never imagined they would get old, in their minds they’re all like Trump, stuck in their flush of youth, they are Al Bundy still celebrating his 4 touchdowns in one game on permanent loop.

              And sadly, while they abused the fuck out of us, some of us caught that same disease.

          • rhsJack@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Correct. Not people. They are literally nothing. They don’t deserve retirement, voting rights, or the legal right to work. When I see them 65ers, don’t say that outloud because some sensitive people get really upset, when I see them 65ers, I pretend they aren’t there.

        • dezmd@lemmy.worldM
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          11 months ago

          Keep that GenX link back in 1977 where it belongs.

          1978ish to 1987ish has it’s own corner referred to as Xennials. There was a technology and culture transition for my generation that was considerably different from Gen X and not quite as prefabricated as the Millennial generation.

    • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I’m a Republican and this has nothing to do w/ parties. Some people are the grasshopper and some people are the ant. I’m an ant, I can retire right now at 50yo and it wouldnt be a an issue.

      So they want to fritter their money away well thats their problem. I have been saving to retire since I was 19. And a diversified portfolio, gold, silver, guns, land, 401k, Roth, hard currency and a skill set that I can work into the 80’s if I chose to…

      Bad choices shouldn’t be saddled on me.

      • Alterecho@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I hear you, but what if, and hear me out here, human beings deserve the basics of living even if they, say, lost all their money due to medical debt, education debt, credit card debt, natural disasters, and/or just plain shit luck?

        I don’t think anyone is saying that the average person looking to retire is planning on throwing millions of tax dollars around, they literally just want to live a decent quality of life. If you had to rely on something like the government when you couldn’t work any more, wouldn’t you want the same kindness?

        • cdf12345@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I bet he hates student loan forgiveness for the same reason. I paid and didn’t get it for free, why should anyone else?

        • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          And in those cases I can find exception. (not for CC or educational debt, you bought the ticket. Take the ride)

          But if you willfully squandered your money and/or didnt sign up for the basic 401k at work then I have no pity. I’m an engineer, I found out the other day my coworker the same age as me has just signed up for a 401k. He left 6% on the table for more than 2 decades, fuck bailing that guy out.

          I’m all for a decent quality of living, just not on my back because you didnt do anything to deserve it.

          • Alterecho@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            No but like that’s the point - the basic human decency thing means that it’s basic, inherent and needs no qualifiers. Even people you disagree with are still people who have inner lives all their own. They don’t deserve to starve and die just because they didn’t play some arbitrary money game we decided was important however many centuries ago the right way.

          • MostlyBirds@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            If you think simply working your whole life isn’t enough to deserve a comfortable retirement, you’re a despicaple sack of shit

      • NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu
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        11 months ago

        Have you ever heard of the just world fallacy?

        You seem to have made some good choices but you don’t seem to understand how much luck has to do with the outcome.

        It doesn’t take very much to wipe out savings or destroy a plan, especially before you got any funds to handle the unexpected and even more so in the US and it’s low de-comodification.

        Get hit by a car by no fault of your own, rack up a high medical bill and be fired due to not being able to work. It’s not that an outlandish scenario and one that most can’t plan for or have money in reserve for.

        And that’s of course even harder for someone growing up in a poor household and working minimal wage jobs.

        • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          It was no luck, I made well informed decisions and sacrifice a lot making those decisions. I have lived all over the US for a step up. Sacrificed the comfort of friends and family to get that leg up. They don’t hand it to you, you have to claw it away from them.

          I agree one bad event can wipe you out, I’m not against those social safety nets. I was once for a brief time on unemployment on a snafu w/ a contract.

          I have issue if you willfully run a CC debt or live on student loans and I should have to bail those people out. Cancer, I’m in we can help, you spent 180k on a shit degree it took you 6 years to get, nope. But gucci on a CC, nope.

          And I grew up on welfare when my dad left and refused to pay child support (oh the 80’s no enforcement). I’m well familiar of the taste of government cheese and Army PX peanut butter.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            It absolutely was luck. You didn’t get hit by a car driven by a driver with no insurance. You didn’t get a rare form of cancer which your own insurance won’t cover. You didn’t get suddenly laid off and have to move because there are no other prospects in your area with good enough pay. All of that is luck, not skill. All of it can wipe someone out financially.

            • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Driver w/ no insurance. Bury them under the jail.

              I am very sorry about the cancer, thats something I can’t comment on as I have no idea whats that like to deal with.

              As for the move well I don’t have enough info on the where to where and I wouldnt cause pssible doxxing. reddit was the worst of that.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                “I don’t know what it’s like to deal with cancer, but it definitely isn’t luck that I succeeded without getting cancer and ruining my finances.”

                Sure, pal.

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    You sure as hell implied it. I talked about thing that are unlucky that can happen to anyone and your response was telling me it didn’t happen to you. Which was my entire point. You were lucky.

