I wonder if there are any Anthropologists here, income used to be a very accepted nature. Some were rich by luck, mazal, or inherited. Then of course you had those that hustled, worked hard etc.. many were content to work hard, earn, save, build. Yes dishonesty and crooks always existed.
Ready capital and modern entertainment gave way to entitlement. The american dream is about the capacity to earn what you are willing and able to work for, not what you want.
Any ways, the details of this case aside, have you ever been confident in telling your friends / kids etc "im sorry but we cannot afford that now" and not be embarrassed ?
We need to be more honest with ourselves and friends / family members, the friend that is quick to drop their cc to pay the bill? maybe its not a millage grab, maybe they want you to see that everything is fine, yet they are loaded with 25k in cc debt paying 16%
I could go on forever, but we need to be honest about what kind of message we want to give off, are we ok with what we have and yet work hard to provide a good life, or do we need to live beyond our means because thats what everyone does.
