Another broke wide receiver

[titanruss]

Quality of life isn't just defined by possessions and amenities . 
 

 

[Justafan]

10 hours ago, titanruss said:

Quality of life isn't just defined by possessions and amenities . 
 

 

Couldn’t agree more. Probably a different discussion beyond the scope of what we’re talking about here in terms of the poor decisions that pro athletes make with their money though. 

[NashvilleNinja]

On 5/20/2026 at 7:13 PM, Justafan said:

Trailer park on food stamps all day. With even minimal effort and intelligence, I can raise my wealth status to unimaginable heights from there. The King of England in 1400 is as boss as it gets, and you'll still never experience any real travel, watch a movie, drink a coke, or even take a hot shower. 

 

Only thing about this though is... kings always live on top of the inflation bubble. The King of England in 1400 is still the King of England in 2026.

 

Also, go to any trailer park and ask them how high they think they can raise their wealth status. Whether they actually could or not is debatable, but I guarantee every last one of them would answer in the negative.

[Callidus]

53 minutes ago, NashvilleNinja said:

 

Only thing about this though is... kings always live on top of the inflation bubble. The King of England in 1400 is still the King of England in 2026.

 

Also, go to any trailer park and ask them how high they think they can raise their wealth status. Whether they actually could or not is debatable, but I guarantee every last one of them would answer in the negative.

Idk, they sure do buy a lot of lotto tickets. 

[Justafan]

1 hour ago, NashvilleNinja said:

 

Only thing about this though is... kings always live on top of the inflation bubble. The King of England in 1400 is still the King of England in 2026.

 

Also, go to any trailer park and ask them how high they think they can raise their wealth status. Whether they actually could or not is debatable, but I guarantee every last one of them would answer in the negative.

Bullshit. The comparison isn’t King I. 1400 vs King in 2026.

 

My sister once lived in a trailer and now she owns a trailer park as well as 4 other businesses worth millions. It’s a complete and utter waste to debate in this venue but I couldn’t disagree more with anyone’s notions that they can’t turn around their fortunes in 2026 America. 

[NashvilleNinja]

10 minutes ago, Justafan said:

Bullshit. The comparison isn’t King I. 1400 vs King in 2026.

 

My sister once lived in a trailer and now she owns a trailer park as well as 4 other businesses worth millions. It’s a complete and utter waste to debate in this venue but I couldn’t disagree more with anyone’s notions that they can’t turn around their fortunes in 2026 America. 

 

I'm not the one saying they can't. They are, many of them at least.

[Justafan]

20 minutes ago, NashvilleNinja said:

 

I'm not the one saying they can't. They are, many of them at least.

That’s a them problem. 

[Callidus]

1 hour ago, Justafan said:

That’s a them problem. 

Despair, especially generational levels of it is hard to break free from. Mentally that is. 

[NashvilleNinja]

34 minutes ago, Callidus said:

Despair, especially generational levels of it is hard to break free from. Mentally that is. 

 

Lack of education too.

[titanruss]

4 hours ago, Justafan said:

Bullshit. The comparison isn’t King I. 1400 vs King in 2026.

 

My sister once lived in a trailer and now she owns a trailer park as well as 4 other businesses worth millions. It’s a complete and utter waste to debate in this venue but I couldn’t disagree more with anyone’s notions that they can’t turn around their fortunes in 2026 America. 

Thats great for your sister. 
 

Thats happening less than people sinking to the bottom in this society though. People that work just as hard or harder than you ever have. There's stats for this across multiple leaderships regimes.  
 

You can see that in the shrinking middle class and the massively growing lower classes. The disparity of the wealth. Etc

Edited May 22 by titanruss

[titanruss]

27 minutes ago, NashvilleNinja said:

 

Lack of education too.

and lack of resources

 

and crippling medical debt

 

and both parents having to work and abandon the kids for half the day 

 

and a laundry list of other things that were not issues in the 50's - 70s 

[Justafan]

Yeah, all these poor people born into modern America - such victims! Generational despair, lack of education, just can't get ahead!

 

The truth is, the data completely contradicts this shrinking middle-class panic narrative. Over the last few decades, the percentage of American households making over 100k has massively surged while the percentage of people making under 35k (adjusted for inflation) has shrunk. If the middle class has shrunk, it's because a massive chunk of people have moved up, not down. 

 

These are comforting narratives for people who want to make excuses (for themselves or others) not to try. Go ahead and blame the system, medical debt, or the 1950's all you want. While you're busy cataloguing a laundry list of excuses (either for yourself or for others), the people with actual drive are out there building businesses, building wealth, taking advantage of the endless information available for free, and changing their fortunes. You guys sound like a bunch of crybabies. 

 

You guys talk about education like we ARE still in the 1950s, and you have to go to a high-end school to have any chance. Today, a kid in a trailer park with a cheap smartphone has instantaneous access to the entirety of human knowledge, MIT open courseware, coding bootcamps, business seminars, etc. 