          • Rusticus@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Classic Republican with zero empathy or ability to understand anyone else’s life experience outside of their own privilege. Slaves benefited from being owned, right? STFU.

              • Rusticus@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                The lack of empathy AND the concept of the zero sum game. They all think someone has to lose for someone else to gain. I don’t think their brains have the ability to appreciate the concept of a rising tide lifts all boats. That just goes in the shit bucket of “socialism”.

          • rbhfd@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Lots of people of people have called you out on how much luck you’ve had on not getting majorly sick or anything else that might have stopped you from making money.

            But you’re also very privileged, or more accurately are in a position that you can’t expect from everyone, because you were free to move cities for your career. Some people just don’t have that comfort. They rely on family or friends to make them through the day. They might have kids, they might need the mental support, whatever.

            Even if they could theoretically make it without the financial, practical, or emotional support, you can’t expect people to give that up just for their career.

            I’m from Europe and lived in a country with a much higher pay than my home country. After 2 years I moved back because I just was not happy without being close to my family and friends. I would have been much better off financially if I stayed there, even if just for a few years longer, but it was just not a sacrifice I was willing to make.

      • Rusticus@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Hard to take anything you say seriously as your party considers my vote and the constitution worthless. Seriously, anyone still in the Republican Party today can go fuck themselves.

          • Rusticus@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            It is now very clear that Jan 6 was an attempt to discard my vote and 90 million other Democratic votes to instill an illegitimate president. Anyone still remaining a Republican must find this treasonous behavior acceptable. Why would I ever respect the opinion of someone who feels their singular opinion is more important than anyone else, including the Constitution?

      • JDubbleu@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        We’re not saddling bad choices on anyone. We waste so many tax dollars on corporate bailouts while allowing corporations massive tax breaks and we still don’t have the money to provide food and shelter to the vulnerable of our society? Somehow we never have money for helping individuals, but the second a corporation needs anything the money is magically there. We’re the wealthiest country on Earth by a fucking mile and we somehow cannot afford to not let people die in the street because they got dealt a fucked up hand in life, or had unavoidable medical debt, or didn’t have anyone to teach them finances because our education system sure as fuck didnt. Letting people die in poverty isn’t the morally right just because they didn’t have the opportunities or luck you did.

        Do you have any idea how many people have 0 debt or kids and still can’t even afford to save for retirement because wages are ass and living is expensive, let alone at 19? I grew up surrounded by poverty, and I’ve seen first hand how inescapable it is. I’m extremely lucky in that I had my family to support me through college and allow me to make more money than I can even fathom at 23.

        I’m making all the right choices currently. I’m maxing out retirement, saving for my future, and paying 35% of my income in taxes to the government to just give to a few billionaires so they can become richer instead of helping those who actually need it. Just because I’ve got mine doesn’t mean I’m gonna say fuck you to everyone else. I want to help people who are less fortunate, not pull the ladder up behind me.

        Our country is a fucking joke for the poor and vulnerable of our society, and we should be doing so much better, but we aren’t because some dickwad needs another billion dollars.

        • TIEPilot@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Well lets start by cutting of funding to Ukraine, Israel, and every other country. Close all the foreign military bases and we could realistically take care of all these people in need. Won’t happen but its a nice thought…

          Let the world take care of itself, I’m sick and tired of us (The USA) being the “World Police”

          And fuck the bailouts, that pisses me off more than anything. Let them fail.

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Does that include the opportunity cost when the world goes to hell if we don’t invest in that foreign aid? We’re not always good investors in the future, stability, and human rights of the world but I have to believe our foreign aid is a net positive (and we really need to be doing a lot more of it, especially in forward looking areas like renewable energy)

      • MostlyBirds@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Look at this guy pretending to believe that most people aren’t paid too little to save for retirement in the first place.

      • travysh
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        11 months ago

        Things have changed considerably since you were 19.

        I’m younger than you but not by a lot. When I was 19 I moved in to a 1 bedroom apartment for (inflation adjusted) $700/month. That exact same apartment now rents for $1445/month.

        A couple of years later I bought 1 acre of land and put an 1800 sq foot home on it for (inflation adjusted) $275k. That exact same house was sold in 2021 for $433k.

        I’m choosing housing here because it’s easy, but I could just as easily pick college, general cost of living, etc…

        My point being that you (and I) were set up a lot better to save for the future than the 19 year olds of today.

        [Edit] guess I went on a bit of a sidetrack. I’m not sure you were even talking about today’s 19 year olds…

      • dezmd@lemmy.worldM
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        11 months ago

        guns

        Is that a collectibles portion of your portfolio or just for some end times defensive murderin so you dont have to share your survivalist beans?

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Damn, nothing more Republican than listing “guns” as an investment