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Originally Posted by Yakk
And the person who has an expected future income as a Doctor, but is currently in extreme debt, deciding to go further into debt to buy a nice home?
Or the person that convinces a loan officer to lend them money that they cannot certainly pay back, and being perfectly willing to go into bankruptcy if things don't go the right way? (and meanwhile gets to live more comphy)
Which is unacceptable?
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I don't remember saying that living above your means was unacceptable, just foolish. In your first example, taking on more debt is foolish because there's no guarantee of future earnings; a lot of things can happen which would interfere with a doctor's career. Of course the line between a foolish risk and an acceptable risk is blurred, but there are situations where it's better to wait until you've paid off existing debt before spending on luxury. In your second example, I'd consider it foolish to invite certain eventual bankruptcy for an immediate but temporary increase in standard of living, though I concede that some people may find this a reasonable tradeoff.
The problem I have with people living above their means is the affect it has on the economy as a whole when it gets out of hand (as has happened recently). The overspenders' foolishness is hurting others who have done nothing irresponsible.
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Originally Posted by anti_fishstick
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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
We are expected to eat certain foods.
We are expected to buy certain DVDs, CDs (or mp3s), books, household accessories, etc.
[...]
Sure it would be the responsible thing to do to only participate in things you can afford without using credit. But the lure is so strong. The desire for societal inclusion is hardwired into our brains.
We are irresponsible because we are afraid. The social risk is greater than the financial risk. Simply put.
Spending most of your time just staying at home and reading the classics from the library most of the time because you can't afford anything else isn't desirable to many people. We live in a consumer society, with an ever-shortening product lifecycle. This isn't just products; it's also services. Think about it. What was life like just 10 years ago? Think about the things you shopped for. Has anything changed?
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great post!! This ties along with what I was going to say, which is that our society is very ego driven and the ego doesn't like to take responsibility... and the ego LOVES to spend, spend, spend and accummulate STUFF to define "Who You Are", except that it is a false sense of self, and never satiated. People will always want and need more. There is too much that the ego expects, so the ego is never satisfied... That will cloud judgment and responsibility.
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Isn't it just as easy to feed the ego by being different from the herd? You can stand out by saying "look at me! I'm a special little snowflake because I don't have debt like the rest of you!" The same base desire to feed the ego can be sated by acting responsibly. Or is this just an attempt to fit in/keep up?