 

Are there challenges? Sure, of course, not saying there isn't, but pretending that the average person in 1950 - who didn't have access to modern medicine, air conditioning, safe vehicles, global communication, or a fraction of the career options that we take for granted today somehow had it better is pure and utter delusion. The standard of living has skyrocketed. The only thing that hasn't kept up is people's willingness to stop playing the victim. 

 

 

[Callidus]

1 hour ago, Justafan said:

Yeah, all these poor people born into modern America - such victims! Generational despair, lack of education, just can't get ahead!

 

The truth is, the data completely contradicts this shrinking middle-class panic narrative. Over the last few decades, the percentage of American households making over 100k has massively surged while the percentage of people making under 35k (adjusted for inflation) has shrunk. If the middle class has shrunk, it's because a massive chunk of people have moved up, not down. 

 

These are comforting narratives for people who want to make excuses (for themselves or others) not to try. Go ahead and blame the system, medical debt, or the 1950's all you want. While you're busy cataloguing a laundry list of excuses (either for yourself or for others), the people with actual drive are out there building businesses, building wealth, taking advantage of the endless information available for free, and changing their fortunes. You guys sound like a bunch of crybabies. 

 

You guys talk about education like we ARE still in the 1950s, and you have to go to a high-end school to have any chance. Today, a kid in a trailer park with a cheap smartphone has instantaneous access to the entirety of human knowledge, MIT open courseware, coding bootcamps, business seminars, etc. 

 

Are there challenges? Sure, of course, not saying there isn't, but pretending that the average person in 1950 - who didn't have access to modern medicine, air conditioning, safe vehicles, global communication, or a fraction of the career options that we take for granted today somehow had it better is pure and utter delusion. The standard of living has skyrocketed. The only thing that hasn't kept up is people's willingness to stop playing the victim. 

 

 

Inflation is far outstriping wage growth and the income gap is expanding faster than the universe.

 

Larger numbers of people in the 100k bracket does not in any way mean the economy is healthy or that the bottom half of americans see any of this benefit you are pointing to.  

Edited May 22 by Callidus

[OILERMAN]

There is truth on both sides of this discussion. 

 

Yes a person can still succeed in the US. You can get out there, hustle and improve your financial situation and thrive. @Justafan is 100% right. 

 

I'm a high school grad. Went to the Army for 4 years then right into the Post Office. All I had was a solid IQ, Super high EQ, incredible discipline and drive and a work ethic that would put the Amish to shame. At 55 I've built an empire. Do I say this to brag? Of course. But there is still a point. I was also lucky in a lot of ways. 

 

If I was 18 going into the Army right now and then 4 years later getting the exact same job at the same office there is no way I'd be able to duplicate the same success I had previously, even with all the overwhelming life succeeding character traits. I bought the house I live in when I was 27. No way in hell would I be able to afford that. I started at 12.82 in 1994, today that equates to almost 29.00 an hour. You start out making 19.33 now. 

 

And although I agree you can succeed today it's much harder and getting out of poverty is way harder today. There is a problem systematically overall that needs to be improved to help everyone. The wealth gap is unsustainable.  

 

But the main point is, I built an empire and I'll admit, poor people gross me out

[oldschool]

17 hours ago, Justafan said:

Yeah, all these poor people born into modern America - such victims! Generational despair, lack of education, just can't get ahead!

 

The truth is, the data completely contradicts this shrinking middle-class panic narrative. Over the last few decades, the percentage of American households making over 100k has massively surged while the percentage of people making under 35k (adjusted for inflation) has shrunk. If the middle class has shrunk, it's because a massive chunk of people have moved up, not down. 

 

These are comforting narratives for people who want to make excuses (for themselves or others) not to try. Go ahead and blame the system, medical debt, or the 1950's all you want. While you're busy cataloguing a laundry list of excuses (either for yourself or for others), the people with actual drive are out there building businesses, building wealth, taking advantage of the endless information available for free, and changing their fortunes. You guys sound like a bunch of crybabies. 

 

You guys talk about education like we ARE still in the 1950s, and you have to go to a high-end school to have any chance. Today, a kid in a trailer park with a cheap smartphone has instantaneous access to the entirety of human knowledge, MIT open courseware, coding bootcamps, business seminars, etc. 

 

Are there challenges? Sure, of course, not saying there isn't, but pretending that the average person in 1950 - who didn't have access to modern medicine, air conditioning, safe vehicles, global communication, or a fraction of the career options that we take for granted today somehow had it better is pure and utter delusion. The standard of living has skyrocketed. The only thing that hasn't kept up is people's willingness to stop playing the victim. 

 

 

 

On the surface I agree with your point. Americans even poor ones dont know what true poverty is. Go to Africa or South America and see how the populace lives. That being said there are way more hurdles to lifting yourself up by your bootstraps in America than you are willing to admit.