re: Why does our society focus on buying things instead of increasing free time?

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fricking kidding me?

AI is about to make everyone have nothing but free time.

And maybe murder us all

Because we need things to occupy ourselves in our free time

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Debt is the biggest attraction and killer of happiness. It’s engrained to finance a car. WHAT THE LITERAL frick? That should never occur yet here you have the Jonses financing other luxery shite as well.

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oh here comes the guy who literally does not understand finance to tell us how everyone else is wrong

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The American dream still exists if you’re not a selfish, loser, greedy a-hole. I’m retiring at 49 at the end of the year because I chose to own my own domain. Fish and play golf as much as I want.

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people having different life interest and liking nice things compared to you makes them a selfish loser greedy a-hole?

go frick yourself, you dumb bitch

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Our leaders talk endless about making it easier for us to buy houses and cars, yet they never talk about a 32 hour work week or similar.

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many people like myself have found jobs or moved up to positions to where now we only have to work 36-40 hours per week and maximize the income we make per hour

I could go make more money chasing it, not sleeping in my bed every night, I choose to spend more time with my kids instead

but im not like that fig babytac where I refuse to buy nice things. I actually like nice things and taking nice vacations and providing a life for my wife and kids that we could only dream of growing up.

but I also really really really enjoy what I do too.

You millenials still wouldn’t work if it was only 32 hours


This is why you’ll never be able to afford a house

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Our leaders talk endless about making it easier for us to buy houses and cars, yet they never talk about a 32 hour work week or similar.

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Our culture is built, at least in part, on the idea that "owning stuff = prosperity". You could refine that down a little to being appreciating assets and it be far more accurate, but most people simply don't care to do that so we are mainly driven by blind consumerism.

:butwaittheresmore.gif:

This is the sort of activity that keeps the economy growing, but the untempered nature of it is what's now led us to a point where consumers are carrying more debt now than at any other time in the past as the idea of "credit" (credit cards, payday loans, etc) feeds that heavy-consumption foundational philosophy of "you need/deserve this".

Backing off of consumerism would mean a slowdown in economic activity, which leads to a rise in unemployment (if it lasts long enough). As unemployment rises, people get more pissy towards their leaders AND the government creates even more debt to fund the largess programs set up to help the unemployed. The more debt, the more inflation (since that money isn't being removed from the economy) until we get some sort of economic correction (which is going to happen eventually anyway).

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32 hour work week or similar.

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Pussies, I work 54 weekly

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Everyone loves to trash Europe but the one thing they have right is work life balance, for the most part.

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There's some truth to this, but I think they take it too far. A lot of them don't own a car or a home but they eat out at cafes every day. A lot of old people move in with their kids. They see these sacrifices as an acceptable tradeoff for shorter workweeks and more vacation time.

Meanwhile Americans are willing to work themselves to death for a $75,000 truck financed for 72 months and a 3000 sft house with a garage full of toys not to mention the education and healthcare bills it takes just to get to that point.

There's a sweet spot in between but nobody on either side of the pond seems amenable to settling on that.

I see it a little differently. Some people choose to live simply and work less so they have more free time. Others choose to work more to afford a certain lifestyle.

I work a full-time job to support my family and investments, and I run a side business so I can afford side-by-sides, go-karts for the kids, and other toys. Those are choices I make. For most people, the balance between time and money is a personal decision, not one society makes for them.